October 2007 Short Story
 

MARKET DAY
By Harrison Lowe

Saturday was a special day for Gilbert and Jenny Manyfarms, his adorable wife. They always looked forward to driving to the local flea market especially Gilbert. This was their time to be together and he really enjoyed doing what she liked to do. She was looking over a list she made of things to get at the market when a song by the famous country singers Brooks and Dunn Neon Moon started playing on the radio.

"Oooo--turned it up. I love these guys!"

Gilbert leaned over and stole a glance at her list and playfully joked about the items on her wish list.

"Dang! Look at that, he said. You’re going to need a prayer to get half of that list. You might have to Google them, aayyy"

While Gilbert and Jenny were pre-occupied with each other, a news flash came over the radio saying that there had been a robbery and that a Chevy truck was spotted headed West on Hwy 218. The announcer warned that the driver may be armed and dangerous and said that anyone who sees the truck should be cautious and call 911 immediately

"Stop" she cooed, "You‘re so mean." Gilbert took the opportunity and blew her a kiss which Jenny caught the kiss in mid-air and planted it on her lips, "Got it. Thanks babe." Just then Jenny looked up ahead on the two-lane road and saw an oncoming truck driving erratically, weaving back and forth and coming directly towards them at a high rate of speed.

"Careful babe", she warned. "There is a crazy driver coming our way. Slowdown, Please."

"I see him" replied Gilbert. He took his foot off the gas pedal but not fast enough.

No sooner than she warned, the speeding driver clipped a post on the guardrail. The ½ ton Chevy truck swerved side to side. almost tipped than it rolled on two wheels before landing back on all four wheels and bounced like a Monster truck. The out-of-control truck was coming right at Gilbert. There was nothing Gilbert could do but to steer hard right to avoid being side-swiped. Unfortunately, the two-lane road was under repairs and loose gravel caused Gilbert’s front brakes to lock and skid off into a ravine. He turned the steering wheel so hard that he was unable to regain control of the Ford Bronco. The front wheels hit a fresh-filled asphalt hole on the shoulder and slid down into a ravine where it turned over on it’s side. Both Jenny and Gilbert weren’t hurt but shaken. Jenny was near shock gasping for air. Gilbert managed to crawl out first and ran around to the back so he could open the tailgate door to assist Jenny. She was pinned to the door in an awkward position. Fortunately, seatbelts minimized any hard injuries. Paper, books, pillows and other debris had piled on Jenny. Gilbert crawled in the back and unlatched her seatbelt. As soon as she was free, she grabbed a hold of Gilbert’s arms so hard that he nearly fell on top of her.

"Come baby. We gota' get out of this mess. I can smell gas and who knows what will happen next". They both crawled out. The gas fumes were thick in the air and they hurried to get away from the bronco in case it might catch fire with the fuel spill.

As Gilbert picked her up and he felt a sharp pain in his right thigh. He thanked the stick shift for that. Both his knee caps were also bruised. He had difficulty carrying her far enough from the vehicle and sat her down on the ground to catch his breath.

"I’m Ok Baby. You better go check on the other driver because he might be hurt worse than me", she said.

The other truck was also turned on it’s side in the middle of the road. a couple hundred feet beyond the near impact.

"Are you sure you‘re Okay, Jen?"

"Yes. I think I’ll be fine." She pulled herself together and tried to be strong. "What do we do now?" Her lips quivered.

"First we have to call 911 and report an accident with the lunatic crazy driver". He handed her the cell phone. "Here you call and I’ll check to see if the other guy is OK." He stood and his bruised knees nearly buckled under his weight. He winced and bit his lower lip to keep from adding more stress to the already chaotic situation.

Jenny waited till Gilbert was some ways from her then she broke down into tears. She sat for a minute or two to calm her nerves. In her shaky-state of mind, she took the cell phone to call 911.

"911, can I help you?"

"Hello. My name is Jenny Manyfarms. I’m calling to report an accident and I think there might be a serious injury involved. My husband went to check to see about the other party. Please hurry. I can see smoke rising from the other vehicle."

"What is your location?"

"I think…I think…(she tried to hold back her sobs) we are about ten miles west of … TEN MILE Post….on hwy 128, Please hurry".

The 911 dispatcher heard her sniffles , "Are you Ok, Jenny?"

"Yes."

"So you’re right near the AZ state line? Can you give a description of the other vehicle in question?"

"Yes. Please hurry." It’s a truck is all I know. It was speeding …and it all happened so fast. Before we knew it, we were run off the road."

We have dispatched an ambulance and emergency patrol car". They should be there in a short while. Just sit tight."

"Thank you very much."

She felt dizzy and disoriented but she knew she had go see about Gilbert in spite of her conditions. She stood up, looked for Gilbert and started walking toward the other truck. She stepped on some loose gravel and stumbled but quickly gained her balance. She passed the smoking truck and heard grunting sounds but couldn’t see anyone. Then she walked to the edge of the road and saw Gilbert and the other man fighting and rolling around on the ground down below. She gasped and wanted to scream but quickly covered her mouth so as to not make another sound. She hid low and out of sight. Her heart was racing and pounding inside her chest.

The crazy man stood up and took a wild swing. Gilbert ducked, lost his balance at the same time and went down to one knee, agitating the bruised knee even more. The man shouted, "It’s all your fault, you SOB". Then he drew a six-inch hunting knife from his boot.

Jenny rose just enough to see that he had a knife. She gasped again and it was all she could do to keep from screaming. She was desperate and in tears but didn’t know what to do. She said to herself, "Oh God. Help me. Give me something, anything". She looked around for something to grab but the loose gravel along the roadside was all there was, for some reason it caught her attention. At that moment, she sensed something came over her. Then her fears left her. Her thinking became clear, she was very much in control and knew right then what needed to be done. This crazy man was threatening her husband with a knife and needed to be stopped. Jenny paused to gain control of herself because of all the adrenalin flowing through her body.

Jenny looked on for a moment to assess the movements of the two fighting men. She studied how they moved from side to side, how the man held the knife and in which hand. Then she calculated the timing so she could make her move. But first, she needed a weapon. Her eye studied the gravel along the roadside and again it gave her an idea.

The assailant was tired now, and when he switched hands, he dropped his knife. He shuffled his feet over the knife but kept one eye on Gilbert. In that split second, Gilbert lunged at him and they both went tumbling down. They were rolling on the ground, grunting. The knife was now out of reach for both men. Gilbert tried to wrap his arms around the assailant in a bear hug but one of the guy’s arms got free and Gilbert felt a hard jab to his jaw. The wild man was then able to grab the knife and regain control which forced Jenny to change her plan of attack. The man staggered to his feet, and now held his knife in front of him. Then Jenny watched in horror as he crouched down low like a wrestler. He welded the knife dangerously and begged Gilbert to make a move.

"You see this? This is what I use to butcher sheep. You want some of this, huh? Com’ on. You fight like a sissy."

Something wasn’t right with this picture. Gilbert couldn’t believe this was happening to him. All he wanted to do was help. Instead this lunatic was ready to cut him up.

Gilbert tried to reason with him. "C’mon. What’s your name anyway? You don’t want to hurt me. I’m on your side. I came to find out if you were Okay, remember? Now, put that knife away and nobody will get hurt. Can I call you Jackson?"

Jenny stood up and made herself visible to Gilbert. She was standing looking on. He danced the guy to where his back was to Jenny. Once she realized what Gilbert was trying to do, she quietly removed her slip she wore under her dress. She ripped it into two long strips. Then she tore another piece in a square shape. In the square piece, she put three handfuls of gravel and made it into a ball shape. She wrapped one long strip round and round the ball-shaped and left a tail to tie the other two long strips to it. She tugged the knot tight, enough that it was like a ‘ball and chain-like’ sling shot weapon.

Gilbert continued to keep the man’s attention while Jenny made her way down. She held the end with the stones in her left hand and the other end wrapped around her palm in the right hand. She knew she had to get close enough for her ‘ball and chain-like’ sling shot to be effective which meant moving into close range of the crazy man.

Just then sirens were heard down the road. The sound alerted the man and he turned around suddenly and saw Jenny standing behind him at a distance. He backed slowly away from Gilbert so he was not blocked between them. He took another swiped with his knife at Gilbert and turned to Jenny. "Com’on. I ain’t afraid of no sling shot. You can’t use that---you’re a woman!" He threw his head back and laughed. "You come to save this weasel? He can’t fight. My sister could beat him in a leg wrestle." Jenny could see saliva spewing from the man’s mouth but she kept her cool. But when he spit on the ground and laughed even louder, that angered Jenny. A feeling she never knew she possessed. She dropped the heavy-end with the gravel knot to the ground but kept a tight grip on the other end. Then she began to slowly whirl the sling shot above her head as she made her decent down the slope. As she whirled her sling shot above her head, she recalled a time when her brother use to hunt rabbits using a similar contraption. But this was not the time to figure out how her brother managed to hurl stones at the target.

"Over here." Gilbert taunted the man to draw his attention from Jenny. "Look at me. I’m the one who caused you to hit the guardrail post. I’m the one you want, remember?"

The sound of the sirens were getting closer. Moments later, a squad car came to a screeching halt above them. The man turned and took off running along the ravine. Gilbert looked on as Jenny focused on her prey. She narrowed her eyes with intensity. The sling shot, whirled so fast above her head that it made a Bullhorn-like sound. Jenny never took her eye off that man and she waited for just the right moment in which to release. Two more small shuffle steps and planted her right leg, then her left foot stepped forward like a pitcher on the mound, and she let go. The thrust in her release gave the weapon enough force to hit with accuracy and enough power to bring him to the ground. There was loud thump then a painful cry of agony from the running prey. It had landed on the man’s upper shoulder.  Just like the rabbits her brother use to hunt and brought down. Gilbert couldn’t believe his eyes. He was stunned, momentarily lost of words. Then he yelled, "YEA! That’s my girl!"

When the emergency patrol car arrived, two policemen emerged. One patrolman looked over the slightly burnt truck and noticed that there was some resemblance to the get-away truck that was reported.

The other looked down in the ravine and asked, "Is everything alright down there?"

"No sir. That man tried to kill my husband with a hunting knife. He is crazy and dangerous", Jenny pointed towards the assailant on the ground groaning in pain. She rubbed her aching temples due to all the excitement, she was feeling headaches coming on.

The policemen drew their guns and approached the man with caution. "Stay still and no one will get hurt. Put your hands above your head." But he was only able to raise one arm.

Medic! We need a medic over here." And one rushed over to assist the second patrolman. Instead of trying to put handcuffs on him, they wrapped a chain belt on him and handcuffed the good hand to it. They bandaged the hurt man’s shoulder in a sling and lead him to the black and white.

The firemen hosed the two trucks as a precaution. Then a wrecker towed the most damaged truck and turned over Gilbert’s truck to upright position. They looked over Gilbert’s truck to see if it sustained any serious damage, but the engine started and when he put it in gear it rolled and so it was determined that it was drivable. The medics also gave Jenny some aspirin to sooth her headache. Overall they were given a satisfactory bill of health so they were free to go.

The emergency crew and fire truck left the scene as the policemen took statements from Gilbert and Jenny.

After everyone was gone, Gilbert and Jenny sat together beside the bronco trying to absorb all that had taken place. There was a long silence, but the blowing wind seemed to ease the painful thoughts of the near-death experience. Jenny’s eyes welled up with tears as she looked at Gilbert, searching for some sign that everything was alright now. She leaned on his shoulder seeking comfort and he leaned into her, put his arms around her. Pulled her to his side and kissed her forehead. They decided to just sit quietly on the tailgate as they waited for the sun to set.

There was a long soothing silence between them. Then Jenny broke the serene mood with a memory, "Remember that first time we met? It was the second day of school, you were standing in the hallway, near the gym. You looked lost. Ha! I smiled at you and you didn’t even know I was there.

"Sorry, I was looking for my 3rd hour Science Class. Some wise guy told me it was near there when all along he gave me the wrong direction."

"Well "I’m glad he did," she said and snuggled up closer to his side. "otherwise I wouldn’t had taken your hand and walked you to your class. It was way across the campus and that was my first ever that I felt something in my heart. You made it do that, tiger."

To be honest, I wish I could say that I had the same with you but I was trying to get to my class that day". I had heard that the teacher was a real pain in the butt from others in the dorm. And I sure didn’t want to get on his ugly side."

" Hey, sweetness. I tell you, that was an excellent hit to his shoulder. I mean a moving target and boom! And the guy goes down. I still can’t get over it. By the way, how did you come up with the Sling Shot idea?"

"Well, thank you for the compliment but I was really aiming for his head." She told him that she was as surprised just as he was that she thought of it. She told him that all she did was pray for strength and guidance and her prayer was answered.

"Really? Just like that?" And gave her a ‘not-very-convinced’ look.

"Yep. Just like that. It’s amazing what prayers will do in a moment of crisis."

From inside the tailgate, they sat and gazed wistfully to the west. She nudged him that it was time they leave. He looked around and realized that time had passed so quickly. He started the bronco and noticed the steering pulled to his left, and it drove a bit rough but still able to drive into town for alignment repairs. The passenger window was going to be replaced too, but over-all, they were very thankful it was nothing worse then a few bangs and bruises for them and their truck.

Jenny decided that the market day could wait for another day, instead, she wanted to rent a movie. He said, "How about…Spiderman 2?

"Excellent choice baby."