Partners for Life

Chapter Nine: Illinois

The next day, instead of going to her classes, she went to the Instructor, and from there, she went on a plane to California. In California, she bought a cheap phone, did the mission she was asked to do, and caught a flight to Illinois. On the way, she took her knife, and stabbed where the tracker was on her arm, and threw it on a passing truck. She had been paid a little bit by the Program, doing the occasional kitchen duty for a little while. On the plane, Shelby couldn't help but wonder what was going to happen once she and Rich were free from the Program. "Excuse me, ma'am?" A stewardess asked. "Yes?" Shelby asked, a little startled, wondering if they saw her weapons sticking out of her carry-on bag, or if she saw her bleeding, or was asking why she looked so peculiar in her white leather combat suit.

"Would you like pretzels or peanuts?" She asked. "Pretzels, please." She said, relaxing a little. She ate her complimentary pretzels, which were a little stale, and looked out the window. Her arm began to hurt from where she had taken out her tracker, so she went to the airplane's bathroom. She rinsed her arm, and washed her hands, then went back to her seat. When the plane landed in Illinois, she looked around for Rich, but didn't see him. She pulled out her walkie-talkie. "Rich, are you at the airport?" She asked. "Look behind you." He answered. She smiled and turned around, but didn't see anything. Then, suddenly, Rich was walking down the escalator. She ran to him, and when she caught up, she jumped on him, and he caught her. He spun her around, and kissed her passionately. "I missed you." He whispered. "I missed you too." Shelby chuckled.

"Now what?" Shelby asked, climbing down onto the ground. "Well, we look for a house, or a tent, or something." Rich said. "Ooh, and jobs, that's really important." He added, snapping his fingers. "Okay, where to first?" She asked. "Suburbs, where the Program wouldn't think to look." He said, rubbing her back. "Let's go. Off to a new future." He said, walking towards the front door of the airport. Shelby grabbed his hand, and walked beside him. "Taxi!" Rich called, as a few taxis pulled into the parking lot. One stopped for him, and Rich held the door open for Shelby to climb into. "Suburbs, please." Rich said to the taxi driver. "Okay." He mumbled something under his breath, then started to leave. They pulled up into a neighborhood, and spotted a 'For Sale' sign in a front lawn. "Stop right here, please. That'll be all." Rich said to the taxi driver. "Okay, twenty fifty-three, please. "Ooh, okay." He pulled out an old wallet, and counted out twenty dollars and fifty three cents for the cab. "Thank you." Rich said with a smile.

They walked into the house, and immediately, they liked it. Tile floors, a brick fireplace, fully furnished, and had a fenced-in backyard. "Hello, may I help you?" A lady asked. "Yes, is this house still available to buy?" Rich asked. "Yes, sir. All of the furniture comes with the house, four bedroom, three and a half bathrooms, two car garage, two story." The lady said. "I'm Lucinda, the owner, and seller, so if you need anything, just holler, and I'll let you look around for a bit." She said with a smile. Thank you so much." Shelby said, looking around. "I like this place." Rich whispered. "I do to, but how are we going to but it?" She asked. "We could take a loan out from the bank." Rich offered. "Good thinking, but I don't know if they would give us the money, seeing as though we have no credit score, or any bank accounts." Shelby replied sadly. "And we still need jobs." She added. "True." He said. "We could tell her to hold the house, and we could come back with the money within twenty-four hours." Shelby offered. "That'll work." He said.

They headed back downstairs, and tracked down Lucinda. "We've decided to buy the house." Shelby started. "Oh, wonderful! I'm afraid I haven't had many offers on this house, so you'll be the first one." She said. "Perfect! We don't exactly have a great deal of money, so we'd have to get a loan, or we could live in the house now, and pay you back monthly, or yearly." Rich offered. "Oh, goodness. I guess you can pay me back later, I'm just trying to get rid of this house, and don't really mind monthly installments. This was my late husband's house, well, our house, but everything just reminds me of him, and I just can't deal with it very well anymore." Lucinda said sadly. "Oh, you poor dear. I have no idea what I'd do without Rich, here." She patted his arm. "Aww, you two are such a cute couple, how long have you been married?" She asked. "Oh, we're not married." They stammered. "Yet." Rich added with a wink. "If half the people I knew were half as exciting as you two, I would get out of the house more often." Lucinda giggled.