well, heres some more o' this story. joy.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Link played the message again. Twice. Then he realized that there was more to it: "He's down here at Johnny Friendly's bar, so y'know. . .oh, and by the way, it's. . .nine seventeen and forty-three seconds right now."
And that was it. Link sat on the couch, stunned, trying to fathom what Marth had just said. His father, his old hero, was here in town. . .and he wanted to see him. Sighing, Link got up and picked up his jacket.
On his way out the door, he passed the desk with the cigars in them. He stared at it sadly, then looked away and walked out of the room.
In the rain, Link navigated his way back downtown. He'd been past Johnny Friendly's bar only once or twice before, but he was pretty sure he knew where he was going. Link jumped as the car behind him honked--the light he'd been waiting at had turned green and he hadn't noticed. One might say he was somewhat distracted.
'Just down this block,' he thought to himself, turning a long corner.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Hey, how'd it go?" Peach asked, as Zelda came in through the front door.
"It was hilarious!" Zelda laughed, taking her coat off and throwing it onto the couch nearby. "We gave that teacher the worst time she's ever had, I'm sure."
"So what'd you do?"
"Oh, y'know. . .Link asked her why she assigned so much homework to third graders, and she kinda sniffed and said that they should be able to deal with that kind of stuff by now. So then we started using 'foul language'--we said 'crap'--and she literally kicked us out of the classroom."
"That's a crack up!" Peach giggled.
"Where's Nicole?" Zelda inquired.
"She's fast asleep, the poor dear," Peach answered. "She told me she's got a really big test tomorrow and she wants to make sure she's well rested. But maybe what you guys said to her teacher will make her think twice about giving it!"
The two sisters laughed, until Peach spoke again. "Since you. . .left. . .early, I wouldn't really have expected to get here before you-- Nicole said she'd been here alone for about fifteen minutes."
"We got stuck in really bad traffic," Zelda explained. "Y'know, what with the rain and all." She clicked her tongue ruefully as Peach stood up and went over to the refrigerator. "It's really bad, actually. Two underage teens got drunk and were speeding down the highway at an incredible rate, like they were racing each other." She sighed. "The things alcohol can do to a person. . ."
"In that case, I suppose you won't want a beer," Peach said, taking one out for herself.
"No thank you," Zelda answered.
"Cigarette?"
"Nope, I've quit."
Peach nearly dropped her beer can in shock. "You QUIT? Since when have you stopped smoking?!"
Zelda shrugged, a little surprised by her sister's response. "I dunno. Link stopped, and so I asked him why, and he just kinda said he'd been trying to stop for a while and his cousin finally died from second hand smoke and that was sorta the last straw, if you know what I mean." She said this all very quickly, and then took a deep breath. "So I've decided it's not the best thing for me."
"I see," Peach said softly.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Have another drink, Hunter," said Marth.
"No, s'okay," Hunter said, hiccuping. "I--hic--think that nine glasses is enough."
"May as well make it a nice, round number," Marth said. "Besides, it'll help you feel better. I swear."
"Hic--really?"
"Sure."
"Well, in that case. . .okay." Hunter accepted the glass and drank it down rather quickly. Marth stared at him as he swiftly lowered the empty glass, nearly breaking it. "Marth, do you think he'll be here soon?"
"It's hard to say," Marth answered, picking at some dirt underneath his fingernails. "It all depends on when he gets home."
At that moment, the door to the bar opened. Link looked around slowly, then saw Marth grinning and motioning for him to walk over. Shakily, he did so.
"Who you waving to?" Hunter asked, whose back was to the door.
"Just the man we've been waiting for," Marth said with a grin, as Link took a seat beside him. His eyes never left his father.
Hunter's face was shrunken, his hair mostly grey with dots of brown here and there. His eyes were just as blue as Link's, and his hands were gnarly with age. It looked as though his nose had been broken, and a scar was visible beside his left eyebrow.
Link stared at his father with hate.
"'Lo," Hunter said wearily with a drunken smile. "How you been, Link?"
Link continued to stare, then stood up and took his father's eleventh glass off the table and threw it at the wall. "Is that all you can say?!" Link demanded. "How have I BEEN?! AFTER YOU JUST ONE DAY DECIDE TO PACK UP AND LEAVE US ALL, YOU HAVE THE NERVE TO COME BACK NOW AND ASK ME HOW I'VE BEEN, LIKE YOU'VE ONLY BEEN GONE ON SOME TEMPORARY BUISINESS TRIP OR SOMETHING?!"
"Link, Link, please--hic--calm down!" Hunter said, his wry smile beginning to fade as he waggled his finger at Link.
"You're drunk!" Link shouted.
"No I ain't."
"I can smell it on you!"
"Well, you know me, Link," Hunter said. "Beer don't have any affect on me, no matter how much you give me." He laughed. "I remember one time when your mother was tryin' to get me into bed with her after an argument, but I refused. She gave me nine glasses of beer to try and get me to, but I STILL wouldn't do it!" Hunter laughed again, slapping the table with his hand. "Oh, your poor mother was such b--"
"SHUT UP, and listen to what I have to say!" Link said. "Right before my ninth birthday, you decide to just pack up and leave us! Abandon us! Leave us with no income! And not only that, but you abuse your wife before you go, and you probably did lots of times!"
"How did--"
Tears of anger and pain streamed down Link's face as he recalled memories and several bar residents exited the building. "And when your son John dies in a car accident when he was only eight years old, do you even CARE?! YOU SEND US TWENTY-FIVE DOLLARS FROM THE OTHER SIDE OF THE COUNTRY, HOPING THAT'LL MAKE UP FOR YOUR ABSENCE FROM HIS FUNERUAL!!"
"Just let me ex--"
"HOW CAN YOU EXPLAIN SOMETHING LIKE THAT?!" Link shouted, his voice echoing off the walls of the practically empty bar. In a fit of rage, he picked up his chair and threw it against the wall. "I hate you!"
"Now, now, Link," said Marth, standing up. "You should give your father a chance to explain himself." He gave Hunter a supportive pat on the back. Then Marth glanced up at Johnny Friendly, pretty much the only person left.
Johnny walked over to them and said, "If you're going to have another father-to-son argument, I'd ask that you take it outside! You're drivin' away all my costumers!"
"Sorry," Link apologized. "I just got a little. . ."
"C'mon," said Hunter, putting an arm around Link's shoulders. He seemed a little hurt when Link shrugged him off. "Let's go for a drive, okay? Maybe we can sort this all out, you think?"
Staring at his father, Link slowly sighed. "All right. Let's go."
Marth grinned as he watched Hunter and Link walk out the door.
"So where exactly do you plan on going?" Link asked, as they got into his car.
"Let me drive," Hunter said, pulling Link out of the driver's seat.
"All right, so where do you plan on going?" Link repeated, getting into the passenger's seat.
"Oh, we'll--hic--see," Hunter answered.
"Are you sure you should be driving?" Link asked warily, as they began.
"S--hic--sure," Hunter responded. "Don't be such a ninny, Link. A son of mine would never worry about such a stupid thing."
After a long silence, Link pulled a scented ornament out of the glove compartment and attatched it to the rear view mirror.
"What's that for?" Hunter asked, as the car began smelling like strawberry.
"You're making my car smell like gin."
"It's beer I've been drinking. And besides--hic--who cares what your car smells like, Link?"
"I just don't want my girlfriend to think I've been drinking, okay?"
"Ah, so you've got a girl now, have you?" Laughing Hunter nodded and hiccuped. "I suppose I was gettin' girls at your age, too. Pretty hard rain, isn't it?" He laughed again, shaking the car slightly. He turned to face Link. "I remember when--"
"Dad, watch it!" Link shouted, as the loud sound of a truck horn blaring at them filled his ears. He leaned over to yank the steering wheel aside, but he was too late. The truck smashed head-on into the small buick, causing both cars to skid on the wet pavement until the truck managed to come to a stop.
Shaking violently, the truck driver jumped out of his vehicle and ran towards the car he'd hit, which had been flipped onto its side.
"God have mercy on me!" he whispered loudly as the sound of sirens came whistling towards him.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Gosh, it's freezing," Zelda said, shivering. "We normally have much warmer weather in late September!"
"I wonder how cold it is," Peach thought aloud.
Zelda glanced at the clock. "It's 9:58 now. Turn on the radio."
Peach walked over to the radio on the table and turned it on. She switched stations a bit until she found the right one.
"And now it's time for traffic accidents and weather together," announced the news reporter (as a high-hat cymbal played in the background). "A report just in warns drivers to elude the Tappan Zee bridge as easily as they can. . .we've just had an accident down there that could be lethal, involving a produce truck and a totaled buick. . ."
"That's awful," sighed Peach.
"Officers say that the truck driver, Bill Cliggot, had crashed into the car of a Mr. Hunter Kokiri. . .the drunken driver, who is believed to be dead, was riding with his son, Link. Though alive, Link has been rushed immediatley to the nearest hos--"
"Jesus, Mary and Joseph!" Zelda shouted, grabbing her jacket and running outside the door.
Peach automatically turned off the radio as she heard the front door slam. She hoped Zelda would be all right out there--at the speed she knew Zelda would be going, she hoped that her sister wouldn't be too rash.
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Dun dun DUNNNNN!!! next chap up soon!! plz review!
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Link played the message again. Twice. Then he realized that there was more to it: "He's down here at Johnny Friendly's bar, so y'know. . .oh, and by the way, it's. . .nine seventeen and forty-three seconds right now."
And that was it. Link sat on the couch, stunned, trying to fathom what Marth had just said. His father, his old hero, was here in town. . .and he wanted to see him. Sighing, Link got up and picked up his jacket.
On his way out the door, he passed the desk with the cigars in them. He stared at it sadly, then looked away and walked out of the room.
In the rain, Link navigated his way back downtown. He'd been past Johnny Friendly's bar only once or twice before, but he was pretty sure he knew where he was going. Link jumped as the car behind him honked--the light he'd been waiting at had turned green and he hadn't noticed. One might say he was somewhat distracted.
'Just down this block,' he thought to himself, turning a long corner.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Hey, how'd it go?" Peach asked, as Zelda came in through the front door.
"It was hilarious!" Zelda laughed, taking her coat off and throwing it onto the couch nearby. "We gave that teacher the worst time she's ever had, I'm sure."
"So what'd you do?"
"Oh, y'know. . .Link asked her why she assigned so much homework to third graders, and she kinda sniffed and said that they should be able to deal with that kind of stuff by now. So then we started using 'foul language'--we said 'crap'--and she literally kicked us out of the classroom."
"That's a crack up!" Peach giggled.
"Where's Nicole?" Zelda inquired.
"She's fast asleep, the poor dear," Peach answered. "She told me she's got a really big test tomorrow and she wants to make sure she's well rested. But maybe what you guys said to her teacher will make her think twice about giving it!"
The two sisters laughed, until Peach spoke again. "Since you. . .left. . .early, I wouldn't really have expected to get here before you-- Nicole said she'd been here alone for about fifteen minutes."
"We got stuck in really bad traffic," Zelda explained. "Y'know, what with the rain and all." She clicked her tongue ruefully as Peach stood up and went over to the refrigerator. "It's really bad, actually. Two underage teens got drunk and were speeding down the highway at an incredible rate, like they were racing each other." She sighed. "The things alcohol can do to a person. . ."
"In that case, I suppose you won't want a beer," Peach said, taking one out for herself.
"No thank you," Zelda answered.
"Cigarette?"
"Nope, I've quit."
Peach nearly dropped her beer can in shock. "You QUIT? Since when have you stopped smoking?!"
Zelda shrugged, a little surprised by her sister's response. "I dunno. Link stopped, and so I asked him why, and he just kinda said he'd been trying to stop for a while and his cousin finally died from second hand smoke and that was sorta the last straw, if you know what I mean." She said this all very quickly, and then took a deep breath. "So I've decided it's not the best thing for me."
"I see," Peach said softly.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Have another drink, Hunter," said Marth.
"No, s'okay," Hunter said, hiccuping. "I--hic--think that nine glasses is enough."
"May as well make it a nice, round number," Marth said. "Besides, it'll help you feel better. I swear."
"Hic--really?"
"Sure."
"Well, in that case. . .okay." Hunter accepted the glass and drank it down rather quickly. Marth stared at him as he swiftly lowered the empty glass, nearly breaking it. "Marth, do you think he'll be here soon?"
"It's hard to say," Marth answered, picking at some dirt underneath his fingernails. "It all depends on when he gets home."
At that moment, the door to the bar opened. Link looked around slowly, then saw Marth grinning and motioning for him to walk over. Shakily, he did so.
"Who you waving to?" Hunter asked, whose back was to the door.
"Just the man we've been waiting for," Marth said with a grin, as Link took a seat beside him. His eyes never left his father.
Hunter's face was shrunken, his hair mostly grey with dots of brown here and there. His eyes were just as blue as Link's, and his hands were gnarly with age. It looked as though his nose had been broken, and a scar was visible beside his left eyebrow.
Link stared at his father with hate.
"'Lo," Hunter said wearily with a drunken smile. "How you been, Link?"
Link continued to stare, then stood up and took his father's eleventh glass off the table and threw it at the wall. "Is that all you can say?!" Link demanded. "How have I BEEN?! AFTER YOU JUST ONE DAY DECIDE TO PACK UP AND LEAVE US ALL, YOU HAVE THE NERVE TO COME BACK NOW AND ASK ME HOW I'VE BEEN, LIKE YOU'VE ONLY BEEN GONE ON SOME TEMPORARY BUISINESS TRIP OR SOMETHING?!"
"Link, Link, please--hic--calm down!" Hunter said, his wry smile beginning to fade as he waggled his finger at Link.
"You're drunk!" Link shouted.
"No I ain't."
"I can smell it on you!"
"Well, you know me, Link," Hunter said. "Beer don't have any affect on me, no matter how much you give me." He laughed. "I remember one time when your mother was tryin' to get me into bed with her after an argument, but I refused. She gave me nine glasses of beer to try and get me to, but I STILL wouldn't do it!" Hunter laughed again, slapping the table with his hand. "Oh, your poor mother was such b--"
"SHUT UP, and listen to what I have to say!" Link said. "Right before my ninth birthday, you decide to just pack up and leave us! Abandon us! Leave us with no income! And not only that, but you abuse your wife before you go, and you probably did lots of times!"
"How did--"
Tears of anger and pain streamed down Link's face as he recalled memories and several bar residents exited the building. "And when your son John dies in a car accident when he was only eight years old, do you even CARE?! YOU SEND US TWENTY-FIVE DOLLARS FROM THE OTHER SIDE OF THE COUNTRY, HOPING THAT'LL MAKE UP FOR YOUR ABSENCE FROM HIS FUNERUAL!!"
"Just let me ex--"
"HOW CAN YOU EXPLAIN SOMETHING LIKE THAT?!" Link shouted, his voice echoing off the walls of the practically empty bar. In a fit of rage, he picked up his chair and threw it against the wall. "I hate you!"
"Now, now, Link," said Marth, standing up. "You should give your father a chance to explain himself." He gave Hunter a supportive pat on the back. Then Marth glanced up at Johnny Friendly, pretty much the only person left.
Johnny walked over to them and said, "If you're going to have another father-to-son argument, I'd ask that you take it outside! You're drivin' away all my costumers!"
"Sorry," Link apologized. "I just got a little. . ."
"C'mon," said Hunter, putting an arm around Link's shoulders. He seemed a little hurt when Link shrugged him off. "Let's go for a drive, okay? Maybe we can sort this all out, you think?"
Staring at his father, Link slowly sighed. "All right. Let's go."
Marth grinned as he watched Hunter and Link walk out the door.
"So where exactly do you plan on going?" Link asked, as they got into his car.
"Let me drive," Hunter said, pulling Link out of the driver's seat.
"All right, so where do you plan on going?" Link repeated, getting into the passenger's seat.
"Oh, we'll--hic--see," Hunter answered.
"Are you sure you should be driving?" Link asked warily, as they began.
"S--hic--sure," Hunter responded. "Don't be such a ninny, Link. A son of mine would never worry about such a stupid thing."
After a long silence, Link pulled a scented ornament out of the glove compartment and attatched it to the rear view mirror.
"What's that for?" Hunter asked, as the car began smelling like strawberry.
"You're making my car smell like gin."
"It's beer I've been drinking. And besides--hic--who cares what your car smells like, Link?"
"I just don't want my girlfriend to think I've been drinking, okay?"
"Ah, so you've got a girl now, have you?" Laughing Hunter nodded and hiccuped. "I suppose I was gettin' girls at your age, too. Pretty hard rain, isn't it?" He laughed again, shaking the car slightly. He turned to face Link. "I remember when--"
"Dad, watch it!" Link shouted, as the loud sound of a truck horn blaring at them filled his ears. He leaned over to yank the steering wheel aside, but he was too late. The truck smashed head-on into the small buick, causing both cars to skid on the wet pavement until the truck managed to come to a stop.
Shaking violently, the truck driver jumped out of his vehicle and ran towards the car he'd hit, which had been flipped onto its side.
"God have mercy on me!" he whispered loudly as the sound of sirens came whistling towards him.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Gosh, it's freezing," Zelda said, shivering. "We normally have much warmer weather in late September!"
"I wonder how cold it is," Peach thought aloud.
Zelda glanced at the clock. "It's 9:58 now. Turn on the radio."
Peach walked over to the radio on the table and turned it on. She switched stations a bit until she found the right one.
"And now it's time for traffic accidents and weather together," announced the news reporter (as a high-hat cymbal played in the background). "A report just in warns drivers to elude the Tappan Zee bridge as easily as they can. . .we've just had an accident down there that could be lethal, involving a produce truck and a totaled buick. . ."
"That's awful," sighed Peach.
"Officers say that the truck driver, Bill Cliggot, had crashed into the car of a Mr. Hunter Kokiri. . .the drunken driver, who is believed to be dead, was riding with his son, Link. Though alive, Link has been rushed immediatley to the nearest hos--"
"Jesus, Mary and Joseph!" Zelda shouted, grabbing her jacket and running outside the door.
Peach automatically turned off the radio as she heard the front door slam. She hoped Zelda would be all right out there--at the speed she knew Zelda would be going, she hoped that her sister wouldn't be too rash.
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Dun dun DUNNNNN!!! next chap up soon!! plz review!