Mischief

Ch 4. Strangers

The movie had finished, and Harry and I were leaving the theater.

"That movie was great! I love Vin Diesel's acting," he told me.

"It was really good, next time we should see a comedy."

"Which do you like better? Science fiction or comedy?"

I thought about it for a second, "I don't know. I love to laugh but I also like to think about the what-ifs. If life was a different way there's a possibility it could be like it is in a movie. You know?"

He looked confused for a second but then I saw his facial expression change to one of understanding. "I get it. It makes sense in a way. I never really thought of it like that. I think sci-fi may be my new favorite movie genre."

I smiled at him, "Well I think it's my favorite too."

We were walking towards the exit when I had to go to the bathroom. "I'll be right back, just have to go to the bathroom."

I entered the bathroom. I used the restroom and then washed my hands. I looked in the mirror and fixed my hair a bit. I took a minute to just examine myself and then went to leave. I bumped into someone. "Oh goodness! I'm sorry sweetie! Are you okay?" I looked down at a young girl, probably about seven or eight years old. I didn't think that I had bumped into her hard but when I saw her I start to water and became scared that I hurt her. "I lost my mommy. I don't know where she is!" She began to cry, her nose became red as tears stained her cheeks. "Shhh," I crouched down on my knee and began to rub her back to calm her down. "Do you know what your mommy's number? You can call her on my phone," She nodded and I handed her my phone. "I'll step outside the bathroom so you can have privacy, just return the phone when your done."

A few minutes later the little girl came out of the bathroom and returned my phone to me, "Do you mind dropping me off somewhere, or maybe taking me to your house and sending my mom your address?" I nodded. I wasn't going to drag Harry everywhere and I didn't mind meeting her mother somewhere. "Here, I'll text them an address to meet me at." I typed down the address of a gas station at the corner of my house. I wasn't going to give a stranger my address. I pressed send and told the girl to follow me.

I found Harry and we walked towards him. He noticed the child following besides me. "You enter the bathroom and leave with a child. That doesn't sound crazy." He looked at me with a raised eyebrow, obviously wanting an explanation. "Well this girl was crying. Apparently she got lost and lost her mother. I'm going to meet her at a gas station; it's the least I could do for this poor girl." He nodded in understanding and looked down at the girl, "What's your name sweetie?" She looked odd, like she didn't know what to say. "I can't tell you." Harry raised his eyebrow again, "Why not? We're going to help you." "Um...you guys are strangers. I can't tell strangers my name. My.. my mommy told me that." Harry looked at me and I just shrugged my shoulders. I know how some strangers can be, I see the bad types of people often. I can't blame the girl for being safe, you never know whether a stranger is good or bad.

Harry, the girl, and I walked to the car. We got in and drove to the gas station. When we got there I helped the girl down and we leaned against the car and waited. "Hey, I'm thirsty and want something sweet so I'm getting some iced tea and a candy. Do you want anything?" I nodded, "I'll have a raspberry iced tea and a candy. Anything fruity and sour, I don't want chocolate," I looked at the young girl, "Do you want anything? Water? Chips? Something?" She shook her head and stayed quiet. Harry then walked inside.

We had parked on the side of the gas station, away from the gas pumps and store. No one in the store could see us and there was just one person pumping gas. I got goosebumps on my neck: I felt uneasy, but decided it was just nerves. I was looking at the girl, her eyes were fixed on a black sedan. I knew that was her ride. The windows were a dark tint, I couldn't see inside. I saw the car park two spaces away from us. Without a goodbye or thank you the young girl went and jumped into the back seat. Next thing I saw was a man get out of the passenger seat. He seemed familiar. Oh shit! He was a man I saw a few weeks ago, my boss said his order wasn't satisfactory and burned it. He had sent someone to send the message to the supplier, this man. I saw a glint of silver in his waistband of his jeans, a revolver. "Remember me?" I felt my eyes widened, my hand went to the waistband of my jeans, "Dammit!" "Forgot some amo I see," he chuckled. "Look whatever it is you can go talk to my boss. I have nothing to do with your guises arrangements. I'm not involved." He smiled at me devilishly. He took out his revolver and pointed it at me. He was a good few feet away, I couldn't knock it out of his hand and fight him. "This'll send a little message to your fucking boss." He lifted the revolver to point at my head rather than stomach. He was about to pull the trigger when we heard a voice. "What the fuck?!" I turned and saw Harry come running towards me. I was sure the man would shoot Harry too, but he didn't fire. "Fuck!" He turned towards to car, "You told me she was alone! This isn't ALONE!" the man shouted to, I'm assuming the girl. He turned to me. "Until next time Mara." He jumped into the car and sped off.