Short Story: Póilín And Sonas Ate Their Breakfasts

I sat at the table reading the paper at the table as Póilín and Sonas ate their breakfasts. Jack had wanted to make them sleep in the garage, but I had insisted on them sleeping inside with us. Jack had laid the dog beds in the living room, but Sonas had ended up in bed with me. She slept curled into my side with her small head using my arm as a pillow. As I munched on a bowl of cereal I looked through the ads for a part time job around here. There wasn't much beside a waitress at a diner in La Push and a cashier at the grocery store. I almost didn't hear Jack as he came down the hallway.

"I told you you're going to school, your not going to work." He glared at and I glared back.

"That's way I'm looking at the part time jobs. I can work after school and it will bring a little extra money." Jack's glare softened now.

"Sorry." He mumbled and took the seat next to me, pouring

himself a bowl of cereal.

"I'm not a naive child anymore, Jack. I'm not going to fight you on going back to school." I scooped another spoonful of cereal into my mouth. Jack sighed as he looked up from his bowl.

"I know your not a child anymore, Deen. I can see that plainly, but I'll always see that little girl in my mind that argued everything." Jack seemed to be pleading with me through his eyes.

"The extra money can help and it will make us conform to the community more. If people see me, too, they won't start to cook up their own stories. It will make things smoother." Jack nodded.

"You're right." I smiled at his admittance and stood to clean my bowl.

"I'm gonna go for a run, do you want me to take Póilín with me?" Jack looked down at Póilín, who was sitting tall with his head cocked to the side in question.

"Yeah, it'll do him some good." Jack nodded and I left to change into some running clothes. I pulled my hair up into a ponytail and tucked my gun into a small holster that looked like a running pack. When I came out Jack handed me Póilín's lead. I grabbed a key and tucked it into the holster and clipped the led on to Póilín's collar. Sonas followed us out the door. I quickly grabbed her as she walked ahead and attached the rope from the porch to her collar. She whined as we passed her.

"Teacht." I commanded as I reached the road. Póilín fell in step beside me as I started with an easy jog. Jack had said that the beach was only a ten minute walk so with running it would only take a couple minutes. As I got further down the road I saw a trail opening and decided that a little off-roading would okay. The sound of dirt instead of pavement was different under my shoes and the feeling of being in the forest was different from being outside it. Somehow it felt safe and mysterious at the same time. There were very few extra noises, a bird here or there, but nothing else. I controlled my breathing as I built up speed, Póilín didn't seem to have any trouble keeping up as I ran. Within a couple minute the dirt under my feet began to change. It became softer and turned into sand as I came to the beach. The pacific ocean was beautiful as we ran along the shore. I was so caught up in the view that I literally tripped over someone. I landed face first in the sand. I hurried to get up as I heard Póilín growl.

"Tá an-brón orm!

Póilín, suí!" I apologized and made Póilín sit before turning to face the boy that I had tripped over. As I looked at the boy I realized he hadn't understood a word I said.

"I'm so sorry. I wasn't paying attention." I said and the boys confusion melted from his face as he stood up from his spot on the sand. He was huge! Almost as big a Jack, but with more defined muscle and dark skin.

"It's okay, I'm Seth. I don't think I've seen you around here before." He had an easy smile on his face as he held out his hand for me to shake.

"I'm Aideen and no, you haven't. My brother and I just moved here two days ago." Seth nodded.

"That's cool, you'll be going to school at Forks, right?" I nodded.

"Who's this guy?" Seth reached down to pet Póilín, but Póilín let out a growl and showed his teeth as Seth's hand came toward him. I grabbed the boy's hand.

"I wouldn't do that. Póilín, ciúin!" Póilín stopped his growling and Seth looked confused again.

"What was that?" I chuckled at his confusion.

"Póilín, here was trained with Gaelic commands." Seth nodded, but still seemed

confused.

"It's Irish." With the extra information Seth nodded and the confused look left his face.

"That's cool!" The smile from before returned in full force.

"Seth!" A tall woman called from down the beach, Seth snapped to look at her.

"I gotta go. See you around." He gave me one last grin before sprinting toward the woman. I gave him a nod and started to walk back toward the trail. If we were gone too long Jack would come looking for us. As I reached the trail I took Póilín's lead off.

"Sálaigh." I commanded and Póilín ran a step behind me as we ran back to the house. Jack was on the porch waiting when we got back. I hooked Póilín to him rope and took the chair next to Jack on the porch.

"I called the owner of a construction crew that works in La Push and Forks. I would work from eight to four. I found an ad for a used car that if it's in a well enough condition you can drive to get to and from school or work." I nodded as Jack spoke.

"I think I'll take the job at the diner in La Push. I can walk there tomorrow to talk with the owner." Jack nodded.

"After you've showered, we can go check out the car and maybe stop at the diner for dinner. You can see if you really want to work there." I nodded and went inside. The shower was refreshing as it washed away the sweat and sand from my run. I quickly changed into a pair of jeans and a long sleeve before slipping into my boots. As always I tucked my gun into my waist band. I don't think I carried the gun from fear anymore, but more from the security it brought and being used to having it on me.

Jack was ready to go when I came out. I pulled on my leather jacket as I followed him out the door Sonas gave a whine when I passed her on the sidewalk. I squatted down and she jumped up to kiss my face. I smiled at her and scratched behind her ear. When she calmed down a little I stood and get in the car. It was quiet as we drove, it was only a couple minutes before we pulled to the side of the road in front of an old house with a car that held a 'For Sale' sign in the window. The car didn't look to bad. The wheel wells had a little rust and the front tires looked a little bald, but other than that the little silver car looked fine. A guy of average height came out of the house. His graying hair cut short in a military cut and his eye had a hard set to them.

"Come to look at the car?" The man seemed oddly suspicious.

"Yes, sir. We need something for my sister to drive so she can get to and from the school." The man seemed to relax a little as Jack spoke.

"Well, alright. There have been a couple kids that when I come out claim to be 'looking' at the car, but we're actually looking for a joy ride." Jack nodded.

"I'm Henry." He held his hand out to Jack first.

"I'm Jack and this is Aideen." I nodded and shook his hand.

"Nice to meet you. The car here is a 2001 Honda Civic. She has 68,000 thousand miles on her and a little rust. The back tires are bald, but news ones are in the trunk." Jack walked around the car checking the under carriage and the under the hood.

"Would you like to take her for a spin around the block before making any decision?" Henry pulled out the keys from his pocket. Jack looked over to me and I nodded. Henry handed me the keys and moved around to the passenger's seat as I climbed into the driver's. The shifted smoothly, there weren't any unusual noises as I drove and the inside of the car wasn't gross or smelly. Henry sat quietly in his seat as I drove to the corner.

"Not much of a talker?" I glanced over at Henry who was looking at me hard. I shook my head.

"I wish my boy was like that. Even when he has nothing to talk about, he finds something to run his trap about." Henry shook his head and looked back out the window. I pulled back into the drive way, putting the car in park and shutting the engine off. Jack stood leaning against our car and looked at me in question. I nodded my head. Henry clapped his hands and rubbed them to together.

"So, what do you think?" Henry shifted his weight from one foot to another.

"I think we'll take the car." Henry nodded. Jack grabbed some money out of the car and handed it to Henry. He looked shocked to see a stack of one hundreds in his hand. His jaw hung open as he looked between the money and Jack. He quickly gained his senses back and stuck the money in his back pocket.

"Ummm… If you can meet me at the DMV tomorrow? Say noon? Can get everything signed over to you." Jack nodded.

"That'd be great." Jack stuck out his hand for Henry to shake before he got back in the car. The ride was quiet as we made our way back toward La Push. I turned on the radio and began scanning through the channels to find something that was more than static and not the rap or hip-hop shit that I was used to hearing blared from car stereos by gangsters on the street in Chicago. How was it that everything brought me back to thoughts of Chicago? And back to the gang bangers that were ever so familiar. I closed my eyes and I could see the lowering of three caskets into the cold, hard ground in Graceland Cemetery on the North Side. Even Tony had showed at the funerals along with most of the crew, though they all had plans for us to carry out only two days later.

I opened my eyes as the car stopped. We were parked in a dirt lot with the small diner in front of us. I got out the car quickly before Jack could ask the normal question. Are you alright? The answer was no and neither was he. I lost my mom, aunt and uncle. He lost his parents and his aunt. We both lost our home and the city we loved. We weren't alright and we never would be. How could we with what all had happened just a mere month ago? Everything had changed and we were given little time to mourn and adjust before being forced to uproot and move across the country.

Inside the diner was much like all the buildings around here. It was small and simple, but was warm and comforting. A 'help wanted' sign hung in the window to the left of the double doors. There was only one waitress and it sounded like maybe two people in the kitchen, I could see the very tops of their heads through the pass through window. The waitress looked up from the taking the orders of an elderly couple as a small bell rang above the door. She gave a smile and motioned for take a seat anywhere. We nodded and walked to a table in the corner of the room. Jack just opened his mouth when the waitress came up to the table.

"Good afternoon. My name is Kim, can I start you off with something to drink?" Kim smiled brightly at us as she laid menus in front of us.

"I'll have a root beer." She nodded and turned to me.

"A sprite." She gave a nod and left the table to get our drinks.

"You seemed to zone out a little in car." I opened my menu and held it front of my face. I heard Jack sigh before he also picked up his menu.

"You're gonna have to talk about it sometime." I heard him mutter softly. I knew I would, but know wasn't the time and I wasn't ready to lose the numb feeling that was holding the pain at bay.