Chapter 2:

"Why the fuck are you pushing me!?" Squalo yelled at Carmina, who was pushing him down the hallway.

"Everyone has to be there!" Carmina yelled, pushing Squalo into the study. Everyone else was already there and Carmina grabbed the book from a nearby shelf.

"I have no idea why you want to keep reading that lame ass book," Squalo growled.

"I can read you a children's book. Would that make little sharkie happy?" Carmina baby talked him, making him glare at her. She sat on Xanxus' lap, like usual, and opened it to the page they were last on.

"This better not take forever," Levi muttered," I have to do the Boss' paperwork."

"Don't worry, you'll go back to being Xanxus' bitch soon," Carmina giggled, making Levi twitch. She cleared her throat and began.

"Where did you find it?"

"Do you remember Billy Black down at La Push?" La Push is the tiny Indian reservation on the coast.

"Interesting how she specified it was an Indian reservation. Maybe it has something to do with the story," Carmina said.

"We won't know unless you don't keep reading," Lussuria said.

"Okay, I'll try to get past the first chapter without stopping," Carmina said, smiling lightly.

"No."

"He used to go fishing with us during the summer," Charlie prompted.

That would explain why I didn't remember him. I do a good job of blocking painful, unnecessary things from my memory.

"He's in a wheelchair now," Charlie continued when I didn't respond," so he can't drive anymore, and he offered to sell me his truck cheap."

"What year is it?" I could see from his change of expression that this was the question he was hoping I wouldn't ask,

"Well, Billy's done a lot of work on the engine- it's only a few years old really."

"That sounds like a lie," Fran said.

"One big fat lie," Carmina agreed.

I hoped he didn't think so little of me as to believe I would give up that easily. "When did he buy it?

"He bought it in 1984, I think."

"He's an old man," Carmina said," like someone I know."

She snuck a peek and Xanxus and he glared at her. She smiled nervously and Xanxus just rolled his eyes.

"You're not much younger than me. Remember that," Xanxus said, making Carmina's smile disappear.

"Did he buy it new?"

"Well, no. I think it was new in the early sixties- or late fifties at the earliest," he admitted sheepishly.

"Ch- Dad, I don't really know anything about cars. I wouldn't be able to fix it if anything went wrong, and I couldn't afford a mechanic..."

"Really, Bella, the thing runs great. They don't build them like that anymore."

The thing, I thought to myself... it had possibilities- as a nickname, at the very least.

"That sentence made no sense," Carmina blinked.

"Tell me about it," Squalo replied.

"How cheap is cheap?" After all, that was the part I couldn't compromise on.

"Well, honey, I kind of already bought it for you. As a homecoming gift." Charlie peeked sideways at me with a hopeful expression.

Wow. Free.

"You didn't need to do that, Dad. I was going to buy myself a car."

"I wish I could buy myself a car," Carmina muttered.

"If you bought a car, you'd only drive it once then flip it into a ravine for fun," Xanxus explained. Carmina giggled and agreed.

"I don't mind. I want you to be happy here." He was looking ahead at the road when he said this. Charlie wasn't comfortable with expressing his emotions out loud. I inherited that from him. So I was looking straight ahead as I responded.

"That's really nice Dad. Thanks. I really appreciate it." No need to add that my being happy in Forks was an impossibility. He didn't need to suffer along with me. And I never looked a free truck in the mouth- or engine.

"I want a free truck!" Carmina exclaimed," Xanxus, you should get me a truck."

"Fuck no. You can barely handle a car. I don't want you to die trying to drive a fucking truck," Xanxus muttered, making Carmina sigh.

"I'm not that bad of a driver," she replied.

"Yes you are."

"No I'm not."

"Yes, you are."

"No, I'm not."

"I'm not going to fucking argue with you Carmina."

Carmina just rolled her eye and sighed, giving up the argument.

"Well, now, you're welcome," he mumbled, embarrassed by my thanks.

"Xanxus gets embarrassed every time I thank him," Carmina raised her pitch so it seemed like she was talking to a baby or a dog. Xanxus clearly didn't like that, and shoved her off his lap.

Literally.

"Hey! That was unnecessary!" Carmina yelled. Xanxus just ignored her and she slinked over to Bel, who gladly let her occupy his lap.

We exchanged a few more comments about the weather, which was wet, and that was pretty much it for Conversation. We stared out the windows in silence.

It was beautiful, of course; I couldn't deny that. Everything was green: the trees, their trunks covered with moss, their branches hanging with a canopy of it, the ground covered with ferns. Even the hair filtered down greenly through the leaves. It was too green- an alien planet.

"I agree, it does seem a little too green," Carmina mumbled, obviously still upset that Xanxus had pushed her out of his lap.

Eventually, we made it to Charlie's. He still lived in the small, two-bedroom house that he'd bought with my mother in the early days of their marriage. Those were the only kind of days their marriage had- the early ones.

Carmina's eye flashed towards Xanxus for a moment.

There, parked on the street in front of the house that never changed, was my new- well new to me- truck. It was a faded red color, with big, rounded fenders and a bulbous cab.

"I have no idea what any of that is," Squalo muttered.

"I have no idea anyone else know?" Carmina asked, looking out towards everyone else in the room. Lussuria noticed that she avoided Xanxus' eyes and frowned deeply.

To my intense surprise, I loved it. I didn't know if it would run, but I could see myself in it. Plus, it was one of those solid iron affairs that never gets damaged- the kind you see at the scene of the accident, paint unscratched, surrounded by the pieces of the foreign car it had destroyed.

"I really want to destroy something right now," Carmina growled.

"What are you moaning about now?" Xanxus muttered angrily. Carmina just twitched and leaned on Bel's chest.

"Wow, Dad. I love it! Thanks!" Now my horrific day tomorrow would be just that much less dreadful.

I wouldn't be faced with the choice of either walking two miles in the rain to school or accepting a ride in the Chief's cruiser.

"I'm glad you like it," Charlie said gruffly, embarrassed again.

It took only one trip to get all my stuff upstairs. I got the west bedroom that faced out over the front yard.

"I wish I had a room that looked over the front lawn," Carmina whined.

"Our front lawn is completely trashed. Why the fuck would you want to look at it?" Squalo asked. Carmina just shrugged and sighed.

The room was familiar; it had been belonged to me since I was born. The wooden floor, the light blue walls, the peaked ceiling, the yellow laced curtains around the window- these were all part of my childhood. The only changes Charlie had ever made were switched my crib for a bed and adding a desk as I grew. The desk now held a secondhand computer, with the phone line for the modem stapled along with floor to the nearest phone jack. This was the stipulation fromy my mother, so that we could stay in touch easily. The rocking chair from my baby days was still in the corner.

"That seems nice, being surrounded by your childhood memories," Carmina smiled softly. Xanxus sighed and looked at her.

'Why does she have to make me feel so damn guilty?' Xanxus thought to himself.

These was only one small bathroom at the top of the stairs, which I would have to share with Charlie.
I was trying not to dwell too much on that fact.

"Sharing a bathroom with your dad? Harsh," Fran said.

"I wouldn't mind sharing a bathroom if he's attractive," Lussuria cooed.

"Fucking homo."

"What did you say Squalo darling?" Lussuria gave Squalo a scary smile.

"N-Nothing," he muttered," Can we just read one or two more lines of this damn story?"

Carmina just nodded and yawned.

One of the best things about Charlie is he doesn't hover. He left me alone to unpack and get settled in, a feat that would have no been possible for my mother. It was nice to be alone, not have to smile and look pleased; a relief to stare dejected out the window at the sheeting rain and let just a few tears escape. I wasn't in the mood to go on a real crying jag. I would save that for bedtime, when I would have to think about the coming morning.

As Carmina marked the page and closed the book for the day, everyone sighed.

"This book is really boring. Why is it so popular?" Squalo asked.

"Maybe Americans like boring things?" Carmina guessed and everyone except Xanxus just shrugged.

"Anyways, I'm kind of tired. I'm going to take a nap in my room," Carmina muttered, climbing out of Bel's lap and hiking up the stairs. Everyone was silent.

"Boss you really shouldn't have been so mean to her-" Lussuria sighed.
'One more word and I'll kill you," Xanxus threatened. They heard a door slam and everyone made a mental note to stay away from both Carmina and Xanxus for a while.

Sorry for the uber long wait. I'm sorry about that! I hope you enjoy this chapter! Dont' forget to follow, favorite, review and check out my other works as well! Ciao! :)