Jim dropped them off in front of the building they had turned into their squat. Amos secretly hated the term “squat”, it felt dirty and illegal to him, something only a druggie or desperate homeless person would ever live in.

  Alanah insisted however, she told Amos that the only way they were going to improve their current state was to accept their reality and then find ways to rise up from it. “So we’re squatters, big deal, anyone that makes fun of us I’ll bust their nose or blow their….” “Ok ok I get it” Amos interjected, the less Alanah considered reaching for a gun the better off they would all be he thought and she was right, they should not just accept their current situation without a fight.

  Perhaps he was also a bit jealous of her skills with a gun but still, anytime a young girl like her handled a gun, people would notice. The last thing they needed now were people noticing them. Her old boss Giorgio and his gangster friends were still looking for two kids like them that had guns on them and were not afraid to use them. Jim had warned them almost every time he saw them since Amos hit the restaurant that they would not ever give up, not for years and years, maybe not ever.

  “These people like their wars, their bitter arguments, their fights and their blood feuds that span so many generations no one even knows how it all started. All this conflict, it fuels their curses, their spells and potions that they create and nurture from one family to the next and they use this dark magic carefully on their enemies with all that bitter hatred in their hearts.”

  Jim had relayed them these warnings his friend at the police department had stressed to him at a quick in person meeting. His contact was so spooked by the reputation of the Boston 'Ndrangheta that he was no longer willing to discuss anything related to Giorgio on the phone. Amos was both surprised and scared at how seriously Jim was taking this and as a result, he believed him much more readily than Alanah did.

  Alanah was still full of confidence after leaving Giorgio beaten and tied up on the floor and now carrying his handgun with her at all times as a personal trophy of sorts. Amos could tell she seriously doubted the warnings about spells and black magic but her respect for Jim made her keep those doubts to herself.

  But now, standing on the sidewalk in front of Amos, Alanah expressed new doubts of a whole different sort. “Do you really think you’re gonna cook that vile weed for us as some kind of dinner?” Amos looked down at the bag of asparagus in his hand. “Oh, Jim really wanted that but he had to rush off and I guess he forgot it. Let’s get a pizza instead and I will tell you about a solution I just thought of to our money problems”.

  “That’s your solution, that’s freakin insane, I can’t believe you of all people would suggest this.” Amos’ enthusiasm for his plan waned slightly and he looked at the pizza slice in his hand for a moment before setting it back down on his plate. They were trying a pizza shop nearby for the first time and with Alanah’s loud outburst they were already attracting more attention than Amos wanted.

  He leaned forwards and spoke softly, hoping that Alanah might get the hint “Listen, this solves all kinds of issues for us and we can make money this way for sure”. We know where we can buy the stuff and no one seems to be doing it at the markets. It’s a bit of driving for sure but we can probably make a fair bit at these farmers markets once people get to know us and our food. The police are almost never on the roads anymore checking cars so if we drive slowly and follow the rules then we should be fine.”

  “We don’t know how to drive, we don’t have a car, what am I missing here?” Alanah had completely missed her cue to be quieter and was now waving her arms out around her head as she spoked.

  “Shhh…just listen, we buy an old reliable car and we just figure out the driving. It can’t be that hard, certainly not harder then breaking into buildings or tying up gangsters.” Amos went on, “I know you can buy these study books for the license test. Obviously we cant get the license but at least I can learn what we need to know for the road. This gives us freedom, we can go to the farm when we want, we can set up at markets and sell eggs and milk and we can go other places too.”

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  Alanah leaned back and studied Amos. All things considered this was not that terrible of an idea. It had its risks for sure but it seemed less dangerous than a lot of the stuff they had been doing and if she went back to the farm then she could probably ride and shoot a bunch more too. “ok, maybe but if you drive like you ride a horse then this won’t work for sure.”

  “Hah, a low blow that was but I can assure you a car is much more predictable than a smelly old horse. My dad used to let me take a turn behind the wheel in some of those big empty parking lots. It was great fun and as long as you did not do anything suddenly everything went fine”. Sensing that she might agree Amos pressed on with his argument to close the deal. “I know just the car to buy too. It will be old now and not that expensive but we used to own one and my dad said it could run forever if you treated it right”.

  The car in question, the one Amos had proudly declared to be their path to freedom and prosperity was an older Toyota Corolla. “Cheap, reliable and plenty to choose from” Amos had happily exclaimed.

  “Ughh…you could not make this thing be more boring if you tried”. Alanah was looking at the first example Amos had spotted on the way home. It was an old brown Corolla with terrible rust around the wheel wells and peeling faded paint. She stood with a look of distain on her face, with her arms folded across her chest and her whole body leaning slightly away from the car as if it’s desperate condition might somehow be contagious.

  “What about a truck or something that might actually go fast?” She still had not looked away from the car so Amos took her by the shoulder and said” come on let’s go, that one is in terrible shape but trust me, the right one will be easy to drive and it will get us where we need to go without unwanted attention. We get something fast and I know you’re going to just drive fast and god forbid getting a big truck, what if someone makes you angry on the road?”

  “Exactly why you have a truck, you can just push them out of the way, you don’t need to ask for permission, you’ve got a big truck”. Amos laughed at this and just shook his head and then as they moved on the two friends argued playfully all the way home about what might be the best vehicle choice and why.

  Both of them were actually secretly excited about the prospect of getting a car and being able to drive around on their own. If they could earn some money as well then that would be a terrific outcome that could really improve their situation.

  The next few weeks went by slowly and without any incidents or trouble. They had visited Jim a few times and had dropped by Mrs. Garcia and had gotten caught up on all the gossip in the building. Mr. Phil was behaving and adjusting to his new situation and so far had he had not fallen out of line and there was still a truce between him and the residents albeit closely monitored by Mrs. Garcia.

  Jim had been insistent that both Alanah and Amos get back on track with some type of schooling and he had enrolled them both in a distance learning program.

  Some days they would do their lessons in his shop and he would try to give them direction for their various lessons and assignments. When Alanah’s course book had given her a letter writing assignment Jim had decided that she should write a letter to her aunt to let her know that she was doing well. Alanah refused at first but finally relented while Amos studied his drivers handbook hidden behind his spelling book.

  “Dear Aunt Hazel. Thanks for the worst five months of my life. You could not have been a more horrible person to me if you had tried. I can see why you don’t even have any cats. They would have all jumped out of the window by now. If I never see you again it will still be too soon. Thanks for absolutely nothing. Alanah.” Jim sighed and dropped the paper to the table. “This is just horrible Alanah, its down right mean actually, you don’t want to send this do you?”

  “I sure do, just no return address if you please” said Alanah, “I don’t intend to maintain our relationship with any more correspondence”. “Forget it then, some things are just better left unsaid. You can write a thank-you note to Simon and Andi instead then”.

  Amos looked up at Alanah and shook his head no. He did not want to let Jim know about their plans until they had purchased a car and had done a trial run. He was a lot less likely to say no if they were already driving to and from the farm successfully.

  A few days later Amos had successfully answered all the practice questions from the back of his training book. Alanah was extremely strict when accepting test answers and as a result she had failed him twice before she gave him a pass. “That’s not fair you know, you only need 75% to pass at the DMV”. “Yeah but if you are only fourteen then you need 100% to pass if I’m going to ride with you even if it is in some slow assed grampa car”.

  “Speaking of which, I think I found one that will work. I’ve called a few ads and I spoke to this nice old guy who says he is the only owner of the car. He says that the mileage is high and that the body is rusty but he took good care of everything else. Let’s go tomorrow and have a look.”

  The car was located in North Dorchester, a neighborhood that was once a decent family area but had long had a crime rate far higher than even the rest of the beleaguered city. Alanah was not thrilled to be travelling all the way out there by bus and carrying enough money on them to buy a car but Amos convinced her that this could be exactly what they were looking for so the trip was worth the risk.