*Note: This is a finished draft of a story that I wrote for one of my classes. Basically this is an updated version of the Public Domain stories, Robin Hood. I have revamped the setting, characters, and parts of the plot. This is also an example of some of my more weird, silly writing.*
A batch of fog rolled across the lonely street of Detroit. The sun had just set, casting a shade of pale blue across the sky. A young woman hurried down the street, trying to get home. She pulled her small denim jacket closer around her as the wind kicked up. Paranoia forced her head to turn and look at each corner. Detroit was a dangerous place to be out alone at night, especially if one were a young woman.
Just a few blocks stood between her and safety when she felt a sharp jerk on her arm, and she was yanked into an alley. She tried to scream before a hand covered by a leather glove suffocated her. The assailant quickly turned her around before she could see his masked face and then pinned her against the wall.
“You don’t make a sound, this goes real easy-like. You understand me, bitch?” he whispered into her ear.
The girl nodded; her breathing was rushed as she tried to keep from crying. She felt her velvet skirt being tugged as he was trying to take it off. The chill air surrounding her thighs let her know that he had succeeded. She could then hear the jingling of his belt, but she didn’t dare try to fight back. It was safer to just let it happen.
He grunted with impatience as he positioned her, but before he could do anything his feet were swept out from under him. The concrete did not welcome his face gently as he collided with the ground. After a few seconds of regaining coherent thought, he looked up to see who had sabotaged him. The girl looked too and they both saw a silhouette of another woman. Long, thick dreads hung down both sides of her head. Her arms and hands were held up and ready to attack.
“You wanna act like a piece of trash, I’ll sure put you on the ground where you belong,” she said.
“This ain’t any business of yours, bitch,” the pride that he held made it impossible for him to acknowledge any sort of pain or defeat.
“It’s all my business. Now c’mon, you want to fight, let’s fight,” she took a step forward, so that the streetlamp cast a bit of light on her face. A long, scraggly scar paved its way down the right side of her face, forehead to chin. The pink skin stood out amongst the rest of her ebony face.
The man got up from the ground, and attempted to hold his fists up even though he was stumbling. He charged at her and she easily avoided his punch. As they both turned around, her fist collided with his face. She didn’t let him rest as she punched him again. He hobbled back, trying to block her blows. He swung again, but she grabbed his arm and pulled him in for a head-butt. The blow was devastating, and caused his nose to bleed profusely. He held himself by putting his hands on his knees. The woman looked at him, frowning with disgust, then quickly twirled around so that her foot collided with his head. His body sounded like a sack of potatoes hitting the ground.
The girl had stayed against the wall throughout the entire fight, but when she saw that her attacker lay defeated on the ground she turned to face her rescuer.
“You’re faking me out right now,” her voice was still quiet, only above a whisper, “Like, is this for real?”
“Keep this on this down-low now, baby. I need you to do that,” the woman then turned around to head further down the alley, but the girl stopped her.
“Wait, I don’t even know your name!”
The woman didn’t answer her, however, she just kept running until she disappeared into the darkness. The girl headed back towards the street to run home, but stopped when she saw a piece of paper blowing across the ground. The only reason she picked it up was because she saw a glimpse of dreadlocks on it. Sure enough, a picture of the woman was plastered on the front with name ‘Robin’ just beneath it. But then the girl noticed that it was a Wanted poster; there was a reward out for anyone who could bring information of Robin’s whereabouts to Chief Nottingham or Mayor Johnson. The girl glanced back down the alley where the fog was swarming the darkness, making Robin seem almost like a dream.
***
The next morning, Chief Nottingham paroled the streets with Deputy Gisbourne riding shotgun.
“So I heard that uh, Robin struck again last night,” Deputy Gisbourne.
“That’s right Guy. The Mayor is wanting us to double our efforts to find her. The only problem is, nobody in this town likes or trusts the Mayor. Because of that then, nobody is talking. I almost feel like we’re going to have to start beating it out of them,” the Chief’s hands gripped the steering wheel harder.
“It just disgusts me Chief – people who think they’re above the law. It makes it even worse that Robin used to work in the Mayor’s office. She’s a disgrace,” the Deputy seethed. He knew that it would make the Chief happy to see him exhibiting the same amount of anger as he was.
“Me too. But I know she’s going to slip up at some point. No one steals from the Mayor and gets away with it. I bet you right now she’s hiding away in some dark, little shack,” the Chief replied.
The Deputy nodded in agreement.
***
Unbeknownst to them, Robin wasn’t hiding in a shack somewhere. She was making her way through the hidden streets along with her small gang of followers. They were looking for a new building to make a base out of, somewhere to organize their strategies and also hide from the authorities. Robin led the way, followed by Little John whom was ironically named. His arms were nearly the width of Robin’s head and he towered some two feet over her. In fact he towered over the rest of the men too. However, he had a heart of gold and was rightfully Robin’s right hand man.
“We need to find a pad somewhere that’s all secluded, like in the middle of an abandoned lot or something,” Little John reminded Robin.
“But man, the problem with that is a lot of the abandoned areas still have homeless people camping out. A lot of hoods too,” Robin replied.
“Well, maybe we can be real with them and get them to be solid on down. Shit, most of them are already loyal to you Robin. Maybe they can even help to be like, an alarm system or something,” Little John did his best to keep up with his slender, fast-moving leader.
Robin did think that was a good idea, and she was about to tell him so until they all rounded a corner and were spotted by two cops.
“Let’s book!” Robin yelled as soon as she saw the cops reach for their weapons. The group instinctively divided themselves in order to more easily evade capture. The cops split up also with one chasing Little John, Robin, two of her men, and the other cop chasing the remaining four. Robin and two of her men, named Alan and Ben, were quickly losing the cop. However, Little John was slow moving and they stopped when they heard him yell and fall. Robin ran back to his side to see that he had twisted his ankle.
“Robin, run, get out of here,” he pleaded with her, but she quickly silenced.
“I’m not leaving you behind,” she threw his arm over her shoulder as Alan and Ben quickly grabbed him by the other side.
The cop began shooting at them as they hobbled down the alley as fast as they could. Little John groaned and grunted as his hurt foot dragged the ground – he was simply too tall for them to completely lift him off the ground. They made it around two more blocks before they found an open door. Robin didn’t even think before she led her men through it. Darkness made it difficult to realize what kind of room they were standing in, but Robin didn’t care. She tried to shut the door and had to push with all of the strength, aided by Alan and Dale, and the door would only shut halfway. They moved Little John away from the light creeping through the door. A commotion on the other side of the door became aware to them, but it didn’t sound like an immediate threat.
“You think we ditched him?” Alan asked through deep breaths.
“They’re not gonna let us off that easy,” Robin stayed by Little John’s side and tried her best to comfort her friend.
“They’ve been everywhere these last few days,” Dale stated through gritted teeth as he paced back and forth.
Robin was about to reassure him when another door across the room from the door they entered through suddenly opened up. A young man, obviously hungover stumbled through it. He seem shocked when he saw the group of fugitives in what now seemed to be a backroom to a club of some sort. The man looked from Alan to Dale to Little John and then appeared to be struck by recognition when he spotted Robin.
“Dynomite! It’s you! I can’t believe it’s you!” he exclaimed. He was shouting so loud as Robin quietly pleaded with him to keep quiet.
“Chill, man, we got cops on our tail,” she said.
“I can’t believe I’m standing here with Robin! This is completely far out, the craziest thing that’s ever happened to me-“
The young man’s excitement was interrupted when two cops busted in through the half-closed door and pointed their guns at Robin and her gang. Alan and Dale moved to protect her, but she stopped them.
“The jig’s up guys, let’s just chill,” Robin commanded.
They obeyed as the cops approached to arrest them.
***
The Mayor’s office was bustling as usual. The electoral term was almost up, so the efforts of the new campaign were the only thing that everyone was thinking about – besides Robin. Mayor Johnson paced in his office, brandy in hand, as he tried his best to figure out a way to stop Robin’s slanderous attacks. A meek secretary, fiddling with her fingers, sat in front of his desk with a notebook.
“I just don’t know…I just don’t,” the Mayor kept repeating, “She keeps spreading lies about me embezzling funds. And of course, these mooching citizens are just craving any reason to hate me!”
“Sir?” the secretary quietly inquired, the Mayor immediately glared at her, “Maybe they feel like you’re misusing money because the new developments that have been promised to them haven’t been built yet.”
His eyes widened and his jaw sharpened. She immediately regretted her words as he slowly approached her. He leaned down so that his face was inches from hers, his spit hitting the lenses of her glasses.
“You know why those developments haven’t been built?” he asked. She shook her head, “Because there isn’t enough money, because they don’t want to pay their taxes!” she trembled as his voice got louder.
“Sir, I’m sorry, I was just trying to help you understand-“
“I understand perfectly! You know who else used to try to tell me what to think? Huh? Do you? The same little bitch that I’m trying to hunt down!”
“Please, I’m sorry-“
“Just get the hell out of here, you’re fired,” the Mayor snapped.
The secretary didn’t make it out of the room without bursting into tears. She rushed out of the door, almost running into the Mayor’s daughter.
“Oh, I’m sorry Miss Marian,” the secretary ran off before Marian could say anything.
“Retired another secretary?” Marian asked, a knowing smile spreading across her face.
“Not now Marian, I’m incredibly stressed right now. I don’t have any time for incompetence,” her father replied.
Marian feigned offense by looking away and placing her palm on her chest, “Well let me get out of here before I yank your chain…”
She heard her father sigh before her hand fully gripped the doorknob, “Marian…”
She turned back around and approached her father, placing a hand on his shoulder, “I know you’re stressed out because of the campaign. But dad, you gotta mellow out or you won’t have anyone to help you.”
In the Mayor’s mind, he believed that Marian was still young and naïve, but he pretended that she made sense by placing his hand on top of hers and nodding, “Thank you dear, I’ll try to remember that.”
Marian smiled and then leisurely walked towards the window, “So, any more news on this Robin man?”
Her father sighed again, “I’ve told the Chief to double the night patrols and start bringing people in for interrogations. I want to talk to anyone who has so much as glanced at Robin. I will catch her.”
Marian grimaced at the anger her father showed, but she didn’t let him see it. She had never really understood why her father hated Robin so much. She knew that Robin had supposed secrets about her father that she was threatening to reveal, but she couldn’t imagine what was so bad about her father that he would unleash a manhunt to find this person. A knock at the door pulled Marian from her thoughts.
“Come in!” the Mayor yelled.
An intern walked quickly into the room, “Sir, we’ve just got word from Deputy Gisbourne, they’ve caught Robin.”
Marian looked at her father as he gripped the desk, “You’re certain?”
The intern nodded as her father put down his glass, “Bring her to me,” much to the intern’s confused reaction. However, like the rest of town hall, he knew better than to question the Mayor’s demands.
The room was dead silent after the door closed behind him. Marian didn’t move from the window because her father was pacing the room from his desk to the couch in the back of the room. The door opened again before two cops walked in, escorting a woman by the arms. Marian watched as they forced her into the chair that the frightened secretary had left not too long ago. The woman, assumed to be Robin Hood, sat upright and proud in the chair. She looked straight in front of her, her jawline sharp and strong. The scar on her face intrigued Marian and she couldn’t look away. Marian had saw the posters that were put up around the city, but Robin Hood seemed so different in person.
“So…here we have the infamous Robin Hood,” the Mayor tried to make his voice sound threatening.
Marian watched as Robin Hood stared straight ahead and said nothing.
“Oh, so we have a tough, silent type here, huh? You only spread your lies in the shadow like a coward, huh?”
Robin didn’t even budge as the Mayor leaned in close to her face, “I am your mayor, and you will respect me.”
Robin turned to look at him and very coldly replied, “If Governor Richards knew what was going on here, how much of a phony you were, you would be nothing.”
The Mayor chuckled, “You’d like that wouldn’t you? But you can’t really do anything now. No one listens to you when you’re in jail.”
Marian didn’t even realize how hard she was breathing until the two of them stopped talking and she heard herself. Clasping her hand over her mouth, she silently hoped that her father would show mercy. Robin glanced at her as her father walked over to the cops. She stared deep into Marian’s eyes, almost like she was trying to communicate something. Robin’s eyes were a rich brown, like mahogany. Marian found herself wanting to walk over and free Robin, much to her own surprise. She then noticed the obvious discomfort on her father’s face. He tried to discreetly place his hand on his abdomen when she remembered what time of day it was. Since her father suffered from Irritable Bowel Syndrome, he had to take medicine every day at 12:00 PM on the dot. The secretary was the one who was responsible of reminding him. Unfortunately, she was fired at 11:45 AM.
“I’m going to go to the bathroom quickly, and when I get back,” the Mayor sneered through the discomfort, “we’re going to finish this.”
The room was again quiet as the cops stood silently by the door. Robin had turned back to look straight in front of her again when Marian whispered to her, “Hey.”
Robin peered out of the corner and then turned to look at Marian when she whispered again. “Hi,” Marian quietly said. Her shyness and pure innocence made Robin smile.
“So, uhh, I hear you’ve been quite a pain to my dad here lately,” Marian couldn’t help but feel nervous.
Robin smirked, “No offense mama, but your dad has been quite a pain to everyone in this city for even longer.”
Marian wanted to be offended and knew that she should defend her father. He was the one who raised her and never let her go without. She had everything that she wanted, at least that that he could pay for. She was pulled from her thoughts when she heard Robin’s voice again.
“But, it seems that somehow, he did something right with you,” Robin smiled again and it was then that Marian knew what she had to do.
She approached the cops and tried her best to seem nonchalant.
“Can we help you ma’am?” one of the cops asked.
“Yes, actually…I kinda want a moment alone with this,” she turned and pretended to sneer at Robin, “criminal.”
“Umm, sorry, Miss Marian. I don’t think we’re supposed to do that.”
“I know, but, between you and me,” Marian leaned in closer and whispered to the cops, “I think I can get her to talk to me easier than a bunch of scary, overpowering men. You know, girl to girl.” Marian even winked as an added bonus.
The cops looked at each other, still unconvinced. “Oh, c’mon. You guys can stand right outside the door if you’d like. I won’t need long.”
The cops sighed as they nodded in agreement, one turned to Marian though before they left the room, “We’re going to be right outside that door, and we’re going to be listening.”
“I’d hope you would officers, thank you so much,” Marian grinned, knowing that that door was the equivalent of a brick wall and was impossible to eavesdrop through. She tilted her head as the door closed behind them and took a deep breath before turning to Robin, who seemed completely confused.
“Ok, first things first, I don’t really know whatever kind of dirt that you have on my dad, but I don’t think you should be here,” Marian walked over to the chair and motioned for Robin to stand up.
“You don’t care that I have dirt on your dad? You know I can shut this whole place down, jive?” Robin asked, her mahogany eyes crowned by raised eyebrows.
“I do care, but, I just…” Marian scanned the ground, searching for an explanation. Robin was beautiful and Marian knew what would happen to her if she was thrown in jail, “I think my dad is losing his cool. I think he needs to take a step back from politics, ya dig?”
Robin smiled, knowingly. “Thank you,” she replied as she raised her hand and slowly caressed Marian’s face, “Now how do you figure I can blow this joint without getting bent?”
Smiling through her blushing cheeks, she led Robin to a door at the back of the room. To any other person, it would seem to like part of the giant bookcase, but when Marian pulled back a book titled, The Count of Monte Cristo, a section of the bookcase swung open to reveal a passageway.
“What the hell? You gotta be pulling my leg right now, babe,” Robin laughed.
“This is my dad’s “secret escape” door. He’s always paranoid that someone’s going to burst into his office and Nix him. The staircase leads right out to the back of the building,” Marian explained.
“Hotdog!” Robin walked past the door and started to go up the steps, but then turned back. Marian still stood in the room and peered curiously at Robin whom she expected to race out. Robin walked back down to Marian and slowly lifted her hand up to her lips. She placed a gentle kiss on her hand before looking into Marian’s eyes, “I’m gonna remember this, mama.”
Marian’s heart was racing and her skin tingled from where Robin’s lips made contact, but she wanted to maintain composure, “Just don’t let the Fuzz catch you again,” she winked.
Robin smiled and nodded in response before disappearing up the staircase. Marian quickly closed the door and then raced to the window, trying to think of a lie to tell whenever her father came back into the room. Of course Robin was a dangerous and strong fugitive who would do anything to escape, even capacitate the Mayor’s daughter. Marian quickly closed the secret door and then quietly took the chair that Robin had been sitting in and put it on its side. She then took her father’s papers and scattered them across the floor. Marian then scanned the room to find somewhere that Robin could have escaped through besides the secret door. In a last ditch resort, she opened the window. The Mayor’s office was on the second floor, and considering Robin’s flexibility and strength, the possibility of her jumping from the window didn’t seem too far-fetched in Marian’s mind. Also, her father would easily but that scenario.
When she heard footsteps and commotion outside of the door, she quickly went to the wall adjacent to his desk and sank to the floor. Positioning herself to communicate that she was injured, she closed her eyes and remembered the way Robin’s lips felt on her hand. The Mayor entered the room again, followed by the two cops.
“What?” Mayor Johnson looked from the upturned chair, to the window, and then finally to Marian, “What the hell happened!”
Marian sighed with false pain and pretended to prop herself up on a weak arm, “I thought I could get on her level, I thought she would reason with me, dad."
Her father turned to the cops, “You left them in here alone?!”
“We…we thought she could handle it,” one of them replied.
The Mayor’s eye twitched from rage as he grabbed the cop’s shirt collar, “You better call Nottingham and Gisbourne and tell them to get their asses back out there!” He let go of the cop whom almost ran out of the room, followed by his partner. The Mayor’s voice made them rush faster as he yelled, “I want Robin!!”
Marian was still sitting on the floor, as she watched her father through half-opened eyes as he began to throw things around the room. She was torn between feeling proud of herself for helping Robin escape and also worried that her father’s newfound rage would make it harder for Robin to keep from getting caught. She also hoped that she would get to see her again, soon.
