I squeeze in between Nine and the three now truly pissed-off truckers, holding both sides back. Bernie Kosar barks threateningly. ‘Okay, okay, just stop.’ I turn to Nine, willing him to listen to me. ‘We can’t do this right now. We have somewhere very important we have to get to. Now,’ I say. I dig into my pocket and turn to the truckers. ‘Listen, how much did these guys say they would give you?’
‘A hundred bucks,’ the one wearing the aviators says.
‘Fine,’ I say, pulling one of the bills out of my pocket. The truckers’ eyes widen at the sight of such a big bill and I instantly know things just got worse.
‘Why would you give anything to these guys, Johnny?’ Nine asks.
I feel the meaty hand of a trucker on my shoulder. He squeezes my shoulder as he says, ‘Did I say a hundred bucks? I meant a thousand. Johnny.’
‘That’s crazy!’ one of the hitchhikers shouts. ‘We never said we’d give you any money!’
I spin back to the truckers, waving the bill like it was flag. ‘A hundred bucks, guys, just take it. Consider it a tip for good service, or payment in lieu of a beating, I don’t really care what you call it. Just take it!’
‘I said a thousand,’ the man on the left says, spitting again, this time directly on the top of my shoe. ‘Are you deaf?’ A low growl starts deep in Bernie Kosar’s throat.
Nine moves forward, but I push him back and turn to face him. ‘No! It’s not worth it, man!’ I put my face right up in his. He has to understand how serious I am. I will not let him do this. ‘Please. Think of what Sandor would want you to do. He’d want you to walk away. I need you to walk away.’ I whisper.
‘You guys aren’t getting shit !’ Nine yells over my shoulder at the truckers.
I use my body to shove him backwards, towards the car. I spin around just in time to see the bearded trucker pull a knife out of his pocket. ‘All of your money. Now.’ The other two men step up to flank me.
‘Listen,’ I say, lowering my voice, trying to get control of the situation. ‘You will take the hundred bucks and you will walk away. If you don’t, I’m not going to hold my friend back anymore. Believe me, you don’t want that. You have no idea what he can do and you don’t want to know.’
I’m not entirely surprised when the answer comes in the form of a fist. It comes from my right and I easily dodge it. I grab the trucker’s wrist, and throw him down. BK looms over him, still growling, and the man shrinks back.
‘My turn!’ Nine says gleefully, pushing me out of the way.
The bearded trucker swings his knife wildly at Nine, who steps lightly out of range. On his next swing, Nine ducks under the blade and hooks his arm beneath the man’s armpit, slamming him to the ground. He kicks the knife out of the trucker’s hand and it goes skidding under a truck. ‘Dude, you should listen to my wise pal over there. You seriously do not want to mess with us.’
‘All right, all right. We’re done here,’ I say, placing my hand on Nine’s shoulder. ‘And now, we’re all going to walk away. Let’s go.’
I hear the hammer of a gun click. We freeze. The trucker with the aviator glasses waves a .50-caliber Desert Eagle at us. I don’t know everything about guns, but I know this one packs a very big punch. He sounds pretty serious when he asks, ‘Which of you wants to die first?’
Of course Nine steps forward, crossing his arms over his chest. ‘Me.’
He raises the gun towards Nine’s face and laughs at what he thinks is just bravado. ‘Don’t tempt me, punk. Killing you would be the highlight of my day.’
‘Well, then, shoot. No reason to put off the highlight of your day. You don’t look like you get a lot of them.’ Nine says. I sigh, knowing this is all going to end badly. And after, there will be attention we don’t need.
At this point things begin to move really fast. First, a sudden and very loud blast from a nearby truck startles the gun-touting trucker, who fires off a shot. Nine stops the bullet with his mind, just inches from his nose. With a grin and a tilt of his head, he spins the bullet midair and sends it racing back at the shooter. He sees the bullet coming his way and turns tail and runs as fast as his legs will take him.
I turn to look at Nine. This guy is having way too much fun. I know what he’s going to do and I know it is a bad, bad idea. ‘No. Nine. Don’t do it,’ I say, shaking my head, knowing he is going to do it anyway.
Nine laughs and feigns innocence. ‘Do what? This?’
He and I both turn to look at the bullet that is still hovering where Nine stopped it near the trucker. He gives a little chortle and sends the bullet racing after the fleeing trucker, right into his ass. He goes down, screaming his head off. Nine turns to the other truckers, including the one BK has decided to let off the ground. They look like they are about to pee in their pants they’re so scared. Nine smiles at them and I know he’s still not done messing with their heads. He says to the two truckers, ‘You know what? I think you two should make up for your rude friend. Here is what you are going to do. You are going to reach into your pockets, very slowly, and take out your wallets. Then, you are going to give every dollar you have to these nice guys here. You know, for their trouble,’ he says, motioning to the hitchhikers. ‘I don’t think you want to hear what I’ll do if you do not cooperate. Quickly.’ Both truckers nod and reach into their pockets.
The hitchhikers look totally stunned by all they’ve just seen. ‘Uh, thanks, man,’ one of them says.
‘No problem,’ Nine says as the money is exchanged. Everyone’s hands but ours are visibly shaking.
‘Just so you know, we never promised that guy any money. They were trying to shake us down. We’re absolutely broke,’ the other says.
‘I believe you. And, you’re not broke anymore,’ Nine says, smiling. ‘Let’s just say, I know what it’s like, on the road and on the run. It can be hard for a kid to figure out a way to get some cash.’ He turns to me for confirmation. I smile at the kids but look back at Nine and make it clear I am more pissed off than I’ve ever been. He shrugs. ‘Hope the next ride you catch goes better!’ He turns and walks away, and BK and I follow.
We get to our car, climb in, and pull away in silence. After a minute or two, Nine reaches over and flicks on the radio. He drums his fingers on the wheel in time to the song.
‘What the hell were you doing back there?’ I yell, punching his shoulder. ‘And don’t give me any crap about the poor little boys and the mean, mean trucker men, either! You’re just entertaining yourself and showing off! And you know what? That’s putting us both in danger, not to mention keeping us from getting where we need to go. C’mon, Nine! Get it together!’
Nine is gripping the steering wheel so tightly his knuckles are white and I can see his jaw is clenched so hard his muscles are twitching. ‘I was not showing off and I was not entertaining myself.’ I wait for him to continue, to explain, but it’s clear he is not going to say anything else. What does he have to be mad about?
‘What, you were just standing up for two humans who were getting pushed around? Even though you said humans aren’t worth the time or energy?’ He flinches when I throw his words back at him.
‘I don’t like bullies. No one has a right to take or to hurt, just because they can. I wasn’t going to let them do that. And I made damn sure they wouldn’t do it again.’ His voice is flat. He looks over at me, at the surprised look on my face, and turns back to the road. ‘Don’t know why you look so shocked. I’m a humanitarian, man.’