Chapter 2: Jobs

As the cab pulled up it started to lightly rain creating a rainbow in the distance. I was craving a shower but knew we needed to keep moving so there was no trail. The man driving this cab was much more pleasant, but we where careful about how we answered his questions. We pulled up to the airport and I paid the man named Joe his eighty dollars.

"How are we on money?" I checked the ziploc bag again. "We have twenty bucks before we are out, but don't worry we are in an airport and there's plenty of people to pick from." A lady walked by and I twirled pulling her black wallet from her purse emptying the cash quickly and dashing up like I found it on the side walk.

"Please stop we don't need to get caught when we made it this far." Leah said as she walked inside leaving me to chase behind her. "Fine I'll behave." She rolled her eyes knowing I wouldn't.

I picked three more people before the security line and chucked their wallets in the lady's room trash can. Seven hundred should be enough for food and a place for a few days. Leah was quiet as we boarded the plane. "I don't think I can do this Valor." She whispered as I slid my bag under the seat wrapping the strap around my ankle. "Hold my hand and just breath." I whispered as she clutched my cold hand.

The flight attendance gave a safety speech and then we took off. Leah crunched my hand and I could feel the bones shifting as they rubbed together. "We are okay Leah." I murmered as we leveled out. "I am not as brave as you are Valor." I shook my head and she let go of my hand. I could barely move it. "You are, you ran away in the rain, got on a train, and a bus and now a plane. Just like me." She grabbed the arm of the chair as we rocked a bit. "You literally jumped on the train Valor. I ran for self-preservation, not to go on an adventure. And if I planned this I would have gotten caught already." I smiled and grabbed her hand. "Well lucky you have me." We talked the rest of the way and by the time we landed it was dark out. The only light provided by street lamps and traffic lights.

We grabbed a cab in San Francisco and rode in silence to Sausalito. The cab was way more then I thought so I tossed him a hundred and we ran before he could chase us down for the rest. We walked down a small street of shops and onto the beach. We showered on the boulevard and quickly changed clothes. "This is crazy." Leah yelled as the cold water hit her. Shh I hushed her as we rushed and ran onto the beach. We found some rocks and decided to sleep there for the night. We sat behind them and cuddled together as we drifted to sleep.

I was awoken by the sunlight that blinded me and decided to wake Leah. who knew when the tide would or could reach us. "Come on girl we have a lot of places to look for." I went through my brothers cards again. One was of the town and the other of the ocean. "He's got to be around here." We walked as Leah whined about her feet and back. i ignored her and walked trying to get my barings. We came across a small surf shop and I walked in. "Hey my name is Valor, and I was wondering if you know a man named Oliver?" The man turned with a big smile and a curled mustache. He was very theatrical in the way that he moved. A colorful scarf wrapped around his shoulders and flowed when he moved. "Yes yes I know an Oliver."

I smiled as he leaned in. "You must be his sister, you have the same crazy eyes." He laughed and played with his mustache. "My name is Paco, and I would bet Oliver is still asleep since there was a bon fire last night." He laughed spun around the counter. "Do you know of a place we could stay at or even work?" He held his hands out and waved them around. "Work here, stay here. What is there to fear? Be a star of the sea and even stay here with me." I smiled at Leah who shook her head no. "Say a hundred a month. To be fair I stay in one of the rooms, but I'm usually in there." Paco said as he looked between the two of us.

I nodded and Leah shook her head again. "We just met him. How do you even know he knows Oliver." I shrugged and handed the man a hundred dollar bill. "We don't, but he's our best bet so far." A bell sounded and in walked two boys that looked the same, but different. They had the same features, they stood at the same height. They had the same stance, but one had a sleeve of tattoos. "Hey." They both said at the same time and I swear Leah swooned. "We are Mike and Mark." The looked at each other before the tattooed one stepped foward. "I'm Mark, that's Mike to be clear." Mike moved Mark's shoulder. "Where are you guys from, we haven't seen you around before."

Leah stood ogling them. "Were from the East coast, we came looking for my brother Oliver. Paco just offered us a job and a place to stay." They both shook their heads. "You don't want to stay here. He's crazy and Oliver who?" Mark asked as he grabbed a wax bar. Mike went over and grabbed a different colored wax. "I'm looking for Oliver Sterling, and crazy can be good." I glanced back to see Paco talking to the window. he threw his hands up in the air. The twins looked at each other silently like they where reading each other's mind.

"Why don't you stay with us we have an extra room. If you don't mind sharing." Mark said as they put their waxes on the counter. "We can get you a job at Joe's. He needs some new waitresses." Mike said and Mark nodded. "I'll go with you I'd rather waitress and stay with you then him. She nodded toward Paco who was now dancing with a shell. I laughed and the twins looked at me. "I'm good here, but what's the rent so Leah can stay with you guys." The twins shrugged and said a hundred, so I gave them a hundred dollar bill too.

"I don't think your brother would like you staying with the town weirdo." Mike said and I shrugged. "I don't really know what my brother is like anymore, but I'll stay here until I decide to move on." Mark and Mike nodded and offered to show us around, but Paco handed me a key and took my bag up the back stairs to the apartment.

I chased after him watching him enter a bedroom with multicolored blankets and beads hanging from the ceiling. "When do you want me to work Paco?" I asked as I watched him put my bag on the bed. "Start tomorrow morning. Work from 5 a.m. till 11. Then you can enjoy your days. I'll show you the ropes tomorrow morning. Settle deay Valor, you are home now." I stood dazed a second. How did he know my name? He closed the door and I followed him back downstairs to see the boys talking with Leah.

Paco rang them up and winked making both twins shake their head grab their wax and head out. We followed them down the beach to a yellow house.

"This is our house. We live here with our friend Zane." Mark pointed to the red house down the way. "That red house is Oliver's. And the green shack off the pier is Joe's. He owns it and lives above it. They don't open till noon and at night they have live music." Leah clapped her hands and Mike opened the gate. "We will show you your room Leah and then walk you o er to Joe's." They walked us in to a white kitchen and around into the living room before we amended a set of stairs. "This is Mark's room, this is  mine and that's Zanes." We walked up another set into a game room. "This was our guest room which will be yours. It's smaller, but still has a bed and a dresser." Leah hugged him. "Small is fine. I don't take up much room." She laughed as she opened the door and tossed her bag.

"We keep the doors open so a key usually isn't needed, but there's a spare in the lavender out front." Mike pointed as we walked back out and headed for Joe's. I glanced at Oliver's house as we passed, and the anger inside me grew. He had a house, friends, and a life. Had he forgotten all about me, or just chose to abandon me?

"You doing okay?" Leah asked sensing my shift in moods. "Yeah just thinking." She nodded and looked at the house as well. "I'm sure there's an explanation." Mike and Mark looked back to make sure we where following. "Does it matter? He left me there." She nodded and Mark fell back next to us. "Valor he left, but he set up a life for you." I shook my head. "He set up a life for himself." Mark seeming to understand our conversation stopped walking.

"You want me to go wake Oliver to tell him you're here." I shook my head and grabbed his arm. "No let him be. He left me for almost seven years. He can find out when he finds out. I'd rather get us jobs and settle in before dealing with that. Plus I might not even stay here long." Leah gasped. "You can't leave me here. I don't know these people." Mark and Mike looked at her. "No offense." She added and they seemed to relax. "When I go I'll tell you, I'd never just abandon you..." I wanted to say; I'd never abandon you like Oliver did, but I held back.

Mark looked over his shoulder like he wanted to run and wake Oliver up. To warn him maybe, but he turned and walked to Mike. We all continued to Joe's. They knocked on a side door and a man fully dressed walked out. He had blue eyes and seemed to be older then us with his rugged beard and blue eyes. He wore jeans a blue tshirt, boots, and a flannel shirt rolled up to the elbows.

"Hey Joe this is Valor and Leah. Leah's interested in a waitressing job." Mark stated as Joe glanced over at us. "Well let's go down to the bar and see what you know." We all walked down the stairs and nodded at me. "What about you want to waitress too." I shook my head at the large man. hia face covered in stubble and his piercing eyes seemed to see throigh me. "Sure but I have a job at the surf shop. I could work nights for you if you need me to." He smirked and unlocked the door letting us enter. The twins and I sat in a booth while Leah talked to Joe.

Joe waved me over as Leah filled out paper work. "So how old are you?" Joe asked as he slid a menu to me. "I'll be eighteen tomorrow." He nodded. "Look over the menu and tomorrow you can start. I do short shifts. Noon to four, four to eight, or eight to midnight. Which shift would you like?" He asked and leaned back. "Any, or all. I get off at eleven from the surf shop." He nodded and I read the menu before he slid a paper over to me. "I think I'm gonna teach you to bartend." I nodded and looked carefully over the drinks.