See Tom Run

by Scott Wittenburg

  All of this and the fact that he was scared shitless.

  The rational thing to do was stay here in the Jeep for the night, try to catch a few winks and resume tomorrow morning in the daylight. At least then he could see what the hell he was doing.

  His mind made up, Tom cracked his last bottle of spring water, took a slug and downed a handful of cashews. Feeling his eyelids droop for what had to be the hundredth time since this grueling trip through hell began, he rummaged through the duffel bag for the blanket he’d packed and spread it out over himself. He locked the doors, pulled the recliner lever up, leaned back in the seat and stretched his legs out until his feet were rested up against the carpeted firewall. Within a minute he was fast asleep.

  CHAPTER 9

  Tom awoke with a start. An instant later, he heard a crash and felt shards of glass fall into his lap. Before he could react, he heard the click of a door lock and saw the Jeep’s interior bathed in light as the driver’s side door suddenly swung open.

  In an instant, huge hands clawed at his chest, pulling him up and out of the Jeep. His heart beating like a jackhammer, Tom could see the face of his captor in the dim light of the Jeep. The face was young, about eighteen or so, and a grimy gray. The boy pulled Tom onto his feet while another youth came out of nowhere and punched him in the gut.

  “Look what we have here, mates! Another intruder to our domain!”

  Tom crouched forward from the blow long enough for a knee to uppercut his jaw. His head whipped backward as he reeled in pain.

  “Jesus Christ!” he wailed. “What the hell-”

  His first captor held him in a full nelson from behind and spat into his ear, “Now matey, there’ll be no more words from you now!”

  Tom got a good look at the other adversary as he stood there leering at Tom, brandishing what looked to be a three-foot long iron bar. This boy was also young, maybe sixteen or so, tall, lanky and black.

  “That is unless you want to feel some more pain from this,” the black youth cried, drawing the bar back menacingly.

  Tom instinctively tried to raise his arms to protect himself but the grip on them was too great.

  “Nice wheels ya got here,” another voice said. Tom spotted a third youth who had been standing in the shadows. He was white, stocky and not quite as tall as the other boys.

  “This is the first Jeep we’ve seen,” he added.

  “Say, you’re right, Bummer!” the boy with the English accent replied. “We can go anywhere in this thing!”

  “Four wheel drive-motherfucker!” Bummer exclaimed.

  ‘Let’s just see what he has inside for us. Hoops, you check it out. And why don’t you cuff our guest so he doesn’t get any wise ideas, Bum,” the young Brit said.

  “Got it, Chappy,” the stocky boy replied.

  As the black youth boarded the Jeep and poked around, Bummer came over to Tom, pulled a pair of handcuffs from his back pocket and cuffed Tom while the other boy held him. The stench emanating from Bummer was unbearable-a disgusting mix of sweat, alcohol and human excrement. Tom nearly gagged.

  “There, now. That should keep ya under control. So tell us your name, bloke. No sense in being a stranger!” Chappy chirped.

  “Tom. Tom Grayson.”

  “Well, Tommy-Boy, it’s a pleasure to meet you. Allow me to introduce you to the troops here. This is Bummer and that’s Hoops in there casing out your ride.”

  Tom’s jaw was pounding as he stood there before his captors. “What do you plan on doing?” he managed to say.

  Chappy laughed heartily, a sort of girlish giggle. “Did ya hear that, blokes? Tommy-Boy here wants to know our plans!”

  Bummer snickered moronically. “That’s a laugh and a half!”

  Chappy stood directly in front of Tom, smiled and pulled out a long barreled pistol – the kind that Dirty Harry used. He pointed the gun directly at Tom’s forehead and pulled back the hammer. Tom froze, his heart in his throat.

  This is it, he thought.

  “I’m afraid our plan is to kill you and take your wheels, Tommy-Boy. So why don’t you make your final request before I blow your brains out. But make it quick-we’ve got other things to do.”

  “Why? Why are going to shoot me? I haven’t done anything to you,” he pleaded.

  Chappy giggled again. “Oh, but you have, Tommy-boy! You’ve done something very bad. You have busted into our fair town without an invitation. And that just isn’t a happening thing, is it, Hoops?”

  Hoops had joined them, holding Tom’s iBook and cell phone up for everyone to see.

  “Definitely not happening, dude. Check it out, men! An iBook and a phone. Pretty good shit, eh?”

  “Not bad-any juice in that computer, Tommy?”

  Tom replied weakly, his voice cracking. “I think so.”

  “Excellent! I’ll say one last thing before we say our goodbyes, Matey. You’ve brought us some damn good shit here. I mean, a fucking Jeep, a phone and a Mac-absolutely awesome!”

  Tom wished he could share in the joy of their spoils but couldn’t. All he could do was stare at the. 44 Magnum pointing at him and wait to make Chappy’s day Hoops said, “The Jeep won’t turn over, Chappy. Something’s screwed up.”

  “Screw it. We’ll come back later when it’s light and see if we can get it running. At least we got the ‘puter and a phone, and for that we thank you very kindly, Tommy. In fact, I think we’ll grant you one final request for all of these wonderful contributions. What would you fancy, Tommy-Boy? Pizza? A beer? Or maybe you’d like to give us all a blowjob! Hey, hey, whatayasay, Tommy-Boy?” Chappy taunted.

  “Yeah, a blowjob! C’mon Tommy, let’s make that your final request!” Bummer shrieked as all three boys laughed in unison.

  Tom’s head was spinning wildly as he tried to figure a way out of this situation. He could make a run for it, but he knew he wouldn’t get far with that loaded. 44 in Chappy’s hand.

  But what if he could he kick it out of his hand? Was it possible?

  Got to stall them longer-got to think this through.

  “Uh, hate to disappoint you boys, but a beer is actually sounding like a better choice,” Tom finally said, forcing a smile.

  Hoops got right up into Tom’s face. “What the hell makes you think you got a choice, Tommy-Boy? You didn’t think we was gonna really let you choose your own final request did you?”

  Chappy shook his head slowly and said: “I’m afraid Hoops is right, Tommy. In case you haven’t already guessed, we are calling the shots here. And you are just gonna have to go with whatever we decide on. So what’s it gonna be, mates? Shall we give this man a beer or let him suck our weenies?”

  The other two looked at one another, snickered and shouted in unison, “Weenies!”

  Tom felt his heart sink and his blood boil. He would rather be shot In a flash, he kicked the Magnum out of Chappy’s hand. The gun went flying into the air. Before it touched the ground, Tom was twenty yards away running for his life.

  “Catch him, lads!” Tom heard Chappy holler from behind. He never looked back as he sprinted east down Thirty-Fourth Street.

  He heard a deafening shot ring out and a bullet ricochet off a nearby wall as he ran with all his might toward the store with the broken window. Although it was pitch dark, he knew to stay on the right side of the sidewalk and that it wasn’t much further ahead. His plan was to duck into the building before the others caught up to him.

  In another forty yards, he reached the store and glanced back toward his pursuers. He could see a long shaft of light aimed in his direction from about thirty yards back.

  Tom groped around until he felt where the break in the window was, sliced two fingers in the process and hopped through the window into the store. The broken glass made a loud crunching sound beneath his feet as he scurried toward the rear of the store. A beam of light danced around on the east wall just as he bumped into a large object. Tom groped around and realized that it was a sales counter, ran his hands along t
he top until he reached a corner, rounded the corner and crouched down behind the counter.

  At that moment, he clearly heard the boys’ voices and saw the beam shine on the ceiling directly above him.

  “I’ll bet he ran in here!” he heard Hoops say.

  The light shone randomly all over the place as Chappy chanted, “Tommy, Tommy, come out and play! We know you’re in there!”

  Tom felt his heart nearly beat out of his ribcage and held his breath. Cold sweat poured down his face and stung his eyes as he struggled to remain still in his awkward position.

  “Let’s go in and get him,” Bummer said. “Apparently he doesn’t want to play with us,” he added with a guffaw.

  A shot rang out and the slug tore through the counter Tom was hiding behind. Tom could actually smell the singed hole in the wood as he nervously felt around for the point of entry. He discovered a three-inch hole near his head-the bullet had missed him by only a couple of inches.

  “The next one is for you, Tommy-Boy! Don’t make us come in there and track you down-it’s just gonna make you suffer that much more when we find ya!” Chappy warned.

  Giving himself up was not an option. He would stay where he was and wait it out. And pray for a miracle.

  “Okay, Matey-we’re coming in!”

  There was a shuffling of feet as the boys climbed through the broken window and entered the store. Tom felt around behind his back for a weapon of some kind but got only floor, counter and air. His ass was cooked.

  The boys spread out and came toward him, Chappy in the center of the charge with the flashlight in one hand and the. 44 in the other. Tom watched helplessly as the beam shone on the floor just to his right. He suddenly saw a foot appear and knew that Chappy was one step away from killing him.

  Tom did the only thing left to do. He stuck his leg out into the aisle in a desperate attempt to trip Chappy up.

  The ploy didn’t work. All he managed to do was ram his shin into the edge of the counter, causing him to howl in pain.

  “Well, well-what have we here! By god it looks like ‘ol Tommy-Boy!” Chappy exclaimed in delight, training first his flashlight then the gun directly into Tom’s eyes.

  Tom braced himself and awaited the gunshot. He wanted to say a silent prayer but didn’t have time “Bang!” Chappy cried. “You’re dead!”

  All three broke out laughing.

  Tom stared up at Chappy warily, trying to get a read on the demented sadist. What makes this scary son of a bitch tick? he wondered.

  “Not quite yet, Tommy-Boy. We aren’t gonna let ya off that easy, are we blokes?”

  “Not even,” Bummer said.

  “Nope, Tommy. I’m afraid that you’ve just earned yourself some real pain. Now, get the hell up and I mean now, not tomorrow!”

  Tom managed to get up onto his feet, his shin writhing in pain as he did so.

  “Let’s get the hell out of this morbid place. Lead the way toward the street, Tommy-Boy. And don’t try anything funny or believe me, I’ll shoot your balls off one by one before I totally waste you.”

  Tom stumbled toward the window and climbed out onto the sidewalk. He was so whipped now that he could only pray for salvation when they finally killed him.

  “Let’s take him back to camp, boys. I’ve just got an idea and it is freaking brilliant!”

  “What is it, Chappy?” Bummer asked excitedly.

  “Oh, I’m afraid it’s just too good to give up right now, lads. But I can tell ya this-Tommy is gonna be in a for a howling good time when we get back!”

  “Shit, Chappy-give us a hint, anyway,” Hoops pleaded.

  “Hmm. Well, let’s just say that we may have our other guest put on a real nice show for Tommy-Boy here. A show that I think he’ll enjoy beaucoup!”

  The three had drawn up alongside and Tom glanced over at Chappy. A sinister smile came to his face as Bummer exclaimed excitedly, “Oh shit, man-I think I got a pretty good idea what you’re talking about. Too freaking awesome, dude!”

  The mention of this “other guest” made Tom wonder whom they might be referring to. Could it be Erin? Was it possible? If so, then what had happened to Kyle? Or maybe the guest was Kyle and Erin hadn’t been caught yet.

  He needed to find out.

  “Who is your other guest?”

  The moment he spoke the last word, Tom felt something crash into his ribcage.

  “Silence, Tommy-Boy! It is none of your goddamn business and you had best keep your trap shut if you know what’s good for you. You don’t have any idea how close I am to maiming you with this piece. Are you getting the picture, mate? Or do I need to prove that I mean business here?”

  Tom glanced over at Chappy, not sure if he should answer or not. He nodded instead.

  “There you go, man. And let’s just keep it shut until I say so.”

  They had returned to where the Jeep was parked; but instead of stopping they moved past it. A moment later, Tom saw the vehicle they had apparently arrived in and did a double take.

  Parked in the middle of the street was a shiny black Cadillac hearse, complete with curtained windows.

  “What do ya think of our wheels, Tommy? Not many miles to a tank of petrol but nice and roomy!”

  Tom gasped, but remained silent.

  “Let’s put Tommy in the back, Hoops. Along with the stiff.”

  Tom glanced in horror at Chappy. The boy suddenly broke into laughter. “Just kidding, Tommy-Boy! No coffin back there, I promise!”

  Hoops took Tom around to the rear of the hearse and opened the tailgate. He gestured for him to climb in, no small task while wearing handcuffs. He managed to wrestle himself in and lie down on his side in the rear compartment, his head resting forward. Hoops slammed the tailgate door shut and came around to the side. All three of them got in with Bummer driving, Chappy in the front passenger seat and Hoops in the backseat.

  “We forgot the iBook,” Hoops said after Bummer fired up the V8.

  “Go get it-and the cell phone,” Chappy ordered.

  Bummer pulled up beside the Jeep, Hoops hopped out, gathered up the items and got back in.

  “To camp, James,” Chappy ordered.

  Bummer floored it, laid a patch and sped east on Thirty-Fourth. Tom’s vision was partially obstructed by the hearse’s curtained windows but he caught a quick glance of the Empire State Building as Bummer zoomed past it.

  A few minutes later, the hearse swung a left onto what looked to be Park Avenue. Bummer slowed down a little as Tom peeled his eyes through the curtain in an effort to get a fix on where they were going.

  “What we gonna do about that heap, Chappy?” he heard Hoops say.

  “Oh hell, I don’t know. It’s in really bad shape-about all it’s good for is petrol. That poor bloke was about as worthless as they come, eh?”

  Bummer replied, “No shit. Crap car, no good stuff except that cheap. 22 and nothing but attitude. Sweet hot lady, though.”

  “ Sweet is an absolute understatement, Bum! That hottie is gonna provide us with many a premium ride-makes me willy stiff just thinking about her!”

  All three chortled.

  “Jesus, damn-our own white slave anytime we want her! But just wait’ll she gets a shot at my throbbin’ johnson! She won’t want shit to do with you lily-white punks after that!” Hoops exclaimed.

  “Hate to break it to you, mate, but size isn’t everything. English charm and incredible longevity will have her crawlin’ back for more from yours truly,” Chappy said.

  Then Bummer chimed in, “Screw both of you! Did you see the way she was looking at me after I made mincemeat of her boyfriend? That was the look of respect! She wanted to give it to me that very minute! Well, maybe once she got over the fact that I’d just split her loverboy’s skull in two, that is. But I swear that whole goddamn whupping turned her sweet ass on!”

  “Bummer, you are one sick dude,” Hoops declared.

  “Screw you, Hoops!”

  Tom’s mind was reeling as h
e felt the hearse begin to slow down again. Erin! he thought. And Kyle! They had to be talking about Erin and Kyle! Who else could it be?

  “Well here we are-home sweet home,” Chappy announced. “Let’s get Tommy-Boy out of this crypt and show him our humble abode.”

  Tom squinted his eyes to see where they were. It looked like they were still on Park Avenue.

  Hoops came around to open the tailgate.

  “Out, Tommy.”

  Tom scooted on his ass toward the rear of the hearse and sat on the bumper long enough take in the surroundings The hearse was pulled up in front of 301 Park Avenue-The Waldorf-Astoria!

  As Tom let out a gasp, Chappy came around and pulled him on to his feet.

  “So what do ya think, Tommy-Boy?”

  “I’m speechless,” was all Tom could say. The mere thought of these skuzzy delinquents inhabiting one of the world’s most elegant hotels was inconceivable.

  “You freaking should be,” Chappy replied. “And let’s keep it that way.”

  Chappy shoved Tom forward as they headed for the entrance of the famous Waldorf. Bummer held the door open and Tom was unable to remain silent after seeing the inside. “Where is all of the light coming from?”

  Chappy glared at him and Tom saw murder in his eyes for speaking out of turn. The English boy’s misguided pride, however, prevailed.

  “Backup generators, Tommy. Practically everything in this place is fully functional. And quite comfortable, I might add.”

  Tom squinted as he took in the elegant beauty of the Waldorf’s lobby, bathed in light. A huge crystal chandelier cast delicate jewels of reflected light onto the marble floor. The stunning effect of the lush lobby lighting was a study in contrasts from the dark foreboding world he’d just left outside.

  “Hungry, Tommy?” Chappy asked offhandedly.

  Tom could eat a horse. “Starving.”

  “Too freaking bad!” he quipped and giggled his girlish giggle. “Can’t feed ya, I’m afraid. But I’ll tell ya what I can do for you while my mates and I enjoy a little snack.”