The guy replied, “I don’t believe in God.”
“You’d better start praying to God that gas doesn’t catch on fire.”
He tried to pull the guy out from under the truck and found his left leg was under the cab. The guy screamed in pain like a little girl and hit Grumpy on the shoulder. Grumpy said sorry and started trying to dig the guy’s leg free to no avail.
He backed up and looked at the old truck and gathered all his strength, grabbed the running board and pushed and lifted with all of his might. The truck moved enough that the guy came free. Grumpy grabbed the guy by the arms and drug him away from the truck, fearing that the gas would catch on fire even in the rain. He got them as far away as he could before he ran out of steam. He was trying to remember his first aid training when the guy tried to stand up. The guy yelled something about his dog Sammy might be pinned in the truck. Grumpy told him to stay still and put his hands on the guy’s chest and pinned him to the ground. The guy kept trying to get up but was in great pain. He then told him that he would go get the dog.
Grumpy ran back to the truck and poked his head in the passenger side but did not see any dog. He was about to leave when he heard a whimper. He still could not see a dog, when suddenly a head poked out from above his head. The dog was under the seat, which was now the roof. He got the little dog out from under the seat and took him back to the guy who gently took the dog and kissed it.
Grumpy started checking the guy out and found that his leg was bleeding. Grumpy took his shirt off and then took his undershirt off to make a bandage to apply pressure to the wound.
The guy said, “You’re going to take a dirty sweaty undershirt and put it on my cut?”
Grumpy replied, “I think God has just washed it with all of this rain, besides you’ll bleed to death if I don’t stop this bleeding from your calf.”
The guy tried to get up again and Grumpy put his hands on the guy’s chest and pinned him down again. The guy was crying and said, “God doesn’t know me. I was taking Sammy to a friend’s then I was going to run the truck off a cliff.”
Grumpy laughed and said, “You need to get better at picking cliffs if you want to kill yourself. You just managed to get us both wet and muddy! Besides, God does know you, he knows everybody. He just does not step in to solve all of our problems. You are still young and need to learn that your mom and dad and, yes, God loves you.”
Grumpy felt another person was behind him. The pastor said, “Bill, you are doing a great job. Please tell this boy about God.”
The guy replied, "I don’t have a dad and my mom is a drugie who hates my dog and me." The pastor asked, “How old are you?”
The guy replied, “Old enough to know that you two are full of bull and need to stop preaching. I don’t believe in him and never will!”
This really made Grumpy mad but he realized that this youngster may have had a bad life and just needed to get right with God and get a fresh start. Grumpy said, “I know that you have probably had a rough life, but if you just place yourself in God’s hands he will help you to get the strength to live through your troubles. I know, personally, that he doesn’t take all of the pain and troubles away but he can help you start living a good life and avoid more trouble. My wife and I have lost a daughter and had a son killed in Afghanistan, so we know that life can be tough but it is worth living.”
“My daughter took her own life because she felt so alone in this world. We loved her and raised her right. I have no idea why she killed herself but I know she was loved, as you are. I will never stop trying to find out what I did wrong that would contribute to her death and will tell you now that people love you."
“When you get out of the hospital, look me up and I’ll take you to our church and help you learn about God and all of the good that can come to your life thorough our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.”
The paramedics arrived and took over. They checked the guy out and placed him on a gurney, but would not take the dog. The guy pitched a fit, but they told him a hospital was no place for a dog. Grumpy took the dog and told the guy that he would take him to a vet and keep him until he could come and get Sammy. Grumpy asked the guy what his name was.
The guy replied, “Sam, my name is Sam.”
Grumpy said, “Well, Sam and Sammy, God loves both of you!”
Grumpy headed back towards his truck with Sammy in his arms. He saw the pastor and Mary talking up ahead. He overheard the Pastor say, “Bill was wonderful, he was a super hero. He saved the guy, gave first aid and gave witness about God to the poor soul, all in fifteen minutes."
Just then, the paramedics walked up and wanted to check Grumpy out to make sure that he was all right. As they led him to the ambulance, the pastor said that he would drop the dog off at Smith’s Animal Hospital. Grumpy had a few scrapes and a bunch of bruises but was otherwise okay. They also examined Mary’s ankle and said she just had a sprain and to stay off it for a while.
Grumpy got a jacket from behind the seat of his Ford and they drove home. Mary told him ten times how proud she was of him.
✼ ✼ ✼
✼
Chapter 6
Grumpy slept in Monday morning until 9:00 a.m. when he heard the phone ring. He heard Mary talking to someone and could not go back to sleep. He got dressed and came down the stairs thinking they had to move their master bedroom down to the ground floor. His knees hurt and just about every other part of his body hurt. That was new because of straining, trying to lift the truck off that young boy.
He got a glass of orange juice from the refrigerator and sat down at the table. Mary had heard him moving around upstairs and had prepared his favorite breakfast. Three eggs over medium, bacon, toast with pepper jelly and a pot of coffee. Mary had already had breakfast but sat down with Grumpy to discuss yesterday’s events. Again, she told him how proud she was of him and that the local TV station was to have a piece about the wreck this afternoon. There was also a front-page story about the wreck with a picture of Grumpy pulling the guy from the wreck.
Grumpy thanked her and said, “Anyone would have done what I did, it was nothing special.”
“Sweetheart, it was special. Only you and our pastor made it down to that poor boy; the rest just stood around and took pictures with their phones. You may have saved that boy’s life because the others just watched.”
Grumpy replied, “I wonder how many peoples' souls are lost because no one steps in to help.”
She interrupted his train of thought by saying, “I almost forgot that call was from Sheriff Cox’s office. He wants you to come by and fill him in on more detail about the wreck.”
“I’ll go by the vet's and check on the dog while I’m out.”
“Don’t you think we should drop by the hospital and see how Sam is doing? He was pretty beat up according to the paramedics.”
“How about tomorrow for that visit?”
Mary was okay with going to the hospital a day later.
Grumpy went to Sheriff Cox’s office and told him all he knew about the wreck and asked how the driver was doing. The Sheriff replied that he had not heard, but was going to interview the driver that afternoon. He thanked Grumpy for helping save the driver and the dog.
Grumpy asked, “What do you know about the kid’s parents?”
The Sheriff said, “The dad is in prison for cooking meth and was a poor excuse of a human. He was suspected of robbing several pharmacies and gas stations, but nothing stuck. He was a bad kid in school and got in trouble several times for bullying other kids and taking their lunch money.”
Grumpy asked about the mom. The Sheriff went on to tell him about the mom. She was a girl from a well-to-do family from Louisville, but had fallen in love with that piece of crap. She had tried to clean up her act when the baby was born, but the drugs and alcohol kept reeling her back into a world of drugs and shady people. Sam had started well in school, but was picked on by the other kids because her clothes were worn out or dirty. Sam was barely on the
radar, but nothing bad enough to bring out CHFS.
Almost as an afterthought Grumpy asked, “What about the mom’s current boyfriend?”
The Sheriff answered, “That one is a very bad guy. He has been in jail twice for armed robbery and beating a guy to death. He was also a suspect in a young girl's kidnapping as a teenager, but nothing came of it. His family is big money in Louisville and they spent a fortune getting his sentences reduced. He was caught red-handed or they would have gotten him off without jail time. Stay out of his way.”
Grumpy drove over to the Animal Hospital, went to the front desk and asked about the dog. The receptionist called for the vet who came up to talk with Grumpy about the dog. The vet told him that Sammy was not in good shape but was eating like a horse. There appeared to be no injuries from the wreck but the dog was malnourished for a one-year-old Shih Tzu. While they were talking, an assistant brought Sammy up to visit.
The vet said, “You can see he is extremely thin and you can feel his ribs sticking through his skin. We washed him and brushed his hair, but he needs grooming.”
Sammy had hair so long that you could not see his face. His coat was silver gray with dark streaks that went from top to bottom down his sides. His face was a dark gray and he had dark button eyes with a dark patch under his chin that looked like a beard. He was only about ten pounds and was about sixteen inches tall at his head. His tail was long, bushy and constantly wagging. He went to Grumpy and demanded that Grumpy pick him up. Grumpy picked Sammy up and the dog tried to lick him in the face, but Grumpy was too fast. Sammy barked and wagged his tail.
The vet said, “This dog has not been taken care of and I have to report the owner to the local authorities and turn the dog over to the shelter until they decide what to do with him.”
Grumpy said, “That doesn’t make sense, that boy loves this dog. I was only with them for a few minutes but that boy loved that dog more than his own life. What happens if no one adopts the dog? ”
“Bill, you know what happens. The dog is put to sleep after five days without being adopted.”
Grumpy said, “That just isn’t right.”
The vet replied, “If you feel so strongly, why don’t you take him home with you now? I am on the board of directors at the shelter. I’ll take care of the paperwork. I won’t even charge you with the bill.”
“I’ll take him. Even a dog deserves a second chance,” Grumpy replied.
Grumpy kept trying to think how to break it to Mary that they were the proud owners of a Shih Tzu. They had not had a dog for over eight years and he was not sure that he had done the right thing bringing this orphan home with him. Sammy had just lain down in the front seat of the truck with his head on Grumpy’s lap and minded his own business. He didn’t even try to look out the windows. They stopped at a pet store and bought a leash, dog bowls, toys and dog food. Grumpy then went to a lady who grooms dogs and talked her into cutting Sammy’s hair.
“Do you want the classic Shih Tzu cut?"
Grumpy replied, “No, cut it real short and maybe he will look like a dog.”
The lady replied, “Why did you pick out a dog like this if you wanted a man’s dog?”
He replied, “The dog picked me out.”
She placed Sammy on the table and he just sat there and let her groom him without any fuss at all.
She said, “This is the best behaved dog I have ever groomed.”
He paid her and they drove home.
He got out of the truck, put the dog on the leash, walked him up to the front door and rang the doorbell. Mary came to the door and opened it. Sammy jumped into her arms and started licking her all over. He almost knocked her down. She recovered and sat down on the floor with him on top of her. She laughed and fell in love with Sammy at first sight. He was all over her and she stayed on the floor with him and played with him and his toys. They both got tired and Sammy lay down beside Mary and went to sleep. Mary said, “He is so skinny, did that boy ever feed him?”
Grumpy filled her in on the conversation with the vet. He told her that it did not make sense because he could tell that the boy loved the dog.
Mary sent Grumpy back into town to pick up some more dog supplies and some gates to keep him in the kitchen until they knew how well he was house trained.
It was dark when he got home and after he got everything unloaded, Mary had supper ready for both of them. They dined on pork chops, green beans and corn while Sammy had a bowl of dog food with pieces of pork chop stirred into the mix. Both of her guys were happy and had full bellies. They went to bed with Sammy in his new dog bed in the kitchen.
Mary woke up and went down to the kitchen. She did not find any mess in the kitchen but Sammy wanted out so she took him out on his leash to do his business. He was very well behaved and did not beg for food, but Grumpy fed him scraps off the table so Mary knew that the begging would come soon. Mary told Grumpy to fix the gate for the backyard fence and she would be able to let him outside to play and do his business without being tended to.
He went to the garage, got his toolbox, and tried to fix the gate however Mary had let Sammy out into the back yard and he was trying to play with Grumpy while he worked. He sat down on the ground by the gate to tighten the bottom hinge on the gate. Grumpy started to get mad and even yelled at the dog once, but Sammy just jumped in his lap and licked his face. He pushed Sammy away, got back to work and soon had the gate working freely.
Just as he was admiring his work, a ball rolled between his feet. Sammy had run up and dropped it just in front of Grumpy. He picked the ball up and threw it towards the back of the yard. Sammy was lightning fast, brought the ball back and dropped it at Grumpy’s feet. He threw the ball several more times and told Sammy they had to find some new games to play. Mary joined in and they started a game of keep the ball from Sammy who quickly figured this new game out and sat down at Mary’s feet and begged for the ball. Grumpy rolled on the ground and laughed. Mary went over to him and sat down on his belly with Sammy jumping on her. They had not had this much fun in many years.
When Sammy wanted to be picked up, he got up on his hind feet and walked up to Grumpy with his front paws in the air. This reminded him of his daughter when she was a toddler. She would walk up to him and raise her arms and say, “Daddy, pick up.” Every time Sammy got on his hind legs and walked, it reminded him of Ann.
That evening the news had a story about the wreck. They were making a big deal about Bill Jones being such a hero and saving the life of the driver. Bill turned the channel before they got too far into the story. He still did not think he had done anything special and certainly not anything any good Christian wouldn’t do for his fellow man. Mary came over to him, gave him a big kiss and sat on his lap.
“I need to find someone else to save, if I get the hero treatment every time.”
✼ ✼ ✼
✼
Chapter 7
They woke the next morning to find Sammy at their feet at the bottom of the bed sound asleep. Mary had forgotten to put the gate up to the dining room and Sammy just made a run to get upstairs. Grumpy ran his hand under the cover and tickled Sammy, which ended up being a fifteen-minute game of Sammy chasing Grumpy’s hand under the cover. Mary was laughing so hard she hurt her side. They got up and looked throughout the house to see if he had torn up anything and only found one strange situation. He had piled all of his toys up in the corner of the living room by the TV. Mary had gone to bed too tired to straighten up the house and now didn't have to clean up after Sammy.
“Good dog!”
When they finished searching the house, they saw Sammy coming down the stairs with something in his mouth. It was a pair of Grumpy’s underwear.
Mary said, “Bad dog.”
Grumpy said, “At least the dog has good taste.”
Mary punched him in the shoulder. Grumpy and Sammy ended up in a game of tug with the underwear with Grumpy eventually winning but the underwear had several holes in them. Grumpy made a me
ntal note to buy some more toys for the dog.
***
They had a light breakfast and decided to go to the hospital and see how the boy was doing. Grumpy had told Mary about their conversation about God, but had not told her the part about the boy wanting to drive his truck off a cliff. He told his wife how destitute the boy appeared and about the desire to commit suicide. Mary mentioned that the boy must have a horrible home life to attack his mother’s boyfriend and want to commit suicide. Grumpy agreed and said that at least his mother would know how her child felt and perhaps could help him before it was too late.
They drove to the hospital with Grumpy driving the old Ford and Mary driving her car so they could drop the truck off at the garage to have new tires and wheels installed. After all, Grumpy’s new hobby was to restore the truck. As they were leaving, Grumpy saw a wrecked truck at the side of the garage that might have the engine and gear he wanted. He went back into the garage and asked about the truck. He was right, it was a newer Ford and the body was totaled, but it had exactly the running gear that Grumpy wanted in his truck. He asked if it was for sale and the garage owner said that he would check because the owner of the truck still owed him the towing fee. This made Grumpy happy because the truck had a 460 V8 with a C6 transmission and a nine-bolt Ford rear end. Just what he wanted!
They went on to the hospital and went to the information desk to find where the boy’s room was. They told the attendant that they wanted to visit the boy that was in the wreck the other day.
The attendant got a big smile on her face and said, “You are the hero, who saved that kid, aren’t you?”
Grumpy said, “I helped a kid in trouble, but I am no hero.”
The attendant gave them the room number and directions to the room. They took the elevator and traveled to the section of the hospital where the boy’s room was. As they approached the nursing station, they heard a commotion in the hallway up ahead and saw a woman throw a vase at a seedy looking guy who was running while trying to duck the vase.
Grumpy, Sam and Sammy: A Murder Mystery and Thriller Page 3
