Walking Contradictions

"So was the money fake?" Brad asked his sister as the pair walked down the road towards town. "Should we be scared of Secret Services showing up?"

"I doubt that." Anna said, kicking at a piece of gravel on the side of the road. "It seemed real to me. Plus they didn't specify if it was fake or just traceable."

"Either way, we have to get rid of it." Brad sighed, adjusting his knapsack on his left shoulder.

"How? We can't just throw it out the window while we're driving down the highway. And you're the one who counted it all, so your finger prints are all over it. The best thing to do is try to pass it off as best we can and if anyone finds out we do what we Andersons do best: run like hell."

Brad heaved a sigh and looked around at the small main street of Shasta and smirked. "First stop is the grocery store. You get a Dr. pepper and a Monster, I'll get us lunch."

The duo entered the small grocery store and walked towards the back, playing it casual. "You got any cash on you?" Anna whispered. Brad nodded and pulled out a five dollar bill. If you're going to steal a lot, you buy something to cover the beeping alarms if they happen to go off. The clerks usually just tell you to go on, assuming that it's a faulty scanner.

"Buy the Monster." Anna whispered, peeling the sleeve from her Dr. Pepper before putting it in Brad's bag casually. The store was so small there were no mirrors or cameras and the clerk wasn't even paying attention. There weren't even any scanners at the door, but they still didn't need to raise suspicion.

They paid for the drink and left the store without so much as raising an eyebrow. They crossed the street before unloading Brad's bag. "Your Snickers bar and Lays chips, dear sister." He smiled, handing her the loot. "Holy hell! A record store!"

Anna turned and looked down the street at a place called Jack's. "Is that Dad's car?" She asked as they walked towards the store. "And that's Dad." They walked into the store and saw their father hugging some guy.

"Hey kids, wanna join the church of Satan?" Some woman with bleach blonde hair grinned at them from behind the counter.

"Sarah, quit." The guy their father was hugging a moment before snapped. "Hey guys. Make yourselves at home and look around."

"These are my kids." Thomas beamed proudly, pulling his children under each arm.

"Someone had sex with you and allowed you to procreate with them?" Sarah asked dryly, raising a well shaped eyebrow. "That blows my mind."

"They got names?"

"Brad and Anna." Thomas smiled, hugging his children.

"Hey guys, I'm Sam and this is Sarah. Your Dad worked for us when he was 18." Sam smiled. "So what brings you guys back to this hell hole?"

"Tony." Brad and Anna said simultaneously.

"The fuck is a Tony?" Sarah asked.

"This guy I owed money to." Thomas replied. "He shot our place up so now we're here until we can figure out what to do."

"Well fuck. If you need to make some quick cash, I could use some help around here, since someone would rather sit on their ass." Sam said, rolling his eyes.

"At least my ass is shapely." Sarah spat back.

"Oh I've missed you guys so much!" Thomas laughed, pulling his friend's into a hug.

The trio ended up working at Jack's for the day. Thomas spent his time in the back organizing the mess that had built up for years. Brad and Anna roamed the streets of the town putting up flyers for an upcoming CD release party that a local band out of Black Butte were having next Friday.

"I bet this band sucks worse than The Smiths." Anna remarked as they entered the store again.

Sarah screamed and every customer turned their heads and looked at her. "I'm adopting your daughter!" She called back to Thomas in the back. "Kid, you are amazing!"

"You hate them too?" Anna smiled, hugging Sarah happily.

"That shit bucket over there loves The Smiths." Sarah hissed, looking at Sam. "He's also brainwashed to believe that The Rolling Stones were more influential than The Beatles."

"Lies!" Brad and Anna yelled at the same time.

"Oh for God's sake!" Sam growled.

At the end of the night, the trio piled into the Camry and headed back to their new home base. The kids fell asleep, wiped out from walking all around town putting up flyers and occasionally running from a pissed off store owner who didn't want them putting things up in their window. Thomas tried endlessly to get a hold of his older sister Lacey to no avail.

"Let me try." His mother offered, pulling out her cell phone and calling up her daughter, who picked up on the first ring. "Lacey, why are you ignoring Thomas?"

"How did you-" Lacey began to say.

"Your brother needs your help, Lace! "

"What am I suppose to do, Ma? I'm barley makin it as is! I can't get a damn child support check from that bastard, I'm workin two jobs just to keep my babies fed, the fuck am I suppose to do for him?" Lacey snapped back at her mother.

Thomas sighed and put his head in his hands. "Just forget it, Mom."

"I'm not asking you to support him or the kids. All I'm asking is for you to help him."

"How, Ma?"

"Look, he's in deep shit. He and the kids almost got killed yesterday and now they're trying to move across the country. Even if it's for a day, just let them stay with you. They're willing to sleep in the car, and as long as they have somewhere to go at the end of the day, they'll be fine. They've fended for themselves all these years, so how are you going to deny them support when they need it the most?" Their mother said in a strong tone. Thomas knew she meant every word of it. "Do you remember when your husband left you? Did Thomas turn his back on you? No. He took you and the kids in and let you make his living room into your home for a week. Did he ask of anything from you in return? No."

There was a knock at the door. Thomas looked at his mother, who nodded for him to answer. He got up and unbolted the front door and opened it. "Mike! Whoa, you got tall."

"Hey big bro!" His brother smiled, pulling him into a tight hug. "Heard you were in town and I knew I had to come see you! How ya been?"

"It's been rough, man." Thomas sighed, closing the door behind his younger brother. "Finally paid my debt off and it almost got me killed."

"Jesus. Where are my niece and nephew?"

"They're asleep."

"Don't wake my babies up." Their mother hissed before turning her attention back to Lacey. "I don't care."

"What's going on?" Mike asked.

"Lacey's being a bitch." Thomas replied. The pair sat down on the beat up couch in the living room.

"When is Lacey not being a bitch?" Mike snickered with a grin.

"So it's settled, they'll be there in a couple of days." Their mother smiled confidently and gave Thomas a thumbs up. "Ok well thank you, was that so hard? Ok I love you pumpkin. Oh you don't mean that. Yeah whatever, bye." She hung the phone up and breathed a sigh. "Spoiled shit."

"Such a loving mother we have." Mike teased.

"Did you threaten her with the spoon again?" Thomas asked, a smirk spreading across his face before he and his brother burst into hysteric laughter.

"Will you two quiet down?" Their mother growled. "Tryna wake my babies up?"

"Oh I'm sorry Mom, I didn't know you were involved in making my children." Thomas smiled as Mike burst out laughing again. Thomas looked at his brother and smiled. He hadn't seen him in years. It was weird that they didn't look that much alike. Thomas had their mother's eyes, Mike their father's. Thomas had rounded cheeks and a heart shaped face, his brother high cheek bones and a chizzled look about him. "You're weird, bro." Was all he said as he smiled and shook his head.