Thanks guys for taking the time to reply, review or just remember, lol. And on we go! Enjoy, M

VACATION

by M

Chapter 37

CJ lay in a bed of misery, barely conscious of what was going on around him, he tried to turn over to get away from the pain in his chest and stomach, his throat felt so raw he was tasting blood and he was so weak that he knew somewhere inside of him that if Vance decided to kill him he could offer no resistance. The only thing that did keep him in the fight was knowing that without him Bosco stood no chance of survival, hell with him there was only a slim chance to begin with, he had to stay awake, if that's what this was called, he had to try to find help for them. Struggling to open his eyes he found it dark in the room he was in, "Maurice?" he weakly called out, there was no answer, "Bosco?" he tried again, still no answer. Had they not put them together? Knowing Vance like he did that seemed a good possibility.

After a while he realized he just couldn't lay there not knowing where Bosco was or himself for that matter, CJ struggled up to a semi-sitting position on the side of the bed, biting his lip in an effort not to moan with the pain, deciding it wasn't a good idea, sitting up, as immediately he grew lightheaded. Knowing he was dehydrated his next thought was to wonder if there was a bathroom in this room and to get water. Fighting the urge to just lay back down he forced himself to look around, the room wasn't as dark as it had first appeared; there was a light coming in from under the door, and in a moment his eyes adjusted and he could make out shapes in the room.

He looked down and saw he was sitting on the side of a twin bed. Sighing he pushed himself up holding onto the footboard to steady himself. There was another bed between him and what looked like another door besides the one with the light. He pushed off and grabbed the other beds footboard, holding on for dear life as he was hit with another bout of dizziness, but in a moment it passed enough for him to make his way around it and try for the door. CJ slowly and carefully made his way to it, leaning against the doors frame as he tried the knob, praying this was not a closet, he was rewarded for his effort when he opened the door by finding that it was indeed a bathroom, though he didn't turn on the light for fear of discovery as he felt his way to the sink.

Finally finding it after nearly falling over a clothes basket and toilet he leaned his forearms on each side and bending down as another wave of dizziness hit him, slowly turned on the faucet allowing only a trickle and put his mouth to it and drank. Nothing had ever tasted so good! He tried not to drink to much, to keep away another bout of vomiting and after a few swallows turned off the faucet and feeling around sat on the edge of the bathtub to rest. As he sat there he realized that it was cold in here, and not just the cool a bathroom usually has, it was actually cold, 'Ok, that rules out Louisiana.' he thought, as he realized he smelled a wood fire, 'fireplace'? Crap, where the hell did that moron take us?' he wondered, then, 'And where the hell is Bosco?'

That's when he heard yelling coming from the hall, although he couldn't really make out what was being yelled, but, it brought him to his feet, grabbing onto the sink he quickly made his way to the bathroom door just in time to see shadows go running past momentarily blocking the light under the outside door as he heard running footsteps pass, then they were gone. CJ made his way to the bedroom door and tried the knob to find to his surprise it was unlocked, opening it he slowly stuck his head out and looked up and then down a small hallway. Seeing no one he opened the door more and carefully stepped out to hear more yelling and one of the voices doing the yelling was Bosco's.

CJ moved more quickly towards the voices wondering what the hell was going on; coming out onto a landing that led in two directions he heard Vance yell, "Take that away from him, before he hurts himself or someone else!"

Following the yelling he heard one of the Goons, "I'm..trying..to but...he won't turn it...loose!"

Moving into a doorway that led to a kitchen he saw Bosco struggling with Goon #1 & 2, and while CJ couldn't see what it was that they were trying to take from him he did see Vance was holding his right hand to his chest with his left hand and CJ could see blood dripping from the bottom of his hands. 'I don't know what you did, little man but, good job!' CJ thought as he moved out into the kitchen. Goon #1 had him by the wrists and was trying to keep hold of Bosco, while Goon #2 had grabbed him from around his back and was trying to pin his arms.

CJ was actually grinning at the sight, because neither was having much success at pinning him or taking whatever was in his hands away from him. 'Bit off more than you could chew, guys?' he laughed to himself. He and Bosco had wrestled in self defense workouts and CJ knew what Bosco lacked in strength (which normally he wasn't lacking in by much compared to bigger guys) he more than made up for in speed and agility, making holding on to him like holding a slippery eel, nearly impossible!

Of course, if he himself hadn't been so loopy he might not have found the scene funny, especially knowing that it might still not be 'Bosco' that they were struggling to control, or what they might do if they couldn't control him; but as it was he was soon laughing outloud, especially when Goon #1 slipped on the 'wet' floor, 'What had been going the hell on in here?', he wondered, and fell pulling Bosco down on top of him with Goon # 2 following.

"Oh Boy they've got him now!" he cracked up as Vance looked over to see him there; at first Vance looked pissed, but then looking back down to see his 'goons' losing this struggle he grinned and asked, "Want to bet who comes up first?"

CJ looked at him, grinned back, thinking, 'I must really be losing it' even as he said, "Yeah, I'll take that bet! I got ten on Bosco," then watched and wondered if 'he' were the one who had 'lost his mind' from dehydration and shock, as Bosco rolled off Goon #1 before he flipped Goon #2 off his back and backing up scrambled away on his hands and knees to end up near CJ, who was laughing outloud now, as was Vance.

Bosco looked up at CJ and looking pissed gripped, "They tried to take this away from me! I know how to use it, my Daddy showed me!" and held up a steak knife as he climbed to his feet, proud of himself.

CJ reached out and said, "Good, but now you have to give that to me, ok?" as he saw the Goon Patrol coming to their feet and starting towards him, he held out his other hand to fend them off and Vance motioned for them to stop.

Bosco pouted looking down at the knife, "How am I suppose to cut my meat if I don't use a knife!"

CJ felt like any second aliens would land, that's about all it would take for him to completely lose it right now, grinning at him he said, "Get Vance to do it! After all I won the bet!" he said looking at Vance, who was looking at his Goons like they were the stupidest things on earth.

"Take the damn knife CJ before I do it the hard way." Vance growled not laughing now as he turned to the sink and turned on the water to wash the blood off the cut he received from 'Maurice' when he grabbed for the knife that 'Maurice' had picked up from the table.

"Come on Maurice, I'll do it for you, that way everybody's happy." he said quietly, the unnatural humor dissipating like vapor as the reality of the situation began to settle back on him.

"Ok, but I CAN do it, I know how!" Maurice pouted as he handed the knife over, when he went to sit back down at the table CJ leaned against the counter a moment, watching Vance to see if he could gauge his 'mood', but Vance had completely dismissed them even being there. That made CJ more concerned than if he was raging about Bosco cutting him, it told CJ that there was more at stake here than pride.

"CeeJay, are you coming? I'm hungry!" Maurice complained shoving his plate towards CJ, "I'm hungry!"

"Yeah, little man", CJ said pushing away from the counter edge, "I'm coming," after he had cut up Maurices steak, he sat back watching Vance watch Maurice, Vance had finished bandaging his hand, proving the cut wasn't serious by picking up a cup of hot coffee with it, 'unfortunately' thought CJ. The Goons were sitting at the table eating like nothing had happened, but Vance was just standing there. CJ began to get a clenching in his lower gut as he watched Vance, he knew that look, Vance was plotting revenge on Maurice, he had seen that look in High School. Vance could be a mean son-of-a-bitch then and having seen nothing to change that this time around, CJ was suddenly more afraid than before.

Noticing that Maurice had finished eating most of his food CJ said, "Hey, why don't you go watch TV, ok? Vance and I need to talk."

"Can I? My Ma doesn't like me too." he replied getting up from the table eagerly.

"Yeah, just this once. Now go on." and added as one of the Goons got up with him, "Hey, Maurice? Don't give him a hard time, aright?"

"Ok, CeeJay, I won't." Maurice said as they went into the other room.

CJ turned then to look at Vance whom had sat down at the table with a plate of food while CJ was telling Maurice to go watch TV, "I know you don't believe him but that's not a cop you're dealing with, its just a little kid, he doesn't understand what's going on here Vance." he said quietly, "He didn't try to hurt you on purpose."

Vance looked up from his plate, watching CJ carefully, "You really think I don't know what he IS?" he said angrily, "He's a freaking NUTCASE, that's what he is, but Cutting me? I don't care if he's Mother Theresa, CJ! He's not going to get away with that and you already know it! But don't worry, I already promised Buford the pleasure of killing him, I'm just going to fuck him up some! Oh and Ceege, if you're hungry you better eat now, cause in eight hours we're going to be leaving here and flying to another 'safe' house, and I know how much you will be looking forward to that!" he grinned meanly at CJ.

CJ swallowed, then shaking his head slowly, "How the hell did you and Max come from the same Mother and Father, Vance?"

"I don't know, I've often wondered that myself!" Vance grinned, "Cause Max turned out to be a henpecked, goody two shoes wuss; while I control a multi-million dollar business and control whether you live or die!" Then he dug into his meal, looking sourly toward the flickering light coming from the TV in the other room as they heard Maurice and the goon laughing at something on TV.

TBC...