This Diary I Found

13 [PART 2] :: Road Kill

CHAPTER 13 (Part 2): Road Kill

To help or not to help? That is the question.

Ugh, damn you, conscience!

I ran back to Sage and went to pick her up, bridal style.

"Holy fuck! If we live after this, you're going on a diet," I said as I carried her through the alley.

We were halfway through the alleyway when my knees buckled because of the elephant I was carrying.

"I can't," I gasped, putting her down.

She limped behind me and grabbed hold of my arms.

"What are you doing?" I questioned her.

"You run and I'll hang on by your arm. It'll be like a reindeer carrying a sleigh," she answered, pushing me forward.

"What?! No!" I opposed.

"Come on. I can see you're no athlete but you've got a little muscle," she said, pinching my bicep. If you could call it that.  Personally, I called it noodle arm.

I was gonna say something else but the two guys came in sight.

With a string of curses mumbled under my breath, I ran while Sage tailed me.

"Mush, reindeer, mush!" she shouted. "They're gaining on us!"

"Calm down, your fatness," I shouted back as we made a sharp turn out of the alley and Sage drifted dangerously, skidding on the slippery road, causing her to hold on to my arms harder.

"Hey!" she exclaimed, her grip getting tighter, "Just because you're too weak to carry my beloved rolls of fats and flabs doesn't mean you get to insult me, okay?"

"I am saving your flabby ass so the least you could do is keep your mouth shut!"

She didn't. Of course, she didn't! It's Sage-fucking-Dewirth! She could run her mouth longer than Olympians could run marathons.

Digging her nails into my arm, she rambled! "I'm plus-sized. You're a stick. Our body types are already getting enough shit from other people, we don't need it from each other. So quit your whining and run!"

"I'll whine all I wa--"

"They're getting closer!" she screamed and I swear my eardrums got blasted off my head.

I made another turn by the corner and used up what was probably left of my adrenaline rush to zigzag around houses and buildings for the sake of losing the guys on our tails.

It worked! A couple of blocks later, they were nowhere in sight but I was still running. Then, after another turn, my house came in to view. I immediately rushed towards it, making sure that the guys didn't see us.

"My house!" I informed Sage, who just nodded in response.

We scrambled up the front porch steps in a hurry. I think both Sage and I knew that the guys were still after us because we reached for the doorknob at the same time. And at the same time, we realized it was locked.

Shit.

"LALLY!!!" I screamed to the top of my lungs, pounding on the door.

"Who's Lally?!" Sage questioned frantically.

"My sister!" I shouted back in response.

Our dad couldn't afford a nanny at times and we just told Lally to lock the door when she got home from grade school. For you, it might seem like bad parenting. For us, it's called saving money. Besides, our neighbor, Ms. Peski, was a nice old lady. She welcomed Lally in her house whenever my sister got bored or lonely. I just hoped that Lally was in our house. 

Finally, the lock clicked and the door swung open.

I heaved myself inside, dragging Sage along with me. I shut the door behind us and just collapsed on the floor.

"Whew! That was fun!" she remarked out of breath.

I stared at her like she just told me that JB is better than Michael Jackson. "Fun?!"

She just giggled in reply.

For a second, we almost forgot that there was someone else in the room.

I craned my neck to see my little sister curiously staring down at us. From our point of view down on the floor, Lally towered over us.

"Hi," Sage greeted her, awkwardly reaching out a hand but not even bothering to sit or stand up.

Lally didn't take her hand. Too shocked, I guess.

I cleared my throat. "Lally, this is Sage. Sage, this is my baby sister, Lally."

"Is she one of your friends?" Lally asked, wiggling her brows at me.

I glared at her and it was enough to tell her to back off.

"Right, I'll be in my room," she said quickly and rushed upstairs.

"Cute girl," Sage commented when Lally disappeared from sight.

"Annoying, too," I added.

We didn't roll off the floor just yet. We were both still panting like dogs and my heartbeat was still in hyperdrive.

A few moments of silence and Sage got up. She took off her rollerblades and I saw her swelling ankle again. I immediately got up and walked over to the fridge. I snatched a dishtowel on the way and wrapped it around a couple of ice cubes.

"Here." I offered the makeshift icepack to her.

"Thanks," she murmured, applying it to her ankle.

I sat down on the floor again next to her. "Why were those guys chasing you like you just robbed a bank or something? How much did you even owe them?" I asked.

"20% of $70," she answered.

"And that is...?"

"$14."

"THEY CHASED US ALL AROUND THE NEIGHBORHOOD FOR 14 BUCKS?!"

"Of course not!" she replied She took the CD out of her pocket again and popped it open. I saw a small sketch on it on the tape itself. "That is the artist's signature," she gloated.

"You refused to pay 84 dollars for a signed copy of a mixtape?" I asked incredously.

"It's a bootleg."

"It's still signed!"

Sage rolled her eyes. "It was a total ripoff, okay? They said nothing about the 20% charge during the online transaction!"

"So you'd rather risk getting beat up?"

"Hell, yes," she said with much unnecessary conviction. Then, she looked around the living room. "Hey, do you have a pair of flipflops I can borrow?"

"What?" I questioned, getting caught a bit off guard by the randomness of her topic change.

"I couldn't possibly go home wearing rollerblades and it'd be hell trying to walk back barefooted," she explained. Oh. Not so random now.

"I don't think Lally's flipflops would fit you," I answered.

"Aw, I can't catch a break today!" she whined, fake sobbing to give it more emphasis. Wow, you can't shake the theater out of this girl, can you?

Then, she sighed and made a puppy dog face at me. "Can I stay here?"