[center][h2]Season 1, Episode 11: Lord of the Ridge[/h2][/center]
[center][img]https://img.roleplayerguild.com/prod/users/93bbbf67-e5dd-4753-8deb-3bbfa6443c43.gif[/img][img]https://img.roleplayerguild.com/prod/users/a010f9e2-a1c6-4ea5-aef2-626ebf9ee3a3.gif[/img][img]https://img.roleplayerguild.com/prod/users/d4912d09-e646-4903-a082-1aa10a89391b.jpg[/img][/center]
[center]Collab with [@BrutalBx] and [@SailorSadie][/center]

As Decky worked on the car, Roddy leaned against a nearby sign, silently watching Charlie until he got up and left. Did the boy deserve the ostracisation he was receiving from the townspeople? It was obvious to anyone that his life wasn’t easy and he they all were, consciously making it worse. What type of people does that make them?

[url=https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/ce/2e/23/ce2e2348d8613cf8349bd1033eafdf90.jpg]Pictures of Winona Davies[/url] were situated everywhere right now. Stuck to windows, cars, light posts and even drifting across the floor. The All American girl, head cheerleader dating a football player, 4.0 GPA, literally everything seemed to be perfect in her life. So what leads someone like that to head out into the night, snort a designer drug and die in the stall of a club bathroom.? Life was strange, Edenridge, MA was worse. The town had made Winona a martyr, ignoring the circumstances of her recent death and making her the poster child for damning the influence of the southside, the place where Roddy, Maddy and Decky would soon be heading. A place where Decky lives.

Once Decky had finished working, Rod snapped out of his daze and returned to the duo. [color=green]”Ready to go?”[/color]

She had been in a daze while Roddy went off in search of Decky to fix her car. The girl really should have seen it coming; the noble steed was getting old in its years. Her wrist continued to turn every thirty seconds to check on the time. Maddy’s mind started to count down her time as a free woman; after today, she would never be the same. Everything rested on her getting to the library. 

As the boys came into her viewpoint, her body gave a jolt as she straightened her back against the seat. Her mother would absolutely have a heart attack if she knew her daughter was alone with two teenage boys. Shaking her head, she hurried out of the driver’s seat and pointed towards her car. It was a useless gesture as the boy got to work as soon as he reached her. Maddy’s eyes darted over to Roddy before standing back, not wanting to be in the way. 

Didn’t take long for the car to be deemed alive, which caused a wide grin to spread across the girl’s face. It soon dissipated when Decky announced that he would be a passenger on their journey. She blinked in surprise before glancing between Roddy and Decky. With a quick shake of her head, she stammered.  [color=teal]”I, uh...I, well. We’re going to the library. But we have a deadline. And if I don’t make that deadline, then my entire world is going to break into chaos. So thank you for the car, and the, well...whatever you did to him. But, uh. We’ve got to go. We have to go. Roddy, let’s go.”[/color] With an exasperated sigh, she slid back into the driver’s seat.

Decky rolled his eyes as Diller’s stammering before narrowing them as she tried to leave him behind. He quickly slid into the back seat with a patronizing grin. Roddy quietly slid into the passenger seat.

[color=ed1c24]“This is exactly why you need me, Diller; no one ever leaves any door but the Driver’s unlocked when parked Southside. You woulda been jacked the second you rolled over the tracks.”[/color]

He could see it now: the girl slowly bumping over the tracks to avoid damaging her car, someone taking advantage of her slowing down at the stop sign just a few hundred feet away. Next she knows her back door is flung open and a gun is held to her head. One to Roddy’s as well.

[color=ed1c24]“[i]‘Two ‘Ridge teens were found dead a hundred feet south of the tracks,’[/i]”[/color] Decky announced in his best newscaster voice, one hand to his ear and another holding an invisible mic. [color=ed1c24]“[i]‘The car registered in the female’s name is missing but the tire tracks found at the scene match that of her vehicle. Such a tragic loss. So easily avoidable if they'd just had a resident Southsider to show them how to stay safe.’[/i]”[/color]

With a dramatic slowness, he leaned over Diller and pushed down the lock button, grin in place. 

He wasn't leaving.

Roddy shook his head as Decky explained to them the dangerous of the south side. Everybody knew just how rough that neighborhood was and Rod didn't need a lesson. Worst of all, Maddy who was already in a state didn't need her fear encouraged. [color=green]”Let’s get going. The sooner we leave, the sooner we get back.”[/color] It was going to be a long afternoon that was for sure.

Why Maddy had rented a book from the South side library, Roddy was unsure. It didn't really make sense. A well to do girl like her, renting from the seediest part of town? It was a mystery wrapped in an enigma. [color=green]”So tell me, Maddy; why did you get your book from down here? Why not use the Ridge library?”[/color]

Hearing the back door open, she quickly turned in her seat and looked at Decky. Gee, he really had no problem invading a girl’s personal space. She shook her head and was about to comment when he made his statement. Her mouth quickly closed and her eyes widened. Would that really happen in the Southside? Sure, she had been there only once before- to get the book that was at the center of this dilemma- but that time had been fine. It was during the middle of the day and not after dark, but still...She hadn’t had a single problem other than a few people staring at her.

Maddy’s face paled as the boy continued to speak. Dead? Missing? She looked down at her library book and gulped. Maybe she hadn’t really thought this through...With another shake of her head, she looked back up and gasped as he leaned over her. His body was close enough to hers that she could feel his body heat, smell the grime of engine oil on his clothes. Flush the color of beets quickly appeared on her cheeks and she closed her eyes. He was just leaning over her to lock the door, for goodness sake. Why’d she have to be such a prude? Roddy’s voice broke the spell. Eyes opening quickly, she nodded and started her car.

As they pulled out of the lot, Roddy’s question weighed in her mind. She gave a small shrug of her shoulders as both hands gripped onto the steering wheel. [color=teal]”I was doing research for an article and our library didn’t have this specific book. And it was going to take too long for it to be transferred to ours. It was silly to wait a week when I was able to drive to the library myself that same day.”[/color] Silly. Yeah, it was at the time. And now she was starting to regret that decision. Only slightly, though...The article had turned out pretty dang amazing.

[color=ed1c24]“Risking health and life for a book, Diller? Props.”[/color] Decky spoke up before leaning back into his seat. Doing something stupid for the sake of a book seemed like something Danny would do. His brother actually liked school, and all the reading that came with it. It's why the kid was at the library tonight in the first place. Decky was pretty happy to be having a ride back instead of having to walk there in the dark like he normally would.

Didn't stop him from keeping the knife in his pocket for his and Danny’s walk home, though; god knows their parents wouldn't ever pick them up.

A few minutes later and they were nearing the tracks, and Decky found himself trying to subtly double check all the locks on the doors. [color=ed1c24]“So, uh...what’s up with the worry and hurry over this?”[/color] he asked as he settled back in.

Crossing the tracks into South Eden was like a scene out of a movie. On one side, the trees were lush and green, the lights from nearby shops, houses and street lights kept the place illuminated and safe. Yet on the other side of the tracks, the plant life was dead or dying, it was dark and shadows sat perched like thieves in the night. Their quest had taken them to the outskirts of hell, though was the south side really as bad as people thought? At least if you lived there, people looked out for their own. North of the train tracks however, how many people would remember the name Winona Davies in a months time? Was the north just as bad? Maybe worse?

[color=green]”Thin line between heaven and hell...”[/color]

Decky didn't even deign a response to that comment.

Her eyes strayed along the road as they continued the drive to the library. It was definitely a completely different scene at night. Even the foliage had a life of it’s own...didn’t anyone mow down here? With a shake of her head, she kept her eyes peeled to the road. She didn’t necessarily have the greatest vision in the dark.

Maddy couldn’t help a scoff at Decky’s question. [color=teal]”The worry and hurry? My student record depends on getting this book back on time. Heck, even my own personal record...Can libraries do that? Can I go to jail for this? Oh, no. No, no, no, no, no. Oh, my parents are going to kill me. I’m so going to jail if this book is late!”[/color] She pressed her foot harder against the gas peddle, her back hitting the seat as the car revved forward in protest.

[color=ed1c24]“This is all about some late boo- Christ!”[/color] Decky gripped the oh-shit bar as she sped up. [color=ed1c24]“Diller this is Southside, no one cares about a late book, including the library. Now slow down before you hit a Trip-S and get us all targeted for the rest of our short lives!”[/color] he bellowed. 

There were members of the Trip-S gang on damn near every street. They weren't called the South Side Snakes for nothing; these guys could pop up anywhere and strike in seconds. They'd been trying to recruit Decky since he was twelve, and the boy really didn't want to give them anything to hold over him.

Something like being in the vehicle that runs over one of their own.

They pulled up to the library with a screech of the breaks and Decky let go of the seats in relief. Now all he had to do was meet one of his dealers inside and pick Danny up.

Then it was home sweet hole.