Packing Troubles

By the time we were both dressed, an hour had gone by.

I stood proudly in my black T-shirt and blue jeans, smiling to myself in the mirror.

My face was rid of the dreadful marker marks.

The smile drained from my face and turned into slight panic when I heard my name from my mom outside the bathroom.

"Yes mom!" I screamed on top of my lungs.

The last thing I wanted was mom not hearing that I answered her.

I immediately combed through my blonde hair, rearranging the tousled areas.

"This...should...do it..." I muttered to myself and kept the comb back into the small cabinet hanging above the mirror.

I rushed out of the bathroom, being extra careful not to slip on the wet floor.

Shutting the door behind me, I took quick steps to the bed and picked up my grey sweater. I threw it on with ease and smiled one more time before making a rush for the door.

I bumped into my dog Josie on my way out. He was standing in the hallway just slightly opposite my parents room, and in front of the storage room.

His pink tongue was bare and covered with nothing but saliva.

He panted like he had ran a triathlon. His tail shook ever so frantically, like I just got back from school.

Excitedly, he jumped on me, almost sweeping me off my feet.

Literally.

I caught my grip on the door I had initially failed to close.

It was pushed backwards and I fell hard on my back as the door gave way for me.

Josie spared nothing in licking my face and getting spittle all over it.

"Stop..." I said amidst laughter erupting unwillingly from my mouth.

I had initially tried to hold it in.

Josie was obviously trying to make me get spanked that morning.

Darren was already in the sitting room helping out with whatever was going on there.

I could hear stuffs like cardboard boxes plopping on the floor and my dad's commanding voice, well, commanding everyone.

"It's okay Josie. Besides, I think you need to see the vet. Your breath is beginning to stink." I said with a chuckle. It wasn't that bad. But once I could smell it, it was already due.

I got off the floor and dusted myself off. I couldn't possibly walk back to the bathroom. I was always a slight narcissist. I could spend several more minutes than necessary in washing my face alone.

I sighed as I looked around the room for something I could use.

I walked to the wardrobe and used the towel hanging there to wipe my face thoroughly.

A low grunt crawled up from my vocal cords as I remembered that I had already forgotten to put on my pair of slippers.

I threw the towel back on the wardrobe door and headed towards my side of the bed to get my new slippers.

I hadn't worn it more than once and I felt it was dirty. Even though I wore them all day at home.

I pushed my feet into them, desperately trying to get them to fit without having to bend over.

It was a difficult attempt, but it was worth it. I was just too lazy to wear it like any normal human being.

When I was done, I walked out of my room and Josie followed, still wagging his tail.

I shut the door loudly and walked down the hall, passing my parents room on the right and the kitchen on the left. I could smell bacon sizzling.

"Hmm." I hummed as my mouth watered. I was almost tempted to derail and walk into the kitchen instead.

I say almost, because my father's intimidating voice rang through the entire house as he called my name. Not too loudly, just very deep and emphatic.

"Evan! Get down here this instant!" He said as he looked up from the cardboard boxes he was attending to.

I stared at him and dropped my face.

I couldn't stand staring at him for much longer. His face had, "spanker" written all over it.

I walked down the rest of the hallway and made my way down the three steps that led into the living room proper.

"I'm sorry for the delay Dad." I said as I made my way past the numerous items and boxes that laid scattered across the tiled floor.

"Apologies won't get the work done. Carry those boxes outside and help your brother with the sale. We have to get rid of the things we won't need anymore. We're moving to your mom's hometown tomorrow, so get going." He said as he lifted a heavy looking box and placed it in a sectioned off area where other heavy looking boxes laid in the sitting room.

I sighed as I looked to my left, just slightly behind the sofa. There were three boxes there.

I walked over to it and piled them over each other.

They were fairly light and I figured they were Daren's old action figures and videogames. I never did care for such.

I grunted loudly as I lifted the boxes clean off the floor.

"Stop being a wimp. Life isn't fair." Dad's voice thundered in the house.

"Yeah yeah, I got it."

The door was slightly ajar, or so I noticed as i approached it.

I used my right foot to open the door further.

The cool breeze brushed against my face lightly as I stepped out on the porch. I looked on and saw the deserted streets, that had only humans to walk it. I hardly saw cars drive by that area.

The lawn was a mess as several boxes lay scattered on it.

I made my way down the two high steps that lead to the walkway, carefully tilting the boxes to my right so I could see properly.

Once I was close to Darren, I dropped the boxes carefully on the ground.

"This is no way to host a yard sale." My mouth said those words proudly, as I scoffed mildly, crossing my arms in the process.

"Well then be my guest. I'm sure these strangers would love cups of coffee or tea." Darren said without even looking at me.

He didn't even stir from the seat he had sat on.

I clapped my left hand on the wooden table loudly, trying to get his attention.

Instead, I got unneeded attention from passersby who were apparently allergic to minding their business.

"Come on Darren, try to be lively." A small sigh escaped my lips as I left the table and put a hand on Darren's shoulder.

He looked up at me with his big eyes and a small smile tugged at the side of his lips.

"Yeah okay. Just this once though. I guess I haven't been very fair to you so..." Before he could finish speaking, a lady walked up to our table.

"Hello boys! How are you today?" She beamed, revealing a set of slightly yellowed teeth, which I presumed was as a result of too much nicotine.

Her eyes were a bright blue, with withered eyebrows.

She looked fairly old, but not too wrinkly.

"Good morning ma." I said and looked to my brother, who repeated after me, turning to a cinematic grin. Yes, one of those charming movie smiles.

"I will just cut to the chase, I want to get a nice toy for my grandson, and I was on my way to the mall, but I want to help you boys too. Can you show me any?" She said, her voice cracking as a result of a sore throat, which she coughed in order to clear, every couple of seconds.

"Sure aunt. Van?" Darren said gesturing to me.

"Oh right!" I gasped as I forgot momentarily that we were having a sale.

I picked up the box filled with Darren's old toys and action figures.

"This looks cool." Darren said, stretching his hands and picking up a figure before I even kept it on the table.

He looked at it for a short while, like he hasn't even seen it at all, before handing it to the lady.

She didn't even look at it much.

"I like this. Can I get the whole box?" She said smiling wider than ever as she kept the toy back and turned to rampage her purse.

I and Darren shared a long confused look.

Before I could react, Darren picked up the box and gave it to the lady.

"Pay anything ma'am." He smiled sheepishly at me.

I gritted my teeth and clenched my fists.

That was no way to host a sale. You can't just sell everything in a box off to one person, it kinda ruins the concept of retail trading.

"Oh sweetie, will $200 be okay? I'm sure these must have cost a lot." The lady took out two very beautiful new $100 notes.

"But–"

"It's a deal." Darren said smirking, as he cut me off and collected the money from the lady right after placing the box carefully in front of her. It was two crisp $100 notes that looked like it was just printed.

The woman carried the box off and flagged down a taxi.

It was weird that she didn't do much "flagging down", and the taxi was a sparkling black, instead of a bright yellow. Also, since when did taxis have sinister looking drivers with cool glasses?

I watched her walk away briskly with her heels hitting the road hard, making a rhythmic sound. She hopped into the sweet ride and the car's tires screeched loudly as it drove off and disappeared around a bend.

"What was all that?" I asked, my voice just needing a little work before turning to a shout.

"Uh, selling, trading?" Darren said as he folded a hundred dollar note and put it in his shirt pocket.

"Darren you know that these stuffs are very old, you practically duped that lady!" I said in a frantic hushed tone.

I watched as he handed me the other dollar note, the look on this face almost unreadable. Almost.

I could tell he was enjoying this. I sighed as I took it from him.

One thing with Darren, unlike most big bros, he believes more in equity than equality.

He's anything but partial.

I folded it and pushed it into the back pocket of my jeans.

"I didn't bargain with her Van. She seemed pretty comfortable with the price." He said as he threw his eyes back on the road

"Whatever, I hope this goes by quickly. I'm already bored. I mean...did you see that car? And the driver? Why don't we have that kind of life?" I said as I sat on the lawn just beside Darren, folding my legs underneath me, looking and hoping for someone else to come up to our table. I needed to get that sale over and done with. Also, the thought of that woman being a rich heiress didn't leave my mind.

"Well, we have wonderful parents. You can't beat that." Darren huffed with a mock laugh

"It won't hurt to be rich a little. I wouldn't mind some roman royalty treatment when we get to mom's hometown." A smile spread across my face as as small daydream about ladies feeding me grapes caressed my thoughts.

"It doesn't hurt to dream Evan, so I support you. But one thing, return to earth on time before you float away to space. There's no oxygen there you know." I could smell his annoying behavior creeping out from his shell.

"Yeah whatever, at least I have the guts to dream. I just wish I could get a ride in that lady's car."

"Did you see that signet ring on her finger?" Darren asked in a low tone as he turned back to me.

"Um, no why?" My feeble voice coming out as a whisper. Whatever made Darren's voice drop so low should not be toiled with.

"That is a membership ring for the most sinister secret cult in this country. They're called The Sekans Clan. She IS stinking rich, but poisonously dangerous as well, so really, a ride in her car shouldn't be on your wish list." He said as his voice went up a notch.

My eyes grew wide as I realised the true meaning of their name. I had recently heard of them, but I didn't believe they existed.

"Oh gosh, I hope we don't see any of those kinds of persons again, things are getting creepy." I said as a cold breeze caressed my body, causing it to shudder.

"Young lad, ye should be more worried she didn't give us fake notes, else we'll be in big trouble." Darren said part seriously and part jokingly in an Irish accent as he looked away and back at me.

"What does that mean? Hold up, you're saying that these notes might be...f...fake?" My voice trembled as I came to understand what laid in store for us if that happened to be the case —Certain doom.

"These guys are known for their illegal dealings with printing fake money, drug deals, and counterfeit goods. In short, they're allergic to lawful businesses. So to answer your question, yes, it is a possibility."

"And you freaking took the money? What is wrong with you? If mom and dad find out, we are so gone. We should probably start digging our graves while we can."

My body switched to full panic mode as my own body became to uncomfortable for my spirit and consciousness. I couldn't think without imagining several instances of dad chopping our heads off and mom using our meat for soup.

"Relax bro, the lady wouldn't dupe two innocent kids like us with money as small as $200. That would be careless." Darren said as he smirked at my current fear and restlessness.

"So what is the guarantee that we were not played?" I asked again, my nerves relaxing and my breath slowing down. I could still feel my heart pound loudly in my chest, almost like it was going to pop out.

"Have faith young one. Have faith." He said in a dramatic tone, his eyes trailing off, like an old Kung Fu master. Yes, it was an inside joke.

I relaxed a little. I may not trust fancy looking old ladies or old ladies in general for the rest of my life, but I could trust Darren with my entire being.

I chuckled under my breath as I looked up at him, a dangerous enticing smolder creeping up his face.

Typical Darren.

One thing still bothers me to this day. We never found out if those notes were indeed fake. And why does the police not apprehend such criminals? My best guess was that they've got plenty connections in the force, so they could do as they liked without giving two hoots about the cops ad their work. Anyhow, that was the last I'd ever see of that woman. At least, that's what I thought until a few weeks later.

We will get to that in time.