The Queen Of Spades

Chapter 3, Continued, Again

I went to the bedroom I was supposed to share with Olivia and took out the picture frame that I kept in my violin case. It was a picture of my family in Dooagh, Ireland. We had just finished up a case and I had had my first sniper kill. We decided to go to the beach for a few hours before going home and I found an awesome little cove that I had to go underwater to get to, but it had air in it that I could breathe. I met a boy there and we kissed in the cove, then we went home and I never saw him again. That was last summer, this summer I stayed stateside while my parents traveled. Load of good it did me, huh? I put the picture under my pillow and turned to stretch but paused when I saw someone standing at the door. A girl, the same age as me but taller, she had dark brown hair that was up in a messy bun and dark eyes to match, she was wearing a yellow cropped hoodie and Jean shorts that made her copper skin stand out, and honestly her fashion style just fit the name Olivia perfectly. I continued with what I was doing and ignored her to see if she would go away, instead she came and sat on her bed.

She took out a book and started reading while I took out a notebook and started writing. I was trying to learn to write with my left hand instead of my right and it was slow going, I started by just writing out the alphabet, first in print and then in cursive. Over and over I wrote down the letters, then I looked back and circled my worst ones, trying to figure out what went wrong. After a while, my hand hurt from writing so I put my paper away and took out my phone. I opened my camera app and scrolled down to the bottom, pressing the oldest picture and going through them. The oldest one was of me and Aiden when I first got my phone and he was showing me how to work it because he thought I didn't know yet, the next one was me and Nova when we first found the boxcar. They were all pictures of my family, three years of pictures. 2037 pictures and videos. Proof that they had existed. Even if Interpol decided that they didn't. Even if they erased all proof of them. Even if. That's all I would ever have. That's more than some people had but it still wasn't enough.

A couple hours later, Noah came into the room and knocked on the door. "Dinner." He told us before turning and leaving. Olivia and I stood up and went down to the dining room. The food smelled surprisingly good but I wasn't hungry, so I waited to be told where to sit and sat quietly during dinner. Hannah told us what the new chore schedule was and I translated what Anton's was to him, wondering how they told him anything before I came along, then she told me the rules of the house. Curfew, social media and all that. You can't be out past ten, eleven on weekends. Social media is allowed. Phones and devices were only allowed if your grades were up. When dinner was over I asked to be excused to go for a run. Olivia, Noah and Anton came with. When we were outside I told them not to expect me to slow down for them and of course Noah scoffed, thinking he was better than me.
"Alright B'y, you wanna race then?" I challenged.
"Sure, how many laps around the block?" He asked, smirking.
"I'll go easy on you and say seven."
"Seven?" He raised his eyebrows.
"Anton, Bleib hier und sag uns wer der Gewinner ist. Danke." I repeated what I had said in English. (Stay here and tell us who the winner is. Thanks.)
"Get ready." Olivia said, obviously intrigued, "Get set. Go!" I took off running, slowing at the corners so I could turn without slipping. Noah was in front of me but I could tell that he was more of a sprinter than a long distance runner and I would have the lead in a lap or two. I counted my breathing, seven seconds in, exhale when your foot hits the pavement, repeat. We passed the house and I kept going while Noah slowed a bit. Four laps later Noah was practically walking and I was still going strong. I finished the last lap while Noah was just starting his sixth and sat on the sidewalk waiting for him. When he finally finished he collapsed on the grass and I walked over to him. "I don't think we need Anton to tell us who won that, do we?" I asked.
"You're crazy, you know that? What kind of girl can run seven laps around the block and not even be tired?"
"Sticks and stones B'y. Go shower, you smell like a fat pig in a desert." I walked over to Anton and Olivia and asked if they wanted to go for a run now and they declined. Who would have thought. So we went inside and sat on the couch to watch TV, apparently it was Olivia's turn to choose the Friday movie. Olivia was talking about my 'amazing race' the entire time she was looking for a movie and when Noah came down from his shower he glared at me. How petty could he be that he's mad at me because he lost. "I should've said twelve rounds." I whispered under my breath and Anton must've heard because he laughed so hard his grape juice came out his nose. I smiled while everybody scrambled to get a napkin so it wouldn't stain the couch. This reminded me of home, it felt safe like home. But not as safe as the boxcar, nothing would ever feel as safe as the boxcar. We settled on a chick-flick about cheerleading and I completely zoned out.