Forsaken World:Coming of Age (25 page)

Jennifer put her pillow on her bed and turned around, shaking her head. “No, just watch. We all agreed you are on light duty for now—at least until you are rested up. You will watch today and see how we function in our routine, then if you feel up to it, you will start tomorrow.”

“I promise I’m ready to start,” Lilly said, stepping up to Jennifer.

“Uh-uh,” Allie sang out behind her. Lilly turned to see the two little girls making the top bunk. “You snored louder than Jennifer last night.”

“I’m sorry,” Lilly said with a grin.

“I don’t snore!” Jennifer snapped.

Carrie jumped off the end of the bed and turned to Jennifer, nodding. “Yes, you do. Dino even left Monday night it was so bad.”

Lilly moved over the bottom bunk where she slept and quickly started making it. Allie and Carrie moved to the other side and helped her. “I’ll try not to snore,” Lilly said, looking over at them.

“It doesn’t bother us anymore,” Carrie said, tucking in the covers.

“If it does, we just turn on a movie and turn up the volume,” Allie said, fluffing the pillow.

Hearing something loud turn on outside the room, Lilly spun around, looking at the door. “Relax, Lilly; it’s Ian and Lance cleaning up after practice,” Jennifer said then glared at Carrie and Allie. “I don’t snore, and if I do, it’s quiet,” she hissed at them.

“I feel the bed vibrate,” Allie said, heading for the door with Carrie behind her. Lilly stared at the two girls; both were carrying ARs like she had. The only difference was the barrels were much shorter, and she could tell those were real. Then she noticed they were each carrying a satchel over their shoulder.

Spinning around, Lilly saw Jennifer take an AR off the wall from a gun rack at the end of her bed. She looked at the end of the bunk bed and saw two gun racks with small weapons. “They carry real weapons?”

“Can’t hurt stinkers with airsoft, girlfriend,” Jennifer said, throwing a satchel over her shoulder. “Ian and Lance put you some gear together yesterday. They’ll probably give it to you after breakfast; then, I’ll help you adjust it.”

Still looking around the room at the stuff she hadn’t noticed, Lilly stared at the clothes rod at the end of the beds. “It seems they know what they are doing,” she said, the neat rows of shoes under each bed reminding her of summer camp.

“Oh they do but not on fitting gear to a girl’s body,” Jennifer said, heading for the door. “They don’t realize squishing your boobs under those vests hurts and when they mount your holster, they forget we don’t have balls to get hurt.”

Lilly laughed. “Yes, that would make a world of difference.”

When they stepped out, Lilly saw the source of the noise; Ian and Lance were using a huge shop vac to vacuum up all the airsoft bullets. When all the BBs were up, Lance turned off the vacuum, took the top off, carried it to the kitchen, and dumped the container in the sink. Turning on the water, he set the bottom down as Ian carried the top over and clipped it back on.

Ian rolled it away, and Lilly shook her head. “They are very efficient,” Lilly said.

“You haven’t seen anything yet,” Jennifer said as Allie and Carrie opened the back door. Dino led George and Judy in, and they ran to Lilly.

“Hey, guys,” Lilly said, dropping down to hug them. “Have you been good?”

“Yeah,” Lance said, walking over and patting them. “We had to get them their own bowls; Dino likes them, but doesn’t like sharing his bowl.”

With a broad smile, Lilly looked up. “Thank you.”

“Come on,” Lance said, motioning to the door with his head. Lilly got up and followed and saw everyone heading for the door. “Now we agreed to let you stay and see if you worked out, but there are some places you can’t go yet, like the basement.”

“Okay,” Lilly said immediately.

Lance glanced over at her and saw fear on her face. “Lilly, it’s just until we know you. We all like you and hope you work out here. We need some help.”

“I’ll do whatever you need me to,” she said, watching Carrie and Allie take off running to a building built in the face of the slope. “Please just give me the chance.”

“We are,” Lance said, still looking at her out of the corner of his eye. “We have a reason to make sure you’re rested before starting. If you’re tired, you could hurt us, and that doesn’t work.”

Feeling Lance stare at her, Lilly nodded. “I understand, but I can tell you just for the rest you let me have and that shower… I’ll kill anyone that comes to bother any of you.”

Looking ahead, Lance’s eyes got a little wide hearing that. “At supper tonight, everyone wants to hear about you. Where you lived, grew up, what you did before and after this started.”

“Alright,” she said, grinning and feeling much better.

Feeling more comfortable around Jennifer, Lilly moved over beside her as the workout started. Lilly watched even the little girls worked out hard, pushing weights and running on the treadmill with determination that didn’t fit the young bodies. When she turned to watch Ian and Lance, she sucked in a breath. They had taken their t-shirts off and were pushing heavy weights, grunting with each exertion. Their muscle definition was very noticeable.

“Whew,” Lilly said, feeling flushed and turning away.

When the group moved to the end of the gym with a padded mat on the floor and punching bags on the wall, Ian moved over and pushed play on a DVD. The screen started up, and a man started going through punches and attacks. Lilly watched the five line up and copy the man’s every move then step over to the punching bags, trying what they learned.

Feeling exhausted just from watching, Lilly let out a breath when they started gathering their stuff up, and Jennifer came over, wiping her face with a towel. “That’s workout,” she said then took a long drink from a water bottle.

“Shit,” Lilly mumbled with a blank stare then turned her head to focus on Jennifer. “I’m ready to start now. You’re learning how to kick ass.”

Allie threw up her hands. “Yeah, we can beat some little bitch’s ass!”

Hearing that from Allie, Lilly’s eyes got wide. “Don’t say anything about their language, or they get worse,” Jennifer said in a low voice as Carrie and Allie danced out the door with their rifles bouncing on their backs. “I could care less, but it seems to really bother Ian and Lance.”

“Sorry, I just didn’t expect it,” Lilly said, walking out with Jennifer. “It doesn’t bother me; they’re only words.”

Walking in the cabin, Jennifer hung her gear up. Lilly stepped back and watched Ian, Jennifer, and Lance prepare breakfast as Allie and Carrie came running in with a basket of eggs. “I can help,” Lilly offered, feeling useless, but the way they moved without talking to each other was mesmerizing.

Carrie pointed at the plates on the kitchen island. “You can set the table.”

Finally given a task, granted it was from one of the youngest, Lilly quickly moved over, grabbing the plates and silverware. “Lance, move!” Allie snapped. “You make the bacon soggy!”

“Well, excuse me,” Lance said, stepping away from the stove. “When the timer goes off, the biscuits will be ready.”

Looking over her shoulder, Allie rolled her eyes. “Duh.”

“I wonder how you would be as a football,” Lance said, grabbing her around the waist and throwing her over his shoulder then running into the living area. He threw Allie on the sectional then jumped on top of her, tickling her. Allie howled in laughter as Carrie dove over the back of the sectional on Lance’s back.

Grabbing her, Lance pulled her around and tickled both of them, making them turn blue in the face. “What’s wrong, huh? Can’t you breathe?” he asked, tickling them.

“Don’t help,” Jennifer said, walking past Lilly. “If you do, he will pull you down, and it looks nice, but he doesn’t stop until you pass out or pee. Ian will be joining him soon,” she said, moving up to the stove to continue breakfast.

True enough, Ian came around the sectional and grabbed the girls’ arms, raising them over their heads, then pinned them down. Then both started tickling, and both girls were now purple in the face. “They need to toughen the girls up,” Lilly said, joining Jennifer at the stove, not wanting in on that. It looked fun, but she’d had pee pain once today, and that was enough for her for years.

“I helped twice and tried to fight back, and they tickled me so long I passed out the last time,” Jennifer said, scooping the bacon out.

When the timer went off, Lilly took out the biscuits and carried them to the table to see Ian and Lance setting glasses on the table. She looked over at the sectional, and Allie and Carrie were panting, lying listless, half their bodies hanging off the sectional.

“They better rectify,” Lance said, grabbing coffee cups.

“Damn straight,” Ian said and held up a fist.

Reaching over, Lance bumped fist. “Man card,” they said together.

“Don’t ask,” Jennifer said, setting plates of food on the table. Lance grabbed the coffee pot, and Lilly turned, looking at the food spread out, and her belly gave a loud growl.

“Well, don’t get between the food and Lilly,” Lance said, filling the coffee mugs.

Lilly blushed as Allie and Carrie dragged themselves to the table. When everyone was seated, Lilly took the open chair. Watching the others reach out and hold hands, Lille copied them, taking Lance’s and Allie’s hands as Jennifer said grace.

When they were done, Lilly looked around the table. “I haven’t said grace at the table since I was a little girl.”

“Momma won’t let you eat if you don’t say grace,” Allie said in an exhausted voice. She grabbed her glass of juice and drained it. “Bubba, you and Lance can’t do that no more,” she whined. “My belly hurts now.”

“Don’t cop attitude,” Ian said, filling his plate.

Allie lifted her chin, looking at Ian. “When I get big, I’m going to tickle you and Lance so bad you’ll have babies.”

With wide eyes, Ian looked over at Lance. “We leave before she grows up.”

“Shit, the Hummer has a full tank. I’m thinking we should just haul ass now,” Lance said as his mind filled with pictures he didn’t want.

Looking at the terror on the boys’ faces, Lilly laughed and quickly covered her mouth, hoping not to upset them. Jennifer felt no need to restrain herself and busted out laughing as she pounded the table.

“Oh man, that was good, Allie,” she howled. “I’ve never seen them afraid of a spoken threat.” Allie beamed as Jennifer slowly stopped laughing, and the others continued eating with Ian and Lance just looking down at their plates, not wanting any more vile threats to their manhood.

Trying not to be rude, Lilly slowly ate, but her stomach informed her it wanted food faster. Her fork gradually moved faster from the plate to her mouth until it was moving in a blur. The others glanced over, watching, and felt sorry for what she had been through. When her plate was empty, Lilly noticed more bacon and a biscuit being put on it. Grabbing the biscuit before it hit her plate, she looked up, seeing Jennifer looking at her with a smile. Hearing a
clink
from her plate, Lilly looked down to see more scrambled eggs and turned to see Lance grinning at her, putting more on her plate.

“Just some advice,” Lance said, putting another spoonful of eggs on her plate, “slow down or you’ll get sick.”

“You and Ian eat that fast,” Carrie said, diving back in her food.

“True,” Lance said as he sat back down. “But we have always eaten that fast. I can tell by just looking at Lilly she doesn’t.”

Jennifer looked over and had to admit, with the exception of Lilly’s chest, her body was tiny. She might have been an inch taller than Lance, but Lilly’s waist was the same size as her own, and the top of Jennifer’s head barely touched Lance’s chin. Lilly wasn’t malnourished yet, but Jennifer could tell she had missed some meals. Lilly just had a small stature.

“Sorry,” Lilly said and swallowed.

Lance shrugged, grabbing his coffee. “Don’t know what for. George and Judy didn’t apologize when we fed them.”

“Yeah, that’s why we had to find two bowls,” Jennifer said, grabbing her fork. “They didn’t even want to share with each other, and Dino’s bowl is his alone.”

Lily glanced over at her dogs lying with Dino on a mattress in the corner then turned, looking at everyone at the table. “Thank you so much,” she said, trying not to cry. When her stomach growled again, Lilly started eating with misty eyes.

“One thing you’re going to learn here is we help each other,” Ian said then carried his empty plate to the sink, rinsed it, and put it in the dishwasher.

“Humpf,” Jennifer snorted. “You two only started letting me help you after I bitched.”

Shaking his head, Ian turned and looked at Jennifer. “From your point of view,” he said with a smile. “We thought we were putting too much on you from our point of view.”

Jennifer took a deep breath to respond, and Lance held up his hand, stopping her. He saw the hint of fire in her eyes and knew she would get worked up. “Jennifer, he was giving you a compliment,” Lance said, dropping his hand. “You stepped up, demanding a man card.”

Allie let out a gasp. “A girl can get a man card?”

Thinking about what Ian said and trying to make it fit Lance’s explanation, Jennifer felt a headache starting and just quit. “Thank you,” she said and drained her coffee. “I think,” she added quietly, getting up and grabbing her plate.