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"for anything worth having, one must pay the price; and the price is always work, patience, love, self-sacrifice - no paper currency, no promises to pay, but the gold of real service." - John Burroughs ~
dallas
I decided to take Gabe out into town to run some errands with me, I think he should get out more. It's good for kids to go out and smell the roses.
Then again we were walking in the north side, not exactly the prettiest. So Gabe was either holding my hand or I was carrying him most of the time. I got lots and lots and LOTS of looks and stares, as well as teasing but a few "awww"s from ladies but I don't care much. Gabe and Lynn mean more to me than a reputation or lady ever has.
I took him to the store with me to pick up a few things, on the way there we passed the DX and I got an idea. I looked down at Gabe, "Buddy, you want some soda?"
"Yeah!" He cheered
I grinned at his beaming expression. This kid never fails to make me smile brighter than the sun, and I honestly never ever thought I would say that about a child. We kept walking down the street, now with a new pep in our step. I figured I would stop by to say hi to Soda and Steve too while I was at around.
The sun was shining and the streets were busy, usually I'd light a smoke right about now but I'm not going to because I'm with Gabe. I often take a second to look at moments like these, and just see how much I've changed. God I hate it, but I'm so happy. I'm not used to being happy. It's alien, maybe that's just why I don't like it. But if my life was going the same way it was a few months ago I'd definitely be miserable.
Gabe let go of my hand and my heart jumped a little, "Hey stay close, alright man?"
"I will." He replied
I trusted the kid, but if he went anymore than 5 feet in front of me we're going back to the hands. I kept a good eye on him, he kept looking around and stumbling around a bit. He was clumsy, but he was getting better at the whole walking thing. I'll have to teach him how to walk like a real Greaser.
The DX was in view, I kept smiling at Gabe. He might've been doing really good right now, but it will probably be a little harder to contain him when he has sugar in his system later.
I heard a familiar noise come from the distance, the usual and unsettling sound of a fight. Possibly even someone getting jumped. I looked up and it was a little more serious than that, there weren't even any Socs around. Greaser on Greaser fights are always worse, more dangerous. Socs may have rings, but Greasers have switchblades. Heaters. No mercy.
It was a huge group of Greasers, I couldn't hear but they were getting riled up fast. It was right outside of the DX, in fact I saw Sodapop run out of the shop and try and butt in. It didn't work. They were throwing punches, shoving each other around and I saw some gleams of sharp blades. It was happening incredibly fast, usually I'd either join or get a kick out of watching it go down but at the moment I was worried if Gabe was watching this all happen.
I looked to check and he was too busy looking at the various dandelions littering the cracks in the sidewalks. I looked back up and some guy was running as fast as he could toward me and Gabe, looking to run past us. I glanced over to see what he was running from, and my soul nearly left my body. My eyes were met with the barrel of a gun facing straight towards me.
The target was running for us as fast as possible, and the man with the gun didn't look to have a very steady shot. By the time that gun was fired it would hit one of three things; me, the running man, or Gabe. And I know for damn sure there was no way in hell I was going to let Gabe be the victim.
I dashed in front of me to grab Gabe, and as I did the guy who was running away from the gun ran into my shoulder and shoved me hard enough to turn completely around. I heard the gunshot fire louder than all the yelling from the brawl combine, and as my ears were ringing I felt a wicked pain in my side.
I held Gabe close to the left side of my body, my arms slowly giving out from the shock. I instantly grew lightheaded, my vision blurring as well. I saw the same man keep running, not even thinking out turning back. My knees felt weak, it was hard to breathe. I was using all the strength in my body to stay standing, then I heard faint, running footsteps charge up to me.
I looked over and Sodapop was standing next to me, worry and panic in his eyes. I croaked out, "Take the kid, man."
Soda acted fast and grabbed Gabe from my arms, and immediately after I collapsed to the ground. Everything moved slow, my body felt hollow. Like it was being emptied. I looked down and struggled to move my hand to where I could hardly feel the entire side part of my body, then lifted the hand to see crimson on my fingertips. The same warm liquid spilling onto the concrete, rapidly spreading. That was the last thing I saw before my vision began to fade and I couldn't see anything.
The last thing I was responsive to was hearing Sodapop shout for help, and I slowly felt myself fade away. My head hit the sidewalk hard, my body felt like it wasn't there. I felt completely hollow. And before I could react to anything else, I was out like a light.
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