Little Red Robin Hood

III - The Community

"Yeah, yeah, I think I got it," I whispered.

"You think or you know?" Killian asked.

"I know!" I pulled the alternator out. It was practically fried. "Mm, someone put some stress on the battery, and maybe even the serpentine belt."

"Damn, you do know your stuff," he seemed impressed, inspecting the piece.

"Yeah, I practically grew up in the junkyard," I told him. "That's where I found my truck. It's not the best thing. Salvaging scraps doesn't exactly produce perfect results, but it works well enough. Still can't figure out what's wrong with the heating though."

"Well, bring it in sometime, and I'll take a look."

I felt my stomach doing barrel rolls. I lived in that truck. Not only were all my meager belongings in there, but also the money. I couldn't let him see the money. If he found it, there would be thousands of questions.

"We best charge the battery," Killian was saying.

"Right," I nodded, pushing my black hair out of my face. "If the alternator's fried, then the battery's probably depleted."

"You can head out if you want," he told me. "It's getting pretty late."

"You sure you don't need any help?" I slowly asked.

"Yeah, I got this last part," Killian nodded. "Head... wherever you sleep."

I smiled and nodded, then gathered my jackets and gloves. I said bye to Mika, who was closing up the front, then stepped out into the cold snow. Two days on the job, and Killian was already starting to lighten up. I had been told that I would get my paycheck every other Thursday, which was reasonable.

I had noticed that things were surprisingly cheap in this town, and all the lights in every store and restaurant were... dim. A lot of people had little lanterns and candles and even fairy lights. It was... pretty peaceful. People seemed to have mostly gotten used to me, even though it had only been two days since I got that job.

When I turned the corner into the alley, I froze, eyes wide.

The first thing I saw was the smashed windows.

The bumper had been partially torn off.

The front tire was slashed.

A small piece of paper was taped to the door.

I slowly approached my ravaged truck.

"Oh, baby," I whispered. "What did they do to you?"

I closed my eyes, letting the tears fall. Then I ripped off the note. The words were simple and sent shivers down my spin: Where'd you get the money, Raine? I softly gasped, then peeked in to see the suitcase still in its place, even though it was unzipped. I let out a deep sigh of relief at the sight of it. At least they hadn't taken it to the police or something. But they had seen the money.

More importantly, they had destroyed my only source of warmth during the well-below-freezing night. I didn't have a choice now. I had to take it to Killian.

The first thing I did was zip up the suitcase. With tears on my cheeks, I attempted to start the truck. It took a few moments, but eventually came to life. I knew it wouldn't go far, so I pressed on the gas and rolled out of the alley. Luckily the shop wasn't that far, only a few blocks.

The cold seemed to freeze the tears to my face, forever staining this scene in my mind. Someone had destroyed my truck. They had found the money. They had slashed my front tire. I could probably still drive it, even though I knew driving on the rim wasn't a good idea. At least the shop wasn't too far.