chapter 4 (cont. again)

Carmen pouted yet again as she sat on the sidewalk in the cold, waiting for her ride home.
Much to her dismay, the team had gotten on just fine, if not great without her. They thrashed the opposition 4-0, and of course Paige played a major role; scoring two.

Not only was she starting to shiver as the evening breeze kicked in, but also had a slight case of indigestion rumbling down in her tummy. She knew the pain of an empty stomach all too well, but she wasn't used to the consequences of munching down as many chocolates as she could've in a 90 minute timeframe.
It wasn't her fault, after all; she was just stressed with all that had gone on prior. They were just too good to pass up, each time she saw an untouched wrapper peeking out of Jenn's bag, she couldn't say no to it. And Jenn wouldn't say no to her either, if she didn't want her illegal snacking operation being known to Coach. If anything, Carmen is helping her lose weight by not letting her devour the whole bag herself! (that was her rationale, at least)

Unable to ignore the aching any longer, Carmen decided to peel away the lower half of her t-shirt to inspect her stomach.
Rubbing her palm against her now bloated, ever-so-slightly protruding tummy was definitely a weird experience. She never really had anything but a flat, toned stomach throughout her life, but now; for what felt like the first time, she felt something dense, something full, weighing her down; like she was carrying a bag of Mendez Munchies brand potatoes across her midsection.
Feeling more curious, she decided to further investigate this peculiar mass of temporary flab. Taking her hand away, she poked an index finger into the flab, watching it seep down through the soft flesh.

"Huh...weird."
She said to herself, puzzled.

Just as she was starting to get the shivers, a recognizable silver Chevrolet pulled up in front of her. Through the coal-tinted windows she could see Carlos, and to her surprise, he looked just as peeved as herself.
Coming inside the car, it was hard for to keep up her bad mood when she caught a glance of her dad's clearly ticked off demeanor. Carlos eased both the grip on the steering wheel and the tension on his face, and sighed.

"Your mother is very disappointed in you."
Carlos said softly. He wasn't very good at this "tough parent" role. He never wanted to be like that around his baby girl.

"Why?"
Carmen responded with indifference, which led to another sigh of frustration from her father.

"Your mom really wants you to take this job. She cares about you a lot, and it'd mean the world to her you'd be more.. involved with the family, y'know?"
Carlos' attempts at bargaining were only met with some disinterested twiddling of thumbs. Knowing what he'd have to do to strike a deal, he let out his biggest sigh yet.

"Double pay."

And just like that, a malicious grin shot up in Carmen's face.
"Deal!"