Butter Pecan 17: Trekkin'
Title: Trekkin'
Main Story: In the Heart
Flavors, Toppings, Extras: Butter pecan 17 (dry), malt (Summer Challenge 25: someone misplaces their keys, locking him/herself and any number of other characters out of their house, room, business or car.), whipped cream (Ivy is ten, Aaron sixteen), fresh pineapple (Children, by Robert Miles), fresh peaches (Saturn improves personal resourcefulness and thrift).
Word Count: 2018
Rating: PG-13 for language.
Summary: Aaron has a bad afternoon.
Notes: Title in no way influenced by my recent Deep Space Nine binge. Certainly not.
"Fuck," Ivy said.
Aaron, who was waiting not-terribly-patiently on the front step with his cold hands shoved in his pockets, looked up in mild alarm. "Ivy!"
"I can't find my keys!"
He shook his head gravely. "Vee, you can't swear like that. You're only t-- what do you mean, you can't find your keys?"
She glared at him. "I mean I can't find my keys!"
"Where did you have them last?" He came up the stairs and started patting at her pockets. "Did you put them in your backpack?"
"Yes," Ivy said, "and now they're not in my backpack. Tell me you have yours."
Aaron bit his lip, then shook his head, slowly. "No. I lost them down a subway grate last week. I was going to get new ones tomorrow. Maybe they fell under your books?"
Ivy emptied her backpack through the very simple maneuver of unzipping all the pockets and turning it upside down. "They're not in here!" she said, shaking the empty backpack at her brother. "Look through my stuff if you must, but they're not!"
He sat down on the step and went meticulously through the tangle of textbooks, pencils and scrunchies, and was finally forced to admit defeat. "Okay," he said. "Okay. This isn't a disaster. Much. Where did you have your keys last?"
"This morning," she said, with exaggerated patience. "I put them in the front pocket of my backpack where I always put them. They're not in there."
"I understood you the first time," he not-quite-snapped. "Do you think they fell out at school?"
"Maybe," she said, sounding doubtful. "They'd be in my locker if they did. But I can't get them until tomorrow. They've locked up the school by now."
Aaron let out an explosive breath of air, and stood up. "Okay. Let's pack up your backpack and go to my mom's."
"Um," Ivy said, and tugged on one of her braids. "Is she home? 'Cause didn't you say she was going on a trip with your stepdad?"
"God, I hope she is," Aaron said. "Because if she isn't home then we have to go to Dad's work. Or your mom's."
"And mom's pissy because she's pregnant," Ivy completed, and sighed. "Can't we just stay here? I know it's cold but I'm nice and wrapped up."
"Maybe you are." He picked at the sleeve of his sweater. "I only dressed for the subway. Come on, let's go see if Mom's home."
--
Aaron's mother was not home. Or if she was she wasn't answering the door, or her phone, which both of them could hear ringing inside the townhouse when Aaron tried calling from a payphone outside. Ivy groaned, and sat down hard on the step. "We're doomed."
"Only a little bit," Aaron said, thinking hard. So Ivy lost her keys. Big deal. He was only going to freeze to death. "So, okay. We can go to Dad's work, or your mom's work."
"I vote Dad," she said, dancing up and down on the step to keep warm.
"I dunno," he said. "Your mom is closer."
"Yes, but Mom will kill me," Ivy said, and made big eyes at him. "Please? I don't want to die. I'm too young."
He rolled his eyes. "You're such a drama queen, Vee."
"Doesn't mean it's not true," Ivy pointed out, with some justice.
"Okay," Aaron said, and heaved a long-suffering sigh, mostly for the look of the thing. "We'll go try Dad. But if he's on a site visit then we have to go to your mom. You know that, right?"
"I'll think of something then," Ivy said, with conviction.
Yep, Aaron thought, chafing his arms. He was definitely going to freeze.
--
It was a good thing that they ran into their dad's secretary on their way into the building, or they would have climbed five floors worth of stairs for nothing.
Rita Myers stopped dead on her way out of the elevator when she saw them. "Ivy!" she exclaimed. "Aaron! What are you two doing here?" Her face suffused with anxiety suddenly. "Is it Gail? Did something...?"
"No," Ivy said, fast. Ms. Myers was really nice but also very new, and both children had already learned that she had a tendency to overdramatize things. "Mom's okay. We just need to see Dad."
"Ivy locked us out of the house," Aaron added, with a total lack of sympathy. "And since she doesn't want to bother her mother we had to walk halfway across the city." In the goddamn freezing cold, too. And okay, maybe that was his fault for only dressing for the subway, but he hadn't expected to be out in the weather this long.
Ivy turned on him, hands balled up at her sides. "Oh, shut up! You lost your stupid keys too! And anyway I didn't lose them, they fell out in my locker!"
Ms. Myers, who evidently had children or at least younger siblings, intervened before it could get any worse. "Regardless," she said, "I'm afraid it won't do you any good. Your dad's been on a site visit all today."
Aaron slapped a hand across his forehead and groaned. "I told you!"
"You did not!" Ivy said. "You said if. Is he going to come here on the way back?" she asked Ms. Myers, hopefully.
Ms. Myers shook her head. "I’m afraid not. He told me yesterday he was leaving from home and going right back there. And he probably won't get back until late. I heard that site's having some... problems."
Aaron correctly interpreted this as meaning 'someone called me and swore a lot.' "Great," he said. "Just great. Come on, Ivy, we have to go to your mom now. Where we should have gone in the first place."
"She'll kill me," Ivy said, but sighed, and took his hand. "You'll regret this when I'm dead. Thanks, Ms. Myers."
"You're welcome," she said, buttoning her coat. "I'm sorry I couldn't be more helpful. Aaron, you look freezing!"
He shrugged, uncomfortably. "I forgot my coat." Which wasn't true but sounded better than 'I was stupid.'
"Oh!" she said. "Well, let me see, your stepmother works uptown, right? Do you two want to share a cab?"
Ivy gave Aaron a pathetic look, although he wasn't sure why since she was the one in decent winter wear. Not that he needed it. Ms. Myers was nice, they both knew her, and more importantly their dad knew her and knew she was okay and wouldn't kidnap them.
Although, come to think of it, Aaron really pitied the poor bastard who kidnapped Ivy. Total Ransom of Red Chief situation.
Still, they didn't have any money, and he felt obligated to say so. "We've only got our subway cards," he said. "Can't split the bill."
Ms. Myers shrugged. "That's fine," she said. "I see your father every day. I'm sure he'll pay me back."
Ivy's pathetic look had increased in intensity. Aaron sighed, and gave in. "Okay, sure. Thanks very much."
"Yay!" Ivy said.
--
Ms. Myers got the cab to drop them off right outside Gail's building, which was nice for Aaron, anyway-- a quick dash through freezing air was all that stood between them and central heating paid for by the city.
He was really looking forward to the central heating.
The only problem he could foresee was that it was just about five o'clock, and his stepmother liked to be heading home by then. It was kind of funny, actually; her superiors all but demanded overtime, but Gail used her pregnancy ruthlessly and usually went home when she damn well pleased. Aaron was pretty sure that, based on that alone, she'd make a good politician.
It might also strand them. But he'd just hope her superiors had won this once.
Of course, once he and Ivy made their way past security-- Ivy had to surrender her backpack for safekeeping, and he got his knockoff Swiss army knife confiscated-- and got up to Gail's office, it was empty, and locked.
"You just missed her," said a passing admin, who looked more than a little bit frazzled. "She went home early."
After the admin had hastened off to wherever it was he was going, Ivy said several words a ten-year-old shouldn't know. Aaron didn't have the heart to chastise her.
"We're screwed," she finished.
He sighed, and grabbed her hand again, trying not to agree with her. "Look. She's not here. That means she's probably gone home. So all we have to do is go home and she'll be there to let us in."
"Can we say that we went somewhere to do our homework?" Ivy asked, rather plaintively. "Like, the library. We could say we went to the library, couldn't we?"
"You're gonna have to tell them that you lost your keys sometime," Aaron said.
"Anyway, we'd still get in trouble. I have to tell them any time we're going somewhere after school so they don't worry."
Ivy stared at him. "Really? You've been spying on me?"
He rolled his eyes. "No, I've been walking you home from school, you ungrateful brat. Come on, let's go catch the subway."
"It's still gonna take forever," Ivy muttered, but she followed him obediently.
--
The first sign of trouble on their six-block walk from the subway stop to home was a police car speeding past. It was not a particularly unusual sight in New York City, but their neighborhood was usually pretty quiet, and the car, though its sirens and lights were off, was still moving pretty damn fast.
"Whoa," Ivy said, watching it go past. "Do you think somebody got robbed?"
Aaron, who was starting to feel a little sick in the pit of his stomach, tugged on her arm and pulled her along. "Come on, Ivy," he said, instead of answering.
His sister grumbled, and dragged behind. "My feet hurt," she said. "And I'm cold."
"Yeah, well, the faster we get home the faster you can sit down," Aaron said. "Come on!"
Something of the urgency he felt must have communicated itself to Ivy, because she picked up the pace, looking rather startled. "Is something wrong?" she asked.
"No," he said, and didn't mention that he was also supposed to call as soon as they got home, so their parents knew they were safe. In fact, he had been supposed to call two hours ago.
"You're a liar," Ivy said, but trotted along after him willingly enough.
They were two blocks from home when the cop flagged them down.
Aaron wasn't sure if it was the same cop as before, or not. Police cars all looked alike to him and he hadn't gotten a good look at the driver, and there was more than enough time for either the first guy to circle around or another one to come along. Not that it mattered. The cop was leaning against his car door and giving them both a very peculiar look.
Aaron sighed, tugged his once-again lagging sister up beside him, and said, "Is there a problem, sir?"
To his surprise, the officer tilted his head. "Maybe not. Are you Aaron and Ivy Kendall?"
"Hirschfeld-Kendall," Ivy muttered.
Aaron resisted the urge to clap a hand over her mouth. Instead, he said, "Yeah, that's us."
"Are you aware," the cop asked, "that you two have been reported missing?"
Aaron stared at him for a moment, and then said, clearly and with great feeling, "Fuck."
Ivy sighed. "You're not supposed to say that," she told him. Aaron really, really wanted to smack her, but didn't, because the next thing she said was, "It's my fault, Officer. I lost my house keys and then we went on this epic journey around New York City. It was bad."
The officer smiled at her. "Yes, well, I'm sure your parents will just be glad to know you two are fine. Come on, I'll drive you home."
"It's only two blocks," Ivy said, not very sincerely. "We can walk."
Aaron thought of the way their afternoon had gone, and shook his head. "We'd better not risk it."
Main Story: In the Heart
Flavors, Toppings, Extras: Butter pecan 17 (dry), malt (Summer Challenge 25: someone misplaces their keys, locking him/herself and any number of other characters out of their house, room, business or car.), whipped cream (Ivy is ten, Aaron sixteen), fresh pineapple (Children, by Robert Miles), fresh peaches (Saturn improves personal resourcefulness and thrift).
Word Count: 2018
Rating: PG-13 for language.
Summary: Aaron has a bad afternoon.
Notes: Title in no way influenced by my recent Deep Space Nine binge. Certainly not.
"Fuck," Ivy said.
Aaron, who was waiting not-terribly-patiently on the front step with his cold hands shoved in his pockets, looked up in mild alarm. "Ivy!"
"I can't find my keys!"
He shook his head gravely. "Vee, you can't swear like that. You're only t-- what do you mean, you can't find your keys?"
She glared at him. "I mean I can't find my keys!"
"Where did you have them last?" He came up the stairs and started patting at her pockets. "Did you put them in your backpack?"
"Yes," Ivy said, "and now they're not in my backpack. Tell me you have yours."
Aaron bit his lip, then shook his head, slowly. "No. I lost them down a subway grate last week. I was going to get new ones tomorrow. Maybe they fell under your books?"
Ivy emptied her backpack through the very simple maneuver of unzipping all the pockets and turning it upside down. "They're not in here!" she said, shaking the empty backpack at her brother. "Look through my stuff if you must, but they're not!"
He sat down on the step and went meticulously through the tangle of textbooks, pencils and scrunchies, and was finally forced to admit defeat. "Okay," he said. "Okay. This isn't a disaster. Much. Where did you have your keys last?"
"This morning," she said, with exaggerated patience. "I put them in the front pocket of my backpack where I always put them. They're not in there."
"I understood you the first time," he not-quite-snapped. "Do you think they fell out at school?"
"Maybe," she said, sounding doubtful. "They'd be in my locker if they did. But I can't get them until tomorrow. They've locked up the school by now."
Aaron let out an explosive breath of air, and stood up. "Okay. Let's pack up your backpack and go to my mom's."
"Um," Ivy said, and tugged on one of her braids. "Is she home? 'Cause didn't you say she was going on a trip with your stepdad?"
"God, I hope she is," Aaron said. "Because if she isn't home then we have to go to Dad's work. Or your mom's."
"And mom's pissy because she's pregnant," Ivy completed, and sighed. "Can't we just stay here? I know it's cold but I'm nice and wrapped up."
"Maybe you are." He picked at the sleeve of his sweater. "I only dressed for the subway. Come on, let's go see if Mom's home."
--
Aaron's mother was not home. Or if she was she wasn't answering the door, or her phone, which both of them could hear ringing inside the townhouse when Aaron tried calling from a payphone outside. Ivy groaned, and sat down hard on the step. "We're doomed."
"Only a little bit," Aaron said, thinking hard. So Ivy lost her keys. Big deal. He was only going to freeze to death. "So, okay. We can go to Dad's work, or your mom's work."
"I vote Dad," she said, dancing up and down on the step to keep warm.
"I dunno," he said. "Your mom is closer."
"Yes, but Mom will kill me," Ivy said, and made big eyes at him. "Please? I don't want to die. I'm too young."
He rolled his eyes. "You're such a drama queen, Vee."
"Doesn't mean it's not true," Ivy pointed out, with some justice.
"Okay," Aaron said, and heaved a long-suffering sigh, mostly for the look of the thing. "We'll go try Dad. But if he's on a site visit then we have to go to your mom. You know that, right?"
"I'll think of something then," Ivy said, with conviction.
Yep, Aaron thought, chafing his arms. He was definitely going to freeze.
--
It was a good thing that they ran into their dad's secretary on their way into the building, or they would have climbed five floors worth of stairs for nothing.
Rita Myers stopped dead on her way out of the elevator when she saw them. "Ivy!" she exclaimed. "Aaron! What are you two doing here?" Her face suffused with anxiety suddenly. "Is it Gail? Did something...?"
"No," Ivy said, fast. Ms. Myers was really nice but also very new, and both children had already learned that she had a tendency to overdramatize things. "Mom's okay. We just need to see Dad."
"Ivy locked us out of the house," Aaron added, with a total lack of sympathy. "And since she doesn't want to bother her mother we had to walk halfway across the city." In the goddamn freezing cold, too. And okay, maybe that was his fault for only dressing for the subway, but he hadn't expected to be out in the weather this long.
Ivy turned on him, hands balled up at her sides. "Oh, shut up! You lost your stupid keys too! And anyway I didn't lose them, they fell out in my locker!"
Ms. Myers, who evidently had children or at least younger siblings, intervened before it could get any worse. "Regardless," she said, "I'm afraid it won't do you any good. Your dad's been on a site visit all today."
Aaron slapped a hand across his forehead and groaned. "I told you!"
"You did not!" Ivy said. "You said if. Is he going to come here on the way back?" she asked Ms. Myers, hopefully.
Ms. Myers shook her head. "I’m afraid not. He told me yesterday he was leaving from home and going right back there. And he probably won't get back until late. I heard that site's having some... problems."
Aaron correctly interpreted this as meaning 'someone called me and swore a lot.' "Great," he said. "Just great. Come on, Ivy, we have to go to your mom now. Where we should have gone in the first place."
"She'll kill me," Ivy said, but sighed, and took his hand. "You'll regret this when I'm dead. Thanks, Ms. Myers."
"You're welcome," she said, buttoning her coat. "I'm sorry I couldn't be more helpful. Aaron, you look freezing!"
He shrugged, uncomfortably. "I forgot my coat." Which wasn't true but sounded better than 'I was stupid.'
"Oh!" she said. "Well, let me see, your stepmother works uptown, right? Do you two want to share a cab?"
Ivy gave Aaron a pathetic look, although he wasn't sure why since she was the one in decent winter wear. Not that he needed it. Ms. Myers was nice, they both knew her, and more importantly their dad knew her and knew she was okay and wouldn't kidnap them.
Although, come to think of it, Aaron really pitied the poor bastard who kidnapped Ivy. Total Ransom of Red Chief situation.
Still, they didn't have any money, and he felt obligated to say so. "We've only got our subway cards," he said. "Can't split the bill."
Ms. Myers shrugged. "That's fine," she said. "I see your father every day. I'm sure he'll pay me back."
Ivy's pathetic look had increased in intensity. Aaron sighed, and gave in. "Okay, sure. Thanks very much."
"Yay!" Ivy said.
--
Ms. Myers got the cab to drop them off right outside Gail's building, which was nice for Aaron, anyway-- a quick dash through freezing air was all that stood between them and central heating paid for by the city.
He was really looking forward to the central heating.
The only problem he could foresee was that it was just about five o'clock, and his stepmother liked to be heading home by then. It was kind of funny, actually; her superiors all but demanded overtime, but Gail used her pregnancy ruthlessly and usually went home when she damn well pleased. Aaron was pretty sure that, based on that alone, she'd make a good politician.
It might also strand them. But he'd just hope her superiors had won this once.
Of course, once he and Ivy made their way past security-- Ivy had to surrender her backpack for safekeeping, and he got his knockoff Swiss army knife confiscated-- and got up to Gail's office, it was empty, and locked.
"You just missed her," said a passing admin, who looked more than a little bit frazzled. "She went home early."
After the admin had hastened off to wherever it was he was going, Ivy said several words a ten-year-old shouldn't know. Aaron didn't have the heart to chastise her.
"We're screwed," she finished.
He sighed, and grabbed her hand again, trying not to agree with her. "Look. She's not here. That means she's probably gone home. So all we have to do is go home and she'll be there to let us in."
"Can we say that we went somewhere to do our homework?" Ivy asked, rather plaintively. "Like, the library. We could say we went to the library, couldn't we?"
"You're gonna have to tell them that you lost your keys sometime," Aaron said.
"Anyway, we'd still get in trouble. I have to tell them any time we're going somewhere after school so they don't worry."
Ivy stared at him. "Really? You've been spying on me?"
He rolled his eyes. "No, I've been walking you home from school, you ungrateful brat. Come on, let's go catch the subway."
"It's still gonna take forever," Ivy muttered, but she followed him obediently.
--
The first sign of trouble on their six-block walk from the subway stop to home was a police car speeding past. It was not a particularly unusual sight in New York City, but their neighborhood was usually pretty quiet, and the car, though its sirens and lights were off, was still moving pretty damn fast.
"Whoa," Ivy said, watching it go past. "Do you think somebody got robbed?"
Aaron, who was starting to feel a little sick in the pit of his stomach, tugged on her arm and pulled her along. "Come on, Ivy," he said, instead of answering.
His sister grumbled, and dragged behind. "My feet hurt," she said. "And I'm cold."
"Yeah, well, the faster we get home the faster you can sit down," Aaron said. "Come on!"
Something of the urgency he felt must have communicated itself to Ivy, because she picked up the pace, looking rather startled. "Is something wrong?" she asked.
"No," he said, and didn't mention that he was also supposed to call as soon as they got home, so their parents knew they were safe. In fact, he had been supposed to call two hours ago.
"You're a liar," Ivy said, but trotted along after him willingly enough.
They were two blocks from home when the cop flagged them down.
Aaron wasn't sure if it was the same cop as before, or not. Police cars all looked alike to him and he hadn't gotten a good look at the driver, and there was more than enough time for either the first guy to circle around or another one to come along. Not that it mattered. The cop was leaning against his car door and giving them both a very peculiar look.
Aaron sighed, tugged his once-again lagging sister up beside him, and said, "Is there a problem, sir?"
To his surprise, the officer tilted his head. "Maybe not. Are you Aaron and Ivy Kendall?"
"Hirschfeld-Kendall," Ivy muttered.
Aaron resisted the urge to clap a hand over her mouth. Instead, he said, "Yeah, that's us."
"Are you aware," the cop asked, "that you two have been reported missing?"
Aaron stared at him for a moment, and then said, clearly and with great feeling, "Fuck."
Ivy sighed. "You're not supposed to say that," she told him. Aaron really, really wanted to smack her, but didn't, because the next thing she said was, "It's my fault, Officer. I lost my house keys and then we went on this epic journey around New York City. It was bad."
The officer smiled at her. "Yes, well, I'm sure your parents will just be glad to know you two are fine. Come on, I'll drive you home."
"It's only two blocks," Ivy said, not very sincerely. "We can walk."
Aaron thought of the way their afternoon had gone, and shook his head. "We'd better not risk it."