99 to Nowhere

by DOMINO

  I noticed it was empty and wondered if Cleo had been back since we last slept there.

  "You think drug head has been back?" I asked after I took off my coat and sat at the small wooden table.

  "Maybe, it's hard to say what Cleo would do, he's kind of unpredictable" He answered.

  Father Dawson walked in with two large mugs of cocoa and placed them on the table before me.

  "Thank you" We said in unison. I sipped on it and felt it instantly warm my insides.

  "You're welcome" Father Dawson smiled and looking at our two backpacks. "What is your name my child?" He asked me in a fatherly tone.

  "Oh, Maxx. I mean Maxx Gray" I smiled and tried not to grimace when I felt Rio step on my foot under the table.

  "Two different last names? And you are brother and sister?" He asked with raised gray eyebrows.

  "Yeah, same mom, different dad" Rio lied quickly. "One reason it's hard for them to try and keep us together in a foster home. We're both old and most families want babies, toddlers, and young children. We're kind of too old for it—"

  "Yes, it can be difficult. Where are you going?" He asked. "What exactly are you two going to do or plan on doing without a place to live?"

  "We're going to Georgia" I answered quickly. "Rio is getting his GED here and then we are going to our mother's sisters house there—"

  "Where in Georgia, I have family there as well?" He asked with a large smile.

  I swallowed and took another sip of my cocoa, remembering Rio told me never to give too much information to strangers because they were not all kind, but I was stumped for an answer.

  "Smyrna—" Rio replied confidently. "She has a four bedroom house there and never had kids. Our mom and her were not too close, so after mom died—" He sighed dramatically. "We found her on the internet and made contact. She said she wanted us to live with her and she would do what she could in the court system to adopt us legally"

  "That's great news, always good to hear a happy ending" He nodded and crossed his arms. "Why didn't she send for you? Why didn't she come and get you?"

  "She's not that well off father; she's divorced and didn't get anything out of the settlement, nothing but the house. We figure we can get jobs and help her out too, and then we'll all be happy" Rio answered and took a sip of his cocoa.

  I smiled and looked him over quickly. He's a perfect liar and will make an excellent lawyer. I had to stop myself from laughing aloud.

  "That sounds wonderful" He smiled. "When are you leaving for Georgia?"

  "Probably Tuesday" Rio answered and took off his hat. “Sorry, I forgot to take it off when I came in”

  "No problem son” He waved it away. “If you plan to leave Tuesday, you will need a place to stay tomorrow too?"

  "Yeah, if you don't mind. Our bus leaves Tuesday afternoon" Rio displayed his winning dimples.

  "Then feel free to come back for the night tomorrow as well, and since you have stayed here before, I trust you know, once you go out the back door it locks automatically?"

  "Yes, and doors open again by three—” Rio answered. "Thanks again Father Dawson"

  "You are very welcome son. I'm leaving now but there are a few cans of soup in the kitchen, just don't leave the stove on and I will see you tomorrow" He smiled and walked out.

  Rio and I gave each other a silent high five after he left, but we ran to the front door to make sure he was leaving. We watched him drive away and then turned to look at our dim surroundings. There were several candles burning beneath the large cross. I didn't feel I belonged as I stared up at the large cross with Jesus looking down at us. I felt as if he could see every sin I ever committed.

  "Let's go to the back and eat, you need to get a lot of rest so your mind is fresh for tomorrow" I said pulling him away; I noticed his eyes were fixed on the large cross.

  "Yeah, alright" He said and followed me.

  "Oh, and what did you mess up my Uggs for with your dirty boot. Do you know how long it took me to steal these?" I asked and pulled two cans of beef stew out of their cabinet and put a pot on the stove.

  "I don't want him to go and try to do the right thing, like call your counselor, and they come looking for you here. All he needed was your last name—" He began to bite on his nails nervously.

  "But you gave him your name" I said and took out a box of saltines.

  "Yeah, but nobody is looking for me here in Millington, in Chicago yeah, but not here" He countered.

  "Oh" I replied grimly. "Well I don't think he will do that anyway, I mean that story you gave was awesome. You're gonna make a great lawyer"

  "Not all lawyers lie, Maxx"

  "See what I mean" I teased and found a spoon in a drawer to stir the soup.

  "Be right back, gonna study more while we eat" He jumped up and ran to get his study manual.

  I pulled out two bowls and placed the crackers on the table. Taking out two glasses I turned to see Rio standing behind me with a grim expression. Cleo was standing beside him, looking around anxiously.

  "Oh, hey Cleo" I managed a smile.

  "He was at the back door" Rio licked his lips and pushed him toward the table. "Is there an extra can up there Maxx?"

  "Yeah, sure" I answered. I looked over Cleo, he looked paranoid.

  "Hi Maxx" He said sitting down. "Had a long night last night, the cops chased me. I had to sleep in a dumpster—" He was rocking back and forth. "You think we're safe in here?"

  "I know that we're safe" I replied and put a bowl before him.

  "You look different" He said looking me over. I blushed and put my hair behind my ears. "You really are a girl" He looked surprised. "Do you have a boyfriend?"

  "Cleo—" I saw Rio close his eyes briefly in thought before he looked him over. "Why were you running from the cops?"

  "I broke into one of those houses down on 13th, I mean, they got tons of money there" He threw his hands up in the air then scratched his oily black hair. "It's the holiday season, so they need to freaking share some"

  I continued to stir the soup slowly, agreeing with his every word. The lower the number of the block, the nicer the houses. I admired a few estates on 1st and 2nd street once when my foster mom locked me out of the house for not being in by six o'clock.

  "Those houses are nice—" I added.

  "See, even she agrees—" He shook his head and looked around. “Father McDowell?"

  "He's ill" Rio replied and slapped his manual on the table.

  "You still studying man?" Cleo asked. "You didn't fail that shit yet?"

  "Shut up, he's not gonna fail" I quickly replied.

  I poured the heated beef stew into three bowls and rolled my eyes that he was there in the first place.

  "Hey, don't get mad at me, I'm the one that brought you here, remember?" He pointed his dirty finger at me.

  "I brought myself here—" I replied defensively. I tossed three spoons onto the table so hard, one flew off and Rio looked at me wide eyed.

  "I saved your life!" Cleo replied, pointing to his chest before he unzipped his brown leather coat. "You were gonna kill yourself. You wanted to get ran over or some crap. I saved your life!" He declared loudly.

  "Look, both of you—" Rio put the spoon back on the table.

  I took it and slid it beside Cleo's bowl. "This one is his" I replied with a frown.

  "Oh, just because I'm dirty doesn't mean I like to eat with dirty utensils—" He frowned and got up to wash it off. “I thought you were cool, but you're a real bitch" He said after he sat back down.

  My hands clenched into fists and were prepping to slug him in the back of the head, but were stopped by the green eyes of Rio. He shook his head, telling me no. My jaws were clenched so tightly, I knew I would need a mechanic to pry them back open.

  "Just calm down you two, it doesn't matter how we got here, the point is that we're here now, and there's no changing it" He looked at Cleo and motioned for him to eat before he did the same to me. "And Cleo, don't ever call her a bitch agai
n"

  Cleo looked into Rio's green eyes and nodded. "Yeah, alright'' He muttered.

  "You could at least wash your hands before you eat" I frowned when I stared at Cleo's dirty fingernails. “You washed a spoon and not your hands, gross”

  "Ya know what, fuck you" Cleo replied sticking his finger in the soup to pull out a piece of beef. He threw it in his mouth and stuck his tongue out at me. "First of all, I got manners, but I only use them when necessary"

  I scoffed. "Yeah right—" I was irritated; I wanted to be alone with Rio.

  "My family has money and lots of it, but they put me in a home because of drugs, so I said screw it. Next thing I know, I'm hooked even more than I was before. I tried to get off of it, but it's too damn hard" He was spooning soup in his mouth between his explanation.

  "Napkins are over there" I motioned to the paper towels hanging over the sink, but he ignored me and wiped his mouth and chin with the back of his sleeve.

  "You should really go into that rehab place father McDowell told you about" Rio suggested and flipped through his manual. "It can help"

  "Screw rehab—" He retorted. "They get you in there and try to make you over, plus, I don't have the money"

  "It's free—" Rio countered. "Only thing stopping you is you. I think you like living this way"

  "I can’t stand it. I hate myself every time I shoot up, but my body needs it" He replied. He leaned back in his chair and rubbed his eyes. "Hey dude, remember when we robbed that pawn shop?" His eyes lit up.

  "Yeah" Rio replied nervously and glanced at me for my reaction.

  "There's another one on 56th. I checked it out. We can hit it, get some things and sell them, make a few bucks" He suggested anxiously.

  "Why, so you can shoot up some more?" I asked not looking at him.

  "Yeah, so I can shoot up” He mimicked. “What business is it of yours? Why don't you find some more cars to jump in front of and this time I won't stop you" He snickered.

  I threw my hair over my shoulders and tried to ignore him. "She doesn't wanna do that anymore, we got plans" Rio answered.

  "Really now?" He rubbed his hands together. "What kind of plans? Can I be down?"

  "No" I answered and looked at Rio.

  "Not those kind of plans man. I'm gonna get this GED and get in school. You know that's my goal" Rio replied. "Maxx is gonna get hers too—"

  "Bullshit" He laughed, crinkling the freckles on his nose. "Right, so you get your GED and go to school, you'll still be broke as hell and homeless"

  "Just forget it" Rio replied. He was flustered and flipped through his manual.

  I wanted to strangle the life out of Cleo, but was happy Rio didn't let his negativity affect him.

  We finished our dinner and went in the back to go to sleep. Rio and I cuddled up together in a corner while Cleo sat on the other side mumbling to himself. He made me nervous, but sleeping with Rio's arms around me made me feel safe. I couldn't wait for morning, so Cleo would be gone.

  TWENTY FIVE

  The next morning I woke up to see Cleo was gone when I shook Rio awake.

  "Test time" I replied while he rubbed his sleepy eyes. “Plus you have to log in those two hours first”

  "Let's do this" He smiled and kissed me.

  We quickly showered and got dressed. He put on his nice black sweater and jeans, he looked confident, but I was nervous, even if he wasn't.

  The walk into the heart of town was long, but worth it when Rio signed his name on the list and we sat at an available computer for him to log in his two hours. I sat beside him, impatiently, and was grateful when his final two hours were complete.

  "Registered" He said happily. “And just in time” He walked over to the printer and retrieved the course completion diploma he needed to get in for the test.

  I handed him two pencils and a pen. I was nervous as I looked around us, other young people, and a few older that waited and flipped through their own manual.

  "Do you wanna review or something?" I asked after we took a seat in the waiting area of the Millington library.

  "No I got it—" He winked at me.

  My stomach was in knots, I didn't understand how he could be so calm all of the time.

  "I know you do—" I smiled and kissed him quickly on the cheek.

  We sat and watched others come in with friends and family, nervous when they signed in. I felt my heart quicken when the woman came out of the room and motioned for all the testers to follow her in.

  I stood up with Rio and felt his arms around my waist. "Here we go babe, a new beginning" He winked and softly kissed my lips. "Love you"

  I smiled so brightly I thought I would blind him. "Love you too" I hugged again before he disappeared into the room.

  I looked around at the others that decided to sit and wait, but I wanted to get him something to celebrate. I knew the test time was about two hours so I decided to run into town and steal him something to show how much I loved him.

  I went into Clarins department store and looked around.

  Let's see, I already got him a watch, IPod. I snapped my fingers and went to the jewelry department. I'll get him a necklace too and get it engraved.

  I studied thick silver chains and grimaced at all of the prices. Digging into my backpack I checked my secret compartment to get the money, it was eighty dollars with the engraving, and there were too many employees walking around to steal it, so I would have to pay.

  Where is it? I pulled everything out of the bag and began to panic. I know I put it right here, I always put it right here. Where the hell is it! I began to put everything back in, and then it hit me, Cleo.

  I was fuming. I flung the doors open to the store and went into a grocery store to buy a congratulations card. This will have to do.

  I asked the cashier for a pen and signed my name, with a small note, before I rushed out to get back to the library. I waited thirty minutes before he walked out with a large smile on his face. I ran to him and hugged him tightly, I knew by his expression that he did well.

  "Piece of cake" He smiled and pulled me out of the library.

  "Awesome" I smiled and handed him the card.

  "Wait, what's this?" He grinned. We stood on the steps of the library. I watched him open it and read it aloud. "Rio—" He began.

  "You don't have to read it out loud, I know what I wrote" I interrupted.

  "But I want to—" He grinned and continued to read. “Rio, I'm so proud of you. I want to say congratulations, because I know you passed, and I can't wait to steal you your first business suit (smile). You mean everything to me and I can't imagine life without you, I love you so much" He put the card back in the envelope and kneeled down to put it in his backpack.

  "That will get me through the worst of times, I love you so much" He said and picked me up in a bear hug.

  "Love you too—" I kissed the tip of his nose. "When do you find out?" I asked after he put me down. "When do you get that diploma?"

  "Takes about two weeks, but Mr. Horne told me to give them his address so they could mail it there" He answered. "Now we are going over there so you can get on track, so let’s go, social worker Gray"

  We ran down the stairs of the library. The sun was bright as it reflected off the fallen snow, making everything around us brighter than it would normally be. We didn't really notice though, nothing could be as bright as our smiles as we ran across the street to get our lives on track.

  TWENTY SIX

  "We're here to see Mr. Horne" Rio told the receptionist when we walked into the Millington Adult Education Center.

  "Oh, he's with someone, but will be done soon. You can have a seat right there" The red haired receptionist smiled. "How have you been Rio? Test alright?"

  "Yeah, just finished, and I killed it" He said with excitement. "It was a piece of cake"

  "I knew you wouldn't have a problem" She smiled.

  A chubby middle-aged man walked out with a blond military crew cut and immediately smiled when he r
ecognized Rio.

  "Rio, son, get in here" He smiled and motioned for him to come into his office. "How did the test go?" He asked and sat down behind his small desk.

  I sat down in his small cramped office. I looked around at his messy desk and books all over the floor, they were also piled up behind his chair.

  "Went great, I gave them this address like you told me" He paused. "This is Maxx, she wants to get on track too, and she needs to get her GED"