Wild Ride (5 page)

“I get that, but doesn’t she realize that she’s hurting her brothers by doing that shit…
and her mom too?” he asked.

“That’s the unable to function part
, Chuck.  Until she
wants
to take back control of her life or she’s forced to… unfortunately that will be the case,” Gran said with a sigh.

“It’s been a damn year since her accident…
I’d be bored out of my fu… frickin’ skull if I stayed locked up in my room 24/7,” he said.

“That’s because you’re full of it…
life,
” she said.

“But in the meantime…
how do I get her ass downstairs for Ben’s birthday?” he asked.

Gran laughed
. “Oh, Chuck… it’s like describing the taste of French Fries to a potato.  I don’t know the answer to that… sometimes instinct will tell you how to handle a situation.  You’ve got good instincts Chuck… just listen to them.”

When he arrived at the Johnson’s house later that afternoon and knocked
, Carla answered the door wearing a smile…
almost
like she was happy to see him
. 

He smiled back when she invited him inside.  Ben came running around the corner and tackled him around the legs.  It would have been a great tackle if he was big enough to make an impact.  Fortunately for
Chuck the little guy merely shoved him back a step.

“Nice hit
, boy!” he laughed, picking him up and tossing his little squirming body around the back of his neck so his legs were draped over one shoulder and his arms over the other.

Carla simply laughed and headed into the kitchen.  He followed trying to see around Ben’s arm
which was draped across his forehead.  When they reached the kitchen he pulled Ben around and then flipped him over and sat him on the ground.

“Do that again Chuck!”
he giggled.

“Maybe later…
go get your brother.  We’ve got a cake to make,” he replied.  Ben took off at a dead run.

“Now with tomorrow being Ben’s birthday
, I am only working until six tonight.  I’ll pick up a pizza on my way home for dinner so don’t worry about making anything.  I’m off tomorrow for his birthday so you won’t need to baby sit but you’re still welcome to come by for dinner and cake,” she smiled.

“Sounds great…
have fun at work,” he said, pulling the cake recipe out of his back pocket and unfolding it.  Ben returned with Matt in tow and the excitement poured off them.

“Chefs, commence with the washing of the hands!”
he said.

Matt pulled a kitchen chair over to the sink and Ben climbed up and began washing his hands.  Carla
just smiled and said, “See you later, boys, be good for Chuck.”

They yelled their goodbyes as he preheated the oven and then began looking through cabinets for the ingredients on the list.  Matt found a mixing bowl and a cake pan while Ben found a measuring cup and measuring spoons.

“You want one big cake or cupcakes?” he asked.

“I want one big cake with lots of icing and candles!” Ben yelled in his excitement
.

“Ok!” Chuck yelled back.

The boys both giggled and Matt said, “Are you going to yell every time he does?”

“Are you going to charge me a quarter every time I mess up and say a bad word?”
he asked in return.

They looked at each other and then back at him “We’ll give you three free ones but after that you have to pay up but only if you don’t yell…
you’re louder than Ben,” Matt said with a laugh.

“Why thank you
,” he said with a smile. “And it’s a deal.”

The boys took turns adding in the ingredients he measured out for the cake and then Matt used the mixer while he and Ben found all the ingredients for the icing. 

He held the bowl while Ben scooped the batter into the pan and then he put the cake in the oven.  Matt set the timer on the oven.

The evening went smoothly with the cake turning out better than he’d expected…
thanks to Gran.
  After having a slice of pizza with the boys he headed out. 

He stopped at Wal-Mart and found a couple of smaller Nerf guns for Ben’s birthday gift.  He had a bigger one that Dickie had
given him as a gag gift to piss off Becca Waters, his attorney.  He and the boys each having a Nerf gun… they could really have some fun.

He decided to stop off at Tommy’s house to see Gretchen and Melody…
and to sweet talk Dana into wrapping Ben’s gifts.  Dana was Tommy’s girlfriend and the best thing that could have possibly happened to him and his kids. 

He hung out for a while and then headed to his new apartment.  Dana had let him take over the lease on her apartment when she moved in with Tommy.  The place was like the Taj Mahal compared to the shit hole he had been living in.

After a good night’s sleep and having put in a full eight hour day at the shop he was feeling pretty good as he headed to the Johnson’s house.  He’d stuffed the two gifts, a kid’s sized helmet and his own Nerf gun in his backpack and, after parking his bike, he took his Nerf gun out and put it in the bushes next to the front door.  He’d no sooner done so when the door swung open.

“Chuck!  It’s my birthday!” Ben yelled
.

“Well Happy Birthday
, buddy!” Chuck said ruffling the boy’s hair.

He laid his gifts for Ben on the table next to the ones
already piled up there when Matt entered the kitchen.  He held out his fist to Matt and the boy bumped it and smiled at him.

“She said no
, Ben… sorry,” Matt said.  Ben’s little face looked sad as he climbed onto one of the kitchen chairs.

“Who said no?” Chuck asked Matt
.

“Meredith…
he wanted her to eat dinner down here with us but… she wants a plate in her room like usual,” he said looking at Ben.

Seeing the disappointment in Ben’s face made him…
angry.
  He rarely ever got angry but seeing a five… now six year old disappointed seemed to be having that effect. 

He probably shouldn’t get involved but…
when had that ever stopped him before.  Hell he wouldn’t be here now if he had that kind of control over himself.

“You want Meredith to be down here for dinner
, buddy?” he asked.  Ben nodded with his sad little look.

“Alright then…
I’ll
go get her,” he said.

Both boys looked at him and then at their mother just as Judge Patterson stepped through the doorway of the kitchen. 
Chuck stopped mid stride and looked at the old man.  He looked…
normal
… without his black robe on. 

Judge Patterson waved
a hand motioning Chuck through and holding his other arm outstretched as though pointing at the stairs. 
Was he daring him?

Nodding his acknowledgment of the challenge to the old man
, he headed up the stairs taking them two at a time.  These people were nuts but he’d take the dare and raise them one older daughter delivered to the dinner table!  He stopped in front of the door to her room and knocked.

“Are you decent in there?”
he hollered through the door.

“Go away!”
he heard a female voice holler back after several moments of silence.

“Not going to happen.  I’m going to count to five and then I’m coming in there
,” he threatened, getting angrier at her by the minute. 
It was her little brother’s birthday for God’s sake!

“One…two…three…four…five
,” he said loudly to the closed door.  Then turning the handle he opened the door.

The room wasn’t frilly as he expected…
or pink.
  The walls were a tan color with a white border that cut through the middle.  A dresser set along the wall nearest the open bathroom door and a smaller table with a mirror was positioned directly ahead of him on the far wall.  A bed with a peach colored comforter was located along the wall to his left.

As his eyes made it to her he felt his breath catch. 
God she was a vision
… like the stuff of a teenage boy’s dream.  Long blond hair was pulled up carelessly in a loose pony tail and wisps of it had escaped to frame the prettiest face he’d ever seen. 

The brown eyes he remembered peering out at him from
behind the curtains seemed to take up most of her face only to be out done by her lips…
full and pink.

The problem was she wasn’t a girl…
she was a woman… closer to his own age if not older… not the teenager fresh out of high school he’d expected. 
Not good
… his brain tried to tell his dick… which didn’t seem to want to listen.

“Get out!”
she yelled at him.  Forcing his eyes away from the vision she made, he noticed the wheelchair that sat next to her bed.

“No…
my boy Ben is having a birthday party and you’ve been invited.  So we can do this the easy way… or the hard way,” he heard himself say.  His brain seemed to be lacking oxygen or blood that was readily available in other parts of his body.

“I
said
get out,” she said coldly before looking away from him.

“Chair? Or being carried?  Last chance
,” he warned. 
Did she think he wouldn’t do it?

“Don’t you threaten me…”
she shot back, whipping her head around to glare at him. 
Damn!
  Even her anger seemed to have an effect on him…
an inappropriate one
… but still. 

“Times up…
carrying you it is,” he said as he forced himself to move over to where she lay.

Sitting up as he neared her she said
, “You wouldn’t dare…”

Staring her in the eye he made his way to the side of her bed and reaching down yanked the covers all the way to the foot of her bed. 
Big mistake!
 

She wore a thin light blue camisole type shirt and her perky unrestrained breasts seemed to pebble before his very eyes.  Her bottom half was covered by grey short shorts that left her shapely legs bare…
and, God help him, his eyes went
there.

Both legs were perfect aside from one missing foot.  One sock covered her remaining foot and a matching sock covered her stump.  Her stump was not the problem. 

The sight of her shapely thighs was the problem.  He caught himself staring at that part of her that made her a woman.  She was thin but not Dana thin… she was perfect. 
Fuck-able and then some.

Forcing his mind out of the gutter and his eyes back to hers
, he bent and scooped her up in his arms.  It was like trying to hold onto a feral cat.  She proceeded to struggle against him, which only managed to push her higher in his arms until her breasts were in his face or at least eye level.

“Put me down…
now!” she ordered, smacking her slender hands against his shoulders. “You asshole!” she finished in a shocked whisper.

He readjusted his hold on her so
as not to drop her and realized that he was cupping her bottom in his hands.  Her good leg was straight but her other leg was wrapped around his waist.  It was an awkward position that successfully lined up her parts with his. 
Good God!
 

This would not do at all to cart her down the stairs in front of Judge Patterson in a position that could easily mimic…

“Not a chance… and you owe a quarter,” he ground out as he continued his attempts to not drop her.

Giving up on attempting anything that would allow her to maintain some dignity
, he hefted her up a little higher and forced her over his shoulder.  She was a strong little thing as she reared up rather than hanging like a sack across his shoulder. 

He stood still for a minute
, adjusting her weight as she continued to struggle.  Eventually she stopped struggling and relaxed over his shoulder.

“You done?” h
e asked.

She didn’t respond and instead reached down and pinched his butt…
hard.

“Ouch!  That’s real mature…between that right there…
and throwing a temper tantrum… real nice,” he said.

“I’m immature?”
she huffed in disbelief. “I’m not the one barging into someone’s
bedroom
and then carting them around like some Neanderthal cave dweller!”

Figuring she was finally done squirming
, which would make the descent down the stairs easier and safer, he headed for the door.  Maybe there was something to be said for cavemen… he kind of understood the idea of carrying a woman off now.

As he neared the doorway she said
, “Can I at least have my robe?  It’s hanging on the bathroom door.”

Turning around
, he walked over to the bathroom door then turned again so she faced it.  He felt her pull the robe off the hook and fold it over her arm.  He carried her out of her room and down the stairs with no more struggling. 
Dare this… wild woman!