Crystal Bella (12 page)

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CHAPTER EIGHT ~

KNICKERS AND A GUN

As Ethan left the cafe with Carl and
Christian one particular man looked intensely at Ethan. It was just eerie in the way he looked. Not the man doing it, but more the wider feel of it all. It just made Ethan feel uneasy. He kept walking then two girls looked at him. Not as intense as the man but just another look that didn’t feel positive at all. One of them had a print on her T shirt, it had the number 911. Ethan kept walking out to his car and decided to ignore the feeling of unease it gave him. He was in a good space and didn’t really want to know.

Ethan turned the
ignition and away they went.

“
In love I hear,” Carl said from the back seat.

“You’ve seen the new English professor?” Ethan
replied.

“Yes, quite the enigma she is,
” Carl said.

“She’
s cute, quite hot and a little different for you. You both make a match, the unexpected match,” Christian said.

“Thanks man.”

“Oh take the left here, I really need to make this drop off,” Christian said.

“S
ure,” Ethan said and turned. A little later he pulled up outside the house of 113. Christian jumped out and jogged across the road and knocked on the door. He heard the same sound as always, the old ladies voice.

“One moment dear.”

A few seconds later she was at the door. She asked Christian to come in like she always did and he entered.                                        

She was more on edge today, m
ore wired. She usually had the facade of a sweet, old woman. But today she looked edgy. An edgy, 75 year old woman who was grinding her teeth. Christian had placed the drugs on her kitchen bench like always and she was going through her hand bag to locate her cash. But the way she had positioned herself, Christian found himself near the window, with the old lady blocking his path to the front door. Usually he wouldn’t care, but he had the worst feeling that said something wasn’t right. She stood there looking at Christian.

“Are you ok
ay?” Christian asked.

“Fine dear.”

She was in her nightie and while that may be common for some old lady’s, she usually came to the door fully dressed. The feeling was getting more intense for Christian and he started to wonder if he should just bail. Then she looked at Christian and started pulling up her nightie to reveal her legs. All Christian could think now was,
what the hell are you doing?
She looked at Christian while she did it. She looked so intense that he just looked at her wondering what to do. Then he saw her knickers, from what he could see it was a lace thong. Then his heart missed a beat. Inside the thong was a gun.

Ethan was waiting in
the car. It was silent with some music playing lightly. The song came to the end of its track and all was silent. It was an eerie silence.

When Christian saw the gun, h
e noticed the quickness in the old lady’s actions. She was doped up and that was making her do things faster than normal. When she saw that Christian had seen the gun she went to grab it fast. It was her moment to get him. She reached for it with quick motion and Christian had no choice but to make a departure through the window next to him.

Ethan sat in the car with
eerie silence. He knew something was up. The next thing Christian came crashing through the window of the house at 113. He came flying through it, at the same time there was a gun shot blast, a huge bang. As Christian hit the front lawn he got up just as quickly and ran to the car. The old lady had ran quickly to her front door and fired another four shots towards Christian and the car.

Christian
jumped into the car and Ethan slammed on the accelerator. He was half bent down to duck away from any shots. He could hardly see when he took off. He just had to half guess the curve of the road as he zoomed away. He had felt a couple of shots hit his car.

“She is usually so sweet. She was weird today, high as... I knew something was not right.... I had no time but to jump through the window, sorry Ethan.” Christian said, st
ill puffing from his quick exit as they drove away.

“It’s okay, I’m all good, no shot wounds.
” Ethan gave a nervous laugh at the words he had just said. “You may need that arm stitched up man.”

Christian had a gash in his arm from going through the window.

“
I’m going to have to park this car somewhere. Not ideal driving this around while there are gun shots in it, and my mom will just know. We really need to get this off the road. I’ll take it to my mechanic and just park it there for now,” Ethan said, pondering his options.

They drove to
Ethan’s mechanic just looking at each other thinking what the hell just happened. Ethan knew he had to stay calm and get through this. If they could get through this bump it would be okay and everything could work out. They pulled into the garage.

The owners
name was Joe. He was in his overalls and had long grey hair. He knew Ethan quite well and liked him. He could relate to Ethan and liked him for his quirky nature.

“Joe, Joe c
an I park my car here for a week or so? It’s had a ding and I just need it off the road for a bit, and can you check it out for any internal damage?” Ethan said while looking at his car and noticing at least three bullet holes in it.

“Yeah mate... ahh bullet holes,
” Joe said.

“I kinda
like the look actually, might keep them there, maybe just two.”

“It’s an interesting look.”

“I’m sure all the mechanics are okay but do check it out please.”

“I’ll do that, done.”

“Thanks Joe you’re amazing. We just found ourselves in a rough part of town. We’re squeaky clean, you know that?” Ethan said it half joking, half serious. He really did appreciate Joe for his understanding and helping them with no judgment.

Ethan gave Joe the keys and
they chatted for a little while. Joe had piercing eyes. He was that intuitive, cool, older guy who was understanding. Ethan almost felt obliged to tell him what had happened to give him some reassurance that they were cool, but he had a glint in his eye that he knew and didn’t care. He was going to help Ethan and so it was. Ethan had known Joe for a while because he had been his and his mother’s local mechanic for so long.  Ethan thanked him again and went back to Carl and Christian who were waiting for him.

“
We have no car,” Ethan said to Carl and Christian.

“
It’s okay, my doctors just two miles down the road. I will get this stitched up,” Christian said.

“
I’ll just walk home.” Ethan said. “What are you doing, Carl?”

“
I dunno, Walk I guess.”

Christ
ian looked at Ethan, “I’m really sorry,” then he looked at Carl, “and you too man.”

Ethan gave them both a short Namaste
gesture with his hands. He was cool under the pressure. They were his best friends and they had always stuck together.

They said
bye I’m going this way, etc. and Ethan headed off on his own. As he walked off he saw the long road ahead. It was long and empty. It seemed like a metaphor to him, the path that he had just walked. This path was empty and he didn’t really need to go down it. Ethan thought about the song that played a week or so ago when he was in the car outside the house of 113. He was sure a girl at college the same day had hummed the same song. The man at the cafe giving him the stare. The girl with the 911 Tee shirt.

The reality started to hit Ethan. He knew he had not listened and started to feel guilty. He
didn’t want to listen earlier. He was feeling so good and just didn’t want to know about anything negative and had shrugged it off.

Ethan’s
thoughts started going through his head in a negative way. Blaming, feeling guilty and just being tough on himself. He felt like crying and he did. He was brave before but now it seemed to impact him when he thought about it. The tears released his emotions and he felt better. Ethan just wanted to say sorry to his soul for not listening. Then he remembered what his mom had said a long time ago. He was 11 but he remembered it so clearly. Ethan wandered back to that time.

“
You know, beautiful boy your soul will only tell you twice, though if you choose to not listen the soul will let you go through the experience…but listen!” Elisabeth had said.

So true here
, Ethan thought to himself,
listen.
Thinking about his mom cheered him up and Ethan knew he had to rise above his negative thoughts. He had not listened to his soul and now he had to give something back and that would be positive thoughts, not negative ones, and Ethan told his mind to hush.
I love you
he said to himself, then he relaxed, nothing too bad had happened. He couldn’t wait to see his mom. He would tell her one day about this, but not right now.

~~~~

Ethan had been walking for about 20 minutes when he came to some kids on their bikes. They were on the footpath hanging out, talking and they were in his way. Ethan realized he needed some wheels as he was getting tired from the long walk home and after his tough day he just wanted a more cruiser ride and a bike seemed the perfect fit. There were three kids, one of the boys was a streetwise, nine year old, very sweet and cool. His name was Halo. Ethan instantly took a shine towards him. He was just so cool. His hair was quite long, fell just above his shoulders. He reminded Ethan of himself when he was nine. He was the kind of child you would like to have for your own one day.

Ethan slowed his walk as the three looking rebels e
yed him up, like something was going to happen.
Lucky I’m 23.
Ethan smiled, despite the strong appearance he knew they were cute and innocent. They didn’t make any room for Ethan, it was like they wanted to talk to him.

“
Hey... cool bike you’ve got there,” Ethan said, breaking the ice.

“
Thanks, it’s a banana bike,” Halo said.

I
t was a very cool bike. It had a long seat and an arc type bar at the end. It was yellow and had big handle bars. It just looked super cool. Ethan had a similar bike once many years ago and could never find another one again, but here it was the perfect banana bike.
One day surly that will be a classic
. Ethan just wanted to ride it and get those teenage feelings back again. He knew once he jumped on it those feeling of that time would return. Here was his chance to try and get it, but only if he could achieve it and make everyone happy.

“
I need some wheels, my car got damaged today. Can I buy your bike off you?” Ethan asked, deciding to be direct.

“
I really like my bike, it’s the second best bike in town, my friend Apple, that’s her real name, has the best one. It’s called an apple bike, same as mine but it’s red with a funny apple seat.”

“Sweet, I understand. My name is Ethan by the way.”

“Hey, my name is Halo and this
is Zing and Kimber.”

“Very cool names,
” Ethan said.

Halo sounded
like a glow from the top chakra, Zing crisp and fast and Kimber, he had a dog for a year when he was in New Zealand called Kimber. She was a female dog, maybe this was just his nickname. Ethan continued, “I really like your bike, but I don’t want to buy it off you if you really love it, so it’s your choice. How much is it worth?”

“
I heard my mom talking on the phone to my dad, saying she paid $50 for it.”

“
I can pay you $140 now. But only say yes if it feels okay in your heart and that you can get another one that is just as cool. I’m sure you can.”

“
Do it Halo,” Kimber said.

“
Don’t do it, Halo he probably has fake money,” Zing chimed in with his Asian accent.

“
My money is real,” Ethan said.

“
He has a funny accent, he could be Australian,” Zing said.

“It’
s a New Zealand accent but it has pretty much faded now. You must have special hearing to be able to pick it up.”

“
He sounds Australian,” Zing added, “my mom said there are a lot of strange people from there, even criminals. It’s up to Halo.”

“
Okay I’ll do it,” Halo said. “Can you give me a ride home, Zing?”

“
Yeah sure, just make sure the money is real first before we hand over the bike,” Zing said to Halo, before looking Ethan in the eye…“US currency too, not your Australian yen thanks.”

Ethan took o
ut his wallet and counted the money and gave it to Halo.

“Thanks so much, Halo really cool to meet you.”