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All This Crap


S u r i

Grim Reaper
Joined
May 22, 2011
Messages
429
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18
Chapter 1

I'm sittin' around
Mind just twirlin'
I can't get my thoughts to come down
They just keep flyin'


Man, I love my job. The pay was good enough to get me what I need and some of what I wanted, and the atmosphere was much better than some droll office job where you answered phones all day while trying to sort out your meager existence. Nope, I didn't have any of that here. Just a university student earning his way while introducing himself to the world around him.

I was standing around in the lounge of a small family restaurant, I donned a black, pocketed apron with matching shirt and pants underneath. My name was clearly visible on the dark apron: “Marren,” it read in bright red print. I've been waiting tables for this place for a nice two months, and everyone around here already treats me like one of the family.

I was on the last stretch of my shift – which was from 9am to 3pm. Just one more table and I'd be off to enjoy the rest of my day. Then they came in. A young man and woman in their very late teens, and a little girl that was either ten or eleven. A usual group that everyone was very familiar with. The two older customers I knew from a the university I attended. The little girl, not so much. Before long I was approaching them with my all time BS-winning smile, saying the words everyone hears when they're seated at a family restaurant.

“Get the hel--” Just kidding.

“What would you guys like to drink?” I asked them while placing menus before them, only to be bombarded with nothing that came close to an answer to my question.

“Marren? Geez, bro. I haven't seen you in two weeks!” the young man shouted. He was soon elbowed in the arm by the young woman, who was shushing him.

“Water for all of us, please,” the young woman said, looking at her company. I wrote down the requests and flashed a genuine smile before leaving to fetch them their drinks. As I walked I away, I heard the guy say, “Did he just smile at us, for real? Ow! What was that for, Karen!”

“Shut up, you moron. He's at work!” Karen berated him.

I came back with their drinks, glasses filled with ice and water, and placed them down onto the table with straws. The guy was still acting a bit stupid, fidgeting and snickering at me from behind his menu.

“Have you guys decided on what you'd like to order?” I asked them, taking out my little notepad and pen.

“Tsung and I will share the Philly Cheese Toaster,” Karen said, looking to Tsung the Idiot. He nodded in agreement.

“And you?” I asked the little girl, who wasn't even looking at her menu.

“Oh you know what I want,” she said rather quickly and with a sharp tone. She seemed a bit mad. What I was about to say would probably change everything. Little sadist demon.

With a sigh, I just jotted down exactly what she wanted. I put away the notepad, and repeated their order, “A Philly Cheese Toaster and the...” I paused to look at the little girl, before suddenly turning into a little fruitcake. I looked at the little girl and put on the brightest smile I could manage, and it was pretty damn bright, too.

“Sunshine Day Delight Parfait!” I chimed with a singsong voice that could probably summon rainbows and ponies if given the oomph.

Tsung busted out in laughter. Karen snickered a bit. The little demon girl smirked and her eyes glistened. The people in the surrounding tables were having their own field day, and my fellow coworkers were giggling amongst themselves. Everyone seemed to be reveling in the moment. Everyone except me. When someone ordered that stupidly named dessert, we were told to repeat it in the most delightful and brightest way possible. It's also earned another name, “The Marren Special.” Why, you ask? Because the only person who's ordered it was that little girl. And the only person's who has had to repeat it was yours truly. You know nothing of misery.

After everyone quieted down, I was off to place the order. The chef had a small glass of Mountain Dew on the counter waiting for me. He always did that when I had to repeat that condemned order. I drowned my misery in Mountain Dew, downing the drink before placing the order on the counter. He took it without saying anything. He knew my pain. Something inside me thought he had to go through the same troubles as well. I had a little epic going on in my head detailing the chef's grand journey through pain and misery of having to repeat that stupid order. There weren't any dragons or cute girls. Maybe that's why he was miserable.

Whatever, I'll be glad to be done with this shift.
 
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S u r i

S u r i

Grim Reaper
Joined
May 22, 2011
Messages
429
Reputation score
18
Re: All This Crap

Chapter 2​

No ideas come straight
They never do
Sometimes you gotta sit around and wait
Until they come to you


After Karen, Tsung, and the little girl finished up at the restaurant, they left. You know what that meant, I was free. My shift was over with that group, and I could leave to enjoy the rest of my day. I changed out of my uniform and into my casual clothes – a black shirt with a black hoodie over and a pair of light brown cargo pants. Oh, and shoes. Black shoes on black-socked feet. Usually I would be wearing a beanie or something, but I forgot that at home.

After I got dressed I walked outside and put on my hood, looking around. I saw Karen, Tsung, and the little girl lollygagging nearby. I wasn't surprised, they always did this whenever they came by. They'd come around the end of my shift, eat, pay, leave, and then we'd hang out after I get off work. I watched them for a brief moment, the little girl was just standing around while Karen and Tsung looked like they were doing some weird ballroom dance. Good thing no one was around to witness such a thing. Though, to be honest, they wouldn't stop even if there were people around.

I walked up to them, greeted them with a generic, “Yo,” and stood there in front of them. Karen and Tsung stopped dancing, and the little girl looked to me with a somewhat soothing smile. We sat there and bathed in...silence. After a while, the four of us just burst out in laughter. After we gathered our composure and took a few breaths, I looked at the little girl and smiled. I reached out and put my hand on her head, ruffling up her long black hair a bit.

“You'll be the end of me one day, Lynne,” I complained to her.

“Just think, without me to brighten up your days it would be the end of you,” Lynne replied with an honest grin. To tell you the truth, she was probably right.

“Thanks for taking care of her today, Karen,” I thanked her with a smile.

“No problem, Mar. She's practically like a little sister,” Karen replied.

Yep, Lynne lived with me, as I was declared her legal guardian after her mother, who was also my aunt and basically took care of me, passed away and left us with only inheritance money. With no other family that wanted to take her in, I did. Family sticks together, right? It was difficult at first, but the money we inherited made for a good start. My grades were exemplary enough to land me a scholarship in the university I was currently attending. It paid about 85% of my tuition and fees, and the money I had could pay about 35%. I don't know if this was a blessing or just the good consequences of my hard work.

“Hey hey, Marren, wanna hit up Downtown Neon? I just heard that there are a few guys over there that have been stealing the street show at night. And that they're pretty good,” Tsung said with some excitement, hitting me gently on the back with his hand.

“Yeah, I've been hearing the same thing. I kinda wanna go check 'em out, too,” Karen said, with equal excitement.

I looked at them both and then to Lynne, who also seemed like she wanted to go see these street performers. I smiled a bit and nodded, “Let's get going, then. It takes about thirty minutes to get there from here. I figure...it's 3:15, so we'll get there around 3:45--”

“That's more than enough time to get you a bite to eat,” Lynne interrupted. She knew I wouldn't eat at my place of work, since they didn't offer free lunches. And I could get a much cheaper meal in the Neon. She always tried to stay a step ahead of me. Sometimes she stayed several steps ahead of me, like she was playing chess or something. Damn kid was a genius at reading people.

With that, Karen, Tsung, Lynne, and I started off toward the Neon.

We knew we were in the Neon District when everything started to change. It was a pretty subtle change from the peacefulness to the urban life. The smooth and peaceful landscape we were just in was slowly becoming warped and replaced with liveliness. Not chaos, but a vibrant environment filled with colorful characters and surroundings. It was slightly messy, due to some of the litter scattered about. Graffiti decorated the walls with vivid color, marking places where street artists have been. There were also many parking lots so those with vehicles could access the nearby apartment buildings and stores.

I could have technically stopped at any one of the convenience stores that littered the place. They usually had something to sate my hunger, but I was feeling up for something else. Aside from the convenience stores there were also various shops selling various goodies, whether they were legal or not. We usually didn't care to buy any of the things these shady stores had to offer, so we always kept on walking.

With each step we took into the Neon, we soon forgot where we were and became submerged into the urban district.

We now felt an exciting and dark feel. It no longer followed a linear structure. Alleyways and walkways winded around the place. Shortcuts were easily found by the urban eye. It was nothing like the tranquil and welcoming aura of where we were. Such was the transition from the Smooth District, where I worked, to the Neon.

Aside from the changing feel and appearance of our surroundings, we saw more and more people dressed in various fashions. Hoodies and jeans. Shirts and cargo pants. Sweaters and skirts. You name it, we probably saw it. Maybe.

It wasn't much surprise to see all the people moving in the same direction as us. It was nearing the evening, and the Neon's colors really glowed after that. As we walked by a few groups, we heard several murmurs from them, but couldn't really make out everything they were saying. I could, however, make a few things out:

“Is that them? Oh my god, it is. Dude, you think they're going to watch them?” “Oh my gosh, it's them!” “I don't see a case, I guess there's no playing tonight.” “Dude, what if she's dancing for them?” “Dude, this night's gonna be great!”

We looked around us, seeing another group. Three girls. One girl looked pretty husky, while another girl was tall and lanky. The last girl, who was trailing behind them, was pretty average in build. And had long, straight black hair. She caught my eye. I mean, she was pretty cute.

My gaze shot back to my own group when I heard the rapid and inconsistent shuffling of footsteps from our resident idiot.

Tsung was prancing about, as usual. He almost tripped, but played it off like nothing had happened. People were staring, but he probably didn't care a single bit.

“Stop that you're gonna fall!” Karen said, stifling a laugh after she watched Tsung.

“Oh come on! You know me, I can't fall. I'm like a cat, man! Always land on my feet!” Tsung said, jumping around like a court jester.

“Yeah, just like when you tripped on a pack of sticky notes. Reeeaaal cat-like,” I mocked. I clearly remembered the day I met those two.

“Hey, that was an accident. Who on earth leaves sticky notes on the ground!?” he said.

“Ha, I remember that!” Karen laughed.

“...You slipped on a...sticky note?” Lynne said, as if making fun of him – which she was.

I shook my head, “Not a sticky note, a pack of 'em. My is guess someone dropped them and left them there earlier. Twas a nice bit of entertainment. Talk about first impressions. Made me laugh on the first day.”

“And that's how we met!” Karen said, looking like she was pretty happy for it.

I looked over to Karen and Tsung with a smile, “Yep. Me helping him up and laughing in his face. Karen, too.”

“Oh wow...,” Lynne said, shaking her head.

Before long, we were at the heart of the Neon District. Downtown Neon. Took about thirty minutes. I swear it took like ten...
 
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S u r i

S u r i

Grim Reaper
Joined
May 22, 2011
Messages
429
Reputation score
18
Re: All This Crap

Chapter 3​

But wait, I see somethin'
This is what I'm lookin' for
This can't be nothin'


We were walking around the Neon District, looking for a place where I could get a bite to eat. No fast food burgers or anything like that. That kind of food always made me feel a little sick after I ate it. Tsung and Karen were lagging behind, talking about who knows what. Lynne was beside me, helping me look for a food joint. Usually I would order from a place called “Yun Shi Cafe” or something from one of the food stands on the sidewalks. But I didn't want to order the same droll food from the same droll restaurant. So we searched for another one.

We passed a lot of the different nightclubs of the Neon while we searched. Coming from the east side of the city, we naturally came upon the Neon's Eastern Plaza. This was where the Triple Coin Arcade was, and, two buildings down, the Final Hour. The Final Hour was known all around the Neon for it's late night raves and events. As we made our way to the heart of the Neon, we passed by its biggest and most popular club, the Nightlife. And just across from it, the Yun Shi Cafe I usually order at.

“What about that place, Mar?” Lynne pointed out another Chinese restaurant. With a sigh, I looked out to where she was pointing.

My stomach was beckoning me to make a decision. Before long, I ended up settling for ordering a combo meal from the Chinese restaurant Lynne suggested. It was called Wu Lao's Kitchen. It wasn't very far from the Yun Shi Cafe, so it was obviously a competition between the two. It was still Asian food, but it wasn't the place I usually ate at, so it counts as something different, right? Oh, whatever.

“Well ya got 'yer food. Let's find a place where you can eat, Mar,” Tsung said.

I took a sip from the Styrofoam cup filled with Mountain Dew and ice, holding my takeout box in my other hand. “Yeah. I don't wanna have to eat and be walking around at the same time,” I agreed.

Eventually we found a place just minutes away from Downtown Neon's Square. There were quite a few people around, as if they were waiting for the sun to set. This was the usual thing in the Neon, it was known for it's night life after all. But it was only around 4:30, so it'd be a little while until these people got what they were waiting for.

Sitting around, we knew had some catching up to do. We had two weeks off from school and we were about to wrap up the first. I saw Karen a few times, but I hadn't seen Tsung in a while because he had just got back from a band trip, so we had a fair bit of catching up to do.

“How was your trip, win anything? Bring me back anything?” I asked of him.

“It was pretty cool. I won best trumpet performer, and the band won best show. And I'll show you what I got all of you later,” Tsung said with a proud smile. He could work a trumpet really well, so much that he made a name for himself as a street performer in the Neon.

“I'd expect nothing less from Jazzy Tsu,” Lynne said, putting her hands into her jacket's pockets.

“Of course!” Karen said, stretching a bit.

I took a chopstick-full of food into my mouth, just gulping it down without really tasting it, “I'd be surprised if he didn't come back with an award.”

“Hah, well you know me. What about you, Karen? What've you been up to?” Tsung poked her lightly.

“Nothing much, really. I started on a new dance. It's nothing big, though,” she said with a shrug.

“When the Trancer is working on a dance, you know that's something big,” I said, after swallowing more food. Karen was the best dancer I ever knew. She put me to shame the first night we went to a club. That was her bit, dancing. She could move really well, almost sending people that watched her into a trance – which is why she was called the Trancer.

“What about you, man?” Tsung said, looking to me.

I sighed and shook my head, “Not too much. Working on something, dunno where it'll go though.”

“You've been working on it these past few nights. You're losing sleep over it, too,” Lynne said worriedly.

“I'm sure you'll think of something, Mar,” Karen said, nudging me in the shoulder a bit. She looked at the time and then widened her eyes, “Hey, there are a few stores I wanna check out real quick. You guys wanna break for now and meet up at the Square around 6?”

“Yeah, me too. I need to go check in with a few buds of mine. That okay with you two?” Tsung said the same.

“Sure. Square at six, rock the beat,” I said after I blew at the grouping of food in between my chopsticks.

Karen and Tsung took off in their separate ways, waving back at us and seemingly vanishing into the crowd that seemed to have grown a little more from the time passed.

“So is it any good?” Lynne said, looking up at me.

I actually chewed and tasted my last little bit of food this time. I tossed the takeout box and chopsticks into the trash. I gulped the food down and shook my head with distaste. It tasted terrible, to say the least. I wouldn't even say I got my money's worth.

“It tastes like...crap, to say the very least.”

“Ouch. Looks like Wu Lao won't get any regular service from you. Anyway, how was that piece you've been working on? Did you get any of it done?”

“Just a bit. A few lines, I guess.”

“Well, let's hear it, then,” Lynne said through a smile.

I looked around to see that the mass of people had grown again, “Really? Right now?”

“Yep,” Lynne watched me with a gentle smile, a smile that had encouraged me to get past most of my problems in life. And it wasn't gonna stop now.

“Alright...,” I said before taking a deep breathe and thought to myself for a moment. My mind played a constant beat, and got ready for a rhythm. I tapped my foot to each mental beat and bobbed my head to it. Eventually I rapped out:


“You severed the 'tie'
You broke the 'binds'
Don't even look back
It'll warp your mind
You're finally 'free'
After all this time
But can't you see?
Your world don't shine

It's a place of lies
A land of deceit
Your false freedom, huh?
It's like imitation meat
You didn't see
Through all the bad habits
Through all the lies
You gave up and yelled, 'I've had it!'


After that short excerpt, I breathed out and looked at Lynne. She smiled brightly at me before nodding a bit. People around me had heard it as well. Suddenly all eyes were on me. It was nothing like when I had all the eyes on me back at the restaurant. No laughter. It was a feeling of excitement and pride you get after a performance. This was how you felt if you performed on the street long enough. People watched you, listened to you. If they liked you, great. If not, oh well. You kept it up because either it was how you made a living, or just wanted to have a good time.

Most of the people clapped, some nodded with a smile on their face, others were talking amongst themselves. I happened to overhear a conversation between two girls.

“Ain't that the guy who hangs out with Jazzy Tsu and Trancer? You know, the rapper?”

“I think so, what do they call him again? M-Siuri?”

“Yeah, that's it!”

I looked around with a bit of a smile. Looks like I had people who knew who I am around here. I stole a look at Lynne, who was smiling brightly. We both chuckled a bit and I greeted a few of the people around me.
“Hey. 'Sup,” a guy said. I recognized him as a DJ for one of the nightclubs.

A regular around the Neon came up to me and patted me on the back, greeting me,“Dude, I haven't heard from you in a while!”

“Mari take a seat because M-Siuri's bringin' the heat!” a fellow MC yelled out to the crowd. I knew him as being the main MC for the Final Hour.

I had no idea who that is, but it's good to see another street rapper around here. Maybe I'd meet 'em later on. After a few more greetings, Lynne and I started off toward the Square. It was almost 5, the sun was beginning to set. Soon, the sky would be painted with neon.
 
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