Chapter 2:  Monkey Business

It was a small store, providing mainly the bare essentials and a few odds and ends which the students from the nearby school could spend their petty cash on.  This late at night there were few customers; the only people present were the clerk, a few odd people here and there and (of all things) a small monkey playing in the corner.  The warm air of the store was temporarily disrupted as a young boy entered, but soon all was back to normal.

Jeff reached into his coat pocket and grimaced.  He'd realized that he was going to need supplies, but with only a dollar on him he couldn't see himself buying much.  Even if he sold the ruler and protractor he always kept on him, he'd still only be able to buy a few pieces of candy tops.  Inflation had hit Winters hard, and even a burger cost a lot of money.

He looked at the various goods without any real hope of being able to buy them.  Morosely, he wondered how far a boiled egg he'd pilfered from the kitchen during his work session would get him.  Probably not far.

"Hey kid!"

Jeff jumped in surprise and looked around for the source of the voice.

"Yeah, you!  Over here!"

He looked in the direction of the voice.  There, over by the counter -- a woman was looking at him, indicating with her head that she wanted him to come over.  Gulping, he obeyed.

"D . . .do you want something?" he asked hesitantly.  He never felt comfortable around strangers.

"Yeah, actually -- wanna buy a pack of gum?"  She held out a jumbo-sized pack of bubble gum.

Jeff had been taught about this in school.  "No thanks, ma'am, I don't take candy from strangers," he replied.

"Wha -- whoa, you think I tampered with this?  For crying out loud, if you're that worried just buy some from the store-keep, then.  See if I care, " she said, scowling.

Jeff blinked.  'Odd woman . . .'  "Well, maybe if I just took a look at it..."

"Good boy."  She handed the pack to him, and he scrutinized it.  No sign of tampering, but you never knew . . .

"Look, kid, you can either get it from me for a dollar, or you can get it from HIM for two.  Your choice," she said.

Jeff wondered at the sanity of a woman discussing the sale of candy within earshot of the storekeeper.  "Er . . ."

"Come on, out with it!"

Jeff sighed.  Well, it wasn't like the dollar was much good for anything else.  Maybe if he got hungry he could chew it and pretend it was food.  And if he keeled over dead . . . well he'd probably be done for anyway, out in the cold without supplies.

"Oh, all right . . ." He gave the woman the dollar.

Gleefully, she snatched it up and handed him the gum.  "Congratulations!  And, as a special one-time only offer, you get a free monkey with your purchase!" she exclaimed.

Her words took a moment to wash over him.  "Monkey?!"

"Yep!  One Grade-A, genuine Bubble Monkey.  You lucky dog!"

"B . . .but I don't want--"

The woman's grin turned into a scowl.  "Look, kid, no refunds.  You either take the monkey or I boot him out into the cold.  Either way, I'm sick of dealing with monkey crap in my house," she growled.

Jeff was at a loss for words. "I . . . er . . . um . . ."

The woman patted him on the back.  "Well, good luck kid!  Have fun with your new pet!"  She walked out of the store.

Jeff watched her numbly, then turned his gaze towards the monkey by the door.  It was very small -- about the size of a cat.  It seemed to have a cowlick of sorts on the top of its head and was staring at him intently.

"But what am I gonna do with a monkey?" he asked uselessly.

"Kya ki ki ukya kya?"

"No, I'm NOT gonna pamper you.  As it is, I'm broke."  It didn't even occur to Jeff that it was unusual he'd understood that.

"Kye ukye kyo ukyu kya kyu."

Jeff looked at the monkey.  "What?  Gum?  Well, I guess..."  He opened the pack and handed a piece to the monkey.

The monkey grinned.  "Kyuku ka kyu KYA KYUKI!"  He stuffed the piece of gum in his mouth and chewed vigorously.  Then, looking upwards, he began to blow a bubble.  To Jeff's surprise, the monkey actually began to lift off the ground for a moment before setting down softly on the floor again.

"Well, I wouldn't have called them MAD skills, but it is kinda impressive," he told the monkey.  The monkey simply stuck its tongue out in response.  "Guess we're taking off together."

The monkey shrugged and followed him out.  "Kya, kuu kuki uki."

"Am not!"

The snow made going slow enough, but the situation was exacerbated by the monkey's consistent dilly-dallying.  Every so often it'd stop and look at some rock, or tree, or shrub, and Jeff would have to wait until it finished before going any further.  Of course theoretically, he could have just left the monkey behind, but he knew he wouldn't be able to do it.  It just wasn't in him to do something as cruel as that.

Sometimes, he really wished he had more of a backbone.

At length the monkey seemed to find something which absolutely enthralled it, and no amount of cajoling or wheedling by Jeff was going to make it move until whatever exciting show it was watching was finished.  Sighing, he leaned back against a tree and contemplated the past few hours.

It all felt so surreal.  Here he was, breaking school rules, probably dooming his chances for higher education, and for what?  A trek through two below temperatures in search of some girl who, for all he knew, didn't exist anywhere outside his own mind.  It was insane and he knew it.

But she'd said she was his friend . . .

He sighed.  He'd never had any really true friends -- most of the students at Snow Wood either dismissed him as a total poindexter or were too intimidated by his intelligence to approach him.  Well all right, Tony was a friend, but half the time it felt like a sort of misplaced hero worship more than anything else.  It was a nasty way of putting it, but when one considered the way Tony blindly followed Jeff around it wasn't an entirely unjustified thought.  In fact, he'd overheard some kids describing Tony as "Andonut's Lap Dog" once, which had nearly infuriated Jeff enough into physically striking out.  As it were he'd gone and defended him, which only resulted in more ridicule for the pair of them.

But this girl . . . Paula, she'd called herself . . . she'd decided they were friends right off the bat.  Even considering the nature of the message she'd sounded like she honestly believed it, as if they were friends all their lives and hadn't even known it.

He snorted.  'Wait'll she sees me.  She'll probably change her mind the second she does.  Just like everybody else . . .'

With a sigh, he pushed himself away from the tree and walked over to the monkey, which was watching him intently.  "Ready to go, then?"

The monkey didn't respond.

Jeff rolled his eyes.  "Look, if you're gonna be difficult, I can just ditch you here."  It was an idle threat and he knew it, but he hoped it would get the obstinate little creature moving.

It still didn't respond.

"Ah come on, please?"

Its eyes suddenly widened fearfully.  Suddenly, it occurred to Jeff that the monkey wasn't looking AT him, but BEHIND him.

What was more, the ground was shaking.

He turned around, only to be greeted by the sight of a large billy goat bearing down on him with murderous intent in its eyes.

Author's Notes:

To be perfectly honest, this is how I interpreted Tony and Jeff's relationship.  Tony just seems too willing to do things for Jeff, and I figured that Jeff probably would feel a bit uncomfortable with Tony's tendency to be eager to please.  Besides, it kinda makes the friendship he forms with Ness, Paula and Poo later all that more endearing.

Yeah, I know this part is shorter than the last one, but I reached the last sentence and suddenly realised that it'd work better if I just cut it off there and went to chapter 3.  I love cliffhangers.  Don't you?