A couple weeks later, Michelle had been released from the hospital. Throttle had borrowed Charley's truck since he had been spending his time at the garage. Charley and Modo didn't want Throttle to be alone in the apartment while Michelle was in the hospital.
After Throttle and Michelle got to the complex, he turned the truck off, got out and came around to help her out. 'What a gentleman he is.'
After we got upstairs, Throttle pulled out the keys and unlocked the door. He opened it and let me in first. "It is so nice to be home. I can't believe your father shot me!"
Throttle shut the door behind him. "After what he did to you, he's no longer my father. He tried to kill you. He threatened to kill Modo. He's never going to see Tony as long as I live. If he shows up at the wedding in Anaheim, I will kill him on the spot."
He turned around and saw the look on my face and the look in my eyes. "Oh hell no. You're not taking any more unnecessary chances with your life and the life of our child. I'm drawing the line right now. I'm sorry, babe."
"You're going to deprive me of the chance to kill that…rat bastard? Really?"
"Yes, I am. I'm not going to give him a chance to kill you. You got lucky this time. You may not be next time. I don't wanna lose you, Michelle. You mean too damn much to me."
"He tried to keep you from me. I'll be damned if I allow him to live. I'm not gonna back down, Throttle. I deserve to take his life from him."
"I know you do, but not while you're pregnant. You're about 7 months pregnant. You lose the baby this late in the pregnancy, it might push you over the edge. Do you think I wanted to leave? If I didn't leave willingly, I was going to lose one of my good friends. I didn't want Charley to resent me if I refused to leave."
"I understand that. For as long as I've known Charley, she can hold a grudge for a long time. Yeah, I think she'd resent you for a very long time. If Carbine hadn't suggested that she help find a way to bring you back, I had planned to move to Anaheim. I even packed up all your clothes. The next step was to let Charley take them to the garage and store them for me. It was hard for me to accept that you were gone and never coming back at the time. If Carbine didn't have a plan, I didn't see a reason to stay. Honestly, staying here in Chicago is a bad idea. He knows where I live. Just staying is putting everyone at risk."
"Its not safe for you to be traveling right now."
"But traveling to Mars to rescue you is ok? Are you listening to yourself right now? You're making excuses for him! You're stopping me from killing him!"
"I'm not making excuses for that bastard! I could care less how he dies, but you're not going to do it! End of discussion! Got it?!"
I wanted to smack the fuck out of him, but I decided to leave. "When you're ready to apologize, you can find me at the ball park."
After I left, Throttle sat down on the sofa. He didn't mean to start a fight with me. He was just thinking about the safety of me and the baby. Nothing more. 'What if she's right? What if I am protecting him in some small way? Even if I have denounced him as my father, he is blood, family.'
"Damn it! I hate when she's right. I'll wait a few hours before I go to the ball park and apologize. Maybe by then, she'll have cooled off a bit."
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Downtown Chicago. The Quigley Field ball park. I had walked all the way to the ball park. It was a nice walk. I sat in the upper bleachers and looked over the field. Kind of odd not seeing the team playing. But I also knew that they were at an away game in Los Angeles to face the Dodgers in a 3-game series.
While I was sitting in the bleachers, both Vinnie and Harley came walking down from the scoreboard. They were going to go for a walk around the field.
They decided to see why I was there. Vinnie sat down on my left and Harley sat down on my right. "Hey, what's going on? Throttle called and said you were mad at him. Oh, glad he's back."
I looked at Vinnie and nodded. "Why? What did he do for you to be pissed at him?"
"Told me that I don't get to kill Tredz for nearly killing me. I wanted to hit him, Vinnie. I did, but I decided to leave and go for a walk to clear my head. He's making excuses for that rat bastard."
"You have to understand that blood is thicker than water. Throttle may not have liked what happened to you, but he also doesn't want to see you hurt or lose the baby. While you were in the hospital, all he could think about, all he could talk about was you and the baby. Ever since Tredz found out that his son was dating a Human, Throttle had been worried about what could happen. He feels responsible for you getting shot, landing in the hospital."
"Pregnant or not, I deserve to kill that bastard. Throttle is protecting him, Vinnie! It makes me sick knowing that he's protecting his father. He's protecting an abuser."
What I didn't know was that Throttle had come to the field to apologize. He walked down to where we were and sat down in front of us.
"Babe, I'm so sorry. You do deserve to dispose of my father, but…"
"Throttle, I get it. You know I can handle my own. Look how I dealt with your father while pregnant. Even when you stood up to him, he still beat you down, but he did it verbally. I physically beat him. I'm just surprised he came back and with that spineless jellyfish, Stoker. Big pussy."
They got a big laugh when I called Stoker a big pussy. I smiled. Throttle leaned over and gave me a hug. I hugged him back. "I'm sorry for yelling at you, Throttle. I shouldn't have. I just don't like that you're protecting him. He abused you and your mother. From what you told me, he's never done anything nice for you."
"He did until I was 6. He use to take me for rides on his bike, which is now mine."
"Wait, you telling me that your bike, the bike that would watch over me when you left, use to be your father's?"
"Yeah. Been thinking about giving her a new paint job, but I don't need her trying to run me down."
"Well, maybe I can convince her. She's taking a liking to me after you left the first time. She took me for rides around town. She out in the lot?"
"Yeah. I will be shocked if she allows you to repaint her instead of me."
"Let's go find out." I stood up and headed down to the field, then towards the parking lot.
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When we walked out to the parking lot, Throttle's bike was sitting there, waiting to take him home. I walked up to her and patted the tank lovingly. I got on her and sat there.
"Hello, pretty lady. I found out that you use to belong to Throttle's father. You've been good to Throttle all this time. You've kept me safe when he left. We're both grateful for everything. Would you allow me to repaint you a different color?" I had been patting the tank the whole time, too.
She beeped at me continuously. I smiled. "She wants me to pick the color."
"She's going to allow you to repaint her?"
"Yep. She also would like Charley to help. She's due for her tune-up."
"What color are you thinking about?"
"All black, maybe."
The bike beeped. "You like the idea of all black, huh girl?"
It beeped again. I chuckled. "Then all black it is. I'll have to take a sander to you. You going to be ok with that, girl? I don't wanna hurt ya."
She beeped at me then revved her engine. "Ok, ok. I get it. You wanna go for a ride."
"Think that's a good idea, babe? You're pregnant."
"I know, but its been a while since I've been for a ride. Meet you at home. The SUV needs to go to Charley's for a tune-up. Could you do that for me before you take it home?"
"Sure. Just be careful, ok."
"I will." Then I put the helmet on.
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About 5 hrs. later, I had gotten home. I had a nice ride around town, ate lunch then headed home.
I walked up to my place and opened the door. Throttle was in the kitchen making something to eat. I could tell by the smell as I opened the door.
"Mmmm, something sure does smell good."
"How was your ride, babe?"
"It was great. Been a while since I've gone for a ride like that. I hope to do more after the baby is born."
"We'll see. You hungry?"
"Not really. I ate lunch before I came home."
"So, you don't want some bacon, then?"
"Not really, but thanks though."