Chapter 4

Embracing the warm morning sun, Eleanor got out of bed around ten-thirty Tuesday morning and made her way out into the garden. She just wanted to take in the beauty of the blooming flowers and have the warmth of sun rays, dancing on her skin for a while.

Again she was in deep thoughts about Nelson and thought about calling when the day was almost done. But right now feeding herself and Marx were her two top priorities and going by the hospital to visit her friend Walt Whitman. Whose son she had been babysitting until he was well enough to be discharged from the hospital and returned home.

Returning to the house through the side door; distance away from the garden, Eleanor shouted.

"Marx, it's time to get up now... plenty things to do today!"

"I'm up already, just getting dress now!"

Marx replied.

Soon he was dashing from his bedroom and into the kitchen to sit with Ms. Eleanor who had begun preparing breakfast for the both of them already.

"What are we going to do today, Ms. Eleanor?"

Marx asked nonchalantly.

"First, I'm going to do your laundry, and you are going to fold them and then put them away! You can do that, right?"

Ms. Eleanor asked mockingly.

"I don't know if I can fold them neatly because dad always does that for me!"

Marx replied pleasantly.

Eleanor now got busy with the laundry and started separating the whites from the colored clothing and slowly began putting them in the wash. And as soon as one load was done, she was putting in another. Less than two hours later, all the laundry were completely washed and put away in Marx's closet and clothing vanity.

Soon, they were getting dress to leave for the hospital to see Marx's father, but first, Eleanor wanted to stop by the flower shop and pick up some flowers for Walt Whitman, just so she could cheer him up. She also wanted to get some of his favorite snacks so he could have something other than the hospital food to munch on. It was a little less than forty-five minutes to get to the hospital and now they were finally on their way.

The flower shop was just around twenty minutes from her house and when she had gotten there, she wasn't sure of what kind of flower to get him; especially, since she was no longer trying to woo him over into her life. The red roses looked very eye-catching, but that would give him the message that she was still pursuing him. There standing in the flower shop undecided, Eleanor turned to the florist and ask what combination of flowers he thought best to give to a male friend who was in the hospital.

"He is not my fiancée, just a good friend!"

Eleanor warned.

Looking through his in-house stock, the florist did not see anything on the shelves he thought would be suitable for her needs, but he had plenty of arrangements outdoors that he thought would be perfect for her, to surprise her friend with.

"Come with me!"

The Asian man with a short and stocky statute commanded.

Eleanor followed behind him while Marx hastily followed behind her and seconds later, the florist opened the back door to his shop and now Eleanor and Marx were standing on a vast piece of land filled with a variety of flowers; causing Marx to bellow out.

"Wow!!!"

"Look at this! These are so beautiful!"

While Eleanor stared in silence, looking around for what would be perfect to bring to the hospital to brighten up Walt Whitman's day.

"You can choose anything you like, but I would choose this one!"

Spoke the florist while lifting up a two pound pot of budding purple and white engrafted orchid and tulips with sprouting green leaves.

Looking at the freshly bloomed flowers in its ray of glory, Eleanor gave a grand smile and said; "This is perfect... this is the perfect one!" while gently removing the plant from the florist hands.

Retracing their steps back inside the flower shop, Eleanor paid the florist and thanked him for helping her make the right decision concerning her gift and then she and Marx were on their merry way once again.

In the next five minutes or so, they were parking in front of a convenient store on the same stretch of road and packing in their food basket, all of Walt Whitman's favorite junk-foods; onion rings, potato-chips, and some almond and peanut bars covered in dark chocolate to satisfy his sweet tooth.

Collecting all the items needed to bring to Walt Whitman, Eleanor and Marx was quite happy to be on their way. And now, they were driving on their journey to see him, jolly as ever, while the music kept on blasting from the car radio encouraged their happy mood; even more. Their drive to the hospital meant that they had to pass through other communities that weren't so favorable, because of the many criminal activities that happens there sometimes. And also, the level of poverty that was associated within that vicinity. It was a neighborhood Eleanor had passed through on more than one occasion and never felt afraid or threatened by the residents living there.

But, while driving through that region known for its criminal and gang related activities, Eleanor and Marx heard a blasting sound in the atmosphere, as if, someone had detonated an hand grenade in the surroundings to blow up the neighborhood. Soon her car was jerking and wobbling and then suddenly, it came to a halting stop in the middle of the road.

The unexpected stumbling stop caused Eleanor to launch forward hitting her chest against the steering wheel and Marx to fly forward between her and the gear-stick while yelling.

"Oh my god, help me!!!"

Indeed it was a nerve wrecking moment for the both of them; but Eleanor tried remaining calm in that moment as she looked over at Marx and anxiously ask.

"Are you, okay Marx... did you get hurt?"

While touching his body to see if there were any evidence of him being hurt; but thankfully, there wasn't a scratch on his body. And his reaction didn't show that he had obtained any internal injuries either.

Still seated in the car, Eleanor presumed that she had gotten a punctured tire, and she had no idea on how to jack up a car, remove the defected tire and replace the spear one in its place.

The man who she could ask for assistance was stretched out in his hospital bed nursing bullet wounds, and her only other means of getting the matter dealt with was only by calling a tow-truck and having them change the tires for her. But, she needed to get out of her car, find a phone booth, and call any available towing company to come and have them change the tire for her.

Looking through her car windows and her windscreen, Eleanor saw no phone booths insight. She was now contemplating, if she should go forward or backward to find one, because she didn't recall seeing one anywhere in the close distance while heading to the hospital. Therefore, she presumed that she should continue ahead on foot until she came across a phone booth, or, probably borrow a phone from one of the business places nearby and make her call.

And just before she and Marx could stepped out of the car, two guys popped up out of nowhere and began examining the exterior of the vehicle; circling it again and again, and pressing their faces against the windows of the car trying to see what contents the vehicle was carrying.

Eleanor, afraid, watched them keenly while her entire body began to perspire and her clothing began getting wet. She wasn't sure what they intended on doing to her, Marx or the vehicle. Observing their appearance, she could tell they were no saints, but more like the commander and chief of the underworld, and just probably, hell itself.

One of the guys had his shirt front wide open, exposing the evidence of knife wounds and gun-shot wounds on his chest that were as big as a hog-plums. In the boiling sun, they both had on woodies like it was already winter. Pants down to their cotch barely covering their manhood, and wearing heavy duty timberline shoes like they were into the business of forestry. With dark shades covering their eyes, Eleanor prayed, that they wouldn't remove them from their faces. Anticipating that if either one of them had done so, she would be staring straight into the eyes of the devil himself, causing her to pass away to an early grave before her time.

The scars on one of the young man's chest, she could never erase from her mind, and thought such was a good thing; so when the police came by and started questioning her about her attacker, she could definitely give some positive identification marks on one of her attackers.

Soon one of the fellas began banging on her car window for her to open the car door, so he could speak with her, possibly about her car being punctured.

Barely cracking the car window where she was seated and trying desperately to find a street slang, she could communicate with him on his level on whatever he wanted to speak to her about.

Hoping that in doing so he would realize, she was just a part of the streets just like he was and then go away and leave her alone. But, Eleanor voice-box began cracking like a wine barrel baking in the sun, and no street slangs wouldn't come.

With her eyes nervously wide open and her car window barely cracked for sound to escape through it, Eleanor fearfully asked.

"What... what... what can I do for you, young man?"

"Do you have a spear tire, so I can replace it with this one for you?"

The young man forcefully replied.

Eleanor was very taken-aback by his answer and wasn't sure of what to think of next. Her mind was jogging, running and sprinting with all sorts of scenarios that could actually happen to her and Marx if she opened her car door, and allowed him to fix her tire like he had suggested.

Finally her voice went free and Eleanor replied.

"I'm trying to get to a phone booth so I can call the towing company to come by here and fix it for me!"

"You are trying to get to a phone booth around here?"

"Lady, there is no such thing as a phone booth around these parts! The only phone booth that I know of from where I'm standing now, is the one by Mount Kimble's Hospital. Which is what... around five miles from here!"

The young man responded while looking at his friend to confirm that his judgement of mileage was correct, concerning the distance of the hospital from where they were standing.

Eleanor was thinking that she preferred to walk five miles to get the usage of a phone than to take a risk and allow these street guys to have access to her or the spear tire resting in the trunk of her car. But, she had little Marx with her, and she knew that he couldn't manage to walk such a faraway distance.

So she began contemplating on where else she could go and find help, but she just wasn't sure if these business owners would ever be generous enough and allow her to use their phone. What if they all said no to her, denying her the privilege to use their phones?

Then she would be back at square one.

After sitting there for a while realizing that she was neither going nor coming, Eleanor looked at Marx with great concern in her eyes and asked.

"What shall we do now, Marx?"

"I don't know!"

He replied.

Thinking it through, he continued.

"If these men say they can fix the car for you; let them fix it!"

His words had captured her heart and now she was staring into his deep ocean blue eyes, and considering how naive and innocent he had been to the surroundings in which he was living.

"And what if they rob us as soon as I open the car door, allowing them access to remove the spare tire from the trunk of the car?"

Eleanor asked as layers of sweat burst forth from her forehead which she quickly wipe away with the sides of her pointed finger.

"You don't have to open the car door for them to rob you, Ms. Eleanor. If they really wanted to rob you, they can just burst out the side of the car windows and do so!"

Marx expressed with a dose of wisdom.

Knowing that he was absolutely right, Ms. Eleanor asked.

"How do you know about such things Marx?"

"Because I have seen them on the television when I watch the police shows!"

Marx replied.

Watching the two young men leaning against the light post less than two feet away from her car, Eleanor wondered if she should just brave it, and allow them to fix her car tires for her or wait awhile and try getting to a phone.

She was very reluctant in having them – the two strangers doing so for her, but at the same time, she couldn't just sit there and do nothing; she had to do something. And neither could she walk five miles all the way to the hospital to call a towing company to come and fix the problem for her and then catch a ride back to where her car tires had been punctured.

Time was running out! The flowers in the back seat were quelling and visiting hours at the hospital expire at six-thirty to seven o'clock and now it was running to some minutes to five. So she had to make a decision and very fast, and move out of this troubling neighborhood before it had gotten any later or before night began to fall.

Could she trust these two suspicious figure lurking around her car offering to change her car tire for her?

Eleanor came up with a back-up plan! Telling Marx, she was going to take a risk and allow these fellows to fix her car, but just in case they try holding her up and robbing her, he should run inside the closes shops he could find and then shout out for help until someone came along and rescue them!

Marx nodded his head, agreeing that he would do so. And when Ms. Eleanor had carefully open the car door, asking the strange looking figures if they had any tools to change her car tire; Marx already had his fingers of the car door handle. Ready to fly it open and run so he could hastily go seeking help from the business owners in the surrounding area.

"You are supposed to have the tools for changing your tire snatched away inside the trunk of your car."

One of the young men advised.

He now was coming towards Eleanor, telling her to open the trunk of her car, so he could get the required tools for changing her car tires; and sheepishly she did. One fella began removing the spear tire while the other lifted out the spanner and began cranking up the car to remove the spear tire as Ms. Eleanor and Marx keenly watched them, contemplating that they were going to do something very drastic next.

They seem to know what they were doing, so Eleanor let her guard down just a little bit.

Within thirty minutes, the strangers were done removing the busted tire and replacing it with the spear one Eleanor had stored away in the trunk for her car. Soon, the punctured and busted tire was securely thrown inside the trunk of Eleanor's car while she eagerly watched the men as they assisted her in having her tires changed and securely install where it belong.

Franticly, she wondered, what would be next? If the two young men were going to demand her car keys from her hands and then drive away with her car. She was expecting the worst, and she also was expecting to put up a fight, if any onslaught came on. Eleanor began giving Marx the eyes, indicating to him to run for help if trouble should arise.

But, Eleanor's heart wasn't set for what would happen next.

She was totally in great disbelief when the suspicious fellas returned the tools in the car trunk where they had found them and told her, she was now good to go!

"Everything is all set now Madam! But please, go and get a tire for your car before something happens to your spear, or else, you'll be in big trouble, if it ever gets punctured, especially in one of the remote areas!"

One of the fellas spoke.

"I... I... think you are right!"

Eleanor nervously answered as she forced her mouth to open and her tongue to operate its duty.

"Sorry, I didn't get your name? I'm Napoleon and this is my buddy Mark!"

The taller of the two fellas stated introducing himself and his friend.

Still a nervous and fearful wreck, Eleanor could hardly say out loud, her own name. She tried flipping her tongue for saliva to come, but her mouth was still dry like any Ethiopian Desert during the drought seasons. Soon she was reaching for the water bottle inside her car, and taking baby sips while keenly gazing at the fellas from the corner of her eye, before any words could clearly rolled off from her tongue, freely.

With her tongue now wet, Eleanor could finally speak, and with a pleasant face she uttered.

"I'm Eleanor and this is Marx!"

"Please to meet you, Ms. Eleanor and nice meeting you, Marx!"

Napoleon and Mark commented right after each other.

Seeing his soft curly hair and deep blue eyes, Napoleon asked.

"Is he your son?"

Not seeing any harm in telling them the truth about who Marx was to her, Ms. Eleanor convey to Napoleon the answer he was seeking. Honestly stating to him that Marx was her neighbor's son and at the moment, her neighbor was in the hospital so she was keeping an eye on his son until he returns home from the hospital.

Not wanting to make any statement about the characters of Marx features, Napoleon sealed his tongue and let his thoughts about who the child's father is; rest. But further went on to state that her neighbor was very lucky to have her as a friend and also very lucky that she was able to watch his child for him while he was recovering from his ailments.

"Well, I'm quite sure, he would have done the same thing for me if I ever were to be in that same position!"

Eleanor responded with a tiny crack of smile on her face.

Napoleon and Mark were about to go on their way now and began expressing to Ms. Eleanor that they were happy to have met her. And they were also glad, they could help her change the punctured tire, so she could be on their way now.

But before they could walk away, Ms. Eleanor stopped them and asked.

"What is your charges to change the tires?"

"If we were charging you, we would have mentioned it before we touched your tires, Ms. Eleanor!"

Mark expressed.

"Well I really have to give you something for your efforts! If the towing truck had come all the way over here, I would have to pay them to come all this way, and also pay them for putting on the spare tire for me!"

Eleanor suggested.

"Sorry, but we were only doing you a favor!"

Napoleon voiced.

"Please, I can't let you leave empty handed... leave me here without paying you something! If it's even half of what the towing company would have taken from me, you must have it! Please, I beg of you!"

Eleanor pleaded while digging into her handbag for her purse.

Seconds later, she was flipping open the studs to her purse, and began forking out hundred dollar bills, and practically throwing them at Mark and Napoleon while commenting on how nice of a guys they were to have fixed her care for free.

"You guys are saints... you are a life-savor and you deserve so much more! If I should ever win the lottery, I promise, I'll remember the both of you, first!"

Ms. Eleanor heart touchingly expressed.

Pretty soon, and just like that, she had three hundred dollars in Napoleon hands and the same amount in Mark's hands which they folded and push into their pants pockets while filled with chuckles.

Moments later, a female vendor, selling green plums across the streets saw money being issued out to the two young fellas, and ran across the street to where Eleanor was and began asking her to buy some of the green plums from her because she hadn't made a single sales from in the morning.

Feeling great empathy towards her, Eleanor grab the entire basket with green plums, threw them inside her car trunk and paying the woman a handsome amount of sixty dollars for the entire basket of green plums.

Shortly, other vendors began doing the same thing... making their way across the street where the small crowd was forming and began asking for Eleanor to patronize them also. And some she did, and others she just couldn't, because now, her purse had run dry – was empty as a church on a Monday morning.

But, some vendors were persisted and didn't want to take no for an answer; insisting that Eleanor should buy something from them before driving off and began rocking her car and forcing themselves inside her vehicle to locate any spear change she might not have known or remembered that it was there.

It was in this moment of chaos and mayhem that Eleanor's words became predictable and proved to be prophetic as Napoleon and Mark pushed their way through the small crowd and shouted for the crowd to step back, so the lady and her son could get into her vehicle and be on her way.

Outrage and angry, the gathering grew wilder and try taking on Napoleon and Mark and began cursing at them; saying they were blocking their progress because someone with money was passing through town and they wanted some of that money that they were hiding in the car; but Napoleon and Mark were preventing them from getting it.

However, their rowdy actions and behavior wouldn't be for long when Napoleon and Mark pulled out their guns and began firing shots in the air.

Everyone began scattering to whatever direction they deem to be safer for them while Marx stoop down on the other side of the car which was closer to the sidewalk praying for the agonizing crowd to go way.

With the masses lying flat on their bellies and some sheepishly disappearing, Napoleon open the car door on the driver's side and shouted for Eleanor to get in while Mark did the same for Marx, allowing him to crawl on the back seat of the car without being hurt by the mob. Now that Eleanor was safely seated around the steering wheel and Marx comfortable on the back seat, Napoleon hit the side of Eleanor's car, indicating for her to drive away now.

But instead of driving off at once, Eleanor rolled down the windows to her car, and began asking Napoleon.

"Are you actually a cop?"

Looking at her with wild eyes and frustration on his face, Napoleon shouted back.

"Woman, get your ass out of here before you end up in the morgue!"

Napoleon thought she would have gotten the hint and press her foot to gas pedal and quickly speed away from the site, but Eleanor sat still in the turmoil just to argue with one of the young men who had just helped her have her car tire fixed.

"Why are you speaking to me like that? I don't deserve to be spoken to like that! I am just simply asking you a question!"

Eleanor vented.

Trying to get her attention and make her realize that she was in very dangerous territory and in a perilous situation, Napoleon pointed the gun at her... right to Eleanor's face; and brazenly answered her.

"I'm no damn cop!"

"And get your ass from around the steering wheel, give me this frigging car and come back and stand up outside here again and let these vagabonds finish your ass off!"

Immediately, another shot was fired! And when Eleanor looked through her rear view mirror on the left, she then noticed that there were no more reflection present on the mirror. But, only web like shaping of splinters on her broken mirror.

Now, it certainly didn't matter to her if Napoleon and Mark were cops or criminals. Swiftly, her foot went heavily on the gas pedal and she was bolting from the spot in lighting speed that not even the suddenness of the almighty hands could have catch up with her.

And so Eleanor kept on speeding until little Marx became scared, started screaming and began begging her to please slow down, before she lose control of the vehicle and slam into someone else's oncoming vehicle.

It was only then that Eleanor looked at her speeder meter and realized that she was going way over the speed limit... over one-hundred miles per hour.

Whether it was a miracle or just a strange coincidence, as soon as Eleanor heeded Marx's warning, and her driving returned to the required speed limit designed by law for anyone to drive in that vicinity. Marx pointed out to her that there was a police car parked up ahead of them on the shoulders of the road.

Eleanor was thanking her lucky stars for slowing down, and also Walt Whitman's son, sitting on the back seat of the car behind her, extremely frightful that she was going to cause an accident before they had gotten to the hospital.

Thankfully, Eleanor was pulling up into the hospital parking lot and scanning for a suitable place to park her vehicle. And when she had finally found it and parked, she and Marx grabbed whatever that was on the back seat of the car which they had bought for his father, laying up in his hospital room.

Marx happily carried the sun burnt and partially withered plant to the hospital elevator while Eleanor carried the grocery bags with its contents so Walt could have them to munch on during his leisure time while recovering from his wounds.

Seconds later, they were heading off the elevator and onto the fourth floor of the trauma ward where Walt was recovering from his gun-shot wounds. But upon reaching his room door, Eleanor and Marx were very surprised to find Walt Whitman's room door locked. And giving the door three knocks no one answered for them to come in. Filled with worry and fright, they rushed back to the reception area to investigate if anything drastic had happened with their relative and very good friend, Walt Whitman.

Smilingly, the receptionist explained to them that he could be using the restroom at the moment so they should give him a few minutes, and try going back to his room and knocking on his door in the next few minutes.

Following the receptionist instructions, Eleanor allowed ten minutes to run off before returning to Walt Whitman's hospital room door and began pounding on it for a response.

Soon he responded.

"Come on in!"

Happy and excited to see his father and her, her neighbor; Eleanor and Marx forcefully burst through the door with smiles plastered all over their faces while Marx cheerfully exclaimed.

"Papa, I missed you so very much; when are you coming back home?"

As he wrapped his tiny arms around his father's neck and began squeezing as he hugged his father and told him how, he was so very happy to see him once again.

Releasing from his father's embrace, Eleanor stepped forward and gave Walt a friendly hug, a slight kiss on the cheeks and a tender grasped of the hands as he smilingly asked her.

"Is everything okay on the home-front, my fairly good lady?"

Nodding her head happily, Eleanor replied.

"Yep, everything at home is just doing fine right now! But I got a flat coming here which almost had caused us our lives, if it wasn't for two... I really don't even know what to call them... two angels in disguised!"

Angels in disguise; Eleanor finally ended up describing the two young men, Mark and Napoleon who had helped her changed her busted tire to the spear one, and saw that she made her way out from the unruly mob safely.

Soon, Eleanor and Marx could hear the clearing of the throat behind the curtains in Walt Whitman's hospital room, and came to realize that he was not alone inside there. Someone else, was inside there standing behind the curtains, a female, standing in his room, listening to all their conversations.

"Who the hell is she?"

Were Eleanor's immediate thoughts.