Chapter One-Hundred and Sixteen
Chad looked up as the sound of a car starting echoed through the shop, looking toward the wing that John was in to see him revving the engine. "What the fuck?" He walked over to the kid, taking in the proud look on his grease covered face. "How the hell did you get this running?" He asked, knowing that this truck had several parts missing and others that were so roached that it would have taken a miracle to get it running again.
John grinned, tossing him the keys as he climbed over into the passenger seat.
"You don't want to drive it?" Chad asked, opening the door and starting the car up again.
John nodded, as if to say he wanted to, but held up his license showing that it was stamped with the word 'void' cut into the plastic.
"Oh… That's right. Medical restrictions, right?"
John gave a thumbs up, as if to tell him he was right on. "Seizures." He stated, his voice grating in his throat.
Chad remembered the one he'd seen on the news, knowing that there had to have been worse ones before that. "My old man told me you were drugged… that true?"
John nodded, the fuzzy images of what had happened after he'd been drugged swimming before his eyes. He could vaguely feel Thomas and Paul pulling him off of Brian, the way he'd screamed and fought against them still a dark shadow in his mind. "Yeah…"
Chad looked at the kid, knowing that he was the youngest person he'd ever met to be a victim of a meth drugging… he'd never had an addiction to anything that he knew of, but he knew that meth was almost impossible to kick. "That's fucked up." He shifted the truck into reverse, backing out of the shop as he listened to the beautiful purr of the motor. "How did you deal with the withdrawals?" He asked, knowing that withdrawals could be a killer in themselves.
John pulled his wallet out, taking out a photo of Claire to show him. "Sweets."
Chad smiled, the memory of what his dad had told him about this kid surfacing. "That's your girl, huh?" He chuckled at the huge grin on Claire's face, noticing how she seemed to be laughing. "She's pretty."
John smirked, placing the photo back in his wallet. "She saved me."
Chad looked at the boy, taking in the circles under his eyes and how thin he was. "You're a lucky kid, John." He smiled, reaching out to touch the kid but stopping when he shied away. "I had a buddy die because of that shit… who knows what could have happened to you."
"Me too…" He shuddered as the image of Sid's body, swollen with rot and decay, flashed in his mind. "I owe Sweets my life…"
Chad looked at the kid, noticing how his muscles tightened. "You okay, there kid?"
John nodded, going silent as Chad drove, his body eventually giving into the need for sleep as they tested the car out to se how good John's handy work really was.