Retribution

Chapter Nine

Later in the evening, after all of Reyna's friends left, Nate and I conversed among ourselves in our room. I made myself comfortable on our queen bed to a good book and Nate was watching television.

"Felicia," he said after a couple minutes of background noise from the TV, "That Vanessa girl seemed a little shady, don't you think?"

"What makes you think that?" I asked passively.

"The way she dressed, how she acted..."

"Don't judge, Nate. She's still young after all."

"But, she-"

I flipped my book over facedown on my lap and turned my head towards Nate. "Your job's getting to your head again, sweetie. Yes, she may be a tad introverted, but that doesn't mean she's a sociopath or anything. Besides, how would you know? You weren't even there to see her."

"I saw her once. And I'm saying that because the League always dressed like that."

"You think she's part of the League?" I was appalled by Nate's statement of Vanessa.

"No that's not what I meant. But I'm just saying."

I took offense to his observation, but I didn't say anything about it. I didn't feel like starting an argument, anyway.

The weekend rolled in slow as molasses, mostly because I spent a majority of it grading homework. It was amazing how many "incompletes" I had to mark. It saddened me how many students could care less about their future.

My mother offered to help me grade. She was the one who helped me with my homework whenever I struggled and was also the inspiration for me to major in English and become a teacher. It sounds a little sappy, but she was my role model and got me through a lot.

There was never a day where we argued over anything, not even over the most trivial concepts. It was almost like I was her clone, except for a few alterations. If I didn't have any of my father's features, we would look and act exactly alike. My mom handled me with care when I was younger due to my inheritance of my father's dangerous temper. She would mention every now and then that we both shared a muscular frame, but I refused to admit it. My dad was not muscular, but was a little on the beefy side.

As we finished the last of the homework for the weekend, Mom wanted to go shopping for new clothes. I guess my wardrobe wasn't enough to satisfy her. I offered to drive, but there was a department store not too far from us. We came to a compromise and decided to walk there. Without her noticing, I slipped my handgun into my purse in case anything fishy happened. The store was not too far from a shady neighborhood and the house where we used to live.

The walk wasn't long and neither was our stay there. Mom didn't like everything the women's section had to offer, but she did manage to pick out a few shirts, pants, and a pair of Toms. I didn't buy anything, but I used my credit card to purchase my mom's stuff. As we cashed out, a young woman, presumably in her early twenties, made eye contact with me. Her dark blue hair and the electric blue streak in the middle of her head made an impression on me. It was something I was never going to forget. Not only did her hair catch my attention, but the way she looked at me. . .Like she almost knew who I was.

"Felicia, something wrong?" Mom's voice disrupted our thirty-second staring contest.

"I'm fine," I responded, not taking my eyes off of the girl as we left. From the corner of my eye, I saw her whip out her phone. It looked like she was going to call someone.

Evening came and it was time for dinner. However, something was off. Nate wasn't home on time. He was usually home when dinner was being made, but we were finished by now. A big case maybe?

Finally, the front door cracked open and a disheveled Nate stumbled in. He walled right in without taking his shoes off or removing his jacket. I approached him endearingly and questioned his strange behavior.

"I had to chase a couple of rats today," he sighed, "Kids tried to rob a liquor store. It was a long chase and they were gone before we knew it. Can't believe they got away so fast like that!" He slumped into one of the dining room chairs and massaged his temples.

"And I thought San Francisco was a safe city," Mom chided.

"Crime rates had never been this high since the League raided the university back in the 90s."

I noticed that one of Nate's cheekbones had a bruise.

"I'll get ice for that," I told him.

"One of them managed to fight back," Nate grumbled as I handed him an ice pack.

"How interesting. People these days will do anything to get their paws on stuff like alcohol, huh?"

"You're telling me."

After getting Reyna to come downstairs, dinner was going to happen at last. At the table, Mom asked me how Nate and I met. Nate told the story of how the League managed to raid the University of California in order to find me. He was undercover as one of the members and he rescued me from a collapsing support beam. Not knowing that he was a cop, I bit his hand (Mom asked Nate about a scar on his left hand). After he got me to safety, he revealed himself and we became friends, eventually falling in love. The rest was history.

"What a story," Mom remarked as Reyna and I helped clear the table.

"Your daughter's pretty feisty," Nate commented, winking at me. I shook my head.

We all chuckled lightly.

After cleanup, I turned on the TV to watch the news. It was routine for me to see what was happening in the world. Mom wasn't a big fan of the news, but she would watch it every now and then.

I had just caught the beginning of a breaking news alert.

"This just in," the stylish news reporter announced, "There has been a series of crimes throughout the San Francisco city and its limits." I signaled my family to come and watch.

"No one knows who, what, or why these are happening, but if you are ever in this area, try and stay indoors at all costs." A graph of the city map popped up on the screen, showing our area in red. My mother and I were just there.

"There are also theories that someone has started some kind of purge. Or it could be the rise of some kind of anarchy. That's all the details we have for now. Stay safe."

To think that the reign of terror has ended and then this happened. That was the straw that broke the camel's back. From now on, I'm bringing my gun to school and I'm going to hide it in my desk drawer. If anything happens at school, I'll be prepared for whatever happens next.