The Awakening (12 page)

24

R
AZOR SHOOK
C
OLIN AWAKE
.

Colin jumped. “What? What is it?” He rubbed his eyes and looked out through the windscreen. He could see nothing but a trail of streetlights fading off into the night. The driver’s side window was open and the warm breeze was flicking Razor’s long hair around his face. “Where are we?”

“Just passed Sumter, South Carolina. We’re about halfway, but we’re running low on gas. You got any money?”

“Ten dollars.”

“That’s all? Damn. I’ve only got about five on me. Unless we can get more money for gas, we’re not going to make it as far as Virginia.” Razor hesitated for a second, then said, “We might have to make a withdrawal on credit.” He glanced at Colin. “You get what I mean? We go for the special offer. Zero dollars down, and zero dollars to pay each month for the next eighteen months.”

“You’re talking about robbing a petrol station?”

“In this part of the world, we call it
gas
, not petrol. Yeah. That’s what I’m talking about.”

“No way,” Colin said. “If you try anything like that I really
will
break your arm.”

“How did I know you were going to say that?”

“What time is it?”

“Three-thirty.” Razor yawned and slapped his face. “And I’m falling asleep here. You gotta keep me awake, OK? The radio’s busted, so talk to me.”

“What do you want to know?”

“You can start with what’s going on. Why are you running away?”

“You want the whole story? The truth?”

“Yeah. And pass me another Coke.” He jerked his thumb toward the backseat, where Colin saw a shopping bag packed with junk food.

He handed a can to Razor, who quickly popped the tab and drained half the contents in one gulp.

“When did you get this stuff?”

“Rest stop about fifty miles back.”

“What, you left me asleep in the car?”

“Yeah. Well, there was no one around for miles. You weren’t in any danger. Besides, you’re the one who’s psychic.”

“It’s not like that.”

“Then what
is
it like?” Razor asked. “I mean, here I am, middle of the night, on the run with a foreign kid who can read people’s minds, or whatever, and you know something? I don’t think those guys in Jacksonville were after
me
at all. I think they were looking for
you
. What do you say to that?”

Colin hesitated. “Razor, if I tell you the truth, I’ll be putting you in danger.”

“I’m already
in
danger, helping you out. I must be losing my mind. So…Speak. Tell me everything.”

Colin decided that there was no point in hiding anything. “You won’t believe me.”

“Let
me
decide that.”

“Ten years ago, all the superheroes attacked Ragnarök’s battle-tank and then disappeared.”

“This much I know. I was seven at the time. I remember it.”

“OK. Well, the fact is that they
didn’t
disappear. I mean they weren’t killed. They just went into hiding. What happened was that Ragnarök used a weapon that stripped them of their powers. The bad guys were arrested or escaped and the heroes all returned to their normal lives.”

“And how would you know this?”

“Because my father was Titan and my mother was Energy.”

Razor laughed. “Oh yeah, sure!”

“It’s true.”

“And this Solomon Cord we’re going to see, he used to be a superhero too?”

“He was Paragon.”

“Why should I believe you? And you still haven’t said why you’re on the run.”

Colin explained about Façade taking Quantum’s place, about the discovery of Danny’s powers and the subsequent kidnapping. Razor wasn’t inclined to believe any of it.

“You know what I can do,” Colin said. “My powers are only just beginning to appear. That’s how I was able to know what the men chasing us were up to; I’m not psychic, I was able to
hear
them.”

“And this is how you damn near crushed my hand? Superstrength?”

“I think so.”

Razor shook his head and laughed. “So you’re telling me that I’m sitting next to someone who’s going to be one of the next generation of superhumans? We’re quite a pair, aren’t we? A superhuman and a car thief.”

“That’s what you do? Steal cars?”

“Hey, everyone’s good at
something,
right? Me, I’m good at locks and engines. My old man always said, ‘Find something you’re good at and stick with it.’” He noticed Colin’s expression, then added, “It’s not like they have to pay for it themselves. They have insurance.”

“You check that, do you? Before you steal someone’s car, you make sure that they’re covered and they won’t need their car for a few days?”

Razor gave him a look of disgust. “Don’t give me that crap! In this world you have to take what you can get. Maybe you grew up in a nice little house with Mommy and Daddy looking after you, giving you everything you wanted, but some people weren’t so lucky.”

“That doesn’t excuse stealing from someone else. What about
this
car? Is it stolen too?”

“No. Ritchie’s mother gave it to him. It was a wreck. It took us two months to strip and rebuild the engine.”

“Then why don’t you get a job fixing up cars?”

“Because it takes us a couple of minutes to boost a car, and we can get maybe three hundred bucks for it from this guy I know.”

“You take the risk and he gets most of the money.”

“Look, sometimes you just
do
stuff, all right?”

“OK.”

“Anyway, we’re getting out of the car business. It’s getting too dangerous. Last month a guy we know was trying to boost this guy’s car and the guy came out and shot him. Damn near blew his hand off.”

“What are you going to do instead?”

“I know an old guy who makes his own homemade booze. Good stuff too. He’s got a whole cellar full of it. I told him I knew a guy who’d give him ten bucks a bottle.” Razor grinned. “Which is a lot less than we’re
really
getting for it.”

“So you’re what, about seventeen? And you’ve already graduated from being a car thief to selling illegal alcohol. What’s next? Drugs? Kidnapping? Murder?”

Razor slammed his fist against the steering wheel. “Screw you, Colin! What the hell gives
you
the right to judge me? You ungrateful little…”

“OK, OK. I’m sorry.”

“Jeez…You’re something else, you know that? I put myself out for you and you pay me back with insults!”

“I didn’t mean it like that. I didn’t mean that you
would
do any of that stuff. I’m just saying that you’re, well…”

Razor suddenly grinned. “I’m on the slippery slope?”

“Kind of.”

“Lot of guys like me end up doing serious time. That won’t happen to me. The trick to surviving it is to
know
that you’re on the slope and to know when to get off.”

“How did you get your name?” Colin suddenly asked.

“What?”

“Why are you called Razor?”

“No reason, just a nickname.”

“What’s your real name?”

Razor looked at him with suspicion. “Why?”

“I’m curious.”

“I’m not going to tell you my real name.”

“OK. But I don’t know anything about you. I mean, apart from the fact that you’re a car thief and that you like picking on kids smaller than you.”

“It’s not like that. You have to make sure everyone knows where you stand.”

“So why did you try to hurt
me
? Did I look like the sort of person who might challenge your leadership?”

“Every new kid gets checked out. Make sure they know their place.”

“It sounds like you’re just being a bully.”

Razor suddenly laughed. “A bully! Man, you’re up on all the really harsh putdowns, aren’t you?”

Colin grinned. Razor seemed wide awake now, less likely to nod off at the wheel.

Shortly after four in the morning, Razor steered the car off the freeway and stopped at a huge neon-lit gas station. They pooled their money. “All right…We got sixteen bucks and change. Way this thing eats gas, that might just get us to the next town, but not much farther.”

“Where will that leave us?”

“About a hundred and twenty miles short of Richmond. Plus we gotta stop somewhere, get some sleep. Unless you can drive?”

“No, sorry,” Colin said.

Razor looked around. There were four other cars parked nearby. “No good…”

“You’re not thinking about stealing another car, are you?”

“No. It’d be reported and we wouldn’t get more than ten miles. No, I was hoping for a camper or something. They usually have reserve gas tanks.”

“I don’t want to steal from someone.”

Razor sighed. “Colin, what’s worse? We steal fifty bucks’ worth of gas from someone or we never get to Richmond, which means we won’t be able to find your folks’ friend?”

“It doesn’t feel right. Don’t you have a credit card or something?”

“I don’t even have an address. Sure, American Express is just dying to give
me
a credit card.”

“Well, is there anything we can sell?”

“No…but I have an idea.”

Colin rushed into the gas station’s diner and shouted, “There’s a white Toyota on fire out there!”

There was a brief pause as everyone turned to look at him, then a middle-aged man said, “That’s
my
car!” and charged out.

Colin ran after him, just in time to watch Razor using his jacket to beat out the flames from the rear of the man’s car.

“Stay back!” Razor said. “I think it’s out, but we’d better give it a coupla minutes.” He turned to the man and said, “We were on the way in and there was this sort of ‘whoof’ sound and I saw these flames.”

“Hell,” the man said. “Better call the fire department.”

“No, I don’t think it’s serious,” Razor said.

The man looked around and said, to no one in particular, “Listen to this! My car was on fire and he doesn’t think it’s serious!”

“You just filled up the tank, right?”

“That’s right.”

“And you’ve been driving all night, yeah? Probably just some gas splashed out, ignited on the tailpipe. A coupla more minutes and it woulda been a fireball.”

The man gave Razor a friendly slap on the back. “Thanks, kid. Good going.”

A stick-thin, middle-aged woman came out. “Everything OK?”

“This boy here’s just saved our car,” the man said. “Saw the flames and put the fire out.”

“It’s no trouble,” Razor said. “Just glad I could help.”

The man turned to Colin. “Your brother is a very brave young man.”

Colin beamed proudly. “I know. He’s been looking after me since Mom got sick.”

The woman put her arm around him. “Oh, you poor boy!” She turned to her husband. “Give them something, Bernie.”

The man reached into the pocket of his slacks, but Razor backed away. “No, thanks! We don’t take charity from anyone.” He headed back toward his own car.

“Sorry, mister,” Colin said. “After my dad left, Wayne promised Mom that he’d take care of all of us.”

They watched as Razor drove his car up to the gas pumps.

Colin remembered a line from an old cowboy movie. “He says a man’s pride is all he has at the end of the day.”

“Where are you boys headed at this hour?” the woman asked.

“Orlando. We’re going to try and find our dad, get him to pay all the alimony he owes. We heard he lives there now.”

“Your accent is a little unusual,” the man said. “Where are you from?”

“Pennsylvania, originally,” Colin said. “But I was living with Mom’s sister in Scotland until a few years ago. They sent me home because…well, like I said, my mom’s not well and…” He trailed off, and tried to look like he was struggling to hold back tears.

The man patted him on the shoulder. “It’ll be OK,” he said. He looked over at Razor, who was filling the tank and was very obviously trying not to put in more than sixteen dollars’ worth. “Your brother’s a good man. He’ll take care of you.” He lowered his voice. “Look, there’s nothing wrong with a man having his pride. But he shouldn’t be
too
proud, you know what I mean?”

“No,” Colin lied.

The man took out his wallet and pressed some money into Colin’s hand. “You can tell him about this when you’re on the road and it’s too late for him to refuse, OK?”

Colin felt wracked with guilt at his deception, and this must have shown up on his face.

“Take it,” the woman said.

“We don’t deserve this.”

“It’s a reward.”

“We
really
don’t deserve it,” Colin said. To himself he added,
At least
that
bit is true.

“Then consider it a gift.”

“Thank you. It’ll make a big difference.”

The man patted him on the shoulder again. “You look after your mom and Wayne, all right?”

“I will. Thanks again.” He held his hand out to the man. “My name’s Bernard, by the way.”

“No kidding? That’s my name too!”

“How much did we get?” Razor asked as soon as they reached the freeway.

Colin counted the money. “Five twenties and a fifty. A hundred and fifty dollars.”

Razor laughed. “Man, that was great!”

“It was wrong.”

“Colin, you saw the way they were dressed, you saw the size of their car. Those people are rich. A hundred and fifty bucks is
nothing
to them. And look what they got for their money: they now believe that they’ve helped some less well-off folks. They’re gonna be feeling good about this for weeks. That’s gotta be worth a hundred and fifty bucks.”

Colin wasn’t sure. “Maybe.”

“Trust me. Nice touch pretending you had the same name as that guy, by the way. You’re a natural grifter.”

“I don’t like the sound of that.”

Razor laughed again. “Look, now we’ve got enough money to get to Richmond and find your friend. What are you complaining about?”

“We shouldn’t have done it.”

“You’re telling me that you didn’t enjoy that? Colin, you just ripped off two sweet old folks and you did it better than I would have. You remember that, next time you start thinking you’ve got the moral high ground.”