The forced one

Moments before disaster

The car wheezed, and bumbled, as Eddie drove to the store. It was late, almost midnight but he knew a place where it stayed opened twenty-four hours.

    Sure enough, the little store Pinkys still had it’s open sign on. Eddie parked the car, and ran in, going past the various bottles of alcohol, his eyes landing on a bundle of cilantro.

    He snatched it right up, heading back to the cashier, a smile on his face.

    He felt eyes on him suddenly, and he turned around, seeing a man in a long trench coat, and a hat that covered half of his facial features. Eddie glared at him, waiting for the guy to take a hint and to buzz off.

    The guy straightened up, walking out the door, the bell announcing him leaving.

    Eddie nodded, handing the cahier his cilantro, and throwing in a water bottle.

    The cashier rang it up, and he paid in a hundred, walking out without his change. Getting back into the car, he threw the materials into the passenger side, whistling a bit.

     The car wheezed but kept going, driving into the dirt roads of the little ranch where Abuelita was living at. He hoped she was still awake, tapping on the wheel nervously.

     Then he heard the sudden sound of someone clearing his throat, and Eddie froze, staring up into the rearview mirror.

     With help from the moonlight, he saw the same man from the store, his face obscured by darkness. His eyes flashed opened, the irises red.

     “Nothing personal.” He said, as his nose grew into a snout, teeth flashing, and sharpening.

      Eddie screamed losing control of the car, the car ramming into a tree, as mud splattered onto the windshield. His head cracked against the steering wheel, and Eddie saw nothing but darkness.

  

   

   When he woke up, there was an extreme ache on his forehead. He stared down at the steering wheel, the airbag deflating, and he yanked the seatbelt off him.

   Then he leaned over and threw up into the grass, his body heaving, his hands shaking. Once his stomach was emptied, Eddie reached over to the passenger side, and snatched the water bottle, chugging it until it was empty.

    He leaned against the destroyed remains of the car, trying to remember what happened. Flashes of a wolf snapping at his face after apologizing for something ran into his mind.

    Suddenly, he rushed over to the rearview mirror, yanking the collar of his shirt out of the way, staring at a bitemark that looked like a dog had bit him. Blood oozed out of it, as the wound was slowly healing.

    Shit.

   He sat back against the car, trying to make sense of what happened but, in all honesty, he was coming up with nothing.

   Moving his arms around, and his neck, he made the slow painful walk back home.

    His Abuelita almost had a heart attack at the sight of him.

   She looked ready to whoop him, but at the sight of his injuries, she rushed him to sit down on the couch, watching as Eddie winced.

   “Pero mijo, what happened?” she asked, as she placed a baggie filled with ice on his head. Eddie winced, though it numbed the headache. He didn’t feel too bad after surviving a car accident, just sore, and he was surprised his grandmother hadn’t said anything about the bite mark on his neck.

    Without thinking, he brushed his fingers against it, feeling the puckering of a new scar.

    Had it healed that quickly?

    Before he could do anything, Litzy burst in, gaping at the sight of him.

   “When I told you to hurry home, I didn’t mean recklessly.” She said, her eyes wide.

   “Litzy! Get ready for school, and don’t be late! If I get one more call that you weren’t on time, I’m going down there to the school myself.” She threatened.

     Litzy nodded, dashing out the door, bag in hand.

     Eddie got tired from just watching her, and his grandmother sat next to him, muttering how her old bones didn’t work as they use to.

     “Que paso?” she asked, patiently waiting for him to explain.

     And so he did, telling her how he lost control of the car because a wolf or coyote ran in front of the headlights, causing him to swerve into a ditch, leaving out the part about the man, and the bite mark. It didn’t make sense to him, but it especially wouldn’t make sense to her.

    She nodded, swearing softly in Spanish, as she got up from the couch, her joints popping, and she shuffled into the kitchen.

    Eddie leaned back into the couch, his whole-body aching, and he closed his eyes, a sudden smell of stew, and meat hitting his nostrils. He sat up then, his Abuelita walking carefully with a tray, and a bowl of menudo.

   His mouth watered, and he gently took it from her, thanking her, before he scarfed the meal down. The menudo burned his tongue, but he didn’t care, eating every bite of it. When he was down, his body ached less, and he felt more alert. He stood up on shaky legs, kissing his Abuelita on the cheek as he thanked her, then headed off to the restroom to shower.

    The bathroom was small, a shower fitting in it with glass doors, a toilet shoved into the corner of the room, and a sink in the middle. Eddie undressed, turning on the shower as hot as it could get, and stepped inside, letting the hot water wash all over him.

    He stood like that for about five minutes, and then began the motions of scrubbing his hair with shampoo, and then conditioner, spending the next twenty minutes trying to get the dried blood off of him.

   About an hour later, he was clean, taking off the excess water from his body, staring at the mirror on the wall where the sink was at. He looked at the side of his neck where the marks had been.

   Nothing. Not even a scratch. Eddie rubbed his eyes, wondering if maybe the wreck had made him see things.

   As he moved around, he realized that most of the aches and pain was gone, and he might not have to go to the hospital after all.

   Then he remembered about his winnings from the fight and fished out the wad of cash from his pants pockets.

    Counting it twice, he sighed in relief when he realized that it was all there. His Abuelita would be able to afford the medicines she needed.

    He scrubbed the water from his hair, wrapping the towel around his waist, as he headed to his room to change. Once dressed, he decided to walk back to where his car had crashed, startling his Abuelita was busy sewing up Litzy’s pants. Eddie wanted to tell her that it was pointless, his cousin would surely cut them open again, as it was “the style” now. But one hard glare from the old woman’s eyes sent him scurrying off, placing the money on her lap.

    Before she could ask where he got the money from, a quick ‘I sold the broken-down car for parts’, and then left, his Abuelita subdued for now.

    As he left, he breathed a quick sigh of relief, the sun hitting his skin as he walked back outside. Though they lived on a ranch, they didn’t have any animals, the house being passed down from family to family. Before his parents were…deceased, the house was for them from his grandparents on his father’s side.

    So, at twenty-three, Eddie inherited the house because neither of his parents couldn’t accept it. Eddie didn’t do so well from their loss, opting to live in New York with his Abuelita in a small apartment.

    And then the whole “heist” incident happened…he was forced back to California for his and his family’s safety.

    His Abuelita still didn’t know, which was fine by him. He knew he was a dumbass for trying to steal money instead of earning it like a normal person.

    Which come to think of it, most of his earnings didn’t come from running the meat and candy shop with his uncle but he wasn’t ready for his thoughts to go down that road just yet.

    He made his way back down the dirt path, whistling to himself. Sure enough, the beat-up red car had both of its front wheels into the ditch, the tree resting in the middle of the car. As he got closer, a bitter smell reached his nose, and he realized he had left the cilantro in the passenger side.

    Eddie didn’t think it was strange that his nose could smell well all of a sudden or that the sounds around him-the sounds of nature-were a bi louder than usual.

    What he did find strange was that there were claw marks in the seat behind the driver’s side, the seat missing it’s armrest. The flash of memory danced around his head, before disappearing, and he frowned.

    Whatever happened last night, hadn’t been his fault.

    Now if he could just remember it, he could find peace.