Small Town Survival -Twenty Two

22

Big Mac, Bobby Joe and their new found friends were heading to Rhodes College and just as they were about one block from there, they ran into the first line of defense. They were stopped by a pair of young punks with mean looking guns pointing right at them. Nobody got out of the truck since they knew they were at the advantage inside it. Immediately, five men stood up in the back of the truck and covered the two punks with their own weapons. Big Mac was in the back since Bobby Joe was driving with one of the new friends in the cab with him giving directions. While Big Mac and two others kept the punks covered, the other two carefully looked around to see if there were any surprises lurking anywhere.

“Let us by, we don’t want any trouble. We are just looking for some female relatives of ours.” Said Big Mac loudly.

The two punks laughed and said “These are our bitches and we ain’t done with them yet. So we ain’t gonna let ya by.”

There were two quick shots heard and suddenly the way was clear. Big Mac looked over at the big man; whose name he had learned earlier was Scott, with new found respect.

"No sense dragging it out and one of us getting hurt. I think we need a plan and we need to know the layout before we go busting in there.” Scott continued. “I want to get Debby out of there alive or Elizabeth will kill me.”

One of the other men, whose name was Ken, nudged Scott and said “Look. We’ve got an audience.” Sure enough, a crowd was quickly gathering and the biggest, blackest, meanest looking man Big Mac had ever seen was right in the front. Out numbered, Big Mac did what any smart man would do; he quickly jumped out of the truck and offered his hand.

“Listen, we are just here to find a young girl and a woman who were kidnapped. We really don’t want any trouble; but, we could use some help.” Offered Big Mac. “My name is Mac and these are our friends.”

The big black man stared at Big Mac and then looked the small group over carefully. Meanwhile, the crowd grew to be what felt to be about one hundred strong. Bobby Joe could see that every one of them was a man and each man was armed to the teeth. He said a silent prayer asking that if he can live through this day, he would hug Momma Sue everyday and never get into trouble again.

“Do you realize that the two boys you killed were only 16?” flatly stated the man.

“No Sir, I didn’t realize that. I only knew that they were fixin’ to shoot at us and I couldn’t let them do that.” Replied Big Mac.

Again the man stared deeply into Big Mac’s eyes. Big Mac didn’t look away, nor did he flinch- no matter how much he wanted to.

Finally, the man seemed to find some answer he was looking for and he must have made some kind of move or gesture, although neither Big Mac nor anyone in the truck saw it, because the tension in the crowd suddenly disappeared. The black man reached out and firmly grasped Big Mac’s hand and said “I’m Tiny Tony and we were just fixing’ to teach that gang a lesson and rescue the women. You’re welcome to join us.”