Chapter 122: prox

2024 – December.

Burrton, Kansas, USA.

🎵 Hey, I just met you, and this is crazy, but here’s my number. 🎵 So call me, maybe. 🎵

“I don’t like this song; it feels like my grandma, and she’s super dead.”

“Well, Clara is super dead inside after what happened tonight, so…”

“Shut it, Bill and Darren, or I will crawl back there and slap the shit out of you.”

“Bill, Darren, She is stronger than both of you, so you might think this through before shitting in my mom’s car.”

Inside an SUV four teens were joking around. They were returning from a friend’s house party.

Driving the Jeep was Sam Callahan, seventeen, steering his mother’s 2015 Jeep Cherokee. His silky black hair fell across his forehead, and his green eyes, sharp as a cat’s, stayed on the empty road.

“Fucking shit, she’s a girl; I can take a slap or two.”

Bill said he was seated behind the driving seat; he was grinning, and as the jeep bumped on the road, his body shook like jelly.

The road was quiet, snowflakes were falling from the sky slowly, and in the distance you could even see red and green Christmas lights on the porches, flickering in the background.

“I saw her pulling a wild horse once, in their ranch. Trust me on this, pal, you can’t take two of her slaps. Wait, why is that truck in the middle of the road?”

Sam suddenly said, while pulling the brake on his jeep, The pickup in front of them was in the middle of the road with an open bonnet.

“Looks like someone’s car has broken down, Sam.”

Clara said she was seated beside Sam in the front; she pulled her black jacket tight and was tying her blonde hair so that she could get out.

“That’s Mrs. Smith’s truck. Clara, you stay inside. Boys, let’s go and check if she’s alright.”

Sam said with a smile on his face, then gave a short nod towards Clara and stopped the Jeep to the side and stepped out.

Bill and Darren felt like they would freeze in the cold wind after leaving the comfortable heated jeep. Sam also felt discomfort, but in this small town people have to look after each other.

“Damn! Unlike you, I have no fat in my body, Bill; I might freeze to death.”

Darren said while walking towards the truck in the middle of the road, he was all bones, no meat.

“Shhh…”

Sam gestured for them to quieten down; he saw the middle-aged woman was trying her best to do something under the hood, but she was looking very desperate in her attempt.

“Mrs. Smith… looks like you have landed yourself in a predicament.”

Sam said with a smile that he knows this woman; she is the mother of Jack and Rose, a pair of twins who live on a farm nearby.

“Is that you, Sam? You’re a godsend.”

Mrs. Smith’s face lit up with hope; she was considering walking back home because in this cold very few people drive around, and this machine was not listening to her at all.

“Well, let me have a look.”

Sam, nodding his head, took the lead. Mrs. Smith cleared the way for him without saying anything. Everyone knows he has been fixing cars for others since he was a kid and can always start a dying vehicle somehow.

Sam checked the bonnet first, then frowned, then almost immediately smiled as he could guess what the problem was. He pulled out his phone and turned his flashlight on, kneeled in front of the car, and looked down.

“As I suspected,”

Sam got up while saying this with a small smile on his face.

“You have busted your coolant hose; all the liquid inside has been poured out. In easy terms, do you see that green liquid? Smelling like maple syrup? That was here to cool this bad boy, but now it’s all on the road, so your engine will be cooked if you keep trying.”

Sam said while pointing at the rubber pipe that was busted open, Mrs. Smith’s eyes went wide with shock; she looked pale instantly.

“What should I do? Sam? Please help me out.”

Mrs. Smith asked; she was not sure what happened, but if Sam says it, it must be true.

“Well, you have to take her to a real repair shop in Newton. I can patch her for now. Bill, get that water bottle from Mom’s car.”

Sam said, then gave his jacket to Darren and folded his sleeves, pulled out his pocket knife and trimmed the rubber pipe, and forced the pipe back together. Bill came with the water bottle, so Sam poured the water inside the radiator and then tapped the cap shut.

“There,” Sam said while straightening himself and folding back his pocket knife. “Give it a try, Mrs. Smith.”

Then he placed the support rod inside and closed the hood. Mrs. Smith nodded like a little girl and went inside her car.

Shhhhhhhk

ShhkkkkGrrrrrrrrrrr

“It started.”

Mrs. Smith shouted, and with a smile on her face, she leaned outside her window and looked at Sam.

Sam nodded his head; he’d expected as much and walked calmly to her side while taking his jacket from Darren in hand.

“Mrs. Smith, remember this is not permanent; it’s running on water, so you better not push it much and take it to the repair shop as fast as you can.”

“Also, can you do me a favor? Can you please take these two idiots and drop them home? I have to drive Clara the opposite way, and Mom will tear me into pieces if I am any more late.”

Sam said he was smiling a bit awkwardly.

“Of course I can, Bill and Darren, Hop in the truck, and, uh…here, take this.”

Mrs. Smith pressed a few dollar bills in Sam’s hand as Bill and Darren got inside the truck.

“What’s this? I don’t need money.”

Sam refused while shaking his head; he helps out because it’s fun to repair machines for him; he doesn’t do it for money.

“I know, you never take money, but this is not for you; it’s for your girl. Take her to a nice restaurant sometimes, and it is all I have; otherwise, I would have given you more.”

Mrs. Smith, saying this, didn’t wait for Sam to respond; she pressed the gas, and Sam was forced to move out of her way, and her truck left for the snowy lights.

[Ding!! System Binding is Successful]

Sam, who was shaking his head as he saw the truck speeding up, suddenly jolted awake; he felt like someone talked with him in this quiet night.

[Welcome to Get Deceived to obtain the Reward System!!]

You have just been deceived. Reward: Buy a #306 lottery ticket from Callahan General Store.]

[Deception: ’It is all I have; otherwise I would have given you more.’ Mrs. Smith had $120 in her purse, but she gave you only $30.

Sam was rubbing his eyes because he was seeing a transparent panel hovering in front of him; it had lines written on it, and it was glowing.

“Sam? You good?”

Clara’s voice suddenly came; she had rolled down the driver seat window and was squinting her eyes at him, her blonde hair pouring down dramatically.

“You can’t see?”

“I can’t see what?”

“Nothing, I am coming.”

Sam waved his hand to dismiss the floating panel, but it seems it can only be dismissed when he thinks about dismissing it.

Sam returned to the jeep; it was now only Clara and him in the jeep. He put the jacket on and swallowed hard; his face was a little pale, as if he had just seen a ghost.

“What happened, Sam? You look… weird.”

Clara asked, tilting her head, and her big green eyes were fixed on him with concern.

“She gave me this $30 to take you out to eat.”

Sam said, and Clara blushed hearing this and didn’t look his way anymore; she looked at the frosted glass window. Everyone in the town knows she likes Sam, and even both of their families are very supportive of their friendship.

“Let me drive you back home.”

Sam said, then grabbed a bottle of water from the glove box and took a small sip to refresh his mind.

“Uhu…”

Clara replied. Sam barely heard her, but he knew she was shy to her bone. He was also a shy person, but he felt like he could do anything at this moment to make it believable.

Sam started the car and took a U-turn. Clara lives in Zimmerdale; it’s a short drive from here, and it took them 20 minutes to reach the ranch home.

Sam’s Jeep entered the huge ’Hartmann Ranch’; the two-story home was lit up at this moment, and there were Christmas lights everywhere in their house, from the rooftop to the porch rails. Not a word has been spoken in the whole drive.

Sam parked the jeep near her house; the snow was still drifting, but the hum of the heater was speaking louder.

“Hey, so if you don’t mind, we can drive to Newton tomorrow; I heard there’s a place called Back Alley Pizza.”

Sam said he was not sure if this night was real or not, but he was feeling the adrenaline rush inside him; it was as if it was screaming at him to do something stupid.

“Ah!!”

Clara, suddenly hearing this from Sam, was shocked; she was not sure how to respond to such a thing.

“Well, if you don’t want to…”

“I want to. I mean, okay, we can go to Newton Pizza.”

Clara, saying this, jumped down from the Jeep and ran inside her house.

“Sammy… Come inside, grab a bite.”

After Clara went inside while bumping her old man, he came with a big smile and gestured for her to come down from the vehicle.

“No, Uncle John, I… should head home.”

Sam said this and didn’t stay, as his heart was pounding; he somehow, with a dried-up throat, refused and reversed the car and left.

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