Chapter 2: Shorter's Poor Head

Shunichi-

They left New York with no trouble at all. There wasn't even any traffic worth speaking of which, Shunichi was told, was almost a miracle. Max drove the entire way, despite Ash and Shorter offering to give him a rest. Every couple of hours they stopped to rest and fill the gas tank of the old truck. Old it might be, but the truck was reliable. They didn't have any trouble at all with it.

Night had set in by the time they were nearly halfway through Massachusetts and Shunichi was taking a turn riding in the back with Shorter and Eiji while Ash kept Max company. It wasn't a comfortable ride, but no one complained. After all, complaining wouldn't get them anywhere.

"Mom and dad are going to be worried sick," Eiji muttered at one point. He leaned against Shunichi and sighed. "I promised I'd call every now and again and I haven't called once since we got here."

Shorter, who sat on the opposite side of the truck, nodded. "I get you, man. I didn't even have time to tell my big sister where I was going. She's gonna smack me when I see her, again."

"No she won't." Eiji frowned at Shorter. "I met your sister and she's very nice. She'd never hit you."

It made Shorter laugh. He stretched his legs out in front of him and crossed his ankles. He put both hands behind his head and looked up at the canvas covering the truck bed. "Yeah. I guess you're right. Nadia's the gentlest person you could find. I don't think she's ever raised her voice in her whole life. Still, she'll worry."

Shunichi really didn't have a solution for that problem. None of them had a cell phone and Ash had warned that if they tried to contact anyone they knew, it might put everyone in danger. Shorter wouldn't risk it. So Shunichi leaned forward and patted Shorter on the foot. "Don't worry. I'm sure she knows that you're a smart, capable young man so she'll know you're fine."

A rosy blush rose up on Shorter's cheeks. Then he laughed and scratched the bridge of his nose. "Jeeze, you should say that kind of thing when Nadia's around. Better yet – say it around some sweet honey I wanna impress and make her think I'm a respectable sort. All the girls seem to think I'm some sort of hoodlum. Me? A hoodlum? And all because I stole one car. It was only a little one. And a couple cases of beer. And I might have put a tiny bit of graffiti on a…" and for the next hour Shorter regaled them with amusing stories of his less than entirely respectable exploits.

Before long, Eiji fell asleep against Shunichi's shoulder. Shorter was wide awake and, when he saw Shunichi yawn, he said, "You could sleep; I'll stay awake."

"You could sleep," Shunichi countered. "I'm older, so you should be the one to rest, first."

But Shorter shook his head. "Naw. I'm used to staying awake. Ash and I have this system, ya see. When times get tough, he sleeps when I'm awake and I sleep when he's asleep. We watch each other's back. So I can stay awake in case something happens while you sleep; it's no big deal."

That, in Shunichi's opinion, was incredibly sad. That they were so accustomed to being in danger that they had a working system for sleeping to keep each other safe. Rather than say what he really thought, which was sure to only make Shorter feel awkward, Shuichi said, "I think it's wonderful how you and Ash look out for each other."

Shorter shrugged, "Yeah, well, he's kinda like a little brother to me. A little brother and best friend all in one. He's one-of-a-kind, alright. I'm older than him, and bigger, so it's only right that I look out for him."

"I'm surprised he allows anyone to look out for him."

"Allows? Hell, I never asked permission. He needs looking after, I think. He's got a hot-head and enough pride to drown in. And for such as smart guy, he can be a real dummy. He gets himself into trouble with that God awful temper of his. He does reckless stuff. Even back in Juvie, Ash did stuff that made me wanna smack him. I'm kinda surprised that he didn't just run old Dino over with the truck instead of trying to shoot him. I couldn't talk him out of that, ya know. Honestly - standing on top of a truck while trying to shoot a moving target. Who does that?"

Shunichi couldn't agree more. Ash could be reckless, despite his obvious intelligence, and it was a lucky thing that he had a loyal friend to look out for him. That loyal friendship was a glowing example of Shorter's fine character, in Shunichi's opinion.

Shorter grinned. "I'll look out for Eiji, too. He's not that much different than Ash, really. They both get all emotional and don't stop to think before acting on it. 'Sides, they're both little shrimps so they need a big brother to look after them." His smile slipped a little. "My big sister looked after me when I was little and dumb, so I guess it's only right that I take care of people now that I'm big."

Big was an understatement. Shorter was only a bit older than Eiji, but he was taller than even Max. And while Ash might have been almost as tall as Max, he was skinny as a pencil. Eiji had muscle as he was an athlete and had never quite given up his work-outs, but he was small enough that he was often mistaken for a high-school kid. Shorter towered over just about everyone.

Eventually, as the night wore on, Max pulled over at a gas station and everyone got out, meeting at the back of the truck. Max handed Ash twenty dollars. "Fill it up, kid." He gave another ten dollars to Shorter. "Get us some food, will ya? I gotta hit the head."

Shunichi walked into the gas station with the boys and watched, amused, as Ash followed Shorter and Eiji around, added his two-cents to the discussion about what would be best to buy. The gas station sold a limited amount of food and Eiji and Shorter ended up picking out a bag of apples, several bottles of water, and a box of graham crackers. They paid and left while Ash went to the counter to pay for the gas. He chatted with one of the teenage clerks when he was asked why they were out so late at night and wove a story about a family road trip.

"Excuse me," Shunichi interrupted the story regretfully when Ash got the clerk laughing about something. "I'll meet you at the truck."

"Sure thing, uncle."

Shunichi had a warm feeling at that and smiled at Ash, though he knew it was all an act and Ash didn't mean it.

Shunichi paused at the door of the gas station when he noticed that Shorter and Eiji hadn't made it back to the truck but had met with a small group of teenagers. Immediately, Shunichi felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. Something was wrong. Eiji looked worried, their bag of food on the ground between them, everything spilled onto the ground. Shorter stood between the three teenagers and Eiji, standing tall and with his shoulders thrown back. The effect was making him look even bigger than normal. The strangers looked ready to fight. A glance into the gas station showed Shunichi that Ash was still talking with the clerk, he could be in there for several minutes longer and that might just be too late.

Shunichi hurried over to the group and called out, "Boys, we need to go. Come on!"

Eiji looked thankfully at Shunichi for the interference and tugged on Shorter's arm to get him moving, too.

One of the strangers grabbed Shorter by the shoulder as he turned to leave. Shorter wrenched himself away instantly. The stranger said, "You don't walk away from me. That little twerp ran into me and you think I'm gonna just let him walk away from me?"

"It was an accident," Eiji protested. "I didn't see you. And you weren't hurt."

Shunichi was almost at them and hurried his step. "That's enough. There's no reason for all this…"

"Now look here," Shorter growled with his hands balled into fists at his sides. "He said it was an accident and it was an accident. Drop it. I tried to be nice and polite, but if you want to turn this into a fight, I'm happy to oblige. You'll fight me and you won't win. I've taken guys down three times your size, you pint-sized moron!"

"Think you're gonna scare me?"

"I think if you didn't have back up here you wouldn't even come in arms reach of me. Bring it on! I'll put you on the ground before you can blink!"

Shunichi gave up hope for a peace. "Now that's quite enough!" Shunichi raised his hands and stepped between them. He looked first at Shorter. "You get to the truck. Right now! As for you," he glared at the teenagers. "You get yourselves out of here and keep away from my kids!" Without another look at the strangers, Shunichi grabbed Shorter and Eiji by the elbows and led them away from the situation. A few steps away, he hissed, "Shorter Wong, you are much more sensible that than!"

"Hey, I didn't start it!"

"You can just walk away. Bullies like that aren't worth getting in a fight-" He broke off abruptly when Shorter let out a grunt and fell right on his face. It took Shunichi a moment to realize that Shorter's head was bleeding. There was a rock on the ground next to Shorter's head. Shunichi spun around and saw the three teenagers running away. "Ei-Chan, go get Ash!" Eiji ran away instantly.

They'd thrown a rock at Shorter. Those little beasts had actually thrown a rock nearly the size of a baseball at Shorter's head and knocked him out.

"Shorter, can you hear me?" He patted Shorter firmly on the shoulder, but got only a groan in response.

"Here, let me." Max arrived just before Eiji and Ash and he carefully rolled Shorter onto his back. He looked up only long enough to say, " Ash, buy something cold from the gas station. Doesn't matter what, just something cold." There was a lump on the side of Shorter's head where he'd been hit, it was about the size of a small apple and made Shunichi cringe. A cut right on the center of the lump bled freely. "Shorter! Wake up, kid!" Max lightly slapped Shorter's cheeks until his eyes fluttered open.

Shorter's eyes seemed alright, the pupils weren't too big or too small, but he put a shaky hand up to his hurt head and only stopped when Max caught the hand and put it back down at Shorter's side. Shorter whimpered. "Oh, God, my head… what…?"

"You got beaned with a rock," Ash told him. He'd returned with a can of frozen lemonade and handed it to Max who promptly put it on Shorter's swollen head. Ash looked all around, but there was no sign of the teenagers. Shunichi had no doubt at all that Ash was looking for those little delinquents. But while there were lights around the gas station, it was simply too dark to see beyond that. "And I think you've got a concussion. Your brain got rattled."

"The world's spinning. Jeezum cripes. A rock? My head? Why's everything so bright? Hurts." Shorter closed his eyes and started to curl up. His eyelashes got suspiciously wet and Shunichi realized with shock that Shorter was on the verge of tears. "Nadia? Where's Nadia?"

"She's not here," Ash told him. His voice softened with worry. "Remember? We're on the way to Cape Cod and she stayed at home."

"Oh." Shorter opened his eyes to look at Ash. "I forgot. I'm sorry. I forgot. You're such a good friend. You're my best buddy. If you didn't have so many issues I'd tell you that I love you to pieces, but you'd get all wigged out so I won't say it. Wigged out." Shorter giggled. "Figged out. Wigs and figs and… and… God, my head hurts."

Max helped Shorter to sit up and kept a hand on his back to steady him. "I don't like the look of this."

"I think he needs a hospital, Max." Shunichi patted Shorter on the back. "This isn't good."

"Should I go have one of the clerks call an ambulance?" Eiji asked.

"Aw," Shorter gave Eiji a weak smile. "You're so nice. You are just the fluffiest little bunny I ever saw. I don't need an ambulance. Just a little dizzy. I'm fine."

Max frowned. A deep line formed between his eyebrows. "Do you feel sick?"

"No. Just dizzy and a little fuzzy. I wanna sleep."

"How many fingers am I holding up?"

"Three."

"Good. Well, I think it could be worse." Max kept the can of frozen lemonade pressed against the lump on Shorter's head. "I think we can let him rest a bit and see how he feels when he wakes up. If we do take him to a hospital, we'll need a cover story. If we walk in and give our real names we'll take the risk of having Golzine's people hear about it or even the cops." He gave Ash a sharp look. "You and I jumped bail, remember?"

"Yeah," Ash nodded. "And Dino will have the cops on his payroll out hunting for me."

"Right, so," Max looked at Shunichi. "You are going to be Shorter's dad. You don't have any ID because you got mugged. That's when Shorter got attacked. You act as desperate and worried as you can. They won't turn him away. We'll have to think of some fake names. He can't stay at the hospital, though. We get him looked at and make sure he's going to be alright and then we get out of dodge."

"I don't need a hospital." Shorter struggled to his feet and swayed for a minute. "I'm fine. I told you I'm good. I just need some sleep."

Ash stood close to Shorter and kept his hands partially raised, as if ready to catch Shorter at a moment's notice. It was a good idea as Shorter swayed, again, but didn't seem to notice. He pulled off his sunglasses and dropped them carelessly on the ground. Ash picked them up and tucked them in a pocket. "Look, let's get you to the truck. We don't have to go to a hospital, but you have to rest. Come on. You can walk, can't you?"

"Sure I can." After two wobbly steps, Max was forced to catch Shorter whose knees seemed to suddenly give way. Max put Shorter's arm over his shoulders and heaved him back up to his feet. "Ash, lend your arm."

With Max under one arm and Ash under the other, Shorter managed to make it back to the truck without any further mishaps. They put the tail gate down and Eiji crawled in first to make a fine bed for Shorter out of several coarse blankets that had come with the truck. Ash helped Shorter in and together he and Eiji made Shorter comfortable.

There was blood on Shorter's shirt – again. Shunichi couldn't help but notice it. Shorter had gotten shot just a few hours previously and now this had to happen. Shunichi had the suddenly ridiculous urge to wrap poor Shorter in bubble wrap until he could promise to stop getting hurt. It was as if fate had something against him.

"When everything is dealt with ," Ash muttered to Eiji. "I'm going to come back here and find those punks." His bright eyes narrowed. "I'm going to find them and make them pay."

"You will do nothing of the sort," Shunichi reprimanded. "They will be long gone, by then, and it won't do any good for Shorter if you did find them. I know you're worried, but Shorter will be fine. He's very strong."

Ash looked mutinous and it really didn't surprise Shunichi. Ash was a fighter and always had been. Considering the life he had led – and Shunichi feared that he only knew a fraction of the garbage Ash had survived – it was only to be expected that Ash intensely disliked anyone giving him orders of any kind. Most orders he'd been forced to follow had undoubtedly hurt him, after all. Still, Shunichi wasn't about to let Ash run towards trouble when he was already neck-deep in his current trouble.

To Shunichi's relief, Ash eventually nodded. "Alright. Fine, then. Have it your way." He untied the flannel shirt from around his waist and folded it up before he gently put it under Shorter's head as a pillow. When Shunichi took off his heavy green coat and draped it over Shorter, Ash looked surprised.

He was surprised to get such a small amount of help, just a touch of kindness. It was a painful realization and Shunichi prayed that one day Ash would accept kindness as a normal part of life.

Ash sat next to Shorter and crossed his legs, making it clear to everyone that he had no intention of moving anytime soon. He would be staying in the back with Shorter.

Shunichi rode with Max for about an hour before Max pulled over on the side of the road and went back to check on Shorter. Thankfully, the confusion and dizziness appeared to be lifting, so Max decided they could skip the hospital and they continued on their way to Cape Cod.

Lottie-

Lottie followed them all the way out of New York and into Massachusetts, right to the coast where Cape Cod sat. She'd lost them at one point. Max had been driving and he must have been noticed her and managed to slip away into the heavy traffic of a highway. When she'd realized she had no hope of catching up, she'd almost lost hope, almost mourned for her poor, dear Shunichi. But a stop of a gas station changed everything. It was a pure stroke of luck that very late one night she walked into that gas station when one of the cashiers was checking the security camera.

Both cashiers stood behind the service counter and stared up at a monitor suspended from the ceiling just behind the counter.

"I'm telling you – it was him."

"You're losing your mind." Another cashier, some pimple-faced kid who looked barely old enough to shave, shook his head at his co-worker. "What the Hell would a New York gangster be doing out here in the sticks?"

"How should I know? But I saw his picture on the news. He was arrested for killing some guy. I remember 'cause my mom kept saying how horrible it was the way kids were turning out these days. The reporters said he was a gang boss and he'd shot some guy that might have been part of the mafia."

"You've been watching too many movies."

"No. Seriously – look. Right there." The cashier paused the video recording and pointed at the black and white image on the monitor. "That's him. I'm sure of it. At least, I think it was him."

"Damn. Are you gonna think I'm weird if I say he's pretty?"

"Naw. Can't deny the truth."

Lottie stood there, her mouth hanging open at the wonderful coincidence. There stood the same blonde boy who'd been with Shunichi and Max when they'd left the apartment. Lottie really didn't see the appeal but he wasn't a bad looking kid. Tall and thin and blonde as a Golden Retriever, the boy on the monitor gave the cashier some money but kept talking with him for a few minutes. If he was there, then surely Shunichi would be… there! She nearly squealed when, on the monitor, she saw Shunichi walk up next to Ash. They spoke for a moment before Shunichi walked out of the building.

"Where did they go?"

Both of the teenage employees turned away from the security monitor and blinked, clearly shocked to find Lottie standing there. They'd been so engrossed in their conversation that they hadn't heard anyone come in.

She put the palms of both hands on the counter that separated them and leaned forward. "Tell me – where did they go? Did they say? Did they say anything?"

The first teenager, the one who'd been so certain of who he'd seen, rubbed the back of his neck. "I didn't ask. It's not my business. They bought some food and filled up on gas for some old heap of a truck, but I don't think they said where they were going. They went east, though."

"Cape Cod." The second teenager said, abruptly. "Yeah, that's why I didn't see blondie. I was stocking shelves and I heard some Asian guy talking to this really cool guy with a Mohawk when they were looking for food and they mentioned going to Cape Cod. I think they were all together, anyway."

"That's right." The first boy spoke up. "I remember now, the blonde guy was asking about the fastest way to get to Cape Cod. He was real friendly."

Lottie slowly smiled. Cape Cod. Such a romantic, picturesque location. She'd never been to Cape Cod, but she'd seen photos. How lovely that she would find Shunichi in such a place. They'd be able to watch the sun rise over the Atlantic Ocean together. And Cape Cod wasn't all that big. She'd find Shunichi there. She'd find him or find someone who'd seen him and knew where she could find him.

"Thank you very much."

One of the teenagers asked, "Excuse me, ma'am, but do you know who they are? Is that guy the one the cops said killed someone? It was all over the news."

"I have no idea." She didn't care, either. She had a suspicion that the blonde was some relation to Max, so he really didn't matter.

"Then, why are you looking for them?"

Lottie grinned and felt a burst of joy in her chest. "I'm looking for my boyfriend. Have a good night."

To be continued…