Chapter 7

"Hey Mom, I'm home!"

"I'm in the den."

"Okay, let me put my stuff up.", I raced upstairs and dropped off my book bag. A little bit later I walked into the den to see mom standing on a step ladder painting the trim.

She glanced over to me, "Move the couch away from the wall please."

"Should I change clothes?"

"That might not be a..." VRRROOM, VRRRRROOOOOM, VRRROOM, VRRROOOOOM "What the hell!? John go see what's making that noise."

I headed toward the front door. VRRROOM, VRRRRROOOOOM, VRRROOM, VRRROOOOOM, Geez, the thing was shaking the walls. I stepped outside and came to a sudden stop. "Th ... Th ... PANTERA!THAT"S A FREAKIN" PANTERA" I screamed, dancing joyously.

Sitting in the driveway was the "GOD" of all muscle cars a 1984 Pantera GT5! Dad was sitting behind the wheel watching me with a big grin on his face. "Happy Early Birthday", He yelled while shutting down the engine.

I grabbed him through the window and hugged him tightly, "Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!".

He laughed and tried to hug me back. "You like it?"

"I love it!"

He gently disentangled himself from me. "Let's look under the hood."

I stepped away from the door so he could get out. We went around to the back of the car (the engine is in the back) opened the hood and looked at the engine.It was beautiful.

"When, how?" I sputtered.

"One of my my clients gave me a good deal. It needs a lot of work. some rust removed, the interior redone. A new paint job and she'll be as good as new."

"When can I drive it?"

"First, you have to get your license and then we have to redo the brakes and make some repairs. So hopefully, in about a month."

"That long?"

My dad laughed at my long face "You'll live. You'll live even longer if the brakes work."

About that time my mom wrapped her arms around me "Aren't you glad you had to come home and help me now?"

I turned around in her arms and squeezed her to me "Thank you."

"You're very welcome. Now, go get changed we still have some painting to do."

I picked her up and twirled her around "I HAVE A PANTERA!"

"Put me down you big goof!" Mom shrieked.

I set her down and hugged her again and then pulled dad into a hug. "I'm so happy!"

"I can see that. Now go get changed like your mama said."

"Yes Sir!" I turned and went into the house.

-oOo-

A few days later I was leaving the auto parts store where I had just ordered some parts for the pantera. I needed to take a leak so I jumped into the alley (Hey, I really had to go.). I had just finished zipping up when I started to feel really nauseous. A hand grabbed me and spun me around. The world exploded in brilliant flares of color as pain washed through me. I was shoved roughly to the ground and I felt hands searching me. A moment later they were gone. I pushed myself up and fell back against the building. My stomach was on fire. I looked down and saw my hands were covered in blood. "Fuck, I've been stabbed." My ass was starting to feel wet. I looked. "Damn it, I'm sitting in my own piss."

I knew I was seriously hurt, how seriously I didn't know. I did know that I couldn't let a doctor see me. I felt an instinctive pull towards my room. I pushed myself from the wall and staggered to my feet. I was only a few blocks from my house, but how to get there? I decided to cut through the back alleys. My vision swam as I took my first steps."Oh God this hurts!" My knees kept trying to buckle. I wanted to rest so badly. I was afraid that if I stopped I wouldn't be able to start again. After what seemed forever, I made it to the house and up the stairs. I fell into the door frame of my room as the door opened.

"TreFual! help me"

He was sitting on my desk when I opened the door. He jumped up. "Kid! What the hell!" He jumped over to me and started helping me into the room.

"I got stabbed."

"We've got to get you into the pool. Open the door"

I reached out as we approached the wall. The door opened. TreFual pushed me straight through to the pool. The world went black as I fell head first into the water.

-oOo-

My eyes opened to see TreFual's small head hovering over my face. "What happened?"

"You almost died. That's what happened."

I started to struggle to get up but was too weak.

"Easy kid, you need to soak a few more hours. The damage is pretty severe. Lay back and let the pool do its work."

I settled back.

"Tell me what happened."

"I went to the auto parts store like I told you and as I was leaving I stepped into the alley to take a piss. I had just finished zipping up when I started to feel sick to my stomach."

"What was that?" TreFual said.

"I said that I started to feel sick to my stomach."

"Did you start looking around?"

"No, Why should I?" I was confused by TreFual's curiosity in my upset stomach.

"Listen dumb ass. Think about this for a moment, Why would someone who is in perfect health and immune to disease suddenly get sick to their stomach?"

"Oh shit, "taint"?"

"That's right. "Taint". Give the man a cigar or better yet a kick in the johnson. That sick feeling is a warning letting you know that someone or something nearby can hurt you. You didn't think about it. Your thoughtlessness nearly killed you."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize to me. YOU are the one who almost died from your stupidity, not me. Just learn from it if you can and go on. But think about this: you fuck up a mission because of some stupid oversight like that and you'll wish that you died today. Got it?"

"Yes sir."

"Good, now finish your story."

"Well about the time I started getting sick someone spun me around and I got stabbed. They pushed me down and searched me then left. I staggered home and you know the rest."

"Okay, We got to find this fucker fast" He paused and lit a smoke.

"Why fast?"

"Simple, he has a consecrated knife with your blood on it. If he knows what to do with it he can fuck your world."

He stepped over to me and placed his tiny hands on either side of my face. "Kid, look into my eyes."

I stared into his eyes and began to feel a pleasant sensation that seemed to be searching through my brain. I felt a euphoric glow filling me as his small eyes grew into a dark lake. I heard his words as if he was faraway. The gentle timbre of his voice soothed me as his words softly echoed.

"That's right Kid, let your thoughts drift back to the alley way as you were being mugged. Let the feelings from the other guy wash through you ... that's good. I've got enough now. I want you to sleep for me, rest ... you're safe here. Let yourself slide under the water. It feels good and can't hurt you. I'll be back after while and we'll talk then"