Page 67 of Givin' Me Fitz!
“I think the top opens, Mr. Middleton.” I pushed again, and it sounded as though something wobbled on top.
“Something is on top of us, but it must be very heavy because I can’t force it open. Where the fuck are we?”
As I ran my hands along the ceiling where the opening was, I felt a couple of bolts about a foot apart. I still couldn’t figure out what the hell we were in, but I was getting claustrophobic.
“Mr. Middleton, can you tell me what happened after we came out of the store?” Coming out of Walmart was the last memory I had after stopping at Carberry Square shopping center to pick up some bedding for my bedroom where my parents would be staying.
Suddenly, there was a square of light illuminating from Mr. Middleton’s wrist. “What’s that?” I hurried in his direction and grabbed his arm. He flinched, so I knew I’d scared him.
“It’s my smartwatch. See.” He held his arm out in front of him and pressed a button on the side.
“The time is zero four thirty. Your alarm is set for zero seven thirty. You have no appointments on your calendar today.” The feminine voice was choppy, as if it was AI or digitized.
“Can you call anyone on that thing?”God, I hope so.
The light moved and illuminated Mr. Middleton’s lips. “Call TJ.” We heard the phone ringing four times before it went to voicemail.
“Can it dial a number you don’t ordinarily call?” I crossed my fingers.
“Yes. Call number… You have to tell me the number,” Mr. Middleton said. I could imagine him rolling his eyes.
I racked my brain for a number I could remember, and except for my parents, I drew a blank. “Okay, uh, eight-five-eight—”
“Call number eight-five-eight…” I finished giving him the number and then he stuck his watch out and I leaned over to speak.
The phone rang four times before my father answered. “Someone better be fucking dead.” I exhaled.
“Dad, it’s me. I’ve got a problem. Someone knocked me on the head and took Mr. Middleton and me. We’re in a metal box of some kind. It’s pitch-dark, but thankfully, Mr. Middleton has a smartwatch.”
“Is this Sawyer?” Who the fuck did he think it was? He and Mom only had one kid.
“Yes, Dad, it’s me. Your only child. I need you to call Derson and have him trace this number that called you because we have no idea where we are.”
“Is he hurt?” That was my mother.
“I have a headache, Mom. Other than that, we’re okay. We’re getting air, somehow, and there’s something on top of the box that’s holding the door closed. Can you call Spider or Ders? We’d like to get out.”
“Shit. Yeah, uh, give me a minute. Did you or the man with you see anything to help locate you?” I rolled my eyes.
“Dad, I was knocked out, and Mr. Middleton has lost his sight. We don’t know where TJ is. We’ve gotta find him. He’s got a fight on Friday night. I’m sure they’ll—” I stopped talking. Mr. Middleton didn’t need to know what I thought they’d do to his grandson. The kid was his only living resident.
“Okay. Don’t go—never mind. I’ll call Spider.” Dad hung up and I noticed Mr. Middleton’s watch didn’t have much juice left in the battery. I hoped to fuck they found us before the damn thing went dead.
“How does TJ make money? He hasn’t said anything about where he works. He has to have a job to be able to send me money that helps pay my bills.”
Fuck no! I wasnotgoing to tell the old guy his grandson was a sex worker. The kid wasn’t doing anything wrong, and he was making an honest living doing it. End of the day, it wasn’t my story to tell.
“He uh, he works for one of the businesses the Steel Cowboys own. He’s also a sparring partner at a boxing gym in town. He’s got a fight on Friday night that I know he wanted to participate in. I hope we can find him so he doesn’t miss it.” I quickly remembered the old man hadn’t told me what happened after they knocked me out.
“What happened after they knocked me out, do you remember? Did they knock you out, too?”
Mr. Middleton sighed. “No, they didn’t. TJ told them not to hurt me or he wouldn’t do what they wanted. They figured out I was sightless, so they just tied my hands, but one of the guys cut me loose before they shoved me in here. I thought they shoved TJ in behind me, but apparently, they didn’t.”
“Could you tell how many of them there were?” I had to hope it took more than one of them to take me down. It would hurt my pride if it was only one guy.
“I think there were three of them. I heard three different voices, and one of them—I shouldn’t tell you this. Maybe he was just showing off for his friends.”
Fucking hell. “Mr. Middleton, please tell me what you heard. I’d rather know what’s going on than not. If they told you anything that might help me identify them, I can try to protect you.”
