To Forgive Is Divine, but I’m Not That Type

"Thank you." The mother of two beamed at me. "It's such a lovely portrait!"

I smiled back. "No problem; to be honest, it's just good to have a customer!" I laughed; she joined in, and left with her two boys.

I had earned big money today, selling four of my own paintings as well as the three portraits I had painted. I closed the stall and went in search of the comic shop.

I flicked through the comic books, selecting a few Superman comics. I had no idea what numbers to get Sally, so I just got the most interesting-looking ones. Once again I felt someone staring at me. I looked up and saw two guys, who were about Sam's age. They were staring at me with wary glances. One had a bright red bandanna on and dark blonde hair. The other had black hair and was wearing dog tags.

"Shake your head. Your eyes are stuck!" I hissed angrily. "What is your problem?"

"Just scoping your civilian wardrobe," the one with the bandanna replied.

I snorted. Was he serious? Who talks like that?

"Pretty cool, huh?" I replied.

"For a delinquent," Black-hair said.

I glared at him.

"How about you just ring up this purchase so I can leave, huh?" I said stonily.

The black haired boy complied angrily, and I handed over the money.

I reached out for the bag and bandanna-boy grabbed my arm.

"Take this as well," he said as he handed me a comic that said "Vampires Everywhere".

I laughed and shook my head. "No thanks, bandanna-boy. I'm just here for the Superman comic. Nothing else."

He glared at me, but did not push me to take it.

I laughed uncontrollably to myself as I left the store. "What a couple of weirdos," I thought out loud, making my way down the steps to where I was last night. It was then that I noticed just how much time had passed. It was night already. I hurriedly checked my watch. It was 6:30, so I still had hours yet.

I pulled out my sketchbook and pencils from my rucksack and sat down in the sand, trying to think of something to draw. It was then that I heard footsteps behind me.

Without making any noise, I smoothly pulled out my switchblade from my boot. I stood up suddenly and grabbed whoever was behind me, holding the blade in front of me.

"Whoa! Calm down. It's just me!"

It was the guy from last night - the one with the amazing jacket. I smiled, suddenly feeling embarrassed.

"Sorry about that. I just don't like people sneaking up on me," I explained.

He grinned back. "Yeah. that was kind of my fault there."

I laughed.

"So, do you have a name, or am I going to have to call you 'dude-with-the-cool-jacket'?" I asked.

He laughed. "I'm Marko."

I smiled. "I'm Roxy."

"I wanted to talk to you last night, but you sort of ran off."

I laughed again. I was amazed at how this boy effected me usually I was weary of people I did not know but with him it was different, I felt totally at ease around him like I was supposed to be with him, like I'm in love with him... WHOA! Did I actually just say that? I must be nuts or something; I can't fall in love with someone after meeting them twice!

"Oh, yeah sorry about that. But if I'm not back by midnight, then Sally, the owner of the hotel, locks up, and then I don't have a place to sleep for the night." I shrugged. "That's one of the downsides of living without parents. You get locked out, and no amount of crocodile tears and puppy dog faces can let you back in."

He nodded in agreement. "So why did you come to Santa Carla?"

"To make a long story short – I ran away."

He nodded, but didn't say anything; I decided to change the subject before he started asking 'why?'

"So, did you make your jacket yourself?" I asked.

He grinned. "Yeah, it took a while, but I did it all myself. I also did some stuff on Dwayne's jacket; I stitched the design on the arm of his jacket."

"Dwayne?" I asked.

"Yeah, you know, the one with the black hair."

"Yeah, who were the other two?"

He grinned. "Well, Paul's the one with wild hair and the jacket like yours, and David is the one with the black trenchcoat and the mullet."

"How long have you lived in Santa Carla?"

"A while now. The guys and me, we're all runaways of some kind, each trying to get away from something."

I nodded. "I know the feeling."

Marko gestured to my sketchbook.

"Do you mind if I have a look?" he asked with a smile on his face.

"Not at all, help yourself," I replied and smiled. I then handed him the sketch book and watched his reactions as he flicked through my many drawings. He stopped on one that I had drawn of Sam, Mike and Nanook.

"Those are my brothers, Mike and Sam, and Sam's dog Nanook. I drew this one before I ran away," I said after he asked me who they were.

"Do you miss them?" he asked.

I replied, "Sometimes, but other than those rare times, I don't really think about them. Even if someone paid me, I wouldn't go back home. For one thing, Mom would probably try to stop me from doing anything fun, and I don't really like Mike. He's sort of the reason I left. I mean, after five and a half months of doing what I want, whenever I want, I sure as hell can't go back home. To me, it means going back to having rules and regulations shoved down my throat."

He laughed. "I know what you mean. It sucks when people try to control you, doesn't it?"

I nodded. "Sure does." I could tell he knew exactly what I meant.

"What about your dad? You said that you miss your brothers and mom, but what about your dad?"

My face darkened and I clenched my hands in anger; I knew that the look on my face was what Sam liked to call my 'death face'. (Personally, I would take that as a compliment of sorts.)

"Well, let me put it this way - if I saw that man again, I would probably be likely to rip his throat out. After everything he put me through, that man deserves death!"

I felt tears of anger run down my face and my body start to shake. Marko looked at me with sympathy and pulled me into a tight hug which I gladly returned.

"Hey, shhhh, it's okay. I'm sorry for bringing it up." He rubbed my back soothingly until I pulled away to wipe my eyes.

"It's okay. I really shouldn't get so wound up about something I can't change, but sometimes I do. But that man seriously makes me mad. Before I took off, I found out from my mom that he was cheating on her with some SAT."

Seeing the confused look on his face, I then explained, "SAT stands for Self Absorbed Tart. It also stands for Scholastic Aptitude Test; I think Self Absorbed Tart has a nice ring to it, too."

He then nodded in understanding and gestured for me to continue, so I told him my story, right up to the moment that I met him on the beach last night -- including everything about how my dad would beat me all the time.

"So, your brother knew what was going on the whole time?" Marko asked with an angry look in his eye. "Why didn't he help you?"

I took his hand in mine, calming him down. "He couldn't. I told him that dad had stopped; I didn't want Sam to get hurt so I lied." I stated this all calmly and in a matter-of-fact tone.

He nodded sagely. "No wonder you left."

I nodded as well. "You know, you're the first one I ever told about this, and at least you believe me. That's the important thing."

He smiled at me and nodded. "I'm glad you trust me. Come on, you need some cheering up. How about we go do something that'll help take your mind off of what you told me?"

"Sounds good to me. What do you suggest?" I asked.

"Hmm. Do you fancy going for a ride? I saw how you handled your bike yesterday. I got to tell you, you got skills!"

We both laughed.

"Sure, why not?" I grinned.

"Come on, let's go meet up with the others."

We walked over to David, Dwayne and Paul, hand in hand, our fingers laced together.

"Hey, guys. Roxy's going to come for a ride with us!" he said happily.

"Hey, girl. I got to tell you, that was seriously cool last night with your bike. I don't know about any other girl that can ride like you!" Paul grinned at me.

I smiled back. "That's 'cause other girls are all wusses and have no sense of humour, especially when you throw an almost-empty bottle of Budweiser and it happens to accidentally-on-purpose smash above their head."

He cracked up laughing. "Oh, no, you didn't!"

I grinned "I did; she got all worked up about it, too, and got angrier when I broke her nose."

They all roared with laughter.

"You're not quite right, you know that?" laughed Marko.

"So I've been told by many professionals. The term is clinically insane," I grinned.

"Come on, let's go," said David when he finally stopped laughing, he jumped on his bike and we all followed suit. 'Strange,' I thought. 'I don't remember their bikes being there when I parked this afternoon. Oh, well, they probably came in later.'

David sped down the wooden stairs first, followed by Dwayne and Paul , Marko grinned at me.

"Come on, Roxy!" he yelled excitedly before following his friends.

So they wanted me to follow? I thought. Well, I'll show them how I do that.

I revved the engine while holding the brake down, causing the wheel to spin. I released the brake and sped warp-speed towards the stairs. I pulled the handlebars up so that instead of riding down the stairs, I flew through the air and landed past the stairs on the beach. I heard whoops of amazement from the boys and I continued speeding after them.

I guess this speed would be odd to someone who is used to riding at 'sensible' speeds, but I loved riding fast. Mike would always get angry that his little sister was better then him at riding, and would always make sure that no one knew about it. That's just one of the reasons that I hate Michael, the other being that he was always Dad's favourite child. And whenever Dad and I argued, he would always take Dad's side, just like he did that day.

I kept pace with the boys easily, landing perfectly when riding over bumps in the road; we cut through some woodland area and came out near a cliff.

I could no longer hear the boys but I could see a light ahead of me; it was too big to be the boys' taillights and the sound of the ocean rang in my ears. I figured that I must be near the cliff edge, so I stopped the bike and hopped off, and just in time too. I had my bike parked perfectly, almost exactly on the edge!

The boys appeared near me, all laughing and saying how good I was. Marko ran forward and pulled me into a bear hug, swinging me around and laughing. Luckily he stopped before I got dizzy.

"Girl, you are wild," Paul said and slapped my hand in a high-five

"Not bad, Roxy," David commented.

"Thanks!" I laughed. "Uh, guys? Is there any particular reason we are standing on a cliff?"

They roared with laughter. "Well, since you asked, I'll tell. You see, we live in a cave around here," Paul explained.

"You live in a cave? That's so cool!" I said and followed them down a wooden staircase, ignoring all the "danger" and "keep out" signs scattered across the ground, and ran down the slope leading into the cave.

The cave's interior looked really neat; I felt the artist inside me wanting to draw a picture of it. There was an old reception desk that was still intact, a fallen chandelier with starfish, a queen-size-looking bed and an old sofa, as well as several things that the boys seemed to have added, like the (as Paul calls it) rock-box, countless cassettes, scattered books, empty take-out boxes and the oil barrels that served as fire pits, one of which Dwayne lit so we could see.

"Not bad, huh?" asked David. "This was the hottest resort in Santa Carla, about eighty four years ago. Too bad they built it on a fault. In 1906, when the big one hit San Francisco, the ground opened up, and this place took a header right into the crack. So now, it's ours."

The speech sounded like David had rehearsed it, as if he was repeating himself over again. But that didn't make me any less in awe of this cave.

Marko, who was sat on the sofa, pulled me down so that I was sat in his lap; I turned my head towards him.

"What was that for?" I asked, trying to do my best at frowning at him, but it was so hard. He is one of those people that you just can't stay mad at; I should know. Eventually, I ended up hugging him.

He laughed. "See? You can't resist me!" He grinned and winked at me

I slapped his arm and laughed with him. "Oh, really?"

He nodded proudly.

"Yep, you are one hundred percent ga-ga about me!"

I poked him in the ribs and wriggled out of his arms so I sat next to him. He raised his eyebrows at me as I then shrugged as though to say, "Well, what do you think?"

"How mature of you," he teased.

I laughed. "Why should I act older then I am? You only live once, right? So, I'm making the most of it before..." I then stopped and clamped my hand over my mouth. I was about to let slip what I had told Marko; I didn't really know how the others would react if I told them, so I kept my mouth shut.

"Before what, Roxy?" David asked calmly.

I chewed my lip and looked at Marko, silently asking him if I should tell them, he smiled at me reassuring me that it would be fine. Finally, I turned back to the boys and said,
"Before Mike or Dad find me."

The boys' faces grew dark. "Why? What would they do?" David asked.

"You can tell us. We promise not to laugh. Honest," said Paul, and I could tell he was serious about that.

"Mike would probably attempt to kill me for 'ruining' his perfect little life, and Dad would probably actually manage to kill me for telling Mom the truth. I mean, I can beat them in a one-on-one fight, but if they're both together, then I won't stand a chance."

Paul looked fierce; I mean, he didn't look angry at me (as he knew it wasn't my fault), but more like he was angry at Mike and Dad.

"They won't get anywhere near you, Roxy. We'll make sure of that. We'll do our best to protect you," Dwayne said.

"But you don't even know me," I said, confused.

"Are you telling us that you don't feel like you belong here, that as soon as you saw Marko, you didn't feel instantly at ease around him?" David asked, smirking; I blushed and looked at the floor.

"If you don't believe me, look at the picture that you drew of us."

He handed me the picture and I gasped; I had drawn all the boys perfectly, but when I drew Marko, I had put the most effort into it. I had captured every lock of hair and every crease in his jacket. This was clearly done with love and appreciation…

Wait... love? I was in shock.

'I'm in love with a boy I have only just met,' I thought.

"See?" David said, and this time, I nodded, too shocked to speak. Marko pulled me into his lap again and hugged me into his chest, and this time I didn't mind a bit. Instead, I wrapped my arms around his waist, needing to hold him close.

It was that moment when I realized that, even if I had to, I could never leave Marko; I needed him. He was a part of me now. Back before I came to Santa Carla, I always used to scoff at people when they talked about love, and finding the one person that you would spend the rest of your life with, the one person that you needed to have more then anything on earth. Yet here I am -- a seventeen-year-old girl, absolutely head over heels for a guy I met yesterday. Now my life was decided. I would stay with my Marko…my Marko….

I liked the sound of that.

"Roxy…" David said.

I lifted myself from Marko's chest so that I could see David. "Drink some of this, Roxy. Be one of us."

His eyes were piercing, but this time kind of encouraging me. Almost subconsciously, I took hold of the glass bottle that he held out for me, and I liked how the bottle was all decorated with what looked like ornate jewels that seemed to catch the light. Also I could see the red liquid inside. 'Probably red wine,' I thought to myself, and I took a long drink from the bottle, and then handed it back to David.

Marko cupped my cheek in his hand and stroked down my back with the other hand. He held me close and whispered, "You're one of us now, Roxy."

He lifted my chin with his hand and kissed my lips softly. I kissed him back; in my mind, it was a soft, sweet kiss.

It was then that I began to feel really sleepy. I lay against him and closed my eyes, breathing in his comforting scent, finally falling asleep.

Narrator

After Roxy fell asleep, Marko carried her over to the old bed and wrapped her up in the covers. He stroked her hair once before sitting back with the boys.

"Tell us about her father, Marko. And, why is she so scared of him and this... Mike person?" David said calmly.

Marko's face grew angry. "Her dad used to beat her all the time. He's a drunk who cheats on her mom. He beats her just because she's a girl, and also because she fights back. One day, after he beat her, she had a black eye and split lip. Her mom asked her how it happened, and she told them -- meaning her mom and two brothers, Michael and Sam -- the truth. Sam stopped Roxy from killing her dad, and Michael tried to hit Roxy because he said that she was lying and making the story up. That's why she ran away."

All of the boys became angry almost simultaneously. "I'm going to get them!" snapped Paul. "How could they do that to Roxy?" he hissed, furious that members of her family would try to do that to his new sister. "Besides," he said, calming a little, "she's family to us now, and I for one wouldn't have it any other way there."

"I cannot agree more there," nodded Dwayne.

"Maybe we should leave him to Roxy," Marko suggested. "The second time we met, I asked her about her dad, and she said, and I quote, 'Well, let me put it this way - if I saw that man again, I would probably be likely to rip his throat out'. Now, put that kind of hatred along with an empty stomach, and voila. You've got yourself her first kill."

David nodded. "You're right, Marko."

He turned to Paul and Dwayne. "We should leave it up to Roxy to make the decision about what to do with her father. After all, that's exactly what a gentleman would do; he would sometimes leave a decision up to a lady."

They nodded, glad that the man would be getting his comeuppance.

"What about her brother?" Dwayne asked.

"I suggest that we leave him alone for now, and let Roxy decide what to do with him."

They all nodded in agreement, before heading to the back of the cave to sleep.