1972. LUKE IS 16, DAISY 15, AND BO 14. I DON'T OWN THE DUKES OF HAZZARD.
Daisy dropped her bike down hard outside the farm house and ran inside.
"Uncle Jesse?" She called.
"What is it, girl?" Jesse replied.
"Luke wrecked his bike about a half mile back. He's hurt, uncle Jesse, he can't walk." Daisy urged.
Jesse rushed Daisy out to the pickup and tore down the road.
Several minutes later, Jesse pulled up to his two boys sitting on the side of the road.
"Let's see." Jesse got out of the truck and knelt next to Luke. Bo had already managed to get his boot off, and had been cleaning his face with his shirt.
"How bad's the pain, Luke?" Jesse asked.
"It's manageable 'less I try to stand up." Luke never was one to come right out and say he was in pain, but he'd tell you if you asked him.
"Alright, let's get you in the truck and over to doc Appleby's." Jesse concluded, seeing that his nephew was alright aside from the ankle.
Jesse looked at Bo. "Get him in the truck, Bo." Jesse picked up Bo and Luke's bikes and put them in the bed.
Bo hauled Luke up over his shoulders.
"Easy there, I ain't a bale of hay." Luke complained.
"You're lucky I can pick you up." Bo chuckled as he set him down in the truck.
After a brief visit to doc's place, Luke was ordered to rest on the couch for the rest of the day, with his sprained ankle. Doc gave him some crutches and pain relievers for school tomorrow.
The next day, Jesse drove the cousins to school since Luke obviously couldn't ride his bike for a while.
After school, while they waited for Jesse to arrive, Daisy was talking to her boyfriend, Sam. He was kinda of dorky, but he was cute, and Daisy liked him. The other 10th grade boys, however, didn't. But they liked Daisy.
"Hey, Sam?" Two boys approached them. Ezra, the taller one, tapped his shoulder.
"What do you guys want?" He turned to face them.
"Sweet Daisy here deserves a strong guy, who can stand up for her." Ezra shoved Sam out of the way and approached Daisy.
"Oh, go away, Ezra. Only way I'd fall in love with you was if'in' ya got rid of all that ugliness in your heart." Daisy swatted her hands at him.
"Leave us alone." Sam stepped in between the two.
"I'll leave when I wanna." Ezra shoved Sam aside again, but this time Sam wasn't having any of it, and he punched Ezra in the jaw.
That made Ezra very angry, and he started beating on Sam, with the help of his friend who'd come along incase it came to this. Daisy wasn't wearing high heels to step on their feet with, and she didn't have anything to throw at them, so she couldn't really do much to help.
This would be an interesting fight: Ezra was bigger than Sam, but he wasn't the strongest in his grade. And Ezra's friend was smaller than them both.
Just then, Luke hobbled on the scene, shouting at Ezra and his friend, who were beating on Sam, who had pretty much given up the fight.
"What's goin' on?" He demanded.
"Ezra was pickin' on Sam." Daisy replied.
"Over you, right?" Luke asked.
"Yeah." Daisy smiled, blushing a little.
"You two knock it off!" Luke shouted.
"What are you gonna do about it?" Ezra smiled as he looked Luke over: there was no way he was fighting like that. Normally he'd knock it off, seeing as how Luke Duke was a year older than him and could beat the fear of God into him, but not today.
"I'm gonna tell you to stop." Luke replied firmly.
"You can't hurt me now, Duke." Ezra laughed, pointing at the crutches.
"When I get outta these I can, and believe you me I will." Luke replied.
"That's just talk." Ezra's friend, who was still beating on Sam said.
"Yeah, just talk!" Ezra shouted.
Daisy was smiling widely and Luke couldn't figure out why, until he saw Bo standing there, fists at the ready.
"My cousin don't 'just talk'." Ezra turned to see where the sound came from, but before he could place it, Bo had punched him in the face, hard.
"Dang Dukes." Ezra's friend mumbled before taking off running. He should've learned not to mess with 'em by now.
"You coward!" Ezra shouted at him, he would have needed his help. He grabbed Sam by the shirt and hit him again, but now that there was only one person against him, he was able to fight back, not well, but he was able to fight back.
Ezra felt a firm hand on his shoulder, then it turned him around and something else sent him flying backwards.
"Leave Daisy and her friends alone!" Bo pulled him back up and hit him again.
"You've really messed up this time, Bo." Ezra hit him, and Bo hit him back. This continued for a good few minutes.
Daisy saw to Sam, who was pretty shook up.
"Oh, look who's come crawling back!" Daisy pointed at Ezra's friend, who came strolling back over.
"I thought Ezra could use some help." He'd only come back because there was only one person to fight now, seeing as how Sam was incapable now.
"Bo, get outta there!" Luke called to him.
"Never!" Bo shouted back.
"Bo, you dang fool, there's two of them now!" Luke continued.
Bo ignored Luke's warnings and continued fighting. Ezra's friend grabbed his arms from behind him and held him for Ezra to beat.
"Dang it." Luke muttered.
Luke was about to drop his crutches and help his cousin, when Bo threw his arms and jabbed Ezra's friend in the gut with his elbow. Punching him out with both fists in one to get him out of the picture. Ezra swung at him, but he grabbed Ezra's arm and hit him, hard. Ezra would make one good shot for every good 4 shots Bo made, and soon Ezra was defeated.
Bo stepped away from the bullies and walked over to Luke.
"You did a real good job, but you're gonna get in trouble with the school." Luke cautioned.
"I doubt it." Bo smiled and ran back over to them.
"You ever mess with Daisy or any of her friends again, me an' Luke'll turn y'all inside out!" Bo laughed. What he said also meant: 'If ya don't want me an' Luke to beat you up again then you'd better not make trouble for me with the school' and they knew it.
"Come on Ezra, let's get outta here." Ezra's friend pulled on Ezra's arm and they both trudged off.
"I guess you just don't mess with Dukes." Ezra whispered when he thought they were out of earshot, but Sam and the Dukes heard, and laughed to themselves.
"Let's get you cleaned up, uncle Jesse's gonna have a fit when he sees you." Luke handed Bo a handkerchief.
"Thanks boys." Daisy smiled at them.
"Yeah, thanks guys." Sam agreed.
"You sure you're okay now, Sam?" Luke asked.
"Yeah, I was just a little shook up is all, Daisy'll clean me up and my folks'll never know." Sam chuckled as he and Daisy walked over to the water fountain to clean up.
"Bo, I'm impressed." Luke smiled.
"Ya didn't think I could handle myself?" Bo asked.
"No, I just... that was some pretty good fighting, where'd ya-"
"From you." Bo laughed.
Luke helped him clean up, just in time for Jesse to pick them all up.
"Who you been fightin' with Bo?" Jesse demanded when he saw Bo's face.
"Some boys was messin' with Daisy an' Sam." Bo told him.
"Bo did a real fine job." Luke patted Bo's shoulder.
"So, I take it their faces look a lot worse than yours?" Jesse chuckled.
"I'd say so." Bo laughed.
"You're gonna put ice on your face as soon as we get home 'hear?" Jesse commanded.
"Yes sir." Bo replied.
1 1/2 months later...
Ezra had heard that Luke's ankle was better so, he got together some of his friends and challenged the Duke boys to a fight. Luke was reluctant to answer, but before he could say anything Bo had yelled 'You're on!' and Dukes don't back out, so Luke decided that they would indeed fight the fight.
They were all to meet after school just outside of town, where nobody'd see 'em. Ezra had quite the evil plan though:
He told Bo and Luke the time of the fight separately, telling Bo is was at 3:30, and Luke that it was at 4:00. That way, he and his friends could beat Bo up first, and then when Luke arrived they could beat him up, too, seeing as how they wouldn't have each other to help.
At 3:30, Bo arrived to see Ezra and his friends: Bill, Ethan, and Alex, but no Luke.
"You ready, Bo?" Ezra taunted.
"Luke ain't here yet." Bo complained.
"Is that so?" Ezra continued. "We can wait 5 minutes, but that's all." Ezra grinned.
"Luke ain't never late for nothin'. He'll be here." Bo crossed his arms.
Five minutes passed, and Luke still hadn't arrived.
Dang you Luke, what's the matter with you? You can't leave me to fight four people who're all a year older than me!
"I don't see Luke anywhere." Ezra smiled.
"Maybe he got chicken." Alex suggested.
"Luke ain't no chicken, turkey!" Bo shouted.
"Then hows come he ain't here?" Bill smiled.
"Something must've happened, he don't show up late to nothin' 'specially not fights!" Bo yelled.
"Well he did this time." Ezra stepped forward. "You gonna fight us, or are you gonna chicken out like your cousin?"
"I'll fight ya."
"Alright, boys, let's fight!" Ezra started the fight.
As you'd probably assume, a 14-year-old against four 15-year-olds didn't have much luck. Eventually, Alex and Bill had a hold of him, and Ezra and Ethan beat on him. Bo had no choice but to stand there and take it. He kicked at them a few times, but that only stopped them for a few seconds. There was no way to shuck and jive his way outta this one.
After about 15 minutes, they got sick of it and dropped Bo down. Then Ezra pulled some rope from his bike bag and tied Bo to a tree.
"When's Luke get here?" Alex asked.
"About 10 minutes." Ezra looked at his watch.
"So that's what you done! You set us up!" Bo shouted.
"Yeah, and you two dipsticks fell for it!" Ezra laughed.
"When Luke gets here he's gonna rip y'all apart for what you done to us!" Bo shouted.
"All four of us?" Ethan laughed.
Bo didn't reply, he knew Luke could take two of them, but not four.
"That's what I thought!" Ethan chuckled.
In town, Cooter had accidentally run Luke's bike over while it was parked so, Cooter gave him a lift. He knew Cooter wouldn't snitch on them for fighting.
Back at the fight meeting place...
"You know he's gonna holler at Luke when he gets here and warn him." Alex noted.
"True." Ezra walked over to Bo. "You promise to shut up?"
Bo didn't reply.
"Hey!" Ezra backhanded him across the face. "You better stay quiet when Luke gets here, got it?"
"We'll see." Bo smiled.
"Bo, come on, don't make me stop being nice!" Ezra shouted.
"You're being nice?"
"Shut up!" Ezra slapped him.
Bo started coughing, and he knew that he was going to have an attack soon. He didn't want to seem vulnerable and let Ezra hurt him even more so, he tried to cope with deep breaths, but soon it became obvious as to what was happening when every breath sounded more like a wheeze than the last one.
"Now you're gonna hyperventilate?" Ezra laughed.
"He has asthma." Alex chucked.
"How convenient!" Ezra chuckled.
"You promise to shut up when Luke gets here, and I'll give you your inhaler." Ezra offered.
Bo didn't reply.
"Come on, we just wanna hurt him, not kill him." Ethan reasoned.
"Alright, let him have his inhaler." Ezra agreed.
"Where is it?" Ethan asked Bo.
"My bike bag." Bo wheezed.
Ethan returned with the inhaler and helped Bo with it until he was breathing more normally.
"You're lucky I did that for you." Ethan kicked him in the butt and put the inhaler back in the bike bag.
Ezra came back over and figured on what to do about Bo warning Luke when he arrived.
"I wish I had something to... ah, there!" Ezra removed Bo's belt and gagged him with it.
"You got no choice but to be quiet, now." Ezra smiled. "You got blood all over my hand when I hit you! You're gross!" Ezra wiped his hand on Bo's jeans, which were already spotted with the blood dripping from his mouth.
Ezra ran back out away from the tree when he heard Cooter's truck pull up.
Luke got out of the truck and Cooter waited for him, Luke would need a ride home since his bike was broken.
"Bo ain't here yet?" Luke asked.
"No, he ain't." Ezra replied.
"Well, he'll be along soon." Luke assured them.
Five minutes passed, and Bo was nowhere to be seen.
"That's strange, Bo ain't never late for fights." Luke looked at his watch.
"He is this time." Ezra smiled.
"I'll go ask Cooter to look around town for him, maybe his ol' bike gave out on him." Luke started towards Cooter's truck, then he noticed Bo's bike, not very well hidden behind a tree.
He turned to face Ezra and his friends.
"What did you do to Bo?" He asked.
"What do you mean?" Ezra played dumb.
"His bike is right there!" Luke shouted.
"What, I don't-"
"What the hell did you do to my cousin?" Luke grabbed Ezra's shirt.
"Come on, boys!" Ezra shouted and they all tackled Luke, forgetting that Cooter was watching.
Cooter stepped out of his truck and whistled loudly.
"Y'all knock it off!
"Tween Luke an' me we can beat the lot of ya!" Cooter shouted. "Now what did ya do to Bo?"
"We didn't touch him, he ain't here." Alex lied.
"His bike is right there!" Cooter shouted.
"We beat him up and tied him to a tree." Ethan blurted out.
"What tree?" Luke grabbed Ethan by the hair.
"I'll show ya." Ethan gave in.
"Cooter you take care of them!" Luke ran off with Ethan, who showed him to the tree.
"Bo, you alright?" Luke dropped to the ground next to him and removed the belt from his mouth.
"I think so." Bo panted.
Luke untied him from the tree. "You're bleedin', Bo." Luke examined Bo's face.
"I know." Bo glared at Ethan.
"Is this your idea of funny?" Luke stood up to face Ethan.
"It was Ezra's idea! And it is funny." Ethan laughed.
"I don't care who's idea it was! My cousin's bleeding, an' it ain't funny!" Luke hit Ethan so hard that he fell over, not daring to get back up and face him. Luke was about to pull Ethan back up to hit him again, but then he heard Bo wheezing.
"Do ya got one?" Luke asked him.
"It's in my bike bag." Bo wheezed.
"I think I have one..." Luke dug through his pockets until he found an inhaler.
"You want me to do it?" Luke didn't want Bo to be embarrassed in front of everyone, but he also didn't know if Bo could do it himself.
"Yeah, please." Bo opened his mouth and Luke started work with the inhaler.
Meanwhile, Cooter was chewing out the Ezra and his friends:
"Four against one, seriously?" Cooter shouted.
"Luke was late, it weren't out fault." Ezra lied.
"I brought Luke here at exactly 4." Cooter replied.
"Uh..." Ezra looked to his friends for another excuse.
"You're right Cooter, we shouldn't have tricked them. You happy?" Alex piped up, and Ezra elbowed him.
"No, I ain't happy! Y'all better play fair in the future 'cause it just comes right back atcha!" Cooter got in Ezra's face. "One of these days, someones gonna knock your head in. Now, get on home! Go on, get outta here!" Cooter shouted, and Ezra and his friends took off on their bikes, no way were they gonna tangle with Cooter Davenport. He was at least 8 years older than all of them.
Once Ezra and his friends were gone, Cooter trotted over to Bo and Luke.
"Is he okay?" Cooter asked, kneeling next to them.
"His lip is bleedin' pretty good, but facial tissue always bleeds a lot." Luke replied as he helped Bo to his feet.
"You okay?" Luke asked him.
"Think so." Bo shook his head to clear the cobwebs.
"Dang them boys.. Imma teach them a lesson they'll never forget." Luke muttered as he helped Bo into Cooter's truck.
"They told us different times to come so they could take us one by one." Bo explained.
"I figured that when I saw your bike behind the tree." Luke shut the truck door and Cooter started driving.
"Let's me and you go beat Ezra up tomorrow." Bo suggested.
"We should invite Ethan, too." Luke decided.
"uncle Jesse..." Bo remembered that they had a very protective uncle at home.
"Oh, lordie..." Luke sighed.
"He's gonna wonder what happened to me." Bo sighed, still catching the blood that was dripping from his mouth.
"He's gonna ask, too." Luke scratched his head.
"We'll just have to tell him." Bo concluded.
"I thought we'd win and we wouldn't have to tell him." Luke sighed.
"Do you think you could handle all four of 'em?" Bo almost shouted.
"No, I didn't mean that. It's their fault, they didn't play fair." Luke clarified.
As soon as they got home, Luke set Bo up on the couch and started icing his face and trying to stop his lip from dripping blood. Jesse was out in the barn, so they had some time to work up the courage and words to tell him that they'd been fighting. Again.
"You boys home yet?" Jesse called as he came in through the kitchen.
"Yes sir!" Luke replied.
"How was your- Bo, again! How many times do I have to tell you-" Jesse walked into the family room, at first angry, but then seeing the extent of the bruises and cuts on Bo's face, changed his tune. "How bad are ya hurt, Bo, what happened?"
"It ain't so bad. Me an' Luke was gonna fight some guys, but they told us separate times to show up and... they beat me up." Bo sighed.
"It was four on one." Luke added.
"You dang fool, where do you get off thinking you can fight four guys who are bigger 'an you?" Jesse asked.
"I didn't want to, they jumped me 'cause I was alone." Bo explained.
"Then they tied him to a tree." Luke added.
"Who done this? Please don't tell me it was that little Huggie Hogg..." Jesse asked.
"Ezra and three of his friends." Bo replied.
"I give you two permission to beat them to the next county!" Jesse shouted, before adding in a calmer voice, "Bo, you're bleeding."
"I know, his dang lip just won't stop." Luke held a towel to it.
"Let me see it." Jesse removed Luke's hand and pulled Bo's lip down.
"Might need some stitches, one of your teeth went clean through it." Jesse concluded.
"Well that's just great." Bo hit the couch.
"Should I call the doc or should we go on over there?" Luke asked.
"Call him and let him know we're coming." Jesse grabbed some of the ice packs and towels and headed out to his truck.
"Daisy!" Luke called after he hung up the phone.
"Yeah?" Daisy came out of her room.
"Bo's been in a fight and he may need a few stitches, nothin' too serious, but we're headed to docs place." Luke waved.
"You promise he's alright?" Daisy demanded.
"Yeah, I'm fine." Bo got off the couch and smiled at her, blood dripping.
"You're bleeding." Daisy starred at the drips.
"You're the third person today who's told me that." Bo laughed before headed out to the truck.
"You wanna come, Daisy?" Luke asked.
"Yeah, I do. How dare you think of going without me?"
"Alright, come on then."
Daisy and Luke piled into the truck with Bo and Jesse and they all took off for doc's place.
After a brief examination:
"Just a few stitches will fix this right up." Doc concluded.
"Dang." Bo muttered.
"Do you want the shot in your lip or in your wrist? In your lip, it numbs the area, in your wrist, a general pain killer."
"I'll take it in my lip." Bo sighed.
"Alright." Doc cocked his head and Luke approached them.
"You gonna be a good little boy?" Luke chuckled.
"Cute." Bo rolled his eyes. He felt terrible about complaining about shots at his age. He couldn't help it, and it was something that he was trying to work on kicking.
"I'm kidding." Luke took his hand.
Bo grasped Luke's hand, shut his eyes and opened his mouth, offering his lip for doc to stick him in.
"Okay, don't think about it." Doc took a q-tip and numbed it with a topical first.
"Think about girls, Bo." Luke chuckled.
"Lay down, Bo." Doc instructed when he was finished.
"Why?" Bo asked.
"So I can stitch you up." Doc replied.
"You can do it." Luke helped him to lie down.
Bo started shaking and sweating.
"You're okay." Luke's hand found itself in Bo's hair, his other still holding Bo's hand.
"N-no, I can't do it..." Bo started to sit up, but Luke eased him back down. "Yes ya can, it' gon' be fine."
"Your ready now, Bo?" Doc asked.
"I guess..." Bo sighed.
"Okay." Doc began working.
Bo Duke wasn't afraid of many things. He was one of the boldest, thoughest teens in Georgia, but when it came to doctors, it was a whole other story.
"It's okay..." Luke soothed when he felt Bo's hand grasp his harder.
It didn't take long for the doc to stitch Bo's lip up. Once he was done, the Dukes headed home, and the boys planned their beating of Ezra and his freinds.
That night, Bo couldn't sleep, and Luke couldn't sleep 'cause he could tell that Bo couldn't sleep.
"Can we talk a while?" Bo asked.
"Sure, whatcha do ya wanna talk about?"
"Stuff."
"What kinda stuff?" Luke asked.
"Like how I act like a seven year old at the doctor's office." Bo sighed.
"You do not."
"Yeah, I do, and I'm real ashamed of it."
"Bo, come on, you do great considering all you've been through with your asthma." Luke sat up and turned on the lights.
"Why do I get so scared?" Bo asked.
"Because 9-10 times your at the doc's you're suffocating and he's sticking you with all kinds of needles." Luke reasoned.
"I should just get used to it, not develop a phobia." Bo continued.
"Bo, there's lots of people who are afraid of lots of different things." Luke sat on the edge of Bo's bed. "You are one of the bravest people I know."
"Accept at the doctors." Bo sighed.
"You spent an entire night alone in a hospital with an oxygen pipe down your throat and with an IV line when you were five years old. Do you think that might make you afraid of doctors?"
"I reckon so." Bo agreed.
"Come here." Luke hugged him. "You are so strong, Bo. You've been fighting this junk since you were 5 and you're doing a damn good job. Don't despair about yourself, cousin: it don't help nobody." Luke released him.
"I reckon you're right."
"You reckon?"
"Yeah, you're right." Bo smiled.
"Alright, now you get some sleep." Luke went back to his bed.
"Thanks, Luke." Bo mumbled.
"Hey, any time." Luke smiled.
END OF THIS CHAPTER... I THINK IT GOT A LITTLE TOO LONG, IDK. ANYWAYS SEE YA NEXT CHAPTER!
