Lychan Part 4
After dinner, they cleaned up as good as any young man’s cleanup would be and tramped along outside into the early evening.
After dinner, they cleaned up as good as any young man’s cleanup would be and tramped along outside into the early evening. “We gotta show you around,” Ivan said. “After that, we’ll go out!”
They started heading down their road and came upon a little local farmer’s market. Fruits and vegetables all spread out nicely in order separated by colors and species. It was a small one with a few families coming and picking and then scattering around looking at the jars of jams and preserves. Picking and poking at the veggies, children laughed and ran wildly.
The four guys scampered about in an idle way not wanting to be first but never wanting to commit to an item to purchase. Ricky liked it here, small-town America was close to his heart. Family life that seemed new, dazzled his imagination, and the fun findings of his limited mind culminated in a sheer joy of nostalgia he never knew. He couldn’t have been happier until a man bumped into him.
“What — you watch yourself, kid,” the man said in a collared shirt, he was with his family. Two small boys and his wife tried to calm him down. “Did you hear me?”
“Sorry, man,” Ricky said.
“Yeah you better,” the man shouted back as Ivan came to defend his new friend.
“Calm down, bro.”
“You don’t tell me what to do, kid,” he snarled.
“Honey, stop,” his wife said but he told her to stay out of this. “The boys are here!”
“Let ’em watch! They’re gonna have to learn eventually.” The four guys were all present now astounded at the man’s behavior. “You kids never learned did ya?”
“Buddy,” Ivan started. “You’re way outta line. Listen to your wife.”
The man clenched his fists and came for him, but Ivan got out his knife holding it to his gut. The man froze in place; wide-eyed.
“Easy there, boy,” Ivan said mocking him.
“Please, I don’t want trouble,” he said. Everyone saw and was horrified. Men from the market were coming to their aid as the three other friends stood by perplexed and an anger of fire rose in them.
“You asked for trouble the minute you opened your mouth, bitch,” Ivan said harshly. “Turn around and walk away.”
Sweat dripped from his brow. Warm-bodied odors came from them both breathing into the hot breeze.
The man horrified did as he was told, grabbed his family, and hurried away.
The two men came to Ivan. “Now, son, put that away,” an old man with a white beard said. “We don’t want no trouble, son.”
He sheathed his blade hiding it. “It’s alright, it was just a misunderstanding,” Ivan said with a smile holding up his hands.
“I think I’ll ask ya to leave, son. Please.”
“My pleasure,” he said smiling his heart raging, and nodded to the group to follow.
At the outskirts of the market, Harold smoked with Haul by their blue truck and saw Lukas Ryan with his family hurrying to his car. “What the hell happened to you?”
“Bite me, ‘Hurricane’,” Lukas spat as he led his family clumsily. His boys asked him what happened and asked if he ever killed anyone before. He sheepishly brought them inside and said cleverly, “No, but I wanted to.”
“Why didn’t that nickname ever catch on more?” Hal said to Harold with a smile.
“I guess it will, now,” Harold said amused.
Harold saw the family ride off in a hurry seeing a black van following close behind it.
The pack sped up right behind Lukas and his family.
“Who the hell is that?” Lukas’ wife asked.
“Cheryl, stop. Don’t worry ‘bout it!” he shouted.
“Daddy’s yellin’ at Mom!” his one son said.
Screaming, he reached back there trying to hit his son, and swerved on the side of the road still driving on the grassy part but then came back on. The black van gained.
“We gotta get this bastard,” Ivan screamed. “Come on, Caelan! Step on it!” Caelan reared the car forward in violence.
They rammed into the back of the little mini-van.
“There’s kids in there, man!” Ricky shouted.
“Guys, watch it!” Nick shouted.
“Do it again!” Ivan demanded.
“No!” Ricky screamed, pleading.
He wouldn’t.
But he did and the mini-van skitted off the road as it came to a halt. Swerving around, the three got out of the car. Ricky stayed put.
“What’re you doin?” Ricky asked in horror.
They approached but the family locked their doors. The kids screamed in confusion, Cheryl screamed, “Stop it, Lukas,” as she sobbed.
Lukas breathed deeply and was frozen. Ivan banged on his window.
“Get out! Come on!” he cursed and screamed letting everything out on the car. Caelan and Nick joined in hesitatingly. Caelan went back and got a bat from the trunk.
“Whaddya doin’ man? This is nuts,” Ricky screamed.
“Ivan’s makin’ me do it,” he said rolling his eyes.
“Come on, help me out!” Ivan demanded and they started smashing the windows with his baseball bat but being bulletproof, it would take a lot more force and time than they had because another car came into view. Nick got on top and stomped on the windshield.
Haul and Harold came forward getting out of their pick-up truck stunned.
“Hey, what’re you kids doin’?” Harold snarled. Ivan stopped short. Caelan raised the wooden bat, and Nick looked scared.
“It’s not your business,” Ivan said.
“Sure it is! He’s my friend, you little bitch! What’s your name?”
“None of your goddamn business.”
Harold pulled out his pistol and pointed it squarely at Ivan’s head getting close as he walked toward him slowly. “You stop right now!”
Ivan’s eyes became dull and he stopped what he was doing and fell on his knees.
Get out, Ivan. What’re you doin?
“Stop, right there,” Harold said.
“Harold,” Haul began. “Stop, come on.”
“Get off the car, man,” Harold said waving his gun in Nick’s direction, having Caelan drop the bat too.
“You get out, Lukas. You hear me? Get your family home safe.” The car never before glided down the path as fast as it did that day, leaving dust in the wind.
“Is there another one of yous? I see that car over there.” The three looked over their shoulder.
“Come on, Ricky!” Ivan said. Ricky dumbfounded came reluctantly and approached Harold, he waved the gun in his direction.
Great.
“Who are you?”
“Ricky, man.”
“Ricky what?”
“Bates.”
“Well, Ricky Bates, who are these knuckleheads?”
“They’re my friends.”
“Yeah? You’re not from here, are ya?”
“No, sir, New Jersey.”
“Ah, the garden state. What’d you doin’ all the way out here, with these thugs?”
“I don’t know, man,” Ricky shrugged. “What’d ya want, man? You gonna kill us?” Ivan perked up smiling.
“No,” Harold put the piece away in the inside of his jacket. “What’s your names?”
Each gave their name.
“Well, we’re in a pickle.”
“Are we?” Ivan said slyly.
“Nobody’s gonna leave until you pay up.”
“You’re shittin’ us, right,” Caelan said furiously.
“Nope, pay up a hundred dollars and we’ll be square. Simple.”
I got nothin’. Everyone here’s crazy.
Ivan and Ricky looked at each other and then eyed Caelan. Ricky turned back. “Alright.”
“I want Ricky to gather the money and give it to me. Slowly,” he said whipping out a cigarette and lighting it. Ricky got out his wallet and got out a fifty. Begrudgingly, he turned to his friends as they barfed up the cash. Ricky handled it and counted it giving it eventually to Harold.
“There we go,” Harold said. Haul was back up as he had his hand on his hip ready to strike. “Well, thank you, boys. I really do appreciate this. We really should do business more often. I shouldn’t have to say this but I will: You better not show your face there ever again.”
“That works,” Ivan said through his teeth.
“Well, be seein’ you boys. Watch out. You never know who’s gonna bump into you.” He grinned crookedly, bending the big wad of bills and stuffing them into his shirt pocket. The two men soared to their pickup pulling away as the four thugs stood there in the desolate and dirt road.
To Be Continued…
