Darling, I Want to Destroy You

Five

Dosie figured out quite quickly that walking around outdoors without shoes was a bit of an issue. Not only were the sidewalks and roads hotter than a frying pan in the summer sun, but there was also the occasional pile of dog feces that an owner refused to scoop up laying hidden in the grass and bubblegum that had been chewed long ago now softened again by the day's heat. The gum wasn't so bad when she stepped in it the first time, but wiping poop off of her feet with pieces of newspaper they found blowing along the road almost made her vomit. Jenka offered up a spare pair of sneakers he'd brought along, but she refused. At the very least, she didn't want to be the one to smear poop remnants in their extra shoes.

It was the hottest part of the day they'd started out in, and none of them had thought to bring sunblock. Jenka, being the only one that had prepared beforehand, had water, but that could only last so long. Atticus said they could drop by his place on the way, but that it was a few towns over and would at least be a day before they got there.

"You don't live here?" Dosie eventually asked as she tried desperately to shuffle her feet in the grass and get the feeling of shit off of them for the third time. "Why were you robbing convenience stores here then, and not there?"

Atticus just shot her a dirty look before shaking his head. "I guess to actually tell you would require going into my personal life, so here ya go. I'm one of five kids, my sister Xana being the oldest, then me, Janus, Thalia, and my little brother Talon being the youngest. Parents divorced not long after Talon was born, mom lives in Greece, dad's rarely home, so Xana and I pretty raised the other three. The only thing was, she took care of the girls and immediately created a vendetta against Tal when he was born."

He shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans, refusing to look at either Dosie or Jenka. "I just- I can't stand the way she treats him, y'know? He's a good kid, maybe a little different than the other boys, but that's okay, that's fine. I'm eighteen, graduated last year, so moving out isn't an issue. I just really needed to find a job and a place so I could take him with me, and I couldn't limit myself to one place."

Jenka leaned over from his spot on Dosie's other side so he could see Atticus better. "And so you thought stealing something was the way to go? Really?"

Atticus tilted his face back towards the sun and inhaled through his teeth. "I guess that was a really bad lapse in judgement on my part, wasn't it? But hey, can't change the past, and there was never anything here for me anyway. Apparently, the world had much different plans." He now looked back over at Dosie, who was busy gathering dandelions along the sidewalk simply  because they looked pretty.

She tucked one particularly large plant behind her ear, a stark contrast to the blues and blacks of her outfit. "Maybe next time you shouldn't randomly climb through people's windows just to eat your stolen loot."

Atticus gave her a glare. "Of which you still have, by the way, and I'd kinda like to get it back."

She shrugged and pulled the baggie out of her pocket, waving it in his face. "Oh, you want this?" Dosie reached in, pulling out a piece of the coveted meat snack. "Then go get it." She pulled back her arm and made the best throwing motion she could.

Atticus only groaned. "You did not just do that." And of course, he had to go running after it.

Jenka watched him run away, an eyebrow raised. "I can't believe you just wasted perfectly good food like that. What if it lands in dog poop like you keep doing?"

There was a smug look on her face as she lifted up her hand and opened her fist. Inside lay the jerky, nestled safely in her palm. "Who wasted food?" With a grin, she tossed it to Jenka, who only laughed.

"Okay, good one," he snorted before ripping off a piece. "Do you think we could just...ya know...leave him to chase after his imaginary food? That could be fun."

Dosie shook her head and shoved the baggie back into her pocket. "No, he already knows too much. Besides, he offered to take us, and hopefully that means stocking up supplies at his place soon because there is no way I'm eating any of that junk." She shuddered for emphasis as she wiped her hand on her leg, as if trying to rub away the meat germs.

Jenka could only shake his head with a laugh before tilting back his head and dropping the jerky into his awaiting mouth. "Okay but sherioushly, why did we haf ta bring him? I thought thish was going to be a two amigosh deal, just us against the world and all that jazz." He spoke around his food, half of the words coming out jumbled.

She shrugged and glanced at the spot where Atticus was on his hands and knees, searching for food that wasn't there. "I don't know, he was there, I needed someone to take me to where you were, it seemed like the right choice in the moment. Besides, he looked desperate and we need what little bit of muscle he has in case of emergency."

"Why? Are we going to roast him over an open flame if we run out of food? Because frankly, that's just nasty and I'm pretty sure eating that guy would make me lose brain cells." Jenka raised an eyebrow at her.

"Aww, what? Jenka, we are not resorting to cannibalism if we run out of food. We are not stranded in the Andes mountains with no other food source in sight. We'll be fine." She looked back over at Atticus, who was headed their way once again and was obviously chewing something. "At least I hope so-"

Atticus jogged the last few yards, falling back into step beside Dosie. "I couldn't find the jerky, but someone just left some gum sitting on the sidewalk." He blew a relatively large bubble of an indescribable color, a bit green and a lot brown. "Such a waste, amiright?" He cracked the gum against his teeth, not noticing (or completely ignoring) the horrified looks on his companions' faces. "I can't really tell what flavor it is though. I'm getting bits of spearmint and a touch of shoe bottom." All he did was shrug and continue to chew his gum like a cow chews cud while Dosie tried her very hardest not to gag.

"You're disgusting. You are genuinely the most disgusting person I have ever come in contact with," she forced out, unable to so much as look in his direction.

"Haven't you only ever met, like, three people though?" He pointed out, blowing another discolored bubble that almost stuck to the tip of his nose when it popped.

"Touche," she said, pulling her braid over her shoulder and untangling the strands, wrapping a few blue pieces around her hand. "Still nasty though. And if any of that gets in my hair, I will kill you with a teaspoon of water while you sleep, I promise you that."

"Oh really, maid-with-a-braid? I'd like to see you try." Atticus smirked slightly, getting a little closer and cracking the pre-chewed gum dangerously close to her ear. "You wouldn't have the nerve, little miss I've-been-stuck-in-an-attic-all-my-life."

With a slight gasp, she crossed her thin arms over her chest. "Is that what you call an insult, hun? If you were any more inbred, you'd be a sandwich."

Jenka tried his best not to snort as he wormed his way between the two. "Ladies, ladies, you're both pretty. Lord help me for saying this, but can we at least try to get along here? We've literally been walking for like," he glanced at his watch, "all of two hours and it's still  along way to where we need to be. We can't be at each other's throats quite yet."

Dosie and Atticus grumbled in sync, both turning their back to the other. It was going to be a long trip.