Hey, thanks for waiting. This is Chapter Six. Sorry it took so long. I had to get the whole proof-reading thing out of the way. Right now I have two so i have my hands full.
<God, I hate disclaimers. DON'T YOU PEOPLE ALREADY KNOW THIS STUF?!!!>
DISCLAIMER: Don't read if you're underage. If you do, It's nice to know someone else breaks the rules other than me. Legal age in U.S. si 18 and in states it varies. Everywhere else I don't know about. So take a chance a read a good story.
Josh Chapter Seven : Visions Of Truth
Josh told me in the car that he did not want his mom to see what happened.
Alice yelled her greeting from the kitchen. I rushed Josh upstairs.
"Wait," He said on the fifth step of the stairs, "Aren't you coming too?"
"Yeah," I told him, "I'm just gonna get some ice."
Josh accepted my answer and went upstairs while I went into the kitchen and opened the freezer door.
"Hello Zach," She smiled to me warmly, "Are you going to stay for dinner?"
"I don't know Mrs. Dae," I told her, "I have to check in with mom and I'll see what she thinks."
"Alright."
I put some ice in a plastic bag and ran it upstairs to Josh. He sat cross-legged on his bed. I hopped on with him and we kissed quickly before I gave him the ice. There was a red tinge to the skin around his eye. I sat cross-legged in front of him. If he put the ice on now it wouldn't be black tomorrow. Josh and I sat in silence. He had the ice to his cheek and I watched him. I could see his cheek's becomeing more red, and I saw him becomeing more relieved, ten minutes later, when the pain was numbed.
"Thanks, Zach." He mumbled to me.
"No problem," I replied.
"Why does Mel hate me so much?"
"I don't know. Maybe she's scared of you."
"Scared of me? She was the one that was going to turn me into lunch meat."
"Well, think about it. She was my best friend. We were totally inseparably, but then,
you came along and caught me. Mel sits in the corner watching us be wrapped up in our
own world. Which, I have to admit, isn't really all that big right now. But she see
me, the person she used to have; and then see you- the boy that took me away from
her."
"That does make a lot of sense."
"It hit me right before she hit you." That was a bad pun if there ever was one.
Josh winced, "That was lame."
"Yeah, I know."
Josh and I stared at each other in silence. I felt that he was waiting for me to say or do something, but I was waiting for him to do something. Suddenly, I started to become mindful of everything around me, like time stood still, I saw the ice slowly melting inside the bag; Josh's brown eyes- slightly glazed; the paintings on the wall; the pictures on the dresser; his mom fumbling with pots and pans in the kitchen downstairs. He touched my knee with his hand. The feeling startled me. I placed my hand on top of his and gave it a gentle squeeze.
He slowly climbed atop of me and nuzzled my neck, the ice was discarded between us. His hair was light on my neck, I could smell his shampoo- floral scent, his arms were around my back, his weight was on mine . . . It wasn't a sexual embrace, but it wasn't completely platonic either. I bit his ear softly, telling him that I was in a playful mood. Josh looked up into my eyes and kissed me. I let my lips part and his tongue slid in. I savored the taste, the feel, the sound of his breathing and the smacking we made whenever our lips parted a fraction of a centimeter.
"I love you." He said between smacks.
"I love you too." I said back.
His lips were on mine again and we stayed that way for a long time. The grey light
coming in through the windows and the vivid colors of everything around me felt likea nicotine rush. The brown in Josh's eyes came out more. The skipper in the G. Dae painting screamed louder at me. The trees outside the window grew more leaves and whirled around me. My sensory perception overloaded and I had to break away from our kiss.
"What's wrong?" Josh asked. The light from the lamp exploded in a spectrum of borken rainbows around his figure.
"Nothing," I told him, "Everything's right."
I nuzzled him, feeling the warmth of his body. His heart was beating as fast as a war drum, it beat in time with mine. The light in the room glared at me and I had to close my eyes for a little bit.
It was dark when I woke up. Not just dark, it was pitch black. I was suddenly barefoot and the ground was damp. My orientation was off and I stumbled when I got to my feet. The air smelled of redwoods after a rainstorm. There were no sounds around me.
Then there was a bright light in my face.
"Here he is!" A familiar voice shouted.
"Are you okay?" A voice asked next to my ear.
The light faded and I closed my eyes again.
When I woke up I was in familiar room, though I don't remember being there. The walls and floors were cement, the ceiling an ugly green. I was dressed now in urban camouflage and a red armband. A table appeared at one end of the room, where Infantry were behinid it wearing forest camouflage. Another table appeared with Infantry wearing Navy camouflage. Mel appeared in front of me wearing forest camouflage, I felt Josh behind me probabaly wearing Navy camouflage to go along with his side. Jack was in the middle of the room, along the wall, in a black special forces uniform. Josh and Mel were screaming at me.
"Sir," Mel said roughly to me, "Come with me, sir. You can't trust him. He is responsible for leaving you in the woods to die."
"Sir," Josh said roughly to me, "Come with me sir. You can't trust her. She is responsible for leaving you in the woods to die."
Mel looked angered by what Josh had said and yelled through me, "I have proven myself to the Colonel! You have lost all of your allies and proven you are fit to clean toilets!"
"You have sabotaged the peace talks and destroyed all hopes of peace between our countries!" Josh spat back.
Mel pushed me away and charged Josh with her knife. Josh stepped back and kicked Mel hard in the stomach. She took a step back and Josh pulled out mace, he sprayed Mel directly in the eyes. Mel screamed in pain and clawed at her eyes, but she was still able to punch Josh in the stomach. He coughed out his breath and curled around Mel's fist in pain. She was fuming now. Another step back and she crushed Josh's jaw with her foot. I rushed in to protect Josh, but before I could catch her punch, all of the other people disappeared and it was just Jack and Me.
"Do you know who you trust?" Jack asked me.
"Of course I know who I trust!" I looked at him, why is he asking me this?
He smiled and stepped forward, "Then who do you trust?"
I really didn't know who to trust. Josh has given me lots of reasons not to trust him, but lately Mel has been making me doubt whether or not I could trust her. Mel did those things to help me and Josh did those things to help himself. But Josh was okay now. I knew he was. Mel just has to realize that I am going to pick Josh's side for now, I was going to catch her punch after all. Jack smiled again and everyone was back in their places.
Mel's fist was coming fast. I reached out to catch it and I felt a sharp pain in my back. I reached back but remembered that mel's fist was still coming, I was goign to block it but. It crashed into my neck, crushing something in my throat. I couldn't breath, I tried to call out to the infantry to help me, but I couldn't speak. The infantry on both sides readied their arms. I felt behind me, under my second rib, and felt something coming out of it. It was hard to pull out, I couldn't get my grip. Mel realized what had happened and stepped back, horrified at what she'd done. I looked at the thing that was in my hands, covered in blood. It was a folding knife, from Josh. The blade smiled at me and I felt faint. I turned around and looked to Josh. He was smiling and took out another blade, piercing it through my stomach. The force he used to put the knife made me cough. A chunk of something red and soft splattered on the floor. I was dying. Mel had crushed my jugular and Josh had not only stabbed me in the back, but also in my stomach.
My body fell forward towards Josh and he stepped away from me, letting my fall to the floor.
"Open fire!" I heard Mel scream as both sides flipped their tables over and shot at each other.
The infantry were shooting each other while Mel and Josh stared each other down. Both had their handguns out. I watched from the ground as the infantry fell and their blood trickled around me and mixed with mine. Mel and Josh took up arms from either side of the room, and took aim. There was a glint in Josh's eye before Mel pulled the trigger. She side-stepped and I saw Jack behind her pull the trigger. It was too late; Josh fell fast, he had been shot in the leg, he dropped his gun from the pain. Mel took aim and shot Jack in the chest. She rushed to my body and tried to open my eyes. I felt cold and knew I was already gone.
After taking my pulse, Mel's face contorted. "You bastard!" She screamed and stood up and fired all of her remaining rounds into Josh's body. The first one from her was the last one he remembered. Mel walked out of the room.
I opened my eyes with a start, wondering where I was. Then I saw Josh next me on the bed. Only a dream, I thought as I closed my eyes.
"Welcome back," Josh said when I opened them again. I looked at the clock and it was already 5:00 o'clock. Oh shit. "Thought you'd almost died."
"No, it's just that, that was really cool and I was already really worn out from that shit with Mel and I got relaxed and . . ." I took a deep breath, "Sorry?"
"Just warn me the next time you decide to take a two hour nap." He smiled inwardly to himself. "That was starting to freak me out, dude."
Josh's cheek was yellow now. It wouldn't be that bad. But there would be a bruise. I kissed his cheek and his smiled started to fade as I sat up on the bed.
"What's wrong?" Josh asked me.
"Oh, nothing," I lied. "I just remembered that Jack and I had something to do tonight."
"Oh?"
"Yeah, we were gonna head out to Zamboni's Pizza for dinner."
"Oh cool. I'll come too. Who knows what might happen."
Is he trying to say something about my friends? "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Oh," he tried to play it off as nothing big, "You know, with Mel running around and Jack . . . Anything could happen."
I smiled bitter-sweetly, "Thanks Josh, but I think I can handle myself. I've bailed you out from under Mel's fist a few times now."
"You mean, I can't come?" He looked sad and I remembered the knife smiling at me.
"Nope, sorry. But, it's 5:00, so I should get on my way if I want to be ready in time."
"What time are you two going?"
"5:30"
"It's only 5:00, you can stay a little longer?"
I could feel a bead of sweat beginning to form on my forehead. Just let me go! "No, I can't I have to go."
I kissed Josh quickly and went out the door.
"So, can you stay for dinner, Zach?" Mrs. Dae asked while I was walking through the living room.
"Nope," I lied, "There's a family thing tonight."
"Oh, okay. See you later." She smiled and I was out the door.
I started my car as fast as I could and pulled out without burning rubber. But I hit 80 on "Spooky Lane". The sky was starting to get dark and I saw fog out in the distance adding a dull grey color among the pinks and oranges. My mom yelled hi from her room when I got home. I needed to tell this dream to someone. There was nothing happening tonight, except that Josh expects I won't be home because I am supposed to be at the pizza parlor with Jack. But what happens if Josh goes there and sees that I am not there at all? Maybe I should call Jack and see what his plans are.
"Hello?" Jack's dad picked up.
"Uh, hey," I said, "May I speak to Jack?"
Gotta remember the manners.
"Hold on . . ." His hand covered the mic, "Jack! Get over here, your friend's on the phone!"
The phone rattled, "Hello?"
"Hey, this is Zach." I spoke into the phone.
"Oh," he replied, "Hey Zach. What's up?"
"I got back from Josh's and I just wanted to know if you want to go over to Zamboni's?"
"Yeah-"
I cut him off, "You haven't already eaten?"
"No." He sounded excited to hear my offer, "Ummm . . . I'll met you at Zamboni's A.S.A.P. Okay?"
"Sure."
The other end clicked off.
I changed clothes and then hopped in my car to go to Zamboni's. I sat for a few minutes waiting for Jack to come. He came 10 minutes after I did.
"Hey, Jack, what's up?" I greeted him.
"Not much, did you order anything yet?" He asked me.
"Nope, I was waiting for you."
"Alright . . ." He signaled one of the waitresses to take our order. "Wanna split?"
"Always," I agreed, "What size? Medium?"
"Yep."
The waitress was now at our table. "So what do you two want?"
Josh ordered for us, "A medium pizza, half pepperoni and half pineapple and pepperoni."
The waitress gave us a funny look. "Anything to drink?"
"I'll have a Dr. P." I said.
"Same."
"Alright, that'll be about 20 minutes, I'll get your drinks." She walked over to the fountain and poured our drinks and came back. We smiled at her and she left.
"So how's Josh?" Jack asked.
"He's fine, just has a black eye." I told him, "Mel was fucked up to do that."
"Yeah," Jack agreed, "Totally!"
My thought about Jack being a decoy came back to me. But he would tell me about something like that afterwards. Or before on the phone when I called him. Or even before all of this shit went down. He would tell me.
"Jack, I am going to be straight forward with you. This has been nagging me all day." I told him.
"Okay . . ." Jack said, not knowing what to expect.
"Were you a decoy for me when Mel went after Josh?"
"What? No. No! Why?"
"It just seemed funny that you asked me to hang out with you during the time that Mel was beating up Josh."
"Man, I wouldn't do anything like that."
"Alright."
We were silent for a few minutes , waiting for the Pizza. Jack looked upset, but he didn't look angry. I listened to the sounds of everyone around me. There were 23 people in the 85 fire marshaled capacity room. I saw a few people from school that I knew. The jukebox played one of my mom's favorites, and mine too. "T.B. Sheets" by Van Morrison. Jack stirred in his seat, he was focusing on me more than anything. The pizza came from a different waitress this time. She seemed to sense the air around us and became uneasy.
"Pay at the register." The waitress said.
"Alright," Jack's voice cracked.
We picked up our slices and ate in silence. Alright, maybe he is pissed, I thought.
"Why the-" Jack said and stopped. He took another bite of pizza.
"Did you-" He said again.
I ate another slice and waited for him to either finish that slice or to talk again. Slowly, we munched on the pizza and drank some Dr. P., he looked at me.
"Why the fuck did you think I would be a decoy? Why the fuck did you think I would agree to something like that?!" He said quietly.
"It just crossed my mind at the time. I just got really suspicious you know." I tried to explain, "I thought, 'Wouldn't it be interesting if Jack was a decoy.' And then I thought more about it and it began to make more sense."
"Well I wasn't a decoy, okay!" The final word.
We continued to eat in silence. He was looking at me all of the time; making an effort to maintain eye contact. It was starting to creep me out.
"Jack, I had a dream about all of this." I told him.
"Huh," He didn't make the connection.
"I had a dream about everything that^Òs been happening. All of this with Mel and Josh, and everyone else."
"When?"
"Right before I left Josh's."
"What happened?"
I told Jack exactly what happened in the dream. Mel went for Josh, I was going to catch her fist, Josh stabbed me in the back, infantry killing each other, Mel and Josh have a showdown but Jack is going to shoot Mel, she gets out of the way and Jack shoots Josh, Mel shoots Jack, then Josh, and leaves.
"That's some deep shit, man." Jack said after I had told him.
"I know," I agreed. "But I have no idea what to make of it. I get everyone else's part, but not yours . . ."
"Don't ask me, man, it's your dream."
"Yeah . . ."
We finished off our pizza and headed out into the parking lot. It was dark now.
"Hey, Jack, you want a ride?" I asked him.
"Sure." He picked up his bike and I set up the bike rack for him.
We rolled over to his house and I let him off.
"Thanks, Z." Jack said to me.
"No problem, Jack." I said back.
My nickname when I am around Jack is "Z". Obviously it's because our names sound so much alike. Zach and Jack, that would be hell with friends if someone said "Zach" and we both answered!
On the homefront . . .
"Josh called." Mom said from the dinner table when I got in the door.
"Thanks, mom." I said.
"Your father is coming home in three days. He just finished up his work with the Labardt Estate."
Cool, dads coming home. "Alright."
I went upstairs and went to sleep again. Josh had weirded me out. I need to think, I need to rest.
---------------------- More soon. Stay tuned. And I just wanted to thank everyone who stays here. Writing is harder than you think. . . Yeah. So everyone check out my website (http://th380y.net) and sign my guestbook. Keep reading and have fun!!!