"All right," I said. "I'm gonna make this simple. Remember what happened to the last guy who tried this 32-car jump?"
"Sure, I remember it," Bo said. "Sure, I do."
"What you don't know is that there were two others before him," I said. "Now all three of them tried it and all three of them crashed because of some mechanical problem. Oh, yeah. And all three of them had something else in common, too."
"What?" Bo asked.
"Your lady friend," I said quietly.
"Now, Luke, that's an out and out lie," Bo said. "You're doing the lowest thing I've ever heard of!"
Uncle Jesse was going to say something but Daisy stopped him.
"Bo, when has Luke ever lied to you?" Daisy asked.
"Look, I don't wanna hear it," Bo snapped. "I've got a jump to do. And after I make this jump we can talk about this then."
Bo climbed back into the General and headed for the starting point. I wanted to tell him to stop but I didn't. He wouldn't have listened to me anyway. I was about to break down right there in front of everyone because I knew he wasn't going to make it. I just wished he would've believed me.
I listened to the General's engine rev up. Then Bo took off for the ramp. At the speed Bo was going he could make it but not with that broken gas line. The General went up the ramp and went right down on top of the other cars. I heard Daisy gasp as we all saw the General go up in flames. I didn't wait for the car to stop moving before I started running over to it. I was halfway there and already tired but the power of love made me run even faster.
I ran to Bo's side of the car and found him out cold. I got him unbuckled and I got him out of the car. I dragged him away from the car and lay him down on the pavement. I took his helmet off and tried to wake him up.
"Bo, wake up," I said gently patting his cheek. "Please, Bo. Come on, wake up."
When he didn't say anything or move, tears started to form in my eyes. The paramedics came and pushed me out of the way so that they could get Bo into the ambulance. I felt someone put their hand on my shoulder. It was Cooter.
"He's gonna be okay, buddy," Cooter said.
Uncle Jesse and Daisy came by me and we watched the paramedics load Bo into the ambulance.
"Come on, lets go to the hospital," Uncle Jesse said.
"Okay," I mumbled.
We followed the ambulance to the hospital. Daisy drove and I sat in the backseat. All I could think about was Bo. I was so worried about him. I prayed and prayed that he was okay. Why did he do that jump? Why didn't he believe me in the first place?
When we got to the hospital we were told that we had to sit in the waiting room till the doctor came out. Uncle Jesse, and Daisy sat in the middle of the waiting room but I sat in a chair against a wall all by myself. I blamed myself for all of this. I spoke out of turn to him and I said some really mean things about a girl that he really cared for. I now regretted it. Bo was sitting up in the hospital because he did something that I could've prevented if I never spoke out of turn. I didn't talk to him like I did he might have believed me. As each minute went by I kept on wondering if he was okay or not. We were waiting for a long time that I was wondering if something was wrong. I just sat there praying and praying that he would pull through. He's my baby cousin and I couldn't afford to lose him. There was no way I was going to lose him. Not here, not now.
About an hour after we arrived at the hospital the doctor finally came out to tell us about Bo.
"How is he?" Uncle Jesse asked.
"He's gonna be just fine," the doctor said. I breathed a sigh of relief once I heard that. "The whole reason he passed out was because of shock. Other than a couple of bruises, he'll be fine. Although, he should rest and take it easy for a day or two. He seems a little worn out. The nurse is just finishing up with him. When he comes out you can take him home."
Uncle Jesse shook hands with the doctor and we waited for Bo to come out. When he did Daisy and Uncle Jesse hugged him like there was no tomorrow. For some reason I thought he wouldn't want to talk to me so I got up and walked to the door. Bo's voice stopped me before I could get out the door.
"Luke?"
I turned around and looked at Bo. Even thought he was on the other side of the room, I could tell he had tears in his eyes.
Bo took a couple steps toward me. "I'm sorry. I should've listened to you. I let a girl come between you and me, and I once promised myself that I was never gonna let that happen. I'm so sorry."
I instantly walked up to him and hugged him tighter than Uncle Jesse and Daisy did.
"Bo, don't worry about it," I said. "It's okay."
"I'm sorry," Bo cried as he clung to me. "I just don't wanna fight with you anymore."
I pulled away from Bo and looked into his eyes. "Everything's okay now. I'm just glad you're okay."
"Yeah," he mumbled.
"Come on," I said. "Let's go home."
"Wait," Bo said. "Can we stop at the fairgrounds? There's something there that I need to take care of."
I nodded and we all went outside and climbed into Dixie. The agent that was investigating the Carnival of Thrills brought it to the hospital. I knew Uncle Jesse and Daisy wanted to get Bo home but he needed to take care of something.
When we got to the fairgrounds everything was still there. We instantly spotted Cooter by the General. We hopped out of Dixie and walked over to him.
"Hey, Bo, you all right?" Cooter asked.
Bo nodded. "Yeah."
"Cooter, what're the damages to the General?" I asked.
"Just some body work," Cooter answered. "There was a broken gas line but I already fixed that."
I sighed and looked at Bo. "That was the reason you crashed."
Cooter nodded. "Yeah, I found that out after y'all were headed for the hospital. I was talking with Diane earlier and we found out that Carl did it. Rosco and Enos have him locked up."
Bo sighed and walked up to the General. He looked at it for a few minutes before turning to Cooter.
"Can he run?" Bo asked.
"Yeah," Cooter said. "I only have to fix the dents, bumps, and scrapes. He could probably use a new front bumper too."
Bo immediately climbed through the window. He buckled up and put his helmet on.
"What're you doing?" I asked.
Bo sighed. "I have to do this jump."
"Bo, you just got outta the hospital from trying to make that jump!" I almost yelled.
"Luke, I have to do this," Bo said. "Cooter fixed the part that made me crash so I should be able to make it. I have to prove to myself that I can do this. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity. I'll never be able to do this again. I'll never get this chance again. Please understand that I have to do this."
I suddenly realized that he was right. Since Cooter fixed that gas line Bo should be able to do this. This was an opportunity that he would never get again. But he wasn't going to do this alone.
"I'm gonna be sitting right next to you, Cousin," I said.
Bo smiled. "Let's do this."
I climbed in the passenger window, buckled up, and got my helmet on. Bo put the car in drive and headed for the starting point. Bo hit the gas and we headed right for the ramp. We went right up the ramp and flew over the 32 cars. We landed perfectly on the other side. Bo and I started yelling and shouting with happiness as Bo parked the General. We climbed out of the General as Diane started walking over to us.
"Bo, you're okay," Diane said.
"Yeah, I'm fine," Bo said.
"Listen, I'm sorry about all of this," she said. "But you have to believe me. I never knew what Carl was doing."
"Diane, is it true?" Bo asked. "Did you really date the other three men who crashed?"
Diane nodded. "Yes. But you're different. You're someone special. I really like you, Bo. I want you to believe that."
"Carnival comes first, right?" Bo asked.
"I'm afraid so," Diane said. "I never doubted that you could make that jump."
"I had to prove to myself that I could do it," Bo said.
Diane nodded. "Well, I gotta go and start packing up. I hope to see you again."
"Me too," Bo said. "You take care of yourself."
Diane nodded and walked away. Bo's heart was broken and I could tell. It would take him awhile to get over it but he would make it with help from me, Daisy, and Uncle Jesse.
We went back home and Bo got his victory lunch. Things were going back to normal. Well, as normal as it got on the Duke farm.