IGNACIO #6 “I just like proving you wrong.”
The treasure chest made a loud scraping sound as Andy dragged it across the concrete parking lot toward the loading garage where she was meant to meet her contact. Well, meant might be too strong a phrase. No one expected Andy to pull this off. She was almost certain that Ignacio and his people sent her on this wild goose chase to get rid of her, but getting rid of Andy Barclay was easier said than done. Just ask a particular killer doll.
So despite the task being impossible, Andy was there in that parking lot anyway. All of her clothes were wet, like soaking wet, she left little wet footprints behind her, and there was a fair amount of seaweed dangling off of her shoulders and pockets, but she was there, and that was what mattered. The treasure chest—something lugged up from the bottom of the sea off a boat called ‘the Wench’s Knob’—was heavier than Andy could carry, hence the dragging, and it too was still wet, which probably made it even harder to drag around, but inside was more gold coins than any non-pirate had ever seen… probably. And it was Andy’s ticket into the good graces of some criminals, which now that that was said… maybe that wasn’t such a great thing.
“Nacho!!” Andy banged a clenched fist on the side of the metal warehouse door when she reached it. She was out of breath a little bit, bent over and panting, but she made it. She let the treasure chest drop behind her. She carried it far enough. Ignacio probably had people who could handle it the rest of the way. “Nachoooo! Yo!”
The big metal door rolled upward and opened with a clatter. Andy straightened up when she saw all the good looking men with guns on the other side of the garage. She did her best to not say anything stupid and instead she focused in on Ignacio.
“There you are,” she was all smiles now when she went behind the treasure chest and kicked it over. Countless gold coins spilled out along with a bunch of sea water. “Don’t worry, you don’t need to crew me up. I just like proving you wrong.”
THE DRUID #10 “We’re not playing strip poker. I don’t care what I said before.”
In the spirit of being honest, Andy was most certainly expecting some sort of reaction from Dru when she walked in the room. She wasn’t really good at predicting things, especially when it came to people, but she knew there would be something—a gasp, or laugh, or maybe she would throw a shoe—something. They had been talking about having a poker night for weeks and now it was finally here. Most of the people they invited bailed, or weren’t there yet, but that was okay because a nice quiet night between friends seemed to be exactly what Andy needed. She only hoped that her little prank wasn’t enough to piss in the punch and ruin the whole thing.
When the door flew open and Dru came in she sort of flinched, like something was being thrown at her, and she covered her face with her arms, calling out, “Andy! We’re not playing strip poker. I don’t care what I said before.”
Andy was already sat at the poker table, all the cards, and chips, and even beer spread out in front of her. She had the world’s biggest smile on her face and basically nothing else. She really wasn’t sure how Dru would react to walking in on her sitting there totally naked, but as reactions go that one was pretty good. She wished she filmed it.
“I got the veto loud and clear, Nancy Dru, this isn’t strip poker. This is naked poker.” Andy threw her hands up and gestured at her nakedness. “Big difference, mostly in the dress code. Speaking of which, you’re overdressed so… come on over and show me some flesh so I can take your money.”
Andy shuffled the cards. “I’m dealing.”
CLAIRVOYANT PROTECTOR #15 “Well, you’re coming home with me whether you like it or not.”
1989
Of all the doctors, and teachers, and adults, and people that came to visit Andy in the children’s home, Miss Lorraine was Andy’s favorite. She didn’t come by often, but when she did it usually meant something pretty special. She talked to Andy like he was an adult. She listened to him. She took him seriously. For all that and more, Lorraine was the closest thing Andy could find to a mother until the state actually let him see his mother again. Normally, when Lorraine showed up she did so with a smile and a warm look in her eye, and kindness melting off of her, but one time was different, and Andy noticed.
That one different time Lorraine came in with a red nose and pale, colorless cheeks. She was bundled up and sniffing a lot and she looked exactly like how a kid would want to look like if they were trying to stay home from school. She came and sat with Andy anyway, taking him away from the others to ask how his week has been, how he has been feeling—the usual sorts of questions—but it didn’t take Andy long to figure out why she looked so different.
“Miss Lorraine,” Andy drew out every word of her name and took her big, cold hands in his small warm ones. “You don’t look very good.” He put the back of one of his hands up against her forehead, which felt hot, and starting aping all the things his mother used to say to him when he got sick. “Look at you, you’re burning up. You need blankets and soup. Rest, you need rest.” Andy got up, more or less cancelling his own session. He guided Miss Lorraine away by the hand, basically dragging her, and continued Karen Barclay’s greatest hits, even if they didn’t make a lot of sense. “Well, you’re coming home with me whether you like it or not. Tons of rest and no TV. That’s the big one, no TV.”
Andy was too young to process or acknowledge the light smile all this brought to Lorraine’s face or the comfort a little bit of TLC from a kind seven year old could bring to an adult, but he wasn’t doing it for any of that. He was doing it because that was what someone did when someone was sick, and even if most of the mean grownups wouldn’t let Andy see his mother, his mother was always present in him. Always. Lorraine played along and thanked Andy for his concern, and promised him that she would get plenty of rest and be good and healthy by the time they saw each other next, and that was that. Andy missed out on having his chat with Miss Lorraine, but at least now she could get better.
