Three Delivery: Keeping it real - 1
AKA Dealing with Kong Li and some magic would have been more fun.
By CrystalQuirt
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Eunice could not believe her daddy wanted her to ride in that hideous gray limo instead of her pink one. Her screaming could be heard for a block as she stood outside the theater after the play. She was refusing to get in the gray limo with her driver to return home.
"Daddy needs to fire that mechanic! I can't believe my pink limo is broken! You know, even poopsie doesn't want to be seen in that plain old gray limo."
"Eunice. If you want a ride, you have to get in this one. I suppose you can always walk."
"How dare you! My father would kill you if you made me walk home. Okay – I'll show you!" So, in a fit of temper, Eunice elected to walk home.
Driver tried to catch her and tempt her with some of the finest chocolate he would get for her on the way home, but she ran with her little dog in her arms down an alley. Driver refused to even try to catch her. He knew she would be scared and come running back out. He thought he would just drive around the block a few times.
She stomped angrily after she stopped running. She had stepped in a puddle with her pink genuine alligator shoes. This was all her daddy's fault. How dare daddy send the wrong color limo? She ranted. "I will not be seen getting into anything but my pink one!"
She finally had calmed down enough to look where she was going and realized something important. She had no idea where she was. There was a loading dock behind a thrift store on one side of the ally and a fire escape on the other. Dumpsters were placed along both sides of the alley, near most of the doors and loading bays.
She had run down the alley, but after her little stomping fit, she was lost.
"Where am I?" she wondered. "Driver?" She cried. The little dog squirmed and whined in her arms wanting down. She gently placed him on the ground and patted his head, "Now don't get your paws dirty."
She turned to face where she came from, and was surprised to find three large guys standing in front of her. They moved to surround her.
The little dog was so oblivious; it had not barked at the strangers, but had its full attention on smelling something dead in the corner behind a nearby dumpster. The silly little dog didn't know there were scary strangers nearby threatening its master; or perhaps - it didn't care.
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Sid dropped off the delivery on Drumm Street and was on his way back to Wu's Garden. Mr. Von Yang had become a regular customer and always tipped very well. Sue, who didn't want to go at all before, would now wrestle with Sid or Tobey to see who would get to go. He had wrestled with her and won tonight.
Pedaling hard and fast, he rounded the corner heading for the shortcut back to Wu's Garden and saw little Eunice in the alley ahead. Her clothes were so brightly colored with the ribbons in her hair and all that pink, he couldn't mistake her even from a distance. But who was she with? He wondered.
Sid slowed down and stopped a ways away. They hadn't seen him yet. Eunice squealed and screamed, "Get out of my way at once! My daddy won't like it that you are bothering me!"
"Awe. Why do you think we're bothering you little rich girl?"
Sid took off his helmet and yelled, "Hey! Leave her alone!" He leaped off his bike, springing off the seat and landing in front of it in his tiger defensive position. His bike fell over behind him.
"Eunice! Come over to me," he instructed.
The three turned to face him. One of the three strangers wore a red skullcap with blue hair hanging out from under it. He grabbed Eunice's red hair, ribbons and all to prevent her from going to Sid.
She squealed and squirmed. "Help me! Now! Um . . . Delivery boy!" she never could remember his name.
The one standing closest to him also happened to be the biggest one of the three. Sid charged him and planted a well-aimed kick in his opponent's chest. The Big Boy fell over gasping for air.
Sid jumped up and from a spin, he landed another well-aimed kick alongside the next guy's head. This one had spike earrings, and a nose ring. This guy fell to the ground whimpering and holding his ear where his long spike earring had been bent by Sid's kick.
Sid landed in his defensive position and grinned at the last guy, who was still holding onto Eunice's hair. This was the guy with blue hair and the cap. Big Boy was running away down the alley. Sid could hear him wheezing as he ran. Earring Boy was lying on the ground behind Blue Hair, whimpering about his ear.
"You're friends look like they've given up. Let her go, now!" Sid took a step closer and settled into position, ready for him to attack.
From behind the garbage cans, out came a ferocious ball of fluff with pink ribbons tied to his ears. Eunice squealed, "Poopsie! Get him!"
The little dog latched onto the nearest leg, biting though pants leg and sock, he growled loudly and shook his head back and forth drawing blood . . . Sid's blood! He yelled in surprise, and tried to shake the dog off.
"Get this RAT off me!" he stepped back and lost his footing in an oily puddle. He toppled ungracefully backwards and landed on his butt. The little dog only chewed harder and growled even louder having brought down his prey. As nasty as it was, Sid didn't want to kick the little dog and hurt it.
Blue hair let go of Eunice. He was laughing so hard he needed his hands to hold his sides. Eunice, once out of Blue Hair's grip, ran over and picked up her dog.
An elderly couple came out of a nearby door, arguing about where they were going. They paused for a moment and watched the fracas. The old man giggled at the boy on the ground being taken down by the little dog.
Even with Eunice trying to pick him up, the little dog didn't let go right away. Sid winced and glared at Eunice. Then he looked past her and saw Blue Hair and Earring boy laughing and slapping at each other as they sauntered away to find their friend.
He heard one of them growling and barking, in a bad imitation of the dog and the other one screamed in a girly voice. "Eeek get him off me!"
Blue hair stopped laughing long enough to say "what a joke" and tossed a pink ribbon on the ground before going around the corner. With the old couple there were too many witnesses now to continue tormenting the little girl anyway.
Sid looked at Eunice. "Well, I guess you're OK." Sid got up and brushed his pants off, not really looking forward to seeing his chewed on leg. He never enjoyed seeing his own blood.
She held the little dog close and pointed her finger at Sid. "How dare you call my baby a Rat?"
"Hey! He was chewing on me! You are lucky that is all I called him." Sid replied angrily.
Eunice stomped her feet and screamed at Sid, "You are a pretty big klutz aren't you? Even Poopsie does not like you."
"Alright you, I just saved you from who knows what! I fought off two of them and would have taken out the third if your little rat had not attacked me. Maybe I should have picked him up and put him in that garbage can." He pointed at the nearest dumpster.
"How dare you even say that? It's not his fault - you scared him! And if you had not interfered, Poopsie would have scared those guys away! You really are a joke, just like that guy said. Delivery boys can't fight at all – unless your opponent is a dumpling or rice ball. You are the one who needs to be thrown in the garbage!"
Her face brightened as she remembered she and his friends were orphans, and pretended to fluff her hair with one hand. "Oh yeah, now I see why you were orphaned, your parents DID throw you away. They threw you away, just like the rest of the garbage."
She smiled at how smart she thought she was. She really told him off. "Poopsie will probably get sick after biting you, you filthy thing." She kicked an empty can that was near her foot at him and he put his arm up and blocked it from hitting him in the face.
When looking for insults, Eunice seemed to remember all kinds of details – all the sensitive ones she could use to hurt people the most. His name had slipped her mind though. The spoiled, uncaring, insensitive brat took out all her fear and frustration on Sid, the one who really had saved her, even if it didn't go quite as he thought it would.
They gray limo pulled into the alley after the driver heard all the high-pitched squealing and insults that she was firing at Sid from down the block. She didn't show how happy she really was about the limo pulling into the alley.
Eunice, with her dog in her arms, stomped off and got in the limo. It slowly pulled backwards back down the alley to the street. Driver had her gourmet chocolate waiting for her as her reward for getting in.
Sid walked slowly over to his bike and stood it up. He straddled it and strapped his helmet back on, but he didn't ride off right away. The things she had said were still playing in his head. "Is that how others see me? As a worthless, orphaned piece of garbage?" Sid's thinking was not logical right then. He had forgotten Nana's most important message about seeing all things and situations with clarity. Her words had burned his ears and taken root in his head.
Of course, Sue had been orphaned too and he knew Sue was not worthless. He thought his sister was wonderful and so did many other people. Tobey is great too, with a big heart he uses to care for others. They know they can count on him when it is important.
Nothing about Sid or what had just happened caused Eunice to come unwrapped at him like that. She had her own issues she had to work through. If he had been thinking clearly, he would have shown more compassion and caring for her, rather than getting angry at her, and beating himself up over what she said while under stress. He suddenly felt so sad over something that was not true; something that didn't even exist, except in his own mind that he rode home very slowly. Her words a trigger for negative feelings he had felt before.
When he got back to Wu's Garden, Sid left his bike out back in the garden and stomped inside through the back door. He was hoping he wouldn't have to talk to anyone right now. He grabbed a towel and went straight to the shower. As he scrubbed off layers of street crud, and grease from rolling around in the alley with that little rat of a dog, his mind was still spinning her words. He bent down and looked at his ankle, he had several small puncture wounds, but there was very little blood. The skin around the area was turning bright colors as it bruised and it was sore to the touch. He winced a little as the washcloth went over the area.
"I fight and train so hard, to protect the ones I love and all of Chinatown, but for all anyone knows, I am just a delivery boy. Maybe I am, since it seems I can't even stop an attack from a little rat of a dog. I got captured by Kong Li, I got attacked and turned into a zombie. On my birthday, Kong Li poisoned Nana and Mr. Wu. My tantrum about wanting to be normal sent us all into another dimension that almost ruined everything. I don't know why Nana puts up with me. I . . . I . . . I . . ."
Sid put his head back and washed the tears out of his eyes under the shower head. "Maybe I am just slowing the others down, and putting them in danger when they have to rescue me."
Why was he taking Eunice's words so seriously? She was just a spoiled brat who couldn't pay attention to anything except herself and her own desires for more than a few seconds. She couldn't help it, being young and having been raised that way. Guess she hit a nerve with him. Had he always doubted himself and his own skills a little?
Sid went back to the kitchen to see if there were any more deliveries, and see where Sue and Tobey were.
"Hey Barney, is anything going out for delivery?"
"Not yet. It's been pretty quiet here."
Sid fell onto the seat in the booth across from Tobey and Sue. "I wish it had been quiet everywhere tonight." He didn't mean to say it out loud.
"Hey Sid, did something happen?" Sue asked.
"No, nothing really." Sid denied. Tobey could even tell that Sid was feeling gloomy.
"But Sid…" Sue began.
"But nothing, I want to go to my room. Can you guys take my deliveries if any more are phoned in?" he was already walking away.
"Sid, are you okay?" Sue called after him.
"I am fine, at least with you doing my deliveries, they won't get screwed up."
Tobey and Sue looked at each other and shrugged. Tobey guessed, "Maybe a customer yelled at him. I wish he would tell us what's bothering him."
Sue said, "He will when he is ready."
He took of his shirt, shoes and socks, then his belt and pants and just fell backwards on his bed in his shorts and undershirt. It was hot in his room over the kitchen, so he had opened the window. He found listening to the crickets outside relaxing. He let go the thoughts in his head and tried to focus just on the crickets.
He stayed still for a while and listened to the evening noises, but Mr. Wu's booming impatient voice kept interrupting the cricket symphony. Mr. Wu's constant impatience and insults didn't usually bother him, but tonight it really did. He felt such aversion to hearing any more of it; he rolled on his side and turned on the radio by the bed.
Sue and Tobey were downstairs again after a delivery. There was only one, but they both took it and split the tip. They were back in a booth, wondering what had happened to Sid.
"I have not seen him that gloomy in a long time." Tobey observed.
"Ya, but you know he gets angry sometimes, like we all do." Sue smiled at Tobey.
"What do y . . ." a loud engine noise out front interrupted their conversation.
They looked as they heard a car pulling up out front. "Wow" Tobey exclaimed. It wasn't just a car; it was a limo, a gray limo. "Oh, no – not her." Tobey whined.
Driver got out and came to the passenger side. He opened the door, and an explosion of pink slid out. Eunice, with her dog under her arm, started for the front door.
"Eunice has never been here before." Sue stated.
"I wonder why we are so lucky tonight. – She must be out "keeping it reeeal." Tobey replied in his best squeaky voice.
Driver ran ahead of Eunice and opened the restaurant door for her. Barney, from behind the counter greeted her and asked if he could take her order.
"Don't be so silly. I wouldn't eat here." She turned up her nose and walked to the others sitting in the booth. In the background you could hear Barney telling her that dogs do not belong in the restaurant.
"Where is the other one?" Eunice demanded more than asked.
"You must mean Sid? Why do you want to see him?" Sue couldn't help but ask, her curiosity getting the better of her.
"He helped me out a little this evening and I wanted to give him this to thank him." She handed Sue a little box.
"I am sure he will appreciate it? But what did he do?"
"Nothing much, but my little Poopsie 'might' have bit him a little."
"You let your little mutt bite Sid? No wonder he was in such a bad mood when he got home."
"He is not a mutt! And anyway, Daddy said if the boy reports it, my baby could get in trouble for biting him. You don't think he will tell do you?"
"I doubt if it was that serious. He didn't even say anything to us." Sue said thoughtfully.
"Well, see that he gets that and you tell him it was from me. I have to fly, I am missing Daddy's big party tonight and I haven't even picked out something to wear yet. With all the beautiful stuff I have to choose from, it could take hours."
"Yeah Yeah, you've told us that before." Sue rolled her eyes.
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Back in the boys room, the radio crackled and the song stopped in the middle. Sid rolled up on one elbow to listen.
~~~~ We interrupt this program ~~~~ There has been a robbery at the Wang's grocery store on the corner of Beckett and Pelton. ~~~~ The suspects are armed. Descriptions follow. Reported as a large kid wearing black, a kid with spiked hair and piercings all over his face and another thin boy with blue hair and a red cap. They are still at large. ~~~~ If you see them call 911 immediately. Nearby residents are advised to stay home with their doors locked until the robbers are caught. ~~~~
Sid got up and pulled on his pants, "Now is my chance to show everyone!" He ran down the steps and out the back door wearing only his white undershirt and black pants.
"I will prove I can fight them. I will take them down and make sure they don't hurt anyone else."
Just seconds too late to stop him, Sue and Tobey climbed up the stairs on their way to give Sid the gift that Eunice had brought for him. "Boy, she must be really worried about her little mutt getting in trouble." Tobey giggled on the way to Sid's room.
Sid had left the door open so they could see right away that he was not in his bunk. "But where did he go, he usually just sulks in his room when comes up here angry."
"Maybe he went to the skate park after all?" Sue tossed the little box on Sid's bed.
"It's getting late, but maybe we should go after him." Sue stated.
"Let's ride!"
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Sid headed straight back to the area where he tangled with them the first time. Once in the narrow space of the alley, he saw the blue haired guy running!
"What luck – guess they're pretty predictable!" Sid stomped on the pedal so hard the bike tire spun as he took off after him. Since Blue Hair didn't know anyone was after him, he was not running much faster than a jog and Sid being on his bike, caught up to him quickly.
Blue Hair heard him coming and glanced over his shoulder. He took off running very fast again. Sid chased him out of one alley and across the street to another alleyway. Car horns honked as passing vehicles swerved or driver's slammed on their brakes to keep from hitting them. Blue Hair turned a corner and ran right past the same elderly couple that had seen Eunice's dog attack Sid.
Sid was right behind him when he went around the next corner. Sid looked up and saw that Blue Hair was running towards the other two in his gang. Big Boy and Earring Boy were standing together a ways ahead, leaning on a car parked so that it was blocking the alley to the south.
Blue Hair ran right towards them shouting, "Take care of this! Guys! Get him!"
Sid knew he was close enough, and he wanted to take this one out before he got to the others. He jumped off his bike and landed in a run, easily matching Blue Hair's speed. His bike rolled on, to crash into a dumpster.
Sid got close and grabbed Blue Hair by the hood hanging down his back. He pulled him down and the two rolled into a puddle with Sid winding up on top.
Blue Hair had the moneybag that was stolen from the store. He had taken a different route than the others did to the meeting place to avoid anyone chasing them. None of them thought they would run into Sid again.
The moneybag broke open as Blue Hair fell on it. Money scattered across the alley. Sid reared up and prepared to deliver the deciding blow, but froze. A loud noise sounded and at the same time, he felt something hit him hard in the back.
Sid held his breath for a moment before exhaling and falling forward. He landed face down on Blue Hair, who made a sound of disgust and pushed him off right away.
Sid rolled over onto his back and stayed down, sprawled on the asphalt. He didn't know what had happened right away. He only knew he was in agonizing, intense pain and he couldn't move. His back burned like it was on fire near the center, just under the right shoulder blade.
He remembered a loud noise, "A gunshot? Is that what that was? Oh no-I gotta get away from them." He tried to roll over to get up. "Ow! ARggghh." His right arm wouldn't work and now it was burning as intensely as his back and legs. He gave up and stayed still, as the nasty water in the puddle he had fallen in, soaked into his clothes, hair and even into the wound.
Big Boy strolled to Sid's side and bent over to look him right in the face. Sid looked back up at him and exclaimed, breathlessly, "You shot me!"
"No shit Sherlock." Big Boy poked him in the ribs with the toe of his boot and laughed at him as Sid cringed. "Aw, did that hurt?" Sid looked past him to the side looking for the others.
Earring Boy was wiping off his gun. He kissed its barrel and put it back in his pants just in time to see his friend kick Sid and laugh. "Loser." Was all he said.
Blue Hair was quickly gathering the money and putting it back in the bag.
Sid tried to roll away from Big Boy but couldn't do it. He badly wanted to get up and pound on him a little, but couldn't get his body to cooperate.
"Hey-come on... Please, I need help." he pleaded instead. His chest was feeling too heavy to even try to get up now. It was hard to just stay still and breathe.
Big Boy bent over and looked Sid in the face. "There's no help for you, you are going to lay here in this filthy alley and bleed to death."
Sid reached to his belt, his fingers searching for his phone. Big Boy saw what he was doing, and got to his phone first. He smacked Sid's hand away and took it off his belt. The phone bounced off the dumpster and the battery popped off. The battery slid under the dumpster. Sid stared at his phone. It seemed like it was miles away.
Big Boy grabbed him by one ankle and dragged him toward the dumpster. For one terrifying moment, Sid thought he was going to throw him in it, just like garbage.
"No! Please . . ." In his mind, he heard Eunice calling him garbage again, even though she was not there.
"No? What, if I leave you out in the middle someone might run over you – hahaha. I'm doing this for you." He laughed at his own mock concern. "Really, we don't want to make it too easy for someone to find you now do we?" He dropped his foot hard on the asphalt. Then he pushed on his shoulder and hip and rolled him close to the wall where no one could see him from down the alley.
Sid wound up on his stomach, groaning through his teeth from the pain. The back of his white undershirt was soaked with blood mixed with greasy puddle water. He felt so cold, but couldn't feel if he was shivering.
With all the money gathered up. The three started to walk to their car. One of them stopped by Sid's bike. He picked it up and threw it in the dumpster a little ways down the alley. "He won't need this anymore."
They all three laughed and poked at each other as they left. It was like they were heading home from a party. Sid heard the slamming of car doors and the engine start. In another minute, they drove out of sight around the corner.
The pain and cold Sid felt threatened to make him pass out. He put the hand he could still move a little under his cheek to get his face off the rough asphalt.
After resting a moment, he started pulling himself towards his phone with that one arm. He reached towards the phone, but found he was nowhere near it yet. Resting his forehead on the ground, he said softly. "I failed . . ."
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Tobey continued . . .