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Preston sat in the front seat of the white Mercedes as his mom drove toward Cancun. “So,” she glanced at him. “Did you have fun snorkeling with your grandmother?
“Yeah.” His grandmother Girard was cool for a grandmother. She let them do stuff his mom and dad didn’t. Especially stuff his dad didn’t like him to do. But Grandma Betsy was okay, too.
“I saw a couple parrotfish,” his mom said. Preston was surprised his mom had gone diving. She’d never done that before. He didn’t even know she knew how. “Did you see anything cool?”
“Yeah.” Preston wasn’t sure he wanted to talk to his mom right now. He had stuff to think about. But he figured he’d tell her about their swim. “We saw lots of fish and coral and Grandma said next time we can go to the Virgin Mary.”
“Sure, we can do that. Maybe tomorrow.”
Thank goodness she paid more attention to her driving than him for the next several miles.
“So, what did you and Uncle Jack talk about on the way to the boat this morning?” She was pushing. He wondered if Jack or Mr. Josh had said something to her about their conversation.
“Just guy stuff.” Would she be upset if she knew he’d asked the men to teach him to fight? They didn’t seem too excited about the idea. But Preston was tired of being called a pretty boy. Girls were pretty. Not boys. He’d hated the helpless feeling he’d had in that alley when those big boys came after him. He needed to learn to fight.
“What kind of guy stuff?” She was really pushing, and it made Preston mad.
“Just stuff.” Preston shrugged.
“Like what? Could you be more specific?”
He sighed. She probably already knew and was testing him to see if he’d lie about it. “We talked about fighting. Uncle Jack and Mr. Josh are going to teach me some martial arts moves. Can I take martial arts when I get back? Ricky Sledgemyer takes martial arts at the Y. I could go with him.” That might get her to say yes.
“Your Uncle Jack taught me how to fight and shoot a gun.” She slid a glance his way.
“You got a gun?” How cool was that? His mom had a gun.
“Yes, back home in the safe.”
“Ever shoot anybody?” Not that Preston could ever imagine his mother shooting someone but the ladies on those cop shows shot people.
“No,” she snickered. “I leave that up to the cops. I sometimes carry it when I’m working late. But back to this fighting. You really want to learn to fight?”
“Yeah.” He most certainly did.
“Because of the boys in the alley?” Darn it, she’d guessed why.
“Yeah.” He hung his head. His dad would never let him take fighting classes. He’d said fighting was juvenile and that Preston needed to concentrate on his studies so he could make it into medical school and be just like him. Well, Preston didn’t want to be anything like him. He was mean and forgot about his kids. And he forgot their birthdays. And didn’t love his mom anymore. Preston would always love his mom.
“Okay,” she said and smiled over at him.
What? His eyes almost popped out of his head. “You mean I can?”
“Yes. I think you can handle it.” Then she asked the big question, “So what did Josh and Jack say about fighting?”
Here it came. She’d change her mind about the martial arts classes. “They told me to walk away. That pretty much nothing is worth fighting over.” Preston wasn’t sure about that.
“That’s true, you know.” What did mom’s really know about fighting?
“Mr. Josh said real fighting isn’t like in the movies where the other guy backs down. He said it doesn’t end, especially if both sides think they’re right.”
“I think Josh is a very smart man.” She smiled but didn’t look his way this time.
“Is that why you kissed him?” He stared at her waiting for an answer for a long time.
“When did you see me kiss Josh?” She didn’t look at him.
“On the boat.” Then he asked the real question he wanted to know, “Are you going to marry Mr. Josh?”
She sighed. “No, Preston, I’m not going to marry Josh.” Before he could ask why, she asked, “Did your Uncle Jack give you any other advice?”
“He said if I was going to do something to get away, do it fast and furious and run like hell. He said that word, Mom, not me. I’m just telling you what he said.”
She laughed. “He gave me the same advice.”
“Mr. Josh fixed my phone and made me promise to always carry it.” He pulled it out of his pocket. “See. He did something special to it. He said it was a good phone.”
“It is a good phone.” She pulled into a parking space and turned the car off. “I’m glad I got it for your birthday.”
“Me, too.” The phone was awesome. It had games and everyone in his family had been programmed in. Now even his sister was on speed dial.
His mom turned in her seat to stare at him. Oh, no. Here was the mother talk. She shook her head. “You’re growing up so fast.” She pulled him into a hug. Good thing he wasn’t at the mall at home. Someone might see them. “Now, what kind of clothes are we looking for here? More polo shirts and khaki slacks?”
“No.” Oops. That might have come out too loud. He needed to use an indoor voice. “I like the clothes Uncle Jack wears. I need those kind of clothes for here in Cancun.”
An hour later, Preston carried two shopping bags and his mom had three more. This had been the greatest day of his life. She’d let him pick out whatever he wanted. His mom popped the trunk from a good distance away so the lid would be up when they got there. Good thing because Preston couldn’t see the car. A big brown van with no windows was parked right beside it. He trotted to the car and flung the bags filled with his new clothes into the trunk. When he turned back to wait for his mom, a big fat man stepped in front of him and he couldn’t see her.
“Excuse me, sir.” Preston tried to step around him but the man grabbed his shoulders.
“What’s your name, kid?” Another man with lots of muscles and tattoos in a tight t-shirt walked up on the other side of him.
“I’m...I’m Preston.” He tried to move around the big man and find his mom.
“You Girard?” Muscles and tattoos asked.
All Preston could do was nod his head. Fat guy picked him up and the side door of the van opened.
Fast and furious Josh had said. Well, Preston was in perfect position so he kicked fat guy in the privates.
The man dropped him. Preston caught his balance and started to run.
But Muscle Man caught him in a few steps and flung him over his shoulder.
Preston started screaming. “Help! Mom! Put me down!” He wiggled and kicked, but the man had a tight hold on him.
He looked up to see his mother running down the parking lot screaming in Spanish at the man. She dropped the shopping bags and swung her purse at the man’s knees.
“Bitch.” Muscle Man whirled around making Preston a little dizzy, especially since his belly bounced against a rock hard shoulder.
His mother smacked the guy with her purse, but he grabbed it one handed and threw it across the pavement where it slid under a car.
“Put him down!” she yelled in English. Muscle Man back-handed his mom, but it didn’t stop her. His mom would save him.
Preston reached out his hands, and she grabbed them. She tried to pull him off the man’s shoulders, but the tight grip Muscle Man had on Preston’s legs was too tight. “Mom!”
She pounded on the man’s back, but he ran to the van where fat guy stood by the open door.
Preston flew through the air as he watched his mom punch Muscle Man in the belly with a fist then bring her knee up to his privates. She must have missed.
He hit her with the back of his hand and she fell. “Mom!” He was hurting his mother.
Preston had to get away and protect his mom. He tried to squirm from fat man’s hold, but he was shoved into the van all the way to the other side. The door slammed shut.
No. That man was hurting his mom. He managed to get to the door but there was no handle on the inside. It was dark in there. The engine started and the van jerked knocking him onto the metal floor. The side door flew open and Muscle Man jumped in.
Preston saw his mom lying on the parking lot. All bloody.
Maybe she was dead.
A rage of hate and fear surged through him. Preston threw himself across the van at the muscle man and started pounding and kicking him.
The man grabbed both his hands and held him too far away. He couldn’t reach the man.
“Stop, kid. Don’t want to hurt you, but I will.”
In a flash, Preston was on his stomach, his hands behind his back. Although he continued to struggle, he couldn’t get away. The next thing he felt was a shot in the butt. He went dizzy as the van turned another corner.
Then he fell asleep.