2.02.2 – The heels of the bus

2.1 - Edited by: Rellawing, AlliterativeArts - 1/13/2021

After the sisters walked out to the bus stop, Quinn looked at the faint reflection of herself in the stop’s plastic-shielded banner ad while fixing her hair. Said hair had now changed color to a bright pink and was styled for maximum calculated messiness. She noticed that Leona was looking a bit bored while they waited. “You feeling okay today?”

“Oh yeah… I actually feel kinda energetic…” Leona rocked on her heels with a little bounce. “Um, since it’s you, I’ll talk about my bad dream. I actually dreamed that a super villainess was chasing me around a creepy crypt.” Leona smiled lopsidedly as she giggled ruefully. “Maybe I had that dream because I read too many comics.”

Quinn chuckled with Leona. This girl was obsessed with superheroes and their going-ons, especially when it came to Mistral it began to touch the unhealthy side of the line.

“Hmm~” Quinn grinned as she turned to Leona. “Being the super-groupie you are I’m surprised you don’t know exactly which villain was chasing you around.” Quinn gave Leona a significant look.

“Oh? Who do you suppose it was then?” Leona pursed her lips with another little burst of teasing laughter.

“Vermillion Gale, right?” Quinn suggested.

Vermillion Gale was one of Mistral’s nemeses; a woman who could generate and control the wind, although it was always mixed with a corrosive and toxic red mist. She’d made many cities in Canada sick.

Early on, some had tried to pass it off as a pandemic until they discovered her trademark toxins in the bloodstreams of the populace. That on its own sounded pretty bad, but everyone has their own reasons for doing what they do, especially where villainous backstories are concerned.

In the case of Vermillion, she’d gotten her powers during a pollution protest. She got sick on the spot but the company she’d been picketing against accused her of being a paid actor to defame their company. To make the situation worse, her illness disappeared mysteriously, which added fuel to the firestorm.

Having lost her credibility, she turned against the people who first spited her, trying her new powers. In the process she incidentally killed many people when she underestimated the potency of her red mist. Her mischief went very poorly with many who had initially sympathized with her. Having murdered people sent her over the edge in more ways than one. And while she aesthetically appeared almost cute, this lovable-looking supervillain targeted companies next and then the broader communities that housed them. She would spread her own brand of pollution, all in a twisted attempt to pressure cities into passing ordinances against pollution.

The bus pulled over while Leona considered. “Wrong.” Leona smiled as they stepped up into the bus to take a seat.

“Tch… well, I’m not going to keep taking stabs in the dark, I don’t have the catalogue memorized since I’m not a total nerd like you. However, my powers of reverse-psychology will coax it out of you soon enough.” Quinn laughed.

Leona shrugged and grinned. For the moment she was content to let her sister mull over the mystery. Quinn disappointed her when she simply turned her attention to her phone instead.

When the bus came, they rode to the nearby mall where Quinn had made arrangements for her deck. Leona anticipated that this would be a great deal of trouble, but she was feeling pumped and ready for action at the moment.

Disembarking, the two made their way from the bus stop towards the food court doors and then up a wing of the mall. The place was abuzz with activity as usual. Leona had been there several times before and so was pleased when it didn’t take them long to set foot in the shop.

“Hey there, Quinn! Good to see ya!” The man at the register greeted her over the head of a customer. “Yo, Leona! I see you’re tagging along as usual.”

Leona shrugged and grinned. Another clerk Leona recognized stepped into the room, spotting them he guffawed. “When’re you going to let her start playing with the turntables, Quinn? It’d make for good business.”

“Never with my stuff! She’ll need to dig up all her own vinyl first if she wants it.” Quinn laughed in response elicited a chuckle from the guy manning the register just as he was finishing a sale.

“Just a sec,” The second guy stated. “Manny, c’mon. This thing is a bit heavy.” He gestured to the first guy and he nodded and followed. In a short time they reappeared, lugging the heavy-looking equipment. “You want us to help you lug this to your car?” The second guy asked.

“Nah…” Quinn laughed. “We can carry it. It’s fine.” Leona looked at her sister almost reproachfully. She wouldn’t fess up to how she didn’t even have her car today.

“Ah, no way, Quinn. This beast’s way too heavy.” The first guy shook his head.

“Just give it to me, numbnuts,” Quinn responded. She moved to take the equipment and her eyes went wide instantly and she nearly doubled over the moment she took it from them.

The second guy tilted his head and the first’s mouth twisted thoughtfully. “No refunds if you drop it.” Leona sighed and rushed over to help. She took one end of the gear and grunted a bit.

“See?” The first guy laughed, vindicated by the obvious discomfort of the two women.

“I’m… just doing… deep knee… bends…” Quinn straightened into an upright position. “Damn… I didn’t think heavy beats required such a heavy deck,” she quipped.

Leona thankfully was able to repress an urge to facepalm.

“Well, it does damn near everything, like you wanted. Maybe it’ll turn you into a DJ Ghost too,” the second guy returned the joke with his own.

For her part, Leona shot Quinn a pained expression as she strained against the weight but still felt capable of tossing her own joke into the arena. “Don’t let the beats... drop… sis…” She grunted and laughed.

“Hardie, har… ha… ha…” Quinn mock-laughed sarcastically and the two guys laughed politely.

“Wait up a sec…” the first guy spoke, “I have an idea.” He quickly shuffled off into the back and returned with a couple of belts. “Here we go. We use these to move speakers. We can turn it into a makeshift backpack, but the unlucky person might be a bit… uncomfortable. What do you say?”

They hadn’t even left the store yet and Quinn was already starting to sweat, leaving Leona to shake her head. Her sister rejected the offer since it simply wasn’t a very practical idea for the two. “N-nah… I got… ngh… I got this! We got it!” Quinn looked at Leona who sighed. She had to adjust her grip.

“Let’s do this!” Quinn yelled as though declaring war. “The Ramses sisters have this! It’s just a short walk to the bus stop, then we can ride all the way h-home.” Quinn’s optimism was a bit much but Leona could only muster an amused grunt.

“You know, how about this. You wouldn’t have to twist my arm if you needed me to drop it off for you.” The second guy offered.

Leona’s heart skipped a beat. She looked at Quinn nodding her head exaggeratedly. “Shyeah… cheap ploy t-to try and get in-vited in, I bet,” Quinn said as she tugged the deck and Leona to the exit. Leona sweated and pouted.

“Oh enough of that attitude! I’m… still treating you to lunch… even if you’re… so unsup-portive!” Quinn grunted as they returned to the food court. They hauled it a distance and as soon as they reached an open table, Quinn edged it onto the top. “Phew… you mind getting us some food? Ain’t no way I’m leaving my new baby behind unsupervised.” She reached into her pocket and removed a twenty dollar bill.

“Sure!” Leona smiled as she snatched the bill and made a run to the burger kiosk. There was a bit of a line but after a brief wait she returned with Quinn’s favorite, a chicken sandwich. The two sat and munched, resting their muscles. When they’d recovered enough they sighed, examining the deck again. Leona sat back and relaxed.

Above was a glass ceiling, affording a nice view of the sky above and the sun which was directly above at the moment. Leona smiled warmly, basking, although Quinn soon poked her to shake her from her reverie.

“Sunbathing? You?” Quinn snickered. “C’mon. Let’s get going. If we don’t get a move on we’ll miss the next bus.” She held up her cellphone to check the time they had left before the next bus and pocketed it after.

Leona nodded and helped her sister heave the deck up and the two continued to struggle out with it. A few people offered to help them but Quinn rejected their help, afraid they’d make off with her booty.

Once outside, they had a bit more room to maneuver without the crowds and the deck became a bit easier to handle. They moved quicker, eager to be done with their errand and eventually made it to the bus stop.

“What would you have said if they asked you about your car point-blank?” Leona asked as they waited for the bus.

Quinn shrugged. “Eh… beamed up by aliens from the planet Zanzibar,” she said without any consideration. “Apparently they dress like Earth Police and harass upstanding young women.”

Leona laughed. “As if! Probably too many parking tickets, right?”

“Meh… piss off.” Quinn grumbled.

Leona checked the box and saw the estimated weight was over a hundred pounds. She shrugged and tilted her head. At least the trip had been kind of fun so far. “Do they want a lot of money to let you get your car back?”

“The damage rings up to be about twelve hundred, actually.” Quinn sighed. “But they need to hold it for a few days so they can ‘examine’ it for lord knows what,” she added glumly. “Which really sucks. I hate not having a car.” She stomped petulantly. “Thanks again for helping me carry this thing though, sis. Maybe I should’ve taken those guys up on that offer to take it home for us, but jeez… you can’t give a guy an in.”

“Anyhow, this baby is what I’ve been saving all my money from all those gigs for. It’s practically a computer sent from the future designed solely for music. In fact, all I need is a monitor and some sources and I could mix a whole band’s worth of music into a single song, and the on-the-fly effects I can add… it’s gonna be great!” The tough sarcastic older sister had transformed into a larger version of Leona, geeking out over her music tech. Leona smiled warmly, liking this side of her cousin. The bus pulled up and over. However, when the door opened and the girls started to lug it aboard, the driver stood and waved his hands negatively.

“No, now you can’t bring something that bulky on board!” he said.

“Whatcha mean I can’t?” Quinn asked angrily. “I pay my fare the same as everyone else, and I have a pass from a ride earlier.”

“No packages bigger than three feet on a side, and it can’t weigh more than fifty pounds!” the driver insisted.

“Bullshit!” Quinn cried. “You want me off these steps you’re going to have to force me off!”

As suggested, the driver responded quickly by pushing at her and causing the whole weight of the package to be shifted to Leona. She grunted, but maintained her grip. “Big sis… maybe if he’s going to be this cruel, we should go before your fancy, tricked out, future computer drops and breaks.” Leona strained.

“Ugh! No way!” Quinn planted a foot. “There’s no way I’m giving in in the face of tyranny!”

“Get off this bus now!” The driver barked.

“Then at least give me my money back!” Quinn growled. Finally she returned her attention to the box and took more of the burden away from Leona. She even started pushing backwards again to knock the driver aside.

“Just let him be a jerk!” Leona cried as the driver continued to push and riders outside started turning annoyed and amused eyes on Leona since they couldn’t lay their eyes on Quinn. “We can’t change his mind! Are you going to punch him with your hands full?” Leona groaned. “We’ll figure something else out. Please just back down.”

“Stop pushing me, you ass!” Quinn yelled. “Damn you, we’ll get off!”

The driver responded angrily. “You two’d best get off right now.”

She tried to move off without rushing Leona, who had to walk backwards, but the driver started pushing Quinn even more forcefully. It was enough that Leona lost her grip on her end due to the angle. Quinn twisted and desperately clutched at the package to ease it to the ground as carefully as possible while Leona hurriedly exerted herself and they rescued it, just barely.

“No refunds,” the driver exclaimed and slammed the door closed after he ran to his seat. Leona stared at him, thinking he was a petty piece of garbage.

“If hell exists, you sure as hell are going to fry!” Leona yelled, angry about how her sister had just been treated, even if she could be really stubborn. “Have a miserable life, asshole!” She stuck her tongue out. The few waiting to board watched glumly as the bus drove away and Quinn glowered.

“He sure was an ass.” With a sigh Quinn shrugged. She looked at Leona and said quieter, “We’ll have to call Mom at this point. There’s no other way, and no, we’re not going back to the shop!” Her tone was also defeated. “Would you mind calling her for me? I’m a bit self-conscious about asking favors right now.”

Leona glared after the bus for a second before nodding. One of the disgruntled riders shot Quinn a glare and the other smiled and shrugged, pulling the more annoyed bystander aside. Removing her cell phone from her pocket, she dialed their Mom.

“Hey cutie, everyone alright?” Goonie asked tentatively when she picked up. Leona explained the situation but had to endure a brief pause before receiving a response. “Well… I guess I need to come pick you two up then. Stay where you are. I’ll be by in about an hour, okay?”

“Okay Mom, sorry.” Leona sighed.

“How soon?” Quinn asked with a sigh.

“An hour,” Leona answered.

“An hour in this heat? Are you kidding me? I mean, I get it, but there’s no way we’re staying out here under the fire globe.” Quinn growled.

Rather than respond, Leona looked up into the sky and spread both arms to either side and shrugged. Oh well.

Quinn spoke again, “Let’s take it back to the food court and get another drink while we wait.”