"Frank, Dad, how can they possibly be innocent?" Joe turned to look at his 18 year old brother and his father. They were mumbling something and to Joe it sounded like "Not guilty." The whole courtroom seemed to be in pandemonium right now.
"Hey, guys? Did you hear me?"
Frank and Fenton turned toward Joe, and Joe couldn't help but gaze onward as their shirts read "Not guilty."
"What the hell?" Joe was soon starting to be engulfed by all the "Not guiltys," and he couldn't take it anymore…
Joe woke up with a start as he heard pounding from the passenger side window. He gasped when he saw a curious looking Kimberly Keane staring into his face between the window glass.
"OH, Jesus. God Kim, give me a heart attack why don't you?"
Kim was giggling from the start, and Joe couldn't help but smile. Her beautiful slender body was every man's wish with tight thighs and a great ass. Her long brunette hair was pulled back in a ponytail as she wore a tank top and shorts. She was sweating from what Joe could tell, but it was more like a sexy glisten. Joe's heart missed a beat or two, even though he had a girlfriend, he couldn't resist. Joe took the keys and climbed to the front seat. He then started the car and rolled down the passenger side window.
"Joe, you finally got kicked out your house! Took them long enough."
"Not exactly. I didn't have a ride this morning besides my brother, and I'm sure in hell not walking to school. He had to go in early for some Calc test. We were low on cars this morning. And who gave you permission to wake me up at," Joe checks his watch, "five to seven? By the way, what are you doing here this early anyway?"
"Oh Joe, you should know me by now. I just couldn't resist seeing you slumber in your back seat. And I even took a picture for my entertainment."
Kim flipped out her camera cell phone and revealed the shot of Joe to him. For a moment he just sat there blankly looking at it. All of a sudden he burst out laughing for the shot was of him sleeping like a baby.
"Damn, girl. Does this mean blackmail so you can't show it?"
Kim just hesitated. For a moment, Joe could have sworn she had a ping of shock, or even dread in her eyes, but that quickly went away to show that amused look on her face.
"I'll think about it. Anyway, why am I here so early? Well, the new softball fields aren't ready and we have to use the field house for now. The only problem with that is just everyone wants to use the field house for everything, and the only time we can use it is before school. I forgot my bat so I ran to get it in my car."
"Can't you use a school bat?"
"Nope, not the same."
Joe just smirked at the last remark. He probably looked like shit with the messy hair and unwashed face staring up at her. He hated when hot girls saw him as a scrubby looking guy, but she took a picture of him, so all is good.
"I gotta go before my coach kills me for being out here talking to you. See ya later."
"'Bye." And with that Kim turned away from his car. Joe noticed that there were a few more cars parked in the parking lot with one of them belonging to Kim. He was watching her with really nothing else to do. He doubted he could get back to sleep after having been crudely woken up for the second time. But he didn't mind this wake up call.
Joe was lost in his own thoughts when Kim tripped by her car. He quickly snapped back to reality when she hit the pavement. Whoa, Joe thought to himself, and he realized that she couldn't get up from the ground. He unlocked the door and slipped out of the car, jogging a good 20 feet toward her. He might not look like a knight in shining armor, but this will have to do. As he came right beside her, Joe realized that she was crying, but he couldn't really see any kind of injury.
"Hey Kim. You all right? Did you hurt yourself?"
As Joe said this, a dark blue van from the other end of the parking lot sprang to life and came toward the duo. Kim nodded a no as she started to weep. Joe couldn't really understand it. She was crying like someone in her family died, yet she barely scraped her skin. He started to help her up when the van met them. A guy looking about Frank's age wearing jeans and a t-shirt stepped out of the driver's seat and came up to them.
"Hey. Do you guys need help? I saw that nasty fall back there."
"Um, no. Thanks anyway, but I think– "
Joe's words were soon called off as Kim broke from Joe's grip and the van driver lunged toward Joe. Caught off guard, Joe fell to the ground in a heap. At that second, three more goons started coming out from the van's side door. Joe stood up and started to regain some composure, but that was interrupted by a blow to the stomach. Joe yelped and doubled over, comprehending that this wasn't a social call. Joe looked up just in time to see the driver give a karate blow to his neck, but this time Joe was quicker. He step sided the bigger man and kept his guard. The three other men quickly joined the driver all wearing the same jeans and t-shirts.
It was a four to one ratio, and Joe didn't have to be an expert at math to know that wasn't good odds. Joe's stomach was getting sore, but he had more important things on his mind. How in the hell did this happen? One minute he was helping Kim, the next these…wait, KIM! Joe took his eyes off the thugs for a moment to glance at Kim. He couldn't believe what he saw. She was standing, bawling, and just watching. Joe took another moment to ponder this all in, but it was enough for the quartet to jump him again. The tallest guy came over and grabbed Joe, putting him in a chokehold. Joe was struggling, scratching, doing anything to try to get out of the man's hold. He attempted a "HELP ME" to Kim, but nothing came out but a gasp. The driver was going back to the van while a second criminal came toward Joe and pinned his right arm down to the floor; the third criminal held his left arm down. Shit. Joe could not see where this was going until he noticed a needle and syringe in the driver's hand walking onward. Joe's heart sank once he spotted the new supplies and fear was now rushing all over his body. He started to panic not knowing what this animal was going to inject in him. He could have sworn he heard Kim start to vomit and run away, not taking anymore of this. Some help she was, Joe thought as he noticed the driver attaching the syringe and the needle. Joe started trying much more desperately to get out of this death grip.
"Hurry up, will you. We can't hold him for much longer."
The driver just stopped and stared. "What, three people holding one punk down for one minute his hard? Jesus Christ, you guys are babies!"
And with that the driver stuck the needle up Joe's right arm. Joe gasped and felt a quick sting of pain as the needle entered his skin, injecting its contents. He suddenly felt extremely weak and stopped struggling with his attackers. They let go of him as one of them picked Joe up into the van. Joe's world was spinning with every color in the color spectrum meeting his eyes. Eventually he hit the van's interior hard and all the bright colors soon turned to black as darkness overwhelmed him.
Joe was the one helping people to the one who severely needed help in a record of 3 minutes.