Monster Truck Blues (Part 3 of 3)
Tom didn’t want to disappoint her.
“You can tell me.”
“Badly,” Tom admitted. “I asked around at the arena all afternoon, but no one’s seen him today. He didn’t call home?” He was afraid he already knew her answer, but it couldn’t hurt to ask.
“No…”
“Don’t worry. I’m not coming back without him.”
“I know you won’t. Just… make sure you sleep tonight,” she said, “I know how you get when you’re working on a case.”
Tom sighed, “Do you think… I was too hard on him?”
“No. We have to set good boundaries with him. I just hope he’s found somewhere safe to sleep tonight.”
“Me too,” Tom said, looking at the empty bed next to him, remembering Sonic wrapped up comically in towels and slippers, grinning at him. He was just a kid, after all.
“Hey!” She squealed as Tom suddenly heard a dog panting close to the phone receiver. “Ozzie says hello,” Maddie said with a laugh, “He brought his favorite toy to the front door. He was waiting for both of you all night. I finally convinced him to come sit with me on the couch.”
“You two should get some sleep too,” Tom said, “Love you.”
“Love you. Call me the minute you find him,” she said.
“I will,” Tom said and hung up.
Tom had trouble falling asleep so he left on the news, but eventually, his exhaustion took over and he nodded off while watching, remote still in his hand.
When Sonic began to drift back to consciousness, he realized his cheek was cold and numb. He lifted his head carefully, his chin sliding against something metal. One of his ears flickered. He didn’t hear the sounds of the busy carnival goers anymore, but he could hear some loud engines running close by. Did he fall asleep on one of the rides?
His eyes barely opened, but wherever he was, he figured it must still be night because it was pitch dark now. His eyes adjusted after a few moments, but all he could make out were vague, dark shapes. What happened?
He tried to sit up, stiffening when a bit of pain shot through his shoulders. He must have slept in a weird position. He was laying on his side. He tried to stretch his arms and realized they were bound together with rope. He twisted, discovering his wrists were also bound tightly.
“Huh?” He managed as he tried moving his legs, discovering they were also bound at the ankles. He continued to shift, trying to wiggle out of them, the metal under him bending and banging as he moved around.
A few seconds later he heard footsteps. A metal door opened, light flooding in as a flashlight blinded him. He yelped when a hand roughly grabbed the back of his head, yanking on his quills.
“How the hell are you awake?”
Sonic couldn’t see the man’s face through the flashlight, but he knew instantly it was Bear. He smelled like sweat and barbeque – but mostly sweat. He was carrying a small duffel bag over his shoulder, which he flung down next to Sonic, rifling through it.
“I put enough sleeping pills in that hot dog to put a full-grown bull to sleep!” He pulled out a bottle of pills and aimed the flashlight, squinting to read the instructions on the back.
“Don’t bother. I’ve got a fast metabolism,” Sonic stumbled over the word, managing half a grin. He liked that word too. Metabolism. His cheek still felt numb.
“Damnit!” Bear threw the bottle of pills into the truck bed. They rolled past Sonic’s cheek, rattling loudly.
“You do know kidnapping a minor is illegal in the state of Montana, right?” Sonic said, now sort of happy he had read the boring police books in Tom’s squad car. “That’s at least 10 years in prison if not-“
“It ain’t kidnapping if you’re wanted by the US government. And you’re worth a lot of money.”
Sonic managed a laugh, “Hope you like never-ending pasta bowls.”
Bear grabbed him roughly again, “You won’t be laughing once they start dissecting you.”
Sonic tried not to picture that. “You’d better let me go right now, or-“
“Or what?” Bear glared at him.
Sonic was quiet for a moment, “Uh, can I get back to you on that?”
Bear yanked him out of what Sonic now realized was the covered bed of a very old pick-up truck. Bear tucked him under one of his beefy, smelly arms. He could only see below him and saw the tell-tale white on black lines of a parking lot. Where was he? And where was Bear taking him? Bear was nearly crushing him to his side, not leaving any room to wiggle. He was having trouble breathing.
It wasn’t until Sonic heard the sound of heavy-duty engines revving that he realized where they were. He twisted to his side as they passed a tall chain-link fence separating the regular parking lot from the giant monster truck parking lot. Many of them were being tuned up or were revving up to show off, small crowds gathering around the most popular ones. They were all too far away and too busy to notice them behind the fence.
“Wait, what are you doing at Monster Brawl?” Sonic asked.
“I drive JAWBREAKER,” he said, emphasizing it by grinding his teeth together.
Sonic laughed. “Wait, wait. Let me get this straight. You named your monster truck after a piece of candy?”
“I named it after what I do to my enemies,” Bear said, tightening his grip, making Sonic wince.
They passed through an open gate and Bear came to a stop in front of a monster truck near the back. Sonic struggled to look up and caught sight of the name, “JAWBREAKER” emblazoned with red, white, and purple spray paint, surrounded by exploding teeth and giant rusty gears grinding them up.
“Who are you trying to scare anyway, dentists?” Sonic quipped, until Bear slammed him against one of the huge Terra tires. Sonic winced. Thankfully, his quills cushioned his head.
“Shut your mouth, or I’ll shut it for you,” Bear said, dropping him on the ground.
Sonic mocked him behind his back as he walked away only briefly to drag over a rolling safety ladder, shoving it up against the window of the truck. He picked up Sonic again and carried him up the ladder, shoving him into the driver’s seat and buckling him into the safety harness.
“Wait, you’re gonna let me drive your monster truck?”
“No! You’re gonna sit tight right here until the men in black come to pick you up.”
“When are they-” Sonic nearly choked on the oily cloth being shoved into his mouth. It tasted disgusting and it smelled just as bad as Bear did. He tried to spit it out but Bear pressed a long piece of duct tape across his muzzle.
“Not soon enough,” Bear said, layering a few more strips of tape on top for good measure. He shoved the rest of the duct tape back into his duffel bag, zipping it closed.
Sonic twisted, but he couldn’t pry the tape loose, breathing heavily through his nose. He growled at Bear, but it was muffled. Bear grabbed his head and glared at him.
“Now STAY,” Bear yelled, before releasing him and climbing back down the ladder. The wheels squeaked as he moved the ladder away.
Within moments, Sonic was all alone. He stretched, but he couldn’t reach any of the pedals, the steering column or dashboard with his feet. His shoulders were locked against the seat with the safety harness. He still had his small leather bag, it was resting against his chest, but it felt lighter. Had Bear taken his GPS too? Not that getting home even mattered at this point. He had to escape this truck first.
Maybe he could signal for help somehow? Except he was way high up, there was no one around, and even without the gag, people would have trouble hearing him over all the noise in the arena.
After a few minutes, Sonic stopped struggling, looking despondently out the window. He might as well save his strength. His only chance to escape would be when the “men in black” came, whenever that was. He had a feeling it wouldn’t be Will Smith or Tommy Lee Jones either.
From what he could see out of the Jawbreaker’s window, he was on the outer edge of the arena. Most of the other monster trucks were being moved into the arena itself, but there were a few out here like Jawbreaker still being worked on. This time of night though, everyone seemed to be dispersing and heading home. Home…
Sonic quickly became bored and lost track of how much time passed, but eventually, the stadium lights darkened down to just the safety lights and the last few people left. It became eerily quiet, save for a few loud noises every now and then. He looked up at the sky and wished he had just listened to Tom and gone to his cave. He closed his eyes and tried to sleep, shivering in the cold air blowing through the exposed chassis. Eventually, he did pass out. No nightmares though, just blissful unconsciousness.
Tom woke up before dawn, feeling slightly refreshed, but more stressed out than before. He stopped only for a small coffee and a donut in a drive-thru before heading straight to the arena.
Last night he had purchased himself a Monster Brawl 2020 VIP Pass just to give himself as much access as possible, figuring that Sonic was probably sneaking around those areas. He had to put it on his credit card, but that was the last of his worries at this point. He had already used most of his spare money getting here and staying at the cheapest motel he could. What was another hundred dollars at this point? In for a penny, in for a pound, as they say. He just hoped he could find him before the event started. He only had a few hours left before the crowds would get too thick to search. He’d never find him then.
This morning was his last shot. He wasn’t going to waste it. He downed the rest of his coffee.
“I’ve got to think like Sonic. If I was him, what would I want to see first?” He reached into the passenger seat and pulled over the small swag bag they had given him, searching for the program guide and event map. He unfolded the large map and traced his finger back and forth across it, looking at each of the major events.
“Swag? Souvenirs!” He said, remembering when Sonic had stopped off at the World’s Largest Rubber Band Ball Gift Shop. Of course Sonic would want to get a little monster truck to take home – or a hat – or pretty much anything not nailed down that he could conceivably carry. Tom sighed, hoping Sonic hadn’t actually cleaned the place out. He did not want to take out a second mortgage just to pay for Sonic’s shopping spree.
But when Tom arrived at the gift shop, he didn’t see Sonic anywhere. He took out his smartphone and quickly pulled up the snapshot of him he had used yesterday. Most of them were goofy selfies Sonic had taken when he thought Tom wasn’t looking, but he had found one that was decent – it was one Maddie had taken, when he was playing with Ozzie in the backyard. She had texted it to him and he had saved it on his phone. Now he was very glad he had.
“Hey, my kid’s missing. Have you seen him?” Tom asked, showing the worker behind the counter. He looked barely out of high school, and strangely enough, that made him only slightly older than Sonic.
“Let me see,” the worker zoomed into the photo. “Weird kid.”
“Yeah, it’s genetic,” Tom said quickly, hoping not to get into any lengthy discussion, “Long story…”
“Actually, you know what?” He handed back Tom’s phone and pulled out his own.
Tom waited patiently as the young worker tapped and scrolled furiously on his phone. “Just a sec…”
Tom was beginning to think the kid was ignoring him and checking his social media when he stopped and looked up at him. “Yeah! Here we go! This is him, right?” He turned his phone to show Tom.
And there, on the kid’s phone, was indeed a picture of Sonic, looking rather sheepish standing on top of a carnival game. “That’s him, alright.” Tom replied with a grimace.
“When did you take this?”
“Last night. He was at the carnival.”
“Carnival?”
“Yeah, not too far from here. It’s just here for the weekend, for Monster Brawl.”
Of course. A traveling carnival. That explained why he hadn’t seen him all night yesterday. That carnival probably kept him busy for the whole evening.
“You said he’s missing? He ran away?”
“Yeah,” Tom put away his phone, “How did you know?”
“Just a hunch,” the kid shrugged, “Hey, I could try paging him on the PA system, if you want?”
“Actually, that’s a great idea!”
“What’s his name?”
“Sonic.”
“Last name?”
Tom hesitated a moment before saying, “Wachowski.”
A few moments later, the PA system crackled. “Paging Sonic Wachowski, Paging Sonic Wachowski. Please come to the information booth. Your dad is waiting for you.”
“I’m not really his dad,” Tom admitted, “It’s… Well, it’s complicated…”
“Hey, it’s cool. I used to feel the same way about my step-dad,” the worker admitted, “I used to cause big trouble for him too. Ran off a couple times and had him worried sick. Trust me, he’ll wise up when he gets a little older.”
“Thanks,” Tom said, unsure what to say to this kind kid.
“I’ll tell my coworkers to keep an eye out for him too,” he said. “I gotta get back to work. Good luck!”
Tom gave him a friendly wave and headed over to the information booth. If Sonic was here, he definitely heard the PA. He just hoped he would listen for once.
Sonic’s ears perked up when he heard the public announcement. Wachowski!? Donut Lord was here? Tom really did come looking for him after all! But what could he do? He had no way to signal to him that he was in here. He growled as loud as he could manage, kicking, making the truck rock a bit. It didn’t do any good. Most people were walking by, completely ignoring the Jawbreaker.
Tom paced around the information booth for half an hour, watching every direction for any sign of Sonic. He continued to show his photo to anyone who would take a moment to look. He found no more leads though.
Maybe he’s still mad at me, Tom thought.
Sonic had said he’d be fine on his own. It was only natural he’d hide from him after their fight yesterday. Maybe he should’ve just stayed home and waited for him.
But he couldn’t get the photo of Sonic the kid had shown him off his mind though. He looked distraught. Even if Sonic didn’t want him to be here, even if he kept running away from him, he had to make sure Sonic was okay. He couldn’t give up.
“Fine, you don’t want to find me? Then I’ll find you,” he said, unfolding the map again. He would keep looking, even if he had to search the entire arena again.
Sonic awoke to the sound of the safety ladder rolling back into place. Soon enough, Bear’s head popped in the driver’s window.
“Morning, sunshine,” he grinned.
Sonic growled at him.
“He’s all yours, fellas,” he shouted down.
Bear disappeared, and true to his word, two guys in black suits and sunglasses showed up. One of them had some kind of device, which he used to scan Sonic with. His ears flattened. It beeped and they nodded to each other.
“So, where’s my reward?”
Agent one pulled an envelope out of his suit as Agent two unbuckled Sonic and removed him from the truck.
Bear nearly tore the envelope out of Agent one’s hands, ripping it open, and pulling out a bald eagle greeting card that said “Uncle Sam Thanks You For Your Service!” Inside was a $5 gift card for Starbucks.
“What the…” Bear fumed, throwing the gift card on the ground, “Is this some kind of joke? Where’s my money!?”
Sonic squirmed with everything he had, trying to get Agent two to drop him, but Agent one grabbed his legs and they began to carry him off without a single word.
“Hey! Did you hear two knuckleheads hear me?” Bear said, picking up the gift card and throwing it at the back of Agent two’s head.
Agent two turned around, and lowered his glasses just to show his glare.
This only made Bear angrier and he charged at him. Agent two dropped Sonic, meeting Bear halfway for a fist fight.
Their fight didn’t last long. The government agent was strong, but Bear was raging, nearly foaming at the mouth. Agent one seemed to stare on in disbelief, as Bear knocked out his partner with a powerful punch.
Agent one immediately tucked Sonic under his arm and started running, barreling through the crowd, pushing and shoving bystanders. Sonic thought maybe the agent had lost Bear when he heard a thunderous motor revving towards them.
The agent turned just enough so Sonic could also see that Jawbreaker was heading right for them with Bear glaring at them from the driver’s seat. A few security guards noticed this and tried waving Bear down to stop, only to get nearly run over themselves, jumping out of the way just in time.
One of them picked up his radio, “We got a rogue driver near Gate C! Evacuate the area!”
Now instead of standing in their way, people began panicking and running in all directions as Bear chased them down in his thundering monster truck. Agent one, perhaps realizing that heading outside would only give Bear more of an advantage began heading further into the arena, turning sharply and ducking into a doorway way too small for any car, let alone a monster truck.
Except a little thing like a wall never stopped Bear before, and he turned sharply, driving Jawbreaker through part of the huge chain-link fence separating the battle arena, crushing a few smaller ATVs and dirt bikes as more people scrambled to get out of the way.
The agent was sprinting across the dirt of the arena floor now, and looked around before spotting a nearby monster truck, a giant yellow one that was made out of an old pick-up truck but painted to look like a New York City taxi cab. The name “CRAZY TAXI” was spray painted on the side.
Agent one heaved Sonic up into the truck bed. Sonic landed with a hard thud, knocking the wind out of him as the agent scrambled up under the chassis and climbed into the truck seat. He frantically began to hot-wire the truck as Bear spotted them and revved up, getting ready to charge.
Cursing under his breath, the agent finally got the engine running and pulled into reverse, Crazy Taxi backing out of the way just as Bear barreled past in Jawbreaker, running straight up a hill and leaping through the air.
Meanwhile, agent one hit the gas and began turning, taking off for the nearest exit out of the arena, dodging dirt bikes and ATVs that were practicing on the big hills and trying to avoid the renegade monster trucks.
“Freeze! Pull over right now and step out of your vehicle!”
Agent one leaned out Crazy Taxi’s window to see a plain-clothes man aiming a handgun, blocking the way to the exit. Agent one revved up and blasted forward, Tom barely managed to dive of the way. Crazy Taxi blasted past him, chugging up the nearest hill. Tom gasped when he spotted Sonic in the truck bed, bound and gagged, sliding down, hitting the tailgate.
“Sonic!” He had to hurry! Tom ran towards the edge of the arena, hoping this plan wouldn’t backfire.
After cresting the hill, Crazy Taxi slid down the other side and Agent one swerved sharply, heading again for an open exit. He was blocked again as Jawbreaker flew through the air, landing on Crazy Taxi’s hood with a grinding crunch. The tailgate popped open and Sonic spilled out the back, hitting the dirt hard, rolling a bit before skidding to a stop on his stomach. He groaned, trying to sit up.
Crazy Taxi kept pushing forward, trying to slide under Jawbreaker, but it was pinned too tightly, sliding it backwards in the dirt, one of the back wheels heading right towards Sonic.
Crazy Taxi’s back wheels neared Sonic’s head when a huge ambulance-shaped monster truck rammed into the back of Crazy Taxi, spinning it in the dirt and pushing it far away from Sonic. The sudden force nearly flipped Jawbreaker backwards end over end, but Bear was an experienced driver and managed to power out, holding the truck in a wheelie and then dropping it back down as soon as this newcomer truck pushed Crazy Taxi out of the way.
Sonic managed to roll on his side and caught site of the newcomer truck passing by, the sirens on the top of the ambulance-themed truck were bright and flashing, and along the side was the name “DR. PAINKILLER!” His eyes widened when he saw that Tom was sitting in the driver’s seat.
Tom kept his foot hard on the pedal, pushing Crazy Taxi back until it got enough momentum to roll on its side and crash into the wall upside down, disabling it. He then threw Dr. Painkiller in reverse, spinning around to head back into the arena.
Meanwhile, Jawbreaker was turning around as well. Bear spotted Sonic in the middle of the field and revved up. “I’ve got you now, blue devil! YOU’RE ROADKILL!”
Tom saw Jawbreaker barreling towards Sonic. He reached to his right and fired off the nitro tank, blasting him forward. Please make it, please make it, he chanted under his breath.
Sonic closed his eyes tightly as a shadow moved over him, hoping it would all be over quickly.
Dr. Painkiller was going so fast that it crashed into Jawbreaker from the side, crunching it and rolling it over onto its side, the tires spinning out in the dirt. Tom furiously unbuckled himself, hurrying to climb out down under the chassis. He stumbled down as he ran to Sonic’s side.
He was afraid to touch him, worried he might have broken bones or worse. The kid was bound head to toe and covered in various scratches and bruises. Sonic looked up at him weakly, trying to mumble something through his gag.
But given how dangerous this arena was, and how close he’d been to getting run over, Tom decided to risk moving him and scooped Sonic up into his arms, holding him close to his chest as he ran for the nearest door leading out of the arena. Tom yelled over the noise, “I’ve got you!”
They left behind a wave of chaos in their wake as tons of other vehicles flooded the track, including an actual ambulance, a fire-truck, and four security cars that skidded next to the crashed cars, the officers pouring out and surrounding the crashed trucks.
There was so much panic going on that Tom wasn’t even sure where to run to, but he finally merged into the panicked crowd and soon enough, he saw the parking lot ahead. He didn’t even look back and kept running until he spotted his pick-up truck in the lot. People were leaving in droves and hundreds more were just gathered around, trying to make sense of the chaos unfolding.
Tom was never so relieved to see his crappy pick-up truck. It wasn’t nearly as nice as his old Toyota had been, the one that Robotnik’s badniks had sliced open like a tin can, but this one was a gift from the townsfolk of Green Hills after Sonic defeated Robotnik and it had a refurbished engine, courtesy of Crazy Carl. It was enough to get them both home alive, and that’s what mattered to him.
“You idiot,” Tom said, opening the passenger side and setting Sonic down in the seat, “You could’ve been killed!”
Tom began peeling the tape off him. Sonic spit out the dirty cloth, tears filling his eyes.
“Tom, I’m sorry…” Sonic managed. His voice sounded hoarse and dry. It didn’t sound like him at all.
“Are you hurt?”
Sonic shook his head, his ears folded down.
Tom sighed and dug out his pocket knife, beginning to cut through the ropes, being careful not to cut him as he did so. “I’ve been looking all over for you.”
Sonic couldn’t bear to look at Tom in the eye, and so Tom worked in silence for a few moments until he had finished. Sonic reached out to him and Tom picked him up, hugging him tightly.
Sonic returned the gesture, nuzzling into his shoulder. “I’m sorry,” he said quietly again.
“Never do that again.”
Sonic squeezed him tighter, nodding, sniffling a bit.
Police sirens began to echo and Tom looked back at the arena worriedly. He did not want to stick around for this mess.
“Okay, let’s get going. It’s gonna be a long drive home.”
Tom carefully set Sonic down back into the car and the kid immediately buckled his seatbelt, without even being reminded, rubbing his glove under his nose and then wiping his eyes. Tom offered him a tissue and Sonic blew hard, crumpling it up and tossing it towards a little waste bag near his feet. He missed, but Tom picked it up for him.
Tom shut the passenger door for him and ran around to the driver’s side, pulling out his keys and starting up the truck as he sat inside. Before they got going, he looked over one more time at Sonic, “I don’t need to drive you to the hospital, do I?”
“I just wanna go home,” he said, leaning his head against the window.
“You got it.”
Once they had cleared the city limits and were back on the highway towards Green Hills, Tom had Sonic call Maddie to let them know they’d be home in time for dinner. She was overjoyed but demanded to know everything that had happened. Tom promised to fill her in, saying Sonic needed to rest for now. Maddie agreed and told them she loved them both and to hurry home.
When they arrived home, Maddie insisted on giving them both a full inspection, patching up any wounds she could find, no matter how minor. They were both covered in various sizes of bandages when she was done. To her, it seemed like a miracle that neither of them had broken anything or done worse to their bodies. They could both be so reckless.
She kissed Tom’s cheek and smirked when she saw Sonic lean forward for one too. He certainly didn’t deserve one, but she kissed Sonic’s cheek anyway, before blowing a raspberry into it, making him laugh. She lifted him down from the kitchen counter, Ozzie taking over and licking Sonic, his tail wagging fiercely. Maddie packed up her first aid kit.
“Dinner should be ready soon, so don’t go too far,” she said to him.
“Am I still grounded?” he asked.
They both turned to look at him, glaring.
“What do you think?” Maddie said sharply, snapping the first aid kit closed.
“Forever, huh?” Sonic sighed.
Tom ruffled his quills, “No, just for now. We’ll talk about it.”
After dinner, the whole family crashed on the couch to enjoy a movie, Sonic sitting between Maddie and Tom with Ozzie laying across Tom’s lap. Not even twenty minutes into the movie, Sonic was snoring lightly, leaning against Maddie, one arm wrapped around her.
“Look,” Maddie said quietly.
Tom looked down at him, smiling.
“Isn’t he cute?” Maddie asked, softly booping his nose as he snored.
“Yeah, you would never guess he’s such a butthole when he’s awake,” Tom said, smoothing out his quills.
“I was thinking,” Maddie said, “Maybe it’s time we made this official.”
“This?” Tom gestured to all of them.
Maddie nodded.
“It’s gonna be a lot of red tape, that’s for sure.”
“Yeah, but think of how much it would mean to him.”
Tom continued to pet Sonic’s soft quills and nodded. “I’ll stop by Town Hall tomorrow. Someone’s bound to know.” He switched off the movie and the TV.
“You put Ozzie in his kennel and I’ll put this guy to bed,” Maddie said, scooping Sonic up gently into her arms. He sighed quietly, nuzzling her shirt as she carried him towards the attic.
Sonic was falling in and out of consciousness, enjoying being held and carried. It reminded him of when Long Claw used to rock him to sleep as a baby.
Maddie tucked him into his race car bed. She removed the leather pouch he was carrying and set it on the bedside table. It felt very light and she opened it. Strange. There was nothing inside. She guessed he must’ve been carrying it out of habit. It was one of the only possessions he had left from his home planet.
She shrugged it off though and turned her attention back to Sonic, cupping her hands around his cheeks, nuzzling her nose against his, before kissing his forehead.
“Goodnight.”
Sonic smiled and mumbled something in return, but it was lost to a wide yawn that froze halfway, turning into a loud snore.
Maddie clapped a hand over her mouth, stifling a laugh. She wished she could fall asleep that quick! The kid truly had a talent for speed, even in sleep.
Tom met her at the bottom of the ladder as she quietly folded it up into the ceiling, locking her arms around his neck.
“I knew you’d bring him home,” she kissed him softly.
Tom returned it, and they lingered in the dark hallway for a moment longer, looking into each other’s eyes before Maddie grabbed his hand and led him to their bedroom.
Bear sat in the back of a darkened bar, holding the GPS device in his hands. He turned it over, his eyes narrowing at the words etched on the back:
PROPERTY OF GREEN HILLS
SHERIFF’S DEPARTMENT
But Bear was most interested in the letters, “T. WACHOWSKI” embossed on black and white label tape.
“Wachowski,” he said. “You’re dead meat.”