Not a Moment Too Soon

Chapter 1

Ravati stood there in the living room, chewing her gum, and crossed her arms in front of her chest, wondering what her dear ol' Uncle had in store for her now. She'd stolen a car the previous night and ended up ditching it in the nearby river. The cops caught her and threatened to send her to Juvenile Hall, but her Uncle Steve had pleaded with them to let him make the punishment. Ravati blew the bubble out before popping it, sucking it back in her mouth, and rolled her eyes. She had a black bandana wrapped around her head, tied in the back with her long, black hair in a braid that hung down her back.

Her outfit consisted of a tank top that showed off her bare stomach and her belly button ring that had a red dice on it, showing off her Devil Child tat that was in Old English lettering on her right hip. Her pants were black and cargo, chains hanging from them with little handcuffs, baggy, and hugged her hips nicely along with her black steel toed boots. She had a black choker with silver necklace around her neck and around ten wristbands on each wrist wither nails painted black. Her eyes were decked out in black and red eye shadow and eyeliner, making it have a flame pattern and black lipstick painted her lips, accentuating her rather pale skin nicely, since she was never out in the sun.

"I am SICK and TIRED of bailin' yer ass outta trouble, Ravati!" Steve said angrily, using her full name which he only did when he was angry with her. "What the HELL were ya thinkin'? Stealin' a damned car? And then, and THEN, fuckin' bailin' out and leavin' it in the damned river!?" His face was red with rage, a vein showing on his bald head, looking dangerously close to the breaking point. "What the Hell are ya doin' with yer life, Ravati? Besides hangin' out with a bunch of trouble makers and gettin' yerself into scrapes ya can't get out of?"

"It's called having fun, Steve, you should try it sometime." Ravati retorted, making it sound like the most obvious thing in the world, and sighed boredly as she took her gum out and placed it on her finger, staring at it broodingly. "And don't fucking call my friends trouble makers! They're the only ones who TRULY understand me, you fuckwad!" She snapped, having a short temper.

"Well it royally sucks to be you, Ravati because yer gone!" Steve snapped back. "I just got off the phone with a buddy of mine and he's agreed to take yer trouble makin' ass for the summer. Show ya what it means to be treated like a damned convict since that seems to be what the Hell you're wantin'! Get yer ass upstairs and pack right now!" He ordered, pointing, not pleased with her tone at all.

"I'm not going fucking anywhere, you asshole!" She shouted back at him, refusing to show any fear, and placed her hands on her hips, not moving an inch. "You wanna kick me out? FINE! I'll just stay with one of my 'troublemaking' friends as you so BLUNTLY like to call them, Steve!" She was getting sick and tired of her Uncle always treating her like a child when she was twenty one years old. She just couldn't find a place of her own because her best friend wouldn't get up off of her ass and look for one for them.

"Wrong, Ravati. You'll do this or spend yer summer in the county lock up!" Steve countered. "You're leavin' bright and early in the mornin' so I suggest ya go pack yer things and get a GOOD night's rest because it'll probably be the last one ya have this summer! NOW GET TO STEPPIN'!" His tone left no room for argument.

"I FUCKING HATE YOU!" She screamed at him, her midnight blue eyes blazing with rage, and stomped upstairs to her room, slamming her bedroom door shut so hard, the hinges rattled. She started swiping things off of her dresser and actually punched the wall, not at all bothered by the throbbing pain it left, and finally collapsed on her bed. She felt the tears sting her eyes, but quickly blinked them back, not believing her Uncle was sending her away somewhere. She whipped out her cell phone and dialed her best friend's number, hoping she wasn't still sleeping.

"What?" Angel, short for Angelica, answered brightly, sounding bright eyed and bushy tailed. Her natural hair color was brown, but at the moment, it was an icy blue that matched her eyes. She had the same eyes as her brother, both inheriting them from both of their parents. Though that might have been the fact that she and her brother, John, had spent the night bouncing off walls from a little experiment involving caffeine and the Dextrin they borrowed off their mother. "JOHN! Put it down!"

"Fuck me, what are you two doing NOW?" Ravati asked with a laugh, completely forgetting about her moronic Uncle downstairs, and laid back on her bed, rubbing her stomach, and stared up at the ceiling. "You two didn't do the caffeine and Dextrin mix without me, DID YOU?"

"Erm…Well you see…" Angel cleared her throat. "We heard over the CB whatcha did, nice by the way, and got bored. Mainly John's fault though." She groaned, watching her brother flinging her CD's across the basement they shared as their living quarters or the Cell as they liked to call it. "We got a whole other bottle with your name on it, Rava. Wanna do somethin'?"

"Rava!" John dived onto his sister's bed, reaching over to put his girlfriend on speakerphone.

"Heygirlwhat'sup? I'mreallyhyperrightnow!" He said in a rush of words that blended together. John and Angelica were siblings, always getting into trouble, but each other always bailed the other out. They were close. John had short brown hair with piercing sky blue eyes and he was built nicely for his age. Maybe one of the reasons why Ravati was so attracted to him in the first place. They dated on and off for a few years, currently dating now, but it would change because Ravati refused to settle down with anyone. She liked to live her life free and refused to be tied down by a boyfriend, even though John was just like her. They both wanted to grab life by the throat and choke it for all it was worth.

"I noticed, Johnny boy!" She started laughing, her eyes instantly filling with rage again as she sat up on the bed, one hand planted on the comforter, and held the cell as she stared at her black nails, chewing on her gum again. "Yeah, about that…" The laughter died out of her voice, causing her to sigh heavily, and rolled her eyes as she growled lowly. "Fuckwad is sending me away for the summer…"

"WHAT?" Both John and Angelica roared.

"Where the fuck is he sending ya too and why?" Angel demanded angrily. "What a fucking prick!"

"Wantustocomeoutthereandchangehismindforya? Huh?" John asked in another rush of words, having way too much caffeine inside of him mixed with Dextrin at the moment.

"No because you know how he is. Fuckin' uptight motherfucker…." She growled more under her breath, raking her nails against her comforter, and crossed her leg over the other while studying her nails more. "Apparently the courts were GOING to send me to the country prison for the summer, ya know, to TRY and teach me a lesson?" She started laughing incredulously. "But I guess fuckwad called some punk friend of his up and I have to stay with him for the summer."

"When are you leaving?" Angel asked, frowning as she watched her brother. "Um hold on, Rava…" She rolled off the bed, smacking him upside the head. "Leave the Dextrin alone, you junkie!"

"Ouch! I was putting it away!" John protested, no longer talking a mile a minute.

"Sorry bout that. Anyways…" She went back to the conversation with her best friend.

"That's fine. I wouldn't sweat nothin'. I'm sure it ain't too far from here so it's not like I can't sneak out and whatnot." Ravati smirked as she walked over to her window, staring out of it, and started giggling when she seen her Uncle outside drinking a beer by his pool. "Fuckwad is pissed. So yeah anyway, this won't change what we got planned tonight, RIGHT?" There was a sadistic edge to her voice as she closed her curtain and walked back over to stare in the mirror, at her reflection. "I mean, if I'm gonna have ONE more night of freedom, I might as well go out with a BANG!"

Angel giggled, her sweet voice sounding innocent though anyone who knew her would say otherwise. "Yeah, we're still on for tonight. Who ya want to snag you up from the road? Us or David?"

"Fuck Dave!" John shouted, hurling another CD.

"Ignore John, he's coming down off his little high." Angel sighed exasperatedly, almost regretting allowing him to join her in mixing the caffeine with the Dextrin.

"I don't wanna know what Davey boy did to make Johnny say that. Yeah, after fuckwad goes to sleep, I'll call you. Lata woman!" She then snapped her cell phone shut just as a knock sounded at her door, causing her eyebrow to rise, and crossed her arms in front of her chest as she slid her cell in her back pocket. "What the fuck do you want, Steve? If you haven't noticed, I hate your fucking guts right now."

"Change of plans, hope you're packed." Steve arched an eyebrow, noticing she wasn't. "You have ten minutes to have yer shit in gear and be ready to go, hear me? We're leavin'."

"WHAT?" She roared, throwing a book at him out of pure rage, not believing what she was hearing. "You said in the fucking morning! Why do we have to leave now?"

"Because I fuckin' said so!" Steve caught the book, opened it, and tore it right down the middle. "That's the bottom line, Ravati. Now get yer stuff packed!" He ordered, his tone even.

"Man, fuck you! I'm not going anywhere with you, fuckwad!" She shouted back at him, knowing her plans for that night were cancelled, and felt like tearing her Uncle's heart out of his chest and crushing it in her hand. "I'm not going, fuck you! You said tomorrow morning!"

Sighing heavily, Steve picked up her duffel bag and started stuffing clothes into it, ignoring her shouts when he tossed in underclothes. He added her personals before zipping it up and tossing her over his other shoulder. "Plans changed. You're goin' today." He said firmly, carting her downstairs.

"LET ME DOWN RIGHT FUCKING NOW, FUCKWAD! YOU CAN'T DO THIS TO ME!" She screamed at him, kicking her feet wildly as he dragged her out of the front door, causing her to beat on his back wither fists, not believing he was doing this to her. No tears fell from her eyes, refusing to show him any pain, and when he set her down on his feet, she kicked him hard in the shin with her black steel toed boot. "I'm not going!"

Steve groaned, rubbing his shin, tempted to turn her over his knee and paddle her ass. Finally, he hobbled over to the truck, smiling slightly, knowing if she tried that shit where she was going, she'd probably get a belt to her ass. "In the truck, Ravati. Now." He ordered, pointing toward it.

"Fuck you. You're going to have to physically drag my limp, dead carcass in that truck because I'm NOT going! You said tomorrow morning and you packed MY shit, which isn't right! Fuck you, I'm not going." She crossed her arms in front of her chest defiantly, shaking her head back and forth, glaring hatefully at him.

Steve rolled his eyes before picking her up again and planted her into the passenger seat of his truck, buckling her in as well. "You want to act like a damned baby then yer goin' to be treated like one." He got in besides her, clicking on the child locks so she couldn't get out then put the automatic window locks on, having been through the loop before. He handed her the bag he packed before putting his truck in reverse and pulled out of the driveway.

"God I fucking hate you! I can't stand you! I'm twenty one years old and should be able to live MY life the way I fucking want!" She shouted at him, shaking her head back and forth, and dragged her sunglasses out of her pocket, slipping them on. She wiped away any tears that spilled down her cheeks, refusing to show him or this asshole she was being forced to stay with for the summer any weaknesses. They only fell down the cheek that wasn't facing her Uncle.

Steve ignored her, more then used to her outbursts, and turned on the radio, tapping his fingers to the country music that played. He frowned when she turned it to her favorite station and turned it back to his. "Knock it off, Ravati." He said warningly, blue eyes narrowing.

"What the fuck ever, STEVEN." She snorted with a roll of her eyes beneath her shades and crossed her arms in front of her chest, staring out the window, not saying another word to him. She couldn't believe he was getting bent out of shape just because she'd gotten caught stealing a car. Well, not technically caught, but the cops found it in the river nearby. She growled, deciding to pound Jason within an inch of his life when she seen him for leaving her stranded with the entire blame for it.

Steve was silent for the rest of the ride, reflecting on Ravati's actions for the past several years. The girl had only gotten wilder and more out of control with each passing year. Now he was waiting for a phone call saying she'd been busting committing an armed robbery or something to that measure. Any day now, he was sure. He wondered what happened to his sweet, angelic niece, and had a feeling he knew what changed her. He sighed when he seen his best friend's ranch come into view, a slow smirk beginning to spread across his lips.

"This is it." He announced, pulling into the blacktop driveway that was connected to what looked like a huge ranch.

"Great grand fucking wonderful." She muttered under her breath, leaning her head against the glass window, and sucked her cheeks in when she seen the huge ranch before her.

The guy had to be loaded, that much was for sure, and rolled her eyes when Steve cut the engine. They lived a half an hour away from each other so she could still go out that night. She'd have to make a phone call later on after getting away from her Uncle and this guy she was being forced to stay with for the summer. Once the truck stopped, Ravati slid out of it, slamming the door shut with authority behind her, and swung her bag over her shoulder, staring at the ranch before her.

Great, what the fuck had her Uncle gotten her into now?