Chapter 2
Gary rolled up his newspaper and shoved it in the large pocket of his black leather coat. The rain had died down now to a mere sprinkle, and Gary thought its coolness felt good on his face. It had been three years since Gary had seen Chuck. He should have been glad to talk to him again, but he could never seem to get past the fact that trouble followed Chuck wherever he went.
It was 7:00 a.m. by the time Gary reached the drugstore, and the rain had stopped. It was still cloudy, but a few rays of sun were beginning to peek through the clouds. Gary grabbed all of the supplies he needed for the restaurant and went through the checkout line quickly. Once he was back outside, he pulled the paper out of his pocket to see if anything had changed. He flipped through the pages, finding everything the same as it had been earlier that morning. There was nothing but good news up until 5:30 p.m. when he had to stop a kid from falling off a fence railing and into the path of an oncoming train. The lack of bad stories in the paper surprised Gary, because whenever Chuck came to town…well, he was always messing things up.
Gary walked down the sidewalk with a grocery sack in one hand, thinking about all of the things Chuck might want from him. By the time he reached McGinty's he had narrowed down the possibilities to: money, protection, or information from the paper to get money. Those were usually the things Chuck wanted when he came to see Gary and he would use the excuse that he was simply coming to "visit his ole' buddy."
Gary opened the restaurant door and walked inside. When he saw the people sitting on stools at McGinty's main counter he stopped in his tracks. The older of the two visitors was a lady with blonde hair that was about to her shoulders. She had her back to him, but Gary would recognize her anywhere. The younger was a little boy of about 10 years old with flaming read hair and a mischievous personality to match.
"Erica? Henry?" A hesitant smile lit up Gary's face as the two spun around on their stools to see who had called them. "What are you doing here?'
"Gary!" Henry jumped down from the stool and ran toward Gary. He jumped up and let Gary catch him as they hugged each other. "We were passin' through and Mom said we could come visit!"
Erica walked up to them with a smile and put her hands on her hips as Gary put Henry back down on the floor. "Yeah, that was the basic idea." She and Gary exchanged brief hugs also.
"Boy, this is a family reunion." Gary looked over at Marissa and laughed cautiously. Erica hadn't exactly left on a perfect note, and it was strange having her back here.
Marissa was grinning too. Erica and Henry had arrived shortly after Gary left for the drugstore, and Marissa had almost died waiting for Gary to get back.
At that moment, Chuck walked noisily down the stairs in fresh clothes, after having taken a shower, and paused when he saw the guests. "And who might we have here?" Chuck asked Gary as he tossed his previous shirt onto the counter.
"Chuck, you remember Erica and Henry. Erica used to work here at McGinty's." Gary turned and watched as Chuck threw his shirt over the counter, then noticed the fresh shirt that Chuck had on. "Hey, isn't that my shirt?"
Chuck shrugged with a smile. "Hey Buddy, friends share right?"
Erica frowned. "Yes, we've met."
Not wanting to make a scene, Gary nodded and went behind the counter. "Hey, Henry, how about a sundae?"
"Of course, Gary!" Henry said eagerly. Erica nudged him. "I mean, yes please."
Gary nodded to Erica. "You want anything?"
"No thanks." She shook her head and looked at Chuck, slightly irritated that his shirt had whizzed right past her head.
Gary finished making Henry's sundae and slid it down the counter so that it slowed to a stop right in front of him. Henry picked up the sundae and grabbed a spoon. "Thanks, Gary." He began to scoop the ice cream out of the dish and into his mouth as he watched everyone.
"So, how have you been?" Marissa asked as she walked carefully up to the counter and leaned on it across from Erica.
"We've been great." Erica smiled and looked at Marissa. "We've been on vacation for a while. We thought we would go to a lot of different places and 'see some of the sights,' as Henry puts it. I suggested the Sears Tower to give us a reason to come to Chicago, but he's already been there five times." She glanced at Gary and laughed. "Turns out we didn't need a reason, because Henry wanted to come here anyway."
"That's great!" Marissa said, interested. She turned to where she heard Henry eating and asked, "Where have you been so far, Henry?"
Gary shoved his hands in his pockets and waited to hear the boy's answer.
"Well, we've been to New York, of course. We saw the Statue of Liberty! It was great…a lot of stairs though." Henry paused to take a bite of ice cream. "We also went to Washington D.C. while we were over on the east coast. It was fun too! Did you know that Washington D.C. has the highest crime rate in the U.S.A.? Pretty ironic, huh?"
Gary smiled and raised a brow as Marissa laughed. "Where do you learn all this?" She asked jokingly.
"You'd be surprised." Erica said as she took a napkin out of the holder and began to fold it into strange designs.
-
Later that afternoon, the rain had stopped for a while and the sun was barely peeking through the clouds once more. The whole gang had gone out to lunch at a fancy pizza restaurant that had been Henry's favorite when he had lived in Chicago. He said it was second only to McGinty's.
At 4:00 p.m. they all returned to McGinty's for dessert. Henry had his usual hot-fudge-sundae, Marissa and Erica had chocolate malts, Gary had a vanilla malt, and Chuck had a strawberry smoothie.
They all talked and laughed while enjoying their desserts. They went on like this until about 4:30 p.m. when Gary glanced down at his watch. He suddenly remembered the paper.
"Excuse me everyone, but I have a quick errand to run." He said as he got up and headed for the door.
Erica stood up too. "Do you need any help?"
Gary turned to face her. "I thought you didn't believe in this." He motioned to the paper that was resting snuggly in his pocket and watched as Erica fell to the floor guiltily. He shook his head before answering her question, "No, I'll be fine. You all stay here, I'll only be an hour or so." With that, he rushed out the door, leaving behind a silent group to think solemnly about Gary's "paper duty." -
As Gary was walking quickly through town he once more pulled the paper out of his coat to read the article.
TRAIN ACCIDENT KILLS BOY
At 5:00 p.m. March 14, 2004, fifteen-year-old Ryan Raymond was killed when he fell from a fence and into the path of an oncoming train. The train had been late coming through the city. Krystal Tristen, 14, was with Raymond when he was killed. She says they were balancing on the fence when the train came by and Ryan fell.
Gary looked at his watch - 4:45. He had fifteen minutes to find Ryan Raymond and to keep him from falling in front of the train.
He came to the spot where the paper said that the death took place. A short distance away he spotted a teenage boy with sandy brown hair.
"Ryan?" Gary shouted as the boy looked up. "Ryan, come here!" Gary ran toward the boy.
As he reached Ryan, a blonde girl came out from around the corner of a warehouse. He figured it must have been Krystal.
"Ryan, you two shouldn't be playing back here! Especially not climbing on these fences. You could fall in front of a train or something." Gary said as he motioned toward the tracks.
Gary noticed the girl raising an eyebrow. She gave an irritated sigh. "Nothing's going to happen to us. I come back here all the time."
"I mean it," Gary said, "you need to get out of here or someone's going to get hurt."
"But we-" Krystal was cut off in mid-sentence when Ryan interrupted her.
"C'mon, let's just go." Ryan said as he began to walk away, not giving Krystal the chance to respond. She shot Gary an angry glare before following reluctantly.
"There," Gary said looked at his watch. It said 4:57, "and with minutes to spare." He pulled the paper out of his pocket - the train story was gone. He had succeeded in stopping the train accident. He began to walk away, but a few minutes later as he rounded the warehouse, he heard the whistle of a train and its screaming brakes as it tried to skid to a stop.
Gary froze as he thought her heard a sickening thud. Slowly he reached for his paper and unfolded it. Quickly his eyes flew once more to the article "TRAIN ACCIDENT KILLS BOY." The story was back! How was that possible? It had disappeared only minutes ago! Gary turned back toward the tracks and took off in a dead run. As he approached the fence, he saw Ryan's body lying in the middle of the tracks.
Gary rolled up his newspaper and shoved it in the large pocket of his black leather coat. The rain had died down now to a mere sprinkle, and Gary thought its coolness felt good on his face. It had been three years since Gary had seen Chuck. He should have been glad to talk to him again, but he could never seem to get past the fact that trouble followed Chuck wherever he went.
It was 7:00 a.m. by the time Gary reached the drugstore, and the rain had stopped. It was still cloudy, but a few rays of sun were beginning to peek through the clouds. Gary grabbed all of the supplies he needed for the restaurant and went through the checkout line quickly. Once he was back outside, he pulled the paper out of his pocket to see if anything had changed. He flipped through the pages, finding everything the same as it had been earlier that morning. There was nothing but good news up until 5:30 p.m. when he had to stop a kid from falling off a fence railing and into the path of an oncoming train. The lack of bad stories in the paper surprised Gary, because whenever Chuck came to town…well, he was always messing things up.
Gary walked down the sidewalk with a grocery sack in one hand, thinking about all of the things Chuck might want from him. By the time he reached McGinty's he had narrowed down the possibilities to: money, protection, or information from the paper to get money. Those were usually the things Chuck wanted when he came to see Gary and he would use the excuse that he was simply coming to "visit his ole' buddy."
Gary opened the restaurant door and walked inside. When he saw the people sitting on stools at McGinty's main counter he stopped in his tracks. The older of the two visitors was a lady with blonde hair that was about to her shoulders. She had her back to him, but Gary would recognize her anywhere. The younger was a little boy of about 10 years old with flaming read hair and a mischievous personality to match.
"Erica? Henry?" A hesitant smile lit up Gary's face as the two spun around on their stools to see who had called them. "What are you doing here?'
"Gary!" Henry jumped down from the stool and ran toward Gary. He jumped up and let Gary catch him as they hugged each other. "We were passin' through and Mom said we could come visit!"
Erica walked up to them with a smile and put her hands on her hips as Gary put Henry back down on the floor. "Yeah, that was the basic idea." She and Gary exchanged brief hugs also.
"Boy, this is a family reunion." Gary looked over at Marissa and laughed cautiously. Erica hadn't exactly left on a perfect note, and it was strange having her back here.
Marissa was grinning too. Erica and Henry had arrived shortly after Gary left for the drugstore, and Marissa had almost died waiting for Gary to get back.
At that moment, Chuck walked noisily down the stairs in fresh clothes, after having taken a shower, and paused when he saw the guests. "And who might we have here?" Chuck asked Gary as he tossed his previous shirt onto the counter.
"Chuck, you remember Erica and Henry. Erica used to work here at McGinty's." Gary turned and watched as Chuck threw his shirt over the counter, then noticed the fresh shirt that Chuck had on. "Hey, isn't that my shirt?"
Chuck shrugged with a smile. "Hey Buddy, friends share right?"
Erica frowned. "Yes, we've met."
Not wanting to make a scene, Gary nodded and went behind the counter. "Hey, Henry, how about a sundae?"
"Of course, Gary!" Henry said eagerly. Erica nudged him. "I mean, yes please."
Gary nodded to Erica. "You want anything?"
"No thanks." She shook her head and looked at Chuck, slightly irritated that his shirt had whizzed right past her head.
Gary finished making Henry's sundae and slid it down the counter so that it slowed to a stop right in front of him. Henry picked up the sundae and grabbed a spoon. "Thanks, Gary." He began to scoop the ice cream out of the dish and into his mouth as he watched everyone.
"So, how have you been?" Marissa asked as she walked carefully up to the counter and leaned on it across from Erica.
"We've been great." Erica smiled and looked at Marissa. "We've been on vacation for a while. We thought we would go to a lot of different places and 'see some of the sights,' as Henry puts it. I suggested the Sears Tower to give us a reason to come to Chicago, but he's already been there five times." She glanced at Gary and laughed. "Turns out we didn't need a reason, because Henry wanted to come here anyway."
"That's great!" Marissa said, interested. She turned to where she heard Henry eating and asked, "Where have you been so far, Henry?"
Gary shoved his hands in his pockets and waited to hear the boy's answer.
"Well, we've been to New York, of course. We saw the Statue of Liberty! It was great…a lot of stairs though." Henry paused to take a bite of ice cream. "We also went to Washington D.C. while we were over on the east coast. It was fun too! Did you know that Washington D.C. has the highest crime rate in the U.S.A.? Pretty ironic, huh?"
Gary smiled and raised a brow as Marissa laughed. "Where do you learn all this?" She asked jokingly.
"You'd be surprised." Erica said as she took a napkin out of the holder and began to fold it into strange designs.
-
Later that afternoon, the rain had stopped for a while and the sun was barely peeking through the clouds once more. The whole gang had gone out to lunch at a fancy pizza restaurant that had been Henry's favorite when he had lived in Chicago. He said it was second only to McGinty's.
At 4:00 p.m. they all returned to McGinty's for dessert. Henry had his usual hot-fudge-sundae, Marissa and Erica had chocolate malts, Gary had a vanilla malt, and Chuck had a strawberry smoothie.
They all talked and laughed while enjoying their desserts. They went on like this until about 4:30 p.m. when Gary glanced down at his watch. He suddenly remembered the paper.
"Excuse me everyone, but I have a quick errand to run." He said as he got up and headed for the door.
Erica stood up too. "Do you need any help?"
Gary turned to face her. "I thought you didn't believe in this." He motioned to the paper that was resting snuggly in his pocket and watched as Erica fell to the floor guiltily. He shook his head before answering her question, "No, I'll be fine. You all stay here, I'll only be an hour or so." With that, he rushed out the door, leaving behind a silent group to think solemnly about Gary's "paper duty." -
As Gary was walking quickly through town he once more pulled the paper out of his coat to read the article.
TRAIN ACCIDENT KILLS BOY
At 5:00 p.m. March 14, 2004, fifteen-year-old Ryan Raymond was killed when he fell from a fence and into the path of an oncoming train. The train had been late coming through the city. Krystal Tristen, 14, was with Raymond when he was killed. She says they were balancing on the fence when the train came by and Ryan fell.
Gary looked at his watch - 4:45. He had fifteen minutes to find Ryan Raymond and to keep him from falling in front of the train.
He came to the spot where the paper said that the death took place. A short distance away he spotted a teenage boy with sandy brown hair.
"Ryan?" Gary shouted as the boy looked up. "Ryan, come here!" Gary ran toward the boy.
As he reached Ryan, a blonde girl came out from around the corner of a warehouse. He figured it must have been Krystal.
"Ryan, you two shouldn't be playing back here! Especially not climbing on these fences. You could fall in front of a train or something." Gary said as he motioned toward the tracks.
Gary noticed the girl raising an eyebrow. She gave an irritated sigh. "Nothing's going to happen to us. I come back here all the time."
"I mean it," Gary said, "you need to get out of here or someone's going to get hurt."
"But we-" Krystal was cut off in mid-sentence when Ryan interrupted her.
"C'mon, let's just go." Ryan said as he began to walk away, not giving Krystal the chance to respond. She shot Gary an angry glare before following reluctantly.
"There," Gary said looked at his watch. It said 4:57, "and with minutes to spare." He pulled the paper out of his pocket - the train story was gone. He had succeeded in stopping the train accident. He began to walk away, but a few minutes later as he rounded the warehouse, he heard the whistle of a train and its screaming brakes as it tried to skid to a stop.
Gary froze as he thought her heard a sickening thud. Slowly he reached for his paper and unfolded it. Quickly his eyes flew once more to the article "TRAIN ACCIDENT KILLS BOY." The story was back! How was that possible? It had disappeared only minutes ago! Gary turned back toward the tracks and took off in a dead run. As he approached the fence, he saw Ryan's body lying in the middle of the tracks.