Layah took a handful of carrots and placed them on her lap, eating them as the meat cooked on the nicely built fire. It surprised her that she remembered how to do these things, not that they were difficult, but the fact that she had done them the same way her father had shown her â it was a mix of emotions she really didnât have the want or need to explore. Sheâll just quietly thank her father for showing her a thing or two and lay it to rest.Â
Her head was buzzing and she was just right, she put away the half smoked joint, extinguishing it with her fingers and saliva and put it away. She grabbed a paper plate from a nearby plastic tub and handed them over to Minnie, who looked like she really wasnât having a good time? âNever been camping huh?â Getting to know each other, it was something that rest on top of Layahâs list of things to do.Â
Now she was adding, âCook methâ to that list. It was something she was worried about, not wanting to fuck it up, but if Minnie was by her side, fixing her fuck ups wouldnât be so hard, it was more of preventing the fuck ups that made Layah worry.Â
âAre your parents going to take you? I can â if you want. I can keep you updated with all the shit. Also, can I write the recipe down in a notebook or something? I donât think Iâll learn that fastâŠâ There was a strange feeling in the pit of her stomach, one she couldnât understand, maybe it was best to leave it alone and focus on the present.
She gave a small laugh, and rolled her eyes when she reached for the plates, "do I strike you as the sort of person who has ever been camping?" Her tone was flat, but her expression amused at the thought of it. The closest Minnie had ever been to camping was that silly day camp she went to while she was a girl scout in second grade. But that wasn't anything like this.
"My dad and brother used to go out in the desert and do that sort of stuff before he went off to school," she said slowly, now that she thought about it. "Fishing too. I don't think they ever caught anything-- but anyway, I always opted to stay back home not outside, with a stove, and air conditioning." She didn't get the appeal, but she also doubted most people saw the appeal of the things she liked to do. Layah likely being one of those people. "You don't seem new to this sort of activity, though." It was half an observation, and half a question. "Or is it just the grilling thing you do often?" If she wasn't mistaken Layah had been grilling food at that party she convinced Minnie to go to earlier.
She busied herself with getting her bread ready for the hotdogs before answering the next question, "my mom is taking me. But she has to go to work so she can't stay. I hear it sucks a lot so... I don't know if I want anyone there with me anyway." Minnie had never been too big on showing anyone any sort of weaknesses-- as long as she had something to keep herself busy she wouldn't be too bad off. Right?
Maybe that'd change once she'd actually dealt with chemo instead of just hearing people talk about it... She hoped not.
"You can write it down, I have a ton of paper in my car with all my school things. You have to make sure no one else sees it though, maybe we should keep it in the RV." The last part was spoken mostly to herself. Maybe sheâd write down step by step instructions herself, that could be fun. "Not that I don't trust your friends but..." Minnie trailed off not knowing how to end that, it was exactly because she didn't trust Layah's friends. Maybe not those weird ones she always spent time with--
âBut you just seem to have a lot of friends...â
Layah sighed and retreated the joint, placing the rather smelly cigarette between her lips and lit it. A few hits, then she licked her finger tips and extinguished the joint and placed it in her ear and went on and listened to her. âIf you say it like that, I guess I can learn, wonât hurt yo.â She really didnât want to, but it seemed like she didnât have a choice in the matter. Layah didnât think about it much, not realizing that Minnie asking her to join her in the cooking process was probably a big deal.Â
âWhatever you want to eat, Iâm probably going to have that and munchies yo.â She giggled, placing her arms over her head ans she relaxed and stared into the fire for a few moments. Even if cooking meth wasnât exactly a good reason to go camping, she was at least happy it turned out that way. It gave her a weird sense, one she really couldnât place a finger out, but she ignored it for now and enjoyed being outdoors. âWill you be cooking anymore tonight?â She asked, still coherent enough to have a normal conversation.Â
It wasnât like it was her first joint, if anything Layah could be considered a lover of the green herb, so of course, it took a lot more to make her, for the lack of a better work, stupid. Whatever food Minnie took out, she placed on a small metal tray and heated it up, because there was nothing better than a warm meal while being in the middle of nowhere.Â
A few moments and she was serving them on small paper plates, ones sheâd taken out of a small storage space on the side of the RV. In all honesty, buying the RV had been a great idea and Layah couldnât help but feel like it was now here baby and would do anything to keep her up and running, even after they stopped cooking.Â
"No, it won't hurt. It'll probably help, actually." Right now she was fine, but she was going to be cooking a lot, even while they were just here for the weekend and while she was totally fine with doing it all alone, an extra pair of hands could help a lot. Minnie may like doing things herself, but she was smart enough to admit when she needed help. She wasn't that prideful, or stubborn.
That was a lie she could be very prideful, and stubborn. Just not when it came to something like this.
Minnie let out a sigh as Layah joked about having the munchies, and decided not to remind her that she only brought a certain amount of food for them to eat. They'd already had this conversation in the RV, the situation hadn't changed. "Here, eat some of these." She muttered tossing a bag of carrot sticks towards her. "Just not all of them, please."
She watched as Layah started to cook the hotdogs, and wrinkled her nose slightly really hoping that was sanitary to eat off of. God, if she got food poisoning from this because people didn't know how to clean up after themselves she was going to be very mad. That was the last thing she needed. "I might," Minnie said shrugging a little at Layah's question. "There is a lot I need to get through so, it might be smart too. I mean it's not like we have any other plans while we're out here."
Cooking was really the only thing she cared about at the moment, being able to make as much money as she could. "I'm going to be heading into Chemo next week," Minnie muttered almost under her breath, and got out the hotdog rolls, along with ketchup and mustard. "So, I do want to get as much done as I can."
Everything was now set up and ready to be used. She had a nice little set up, perhaps it was a little to comfortable and she should prepare to flee if, god forbid, the cops came out here to investigate, but she knew that the cops wouldnât bother coming all the way out here as they really didnât care about who lived out there. It was a terrible thing to say, but luckily, the nearest Reservation was thirty or so miles away, nobody would be able to find them out here. She opened up her camping chair and placed it by the small fire she had built. Itâd keep them warm for the most part, plus it was a good thing she had brought a lot of blankets to keep them warm inside the tent.Â
It didnât surprise Layah that Minnie started a cook the moment she arrived, which was a good thing, they needed go get as much product in order to start making that money. While she did her thing in the lab, Layah stayed out and kept a look, reading a few tattoo magazines and after she got bored with that, she rolled a perfect joint and waited for Minnie to finish doing her thing.Â
Layah shrugged, âI donât know â maybe, but I bet youâll get annoyed with me and kick my ass out.â She laughed, trying to make a joke. She didnât mind learning, but what would be the point? Layah wasnât a cook, she didnât want to be a cook, not at the moment anyways. Sheâd leave that science shit to Minnie and Layah would focus on selling and moving the product, the thing she was most good at.
âYou hungry?â She asked, reaching into her duffle bag for a tray that was pretty scorched, it was something she had stolen off a bumâs fire barrel and used in her make shift put back home. It was usually used to heat stuff up but not actually cook with. The metal tray was placed on top of the fire and ready to be used if Minnie wanted. Layah wondered if Minnie was surprised she knew a thing or two about camping, but she quickly pushed that thought away and showed her the perfectly rolled joint, âWanna hit it?â She wiggled her brows and grinned.
"Probably," Minnie said resting her hands on her knees. "There's a reason whenever we were told to pick a group in class I always opted to work on my own." Not to mention whenever she was forced into groups she ended up doing all the work, and only getting part of the credit. Not to mention she really never had any friends that she wanted to work in a group with, so that was a factor too. Sure, she was in a study group now, but it wasn't like they had to do any work together. They just studied.
This was different though, she couldn't expect to do all of the work always. Maybe she ended up feeling crappy and couldn't preform to her own standards, then what? Layah was going to have to take over. "I'm just not good with working with people. Or I'm not good with people in general. I don't know if you've noticed," Minnie said in a dry tone, and arched an eyebrow. When she continued on she casually shrugged her shoulders and spoke with a sigh, "I wouldn't take it personally. It doesn't mean I don't want you around."
If she didn't want Layah around she wouldn't have talked to her in the first place, and she definitely wouldn't be here outside 'camping'. Money or not.
Minnie leaned over to look through the bags of food she had brought when Layah asked if she was hungry, and realized... she should have brought camping food. Marshmallows, and things for s'mores. Oh well. Maybe if she didn't bring up the idea no one would know any better. "Sure, I brought stuff like hot dogs, we can cook those over the fire. I also have stuff for sandwiches, and vegitables. I brought peanut butter and crackers too, that's in there somewhere..."
She turned and looked at Layah when she offered her a joint and rolled her eyes, "no thanks. I'm choosing not to go the medical marijuana route," Minnie joked in a deadpan way and pulled the hotdogs out of her bag holding them out for Layah to take.
Layah sighed and put down the tent but kept the stick used to lift up the tent with her. âHeâs my best friend â I trust him, heâs not some idiot like Badger, yo you gotta trust me on this.â She shook her head, upset that she was acting like Layah was an idiot and maybe she was â it just sucked when it was confirmed.Â
She didnât wait for her to reply, instead she went back to construct the tent, knowing that itâd get dark soon enough and theyâd need a fire going. After a few moments, Layah was actually enjoying being outdoors and enjoying nature as sad as that sounded. She didnât get to do that anymore, or rather she only did it once and now she felt nostalgic for some reason. It was strange, but nice and she hoped Minnie would take that stuck out of her ass and try to enjoy it. Of course, she was aware that this was more of a cooking than anything else, but perhaps for one night, it wouldn'tâ be treated as such.Â
âYeah, we sleeping outside â that a problem? I donât want to be in an RV that smells like meth..â She trailed off, finally finished with setting up the tent, a few stakes in the ground and it wasnât going anywhere. âUnless you wanna sleep in the RV, I donât mind sleeping in the tent â alone.â
âNah, got everything we need right here yo.â Layah had actually gone to her grandmothers house before they left and picked up her grandfatherâs old camping gear. Sure, it was a little outdated, but it was still good, her grandfather always bought the best stuff, but this wasnât the time to feel sad, no â she needed to set up the camp fire and please Princess Minnie somehow.Â
"I'm just saying it gets very cold at night," Minnie commented as she headed into the trailer to start setting up the lab. Ok, that wasn't all she was saying, she was saying she didn't want to sleep outside at all, but it wasn't like she had a choice. Sleeping in the RV with all the chemicals was probably a bad idea. Especially for her.
Still, she didn't know why Layah seemed so surprised that she wasn't a big fan of sleeping outside. What exactly about her screamed 'I like camping'? Nothing.
It didn't matter, Minnie forgot about it anyway while she set up the lab. She was in her element then, actually doing something she enjoyed-- and lately she didn't feel like she was enjoying much of anything. With the diagnoses of her cancer, the lack of money, and the stress of possibly getting caught by the cops doing this whole meth thing and ruining what might be left of her future; not much was coming up Minnie at the moment. So, at least there was something she could enjoy, even if that something was setting up a meth lab in an old beat up RV.
Once the lab was set up to her standards Minnie discarded her clothes out the door, made sure all the food and other stuff Layah brought was out side, and pulled one of the masks she brought over her head to begin the cook. No time like the present, right?
Only a few hours later did she emerge, collecting her clothes again and going to sit by the tent Layah set up. "You know, if you want to learn... I'm not a good teacher but... you know." She trailed off awkwardly because she realized earlier she may have been a bit buzz kill. It was just how she was, but she usually didn't mean it. Usually.
She found a good spot and and went to park in it, it, trying to avoid some of the boulders that had fallen for god knew where and finally shifted the RV into park and got up and stretched. Layah listened to Minnie as she stepped out of the vehicle with her and went to find some big rocks and placed them behind the back wheels of the RV so that it wouldnât roll away. One she saw that it was secure, she looked around, thinking it was a good spot to do some cooking.Â
âThe only one I told was Travis, heâll check up on us tomorrow or something, if thatâs cool with you?â She asked as she grabbed the lever to roll down extra placeholders for the RV, she stopped and peeked over to look at Minnie, âThink itâs a good idea to keep these down?â She didnât wait for her to answer and picked them back up, just in case something happened and they needed to bail .Layah doubted that would happened, but it was a possibility.Â
The rocks would suffice and she went into the outside storage and took out cardboard boxes filled with equipment and other supplies and placed them in inside of the RV by the door. âAlright, did you want to set up inside while I set up the tent out here?â Layah figured they wouldnât be sleeping in the RV, not with those fumes once they started cooking, but what did she know? Sheâd leave it up to Minnie to decide on what to do, but she had packed a big enough tent and brought a lot of blankets and camping supplies to make sleeping outside desirable.Â
She kept this to herself, but there was a handgun in the glove compartment, Travis had given her his before she left and figured she wouldnât need it, but just in case, she was locked and loaded.Â
"Who's Travis?" Minnie asked looking almost a little panicked. Layah may have been cool with telling all these stoners about her, but she wasn't as cool with it. Hadn't they just been talking about how unpredictable junkies were?
Not that Minnie was pouting about it. No, that wasn't why she kicked a rock and totally scuffed her own shoe that she had just bought. Grumbling under her breath, Minnie bent over and rubbed the scuff mark out of her shoe while she thought. No, she didn't like Layah telling every Tom, Dick, and Harry about this-- but she had literally just asked if she told anyone because she knew someone needed to know. She was being irrational, Minnie knew this, but now that they were really doing this? The idea of people knowing was a lot scarier than it had been the other day.
And it had been pretty scary then too.
"Just... Just ask me before you tell anyone else," she said finally coming to a conclusion. "You might think your friends like this Travis, and 'Badger' are trustworthy, but I don't know them. Just keep that in mind."
Minnie nodded her head when Layah suggested she start to set up the lab inside, while she worked out here. "Yes, that's fine," she said passing her and heading into the RV pausing for a moment before turning around. "A tent for what? Are we sleeping outside?"
It was probably obvious Minnie wasn't exactly a 'sleeping outdoors' type of girl. She wasn't a 'go outside at all' type of girl either, if she were being honest. "Did you bring sleeping bags?" Was she supposed to bring her own?
The business womanâs face curdled at her colourful description. â Well, the poison might save your life, so Iâll take my chances. â she commented, setting her handbag off to her side.
â I guess Iâll just be upfront and honest with you, now-â she added in, sighing before looking Minnie up and down. âEver since we had our littleâŠmeeting, it had been nagging me. â she remarked. â You- pristine, perfect- prodigy- what reason could you have for wanting to do what you do? â she incquired rhetorically, purposefully using vague language for the sake of maintaining appearances.
â And while you might not think itâs any of my business what your reasoning might be for working with me, or what you get up to in your spare time- it is my business. â
She spoke much more quietly, now. â I have to be certain that the people who work for me can be trusted. â
â So, Iâve been doing a little digging. A little snooping if you will- to figure out why youâre a prodigy turned protege. â
â This is quite the reason. â
Minnie watched Marina with an unblinking expression as the older woman spoke, and cast a look around the room briefly. They weren't in here alone, and she wasn't sure who could possibly over hear them, or who they might tell. Minnie was already uncomfortable with the amount of people who knew about her budding little business-- she didn't need random people getting a little too interested in what was being said between her and the red head in front of her.
So, she was just as vague as she could be.
"Clearly I'm not perfect." Not something Minnie would freely admit to, because she did try damn hard to be perfect, or pretend like she was. Fake it 'til you make it and all that. But here they were in a hospital talking about why she had decided to make meth. Not perfect. "But I appriciate you saying so," she added with a half smug, half amused look on her face.
The young woman shifted in her seat, putting her legs up on the foot stool sitting slightly to the side of Marina's chair, and crossed her legs at the ankle smoothing out her skirt, "What did you think the reason possibly could be? That I was looking for attention, or felt like being rebellious all of a sudden?"
At least her reason was a good one. She wasn't doing this on a whim, she was doing this because she needed to.
Perhaps because she also wanted to.
"Is this a problem?" Minnie asked, and arched her eyebrow. "I didn't know I was going to need to submit a full medical history before I started working for you."
Minnie just needed to trust Layah and accept her advice on not dealing with Vesper. That was something that Layah needed to do on her own. Deep down she knew it was her responsibility and she hadnât wanted to do anything about it until now. Why did Layah always date the crazy ones? The ones that treated her just like her father? She scoffed at this realization, one she had known for a long time but never wanted to admit it. Daddy issues, she recalled the tantrum she threw when the bullshit therapist called her out on it. She had landed a few punches before the bodyguard nurses took her away and put her on lock-down for a week.
She was glad that the directions were clear and easy to follow, it helped make her feel a little at ease, but she was still on the edge for no reason. Minnie daring to even speak to Vesper had made her anxious, just the thought of them going at it â it wasnât pretty. Her grip on the wheel began to relax once she realized that everything was going to be okay. Nobody was going to act a fool and get themselves hurt, she hoped so at least. They had a lot riding on this whole ordeal and one stupid mistake would make it all tumble down.Â
This advice was more for Layah, but it applied to Minnie too, of course she wasnât going to say anything to her, because she didnât know how. She picked up the bag of sunflower seeds and continued to chew on them, using her empty cup of soda to spit out the seeds.Â
She briefly turned to look at her and laughed, âBetter than a lab at the university with pigs walkinâ around yo, nobody out here but desert and maybe some Indians who love meth as much as i do.â Layah smiled, seeing that the road she needed to turn on was coming up, she turned and continued driving, âSee any place we can park?â
âThe lab worked out fine,â Minnie gave a shrug, personally sheâd rather be in a nice, clean, well put together lab than in the middle of no where in the desert. Wannabe Cops or not. Besides they got out of that situation perfectly fine. Or she got them out of that situation perfectly fine. And yes, she was completely ignoring the fact that she had wanted to quit doing this after they almost got caught herself. They hadnât got caught, and it was clean. Two of her favorite things.
The RV would do ok though, it wasâ she tossed a look in the back â Well, it was clean enough, maybe she'd go around after this cook and really scrub things down. Leaving the cleaning up to layah might not have been the best idea, she'd seen her house... But it would be fine.
They drove in silence for a few miles before they finally came upon the vacant spot she'd planned for them to cook, and glanced over at Layah raising her eyebrows. "Pick a spot," Minnie said with a shrug then motioned around, "somewhere not out in the open, we don't want someone who might possibly drive by to see us. Just in case." She doubted that would happen, but if they were going to be out here for a while you never knew. Even if it was someone who "loved meth as much as Layah did" Minnie would prefer no one found them at all.
Once they had found a place between some dunes, Minnie pushed the door open and headed out of the RV, stretching and looking around. "Not bad," she commented, even if it was a little hot out. It could be worse.
"Did you tell any of your friends where you were going to be?" Minnie asked suddenly walking around the RV and looking at Layah. "I'm not a nature person, but I've seen those movies where creepy cannibals attack unsuspecting girls. I don't need to die out here with no contingency plans to get away..."Â
Marina was nothing if not crafty. Very rarely did she make bets that she wasnât certain sheâd win. Investments were no different.
It didnât take long for her to investigate her two new proteges. After all, she had to be certain she wasnât walking into anything unpredictable.
She certainly hadnât predicted lung cancer.
After meticulous research and a series of undesireable snooping, she had managed to pinpoint one of Minheeâs chemotherapy treatments. As rude as she knew it was, she figured her only way of discussing this new⊠development, would have been to drop by uninvited.
â Trying to avoid me? â the enigmatic business woman asked as she helped herself to pulling up a stool beside the younger woman.
She watched the woman out of the corner of her eyes, and looked up from her book through her eyelashes as she sat down in front of her. Great. So, she was here for Minnie for sure. She didn't have cancer as well -- while Minnie thought that idea would be a little too coincidental it would have been better then this. Then her sitting there looking at her expectantly.
The younger woman stared at her book for a moment after Marina spoke, debating on if ignoring her was a thing she could get away with... Pretending she suddenly didn't speak English? That she wasn't Minnie but some twin sister?Â
Unfortunately she was too practical to see any value (or humor) in these options so she didn't try.
Instead Minnie closed her book in her lap and looked up at Marina raising her eyebrows, "no, I'm just sitting here getting poison pumped through my body, and wanting to vomit right in your lap. Why would I be avoiding you?" Actually she felt fine at the moment. Good enough. This was only her first go at this Chemo thing, and she'd only been there for a couple hours. The feeling bad thing was something she still had to look forward too. Great.
She was getting angry and she even had to count to ten several times just to calm her down. Minnie didnât understand and that was fine, she didnât need to understand, she just needed to be quiet and mind her own business. Vesper was to stay a nobody for Minnie, Layah not wanting her to do anything with Minnie and vice versa. She had done pretty good at keeping them separate, but even the bruises on her white skin would say otherwise, but she tried her best to keep her face as straight as can be whenever an intense pain shot right through her.Â
Layah stopped chewing on the seeds and looked at her, her face shaking because that was the last thing she wanted Minnie or anyone to do for that matter. As if nobody had tried that before, she knew Travis had done, of course, she had known later thanks to a very angry Vesper blowing up in her face that this had happened. She was pissed at Travis for a whole two weeks. Layah had taken Vesperâs side, which had pissed Travis off as well. It had been a mess, one she didnât want happening, not when the business was booming and things were finally looking up for Layah.
âYo, are you fucking crazy? Have you seen the fucking bruises she leaves? You canât handle any of that shit, so donât even try. It ainât worth it, yeah? Just leave her the fuck alone â trust me.â Her hands gripped the steering wheel tightly, lips pursed as she tried to focus on the road ahead. All she could see was rocks and dirt, businesses began to disappear which mean they were getting close to the middle of nowhere.Â
âHow much longer?â She asked, her tone as serious as her eyes, letting Minnie know she was not having this conversation with her.Â
Minnie simply scoffed at Layah's words, and rolled her eyes turning to face out the front again. She wasn't afraid of some person who probably wouldn't even be able to function without drugs. Minnie wasn't really the sort of person who was afraid of much at all, and junkies were definitely high on that list. Besides she wasn't afraid of being hit either, how pathetic was a person who needed to resort to physical violence?
This Vesper person didn't seem as big, and frightening as Layah was making her out to be, but she supposed she could understand. She wasn't an idiot, and understood how negatively domestic abuse could affect someone.
The only reason she didn't continue on this thread of conversation was because unlike what people believed of her, Minnie did have a bit more tact than that.
She gave a small shrug at Layah's question glancing down at the map, "A few more miles until the turn, it's the only road going off this one for like thirty miles so you can't miss it," Minnie explained. It'd likely be impossible for them to get lost-- but then again a lot of things she once believed to be impossible were happening. She let her head fall back against the head rest and gave a small laugh as the absurdity of the situation seemed to hit her out of no where.
"We're really going out in the middle of no where to cook meth?" It was phrased like a question, but it was more of a statement.
Even if she did it was a cold day in hell that she'd ever actually show it, but... as she was strapped into her chemo treatment she couldn't help but feel afraid. That wasn't strange right? Her body was going to be pumped full of poison because it couldn't get itself under control. She could literally control everything else but no, her body just couldn't cooperate. Just her luck. She gripped the arms of her hair and looked up at her dad trying as hard as she could too not look like she was afraid.
Apparently she managed ok, because they said their goodbyes (he had work so he couldn't stick around with her) and made his way out of the room. The cancer room. The only place in the world she would never get enjoyment from the chemicals surrounding her most likely.
But she was fine. She was totally fine. Just think about other things. About the fact they had picked out a lab, soon it was going to be filled with top of the line equipment -- it was practically every girls dream come true. Thinking about that got her through the first hour or so, and it wasn't until she heard the door open again and spotted a familiar red head entering the room that she was brought back to reality.
"Jesus Christ..." She hissed under her breath and sank down into her chair, focusing on the book in her hands.
She didnât want to talk about Vesper and how much they fought and hate-fucked. It wasnât none of Minnieâs business, not when sheâd probably think that she was a monster or something for being as violent as her girlfriend. Layah hated the fact that she used the world girlfriend, but that was the only accurate word she could use to describe her current relationship status. A handful of seeds went into her mouth and she opened the window a bit and started to spit out the shells, only for the wind to blow them back onto her face.Â
Layah swerved a bit but regained control and figured that it was best to just spit them out in the empty bottle of Gatorade she had in the cup holder. All this to avoid her questions about Vesper. She tapped he fingers on the wheel, placing another handful of seeds and pretended that she couldnât talk and she couldnât, technically.
There was a reason why she didnât want to tell Minnie about Vesper and mainly it was the fact that she was nobody to her. She was an ex who didnât seem to understand that they were over and like very junkie, they canât accept no for an answer. Besides; she really wasnât doing great in the dating department and sure, things got lonely at night so she had accepted her back. When she wasnât high off her ass, Vesper was actually fun to be with. They both loved playing instruments and listen to music, but now â it was all about the drugs.Â
She spit out the seeds and sighed, âBecause, you donât need to know her. Sheâs nobody and itâs going to stay that way. Besides, sheâs a fucking junkie yo, which means sheâs unpredictable and will probably punch you.â Layah chuckled, but really didnât mean it, âSheâs a fuckinâ bitch and loves to take it out on me sometimes â itâs fine, nothing Iâm not used too already.â
"You haven't punched me," Minnie muttered almost under her breath, almost too quietly and sourly for Layah to hear. Thankfully she was able to hold back a 'yet' though because well... She really didn't know. She really didn't know Layah, the two of them didn't really seem to get along all too well, and like she said junkie's were unpredictable. She'd never been punched before, of course. But Minnie was aware there were a great many people who had really, really wanted to.
It was a moot point though, that she didn't really dwell on because Layah continued to speak, and Minnie stared at her with a shocked expression. "'it's fine'?" Minnie repeated in an incredulous voice, "'it's fine' because you've... been in fights before, or--" her voice stopped because she wasn't really sure she wanted to explore the other slew of reasons someone might be ok with someone "taking out" their anger on them. That wasn't her business. Or maybe that wasn't something she wanted to make her business.
Probably the second thing.
"Clearly it's not fine," She continued on in her business-like manner, "and next time I see her I'll tell her to go away myself, if you don't."
Someone like that was the last thing Minnie needed lurking around. A violent junkie wasn't good for anyone, not her fledgeling little business, and especially not her business partner. Even if that wasn't exactly what mattered most it was easier this way-- pretending it was just about business. Minnie had never really been good with things like feelings, or connecting with others in any other sort of way.
As she drove, Layah began to feel a little more relaxed. She was to be free of Vesper and anyone else who had been bugging her for a while. She didnât have to worry about getting into a fight or breaking her TV again. It was a good thing Travis had her back in all of this and she knew that sheâd owe him big once she got back home. Her plan was to get him into the circle, be a partner with Minnie and her. It was a tough conversation, one that Layah thought impossible, but sheâd bring it up at a good time, now wasnât that time.Â
She hadnât been camping in a long time, actually sheâd only been camping one time and that was when she was seven and her father had been in a good enough mood to take her somewhere up North, Seattle or something, she couldnât remember the place exactly. Layah remembered the stream, the fish they caught at that was about it. That had been the only good memory, or at least that was all she could remember about her Father.Â
Layah turned and glared at her, upset that Minnie was denying her food. She dug into the pocket of the jacket that hung from the seat and grabbed a bag of sunflower seeds and put a whole bunch in her mouth. Then, she asked a question she wasnât prepared to answer, only because she was embarrassed by the toxic relationship she had. âJust a girlfriend â donât worry about her, alright?â
Her eyes probably almost rolled straight out of her skull with the exaggerated eye roll Minnie gave once Layah still managed to get her hands on some sort of food. She'd let it slide though, they were just sunflower seeds. Not like they were going to be sustaining on those during this trip. Of course Minnie was saying that now, but if this RV broke down in the middle of no where and they had nothing to eat? Well, she'd be wishing they had sunflower seeds to eat. Even if those made you dehydrated...
But then again Minnie was just mentally preparing for the worst that would probably not happen.
Hopefully it didn't happen.
Minnie raised her eyebrows when Layah spoke about that girl she'd seen and gave a short sort of nod, "you have a girlfriend?" Not that it bothered her any, what bothered her more was Layah brushing her off like her having a girlfriend was something she didn't want to talk about. "I'm not worried about anything, I was just wondering who she was. If she's your girlfriend shouldn't I know? You shoved the rest of your friends at me. Why not her?"
It was suspicious. And Minnie had the inkling feeling that it was something she should know about, besides she'd never been one to pick up on social cues like when someone wanted something dropped. She'd never cared about things like that. Why should she? She wanted to know, so Layah should tell her. Those were her feelings on the topic.
Vaas Montenegro: Turns out, Marina knew a guy who knew many other guys. In Albuquerque , it was hard to get an unethical business to be a well-oiled machine without Saul Goodman fishing tools out of your pocket. She did appreciate what he did for her and her business, and so figured it was time to introduce her two newest gems to the man that would sort out the legalities, contracts, properties- and generally captain the 'get out of jail' parade. " I'm sure you've seen his commercials. They're hard to ignore. " She remarked to the pair. They looked like a very odd and out-of-place and roughly sewn together family in her car. Thankfully, they were pulling into the parking lot to his law office sooner than she expected.
sarah: Sitting next to Marina with his arm stretched across the back of the drivers seat, Nacho drummed his fingers against the headrest. Not because he was completely agitated from the fact he'd been roped into dealing with Saul's bullshit for an entire day-- that was actually a lie, that was why he was completely agitated. But here he was anyway glancing up at the inflatable statue of liberty while Marina spoke to the kids in the back. "I'm going to head, make sure we don't have to wait around," he said glancing at Marina before pushing the car door open and heading into the office, with subtle and cautious glance around first.
sarah: head in*
Layah: Layah was tired of these meetings, all she wanted to do was stay home and sleep. It had been two days since she last slept and she was really feeling it. It didn't help that Vesper was still around, making her life both difficult and fun at the same time. How a woman like her could manage that was beyond her. Layah's head rested against the window and she closed her eyes, groaning when they announced their arrival of Saul Goodman's office. "He's helped me out before, fucking funny man." She laughed, rubbing her eyes, hoping it'd keep her awake, maybe she'd have Minnie slap her a few times, that'll work.
sarah: Minnie leaned forward to look out the front window as they rolled up to the office and wrinkled her nose, "I've heard of him. My mom hates him..." she looked half surprised mostly perturbed and glanced at Layah, willing her to keep it together during this meeting at least. "And this guy is going to be able to find us an adequate lab space?" She shouldn't be too... harsh considering their current lab was an RV. But still... she was skeptical.
Vaas Montenegro: Marina stepped out of her car and used her remote to lock it once the other two did the same. " You and I have that in common. " she mentioned to Layah, making her way to the front door and holding it open for that both. " He's not so bad, " she remarked to Minnie as she got Francesca to clear their small party. Being the high-paying client she was, she tended to take priority- especially when matters were this sensitive. " He's an absolute scumbag, don't get me wrong- but if anybody can find us a place to cook meth, it'll be him " she mused quietly, leading them to his office and opening up the door.
Saul: Saul had to admit that he was a little nervous about this meeting, but he gone over the paperwork and even pulled out a few good locations for the shiny lab Marina had requested. His nervousness was masked when he watched Nacho come into his office, he quickly greeted him and looked out the small window into the parking lot, "The girls joining us? I gotta say, seeing that Old Lady of yours, what a lucky guy." He chuckled, placing his hands together in front of him and turned back when he saw the woman of the hour come in with two young girls, "Hello Ladies, come on in Suong will take your bags, don't worry she only steals the good stuff! Kidding, please, come into my office. Sunong, hold the phones please."
sarah: He hadn't been to Goodman's office ina while but it was just as tacky as he remembered, honestly. He shook his head slightly, "stop talking," he warned, though tone was casual it wasn't as if making comments about Marina was the worst he'd ever heard come out of the lawyers mouth. He leaned against the back wall as the girls came in and Minnie cast an appraising look around the office. It was even worse than the outside. She gave her bag up and looked around at the man walking up to him to shake his hand, "It's nice to meet you Mr. Goodman. I'm Minnie Song." She introduced herself like she hadn't just been looking around like she was completely disgusted with the place (always the professional).
Layah: Layah made a face as she walked in, surprised that this was now his office. It wasn't any better than that dumb at the nail salon, but it was something. She dragged her feet, hands deep in her pockets as she just shrugged at Saul and kept close to Minnie. She had learned to rely on Minnie and whether it was a good or bad thing, there was no telling, but she trusted her and that's all that mattered. "'Sup, still loving those hookers I see."
Vaas Montenegro: Marina really couldn't stifle the laugh that Layah's comment and Nacho's reaction prompted, going in to shake Saul's hand- as she usually did when meeting with him. " Oh, this is going even better than I expected- " she remarked quietly, as she knew the statement very much rang true for the aged lawyer. " Is that a new tie? It's nice. " she asked, mostly just to make polite small talk as she helped herself to a chair.
Saul: He just pointed at Layah, breifly remembering her case and boy was it a tough one, beating her father to a pulp, he knew better than to mess with her. When everyone was greeted, he walked them into his office and motioned them over to the two leather chairs, them being both Nacho and Marina, leaving the young girls to sit on the couch in the back. Finally, he sat down and took his blue tooth off, "Alright, shall we get down to business?" Hands clapped together and placed over the paperwork he had put together for them.
sarah: Minnie stopped short when it was clear she was being shuffled to the back of the room, and raised her eyebrows. No. There was no way she was being sat at the kids table while the "adults" got to "business". This was supposed to be her lab, right? So, instead she made her way towards the desk taking a seat in the vacant chair Nacho had been directed to sparing him a slightly apologetic look (though he was happy enough to lounge back on the couch), before turning to the lawyer, "Yes, how about we get down to business. I have a list of requirements here for this lab that I expect to be met if you care to have a look," she said holding out the paper for him, "I assume you already know it has to be at least near town. I can't go traipsing all over the desert every day, when I still have a part time job, and class until June."
Vaas Montenegro: Very slowly did Marina's head turn toward Minnie. She was simultaneously both impressed, and taken aback by her rebuttal. She reached out her hand and took the paper from Minnie before Saul had the chance. " Hold on there Dirty Harry, " she said to Minnie, eyes scanning over her list of requirements. " Let's just get one thing straight here, " she began. " You're not the one funneling millions of dollars into this facility- I am. If you think you're the only one who's going to go 'traipsing' to and from it, you'd be incorrect. " she remarked, making sure to mimic her phrasing. " That being said, of course- like with everyone I work with - I want you to be happy with the choices I make, and where you work- but have you ever heard the phrase ' you can't have your cake and eat it too' ? "
Saul: Blue eyes glanced up at Minnie as she made her way up to his desk and began to demand things, he was about to open his mouth and say something but Marina had beaten him to the punch. He chuckled and went to grab the manilla folder that had four choices of real estate with pricing and inspections attached to them. To add insult to injury he lifted the folder and handed them over to Minnie, only to snap them back and give them to Marina,, "Gotta train them while they're young."
Layah: Layah got comfortable on the couch, slowly but surely drifting off to sleep. That's when she heard Marina put Minnie in her place and she frowned at that, even getting second hand embarrassment from it, "Damn Red, chill."
sarah: Minnie glared daggers at Saul before looking over at Marina, "Yes, I'm aware. Just as I'm also aware that I am the one who will be cooking in this lab, and I'm not simply here on some educational field trip. All I have in mind is what I need to be as productive as possible, and isn't that in everyones best interests?"
Vaas Montenegro: She gave Minnie a bit of a look. " It is when you go about it with tact. " she said simply, opening up the folder and starting to browse through the various lots he had picked out. " You done good, Goodman. " she remarked as she perused.
sarah: Minnie sat primly, and straight backed in her seat, staying silent but clearly not relenting. She'd be tactful when she wasn't being pushed into the background like she was just here for the fun of it. Nacho pulled himself up and off the couch going to lean over the back of Marina's chair glancing over the papers, "where are we headed first?"
Saul: Saul smiled at Marina's praise, of course that is why she paid so much for him and boy did he know it. Fixing his tie he stood up and placed the bluetooth device back into his ear and clapped his hands together, "Ladies and Gentlemen, ready? We can go in the white cod, should fit -- everyone."
Vaas Montenegro: Marina pointed her finger to a particular listing, glancing up at him to see how he might react to it. She answered Saul as she let Nacho look over the papers. " I think for Ignacio's sake that we should probably drive separately. ' she teased- although she knew he couldn't handle much of Saul's tendencies. " Why don't you two ride with Saul? He's got heated seats. " she suggested to the pair. She considered them a package deal, and figured splitting them up wasn't a good idea.
Saul: Saul pursed his lips at the missed oppurtunity to spend some time with the beatiful woman, but instead of focusing on that he drew his attention to the young girls, "Follow me and we'll take a look." He muttered as he opened the door for them, not missing the opportunity to get a good look at her ass, if God was willing to throw him a freakin' bone.
Layah: "What a clown." She muttered to Minnie, laughing as they walked out of his office, giving him a once over as she followed the line out.
sarah: He glanced over the paper and gave a small nod, "we'll work our way out from there if this doesn't... meet standards," He added the last part with a glance over at Minnie who was gathering up her things. He was grateful for Marina's pointing out the obvious, and gave another annoyed shake of his head catching Saul's eyes and heading out the door. Muttering a few insults as he past.
sarah: Minnie concured with Layah and sighed, "and this guy helped you out before?" She asked as the exited the office and she made her way over to the large white car sitting in the front with the ridiculous license plate. "Sit in the back with me."
Layah: "He wasn't this bad -- he actually had a soul yo." Layah nodded and went to open the door for Minnie, keeping an eye on the wondering eye that was Saul's.
Vaas Montenegro: Marina chuckled a bit at his statement, glad to get a bit of a break from the two rugrats as she shamelessly referred to the pair as inside her head. The first lot they were off to explore was a lumber production facility. The drive wasn't too far- but it'd be long enough for the two girls to get the true Saul Goodman experience- which was quite an experience, to say the least.
Saul: "Alright, any particular order you'd like to see? Each of them has their own unique magic, it doesn't hurt to try, am I right Nacho?" He pointed at him and grinned like an idiot. He walked up to the driver's side and opened the door, frowning that they were both sitting in the back seat, "Oh come on, I don't bite..."
sarah: "Just follow us," Nacho commented flatly, to Saul as he and Marina walked across the parking lot to her car. It was less conspicuous to travel this way, of course. He settled into the passangers seat and smirked a bit over at Marina, "too bad you didn't bug his car first. Would'a been nice to have some entertainment."
sarah: Minnie doubted Layah's comments, "well now his soul has apparently been replaced with a douche bag. My moms words, not mine-- though I see where she's coming from." She said sliding into the back seat and buckling in, glancing up at the Lawyer as he spoke, "good to know, but we can hear you just fine from back here."
- - -Â
Big Boss: Marina laughed gently. " An idea for next time. " she declared, starting up her car. " I'm sure we'll get an earful of how... lovely and professional he is once we get there. " she mused, returning the smirk as she pulled out of the lot.
Saul: The lawyer kept quiet, turning to smile at the girls and hiding the fact they were pretty much making fun of him. Luckily, nothing these two girls said could really hurt Saul's ego. He didn't speak much on the way toward the listing and practiced his pitch for each of them as they went down Albuquerque streets.
sarah: "I bet," Nacho said in a dull tone, keeping his eyes in the rearview mirror for a moment, before turning towards Marina. "You think this is gonna work out? With the girls?" He guessed she would if they were really looking for labs.
Layah: Layah drummed a tune on her knees as they drove, she then turned to Minnie and offered a smile, "Yo, you excited?"
sarah: She tried to keep note of where they were going and calculated the best ways to get there from her dorm, and her parents house (when school was let out) in her head, before thinking over Layah's question and grinning a bit, "I'll be excited once we get the lab equipment." That she did trust Marina with, considering she too was a Chemist. "But it'll be good not to be in that RV in the middle of the desert."
Big Boss: She gave a small shrug, turning the radio on to a quiet station, some sort of classic rock was playing. " This is an investment, but you and I both know not all investments pay out. " she remarked. " They don't seem like wild cards. "
Layah: "Hey, we had fun out there didn't we?" She laughed, leaning forward in her seat, hand wrapped around the head cushion of the passenger side seat, "We there yet Saul?" She asked, raising a brow at him.
Saul: "Just a few more miles, it's by the University, isn't that what your girlfriend there requested?" He chuckled, both hands gripping the steering wheel a little tighter, regretting his choice of words.
sarah: Marina was right about that, they didn't strike him as the type who would try to step out on their own. They were young but they'd all been young once. "No, they don't. They just seem annoying, but if you can deal with the rest of your people I'm sure you'll be fine dealing with them."
sarah: "If that's what you want to call boiling in the middle of no where," Minnie laughed at Layah's comment, then went back to looking out the window her eyes widening when Saul spoke jarring her enough the small intake of breath she took caused her to go into a coughing fit.
Layah: "Shut up and drive faster yeah?" She muttered, looking over to Minnie, wondering if she could do anything and knowing the answer was probably no.
Layah: nothing*
Big Boss: " Oh, annoying isn't half of it. " she mused with a tiny chuckle. " But, they're good cooks. They know what they're doing. I was pretty shocked when she told me how old the two of them are. " she explained, pulling into the lot as Saul did so.
sarah: "You sure you didn't go out looking for a little protege?" Nacho teased, looking around the lot as they pulled to a stop, and getting out of the car with a suspicious look around.
Saul: He parked the car and turned off the engine, "Alright ladies, here we go." He muttered as he exited the vehicle, knowing he had to impress Marina more than anyone present. Arms extended as he gestured at the property and smiled, "What do you think?"
sarah: "I'm fine," Minnie muttered to Layah before exiting the car, straightening her skirt out and pretending like she hadn't just been hacking up a lung as she followed Saul. "The location is ok, but I'll have to come up with a reason why I'm coming and going from here every day." However Minnie had the feeling she was going to have to be coming up with a lot of reasons for why she was doing certain things in the near future...
Big Boss: Marina stepped out of the car, glancing around the lot. It was an old lumber-processing facility, and still seemed to be in business. She walked about the property, her high heels clacking as they made their way across the concrete. " Show me where you pictured the lab going. " she suggested to Saul.
Saul: "Ah yes of course, if you could follow me." His tone was a little more enthusiastic now that he felt confident in the property. "They are set to walk out of here in a weak, damn economy am I right?" A chuckle as he went toward the back of the lot and pointed at a pair of doors that lead to an underground basement and opened the doors, struggling a bit to get them open, but when he did he smiled.
Saul: This way Ladies and Gentlemen."
Big Boss: Marina watched him struggle with the door, but followed him nonetheless- making notes about all the things she noticed about the property.
Saul: He let them all pass him and then proceeded to follow them down to the basement level where a big, spacious room was, "It's the right amount of square footage for your special needs and with a little work, it could be the lab your little tyke's here want."
sarah: Minnie glared over at Saul, before she went to look around the room, surveying it closely. It was very dusty, but once it was cleaned that shouldn't be too much of a probelm. "And this place isn't going to be operational?"
Saul: He shook his head, "Nope, they went bankrupted, due to the previous owner stickin' his hand in the honey pot a little too many times."
Big Boss: Marina began to walk around the room, surveying everything she could- doing all of the checks. " We're going to have to put some business in here. It'd look a little odd for someone to buy this place and not put anything in it. " she remarked, opening up a breaker panel to give it a look over.
sarah: Minnie nodded her head at Marina, "we can't start shipping the amount of chemicals to a vacant lumber mill. It'd look suspicious."
Layah: Layah glanced around, staying behind the crowd since she really didn't have much to say in the matter. She just kept close to Minnie and away from Saul.
Saul: Here it was, the part he had practicing for a while, the pitch that would definitely sell this place or perhaps the ones after, "I'm thinking night club, it's close by the University and kids love warehouses for that sort of thing."
Big Boss: Marina scoffed. " Yeah, the police will definitely stay away from a party warehouse filled with university students. " she remarked dryly, narrowing her eyes when she noticed something important that the room was missing. " Okay, pop quiz- " she began, looking at the two younger members of the group. " Which one of you can tell me what's wrong with this room if you plan on cooking meth in it? " she asked. The answer wasn't obvious , but it was there: The basement had practically no ventilation. They'd suffocate if they cooked in it.
Saul: He pursed his lips, "Well, of course not -- make it legit, hire legit bouncers and a staff and it should be fine. This space is well hidden and we can even forge documents to say it had been filled with concrete as for the ventilation..."
sarah: Minnie pulled a face clearly unimpressed with the idea, "there's no way anyone would buy seeing me anywhere around a night club." She went back to surveying the area, and tossed look over at Marina, "just one problem? The ceilings are a little low for my taste, it'll be hell to get this place sterile enough not to mention nearly impossible to keep quiet with a 'nightclub' on top of it, and there is no air in this place." She turned to look at Saul sparing him a polite but completely disingenuous "it looks good on paper."
Big Boss: " Ten points to Minnie. " she said simply. " It's a good property, " she said to Saul, as if to console him. " Really, the basement idea was pretty perfect- so kudos for that, but... they'll suffocate in here- and I can't think of any business that I can just shove upstairs on a whim. " she explained. " Got anything else? "
Saul: "Yes, two more places that I have found for you ladies." He began to walk out of the basement, a forced smile on his face.
sarah: "Hope no one had any plans tonight," Nacho commented as he closed the doors behind the group while they headed back out to the parking lot.
Layah: Layah laughed at Nacho's joke and followed the herd, "Yo, can we just see them on Google Earth on something?"
Big Boss: Marina grinned a bit. " Why don't you drive around , skype call us and show us all the properties that way? " she teased Saul. She could tell he felt a little badgered, however, and so returned with a compliment. " I don't pay you enough. " she mused.
sarah: Minnie sent an amused grimace in Layah's direction as they all headed back outside and towards the cars. "What's going to happen if the other locations don't work either?" She asked looking over at Marina.
Saul: "We have a bowling alley and the basement of an old laundromat facility, both take care of your little ventilation concern."
Big Boss: She pondered Minnie's question, and returned with a joke. " Ever cooked Meth in a bath tub? I have a pretty big bathroom. " She turned to look at Saul once more. " Well, let's try the bowling alley first- and if it goes poorly, we can always just play a round. "
sarah: "It's nice of you to offer, but I doubt you'd want your bathroom to smell like pesticides," Minnie said dryly with a smirk on her face going over in her head the options Saul gave them. "The chemicals would still be a problem with the bowling alley," She pointed out, leaning against the large white car.
Saul: His car beeped open and he opened the driver side door, not bothering to open the car door for them, "Chop chop ladies." He muttered as he started the car and looked over the address for the Laundromat, it seeming to be the best option for his client, "We're heading to the laundromat."
Big Boss: Marina made her way back to her car, sliding into the driver's seat. " It's a shame- I haven't been bowling in a while. " she remarked dryly, starting the car up.
Saul: "That'll be our last stop, it's the furthest away and that is a big no no to your new prodigy here." He murmured, raising his window and pulled out of the ciliche road and headed toward the laundromant.
sarah: Nacho laughed and closed the passengers door behind him, "please don't just buy the bowling alley because you want to bowl. I know how much you enjoy playing Marina Warbucks."
Layah: 'Yo this is taking forever..." She whined, patting her pockets for a cigarette or something to do, she turned over to Minnie and shrugged, "Travis says he wants to do more than distribute."
sarah: She settled into the back seat, buckling herself in and resting her hands on her lap staring at the back of Saul's head for a few moments, before looking over at Layah and blinking. "Like what? Advertising? Managing?"
Big Boss: She laughed a bit, following Saul's lead. " Wouldn't you like one for your birthday? " she teased. " You can call it the 'Nacho Bowl' , and have it double up as a restaurant. "
Saul: Saul took a few phone calls on his bluetooth, accepting appointments and settling business dinners.
sarah: "You didn't already buy me a bowling alley for my birthday and this is your way of breaking it to me, did you?" He asked arching an eyebrow.
Big Boss: She grinned. " Oh, I bought you two. " she teased. " And a lazertag place, and the rights to Disney's Epcot. " she added in, pulling in along with Saul's car to the industrial facility.
Layah: "Like cooking..." She replied, shrugging, "He was into all of that in High school, loved Chemistry or some shit I don't know, didn't even pass my sophmore year."
sarah: He laughed, "just keep buying up property and soon enough I'll be able to go anywhere I want without having to watch my ass. Sounds good enough to me."
sarah: "Oh," Minnie raised her eyebrows, which one was Travis? The one with the hair? Hm. "Well, if we need another pair of hands and he's ok after I've vetted him then maybe." It couldn't hurt to have some backup.
Layah: "Yeah, the one that's not Badger yo." She chuckled, glad that Minnie was willing to bring Travis in. Out of all of her friends, Travis was the one she trusted the most.
Big Boss: " We don't have to stay here, you know. " she said to him, parking the car. " We could up and relocate, live off of drug money until we find something new. " she offered. She stepped out of her car. " Maybe we could move to Canada. " She teased, although the sentiment was real. " Well, Saul- show us the ropes. "
Layah slurped on her gigantic soda as she stretched for a second on the side of the RV, waiting for the pump to finish so they could get out of there. She shrugged at Minnieâs opinion about her soda and laughed as she boarded back onto the RV. She had managed to clean it pretty well, using the skills she had learned in Juvie to make it almost spotless, though the mystery stain in the middle of the floor wouldnât go away no matter how hard she scrubbed or what she poured on it. It stuck out like a sore thumb and Layah tried her best to ignore it, but it haunted her; pissing her off.
She dropped the bags of food onto the small table and went into the driverâs seat, fixing her sunglasses as she checked all her mirrors were in the right place. Hands on the steering wheel, she turned to look at Minnie, eyes darting back and forth between the map and Minnie, who was obviously sitting in the passenger seat.Â
âYo, you in the passenger seat, that means youâre the co-pilot â so navigate me to our destination.â Her hands made several swaying motions as she looked out into the parking lot. Layah had heard about the rave, but couldnât make it due to the fact that Travis had been dealing with baby drama and needed the gang there for support, but she had heard it was a blast - literally.Â
Layah sort of knew where it was at, she had attended a party back in the day around that area. It wasnât necessarily a popular place among the youth of Albuquerque and it rarely got any action, so Layah was comfortable cooking out there.. Two girls parked out in the middle of nowhere in a decent looking RV, well, they wouldnât bat an eyelash, right?
âCan you pass me the chips, please?â Layah asked, driving and apparently already hungry. It was no secret that Layah ate like a Quarterback, well at least Minnie would soon find out about her appetite.Â
"If you insist," Minnie said in an airy tone pulling the map back towards her and drawing her finger along the road, attempting to judge how long it'd take to get there. A couple hours at least, maybe more. Then the next time they were cooking she'd probably find a new place for them to stay for a while, it was best to not cook in the same place more than once. Just to be sure no one caught on. No, they were simply just two girls out camping during Spring Break. Minnie may not have seemed like the outdoorsy type but...
Well, ok so she wasn't the outdoorsy type at all. She hated camping, and she only appreciated nature and all it had to offer for scientific reasons, however that didn't mean she couldn't fake it if need be.
Minnie leaned back in the passengers seat, and looked up from the map glancing at a road sign they drove by, "you're going to want to turn right up here, then it's a straight shot for a while," she said waving the map slightly, before lowering it when Layah demanded some food. She dropped the map onto the dashboard but didn't move to get any snacks, giving her head a small shake. "We can't eat up all the food before we've even got there. If you eat all the food now you're just going to be complaining the whole time we're down there."
Completely ridiculous. She'd judged how much food they needed for four days, three meals a day with a couple of things for snacks in between. Then Layah's snacks on top of that it'd probably be fine if she ate. But Minnie didn't want to have to deal with whining about being hungry when they were in the middle of no where.
"You should just keep your mind off of food so we can talk." Minnie said clearly having something in mind that she wanted to talk about, "Who was that person at your house when I left?"
Layah scoffed and threw the phone on the passenger seat, completely missing it as it slid off the seat and hit the passenger side door. She cursed and kept moving, glad she had the time to look over the RV and do some maintenance on it. Bessy wasnât going to give up on them for a while, as long as the right person was driving it. Layah hadnât realized how long it took to get out of town and it all made sense to her when she took a look at the clock. What a perfect time to decide to leave, couldâve left at a more calm time, but here she was, in the middle of Albuquerque traffic in the smoldering heat and she was following every single street law and hoped she didnât stand out like a sore thumb.Â
When she finally made it out of city limits, she calmed a bit as she made her way toward the gas station Minnie had messaged her. She looked back at the equipment, everything still in itâs boxes and it should be. Layah was going to let Minnie set up, she knew how to do it right. Her phone chimed and she turned to look at it, getting distracted for a second and almost drove the RV off the road.Â
A curse and she focused the rest of the way to the gas station, her nerves basically shot, but all that was gone when she saw Minnie. She parked the RV at the gas pump and walked out of the RV, stretching a bit as she got her pre-paid gas card and began to fill her up as well as several gas containers.Â
She nodded a hello toward Minnie, her circular glasses reflecting the afternoon sunlight as she watched the numbers rise on the pump. âMind if ya take over, fill those two up. Going to buy some snacks.â Layah muttered to Minnie and went inside, bought her things and came back out with a 52 oz cup of orange soda, her favorite.Â
Minnie stayed in her car for a minute or two when Layah arrived before gathering up everything she had brought, to lug over to the RV. She let out a scoff when as she passed Layah she said she was heading in to buy food, "but I brought a bunch of food!" She called over her shoulder. Granted most of it was legitimate food not 'snacks' but one of them had to make sure they were eating well if they were going to be stuck in the desert for more than just an afternoon.
Her protests of getting more food were (shockingly) ignored, and Minnie grumbled under her breath, pumping the rest of the gas for the RV. They wouldn't be driving too much -- just to where they were going and back, so she was pretty sure that would be enough.
After that she finished moving her things from her car to the RV, in time to see Layah walk out with a large plastic cup, and rolled her eyes. "Soda dehydrates you faster," Minnie muttered and climbed into the passengers seat of the RV looking around at it. This was the first time she was really getting a good look and it seemed adequate. Especially for something that had been abandoned. It wasn't brand new but at least it was clean and didn't smell overly bad.
Sleeping in there probably wouldn't be much of a problem.
Minnie buckled her seatbelt and pulled the New Mexico map out of her satchel looking at where she had marked off, "there's a place north west from here about twenty miles," she explained pointing in the general direction and holding the map out. "Some guys at my school were talking about a rave they held there a few months ago. It's completely in the middle of no where, so it should be fine."
If some college kids had managed to have a rave there without being caught she doubted they'd be caught parking an RV there and "camping".
Sheâd have to figure out a way to get rid of Vesper, at least for the four days she was going to be out. Vesper wasnât going to like it, but it wasnât like shse knew what Layah was up to and she didnât want her to know. Everyone in her crew had kept their mouth shut, agreeing to work with Layah since they pretty much owed her everything. Travis even suggested they buy H, a drug that Vesper couldnât resist, and it wasnât like she was going to shoot it up for her, but it was good enough to trick her into it and let her be. Layah loved Vesper but it was the only way she wouldnât go crazy and look for Layah, possibly ruining everything. It was a risk she was willing to take.Â
[ text ] just tell me where to drive it to ya?
[ text ] just sy when
Layah had gone over the plan with Travis, Badger and Luna disliked Vesper with all their beings so they werenât around when she was and she couldnât blame them, especially when they fought. TVâs and windows were broken, black eyes were given â not a thing to brag about being in the front row.Â
She went ahead and bought the drugs and went back home, prepping two rods and playing along with Vesperâs excitement. âHere ya go baby â want me to shoot you up?â Layah asked, kissing her before placing the capped syringe between lips, going through the usual ritual of shooting her girlfriend up.Â
It all took but a minute and Vesper was out. Travis turned around and nodded as she handed him the other syringe and hid it for now. âCall me if anything happens, just say I went for more moneyâŠâ She trailed off, grabbed her bag with the supplies for both the cook and days she was going to spend out there, took one good look at Vesper and left.Â
Minnie was off in her car and out of the parking lot by the time Layah texted again. Like the responsible person she was though, she waited until a stop light to get back to her.
[TEXT] There is a gas station about a mile outside of the city on the 19.
[TEXT] I'll be there in twenty minutes and meet you there whenever you get there.
[TEXT] Don't drag your feet.
She didn't know exactly how ready Layah was, so she wanted to make it clear that she should be there as quickly as possible. But it was about time for the lunchtime traffic to start, so she wasn't exactly going to put up unrealistic expectations for timetables here. If she did that Minnie would just be annoyed when Layah showed up late, Layah would probably be annoyed that she had to be there in an impossible time length. Personally she'd rather start this long weekend off better than that.
So, making it clear Layah should hurry while not being too ridgid seemed like the best way to go.
It was a good thing too, because it took about twenty minutes longer for Minnie to pull into the gas station's parking lot than she originally estimated, but was glad to see Layah had not miraculously arrived before her. How embarrassing. She headed into the little store, and paid off the owner to let her keep her car there for the weekend, saying her and her friends were going out into the desert one last time before she started her chemo therapy.
Minnie had realized a couple days ago the cancer card was oddly effective in situations like this, and thankfully the man took pity on her. Not enough to give her money back but... He agreed anyway.
She politely thanked him, and headed back to her car waiting for Layah to arrive in their new mobile chemistry lab.
