There were two things I enjoyed: a cold coke and a nice walk. I know, they may not be the most extraordinary things in the world, but they gave me time to myself. It was a moment of solitude, accompanied only by the sounds of the city and my own thoughts. It was during these walks that I did most of my thinking. However, today was different. I was back home.
"You were so foolish," she said, playfully bumping her shoulder against mine. "I still can't believe you got away with it. Miss Carter must have had a soft spot for you; if it had been anyone else, she would have noticed."
"Well, can you blame her?" I chuckled as we strolled down the street.
"Boy, please. Don't pretend like you're charming."
"What?! Buttons, come on! Do I need to remind you of Ashley? Who was it that said she wouldn't date me because of my messed-up hairline?"
"And I still can't believe that happened. There was definitely something wrong with her." Buttons said, popping her gum.
"Now you're just hating."
"I don't have anything to hate on," Buttons replied, pausing our walk and leaning over the rail. The view would have been breathtaking if it weren't for the chilly breeze brushing past us. Who wouldn't enjoy gazing out at the ocean, watching the waves crash against the shore?
As much as this city had its flaws, I had to admit there was beauty here. And yes, I may have been admiring Buttons as I had that thought, but can you blame me? She was unique, and that's something to be said about everyone. But it's true. Short purple hair, light makeup, rocking a biker look. Her style seemed to have evolved since the last time I saw her, but she was undeniably attractive.
Damn, I can't believe I'm thinking this. Buttons... hot? I really need to get laid if that's how I'm seeing her.
"So," she said, brushing her hair behind her ear and looking at me. "What made you call after all this time? Just wanted to catch up on old times?"
I shrugged. What could I say? It had been a few months, and I should have reached out to her. But I didn't. I left the city, and in a way, I left everyone else behind too. "Well, sort of. I need something good in my life right now, and yeah, I've been a lousy friend. But you could have called me too."
"I thought I did." Buttons reached into her black leather jacket and pulled out her phone. She showed me the times she had called, and there were more than just a few. "Oh, I did. So what's up? Why did you come back?"
Leaning against the railing, I faced the opposite direction. Cars lined the side of the road, many of them missing tires and propped up with only a jack. Even with surveillance cameras on every corner, crime never ceased in this city. The local police were no better than the ones in New Vegas.
"My dad," I said, turning to face her. I wasn't quite ready to discuss my dad's death just yet. She nudged my shoulder again, causing me to look at her. She had turned around, facing the same direction as me, gazing out at the city.
"What's up?" she asked.
"He died. Four days ago, he was gunned down on his way home."
"Oh, shit, Ray. Are you okay?" Her voice was filled with genuine concern and worry. This news was a shock to her too. She moved away from the railing and stood in front of me.
"Yeah, I'm fine," I reassured her, although deep down, I wasn't entirely sure. I mean, he was my father, and we had a somewhat close relationship. But it just didn't feel real. My mom had cried for hours, but I hadn't shed a tear.
Buttons reached out and grabbed my hand, holding it in hers. Her touch was warm, even in this cold season. "Do you want to grab--"
"Raven? Holy hell, I was wondering who Buttons was talking to!" A cheerful voice I hadn't heard in a while shouted from the street. I recognized who it was even before she took off her helmet.
I gave her a soft smile, the best I could manage at the moment. Buttons frowned, clearly unhappy with the interruption. However, she didn't complain and whispered to me that we would talk later. Honestly, I wanted to avoid the topic for now.
"It's been a while, Kiki. Always happy to see you," I greeted her.
Kiki rushed over and hugged me tightly. For a Japanese woman, she was surprisingly strong, despite her slender frame. She and Buttons had different styles, even though they both grew up together as Asians. I couldn't quite put it into words, but Kiki favored loose-fitting clothes, while Buttons kept it stylish and fitted. Neither of them showed off too much skin, but that didn't mean they couldn't. It was just a reflection of their respective families, I supposed.
I Felt guilty when I tried to sneak a quick glance at Kiki's backside, but I didn't feel too bad about it. Not that I could see much anyway. The way she wore those black cargo pants made it hard to make out any details. Still, she looked good.
"When did you get back? What have you been up to?" Kiki fired off questions as soon as we released the hug.
"Not much, to be honest. Just trying to adjust," I replied.
"Well, don't do it out here. You know where home is. You're always welcome."
"Are you sure about that?" Buttons didn't sound as convinced as Kiki. I guess some things had changed while I was away.
"Yeah, don't worry about it. Drop that nasty coke, and I'll give you a ride," Kiki offered.
"Nasty? This is the drink of life. Try it," I said, pushing my bottle of coke toward her. Kiki gave me a look of disgust, as she despised anything with caffeine and sugar.
"You know we drove here," Buttons interjected, nodding her head toward her black Audi parked down the road.
"Oh," Kiki said, following Buttons' gaze. "Doesn't mean he can't ride with me, though. Come on, you left your bike behind when you left. When was the last time you rode one of these babies?" Kiki asked, beaming at her purple and black Venom sport bike. It was undeniably stunning. Did I want to ride it? Hell yeah!
I shot Buttons a look that clearly said, 'Can you honestly blame me?' She rolled her eyes and flipped me off in response. Alright, I knew she was cool with it in that moment.
★★★
It didn't take more than a twenty-minute drive before we arrived at the hideout. I was relieved that Kiki wasn't the one driving the bike; otherwise, I might have actually feared for my life. The way she rode, she should have been arrested and charged multiple times by now, but somehow the cops never caught her.
"This place is still a dump," I commented, giving the building a quick once-over. Shattered windows, graffiti all over the walls, and a broken fence. The only redeeming quality was its large size, but that was only because it used to be a factory. Now, it stood abandoned.
"Hey, it's our dump!" Kiki corrected me, putting her arm around my shoulder and leading me inside.
She wasn't wrong about that. This place held so many memories, both good and bad. It had seen its fair share of ups and downs. That's what made it so special and, well, a total dump. I'm still amazed they haven't torn it down after they found all those dead bodies here a few years back.
I noticed that Kiki was wearing a ring, not a wedding ring or one of those outdated mood rings. It was a black ring with a green jewel, though I couldn't tell if it was an emerald or not. They all looked the same to me, but considering the price of an emerald, I figured it was more likely a peridot ring.
Buttons also had a ring, but hers was blue in color. I didn't bring it up earlier because I assumed she would tell me about it. Unfortunately, our conversation didn't get that far before Kiki showed up. Not that our conversation was heading in that direction anyway.
Inside the abandoned factory, we headed to the second floor. Long extension cords ran down the stairs and around the corner, disappearing into one of the rooms. The second floor looked slightly better than the first, but it was still a dump. There wasn't much to it, but they seemed to have added a few things.
Like the fridge that Buttons went to. I may have taken a moment to observe her as she grabbed a water, just to see if anything else had changed. And from my perspective, things had definitely changed. Those jean shorts she was wearing did nothing to ward off the cold. Instead, they accentuated her plump booty and long legs.
"A lot has changed since you left, Raven. As you can see, we did a bit of decorating," Kiki informed me as she plopped down on the couch. It was covered with a fresh black sheet.
"This isn't even the main spot. We haven't used this place for anything in a while."
Kiki wagged her finger at me. "Not 'we.' You left the crew. But yeah, this is just where we hang out to get away from the world."
I took a seat next to Kiki, and Buttons sat across from us. There were USB drives scattered on the brown coffee table, along with a few sheets of paper. Still no TV, but one couldn't have it all.
"I guess, but fill me in anyway. I need something to talk about right now, besides myself," I told Kiki.
She glanced at Buttons, expecting her to provide more information. However, Buttons simply took a sip of her water, leaving Kiki to realize she wouldn't get any additional details from her. "Not much to say, or don't know what to say. We're working with Brandon now," Kiki replied.
"For," Buttons corrected.
"Who's Brandon? What happened to Carlos?" I asked, curious about this new person.
Kiki pulled out her phone and started tapping on it before showing me an image. I glanced at it and had a lukewarm response. After seeing a few dead bodies, you tend to get used to it.
"Yeah, things were crazy after you left, Ray. There was a full-on war between the East and the West. Bodies dropped left and right on a daily basis, and the city was put on lockdown for a while," Buttons explained.
"Damn. I heard the news mention a lockdown, but they claimed it was due to a minor chemical leak or some bullshit like that. I knew they were trying to cover their ass," I commented. That was the thing about New Dawn City. If you were there, you knew what was really going on. The moment you left, the news painted a different picture, full of rainbows and sunshine.
No one in their right mind believed the media and those who did come to New Dawn City but never left. Getting in was easy; getting out was hard.
Kiki slapped me on the back with a smile. "But no worries, we're all fine. I mean, things worked out for us."
"I guess so, considering you're wearing a gem now," I said, pointing to the ring on her hand.
Kiki held out her hand for me to examine the ring. "Yeah, pretty cool, huh?"
Buttons chimed in, "You can always come back and get one for yourself too. Surgeries are a bitch, but the market is cheap."
I already knew that; I didn't need a reminder. Gem extraction was one of the highest-paying and most dangerous jobs in the world. I couldn't deny that a part of me wanted to come back. I hadn't been away for long, but being with these two reminded me of the old times. However, I knew that things change, and people change.
"Eh, I don't know about that. Hanging out here is one thing, but Ricky won't be too keen on your return."
I sat back on the couch and propped my feet up on the table. "Why is that? He's still not upset that I left is he?"
"He shouldn't be, but it's Ricky we're talking about here." Kiki said.
Buttons sighed from her side of the room. "He's going to be a real ass about it. After everyone died-"
"Wait, what?!" I nearly jumped from the couch when I heard that. Everyone? What did she mean by that?
"Everyone except five of us. George and Adam left after the incident, and Ricky didn't bother trying to talk them into staying." Kiki added in.
I looked at Kiki, then to Buttons. "What incident? What are you guys even talking about?"
Buttons sighed once more. She reached across and grabbed one of the many usb drives that were on the table. "Here. Watch it when you get home, it has everything on it."
I put the drive into the pocket of my red coat. "I will, but what happened? Blackout had twenty people, now you're down to three?"
"Ten," Kiki corrected me. "I told you we were fine, everything ended up working out for us. More people joined us, and with our connection to Brandon things are running smooth."
I sighed and clenched the usb drive in my pocket. I was only gone for eight months and people I knew and considered close were gone, just like that. It wasn't even a year and I was out of contact with almost all of them. But, it still hit different knowing you lost someone close to you.
"Ray, New Dawn City just isn't the same anymore. This city changed, we all did." Buttons said, and she didn't sound too happy about it either. I wanted to ask what was up, but there just wasn't time.
"I knew I heard a rat, just can't believe I'm seeing it." A deep voice said. There was something about his voice that made it sound smooth and pleasing to the ear.
We all turned to look at the man who came up the stairs. None of us noticed his footsteps because we were too focused on our conversation. He was wearing black ripped jeans that matched his black hair. I knew he was going for that Tommy Shelby look with the way his hair was cut, but the piercings on his face gave him more charisma. I don't know why girls dug the pierced ears, eyebrows, nose, and lips look on guys, but they just did. His rough edge gave him that bad boy feel and everyone knew women just couldn't stay away. They always wanted to be the one to change the bad boy or at least tame him.
For that, I'd say they never met Ricky. The one thing I noticed on him besides the rings he was sporting was the new tattoo on his neck. This man must have had a god complex now because he had the word God across his neck. That with his stupid Chinese tattoo and I knew what they said.
He cleared the distance between us in moments. Before I knew it his fist moved in on me live a viper.
Stunned and tasting the metallic tang of blood in my mouth, I glared at Ricky. Kiki and Buttons jumped to their feet, shocked by his sudden attack.
Ricky, with his black ripped jeans and piercings adorning his face, approached me with open arms, as if his punch was a friendly greeting. But I knew better than to let my guard down.
Before I could respond, he delivered a powerful punch to my face, further disorienting me. Anger surged through my veins, overpowering the daze. I tasted my own blood, fueling my determination not to let him get away with it. The fact that he now wore a new tattoo on his neck, displaying the word "God," only added to my frustration.
Summoning every ounce of my strength, I fought through the pain and retaliated with a swift punch of my own. It connected with Ricky's jaw, staggering him backward. Kiki and Buttons gasped, surprised by my counterattack.
Ricky recovered quickly, a mix of rage and satisfaction flashing in his eyes. He wiped the blood from his lip and grinned, clearly relishing the confrontation. "Good to see you still know how to fight, Raven."
I clenched my fists, ready to defend myself against whatever Ricky had planned.
Ricky's grin faded, replaced by a cold, calculated expression. "You left us out to dry. Things changed, we changed. We don't need you anymore."
His words struck a nerve, stirring a mix of guilt and anger within me. "I had my reasons, Ricky. You know it wasn't a decision I made lightly."
Ricky scoffed, his eyes narrowing. "Reasons? Excuses, more like."
I took a step forward, my voice filled with determination. "You know what, I didn't come back for this. Believe me or not, it's up to you."
The room fell silent as tension hung in the air. Ricky and I locked eyes, neither willing to back down. The atmosphere crackled with unresolved emotions and the weight of our shared history.
Kiki and Buttons exchanged concerned glances, unsure of how this confrontation would unfold.