Monorail Thieves

chapter 2

Nothing's better than exercise. It's wonderful for your heart and wonderful for the mind....if you weren't in Carmine's gym class.

Mr. Herse was by far the worst gym teacher ever, he was an ex drill sargeant and even if you didn't want to be in the army you had to be in " Cap'n Herse's militia". The man had a legal case of post war trauma, but St. Peter's couldn't afford to let him go. So it was terrible for the rest of them. Aaron was in his gym class so it wasn't all that bad.

Today they were running 2 miles. They started out in a brisk jog but soon faded to the back as to not be seen by the "Cap'n".

" Someone was emotional back there," Aaron said. Carmine shoved him.

" So, what's wrong with getting emotional," he said," if you didn't see your parents in forever, seeing them in a picture is about as close as you can get to them."

Loneliness is as well an empty feeling.

Carmine had felt this ever since both of his parents left. When you're lonely, you feel dead. You soon start to see everything differently. All you see is skeletons, skeletons clad in flesh. Nothing more nothing less. It is empty, like death. And you start to wonder if the feeling ever leaves or fades, but it really never does.

After awhile Carmine broke away from Aaron and ran to the front of the pack. They finished the 2 miles in about 25 minutes. They spent the rest of the period playing dodgeball.

Carmine and Aaron were on seperate sides, that's how they liked it. They were competitive to the last. If you gave them swords they would probably fight to the death.

'Cap'n' blew his whistle and everyone made mad dashes for the balls in the center of the court. The stoners in his class just stood in the back and made inuendo jokes about the guys grabbing balls.

Carmine grabbed a ball and chucked it Aaron, Aaron ducked and and it hit the kid behind him who was using Aaron as a meat shield. A kid from one of the corners chucked a ball at carmine and he deflected it with his ball. Carmine threw it again and hit one of the stoners on the other team. They started cussing him out and screaming, as was their way.

Carmine felt an enjoyment playing this game, like all his anger could be released and all his lonliness could be subsided. He felt free.

Soon, it was down to Carmine and Aaron. It was definitly going to be a duel to watch. Aaron went and chucked it right away at Carmine, who dodged it and cooly threw it at Aaron, Aaron didn't even dodge it...he just let it hit him full in the chest.

'Cap'n' blew his whistle and they all went back to the locker rooms.

Carmine looked at Aaron with an icy glare as they walked back.

"What?" Aaron said inocently.

"You know what you did," Carmine said icily. Aaron just laughed and Carmine shoved him into one of the lockers.

After they changed, there was still 10 minutes left in the period and they snuck of down the halls and to the band equipment room. They sat on the floor and they pulled out a giant bag of Doritos from Morgan's slot. Thjey always kept food close with them when they were in the ER.

Soon Morgan entered after the bell rang. Her english room was the room next to the ER.

Morgan was always happy. And happiness was a good feeling that Carmine always envied.

"What's up, and why is Carmine glaring at you???" Morgan asked, although she already knew it had to do with competition.

"Ask the boy he refused to dodge the ball so we could've had an all out duel in gym!" Carmine said angrily.

They both looked at Aaron and they all started laughing,

                ^_^                                       <o.O>                               O.o             c| 0.0 b

Carmine walked out of the school at 2:50 and decided to take a different way home. He cut around a block and ran down the stairs tothe monorail station (even though it was really a subway, they all called it a monorail). He snuck through the ticket line and jumped the barrier and casualy melted into the crowd.

He loved the smell of the monorail, the vendors sometimes went down there to drum up business. Also the sounds, there were street dancer in some of the corners and musicians busking on benches that were down there or sitting on the ground. This was his world. He felt at home here, evenmore so than his apartment.

He ran to the gate and waited for the train. While he was waiting he heard the scream of a child and turned, but there was no child. He quickly assumed that it was just a child throwing a tantrum.

But he could know less, he could not know at all. This was more serious than everyone in this station, evryone in the world above the station, more than the school, music that can save the mortal soul, and more than Carmine's past.

This was a matter of life and death, of thieves and beggars, of love and life......this was the last stand of life.