Furtive

Conversation Over Noodles

Chapter 3

The three of us helped push the dumpster aside and then Rhett knocked on the door. He told Maddy to wait outside with me while he went and talked to Tayka. I told them about what she did and said to me. Maddy thought she was only trying to protect the rest of them. Maddy said Tayka is always afraid of spies coming into their base and such. I still didn't understand what the 'base' was for, and I still didn't understand what Maddy, Rhett and Tayka did for a living. After some idle chit-chat with Maddy, Rhett beckoned us in. We pulled the dumpster across the door and then went inside. Tayka was sitting on the sofa. She stared at me hostilely.

"Don't be like that Tay, she isn't a spy, so just be happy that we have company," said Maddy cheerily. Tayka sighed and looked away. Something told me she wasn't big on warm welcomes. A boy entered the room from the kitchen, a boy I had not yet been introduced to.

"Well if it isn't the famous Cady," he announced. The boy walked over to me, took my hand and shook it. "The name's Jaxom, but everyone here calls me Jax," he smiled.

"Hi Jax," I said shyly. Jax was quite tall and slim. He had curly hair which almost covered his eyes. He was quite pale, but he wasn't ghostly. Tayka got up from the sofa and made her way over to a doorway on the opposite side of the room. She mumbled something and closed the door behind her. I'd gathered that she wasn't really fond of me or fond of me talking to her 'gang'.

"Oh and Rhett," started Jax, "thanks for saving my ass today buddy".

"Yeh," replied Rhett, "that'll teach you for not following the plan".

"Plans are for losers," said Jax as he slumped down onto the sofa. He patted the cushion next to him and waited for me to sit with him. I carefully plonked myself down and just relaxed a little, for the first time in a long time. Rhett came and sat with us on a large threadbare lounge-chair. Maddy happily jumped onto his lap.

"How old are you Cady?" inquired Maddy.

"I'm almost 17," I replied.

"Oooo! I'm 17 and... 8 months" Maddy giggled,

"I'm 18," added Jax, "and Rhett is just 19, or so we think. We don't know his exact birthday so we just say he is 19".

"Nahh, I'm 12 Jax," joked Rhett.

"You sure act like it," laughed Maddy as she planted a big kiss on Rhett's cheek. Rhett and Maddy giggled together until Jax told them to 'get a room'.

"So," I said, "Is there any more people in your little gang?"

"My brother," replied Rhett, "but he isn't home yet". There were so many questions I wanted to ask but they might have made everyone think that I was actually a spy.

After listening to stories about Jax's escape from who-knows-where for an hour or so, somebody knocked at the door. Jax jumped up and went to answer it. He looked through the little hole just like Rhett did before he began to undo all the locks and bolts. They must be big on security. Jax and the person at the door pulled the dumpster back and locked up. The boy turned around. He looked very similar to Rhett, but he was older and had a little bit of a beard. He was carrying boxes of take-away food, it must've been dinner.

"Zander, this is Cady. She needed a place to stay, so she's staying with us," said Rhett.

"Does Tayka know about this?" whispered Zander.

"She sure does, and she's not happy!" warned Jax. Zander rolled his eyes. Obviously Tayka wasn't insanely popular around here. Zander put the boxes down on the table and went to go give one to Tayka. Everyone picked up a box each and lucky for me, Zander had bought one extra that he was going to save for his lunch tomorrow. Maddy said I could eat it, and that we could always go get more food later. I opened the little box and inside was steaming hot noodles with chicken, vegetables and soy sauce. I hadn't realised how hungry I was until now. The room was almost silent, and all that could be heard was the clattering of chopsticks and boxes. Zander returned with the box that he went to give Tayka.

"She's not hungry," he said and began to eat to box himself. Zander sat down of the arm of the sofa next to me and ate hungrily. By then everyone else was finished besides me and him. Jax got up and yawned loudly,

"I'm going to bed, good night" he announced. Everyone mumbled goodnight and he disappeared through a doorway that I didn't notice before. Rhett, Maddy and Zander began yawning too, and then I remembered that it was about 1 am and probably time they went to bed. I quickly finished my dinner so that we could all go and rest. As soon as I shoved the last mouthful of dinner into my mouth, everyone got up to go to bed. We went through the door that Jax went through earlier and entered a room with 4 bunk beds. Jax was already zoned out on the bottom bunk in the corner.

"You can have the one in the middle Cady," said Maddy, "nobody uses it at the moment so it is fresh and clean for you". I smiled kindly at her and she giggled. I dropped down onto the bottom bunk and before I knew it, I was asleep.

I was falling, falling from the rooftop of the building and then, bang, I awoke with a shock. I breathed heavily and looked around the dark room. I heard Jax snoring to my left, and Maddy slept talked on the top bunk to my right. I wondered what was happening back home. What was my mother saying to all her colleagues? What was my father doing to try and find me? Where did my little sister Elizabeth think I was? I never knew I would end up here. I thought I would end up getting a job at a little café and maybe renting out an apartment to live in. I never expected to be staying with some weird assassin-spy-criminals, or whoever they were.

"Someone can't sleep?" said a voice from the other side of the room. Jax and Maddy we're asleep, and it wasn't Rhett. It must've been Zander. I nodded, and then remembered he couldn't see me, so I 'mhmm-ed'.

"Too noisy for you, ay? Jax is a bit of pain and Maddy, well, she is a different story," laughed Zander.

"It's not that," I sighed, "it's just everything is so different now, different than it was a few days ago..."

"Yeah?" said Zander "what's different?"

"I only left home a couple of days ago," I answered. Zander didn't reply immediately and for a bit, I thought he fell asleep.

"Why?" Zander asked abruptly.

"It's a long story," I replied, "don't really want to talk about it now."

A 'hmmm' was the only reply I got. He probably thought I was just a stupid little girl just running away from home. The sad fact was that I was just a stupid little girl running away from home. The more and more I thought about my decision, the stupider it looked.

"I know your story," said Zander, "no need to tell me." What on earth was he talking about? So far, I hadn't told anyone any big details about my past. "Tayka told me about you and she told me why she was being so cautious. It's understandable why she acted the way she did you know?" I didn't know and I didn't understand how Tayka knew anything about me. Perhaps she went through my bag after she kicked me out and found out a thing or two. That still wouldn't make sense; she kicked me out before she had a chance to go through my stuff. Something just wasn't adding up.

"What?" I questioned at last.

"It's a long story," he replied, "don't really want to talk about it now."