As Carlos disappeared into his mother’s closet, Jay and Uma took up positions in front of the door to keep the curious pirates at bay.
“Come on, Jay,” Harry tried sweetalking, “Carlos has gotta need some help in there, right? Carrying all those coats. I mean, we all know Curella loves fur coats.”
“If you get me in trouble with the old lady—” Uma threatened, balling her fists.
“Hey, what if I tell you guys a story?” Jay interrupted, his eyes lighting up with sudden inspiration.
“You?” Harry scoffed, “What kind of stories do you know?”
“You’re kidding, right?” Jay laughed, “Agrabah has a wonderful tradition of stories! Aladdin and Jasmine—”
“I don’t wanna hear anything about Auradonian Nights.” Harry cut him off, “They can’t possibly be as good as the ones Dad learned from Wendy anyways.”
“You wanna bet?” Jay challenged, “Everybody knows that stories from Agrabah are hotter than hot…in a lot of good ways.”
“Let’s give him a shot, Harry.” Uma quickly broke in, fearing Curella’s appearance, “If he can’t tell a good story then you can tell us one.”
“Gather around everybody,” Jay quickly settled cross-legged on the floor, “I just thought of the perfect story!”
“Once upon a time there were four people,” he began, as the pirates cautiously settled around him, “Two boys and two girls. They grew up together in this crappy little town on this crappy little island. Then, when they were teenagers, their parents—who hated their guts, by the way—forced them to move to a foreign country. Now, one of the guys was a tall, strong, good-looking dude. The other one was a skinny little tech geek.”
“The girls were both gorgeous.” he quickly moved on, giving a tiny glance behind his back to see if Carlos was within earshot, “One was a little bossy, sure, but she was great. And the other…well, the other one was the sweetest person you could ever hope to meet.”
“So, anyway,” he swallowed hard, hoping desperately that his nerves weren’t showing on his face, “Their native country had long been cut off from the rest of the world by a powerful sorceress so these guys had no idea what it would be like on the mainland but their parents were determined to break the spell so they ordered their kids to steal the sorceress’ magical staff.”
“The mainland sent over a limo to pick them up,” he went on quickly, allowing no time for questions, “and they rode through the magical barrier for the first time in their lives.” Grinning at the memory, he recounted, “They were scared out of their minds, at first—actually, they thought it was a trap—but by the time the limo stopped they were back to their usual fighting.”
“So, anyways,” he continued quickly, suddenly remembering that his memories were slowing him down, “Their first stop was at their new school and, man, it was a real snoozefest with rules, rules, rules—”
“I’ll tell you what a snoozefest is…” Harry snorted, “This story!” He gave Uma a pointed look, “Can I tell one of Wendy’s old ones now?”
“No!” she glared at him then glared at Jay, “But, you get a move on. You hear me?”
“Yes, ma’am,” he shrugged, “Geez, I didn’t realize that you story connoisseurs would be so picky.”
“So, anyways,” he continued, hoping his face wasn’t red, “That first night, our four heroes figured out where the magic staff was and broke in to steal it, but they botched the job and set off an alarm so they had to get out and then they had to go to school the next day.”
Harry smirked, “Must not have the touch.”
“But the first day of school was actually pretty life-changing for them.” Jay ignored the black-clad boy, “The tall handsome guy found out that he could play team sports and his new teammates really supported him while he learned about rules and how to be a good teammate.”
Clearing his throat roughly to hide sudden emotions, he tried to keep his voice steady, “It all really made an impression on him and when he scored the winning shot in the championship game, his favorite thing was celebrating with fresh pizza and his new friends.”
“Hey guys!” Carlos suddenly appeared with a massive mound of coats under each arm, “Someone mind giving me a hand?”
Uma bounced up, hasty to get on with the job; she saw Curella everywhere she looked and it was freaking her out, “Hurry up!” she hissed at her crew, “Let’s get out of here before the old lady comes.”
“Thanks.” Carlos smirked behind her back.
“Where do you think you’re going?” the green-clad girl growled, as Harry stepped around Carlos to peer into the closet.
“Just checking to see if he dropped one.” he shrugged innocently.
“Ha!” she glared at him, “Just remember what I said before.” She turned back to Carlos, “How have you lived here all these years? It gives me the creeps!”
“Home, freak home,” he grinned.
“What about the rest of the story?” Harry asked as they headed towards the stairs.
“We’ll finish it later.” Jay’s voice was muffled by the furs in front of his face, “I thought you didn’t like it?”
“I don’t. But I want to hear the end.
“What?” Carlos gave his friend a weird look.
“I told a little story to pass the time while you were in the closet.” Jay shrugged, “So they wouldn’t try their luck with the bear traps.”
“Good idea.” Carlos’ eyes bulged for a moment.
“I’ll catch you up on it later.” Jay continued, giving his friend a pointed look.
“Geez, all these coats!” Uma muttered, fighting to balance her load as they crossed the house, “Why does your mom—”
“What did you expect?” Carlos gave her a look.
“I guess I just don’t get out much.” the green-clad girl made a face, “Knowing her story does not prepare you for this!”
“Well, it is hard to get out when you live on an island…” Harry grumbled.
“Our washing machine is actually just a big tub,” Carlos hastily changed the subject as they neared the basement.
“Of course.” Harry was sarcastic, “Only the best for us.”
“I’m starting to miss a real washing machine all of the sudden.” Jay mumbled.
“Whoa, hey, mom!” Carlos suddenly squeaked when Hell Hall’s old matron appeared out of nowhere, “Wh-what’s up?”
You could have cut the tension in the room with a knife as a silent standoff ensued between mother and son. Then Carlos sensed that what she really wanted was to intimidate them so he moved on.
“Relax,” he whispered, as the group descended into the basement, “We’ll be outta here before lunchtime.”
“We’d better.” Harry grumbled.
“Okay, here it is.” Carlos continued, halting before a large rusty aluminum basin, “Our washing machine.” He grinned, “There’s a leaky hose out back to fill it up.”
“Harry can do that.” Uma glared at her first mate, wanting to get her crew moving so they could leave as soon as possible.
“Yes, m’lady,” Harry heaved a sigh and began lugging the tub outside
“While he’s doing that, we’re going to sort the coats into piles for texture and heaviness.” Carlos continued, “Thick long furs, short furs, and animal skins. It’ll help the washing go faster if we wash similar items together.”
*o*o*0*o*o*
“Did I tell you that Ben plans to come to the next Anti-Heroes meeting?” Yen Sid asked the purple-clad girl, as she lingered in his classroom.
Her jaw dropped, “No! What? Yen Sid, you can’t—”
“I didn’t encourage it.” the Sorcerer held up his hand, “But I can hardly oppose my king. I’m not sitting on the council, after all.”
“Seriously?” she fired back, “Just tell him he can’t. I told people anything I wanted when I lived here. It’s not hard.”
“That’s not how it’s done in Auradon.” he answered patiently, “You know that. Besides, he’ll have to run such a thing by the council so I doubt it will happen.” He smiled sympathetically, “Nevertheless, I must still prepare.”
“What if Uma attacks again?” Her face was pale.
“You mean the girl you apologized to this morning?” he raised his eyebrows, “The girl you said you’re making headway with?”
“Evie forced my hand,” she bristled, “What was I supposed to do? They came in here and I had to keep ‘em busy until everyone got away.”
“I can’t see Evie forcing anyone to do anything,” he folded his arms across his chest, looking the same as when he’d scolded Mickey, “Especially you and Uma.”
“Alright, fine,” she forced herself to take a deep breath as tears sprang into her eyes, “I went along with it willingly and things have been better than I hoped.” She sighed, frustrated, “I-I still wanna help make the Isle better. I want Ben’s dream to come true–it’s just-it’s just, I’m freaked out now.”
*o*o*0*o*o*
Evie was having a blast! She’d never realized that Gil wasn’t the same little boy who pulled her hair and chased her around the playground in kindergarten anymore. He was a kind thoughtful young man and he could tell a mean pirate story.
“So, Gil!” she asked, resolved to make up for all the years that she’d thought of him as a clueless jerk as they cleaned up the Chip Shop, “I didn’t know you were such a great story teller.”
“Oh, well, Dad has a few old tapes of Belle reading bedtime stories to Ben.” his face glowed with pleasure, “I don’t know how they got to the Isle, but he keeps ‘em so he can listen to her voice.”
“I see…” She made a mental note to never mention that.
“My brothers call me a loser for listening to them when Dad’s not home.” he continued, shrugging innocently, “But I don’t mind.”
“They do, huh?”
“Oh, it’s okay.” he shrugged again, “But, uh, Evie?”
“Yes?”
“You never gave me a kiss last night…”
“You know, you’re right!” she blushed deeply, setting down her dishrag to turn towards him, “I’m sorry, Gil. I didn’t mean too.” Then she made a snap decision, “How about I make up for it at lunch? In front of everyone?”
“Really?” His eyes widened.
“Just make sure that your brothers are here to see it.”
*o*o*0*o*o*
As the pirates settled into sorting, Jay squatted next to Carlos, adding his pile to his friend’s. Glancing around, he whispered, “About the story…I-uh, I was telling ‘em about us—about the four of us going to Auradon and how it changed us. You know, maybe if they hear about what it’s like over there and see how it changed us—”
“Like the antiheroes,” Carlos raised an eyebrow.
“I didn’t use our names,” Jay’s voice was barely audible, “I thought it would be a turnoff so I just described us. I’m the tall, good-looking, strong guy. You’re the skinny little tech geek—” He snorted with laughter and couldn’t finish.
“Shhh–” Carlos gave him a look.
“How ya doing?” Jay changed the subject, biting his lip for a moment, “Telling’ our story, well it-it made me think of—”
Carlos paled, “Shhh…”
“You upset we stayed?” Jay prodded.
“Yes and no.” Carlos frowned, “I’m glad we’re with Evie and Mal again, but I miss Jane. I miss everyone.”
“I know, I know…” Jay bit his lip again hard, checking for eavesdroppers, “I miss Lonnie too.” He made a face, “We made a promise.”
“I know, I know,” Carlos looked frustrated, “They—this just sticks…” He swallowed hard, “What do you think they’re doing now? Over in Auradon?”
“I hope they’re getting some sleep.”