Facing Nana's Wrath
There is nothing fiercer than a parent protecting their young.
Car Crusher as Murder Weapon-Notes from the website 'How Things Work,' .
It's something everyone ponders, if only for a moment, when they see a car crusher in action: what would happen if a person were actually in the car when it was crushed? That horrific thought has lead to the car crusher used as a murder weapon, means of body disposal or a simple yet effective threat in countless films and crime novels. The James Bond movie "Goldfinger" and the remake of "Gone in 60 Seconds" are just two examples. But has it ever really happened?
In the annals of crime history, it's likely that someone, somewhere was murdered by being put through a car crusher. The fact is, especially in the case of a baler crusher, a crushed body is pretty hard to find. In one case, a scrap yard owner in Wellingborough, England put the body of a man he had shot to death through a car crusher, and the remains were never found [Source: BBC]. Perhaps many more people have met their end in a car crusher than crime records indicate because the perpetrators were never caught.
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Wu's Garden had a new neighbor. Marcus was a nice little boy. Soon after his 5th birthday he and his mother, Marci moved into the apartment over the store next to Wu's Garden. Marcus started school and rode the school bus everyday because his mother worked. Sue babysat for his mom several times when she was late getting home.
Sue felt sorry for them. It was just the two of them and Marci seemed so stressed most of the time. Marci hated leaving Marcus alone, but thought she had little choice because she hadn't found a job with flexible hours yet. When Sue babysat, sometimes they stayed at his apartment and watched TV and drew pictures. Other times, Marcus seemed to enjoy coming over to help load the sterilizer and put fortune cookies in all the orders for Barney.
Friday evening, Marcus's mom burst into Wu's sounding frantic. "Have you seen Marcus? He didn't come home from school! I got home from work and sat down on the couch to wait for him. I guess I went to sleep. I just woke up and he still isn't home-he should have been home hours ago!"
Nana and Sue got up out of the booth where they were sitting and went to her. They told her that they had not seen him. Sue said she would look for Marcus and call Sid and Tobey to tell them to help look while they were out. Tobey and Sid were already making deliveries. The boys barely got to Wu's after school, and they had to leave again. It had been a busy evening.
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…and it was a chilly evening in Chinatown. Sid stood by his bike at the curb. He pocketed the payment for this last delivered order and straightened his shirt. Mr. Wu will be pleased when I had him this wad of money! He thought. Sue, Sid and Tobey had been busy all evening. Wu's garden was having a great night! He put his leg over his bike and pushed off to head back. He stopped right away as his phone rang. It was Sue.
"Sid! Marcus is missing! Tobey is already out looking and I am on my way. Can you cover the area from Garden Street back to Wu's?"
"Sure Sue, I will call you if I find him, you do the same ok? It will be dark soon and it is already cold. Marci must be scared!"
"Ya Sid, she is. Marci is with Nana at Wu's. The police are looking too."
"Ok Sue, I will check in soon."
Sid put his phone away and pushed off again. He turned away from Wu's and went back toward Marcus's School. He had gone three blocks and turned a corner, when he saw a little boy standing on the sidewalk. He could hear him crying as he got closer and crossed the street to go up to him. Through a teary, wet face he recognized Marcus.
"Marcus! What happened? How did you get way over here?"
Marcus sniffled, "I got off the bus at the wrong stop! M-My friends said if I got off with them, I could play with them, and they would take me home. The bus left and my friends ran away laughing."
"Oh man, it sounds like you need some new friends." Sid patted him on the back reassuringly. "Come on, I'll take you home!"
Sid gave Marcus his bike helmet and helped him up on his yellow bike. Sid's helmet was huge on Marcus and he kept pushing it up off his eyes. Sid called Nana to tell her he would be bringing Marcus home with him. He sat Marcus on the seat, and Marcus held onto his belt while he pedaled.
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"Wonderful Sid! I will go tell Marci right away. She is frantic! Sue and Tobey are out looking too, I will call them and let them know you found him. We will all meet back here." Nana told Marci, and called Sue and Tobey to tell them the good news.
"How about if I buy you an ice cream on the way home?" Marcus agreed happily as Sid turned carefully out into traffic on a busier street. Sid pedaled slowly and carefully so Marcus had no trouble hanging on. He squealed and laughed a lot. Sid crossed with the light from the side street on to the even busier Drumm Street. He heard a truck engine with loudly squeaking belts behind him as he turned onto another side street that made the route shorter back to Wu's.
"How are you doing Marcus? Are you having fun?"
"Sure am, can you take me riding again tomorrow?"
"Sure Marcus, maybe we could take a little ride in between my deliveries. I bet Sue and Tobey…"
Sid was interrupted by the sound of the same loud, squeaky engine being gunned again. The red pick-up truck had turned in the same direction Sid had. The belts squealed loudly as the driver pushed the pick-up faster for no reason, and Sid glanced over his shoulder. He would have pedaled faster and harder but Marcus was holding on to his belt. Sid was afraid Marcus would fall if he moved to quickly.
In this part of Chinatown there were no sidewalks, the street had dirt on both sides with driveways going to the different manufacturing businesses here. Dumpsters and garbage cans lined the street on both sides. Sid thought there would be plenty of room for the truck driver to pass him here, so he went off the edge of the pavement and onto the dirt. Marcus squealed with joy bouncing as Sid pedaled as quickly as he dared over the uneven surfaces.
Sid heard the pick-up hit the garbage cans that he had just passed, and in the next instant, he felt his bike jerk as his rear tire was smashed by the front of the truck! The bike popped up and Sid and Marcus flew into the air. Marcus went to the right side away from the street and Sid went up, his arm and shoulder bounced off the left side of the windshield and the force flung his body out into the street. Sid's bike went under the truck.
Marcus fortunately had Sid's helmet on, and was propelled into bushes alongside the road. The branches scratched some of the enamel off the helmet. Marcus is unhurt, but very shook up. He pushed the helmet up off of his eyes and looked around for Sid.
Sid really could have used his helmet. He was lying on his stomach out in the middle of the street with his face in a pool of blood from his head. He had one arm up over his head and the other out straight. Marcus cautiously started to walk to Sid, but saw the blood and stopped, afraid to get closer. He had never seen blood before and it really scared him that Sid was not moving at all.
"Sid?" Marcus said in a tiny voice, and then he heard the truck's engine again. Marcus looked down the street and saw the pick-up truck turning around and coming back toward them.
Marcus ran back to the bushes and hid. He started to cry softly as he watched the pick-up come back and covered his eyes when he thought it was going to run over Sid. He peeked between his fingers and saw that the pick-up had stopped right next to where Sid was sprawled on the asphalt.
The driver got out, looked at Sid and put his hands to his head. He frantically looked around. Seeing no witnesses he thought he was home free. He was too drunk to remember that there was another smaller boy on the bike too. He was already on parole and was driving on a suspended license. He had been arrested for drunk driving twice before. Perhaps the moron thought he was getting good at it.
In his drunken, stupid state it made sense to him to try to hide what he did. Instead of getting help for Sid, and only concerned for himself, he decided he would get rid of the evidence. Sid was evidence.
Sid was thrown into the bed of the truck up next to the cab and he landed on his back. The wound over his left eye continued to bleed into his hair. The rest of the truck was loaded with junk. Sid had landed in a narrow space that opened up when the junk slid to the back of the bed as the drunk driver accelerated around the corner. He covered Sid up with a ragged tarp. The driver went and got Sid's yellow bike to get it off the side of the road. He carried it across the street and threw it. It landed partially hidden by a dumpster.
It would have been better for Sid if the driver had just left, at least someone else would have found him or Marcus could have found help for him. Marcus was too terrified to move as he watched the whole thing. He stayed as still as if he was frozen except for the tears that ran down his face.
The drunken man got back in the truck and pulled away. He made a u-turn and headed out of Chinatown. Marcus stayed in the bushes sniffling and crying. He thought he would never see Sid again.
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Sue and Tobey sat with Nana and Marci in a booth while they waited for Sid to come home with Marcus. Nana had just brought everyone a refill for their jasmine tea and sat back down with them.
"How long has it been? Seems like he would'a been here by now." Sue asked. Marci looked at Nana.
"I am sure Sid will be here any minute, can I get anyone some crab puffs?" everyone declined Nana's offer. Marci got up and started pacing.
Sue was starting to get a bad feeling. Sid wouldn't answer his phone and that was not like him. He knew they were expecting him right home with Marcus. She checked his GPS and it still showed him out on Industrial Avenue, and it showed that he was stopped. Why wasn't he moving? Maybe his bike broke down, but if that was it, why didn't he call or answer his phone? Sue had way more questions than answers swirling around in her head and couldn't sit still anymore.
"Get up Tobey! Nana, Tobey and I are going to get Sid. They probably just stopped for ice cream or something. Sid might not know how worried Marci is about Marcus."
"Alright Sue. Keep your phone and GPS on." Nana instructed. "We will stay here and wait for your call."
"It won't take long." Then to Tobey she said "Let's ride!"
Tobey and Sue hit the street pedaling while standing up to get there as fast as they could.
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It was dark now and Marcus was really scared. It seemed like he had sat in the bushes for a really long time. He had his little gloved hands over his eyes and didn't see Tobey and Sue coming towards him. Even Tobey was being unusually quiet. He was worried about Sid and Marcus too. A half second after they went by, a guard dog hit the fence across the street from Marcus and behind a dumpster. It scared him and Sue. He buried his head in his hands tighter, and Sue gasped and looked back at the dog. The dog and Sid's bright yellow bike were behind the dumpster.
"Oh No! Sid!" she said quietly and stopped pedaling. She turned and glided back to it. She jumped off her bike with Tobey right behind her and pulled Sid's bike out into the light from the street light. Sid's bike was smashed. There was not one piece of metal on it that was not bent and one of the wheels was completely off. The dog stood at the fence and barked at them for a moment and then just watched them.
"No! SID!" she screamed and then Tobey called "Sid-Marcus!" Marcus heard them and recognized their voices. He looked up. He was so relieved he came out from behind the bushes and ran across the street to Tobey. He called, "Tobey" as he ran.
Tobey heard Marcus call to him and turned just in time to see a car fly around the corner, and Marcus was right in its path.
"Marcus!" Sue screamed, Tobey was already on it. He dove in front of the car and wrapped his arms around Marcus. He hugged him close and rolled. He landed on his shoulder on the side of the road. The car went on not seeing either of the kids. Sue ran over and Tobey was lying on his back with Marcus on his chest.
"Get him off me would ya?" Marcus was crying and very tired after the long scary day he had. Sue picked Marcus up off Tobey. Since Marcus appeared wearing Sid's bike helmet, Sue looked around for Sid expecting to see him walking up to them. But there was no one else on the street.
"Tobey, are you ok?" Sue asked as she offered her hand to help him up.
"Ya Sue" and he took her hand and sat up, "Is Marcus ok?"
"I think so. He is just very scared." They went back across the street to the bikes with Sue carrying Marcus.
"We need to call Nana." Sue stated.
Tobey took out his phone to call her, "Nana! We found Marcus, he is ok. But we can't find Sid and we found his bike all smashed up!" Nana said she would be right there with Marci.
Sue sat down on the ground with a crying Marcus in her lap. "Marcus, what happened to Sid?" Marcus was crying so hard he couldn't speak. Sue undid the strap and took Sid's helmet off of him. Tobey joined them sitting on the ground and said Marci and Nana were on their way.
"Sid wasn't moving anymore." Marcus forced out between sobbing breaths. It was all he had said!
Sue's heart jumped into her throat. "Why wasn't Sid moving?"
"He hurt his head when the truck hit us. He was over there!" Marcus pointed in the street. Tobey walked over to where he pointed, looked around and found a pool of blood.
Oh no! He thought. Tobey got tears in his eyes. "Marcus, where did he go, what happened to him after he got hurt?
"The man came back and put him in the t-truck with a bunch of other stuff. He covered Sid up and drove off that way." Marcus pointed.
Tobey came back over and asked, "Marcus, what color was the truck?"
"It was red."
Tobey checked to see if he could see Sid moving on his phone's GPS and he did! Sid's dot showed him moving farther into the industrial area and out of Chinatown. Tobey showed Sue and as soon as Nana got there, they planned to go after him.
Just then Marci and Nana came around the corner. Marci pulled up on the wrong side of the road to stop close to where they were sitting on the ground. Marcus squealed when he saw his mother and ran to her. Sue and Tobey told Nana they still had him on the GPS and were going after him. Nana said she would go back to Wu's with Marci and Marcus and then join them in the search for Sid. She had to pick up a few things.
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The drunk driver continued to drink beer while he drove. He didn't remember where he was driving exactly, or that he had Sid in the back of his truck. He drove in circles for a while but eventually drove off into a ditch.
On impact Sid slammed into the front of the bed of the truck, and the junk in the bed of the truck slid into him and fell over on top of him. He was still unconscious and hidden under the tarp and now being crushed by junk. The drunk got out and wandered down the middle of the street, leaving Sid lying hidden in the back of the truck.
A tow truck driver happened by soon after, and saw the unattended truck sitting with a mashed front end in a ditch by the road. He took a brief look for anything valuable in the bed, and didn't see anything he fancied. He didn't see Sid either, the most valuable thing. The driver decided to do a public service and towed it to the junkyard with Sid still unconscious and hidden in the back. Whoever owned the truck would have to pay him to get it back he thought.
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The GPS on Sid's phone said he had stopped for a few minutes, and then took off again, coming back toward where Sue and Tobey had been trying to catch up. Soon it showed Sid had stopped again at the junkyard only another block away. It was dark and there were few streetlights when Sue and Tobey got there.
This junkyard was mostly car and truck parts and they had a crushing operation. They found a hole in the fence and pried it open farther so they could slip in. They split up to search faster. Tobey headed for the back of the lot, and Sue headed to the front. There were more lights ahead and something that looked like an office. Sue hoped if a red pickup had gotten there recently it would be somewhere near the office.
The first thing Tobey found was six junkyard dogs. They rounded the corner ahead running straight for him and snarling. Tobey ran for his life and jumped up on a pile of flattened cars. He spoke sweetly to them trying to get them to love him, but they had made up their minds to only love him while they were eating him. They jumped on the sides of the stack and made it shake. Tobey looked like he was skateboarding as he kept his balance.
When the stack stopped swaying and Tobey couldn't hear the snarling anymore, he thought the dogs had lost interest in him. "Nice doggies!" he whispered and looked over the edge causing them to leap at him again. Tobey jumped to the next stack of flattened cars and then onto the cab of an old delivery truck.
One of the dogs jumped up on the hood and nearly got him as he jumped up from the cab to the roof over the cargo area. Fortunately the dog didn't make it up to the roof. There was a spoiler on the cab that the dog couldn't get his toenails in.
Tobey looked down at the roof of the truck he was standing on and had an idea. There was a large hole in the roof near the middle. He ran to it and dropped down through the hole. Tobey landed inside the empty truck and went to the back. He opened the rolling door from the inside using his fingertips in the cracks.
As he ran back to the center, under the hole he called the dogs. "Come on puppies, nice fresh Tobey meat here!"
The dog that had been waiting for him on the hood of the truck jumped down and joined the others as they ran around looking for him. The dogs met at the back of the truck and put their front feet up on the deck.
Tobey was inside shaking his rump at them. "Prime grade meat up here going to waste!" he hollered and slapped his butt looking back over his shoulder at them. All at once, the six dogs jumped up in the truck after him, he jumped up and grabbed onto the edge of the hole. One of the dogs grabbed his leg and snarled loudly as it shook its head back and forth, excited to have caught his diner.
Tobey yelled at the dog and hit it on the nose with his other foot. The dog didn't let go, but his pants leg ripped, dropping the doggie back down in the truck with a mouthful of Tobey's pants. Tobey kicked his legs up on the opposite edge of the hole and rolled up and out. He ran to the back edge of the truck over the door and jumped down. As he fell past the raised door he grabbed the rope handle and brought the door down with him.
He heard the dog's toenails skittering around on the smooth flooring inside the truck as they were coming at him. Tobey got the door down just in time to hear them run into it from the other side. His heart was pounding and his hands were shaking. He sat down on the ground and looked at the blood soaking his sock. The dog's teeth had torn his skin in four places just above his ankle. Tobey pulled his sock back up and thought for a moment he might faint, but he shrugged it off, determined to find Sid first.
Tobey thought quickly that he would remember to come back and let the dogs out as soon as they found Sid. He jogged down between the rows and stacks of wrecked vehicles, looking for a red truck.
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Sue had more luck than Tobey at least at first. She found a red pickup with junk in the back and a smashed front end. She climbed up on the side. There was very little room in the bed of the truck around and in between the junk. Part of a bed frame, a broken easy chair, an ice chest with a missing lid, and an old dishwasher and other assorted crap was all piled up on a tarp. She thought it strange that the tarp was on the bottom instead of covering the load.
She stepped up on the tire and swung her leg inside the truck. She sat on the side and reached down for the tarp and pulled it up to reveal Sid's shoe. "SID!" Sue screamed his name and grabbed the side of the dishwasher, and rolled it back off of him. Before she could uncover him anymore she felt something grab the leg she had hanging out of the truck. She screamed as she was pulled off the truck.
Sue landed on the ground with her attacker holding onto her foot. She was relieved at first that it was a human that had grabbed her. She had heard the dogs barking and thought one of them had found her. She opened her mouth to speak to the man holding her leg, but he was already yelling at her.
"What are you doing messing around here? Are you trying to steal my stuff?" he had a gruff smoker's voice and leathery yellow wrinkled skin from years of tobacco intake. He wore filthy torn clothing in layers and he put his face right down in hers, like he had trouble seeing her. He had a name patch sewn on his faded jacket that said 'Tom'. Sue tried to hold her breath while his face was so close to hers, since his bad breath alone could have killed her.
"No! Tom, my brother is hurt and he is in the back of that truck."
"Well serves him right for trying to steal my stuff."
"No-you don't understand! We were not stealing anything- I am only trying to help him!"
"Ya… help him steal my stuff!"
He raised his fist to punch Sue while she was down. She rolled and twisted her foot out of his grip. But instead of finishing him off, she ran for the back of the truck to Sid. As she climbed up on the truck, the disturbed man grabbed her again and threw her into a pile of old car parts. Her back hit a sharp metal edge on an axle and she landed on her stomach gasping for breath with a long rip in her shirt and cut across the skin on her back. A fifth wheel plate fell off the top of the pile among some smaller pieces. The edge of the large metal plate hit the ground next to her and fell over on top of her.
Sue called to Sid, and tried hard to get up, but she was trapped.
Tom, the junk yard resident, satisfied that Sue was not getting away, looked in the bed of the truck himself and saw Sid's shoe. He pulled the tarp up a little more and found his leg. He looked around nervously and ran to the fork lift, climbed up and started it. It fired up with a puff of black smoke and jerked into motion. Tom picked up the truck on the forklift and dropped it in the crusher. He backed the forklift out of the way and shut it down.
Sue moaned when Tom picked her up after rolling the plate to the side. A Styrofoam cooler was crushed as Tom threw Sue in the bed of truck with Sid. Sue became aware of where she was and pulled herself to the front where Sid was still under the tarp and the junk. She became aware of where the truck was when she heard the crusher start and the crusher plate coming down on the truck.
There was still plenty of room for her to jump out right then, but she wouldn't go without Sid. She still had a fraction of an inch before the crusher plate started to mash the broken easy chair on top of Sid. She quickly pulled it back off him. She frantically pulled away the other crap to make enough room to lift him out.
The bed frame made a horrible sound as it scraped on the bottom of the crushing plate and popped apart at the joints. It bent the exceptionally strong angle iron and the mechanism came down another half-foot all at once. Sue covered her head as the plate forced her to her knees. The cab of the truck and the dishwasher were being crushed. Sue covered her head and shut her eyes when the back window shattered right in front of her. The cab had been crushed down enough that it was starting to smash the seats.
Sue screamed for Tobey while she pulled the tarp back and saw her unconscious brother with a bloody face and head. She looked around and the crushing plate was already too low to the sides of the truck bed to get Sid out. The crushing plate was so low now it forced her to her hands and knees. There were only inches before it started to crush the bed. She screamed for Tobey as loudly as she could before she remembered and pulled out her phone to call him.
Tobey answered right away and heard her screaming on the other end as a piece of the bed frame snapped and dug its way into the muscle in the back of her leg. He broke into a run toward the commotion and the engine noises ahead. Soon he was close enough to hear Sue's screams and see Tom at the crusher controls. He surprised Tom and knocked him down. Tobey pushed the button to stop the crusher. Tom tackled Tobey and they rolled away from the controls.
Sue had found Sid's hand and was holding it. She heard the crusher stop and dared to breathe again. When she tried to move again closer to Sid she found the end of the bed frame had stabbed her and was sticking out of the back of her thigh. She tried to move anyway and screamed from the pain it caused.
She shook Sid hoping he would wake up, but he gave no sign that he was even alive. She pushed up with her hands to look out the crack still between the side of the truck and the crusher plate. She could see Tobey wrestling on the ground with Tom.
"Tobey!" She screamed as the man flung him down on the ground and raised his leg to step on his chest. Tobey grabbed his foot and twisted throwing him off balance. As the man fell Tobey jumped up and ran for Sue. Right before he got there the man hit him from behind with a piece of steel. Tobey fell forward to his hands and knees and rolled to the side to avoid another swing of the steel.
Tom reached over and hit the button activating the crusher again. Sue pushed hard with her hands trying to get closer to Sid. The crusher plate continued to push down on the angle iron in her leg and the pain was so intense she screamed hysterically and reached again for Sid's hand.
Sid finally heard her screaming. He opened his eyes to see her terrified face looking at him. He could hear the loud noise the crusher made but didn't know what it was. His adrenaline kicked in and he kicked the tarp and the last small pieces of junk off of himself. As he fought his way out, the space got smaller and Sue struggled to get her leg out from under the angle iron from the bed frame. Sid couldn't get to her.
Sid panicked and tried to reach for her, but the area was already too cramped for him to move around. He pushed under the crusher plate with his body, desperate to stop the twenty-one hundred pound per square inch pressure that was about to crush both of them. Sue reached for his hand again, and he fell back on his side, holding her hand to wait for the end.
Tobey tackled Tom and knocked him away from the controls. He scrambled to his feet and pushed the 'stop' button again.
Tom was enraged, "You are all trying to steal my valuables! I will kill you all!" He jumped at Tobey with a large lug wrench for trucks. Tobey spun to the side and got out of the way. Tom landed by the front of the crusher. Tobey landed in front of the control panel, ready for another attack. He would prevent the madman from starting the crusher up again, no matter what. Tom was getting tired and out of breath and he was wheezing. His many years of smoking were catching up with him.
Tobey took a step toward him, "Give up! Lemmee help my friends!"
"Never, you will never get my stuff!" Tom half ran, and half stumbled toward Tobey. Tobey stepped to the side like he was a bull fighter. Tom stumbled and slid into a post. He had finally knocked himself unconscious.
Tobey ran to crusher and looked in the truck. He could see Sid's legs but Sue was completely hidden by the junk. His heart came up into his throat as he looked back at the controls. To get them out he was going to have to figure out how to raise the crusher plate.
Fortunately the controls were clear, he pulled the lever for 'up' and pushed 'start' and the crusher plate started to go up. A wave of relief washed over him as he ran back to the truck and jumped in.
Sid stirred and said, "Help Sue first." Tobey rolled the overstuffed easy chair and the dishwasher all the way out of the truck. The bed frame had released Sue's leg and fallen out of the truck on the other side, when the crusher plate lifted off of it. It left her leg a bloody mess that made Tobey gasp.
"Sue! Oh NO! Hang on Sue!" Tobey pushed some more junk out of the truck to make more room. Sid sat up to see what had upset Tobey and gasped when he saw her bloody leg and back. He tried to wake Sue up by shaking her shoulder gently. Sid's vision was going blurry and a wave of dizziness threatened to put him flat on his stomach again.
"We are going to need some help to get out of here." Sid said weakly to Tobey. Tobey sat back on the edge of the truck and called Nana. Now Nana didn't answer. Tobey got tears in his eyes as he slid back down to kneel over Sue's legs. He was feeling faint and very sore from being bit by a dog and hit multiple times by different steel objects by Tom. He took off his heavy shirt and balled it up to press it over Sue's wounded leg. He had trouble keeping steady pressure on it. He looked up at Sid, and it looked like he had passed out again.
Tobey blinked and forced himself to stay awake to help Sue. He glanced over to where Tom had fallen. Tom was gone! He looked around and saw Tom going back to the control panel. Tobey closed his eyes an instant and tried to summon the strength just to get out of the truck. He was not looking forward to fighting Tom again. As he dropped out of the truck bed, he found he was so weak he fell to his knees.
Tom was cursing and talking about revenge, but just before he could push the button again, a strong gust of wind blew him away from the control panel. He landed all the way across the drive behind the forklift.
Tobey felt strong, gentle hands on his shoulders. He looked up to find Nana smiling at him.
"Are you alright Tobey?" Nana put her hands under his arms and helped him up.
"Ya, but Sue and Sid aren't, they're in the truck." He pointed at the smashed truck in the crusher. Nana looked at her two kids lying injured in the back of the truck and her eyes glowed red. Sid was taking only shallow breathes, and Sue only seemed partly conscious as she sobbed for Sid and tried to move her injured leg. Tobey pointed at Tom and told Nana he had been trying to crush Sue and Sid.
Nana jumped up in the back of the truck and kneeled next to Sue. She placed her hand on her back and looked over at Sid's bloody head and face. Tobey stood and leaned against the truck for a moment before climbing back in. He bent over Sid and tried to wake him and Nana could see the new bruises showing on his arms, shoulders and cheek from his fight with Tom. Even Tobey's sock was soaked with blood! A breeze kicked up again and Nana's hair fell down around her shoulders. Tobey looked at her and was sure her eyes were brightly glowing with a white hot light.
Tobey blinked some more and decided it must be his exhausted mind seeing things. Nana's loose gray hair continued to swirl around her head and her hair turned white as the strong breeze whipped it around. The wind seemed to be coming from all around them. Blowing sand stung Tobey's face. Tobey stretched out over Sid and shielded Sid's and his own eyes from the blowing dust.
Tobey had his head down and didn't see Nana hold her hand out toward a pile of crushed cars right before they fell upwind to land on Tom. He was completely buried in crushed bundles of steel.
Nana put both of her hands on Sue who was still lying face down. She kept one hand on Sue's back and the other over her wounded leg. Nana's hands and eyes glowed for a moment and Sue moaned and started to move. Sue was able to sit up without feeling pain in her leg. Nana smiled at her.
Tobey peeked at them and was delighted that Sue was sitting up. Sue and Nana traded places. Tobey sat next to Sue and held her hand. They both watched Nana tend to Sid. She rolled him onto his back and placed both hands on Sid's head near his temples. Nana's eyes glowed brightly again, and this time Sue saw it too.
Sid's eyes opened suddenly and glowed just like Nana's for a moment. After the glow dimmed, Nana sat back and leaned against the bed of the truck. She looked tired as she put her hair back into a neat gray bun, using only one hand. Sid sat up and looked at Sue and Tobey and they all looked at Nana. She smiled gently at them and asked, "How do you all feel?"
"What happened Nana? I thought I had a piece of metal in my leg? And we were being crushed." Sue looked utterly confused.
"Sid already suspected what had happened. "Thank-you Nana." was all he said. Nana handed him a handi-wipe from her bag to wipe the blood off his face with. "How do you feel Tobey?"
"I'm hungry." Tobey offered.
Nana smiled at them and gave each of their hands a squeeze. She got out of the bed of the truck and helped each of them jump down. Tobey said he had something to do, and ran off to let the dogs out of the truck. Somehow he knew he didn't have to fear them, with Nana there.
Sid and Sue both said they felt ok and were sure they could ride their bikes home. Sue offered to let him ride with her since he was without his bike, again. He looked sad for a moment when she reminded him of that. Sid looked around, but didn't see how Nana got there. He asked Nana, "How will you get out of here?"
"Do not worry about me, you two find Tobey and get home safely. I will be along shortly. Sid followed Sue back to the hole in the fence where they left their bikes. Tobey was already there and they started for home.
Nana pried the truck door open and looked through the glove box in the red pickup. She found the registration for the truck. She also found a letter from the court telling the owner of the judge's findings when his license was revoked. His picture ID was there too.
Nana's eyes glowed red as she made note of his address. Nana would pay him a visit before going back to Wu's Garden.
"He will never hurt anyone with his foolishness again."
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, was coming from over Nana's head, and the wind and blowing dust started again. Nana jumped high into the air and landed on the back of a beautiful shiny black dragon. The dragon sniffed in the cab of the truck and flew off in the direction of the address in the glove box. The dragon could already smell the alcohol on his prey's breath.
The next day Mr. Wu read them all a headline in the paper about an unidentified man being the first case of 'spontaneous human combustion' in Chinatown in 30 years. On a side note, the owner of a local junkyard was found crushed under a pile of steel. They reported that he might have lived until rescuers got to him, but for his long smoking habit. It made his injuries lethal. The junkyard had been placed up for sale and the yard dogs were taken in by the California Department of Corrections to work at the prison where they would eat really well.
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