Kingdom Come

Chapter 10

Tennika had started that morning like she had started pretty much every other morning over the past seven years that she had been working at the Morning Inn. She woke up at five in the morning, threw on a sweatshirt if it was cold (or a regular t-shirt if it wasn't), and went for a two-mile jog down to the market and back. The newsboys were already starting to shout at passers about the latest news in their papers on every street corner. One little boy always reminded Tennika of Kerri when he was younger; he was straggly and thin, his hair was long and knotted, and his clothes had holes in the knees and elbows. She always treated him to a spare fruit if she could afford one on her way home. She returned at about six thirty and made a batch of pancakes. For most people, eight pancakes would have been three or so meals, but she managed to get her portion eaten before her shift started at ten.

            When the pancakes were done, she packaged up six of the pancakes in a spare Tupperware container, then scarfed down the other two. It was about seven thirty by this time. She put the pancakes into her small backpack and threw on her shoes again, jogging another half a mile away from the market. As she was leaving the Inn, Oli was already starting to sweep the floors and straighten the chairs. "Hurry back," he would holler, even though she still would have plenty of time to be back before her shift. Today, he hollered again, and she smiled at him, feeling very strained. Shouldn't he have learned that she was reliable by this point? She rounded left into an alleyway off Juno Street and pulled off her bag.

            "Breakfast!" she called. There was silence. She looked up from opening her bag and wrestling out the food. "Boys?"

            A can crashed to Tennika's left, and she jumped away, ramming her shoulder into a wall. Years had passed since it had happened, but the murders around the local area had scared her senseless when she lived on the streets with Kerri. For a while, people had been missing and then found a few days later, dead. The police had searched for weeks, though a lot of people doubted that they were actually doing anything. Now, Tennika hated that Kerri refused to move in with her. Even though the murderer had been caught for that case, the streets were still dangerous to be living in. A cat came walking around the dumpster six feet away from her. A small grey tabby cat. She let out a sigh.

            "How could you do this to me, Salvo?" The cat purred as it made its way over to her. She gave him a piece of chicken that she had saved specially for him and then continued down the alley. "Sims? Ker? Are either of you here? I thought since you'd be meeting so late last night you'd at least be staying together for breakfast."

            The sun was well up by now, and it was nearly eight thirty. Horses and carriages were starting to occupy the streets, bikers were raging along the sidewalks, and even the occasional skateboarder rolled by everybody else. Tennika heard a crash and some yelling around the corner of the alley. A couple of bikers, she gathered, weren't paying attention, and neither were willing to apologize. She hoped that she wouldn't have to split them up on her way back. She needed to go home to shower before her shift, but neither Simon or Kerri were anywhere to be seen. She was already so far behind. She sighed, and called for them one last time, telling them how immature they were and that if they were going to hook up again, they wouldn't have to hide it from her. Anyone in Pelma would have seen it coming from a mile away. But they still didn't come out for their pancakes.

            Irritated, she shoved the pancakes back into her bag, threw it over her shoulders, and took off back towards the Inn. She didn't have the time to wait for them to come get their food. The moment she got back to her apartment, Tennika tore off the bag and shoes and headed straight for the shower. She was running late now and swore under her breath at both Kerri and Simon. She knew Simon had to be involved. He'd been with Kerri last night, Kerri had told her that. And she knew that Kerri would never be anywhere else if it weren't for Simon.