Street Livin’ - REVIEW THIS STORY

Written by Courtney
Last updated: 01/02/2007 02:01:11 AM

Chapter 5

Rogue glanced over her shoulder several times to make sure they weren't being followed anymore. She was several feet behind Remy, her energy dropping drastically from all the running. He, on the other hand, felt he could go another mile. But when he heard the drop of a bag behind him, he stopped and turned around.

"Remy," she panted. "Ah cain't go on." She was bent over, hands on her knees, heaving air into her lungs.

He jogged back to her and knelt down besides her. "C'mon, chere. Can' let de beast get us." He helped her up and took the produce back. He dropped it instantly though as he felt that familiar pain. It stayed though with nothing to expel it from him. "Gimme an apple," he said through clenched teeth.

She looked at him bewildered but did as he asked. She tossed it to him from her pocket, afraid to touch him. He grabbed it from the air and held it tight in his fist. This time, he watched as the shiny red skin brightened to orange. He watched it in awe, almost peering at it. "Remy! Toss it!" Rogue screamed as she ducked down. She had seen the damage it had done to Victor and he didn't end up just covered in orange juice. More like boiling orange juice. When Remy had pulled her out of the doorway, she had caught a glimpse of her injured stepfather, like in slow motion.

He had covered his face in his hands, roaring with pain. She saw him lower one hand when the initial pain resided. And she saw a look of such hatred that she had never seen from him, ever. His dark brown, almost black eyes, screamed that it wasn't the last she'd see of him.

She looked up again only when she heard the explosion and apple pieces rained from the sky. Remy, from her perspective, stood completely still. His face was skyward to where he had thrown the glowing apple directly vertical of himself. She stood up and squeaked, "Remy?" Realizing she had practically no voice, she swallowed some air and tired again. She reached a hand towards him. "Remy, ya okay, sugah?"

He slowly tilted his head in the direction of her voice. "Chere," he gulped as he stared down at his hands. "What's de matter wit' me?"

She took a step towards him. "It's exactly what we talked about… We can get through this." Another step. He saw her coming closer, but he didn't respond at all. "Listen, we gotta get home. Vic's gonna be lookin' foh us."

"I can' carry anyt'in'. I c'n feel de burnin' 'gain." He glanced down to his hands. They looked normal, but they both knew it wouldn't last.

Rogue sighed. "We need ta get ahold of Kurt. Somehow." Her eyes lit up as if she had an idea, but they rest of her expression said it was a final resort. "Ya got any change?"

He nodded. "In my pocket. Pro'bly better if y' get it dough." She understood completely. She reached in one of his duster pockets and after digging around some fruit, she found about two dollars in quarters.

"Where's the nearest payphone?"

"Off de next street. Who y' callin'?"

She breathed in a trembling breath. "Home."

His eyes widened as if she had suddenly grown another head. "What?!"

"Ah'll talk ta Momma. Ah think if Ah promise ta go home she might help you get up north. That school that Kurt goes to could help you!"

"Y' can' seriously be t'inkin' dat y' goin' back t' dat loveless witch an' dat monster we say in de alley!?"

Rogue looked at him with sad emerald eyes. "Ah don't want ta see ya hurt yoahself. Not when Ah can actually do somethin' about it. Ah told ya you weren't alone anymore. An' with them, ya won't be. Ah'm keepin' mah promise ta you."

Remy avoided her eyes for a moment. "C'n y' carry de stuff?" He finally spoke, still not looking at her.

She nodded. "Jus' lead the way." She loaded the bags onto her small arms. Remy reluctantly led her down the street. He periodically glanced back, checking for Victor. They reached the small square of restaurants and bars in ten minutes time. Rogue trudged behind him while he kept his arms at his sides loosely, but rigid enough to not bump into his jacket. He didn't want to take any chances.

Rogue saw the stands of payphones and quickened her pace. As much as she was dreading this call, it was for Remy's safety. He had saved her and she wouldn't rest until she could say to herself she had paid him back. She dropped her bags by the nearest empty booth and picked up the receiver with a second's hesitation. She dialed the number she wished she could forget and the operator told her to insert her money. She put the quarters in and it took a couple more seconds to connect, but it started ringing. After the third ring, someone finally picked up. "Hello?" A drowsy voice asked.

"Momma?" Rogue wasn't sure if she was happy to hear her mother's voice or not.

She heard a gasp on the other line. "Bethany?" Rogue held in a laugh. Amazingly, she had almost forgotten her give name and she had called herself 'Rogue' for only a day and a half.

"Yeah, it's me," she answered simply.

"Where have you been? Victor has been raving that you ran away! Why would you do somethin' like that?"

"You of all people should know why," Rogue said, more harshness leaking into her words than she expected.

She could almost feel her mother's glare on the other end. "It's obvious you didn't call to check in, so get out what ya want."

"That's more like it. Ah need the number foh Kurt's school. Mah friend is like him an' needs help."

"Who's your friend?" Her mother's accent slowly left her. Rogue figured she had been in her 'southern-charm-soaked housewife' form when she had called. She knew she was talking to her mother in her true form now.

"None o' yoah business. Please, Momma. This is the last time Ah'll ask of you foh anythin'."

"Just hold on a minute. You're telling me that I'm never going to see you again? You my daughter, Betha-"

"-Don't call me that," Rogue growled. Ah'm different from the li'l girl that left yoah house a week ago. Ah am not gonna spend mah life being Victor's play toy! An' Ah couldn't just sit around an' expect it ta stop!" Her mother started to sputter something but Rogue went on. "Don't even act like that! You knew what was goin' on an' you didn't do a thing!" The sentence came out as a screamed sob. Heads of civilians in the area turned and Remy just stared at her in awe.

"Bethie… calm down."

"Don't.Call.Me.That!" She shrieked. "Ah'm not yoah daughter anymore. You never acted like mah mother! Ah would be bleedin' in a corner an' what would you do? Throw back another shot and go to bed. With him!" Remy watched, terrified of this girl now. She had so much anger inside of her, aching to get out. And the voice projection of her 10-year-old self rivaled the best public speaker in the country. It echoed through the streets of New Orleans, catching people's attention easily.

He stopped up and concentrated on making the pain throbbing in his hands calm down enough so he could take the phone from Rogue, who was still ranting. "P'tite, gimme de phone."

She finally noticed she wasn't the only one in the area. "Oh, umm, sure. Be careful," she warned, her voice still cracking from her sobs. She handed it to him, shakily. He couldn't figure out if it was because she was getting over her mother or afraid of him.

He held the phone for a moment, checking to feel if the pain came again only to leave a second later. But it never came. He put the phone up to his ear. "Hello?" He said more politely than he felt he should've. He glanced to Rogue, who had crumpled amongst the bags. She was sniffling loudly and trying to catch her breath from crying.

"Who is this?" demanded her mother. "Put Bethany back on the phone."

"Wait, one t'ing atta time. First, I be Remy. Second, de femme sobbin' next t' me, her name ain' Bet'any. Is Rogue. Got it?"

"Who are you? Some pedophile taking 'care' of her?"

"Non, I'm de guy who found her after she was alone f'r four days."

"Four days?!"

Remy nodded into the phone. "Oui. Now, what c'n I call you 'cuz 'Momma' doesn' sound right comin' from me."

She disregarded his question. She didn't have time for his cockiness. "You're the friend who needs Xavier's number?"

Remy wasn't about to have that though. Nope. He smirked. "I asked y' first. Y' answer my question, I'll answer y's."

He heard a sigh. "Raven. But to you, Ms. Darkholme."

"Oui," he answered right after.

"You are?"

"Didn' y' hear me? Maybe I should stay in English 'cuz y' might be too drunk t' understand anyt'in' else, eh?" She growled on the other end. "My fault. Y' actually sober now? From what I guessed, dat's a special occasion."

"How dare you!"

"Don' even start. Y' gon' give us de number?"

"Why should I?"

"Y' sent y' son dere. He's blue jus like y' from what I hear. Y' got it easy; just change. He can', just like me. I need de same help. Be surprised dat de connection hasn't been cut off because I haven't blown up de phone." He stressed the last part of the sentence greatly.

"Blow up?" She repeated with intrigue.

"Oui, I mean 'yeah'."

She ignored his statement. "You just manifested this ability today?" She sounded very intrigued at that.

"Sure," Remy responded, guessing what the sentence meant. 'Manifested' wasn't a word he heard everyday.

"I can and will help you. I'll give you the number if I can have Betha - I mean Rogue," she spat. "She is my daughter. She needs to be home."

Remy glanced down at Rogue. She had drawn her legs into her chest and surrounded herself with their shopping bags. She looked cold, shivering here and there. Her white shock of hair stuck to her face with salty tears. She felt his fiery gaze on her and looked up from her blank stare. Their eyes locked and Remy remembered she had made the same deal. She would g home if he could get the help he needed. But he couldn't give her back. Not to those people who'll just cause her even more pain. Not when he was in this deep. "No deal," he said, still staring at Rogue.

"What?" she asked, more calm than Remy expected.

"No.Deal." He repeated. "I've got a name. I'll find him on my own. P'tite stays wit' me."

"I see… Well, I can't say that I thought it would be this easy, but I'm not giving her up forever."

"I t'ought y' would say dat, but don't count on any contact ever aga-" Then he winced. Here it comes. The pain trickled its way into his hand. He quickly said goodbye and hung up. The pain luckily, in this case, was still there, so the phone didn't explode. He yelled to Rogue to stay put where many people could see her and he sprinted to the adjacent street. He bent down and picked up a small rock. He clenched it in his hand and released the pressure once he felt the burning flow into it. Then he belted it down the street. He was already running back to Rogue when he heard the explosion a distance away. He found her where he'd left her. She was eating an apple though, spitting out the red skin. She saw him coming up to her.

"Are we leavin' now?" She asked quietly.

"Oui, c'mon." She picked herself up and gathered their bags.

"What're we gonna do?" She asked as she slung the bags over her shoulder. "Ah mean, about you."

"Y' maman spit out a name dat we c'n work offa. It's been a long day so I t'ink we should jus' head home an' sleep." They walked in the direction of their home.

"You don't actually think Ah'm gonna be able ta sleep tanight, do ya?"

"I dunno. I don' t'ink I will eit'er. But we may as well try, eh?"

"Okay." Then they remained silent for the rest of the walk, each to their own thoughts. Remy compared his dream to what happened today. How was he going to sleep? He'd have to sleep standing up if he didn't want to hurt himself or Rogue.

Rogue, though, had a jumble of thoughts going through her mind. He's gonna find us. Ah can feel his beady eyes on me. It's not gonna be over till we're north. She side glanced to Remy and regretted meeting him. She didn't want him to get mixed up in her affairs. It wasn't fair to him. He shoulda just turned me in, gotten the number, an' they would've picked him up. They did it foh Kurt, what makes Remy different? She internally sighed and shifted the baggage again. She couldn't wait to get the load off her and collapse on the floor. She knew she would be plagued with images for the night, so sleep would not overcome her.

A thought clicked in her head. "Remy… what're we gonna do about food in the meantime? Ah mean, Ah'm gonna hafta do the stealin' an' stuff, because who knows when yoah powers'll go off and boom, there goes a purse."

For some reason, that thought hadn't surfaced in Remy's mind. "Merde," he swore. "Hope y' got enough trainin' t'day, chere, b'cuz y' right. I'm not gon' take any chance wit' dis." He sighed. They had made it to the office building and climbing up the stairs. "I t'ink it'd be best if we moved out t'morrow too. De sooner we get north, de better."

"How are we gonna find this guy though? What's his name?"

"Xavier."

"Raht. There could be thousands of guys with that name!" She cried.

"It's not as common as 'Smith', p'tite," he smiled. "We'll find him. Don' worry." He pushed open the door to their room and Rogue immediately threw the bags off her back. She grabbed her blanket and curled up on the floor, physically and emotionally weak. Remy wished to do the same thing, but he didn't trust himself. Rogue on the other hand…

"Remy, lay down. Ya need ta rest." She peeled off her jacket and reached into the produce bag. She grabbed some grapes for him to eat. "We can take shifts. You first."

He shook his head. "Dis day's been harder f'you-"

"-Bull. Remy, get some sleep, an' if anythin' starts ta glow or if you're whimperin' or whatever, Ah'll wake ya up so we can toss it out the window." He stood for another moment, and decided that he did need to collapse since he had used so much energy that day. He nodded and lay down slowly, afraid the slightest touch with anything would trigger his power. "C’mere, ya need ta eat." She slid over to him and shifted him so his head was on her lap. "Think of yoahself as a Greek god, okay?" She smiled and dangled the bushel of grapes over his head.

He grinned and opened his mouth wide. "T’anks, Rogue," he said as he chewed on a grape.

"Don’t thank me till this is all over. Ah’m scared that Victor knows where we are. He’ll hurt you ta get ta me. Ah know he will."

Remy rested his hands on his bare stomach, since he figured he couldn’t make his own skin explode. "We’ll make it, p’tite. T'morrow we'll be outta N'awlins an' on our way north."

"We don't know where we're goin' north though. It's like really north, farther than D.C."

"Y' know exactly where?" She shook her head and dropped another grape in his mouth. He chewed slowly, but then asked, "It's in de country, right?"

"Yeah. Ah have no idea though. Northeast. Kurt was always real cryptic about where he was goin'. Like it was some big secret. Ah just know it's an institute foh people like him - like you." She plucked a grape off the bunch and popped it into her mouth. "Where should we start lookin' foh the name?"

"When we get over t' Mississippi, we'll find some way t' get contact up dere."

"Mississippi?" She squeaked. "Ah don't wanna go back there."

"We're not goin' near y' home. We have t' head up northeast, like y' said. Dat's not near y', is it?"

"No. Ah'm raht across the river from here almost." She sighed with relief. "Ah feel better now."

"Good. So t'morrow we hitch a bus t' Jackson."

"Ya know yoah way up there already?"

He grinned. "I've been planning dis forever. I'm ready t' go." He leaned up to bite another grape.

While chewing, Rogue looked thoughtfully at him. "Ah have a question."

"What?"

"Do ya think we'll be up there in a week?"

"I dunno. Why?"

"Because Ah wanna turn eleven an' start over." She didn't say it happily as most children would at the time of their birthdays. She sounded serious.

"We'll try, Rogue. I don' want y' t' spend y' birt'day in a bus depot."

She smiled weakly. "Okay. You should get some sleep now." He nodded against her leg and shut his eyes. He didn't want to move his body at all, afraid it'll trigger something. Rogue absently stroked his hair, and it was the last thing he felt before he fell into a surprisingly serene slumber.