CHAPTER 19

She was pouting. It amused Harvey to no end. It was the kind of pout that his little girl used to make and, Idhitri was no little girl any more. It was a fact that she had been reminding him of since the day she turned thirteen. Now that she was half the way too forty, Harvey almost believed her. She was just so damn cute when she put that face on and he had to keep looking from the road to the back seat so he would miss as little of it as possible.

That only got her snapping at him even more, “would you look where you are driving papa! Do you want to kill us on the way to our deaths?”

That got Harvey to laughing and even Shannon, sitting in the front passenger seat, joined in. It was Shannon who turned completely around and looked over seat at Idhitri, “would you lighten up already.”

Idhitri still sneered, “it is bad enough that he has to drag me along but, Shannon, what if your mother finds out about this?”

Shannon smiled wide, “how do you think I got him to bring me?”

Idhitri was horrified, “your mother would never have agreed to this!”

Shannon snickered and bounced her head, “course not but, she doesn’t have to know.”

Harvey began to slow the car as he commented, “which knowing is exactly what would happen if I didn’t bring her. As for you Pookie…”

Idhitri slapped her forehead, “I told you not to call me that in public!”

Harvey ignored her and kept right on, “you wanted a ride so I’m giving you a ride.”

“Not like this!” Idhitri saw the parking lot they were rolling up on. She was not exactly sure how her father knew but, it was exactly the way he said it would be. It was full of gang members that were, judging by the sea of blue and silver, Texans. Idhitri slid down in her seat and gulped.

Shannon did the exact opposite. She reached to the floor board and retrieved a bottle, that had a soaked rag corking it’s top, and then sat up even higher. She looked to Harvey who only nodded as he brought the car to a complete stop next to a pick up truck that was parked by the road. He then handed Shannon a lighter. She rolled down the window and slid halfway out, sitting on the door itself.

With a loud whistle, Shannon drew the attention of a few of the Texans who were at the back of the little crowd. They seemed to be gathered around another pick up truck. The guy in the back of it was handing out guns and whipping them up into a frenzy. When Shannon figured she had enough of them looking she shot them a bird, yelled, “Longhorns SUCK, don’t you know!” Then she tossed the flaming bottle through the window of the pick up truck right beside her.

Harvey was speeding away, almost before Shannon could climb back in. He was laughing, smiling, and proclaiming, “god damn it! This is almost like the old days!” When the fire in the cab of the truck suddenly turned into a sparkling display of secondary explosions, Harvey laughed even more. He wanted to stick around and watch some more but, nostalgic did not mean stupid. He took the first corner, then another, and after a few more twists he pulled into a grocery store parking lot and eased into a handicap parking spot. He took his cane, hobbled back to the trunk, and opened it up where he already had bagged groceries.

Shannon showed up with an empty cart and then began taking groceries out and putting them back in. When they saw a screaming line of trucks and cars that were full of cowboy hats, guns, and giving off the overwhelming aura of blue and silver, they both held their breath for a second. The vehicles flew right by though. They even ran the nearby red light and kept right on going. Shannon smiled at Harvey and they quickly gave each other a high five.

From the back seat of the car, Idhitri meekly asked, “is it safe to come out now?”

They both ignored the girl. Harvey reached in the cargo pocket of his shorts and tossed Shannon a phone, “I’ll let you have first blood, kiddo.”

Shannon hit the first icon on the screen and then waited for the operator before she turned on a panicked voice and screamed, “help me! There’s a fire and I think my Mommy is trapped! Please send help!”

When the call was over Harvey took the phone back and said, “now it’s my turn!” He was having fun. He hit the next Icon on the list and heard the woman that was probably the exact same operator, judging by how flustered she sounded. She was rankled as she answered, “Emergency Response Line, what is your emergency?”

Idhitri was now at least looking out of her open car window even if she still refused to open the door. Her eyes were huge and her mouth was gaping. Shannon snickered and said, “it’s ok. Every icon is programmed with a different address to show up on the ID.”

Idhitri gulped, “you’re crank calling Emergency Services?”

Harvey poked Shannon in the arm and said, “never could teach that child any morals.” He heard the next operator and then screamed, “HELP! I’m on fire and I can’t put it out!” He hung up.

Shannon became eager to make the next call and she snatched for the phone. Harvey held it back from her and said, “work first girl. Don’t you have your own call to make?”

“Oh yeah!” Shannon ran back to the open passenger door and got her own phone. She found the number in her library and then dialed it. When she began talking she sounded pathetic and even developed the face to go with it, “Cannon! Oh thank god! I didn’t know who to call! Mom left me at the station. Everybody’s gone and I don’t know what to do!”

Ithitri’s eyes got even bigger when she figured out who Shannon was talking too, “Cannon Trucks? You called…” Shannon slapped her hand over the girls mouth.

On the other end of the call, Cannon waived off the barrage of demands from his underlings. He cupped his hand over the phone and snapped at them, “shut the hell up! I think I just solved our problem!” Cannon went back to sympathetic, “I’m sure your Mom is safe sweetie. I’ve known her a long time and, besides, she’s probably just going over to the palace.”

Shannon sounded like a winning and spoiled little brat. Cannon could almost hear the tears she was making when she told him, “no they’re not! They left me alone! Please come and get me Cannon. I don’t want to be alone!”

Cannon gave his people a thumbs up and then asked Shannon, “they? Nobody else is at the station?”

“I didn’t know who else to call,” Shannon cried in terror. “I’m scared to be alone now. These men want to kill me and…”

“Shannon,” said Trucks in a firm tone. He had to repeat himself before she stopped rattling on. Then he managed to get out, “tell you what I can do, if you can be a big girl for me….”

Shannon’s eyes rolled back in her head and she mouthed off too Idhitri, “he thinks I’m still eight!” She missed part of what he was saying so she cried into the phone, “I’m sorry I’m crying so hard. What did you say?”

“I’ll talk to your Mom for you Shannon,” he was getting frustrated now. “Where did she go?”

There was no way Shannon could just give him anything and she knew it. She started panting into the phone like she was crying. Idhitri watched the over the top performance and slapped her forehead. She then mouthed off, “too thick!”

After flashing Idhitri a hostile set of eyes, Shannon asked into the phone, “why can’t you just come get me and call her. In fact… I think I had better call…”

Cannon started back pedaling, “no Shannon! Don’t do that! I mean.. Um… I…”

Shannon winked at Idhitri and then gave her a thumbs up, “you’ll really talk to her for me?”

“Yes,” Cannon snapped. “I’ll look her right in the eye. Just tell me where to find her.”

After hanging up, Shannon tossed her phone back in the car and then groaned, “what a moron.” Shannon then put her hands on her hips and gave Idhitri a stern look, “how did you ever date that guy?”

Idhitri became self conscious and just shrugged, “I don’t know. He was kind of cute and all. Too bad he turned out to be such a creep.”