Missed last week?
Last known situation—
“Come on, Dad,” she said. “Let’s go home.”
He limped after her toward the gate.
Above the spires, a garbage hauler punched up through the smog and disappeared into the brown evening sky, leaving a thin black trail behind it.
Roxie watched it until it was gone.
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Dark Matter Macchiato (Chapter 6 - part 1)
The Chronicles of Roxie Vega
by Angelique Fawns
“I gotta come with you, Roxie.”
“No way, Dad. I got this.”
Roxie’s voice was muffled. She was on her hands and knees, trying to fish out the gun from under the couch. Her hand grabbed dust balls, but there was no gun.
She closed her fist and groaned as she remembered. Buzz had sold the nano gun to the Nova Outrider at the track.
She sat back on her heels. Fine. She’d get the other one. The old-school Winchester her father kept locked in the drawer of his bedside table. The one she hadn’t had time to grab when she’d confronted Chucky. Roxie ran up the stairs into her father’s room and used a toothpick to pop the cheap lock. The vintage collector’s piece was right there. Gleaming and deadly. She checked the chamber, nodded when she saw it was loaded, and tucked it into the back of her waistband.
“Did you grab my gun?” Buzz asked when she returned to the living room. “You don’t know these people.”
“I literally do know these people. Dad, I was raised in a biker gang. I know all the shady sh… I mean, stuff they pull. I’ve been listening from the top of the stairs my whole life when you had all those stupid parties. I know exactly what I’m getting myself into.”
“They’re gonna grab you and turn you out. Then I’m gonna have to kill people. And that won’t end well for anyone.”
Roxie chewed her lower lip. “Dad, I honestly don’t believe he’s gonna try that.”
“Have you seen the poor women he’s got working in the strip clubs and on the street? You’re prime rib.”
“Ugh, Dad. Don’t say that to me.”
“I’m sorry. But it’s true.”
She thought some more. “Don’t you have some intel on these guys?”
He tilted his head. “What do you mean?”
“Like, you were literally their accountant and enforcer. You know where all the bodies are buried.”
He shrugged. “I might have buried a few myself.”
“Okay.” She put her hands over her ears. “I don’t want to know if you actually killed people. If I don’t come back, go to the cops.”
“Well, then I’m dead for sure.”
“Dad, I don’t know if it’s gonna work. You just stay put. I got this.” She pointed the gun at his knee. “Try and follow me and I’m going to take out your good knee.”
Buzz blinked. “As if my daughter would ever hurt me.”
“If.”
“If what?”
“If you follow me, I am going to shoot you. Try me.”
Buzz threw his hands up in exasperation. “Just come back, little girl.”
“I will. That’s a promise.”
She strode out of the house, light-headed that she’d actually won a confrontation with her father. That was unusual. The Buzz she knew would have taken the bullet before letting her go into enemy territory alone. He must really not be feeling well.
At this moment, she’d take it as a blessing.
She expected to be nervous, but all she felt was a grim determination. Her pilot’s license should be showing up any day now, and she’d just do what she’d planned all along. She’d fly cargo.
Her goal had been to transport medical supplies, and maybe the intergalactic mail — everyone knew the postal job was a cushy one. But if she had to fly Ether Bliss, guns, and assorted oddities — heck, even bike parts — she’d do it. Just until she paid off the vig.
She wasn’t stupid enough to meet him at the clubhouse. She’d picked Starbuckles. Probably the cleanest, most corporate place you could meet.
And there he was, sitting in the corner booth, drinking a brown sugar matcha asparagus latte. He looked a little out of place and uncomfortable. She had to fight a smile. But she knew this was all business.
She walked in and sat down.
“Can I get you a drink, Roxie? Thanks for showing up.”
“Thanks for meeting me at my favorite Starbuckles. But I figured you’d understand why I wouldn’t come to the club.”
“I didn’t want to explain why I was going into business with Buzz’s little girl anyway. That would take some explanation. Believe it or not, you’re loved by a lot of the men there. They wouldn’t see harm come to you.”
Roxie smiled. The waitress brought over her usual: a dark matter macchiato with double whipped cream, her absolute favorite.
Roxie took a sip of her drink, knowing the foamy black topping would give her a ghoulish stained smile. “I knew that. The one thing about bikers is they might make their money on the gray side of the law, but a lot of them are actually decent guys. I mean, look at my father, for example. He wouldn’t harm a fly.”
Unless, of course, he was paid by the man sitting across from her.
“Let’s get down to business.”
What does Chucky need Roxie to do?
Tune in Next Wednesday!
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