Hole'd Up

Chapter 5: A Decision to Bake

"You-you want me.. to join Lynx?" My words started mixing for reasons beyond me. I stared at Maryellen, my eyes wide and jaw hanging open.

"Harley, why are you acting so surprised? I've already offered for you to join like twice." Maryellen scrunched her eyebrows and sat down on the floor with me. "Look. At this point, you don't have much of an option. According to standard protocol, we can only keep you here for a week, and you are on day six. Your choices are limited, it's either: you join Lynx and never return to the life you had before, or you can leave, but if you ever tell anyone about anything that happened here, we're going to have to kill you. Trust me, Harley, nobody wants the second thing to happen.

"Yeah, including me! But... I don't even know what I would be committing to? Like, what does joining entail?"

"Well, at first, you wouldn't do much. We would give you a tour around the Danger Zone, give you your room, let you meet a few notable people-"

"Who says I'm living here?" From what I've seen, these rooms aren't very nice. They might have different commodities for the actual members, but still, they couldn't be that much better.

"Trust me, these rooms are better than whatever apartment you had before." Maryellen winked at me, and continued talking, counting on her fingers. "Where was I? Oh, right, ok so, we would let you meet some people, and then we would give you a trainer/advisor. That will most likely be me. After a month or two, we would send you on your first assignment. Something small, like..."

"Like robbing a donut shop called Hole'd Up?" I responded sarcastically.

"Actually, yeah, that was Greg's first mission. Anyway, depending on how you handle that, we would decide what role you would have here, and introduce you to some people in the same field. You would have a single room for your first six months here, and then we put you with two roommates to save space. Then, your orientation is pretty much over.

"I mean, that doesn't sound too-"

"OH! I forgot. The tattoo thing." Maryellen reached down to her pantleg and rolled it up, revealing the orange outline of a cat on her ankle. "Gotta get that before your first mission."

"That's not too hard, get some alcohol in me before they start and I won't even feel it." I tried to sound like I was bragging, but I don't think it really came across.

"Harley, you're 19, that's illegal." Maryellen got a disappointed look on her face.

"YOU'RE IN A GANG!" I somewhat-yelled back. I fell back, laughing, and after two minutes of this, I started to think I finally lost my mind. Once I cleared the tears from my eyes, I could see Maryellen had been chuckling too, so I don't think I've lost my mind. Yet.

"Yeah, but we don't want to rack up unnecessary infractions!"

"I don't even know what half of those words mean so, therefore, it cannot affect me!"

"Harley, you are as stubborn as a rock, I swear."

"Thank you, I try."

Maryellen shook her head and spoke again, her face getting soft. "You don't have to decide now. As I said, you still have a day before we have to do something with you." She started to turn towards the door, but quickly snapped back, and said, "Oh! I almost forgot.. again. I swear, I'm only 29 and my mind is already leaving me. I'm supposed to offer you a shower."

At some point in the week, I had given in to the temptation and changed into the clothes they provided for me. My old uniform sat dirty in the corner, and honestly, I wasn't much better. "Yeah, a shower might not be a bad idea."

"Alright then, I'll take you to the bathrooms. They aren't communal, don't worry."

"Thank god."

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A day had past, and it was time to give my final answer. I was so nervous that, without even realizing it, I started to pace my room and gnaw on my lower lip. I stopped in my tracks at the familiar creaks coming from the metal door. Maryellen poked her head through and gave me a warming smile, but even her cheerful demeanor couldn't calm my nerves. I stopped in my tracks.

"Ah, Harley, thought I'd find you here," she said jokingly. Maryellen came into the room fully and closed the door with a snap. "Today's the day!" She shook her hands in a celebrating gesture. "Are you excited?" Excited wasn't exactly the word coming to mind. More like terrified.

I gave her a dull look. "Not at all."

She chuckles. "Aw, don't be like that. Being in a gang is fun. It's like having a family except that everyone has tattoos and very pointy knifes."

"You're not making this situation any better."

She gave me a smirk. "Wasn't suppose too." She chuckled for a bit then gave me one of the most serious looks that I have ever seen on her. "Harley." Oh crap. The way she said it. It's like your mother found out something that they were not suppose to know and they're about to scold you. It sent chills down my spine. "You need to decide. Either stay here and get a family that will always have your back at all times, or go back to that boring job, that you hate, and continue to live on your own with no friends or family." Wow, way to be blunt. Maryellen really loves to put me in my place. "I'm going to be honest here." She sighed and gave me a small smile. "I like you, Harley. I see great potential in you. You've got the sarcasm, the bravery, the stubbornness, and the smarts to become a great gang member. We could use you for missions and I believe that you will fit into the Lynx's quote well." Dang. That was...nice? Is a gang member suppose to be nice? Whatever, I'm not complaining.

"Harley, I need your decision." Right, the verdict.

"Uh..." Oh, good job Harley! She totally understood that. Now, lets try actual words this time. "I-I.. don't know."

"I expected that answer," Maryellen sighed and continued, "but what if I told you that I can help you make that decision."

"Yeah right. You just want to make me join Lynx." Honestly, does she think that I'm that dumb?

"Yes, of course I do, but I do believe that this will help you decide."

She reached for her back pocket and pulled out a grey flip phone. "You get to phone a friend. One call, whoever you want. Minimal supervision."

Is she serious? How would this help me decide? Don't they worry about me calling the police? Wait. No. The police suck. There's really no reason for me to call them. Still, why? Maryellen must have saw my confusion. "You can call whoever you want and ask for advice. I, of course, will stay in the room with you to make sure you don't give much away. And don't even think about calling the police. You and I both know that they will do nothing to try to help you. You have ten minutes." Damn, she really read my mind.

With that, she gave me the phone, and turned towards the wall.. for some reason. Not sure how that helps really.

"I can really call someone?" I glanced up to her for an answer and the only got a single nod.

But who? I don't really talk to people. There's not really anyone to call...

except..

God, has my life really come to this?
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I dialed a number quickly and held the relic up to my ear. Who uses flip phones anymore? They are harder to trace, I guess.

After what seemed like years, the ringing finally stopped, and a squeaky, annoying, infuriating voice came through the small speaker.

"Hello? Who is this?"

"Hey.. Zack. It's Harley."

Silence came through the receiver.

"I- H-Harley? Is it really you?" Zack's tone got even squeakier and rose two octaves.

"Sadly, yeah. Look, I don't have time for small talk, I need to ask you some things."

And this will forever be the moment that my life changed. Just great, isn't it?