Chapter Forty-Nine

First Real Argument

Doc had successfully completed his 30-day stint in jail and was released around seven in the morning. A welcome home celebration was held at Flo's for him. Nothing fancy, as Doc was never one for dramatic fanfare in his honor. However the gathering was large. A large breakfast buffet was set up. Doc was happy to be out of confinement and realized how he had taken advantage of the freedom he had to move about when he was locked up. With the exception of being allowed good behavior leave to attend a slam poetry fest his movements were monitored twenty-four hours a day. All of the Delinquents had changed in the past six years, one more radically than others. Snot Rod more or less looked the same and his speech improved to the point where he could form whole sentences as long as he spoke slowly. DJ had his side panels removed, now feeling they were a bit too gaudy for his taste. Him being in his thirties now had much to do with it and concluded that the large panels he once had made him look too "twenty'ish". Other than this he looked the same. Boost was pretty much the same.

But the most radical transformation was Wingo. Doc almost didn't recognize him at first. He still kept his fabulous paint job. But now he constantly wore a slouchy beanie cap identical to the one Gwen had, except his was green and few shades darker than the green of his paint. Green was his favorite color, all shades of it. His far-sighted vision now confirmed, he sported a trendy pair of spectacles. Double Flip-Up Keyhole Frame glasses sat on his face. They were the clear prescription underneath while the upturned lens shades were a funky metallic purple with pink/green transluscence that appeared in them at certain angles. He actually looked quite attractive in these eyeglasses. He had purchased two pairs of glasses. The second pair at home were also round. "Prince glasses" he called them and were the transition types that blackened completely in the sun. But the ones he wore now had become his favorite. Now Wingo was a "four-eyed" car like Gwen was, and referred to his glasses as eyewear. It had more of a chic ring to it than "glasses". Since he was going to have to wear them from now on, he decided to match everything up and do it in style. His frames were not cheap; between the two pairs they cost about $600 total, but with his co-pay he only had to fork out about sixty bucks total. By law he also had to get his dark windshield cover modified to prescription standards . Now whenever he chose to lower it it was the same prescription as his glasses when he choose not to wear. But now he had become accustomed to his glasses and preferred his flip-up ones to his windshield cover. His spectacles made him insanely cool-looking even to the rest of the Delinquents while Gwen especially liked them. He looked like some urban hipster hip hopper who dropped some heavy knowledge on any subject. A perfect mixture of brains and street smarts.

He had also ditched his towering spoiler. It had always been a retractable one he could lower to any level but now he opted for a much simpler one. All he had now was a Universal GT style 57-inch trunk spoiler. It was similar to the spoiler Boost had. A one-row modification spoiler that. A foot higher than his back end it lit up at night. Doc was impressed with his upgraded look but it baffled him as to why he sat looking at DJ wolfing down his egg breakfast. He hadn't said one word all morning that Doc recalled. Maybe it was nothing at all. Doc had observed him now for nearly fifteen minutes and all he did was sit there staring unnaturally at DJ who was totally oblivious he was being placed under such scrutiny. Doc noticed that the Silvia's eyes followed DJ's fork from his plate to his mouth. DJ was busy chatting with Lightning when Wingo decided to address him. "You know what you eatin, right?" DJ's concerned look heralded maybe Wingo spotted something amiss on his plate. He waited for the bad news. "What? Tell me." he glanced fearfully at his plate and seeing nothing unsual, glanced worriedly at his buddy.

"Those are chicken abortions."

DJ abruptly dropped the wheel that had his fork attached to it, fork clanking noisily into his plate. Lightning and Flo erupted laughing while Boost strangled on his orange juice. "WINGO. Seriously, dude? Don'chu got nothin' better to talk about?" the annoyed Scion demanded.

"You're eating aborted fetuses. Everything has a place in the ecosystem. And deserves to live just as you do. You wouldn't wanna be murdered for consumption by another living thing. All that cholesterol n' shit's not good for you no way. You know, each one of those scrambled eggs could've been a cute little baby chick darting around on a farm somewhere but thanks to fucking meat-eaters like you—!"

DJ's eyes rolled as he dropped on his wheels. He couldn't be sure if Wingo was being serious or not, but this had to be the third time in a week Wingo posed such philisophical BS toward him. He was becoming worse than Filmore was.

There was an explosion of uncontrolled laughing as Doc witnessed the two close pals have a go at it. "Oh my god…Wingo are you serious? Don't start this shit with me man; I can't go there wichu' right now dog, fo' real. Please, I'm hungry; just let me eat in peace man, okay?"

He knew Wingo was screwing with him now, yet he couldn't resist the urge to heckle Gwen. "Do you see what'chu've done? Do you? What did you do to him? You got him all PETA n' shit up in this motherfucker. Seriously look at what you're doing to him!" He then attacked Wingo some more. "Now you're all on some vegetarian tofu eating trip now because of this girl, man. I like you Gwenyth, but I don't like you changing my boy like this sweetheart! You' cool an all that but look at what doin to him! That ain' right, baby." he playfully accused Gwen. "I didn't think he would get this bad! I'm so sorry!" she play-begged him. She had grown accustomed to the raucous behavior of Wingo's friends and took it in stride. But she enjoyed the exchange between him and DJ. Wingo was joking for the most part but he was somewhat serious. "I feel like fucking with you today." he confided to DJ. " I used to scare you so you say. Now you scare me. Next I'ma see you on TV goin all Greenpeace on a tree n' shit. You' goin Filmore on us man." DJ grumbled at him.

Yes, Wingo believed in the humane treatment of creatures but had no intention of ever turning vegetarian. Gwen had no intention of luring him into becoming one. She didn't plan to hound him about his addiction to flesh. She herself was a strict vegan. Yes she was a PETA supporter but she was no fanatic. Even they had a zealous side she couldn't quite accept. Besides, her $4,000 Dolce and Gabanna hobo bag was leather and given the money she spent on it had no intention of parting with her beloved purse anytime soon. Wingo was quick to jokingly call out her hypocrisy on liking leather assets while refusing to eat meat.

She was all for the environment also and hated cigarette smoke but knew Wingo was a smoker. She didn't harangue him about smoking because he didn't smoke around her. He stepped away from her when he lit up because he was courteous like that. He would never be so insensitive as to smoke in front of her, nor would he ever force her to eat meat. Likewise she knew from the jump she was getting a cursing and smoking beef-eater who thought tree huggers were insane, and was fine with polluting the air with his musical noise. She accepted it and neither had no plans to change one another. Both would have their quirky ways, especially her, but they learned to compromise. They were still in that dating phase and while nothing graphic happened yet, already he was changing because of her. And he was changing her also.

X

Just as Boost predicted. When everyone congregated outside in the parking lot Wingo sat under one of the awnings with a song playing as a low volume. "Vanity" by Wale reverberated from his bass system. Before he knew it Gwen had parked next to him then snuggled closely beside him so that she could feel the tremor of his bass pound on her frame. This had become one of her beloved hits, among many others in the Silvia's collection. She had Wingo to thank for this. When they were far outside of town he cranked his music up loudly for her because it turned out she actually did like his booming system. Especially when he blasted booming rap music. She had never been a fan of rap—until she started dating Wingo. Her musical taste was all over the place, really because she liked just about anything, except rap. She was happy with him playing whatever he wanted as it was his system but he'd insist on letting her select something for him to play.

Snotty was a hardcore metal head. If it wasn't heavy metal-influenced like grunge he didn't care for it. But he accepted the occasional "off beat" tune. DJ and Boost had always been a bit more open to other music genres though they largely shared Wingo's preference for rap. The two were always trying to get him to sample other stuff but he would refuse. He wouldn't even try to listen to the song if it wasn't hip hop. Wingo was exclusively rap only, but found himself digging "weird shit" since his run-in with Gwen. When she picked something for him to play, he actually found himself digging certain hits. He began listening to stuff like Ace of Base and liking it. Adele. He hated the thought that Dum Dum Girls was "ahh'ight" now and even set his ringtone to "Are You Okay?" to Gwen's number so he'd know it was her. It was a favorite of Gwen's, and she unwittingly got him addicted to it. Music he normally wouldn't dream of testing like Toto and Eric Clapton, to his pleasant surprise, discovered that he actually liked them. Because of her. But when he blasted a rap track out of his speakers she would snuggle right up under him because she declared that the bass had a dazzling effect on her. She had to concede that no other type of music was as impacted by the bass acoustics of a stereo the way rap was. She grew to love rap because of Mr. Wingo. Yes she still called him that, despite them having dated for two weeks now. He no longer bothered to correct her on it since he was used to it. He had become a common fixture on Slam Poet Sundays, performing often and he became more seasoned with it. He was a crowd favorite now while she became a regular face at his side when he co-managed The Axle. That was, when he didn't have her on the dance floor with him. She loved his flair when he drag raced. Her boyfriend got her hooked to attending them.

His homies were right; she was absolutely perfect for him. He had a dork of a girlfriend and was loving her for it. All his exes were tricked out lady tuners like him or sexy makes. But he considered Doc and his three friends including Lightning to be lucky as they all found sexy and tuner types that were not conceited about themselves. All the chicks like them he pulled seemed to be so full of themselves. Thought they were the shit - which they were. But their attitudes turned him off. They had the looks yeah but he found them to be too argumentative over stupid shit and just plain catty. Way too insecure, demanding to know where he was, cheating accusations...usually they were the ones messing around. Wingo was a monogamous guy in any relationship. Still he had hoped to nail a hot cutie like his friends did who were actually cool like his pals' women. So yes he had superficial tendencies too because looks did matter. But Gwen's arrival woke something up in him, making him realize a chick's inner beauty was far more valuable. He wouldn't even dance with other females now, or even holler at them for a chat. Any who tried to flirt he politely informed them that he had a girl. Many of them were dismayed when they saw who he rolled with now. It was a mismatch if they ever saw one. These super hot-looking babes were used to getting attention and disliked that they had been knocked from their pedestals by this...nerdy goody two-wheels.

What he saw in her they'd never get and where it concerned Wingo it wasn't for them to "get". Not all of them were this way and were polite to her. But a few of them threw micro aggressive cues her way behind their phony smiles. Many of them had competed for Wingo's attention at The Axle and Strip only to be broadsided by this nerd of a girl that came from nowhere. Ever humble Gwen took it in stride. This bad boy-turned-good boy-with the still thuglike swag was her man and knew he'd never replace her. So far only one guy tried to bother her, and almost got his tailpipe handed to him by Wingo. Not a character to be tested when he was truly angry, he might have been a good guy now but still had that hoodish mentality. Like DJ some remnants of his gang days never left him. And never would, she understood this.

She totally messed up his Red Pill belief system by moving here. Thanks to her, he was now a proud former MGTOW. He had left that enigmatic philosophy behind now, now that Gwen had clumsily crashed into his life. He was in love. He felt like Doc, who was perfectly happy being asexual until Prince came along.

X

Just for her Wingo slowed down the mood by playing Justin Timberlake's "Not A Bad Thing". Doc watched the young lovers rock rhythmically together, at least he assumed they were coupled now. While locked up he heard Wingo had gone on several dates with the journalist. From what he understood, Wingo and Gwen were officially boyfriend and girlfriend now. He also heard that he had rubbed off on Wingo. Unlike his friends Wingo wanted to do it the right way. No, he was not about to be in a sexless relationship with Gwen because for a guy like him it was out of the question. He and Gwen weren't sexually active-yet. But soon would be. And he was already advising her to go on birth control because they would be doing "a whole lot of fucking in the near future" as he put it. If he fathered an out-of-wedlock baby like Boost and DJ had, of course he'd step up to his responsibility and welcome Little One. But he felt the same as Gwen...marriage first. Like her he preferred his kids be born within the confines of marriage.

Not that there was anything wrong with bastards. He himself was one as his parents weren't married. They tied the knot a year after he and his sister were born. But he wanted his kids born to his future wife.

Like Doc, Wingo wanted her as his wife first and then kids. But shit happened because Wingo was not the waiting-till-marriage type. For kids yeah but definately not getting it on with a chick. He understood no contraception was 100% effective, and even rubbers could fail. Especially if he was serious with his current girl, he didn't care to "cover it". He'd leave it up to Gwen to pick the method. Take it, insert it, or whatever females did with BC. Or swallow it. He simply told her to get ready and see a doctor to get on something because very soon "shit was gonna' get heavy" between them. So she was considering either ICD or a patch embedded in her side that released some kind of hormones. No, he didn't think the responsibility fell solely on her...it took two to make it happen. Wingo was already of the mindset that if he knocked Gwen up by accident, he was ready to accept his father role. But he'd prefer for Little Wingo or Little Gwen to come after the Vows, if possible.

Doc smiled at that last muse as he left.

His son, Monarch, and his partner-in-crime Stacey watched the two while hiding in Red's bushes. They were rambunctious playmates these two. Despite what she was Stacey was a tomboy and was as wild at horseplay as Monarch was. She was a "bebe kid"-talking little girl destined to mature into a sassy sista-girl like Flo and Gemstone, and no doubt "hella' fine" as her culture would say. For the time being she and Monarch winced while spying Gwen being romanced by the Silvia. They watched in disgust as Gwen went to kiss Wingo. "EEELLLLGULLGGHH!" Stacey sneered in a way that made her look like DJ all over in the face. Monarch's face was as contorted as hers was. "Ptuuuhh!" he spit at the ground. "That's jus' ghetto, 'kay? I ain't NEVA' lettin' no boy stick his mouth on me like that when I get big! She don' think dat's gross? How fun can that be to swallow somebody else's slobba' like that? Don't they know dat's nasty?" Stacey complained sassily. "Grown ups are just weird period. They don't know how to have real fun like kids do." Monarch scowled. The two six-year-olds continued to remain revolted by the adult couple's harmless snuggling against one another.

"Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo! Uncle Wingo's finnen' get him some. I bet dey' gon' go home an' do the nasty. Watch." Stacey filled him in. All of the Delinquents had garnered the title of "uncle" from her and Monarch even though none were biologically related. "Oh yeah? Where's the fun in that?" Monarch asked her. His thin lips began to turn up in the corner. They took on a classic Doc Hudson sneer, a clear trait he inherited from his sire. The dark goateed-like indent under his mouth went slightly crooked because of it. "Don' be askin' me! I'm just guessin' cuz' I see Mama an' Daddy...you know, dey' be like... doin' that right there before dey' really start 'doin' it'. Sometimes when they think I'm sleep, I mean. I can hear 'em. It's jus' gross, Monarch. I don't know about yours but MY mama acts like it hurts her..the noises she 'be makin' but I guess it don't. She' look okay. I don' know; my parents are weird." Stacey quietly explained. The hybrid had never heard his parents in the act. His right windshield lid rose higher than the left in absolute repulsion of the situation. "There's nothing to see here; c'mon. Let's split." Monarch suggested and the adorably feisty little Lamborghini followed suit.

"It's so cool to have you home Dad." Monarch dashed up to him. "It's good to be home, son. Just make sure you don't ever do like your old man does, and do something stupid to land you in trouble."

"Yes Sir."

X

Doc was happy to be home for sure. He could hear his wife near her vanity humming and came over to investigate, and to get next to her. He saw her popping some strange capsule. "What are these, some kind of herbal vitamins?" "No, they're afterbirth pills.

A strange look overcame Doc. "They're what?"

"Afterbirth pills. They're proven to be good for your body. There's all sorts of nutrients and the like in them. They even make your finish last longer. I've been using these for years now since Monarch was born. I had Becky keep my aftermass for me when he was born, I froze it and shipped it off to a company that turns them into freeze-dried pills you can take. One placental mass is enough to make a whole supply of these little guys to last up to seven years. I've been popping one daily for six years now, ever since the kid was born." Doc was still staring at her. "It's no big deal Hon. It's not like I'm a junkie. You thought these were drugs? This is a natural part of me. A lot of mothers do it; well, not a lot, but many do. I researched it on the net when I was pregnant. Came upon it by accident but it interested me enough to try it." she reassured him.

As though he had touched something filthy, Doc suddenly bolted away from her in absolute horror flinging the pills back at her. She easily caught them. "That stuff that comes out of you after the baby's born….you're eating that? That's disgusting, Prince!" It took a moment for her to digest what he had accused her of, and once she did her face turned to stone. Was he for real? "It's not disgusting. It has alot of value. Hudson….that 'stuff' is part of me. ME. It came out of me. It's a part of my son, our son! I thought every part of me was sacred to you, remember?" "This is waste; there's no use for this now once the baby's here and you EAT this stuff? Take it like a pill; it's sick! What are you a cannibal or something? All this time and I've been kissing you on the lips and everything? I'm sorry but this is sick."

She couldn't believe what she was hearing. Methodically she set the pills down on the floor and nailed him with a hard look. That hard look with those eyes of hers, he was starting to wonder if she was Wiccan or something, one of those mysterious ones into witchcraft. Maybe Prince was a witch secretly practicing her enigmatic rituals behind his back. Being she was into belly dancing and all, maybe she was one of those Gothic bellydance chicks that was into the vampire scene. And she did have eyes that looked like they could curse him beyond his grave, make him undead as he thought of it. Her soft spoken tone shook him out of his assumptions. "You kissed Monarch covered in that 'stuff' when he first emerged, remember that? You didn't even wait for the nurse to clean him up! And, when you put your mouth to work down there it's the same area that 'stuff' comes out of…are you kidding me Doc?! I hope you're joking with me because if not you're fixing to piss me off. Even it's its a joke it's a pretty low-down thing to say. That 'stuff' is the thing that kept our son alive when he was in me, what is your problem? It's not like I'm slipping one of these into your drinks. You're not the one taking it and I'm not forcing you to try this. This 'stuff' otherwise goes to waste; they burn it. Scientists are finding unique uses for it all the time, but moms have been consuming the after mass for ages behind closed doors. In rituals and all. Hell; I might as well eat this shit; it came out of me. Get real Doc. Disgusting says the man who acts like I'm a five course meal when he gets the mood to chow down. So are you fricking kidding me?!" The only time she called him Doc was when she was upset with him which was generally non-existent.

"I might as well tell you now. If I carry again I plan to consume Baby number 2's after mass also. Might get more creative with his or hers...and just eat it right there on the spot." She added on, and Doc could see that she was serious. Perhaps she wasn't but he couldn't tell at the moment.

Regardless, he didn't budge from his position. To Doc she might as well should have been cannibalizing her own body parts. There was something ghoulish about saving something that came out of her, freeze drying it and then taking it like was a supplement. To him going oral on her was very different from her devouring what he considered worthless bio hazard that once sustained a developing infant inside its mother. It just was. It didn't matter that this was crushed into a nifty-looking substance in pill form.

"You wanna know what I consider disgusting? The idea that I'm agreeing to let myself be flooded with your disgusting ejects to conceive. Even though it's completely natural. Going through all that agony yet again to bring fourth another one of your babies is a disgusting feat to me. Since it only affects me. And it disgusts me I must suffer like that in order to make you happy. Yet I'm doing it anyway because I love you that much to subjugate myself to it. Again."

"You're supposed to go through it because that's what females do!" he stood firm. "I'm well aware of that, Doc. It's a disgusting process still with beautiful results might I add. Well worth it. But no less sickening. I don't expect you, a male, to understand." her voice became irritable. She and Doc were currently trying for baby number two because they wanted another. Since they were both single offspring they also wanted Monarch to have at least one sibling. He deserved to be a big brother.

"That's different what I shoot out Prince! You're supposed to be flooded with that inside it's supposed to go in. It doesn't come out!" Doc countered.

"Well it's not supposed to go in my mouth either but it does! Is it disgusting when you shoot it down my throat? I could easily call that disgusting and it is but I like it. I know it makes you feel good so I don't object to it. Plus it tastes great. You say I'm cannibalizing myself? Then I guess I'm cannibalizing you as well. I mean, every time I'm swallowing your little swimming partners I'm eating you alive because each one of those live thingies are potential life creators!"

Her retort tripped him up but in his macho mode even that was different than those pill things. It just was.

"Don't try to switch this around on me; that's nothing like this. I'm a male; it's not as dirty. What comes out of me is cleaner...!"

BIG. MISTAKE.

The sudden realization of his verbal error was instantaneous as his eyes widened for a second, shocked he even let that word come out. He didn't mean to say it like that, and he actually didn't mean it. He was trying to put it in a perspective she could understand—from his point. He thought to apologize but figured now it was best for him to just stop talking about it. But it was already too late as he watched his wife's eyes take on a hue of supernatural outrage. Darn, her eyes were so incredibly sexy even now, even though he expected lightning bolts to shoot out of them at any moment and fling him across the room.

"...EXCUSE ME?!" Prince's now-narrowed glare sent shivers over him. "That's not what I meant, alright? But you know what I mean!" He knew he crossed the line. But he didn't care at the moment. He should have. Like men in general, he just didn't know when to shut up. Just insulted his wife and was too stupid to even know he'd done it.

"No, I do not 'know what you mean'."

"Look it's a guy thing and I don't expect you to understand, okay? We create cleaner stuff, alright? I feel like I've been kissing the inside of your carrying unit or something, uugh." He hastily wiped the tire that touched the pills with a dish towel. "You are such an asshole, you know that?! What's wrong with men like you?! All the shit we do to each other when we hit the mat?" She was yelling at him now. What did she just call him? Doc came out of his daze and refocused on the topic at hand. "That's different Love; you're clean when I do that. I DON'T CARE WHAT YOU SAY; IT IS!" He raised his voice. What the fuck was that supposed to mean?

"What the fuck is that supposed to mean? Are you saying that once you start piping me I'm dirty? I'm dirtier because I'm a female, Seriously, Doc? I don't believe this! Jeez...what a sexist prick...!" the angry Lambo had to go cool down. She snatched the pill bottle from the floor, tossed them into her purse and lobbed it across her back spoiler. She needed some fresh air. Doc watched her go, still repulsed by his wife's secret stash. Was he so wrong for feeling this way, he couldn't be sure but was too repelled at the moment to consider it. A furious Prince bolted out of the garage door as it opened and tore down the street.