The Circle: Rain's Story by Treasure E. Blue Page B

high-ranking military general, strategist and tactician. Composed of 13 chapters, each devoted to one aspect of physical and mental warfare.
    She spent hours, mulling over them, f ront to back, then front to back again. Rain studied the book countless times to the point she’d memorized most of the book. Smitty regularly tested Rain’s sharpness by asking her random questions for her to think about and mull over. It got to the point over the years that it became a game, both testing each other’s wit.
    “Rain, ‘heavy is the head that wears the crown.’ Do you know what that term means?”
    Rain paused for a long while and watched Smitty twirl around his ever present toothpick in his mouth, then recited. “Tired, sick, guilty, and beset by rebellion; Why, even the "vile" of his realm, after hours of drudgery, can in their "loathsome beds" get a good night's sleep while he—a king! —cannot.” Rain cracked a slight smirk and said, “That’s Shakespeare. King Henry IV is feeling the weight of his crown as the King.” Rain became his greatest and brightest student he told her on many occasions.

    CHAPTER 15
     
    Morning broke with the exception of an occasional nod, Rain stayed up the whole night thinking about her past and even daunting future, when suddenly the same nagging feelings hit her again—Smitty, but she just could not put her finger on it. She shook it off, rebuking such thought and cleared her mind.
    What’s next? Rain thought. All she knew at that point was that she had to stay ten steps ahead of the game and moving, so she decided to get up and take a shower and close some loose ends and get a jump on the rest of the day.
    *               *              *
    By the time she got back to the motel room, shortly after eleven that morning, she could he ar from the outside of the room Autumn and Erin loudly arguing up a storm. Through gritted teeth, Rain pushed opened the motel room door with urgent fury and spat sternly.
    “Yo, what the fuck is wrong y’all? I could hear y’all bitching all the way in the parking lot. Do you not know we on the fucking run?”
    Vexed, Rain watched both of them drop their heads to the ground. Rain stomped forward and dropped the bags she brought into the room on the table and said while shaking her head in disgust. “Stick y’all arms out.”
    She reached in her pocket and pulled out a small key on a round ring and to their relief she removed the handcuffs from their wrist. Both girls were smiling from ear to ear as they massaged their wrist.
    Autumn parted her lips to ask the obvious, but Rain beat her to the draw. “Don’t ask.”
    Erin humbled herself and started to apologize. “Rain, I’m sorry about that, I should have known better. The last thing I want to do is fuck up y’all shit. It won’t happen again, I promise.”
    Autumn felt worse and repeated the same sentiments. “You right, sis. It’s just… this whole situation got me on edge. But I’m straight now and on point.”
    Rain disengaged the whole thing by simply nodding. Once Autumn and Erin breathed easier, the aroma of food wafted across their nose. Erin looked at her illustrious host with joy and asked with a dopey chuckle.
    “Is that chicken I smell?” Already forgetting about the food she brought in, Rain waved her hand in the direction of the food, welcoming her to it. Erin didn’t hesitate and rushed over to the table, pulling box after box of chicken and sides from the bag and Autumn directly behind her.     
    After devouring their meal and satisfied, both girls were now in a much lighter mood and for the first time since meeting, under awkward and tragic circumstances, they actually started talking friendly and civil towards each other.
    “So, what’s your story, girl? How you get caught up with the feds?”
    Erin shrugged, then lurched forward and took a long sip from her cup of soda, then burped. She placed her hand over her mouth and