29-Jun-2018
Finally got to use the sparkly donation can with a boa!
Viktor strolled along deck yellow six with his two lackeys, Crystal and Jayson. He sneered at the adults who stopped at all of the little booths to ooh and ahh at the little trinkets or baked goods that the other kids had brought to sell today.
“Where are you going for the trip this year?” one man with a red beard and a blue robe asked.
The little girl running the stand beamed. “Ganymede.”
“To see the wildlife preserves?”
“Yes, sir.” Her smile faded as Viktor caught her eye.
He held up two fingers and mouthed, “Twenty percent.”
She swallowed and looked away.
Viktor laughed. Crystal and Jayson joined in. It was kind of annoying that they laughed every time he did, even when they had no idea what the joke was. But Crystal was tough and Jayson was smart and Viktor would be an idiot to make them angry.
A chime sounded from Viktor’s DPad. This brought a smile to his lips. Someone had paid him. Good. One less kid for him to have to bully.
“Over there,” Crystal said, pointing. Her blue eyes blazed.
Viktor followed the gesture and found three of the new kids packing up some sort of woven hats along with a very shiny donation jar and a feather boa.
“Have they paid?” Crystal asked.
“No,” Jayson said.
“Time to have a chat,” Viktor said. He led the way through the crowd of adults—almost getting squished by a couple of fat guys—and went to stand in front of the three kids.
Viktor recognized the oldest. “Grant, you guys finished?”
Grant’s dark eyes grew wide. “Oh, hey Viktor. Uh, yeah, we’re packing up.”
“I can see that,” Viktor said, stepping closer. “I assume you were on your way to pay me.”
“Pay you?”
Grant’s companions were a boy and a girl. Both had red hair and green eyes. They had to be siblings. It was difficult to tell which one was older.
It was the girl who had spoken. Her eyes narrowed as she studied Viktor and she folded her arms across her flat chest. “Excuse me?”
Viktor hadn’t had the chance to introduce himself. He’d been hoping that Grant would have told these kids the arrangement. So he crossed his arms over his chest and glared down at the girl. “I run this place. If you want to sell stuff, you pay me twenty percent.”
The girl continued to glare. “This is a school function.”
He leaned forward and poked her in the arm. “I’m the boss on this deck. You do what I say.”
Her brother took a step forward, but the girl held out her hand. “No.”
It had been a long time since Viktor had had to enforce his rules. “No?”
“Do you need ear replacements?”
Crystal always liked a good fight, so Viktor waved his hand.
The burly girl grinned and she moved toward the table with her hands out, obviously ready to overturn it.
But the red-headed brother stepped into her path. “I don’t think so.”
Crystal frowned. Everyone knew she came from a high-G planet. You didn’t mess with her.
The boy held his ground. He jerked his chin. “Get lost.”
Crystal leaned in. She had to bend a little to see him eye to eye. “What did you say?”
Like his sister, the boy didn’t lose his composure. “I said, get lost.”
“You gonna make me?”
“If you want.”
Viktor looked at Grant, but he was standing there with his mouth open looking like a stupid fish.
Crystal wasn’t the brains of the operation, and she could only take so many things that sounded like insults. So she grabbed for the boy.
But he slipped through her grasp and danced away.
“You’re going to have to be faster than that,” he said to Crystal.
Crystal growled and went after him again.
Viktor started toward the fray, but he felt something wrap around his arms and chest. He looked down and then at the girl, who had lassoed the blue feather boa around him.
“Uh-uh,” she said, waggling a finger. “Let Kess have his fun.”
Viktor looked back at Crystal, who was circling the boy, Kess.
One minute they were squaring off, and the next Crystal was on the ground and Kess had a knee on her chest.
The girl sighed. “Too bad, he’s been looking for a challenge.”
Viktor glared. “Who are you?”
“We’re the new kids on the ship, and I suggest that you leave us alone.” She pulled him toward her with the boa. “And all of these other kids too. If you don’t, you’ll find out what I can really do with this boa.”
Viktor swallowed. The girl’s face was flush, but her eyes were bright. His breath caught in his throat as she moved closer.
“And you won’t like it,” she said.
But Viktor thought he might. He just might.
