The Chosen Ones

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

Shannon poured Tyler a bowl of cereal and waited for him to climb up on the counter. Once he got there he held out his hands, taking it from her.
She grabbed her coffee mug and took a sip.

Today was a big day. They had to go to Zipper's shop and ask him for the supplies, then pray he could come through. Matt would pay him more than enough, of course, which should get him to agree to their requests.

Shannon saw a cheerful Matt come walking into the kitchen. He kissed Tyler on the head.
"Morning buddy." He said to him. He looked at Shannon and smiled. "Hey, what's up?" He asked her.

"What are you so happy about?" She asked suspiciously.
"Nothing." He replied, smiling wider now.
Just then Casey strolled in, also in a chipper mood. Her hair messy from just getting out of bed. She was smiling from ear to ear.

Shannon eyed her, quickly catching on. "Somebody got lucky last night." She said, finally, as she gave Casey a mischievous grin.
Casey felt her cheeks get red.
"Shut up." She replied to her, smiling.

Matt just sipped his coffee, enjoying the awkwardness. He and Casey had a memorable night together. He hoped it was the first of many.
"Let's get serious." He said. "We got a lot to do today."
"I guess we'll all get ready then head over to Zipper's." Shannon said. "In like an hour?"
"That works." Matt replied.

"You better wake Shaun." Shannon told him.
"Where is he?" Matt asked.
"He fell asleep on the couch." She replied.
Matt went to the living room. He just leaned up against the wall and stared at Shaun. There he laid, asleep on Matt's couch, face down with a blanket draped only over his back and a bottle of Jim Beam on the coffee table.

He was naked and his bare ass was out for all to see. Matt took a sip of his coffee. This was one of the four people who he was counting on to save his son. How could they lose, he thought, as he chuckled to himself.
Shannon looked over his shoulder at Shaun. "You better steam clean that couch."

Before they headed over they dropped Tyler off at Shannon's parent's house. The ride to Zipper's shop was not far, just right up town. They pulled into the dirt parking lot. There were a few cars parked off to the side that he must've been working on as well as two other cars that had FOR SALE signs on them.

There were also two gas pumps that were now just used for decoration. The front of the shop had three bay doors, one was open and had an old 1986 Ford Tempo in it with the hood up.
"Yo, anybody here?" Matt yelled.
"Who's asking?" Came a voice.

It was Zipper who popped his head up from under the hood. He was a short guy and a little overweight with a shaved head and a lot of tattoos. He even had flames tattooed on the back of his neck that went up onto the top of his bald head. The red goatee he sported hung down far past his chin, adding to his intimidating look.

There were many high school stories where Zipper beat the shit out of someone simply for looking at him the wrong way, but if he liked you, and you treated him with respect, he'd do anything for you.

"It's Michaels." Matt replied back, using his last name, which many high school acquaintances knew him by.
"Well, shit." Zipper said with a grin. "Haven't seen your ass in ages." He extended his greasy hand, which Matt shook.

Matt was one of the people who was always good to him. He never looked at him like an outcast like many of his classmates did.
Zipper then turned his attention to Shannon. Matt and all his friends knew he had always had a thing for her. Shannon knew it too. It might come in handy if they were going to get what they wanted from him today.