Code and Conduct

Run Dixie Boys, Run

Two weeks later, there was no more sign of us on the news and finally, we could go to Disney World. Demitri, Emmeline, Nikolai and I were all standing outside of Animal Kingdom, anxiously awaiting its opening. Surprisingly, we were the only ones there. At least we thought so. "Y'all's them kids from the news. We've heard of y'all kids." said a gruff, southern voice. Nikolai and I whirled around immediately, Emmeline and Demitri following close behind. "And who are you?" Nikolai questioned tensely. "Well, pretty boy. We're the Dixie Boys. There's gangs in the south, too buddy. We're a lot scarier, too." said the same voice, which I now saw was coming from a tall muscular guy. He was almost the same size as Nikolai. "Listen up, backwoods hicks. I don't care if you wanna go drink your shitty beer at home, but don't mess with us. Understand?" I said, becoming infuriated that they were messing with Nikolai. "Oh we ain't just backwoods hicks, baby doll." said a younger guy that was lanky and not at all muscular. I laughed harshly. "Baby doll? Oh, I'm sorry pipsqueak. I like my men tall and big." I said, grabbing the young guy by the collar. His eyes widened when I got in his face and whispered, "If you even so much as wince, you're dead." I turned my head and saw that Nik had the leader pinned to the ground, Emmeline had their female member by the ear and Demitri had the youngest by his long hair. "Listen, Dixie boys. You best get stepping, do you understand me?" Nikolai said sternly. No one uttered a word. "I said do you understand me?!" he yelled in the Dixie Boys' leader's face. Each of them said a small "Understood." and we all led them out of the park, throwing them on their asses when we threw them out.

"At least I was there for backup!" Demitri said excitedly as we entered Animal Kingdom. "For once." Nikolai and I muttered at the same time and proceeded to laugh. Demitri did not respond but Emmeline giggled. "I mean, come on, Dixie Boys? How unoriginal." I laughed. Nikolai smirked and took hold of my hand, allowing me to lead him to my favorite places.

"The Tree of Life!" I practically screamed when I saw the large, fake, and twisted tree ahead of me. "Let's go baby." Nikolai said, pulling me by my hand towards it. On the walk, we observed many animals, all of which I threatened to throw Demitri into their habitat.

   We spent the day going between all of the parks. We ate lunch at Epcot and rode the ferry. On the way home, we spotted a small tattoo shop. "Guys, let's all get an "E"." I suggested, staring at the door of the shop which was embellished with a ridiculous name. "Let's do it." Nikolai agreed. So we all entered the small shop. It smelled deliciously of incense. An extremely tattooed woman who was a petite blonde welcomed us in. "Hello, guys. What can I do for you today?" she asked with a warm smile that revealed deep dimples in her cheeks and pearly white teeth. "We all want a large 'E' on our upper forearm below our elbow." Nikolai said. And of course, we agreed. I knew he would determine where and how long for a gang tattoo. "Sure, sure. Have a seat and we will get you all settled with an artist to do the work. Will you each want a separate design, maybe customized a bit?" she inquired. "Yeah we're all gonna customize it a bit." She simply nodded and strode of.

After the only slightly uncomfortable experience of getting a gorgeous, delicate cursive E inked on my arm, I walked home with the rest of our group, fully satisfied with my first tattoo. I wanted more. I was running through options when I realized that we had reached home and I was on autopilot. And then, suddenly, I remembered that even though we went to Disney and got tattoos that nothing was okay. I froze in front of the glorious house that was my boyfriend's. I hadn't spoken to my brothers or sister in almost two months.. and my parents had stopped looking for me. My heart tore as I thought about Easton, Hudson and Elissia. I missed them and at this moment, those emotions were crashing over me like a tsunami. I could vaguely make out Nikolai standing in front of me and heard him slightly call out my name. I felt my heart beating so hard it felt like it would leap out of my chest at any moment. My breathing sped up to rapidly that I began to hyperventilate and get extremely dizzy. My legs gave way and I felt myself fall to the concrete and knock my head on the ground before I completely blacked out.