Ataxia

twenty

Sander

2069

The little girl, Zoe-Astra, and I looked up at the large two-story house in front of us. Leah led us up to the front porch, taking a key from her lanyard, pushing the key into the rusty lock. She swung the door open and two dogs were whining behind a screen door. She slowly opened the screen and the dogs immediately jumped on her.

"Ow, Brew, quit it!" She said noisily as she shook the husky off her heels. "I'm so sorry, my dogs are absolutely crazy when I come home. Come in."

The two stepped inside and my ears practically bled when Zoe screamed, "Doggies!" She broke free from my grasp and dashed to the corner of the room where the corgi now lay on the couch. She started petting it's soft, blonde head. "What's his name, Miss Leah?" She asked eagerly, the dog loving her more every second as she kept stroking it's fur.

"His name is Cowboy Bebop," She replied, hanging the lanyard on a hook by the door where an umbrella also was.

"Hi, Cowboy Bebop!" Zoe exclaimed, now rubbing the dog's furry stomach. "He's so cute."

"Does she know what Cowboy Bebop is?" Leah whispered into my ear quietly so the girl couldn't hear her.

"No," I glared with disgust, setting down Zoe's small backpack in the corner of the room. "Seriously, what is it with your vintage things and shows or whatever you wanna call them?"

"What is it with yours?" Leah bent down on one knee to scratch Brew. "You're the one who wanted to start a Star Trek marathon when we were in college."

I glared, not saying a thing. She promised she would never mention it again (because, to be honest, I really am a nerd at heart).

Leah snickered, standing up straight again. "Now Zoe, I need you to take your things and go upstairs, okay? We'll be having breakfast soon."

"Okay!" She said a little too excitedly. "I'll be right back," she said to the corgi. She snatched her bag and scrambled up the steps. A few moments later, she came back down. "Uh, Miss Leah? Which room is it? There are, like, five."

"The one with the purple and green striped walls," she shouted from the kitchen where delicious smells of tarts came from. Though no actual tarts were being made, sadly.

"Okay, thank you!" She rushed upstairs again.

As I came into the kitchen, I saw that the walls were mostly lined with several spices and a lifetime supply of salt and pepper. The walls were painted a sunshine yellow and all the windows were open. Cool air drifted in and a candle was lit where the tart aroma was coming from. Leah was getting out several ingredients to make some sort of breakfast she spoke of.

"She sure has better manners than you," she said mindlessly as she was focusing on a waffle iron she took out.

"Ha ha," I said, my tone dripping with verbal irony. "I'm such a rude and horrible person."

"You are." She spun around and pointed at me with an organic egg. Then cracked and poured the yolk into the bowl. "Do you know if Zoe likes waffles?" She asked a very unrelated question.

"Everybody likes waffles," I crossed my arms which were a comfortable position for me. "Especially yours."

"Aw," she clenched her fist where her heart was, smiling. "That's so sweet Sander." I knew she was still being very sarcastic. She really did like to hate me, didn't she?

"Yeah, right." The silence passed between us. I couldn't stand there timidly anymore so I left and sat in the living room where Brew was making a bunch of growling sounds as he played with a chew toy. Cowboy Bebop laid down lazily on the couch. I watched Brew restlessly play and almost knock over the Christmas tree where he was dangerously playing.

"So why do you have a girl in your apartment?" Leah said from the kitchen after about ten minutes of silence. "Is she yours?"

"Oh, sweet Lord, no!" I shook my head desperately. "You know I'm not the type. Seriously, never. It's kinda a long story."

"Well, we've got all the time in the world." She took a break from her waffle making and sat down in the recliner, snatching her house shoes from Brew, slipping them on. She picked up Cowboy Bebop and redirected her attention to me. "Spill."

"Okay, but you might not like how the story starts ... or ends." I said, watching Leah's expression go from attentive to hateful. "Radcliffe gave me this job to find that girl upstairs, Zoe-Astra Greene and bring her to him."

"You kidnapped her?" Leah called throughout the house, sounding enraged.

"Shh! Not so loud." Leah was quiet but crossed her arms in rejection. "You could say that. But it was either I brought him to her or died, so pick and choose."

"I think you should've risked your life," she nodded. "Besides, aren't you, like, a black belt in karate or something?"

"That was back in college, Leah. I was trapped in spider-tape. Do you really think I could escape? The odds were, like, a million to one." I stared down at the ground, sounding sorrowful. "I seriously didn't want to. Even if you do deny it, I'm not the kinda guy to kidnap little girls."

"Mr. Vos?" Came the trembling voice of Zoe at the end of the stairs. Tears were in her huge green eyes. "What're you guys talking about?"

"Nothing!" We exclaimed at the same time.

"I heard you," she trembled. "Mr. Vos, you -- you kidnapped me? I thought you said I was going with you because my mom was sick." She was sobbing and for once Leah looked very guilty even though she wasn't the one who was kidnapping little girls.

The quiet passed through the room except for Brew playing around. I stood up to my feet, taking a deep breath and approaching her. I bent down on one knee and put my hand on her weak shoulder. "Zoe, are you listening? You're a good girl and you deserve none of this. But what Leah and I were talking about is very serious. I am never going to give you to that man we were talking about. I am your guardian and I will never let anything bad happen to you. Do you understand?"

She sniffed and wiped the last bit of tears from her eyes. She threw her skinny arms around me and I was a little uncomfortable with it. "Thanks, Mr. Vos."