Page 121 of Mother Parker
Shit. I hoped I hadn’t scared him.
“The-the shop is on fire, Mr. Parker. And Hwan is…they’ll hurt him,” he said.
I didn’t know if he said anything after that because I stopped listening, stopped breathing, stopped living.
“Maddox, I need your keys,” I told my friend, giving him back his phone.
“Why? Where are we going?” he asked.
“I need to get to the shop. Hwan’s in danger.”
“We’re all going then,” Autumn said.
I wanted to argue, but there was no time. I was running out of time. Of course it made sense I’d be running out of time when I’d found my one true love, didn’t it?
Autumn and I jumped to our feet, rushed out of the cubicle, out of the ER, and we were on the move.
“Hurry up,” I told Maddox, only to get a glare.
It was torture not being able to drive. Not being the one in control of the situation. Being huddled in the passenger seat, unable to distract myself by racing through the streets.
Maddox sped through town, and a few minutes later, we approached Main Street. And the pier.
The shop was right ahead, and as Maddox passed the back door of the building and came to a screeching halt, I caught a glimpse of someone hiding behind a tree.
Elliot.
Why was he hiding there? Had something happened to Hwan? Was he trapped inside?
When I finally looked at the shop in front of me, my heart tumbled. There were three guys covered in white…was it soap? They were holding Molotov cocktails while fighting…something. No, not something. Birds.The Golden Girls. Behind them, fire and glass were everywhere. And Hwan was in front of it all, looking simultaneously defiant and scared.
I jumped out of the car. Sirens sounded somewhere in the distance. I ran until I stood between Hwan and the assholes that dared put his life in danger.
“Parker!” Hwan shouted.
Was—was he holding his phone up? Now was not the time for his stupid social media crap.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
“Ye-yeah,” he replied, his face taut with confusion and the adrenaline surely pumping through his body. “I’m blasting these assholes across the internet so everyone can see their stupid faces. Are you happy now? You’re gonna be famous, dickheads.”
Warmth crawled up to my heart at the sight of him. It was still odd to see him without a wig on, without his colorful hair that added flair and sparkle to his eyes. He looked so strong. My strong Hwan.
He smiled at me, but it only lasted a second before his eyes widened.
“Parker, watch—” he started, but I was already turning around.
The smaller man of the three was on top of me, blood dripping from the scratches all over his face, waving one of the crows off his head—I didn’t know which one. I didn’t know how Hwan could tell them apart—and the other hand had a Molotov cocktail coming down on me.
I put my hand under his wrist to stop the momentum of his powerless attack. With my other hand, I grabbed the glass bottle and smashed it in his face before kicking him in the balls and pushing him to the ground.
The crow flew away as the other two men came for me. One of them was bald and bulky. The other one was bearded and bloated.
Bloaty punched one of the crows right across the middle, and it yelped, dropping to the floor. The one harassing Bulky flew away, leaving me to deal with both of them.
Bulky threw the glass he was holding at me. I ducked out of the way, and it smashed behind me. Thankfully it wasn’t lit, so it didn’t explode. As I straightened, a fist of steel collided with my face.
“Parker!” I heard Hwan screaming in unison with Autumn.
