SIDEKICK

Chapter Eleven: Welcome to Prison

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Welcome to Prison

When I wake up, there’s someone beside my bed, sleeping on a chair. I sit up, look at the person.

Blonde head.

I hit him over the head.

The guy stirs from his sleep and lifts his head to me. I look down at him.

“John!”

Peter sits up. He looks different.

He’s definitely put some muscle on. And his head’s shaved.

There’s an awkward silence.

“How… are you?” he asks.

I don’t answer. The last time we saw each other, he was being an asshole.

So why would I want to see him now?

“John, how are mo… Diane and Simon?” he asks me.

I narrow my eyes at him. “Wouldn’t know. How about you ask them yourself? You know, since they think you’re dead and there isn’t a wall in the city without your face on it.”

That hit him. “Seriously?”

I shift eye contact. He really hasn’t been contact with the outside world.

I pull my blankets off. “I’m going now.”

Peter’s eyebrows rise. “What? But you’re injured -”

“Yeah, thanks for taking care of me,” I cut him off. I slide down onto the ground. “But I’ll be going now.”

I crawl forward towards the door. Peter stands up and follows me across the carpet.

“How are you going to get around without your chair?” he points out.

“I’ll manage,” I reply.

“Then, I’ll take you home,” he suggests instead.

“That’s quite alright,” I reject him. “I can get back fine.”

“How?”

I make it to the door. “One of the members of your real family will give me a lift, or I can get that guy to ‘deliver’ me someplace.”

I reach for the handle. Suddenly, I’m floating.

Peter stands there, his hand out. “John, you’re not thinking clearly.”

I grit my teeth. “Put me down Peter.”

“No.”

I float up, and he’s places me in the standing position. “Put me down now.’

He steps forward. “No.”

We’re close enough.

Do it John.

I let out a sudden yell. It startles him, and his hand drops. The force holding me up releases. But before I fall, I grab his shirt. We both tumble down to the floor.

He lands on top of me. Peter goes onto his fours and I crack one right across his face.

Peter falls down. I push him off me and roll to my side. I crawl onto his chest and grab his neck with my bandaged hand.

The other fist comes down and hits him across the face.

Ha. He’s not looking like a pretty boy anymore.