My Knight in Shining Armor

Chapter XXIII

It was past midnight when I got home, so naturally, I slept late. My parents had already left for the record store, so the house was quiet. I rolled out of bed, carefully walking to the kitchen table. I sat down, still trying to rub the sleep out of my eyes. I sat there for a while, staring off into space, but the telephone started ringing, disrupting the nothingness of my thoughts.

Reluctantly, I got up and answered the phone. "Hello, this is Penelope Randle."

"Penny! You're finally awake!"

"Finally?"

"It's like, one in the afternoon already. I've called a couple times already."

I laughed. "Sorry about that. Last night was crazy."

"Yeah, it sure was. I hear you were at the Curtis house pretty late, though."

"I'll have to tell you about that later. Whatcha callin' about?"

"Wanda's been down at the DX today—Soda has a shift and she's been spending time with him—and I was wondering if you wanted to come with me to join her."

"I'd love to! I just gotta get ready."

"I'll be there in fifteen."

"Alright. See ya."

"See ya."

I threw on a denim skirt and a cute top and brushed through my hair. It was still slightly curled from dressing up as Socs the night before, and I hadn't taken my makeup off. All I had to do was fix a few spots, and I was ready.

I didn't even wait for Wendy to finish pulling in the driveway when she came. I was hopping into her car before it had come to a full stop.

"I'd take you on my new motorcycle, but I figured this was safer."

I gave Wendy a confused look. "Safer?"

"Yeah. There was another robbery early this morning. There have been several, and police are connecting it all together. They think it's one person doing it all."

"Who do you think is behind it?"

"No clue. Must be some new bad boy in town."

"Wendy, do you ever have this feeling... like something life-changing is gonna happen?"

"Nope." She kept her hands on the wheel and didn't even turn to look at me.

"Oh. I guess you probably wouldn't understand if I maybe had that feeling."

"No, I believe you. Wanda mentioned something like that not long before the boys got in that crash."

I sighed. "It just feels like my whole world is gonna unravel and I'm not gonna be able to pieces it all back together."

Wendy looked at me with a sympathetic smile. "I'm here if you need anything."

"Thanks," I smiled back.

We drove out of my neighborhood and towards the DX. The sun was beating down, but the cool breeze countered it. "Can we stop at the record store on the way? I didn't get a chance to talk to my parents last night or this morning."

"Sure."

Instead of taking our planned left turn, we headed right, going downtown a bit. We arrived at Rockin' Records, and I hopped out of Wendy's car. My mama was at the front counter, in case a customer came in, and my dad was beside her. To my surprise, however, a couple of police officers were also there. I gulped and approached them.

"Hey, Mama and Daddy! Hello officers."

My parents smiled sweetly at me. "Congratulations on last night! Let's see it..." I showed my parents, specifically, my mom, the ring. "Oh, gorgeous!"

I was curious as to what my parents were doing with the cops in their store. I hoped it wasn't a robbery, but it wasn't closed off or anything. "What's going on?"

My father smiled. "It's nothing, Penny. Nothing you need to be concerned about. Now, run along."

I frowned and walked toward Wendy. I signaled for her to open the door and pretend to walk out. I hid behind a shelf and listened with her. I could hear my parents talking with the officers, but I couldn't keep track of who was talking—all I knew was that there were four of them.

"Let me get this straight. A couple told their adult son that he was not their biological son, and now an investigation is being undertaken to find his parents?"

"Yes. We're doing DNA tests with every couple that has a missing child in the area, and possibly the state if we need to. We checked your records, and since you lost Eric at what seems to be the likely time for this man, we're thinking it may be you two."

"You found Eric?"

"Perhaps, although, if it is your son, his name is now Chester."

"It's been so long... twenty-eight years, give or take, right?"

"Yes, dear."

"He wants to meet anyone we believe could be his parents—says he'll know 'em when he sees em'. He'll even provide meals and a guest bedroom."

"Honey, when should we leave?"

"Right now! Twenty-eight years was hard enough—I can't hardly wait another hour!"

"Where do we go?"

"Windrixville. Find the road to Jay Mountain, and his house is he blue one with the white picket fence. He lives there with his wife and kids."

"Wife and kids?"

"Yeah."

"What about Penny?"

"We'll call her when we get there."

"And if she doesn't answer?"

"We'll call Steve's place."

The police officers' walkie-talkies went off, and the conversation ended. "Looks like there's another robbery we've got to get to."

When the cops left, Wendy and I snuck out, and drove to the DX. I was silent nearly the whole way there, in shock of what I'd heard. My heart was beating fast, and everything seemed to move in slow motion. I couldn't believe it—my whole life had been a lie.

"Is that what the feeling was for?" Wendy finally asked.

I started to nod, but ended up shaking my head. "I dunno. Maybe part of it? I still have that gut feeling that everything will change."

"Just breathe. You've been through a lot—you can take what life gives you."

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Author's note
I've got three or four things to cover in this author's note:
1) Buckle up—the next few chapters are gonna be rough
2) This main plot coming up that you will read in the next chapter was not planned by me necessarily
3) When I started labeling the chapters with Roman Numerals, I wasn't thinking this far away—the next chapter will be XXIV
4) I'm only posting these chapters right now because my young cousins are over and I had to pause Back to the Future 3

Your friendly neighborhood greaser, signing off...
Stay gold y'all ⭐️