Chapter 21 Sem. 2 Wk 3

“You get to have all of the fun,” America told Lawrence for the fifth or so time as they watched the news in the common room. He and America had the couch while Cloud and Blue were sitting on the love seat and Torch leaned against the couch on the floor.

“I know,” Blue said. “We just watched Romeo signing autographs all afternoon. Even the criminals wanted his signature.”

“And some hooker offered him a freebie,” Cloud added with a scowl.

“We didn’t see anything,” America said with a sigh. “I really need to catch Dark Lothario this time,” she said. “He can’t keep doing this.”

“You need to catch?” Blue asked. “You’re not going to catch him. You’re just a kid, like the rest of us. We don’t know what we’re doing yet.”

Lawrence nodded in agreement. Glory took all of this so seriously, when the truth was, they didn’t know what the hell they were doing. He couldn’t even look Stone in the eye after the disaster the previous weekend. Torch had gotten all of the points--everyone was so thrilled for him, catching the bad guy. Not that Ratface Jones had been so bad. He’d been mostly pitiful…

Lawrence heard the door open and turned his head to see Black enter the room. He’d been with the girls and Romeo all Saturday afternoon. That must have been fun. “KP,” Black said. “Can I borrow you for a minute?”

“Sure.”

“More secrets,” America said. “What are you two up to?”

“It’s classified,” Lawrence muttered as he got up. “I’ll only be a few minutes.”

He ignored America’s dirty look and followed Black out to the loading dock. This time Black got as far as making him get into his car. “Well,” Black asked once they were settled in the front seats. “Anything weird about this Ratface guy?”

“He and Stone seemed to know each other,” Lawrence said. “He seems to be a repeat offender. They were almost friendly, except that Stone hit him a couple times. Stone said Ratface wasn’t lying. What’s going on?”

“Probably nothing,” Black said. “Thanks. You were a big help.” Black gestured that he could get out of the car. “And remember,” he added as Lawrence opened the door. “Trust no one.” Lawrence paused to stare at him. Black smiled. “That was a joke.”

“Oh. Great.”

“Really, everything’s fine.”

When Lawrence got back to the common room Captain Righteous had taken over his seat, and America was beaming at him as he told stories about fighting crime with his father, Captain Honor. Lawrence pretended he wasn’t annoyed with this and went over to the kitchen to find something to eat.

*****

Lola clutched the bag of Chinese food in one hand, and a bag magazines in the other as she made her way through the warehouse. The henchman guarding the door opened it for her without comment, and Patricia got up from her cot, setting aside the magazine she had been reading. She was wearing a purple sweat suit and her hair was clean and pulled back into a French braid, looking much better than she had the first time Lola had seen her. After talking to a few of the guards an agreement had been reached, and she and Patricia were beginning to develop a rapport.

“Hey,” Patricia said. “Did you remember the extra egg rolls?”

“Yep,” Lola said. Patty sat down at the desk shoved into one corner of the room and Lola pulled up an extra chair to the other side. “Did they get your cable hooked up?”

“Yeah,” Patricia said. “I got to watch news coverage of my own kidnapping.” She reached into the bag and pulled out a container of fried rice. “Poor daddy.” She sighed. “He just doesn’t have the money for the ransom--but Dark Lothario knew that.”

“He did,” Lola said.

“You know, it’s not so much the sex that bothers me,” Patricia said. “I mean, besides being evil he’s not so bad looking, and I’m an open, modern sort of girl. It’s the videotaping. Can’t you convince him not to tape it? I don’t want to end up a bad internet joke.”

“Some people would love to be an internet joke,” Lola offered, both of them knowing how fruitless this conversation was. Patricia was doomed, and by letting it happen, Lola felt doomed herself. “Look, I brought you the new Cosmo, and the New Yorker if you want something a bit more intellectual…”

“Goody. More magazines.”

“It’s only for a few more weeks,” Lola offered. “Do you want some books? What do you like to read?”

Patricia let out a short laugh. “I told my father he should have taken the deal when Dark Lothario offered it to him.”

“What deal?” Lola asked, interested.

Patricia took a bite of her egg roll before answering. “I know it’s a bad habit, but I have this thing about listening to phone calls on the other line. You hear some interesting stuff as the mayor’s daughter. Dark Lothario has been buying up large portions of the west side, and he wanted to get hold of some city-owned buildings. My father and the city council of course said no. And I have to pay for it.”

“What on earth does he want with the west side? It’s junk.”

“My guess? Nothing says power like owning an entire city. And whatever Dark Lothario wants, he gets.” She stabbed a piece of sweet and sour pork with her chopsticks. “Including me.” She glanced over at Lola. “And you.”

Lola nearly choked on her food. “What? No, not me. Never.”

“He’s still got you,” Patricia said. “Just not the same way. Do you like it? Being his minion?”

“I’m not--”

“Maybe my father was right to say no. If he buys out the city we’ll all be his minions. Whether we like it or not.”

A ruckus outside of the room made them turn their heads, and through the windows looking into the warehouse they saw the man himself, wearing a pinstriped suit and a fedora, playing the role of old-time gangster. He had a team of people with him, as usual. Lola met his gaze and he raised a hand and crooked his finger in a ‘come here’ motion.

“Busted,” Lola muttered, setting down her carton of rice and getting to her feet. Across the desk Patricia cringed. “All under control,” Lola lied, and went out to meet him.

“I didn’t authorize this,” Dark Lothario said, glaring at her.

Lola squared her shoulders but avoided looking him directly in the eye, just in case. “I don’t need your authorization to do anything.”

“You don’t, do you? You can pretend you’re not afraid of me, but we both know that’s just not true.” Lola didn’t reply. “If you weren’t afraid, that little girl would be gone, right? You don’t like what I do.”

“It’s depraved,” Lola answered.

“Is it? What about those little minions of yours? This is a dangerous game you’re playing. Let me guess--you programmed them for utter devotion, right? Would they die for you?”

“I--” The simple answer was yes. “They love me,” she said simply.

“Because you make them. You’re right to be afraid of me though. Maybe you can control weak minds, minds looking for direction, for purpose. But I am not weak, and I have a purpose. You are only here because you are useful. I suggest you stay that way, and not make trouble.”

Lola’s temper was flaming, but she managed to keep an outward cool. Maybe she was afraid of him, but it was a temporary situation. She was more powerful--they both knew it. “Mr. Lothario,” she said, giving him the sweetest smile. “I’m working with you right now because this is a mutually beneficial situation. You get my skills, I get the opportunity to be seen with powerful people. But my plans are bigger than your little town. You don’t impress me.”

Her heart was beating in her chest as she walked off, but glanced back to see the group of people descend upon Patricia. She would turn back if she thought she could do anything, but it would do no good.

*****


Glory came home awash in a super-hero glow. Captain Honor had never been one of her favorite heroes--gold armor was somewhat less flattering than Romeo Avenger’s poets’ shirt and tights--but listening to the stories Righteous had been telling them was fascinating, and not even KP, glowering in the corner for some reason, could bother her. She was a hero, like Captain Honor. She was going to make the world a better place.

Her mood darkened a little when she found Lola sitting on the couch with her books. Lola had felt a little distant since coming back from France, and Glory knew it was because of the argument they had had, but she didn’t know how to fix it. She couldn’t change the way she felt, and she knew Lola didn’t want to change either. Her friend wasn’t a bad person, not at all. But she and Glory, they weren’t the same, and now that Glory was in the league it was becoming ever the more apparent.

“Hi,” she said, sitting down on the other side of the couch. “Mind if I turn on the TV?”

“Go ahead,” Lola replied, barely looking up. Glory sighed, hitting the remote. The local news station blinked onto the screen. “Can’t we ever watch anything else?” she complained immediately. “A game show, a sitcom--anything!”

“--Breaking news this evening. We have received video from Dark Lothrio not ten minutes ago.”

“Sitcoms!” Glory cried. “Shut up!”

Glory remembered the happy, shining girl from New Years, in her white dress, her show-girl smile. All of that was gone when the video came up on screen. Patricia Wilkinson sat on a bed wearing an almost transparent red negligee and high heels. Her hair spilled over her shoulders, but she did not look the least bit wanton. Instead she looked frightened and pale, her mascara running from tears. “I won’t,” she was saying to someone off screen, and Glory winced when that someone reached into frame and slapped her across the face. Lola sat up straighter and set aside her books.

“Daddy,” Patricia said into the camera, blinking back tears. “I just wanted to let you know that I’m okay. They’re--they’re not mistreating me--much--” she shot the man off camera a dirty look. “I just want to come home.”

Dark Lothario stepped into frame, sitting on the bed next to her. He was fully dressed, his goatee perfectly groomed as he smiled at the camera. “John Wilkinson,” he said, putting a hand on Patricia‘s shoulder. “Do you see what happens, when I don’t get my way?” His hand slipped lower, towards her breast, but Patricia slapped it away.

Dark Lothario responded by grabbing her roughly by the back of the neck and forced her to kiss him. She struggled, beating her fists against his chest, but he was stronger than he looked, middle-aged and overweight as he was. As soon as he let her go she fled from the scene, and Dark Lothario stood up again, stepping closer to the camera. “The next time I do that,” he said, “she’s going to want
it. And the entire world will see it streaming live on the internet. Next time you might want to think twice before you tell me no.”

Glory didn’t realize she was crying until Lola touched her shoulder, but she pulled away from her friend. “Don’t touch me!”

“I’m sorry,” Lola said, sitting back.

“What do you care? You don’t care--you think he’s funny, a joke. You think--”

“Don’t tell me what I think, Glory,” Lola spat back. “You don’t know what I think--you have no idea.” She pointed at the television. “I do not like that man, okay? He’s a controlling, self-important, condescending asshole. I want him taken down as much as you do. So give me a break, okay?”

Stunned, Glory could only stare at her friend. “Okay.”

“I’m going to help you take him down, Glory. Don’t worry.”

“How are you going to do that?”

“I don’t know.”

*****

A/N: Late again, I know. This semester is just draining me, between taking 15 credits, losing my house and my cats. Whenever a chapter is late, assume it is because I'm having a nervous breakdown (that's only half joking). So this is chapter 21, and I have plans for 33 total, so that means twelve more weeks of this story. It took 3 drafts of outlines to get me to the point where I'm happy with my second half. I tend to outline too big and then have things fall apart at the half-way point, but this one I think is going to hold together.

After that, who knows. I'm working on two other projects now--a fairly mainstream fantasy piece and a definitely not mainstream coming of age story. Dunno if I'm going to post either online. We will see.

Fiona--thanks for the awesome review on Web fiction guide. You describe my story so much better than I do. And it's not white on black--it's off-white on grey. :)