DH - Trapped Inside Ch. 01

"Now it's your turn not to worry. Besides, you really don't want to know." she replied.

And now it was Kaleb's turn to release a slight irritated sigh of his own. "When have I never been interested in what's bothering you, or what has made you upset?"

"If you really want to know, it's Dwayne." she finally gave in and said. "He rushed out of the house early this morning, with a couple of guys he knows; and although he has been reading my messages, he hasn't replied to any."

Kaleb really didn't know what to say at the moment. What he did know, however, was anything he said would end in a biased manner. Kaleb had a dislike for Dwayne, ever since their first encounter. Unfortunately, Kaleb remembered it well, and from what he had since learned about Dwayne, he was a meniplive, self-centered, self-caring druggie. On top of all that, Kaleb was pretty sure Dwayne was cheating on Layla, unfortunately, he had no proof at the prior moment to back his claim, and so, instead of risking the chance of making something out of nothing, Kaleb simply remained quiet for a moment longer.

"See? I told you. I knew you wouldn't want to know," Layla finally replied, breaking the temporary silence between them.

"Just because I can't make an unbiased opinion; which is why I stayed quiet for a moment, it doesn't, in any way, mean I don't want to know." Kaleb couldn't help but to add a little more emphasis into the last half of his sentence. "Now given the fact that we are speaking about Dwayne, the fact that he has you feeling ignored, he isn't exactly increasing his chances of me changing my mind about him any time soon."

Slowly, Kaleb took a deep breath in; and after a brief second or two, he slowly exhaled through his nose. Kaleb had a long list of reasons he disliked Dwayne, and although he felt the rant wanting to come loose, he did well to maintain a calm manner about himself. "I'm going to head up to the shop and get all the parts. Once I have the brakes on the tow-truck done, I'll be back to pick up your car." Kaleb replied, finally coming to a stand between Layla and the car.

"I know you're trying to divert," Layla began "however, I have one last serious question I want to ask you."

"Of course, ask away." Kaleb replied, turning more to his left, to face her.

"If I were to consider finally ending things with Dwayne, where would I go?" she asked.

"You already know the answer to that question," he replied, getting ready to turn toward the shop. "If there is ever anything you need, I'm a quick call away, and probably an even quicker drive to you."

"Thank you!" Layla said, throwing her arms around his neck.

"You're welcome." Kaleb replied, his arms almost instinctively wrapping around her waist.

Before too long, the two of them were releasing their holds on the other, before going their separate ways. As Layla began heading back toward her apartment, Kaleb turned slightly on the heels of his sneakers. Reaching into the side pocket of his jeans, he pulled out the pack of menthol cigarettes, and his lighter. Pulling a cigarette out of the pack, he tucked it into the corner of his lips and lit it with his lighter, before putting them back into his pocket. The auto parts store wasn't much more than a mile down the street, and with the late morning showing no signs of storms, he figured walking was his better option.

A little more than half way into his walk to the store, he was tossing the cigarette butt aside, unaware of the current string of chaos and violence happening only a few miles from his own home. Making it to the store fairly quickly, he wandered through the aisles, picking up the needed items and headed to the cash register. After cashing out Kaleb pulled open the large, heavy glass door, noticing three young thuggish looking men standing around suspiciously, as he stepped back out into the fairly warmer weather. Making his way back down the street the way he had come, the sudden sound of tires screeching to a stop had him turning his attention over his shoulder.

The thought of doubling back around and seeing what had happened had crossed his mind, but as he glanced over his shoulder, he noticed the three males weren't too far behind him. Kaleb did his best to keep all three of them within his line of sight, without making it aware that he was doing so. Either the three of them had acknowledged he was in fact doing so, or they simply had other ideas in mind, they were soon separating enough to make it near impossible to watch them all. Only a couple blocks away from the parts store, Kaleb soon found his pace quickening. The one who had stayed in the middle had planted his knuckles against the back of Kaleb's skull.

Kaleb didn't need to see any of them however, as he heard the footsteps of one moving faster, before he was forced to stumble forward. Quickly shaking off the dazed feeling as he stumbled forward; the two bags flying from Kaleb's grasp as he dropped to the ground, but not in the way either of the other three young men had expected. Pivoting on the toes of his right foot, Kaleb extended his left leg completely; catching the ankle of his next attacker, the male just to his right. The sweep was executed perfectly, and as the second attacking male was just bringing one foot up, in hopes of catching Kaleb against the side of his face, he was abruptly interrupted and brought crashing down to concrete beneath him. Within the same motion that had caught the second male off his feet; Kaleb had also unclipped the small three inch boot knife from beneath the cuff of his right pant leg.

Unfortunately, Kaleb was caught off guard again, as the third male managed to land a successful kick against the side of his face. It wasn't much more than a scuff against the side of his face, but it was still hard enough to throw him off balance. Knowing he couldn't take another blow like that, and still holding tight to his small boot knife, he instinctively tucked himself, allowing his back to take the most abuse. Sure enough, almost as soon as the kick had succeeded, all three males were stomping against his back.

"Look guys, this dudes a real pussy." Kaleb heard one of them say as another stomp came down upon his back.

"Yeah tell me 'bout it!" came a second voice. "All curled up like some dumb turtle."

Inside, quietly, Kaleb was laughing. Even for the amount of effort they were putting into each crushing stomp, it really didn't show much effect against Kaleb. Finally, and very unfortunate, one of the three males stopped long enough to throw a few quick jabs against Kaleb's ribs, hoping that would 'soften' him up. The opportunity Kaleb had been waiting on had finally shown itself, and Kaleb wasn't about to waste it. Using the boot knife, Kaleb punched downward, just slightly, against the top of the shoe.

"Oh FUCK!!!" one of the three males suddenly shouted, as he fell backwards, desperately trying to remove his shoe. "He stabbed me!!... He fucking stabbed me."

The other two males were quickly distracted, as they too, tried frantically to help their friend. Almost instantly, the droplets of blood had begun to soak into the fabric of the pearly white sneakers. With the three of them distracted, Kaleb began to stand up, rolled his shoulders back, causing his back to crack slightly. "Now what was that about a dumb turtle?" Kaleb asked.

"Mutha-fucker, you dead now!" One of the other two males said, turning to expect Kaleb to still be curled on the ground. Peer shock had suddenly rushed through him however, as he noticed not only Kaleb standing but, also in a stance ready to fight. Still, he thought he had the upper hand, and rushed toward Kaleb throwing a hard right-hand punch.

Between the heat of the moment, and instinct; Kaleb easily countered the male's jab, using his left hand to grab at the male's wrist, he turned his arm clock-wise as he stepped under. Taking an uppercut strike of his own; Kaleb lifted his right handed fist, still clutching onto his boot knife, directly into the male's armpit. Pulling the blade from the newly made wound; Kaleb was still in motion as the third male had gotten to his feet. The third male would have rushed Kaleb at the same time, had he known. However, that hadn't been the case, and so he was a moment or two behind. Still, he had managed to get to his feet and make a couple of steps before another ear piercing scream was heard, and then there was a hard thud against his chest. Kaleb had successfully landed a roundhouse kick of his own against the male's chest, knocking the air from his lungs as he was sent stumbling backwards.

The second male, whom Kaleb still had a hold of his wrist, was released and sent stumbling forward. Now with the three of them spread out, and hopefully taking this moment to accept defeat; Kaleb began to pick up both bags and begin his way back home. Of course it wasn't a jolly stroll, Kaleb managed to keep his pace fairly quick, wanting to keep the distance he had between them.

Since having to make a few detours, the walk home took him a little longer than expected, but before too long, he was nearing his neighbor's house first. Not knowing exactly how bad he actually looked, he gave a nod toward Blake, before heading up his own driveway.

"Kaleb! What the hell happened to you?" he heard Blake quickly asking as he rushed over.

Kaleb continued walking up toward the garage. Both Hunter and Jakob were inside, chatting about the recent pay-per-view wrestling match. Of course, their conversation quickly cut itself short as they both heard Blake, who was rushing up the driveway behind Kaleb.

"Holy-shit bro! Your face is raw, what happened?" Jakob quickly asked, rushing toward his brother's side.

"A small group of young thugs wanted to test their luck today." Kaleb replied, finally setting the bags down. Using the fabric of his jeans, he ran the blade over, on both sides, wiping any remaining blood from the blade, before finally sliding it back within the sheath.

"Well I would say they got the one up on you. The side of your face looks pretty bad." Hunter was finally pitching in. "Why are we still standing here? No one fucks with family and gets to talk about it."

"They got in a few good blows, but even for three of them, they didn't last too long." Kaleb replied. "Relax Hunter, it's not like they walked away easily. I stabbed one in the foot and another in the armpit."

Kaleb took a moment to stare down either side of the street. In many ways, he hoped any one of the three would come walking down the street. Needless to say, that didn't happen. Kaleb was finally setting the bags of car parts down beside the truck, before making way toward the door leading into the house. As much as he knew he needed to get busy on the truck, he could begin to feel the swelling along the left side of his face. Fortunately, almost as soon as he had stepped inside the house, he was being handed a glass of water and a couple tylenol.

The left side of his face was extremely sore, which he was beginning to feel the longer he went without taking anything. So, with no hesitation, Kaleb took the two tablets and the glass of water, as soon as it was handed to him. Kaleb had no idea how bad his face actually looked, but if friends and family were asking, then he figured it had to look pretty severe. After finishing the glass of water, along with taking both tablets, he finally began making his way into the bathroom. Stopping in front of the linen closet just long enough to grab a clean washcloth, before stepping in front of the sink.

After turning on the water, he got the wash cloth wet, and began to gently clean the new wound. Staring into the reflective glass of the mirror, Kaleb could now see the seriousness of the bruise. Stopping for a moment, and pulling the washcloth away from his face, he gently ran the tip of his pinky finger along the side of his face. Keeping his attention on the mirror as he gently traced along the side of his face; Kaleb could make out the purple bruising around the indented shoe print. Placing the washcloth beneath the cold water once again, Kaleb continued to gently clean out the imprinted wound.

Once he had finally finished washing the side of his face, he used a clean towel from the back of the door, and just as gently dried the area. Hanging the towel on the back of the door once he had finished; Kaleb began making his way into the living room. Stepping through the hallway, he quickly noticed Madison, Hunter and Blake had all gathered around the television.

"Good afternoon my fellow Ohioians!" The state's Governor began speaking, almost as soon as the scheduled broadcast started. "A new virus has come to light, an upper respiratory illness. Now, unfortunately, at this time, we have very little information about this virus, however, we are making fast progress on learning about this virus, but there are still many unanswered questions. I have also been in close contact with the head of the CDC, and at this time, he --and many others-- highly recommends the use of facial coverings while in public. Also advised, is the use of social distancing. We ask that all Americans remain a safe distance of six feet from one another.

All restaurants and bars are being asked to close their doors for dine-in purposes, and to resort to only drive-thru and carry-out. All other non-essential businesses; such as bars, clubs, athletic gyms and churches, are required to close until further notice. With the unfortunate escalating numbers of infected, I am also adding a new mandated curfew, for those of us that are front-line essentials, to follow. Starting first thing tomorrow morning, businesses will be expected to follow this new curfew, starting at nine a.m. and extending until nine p.m. First responders and front-line essentials, such as paramedics; any police branch, delivery drivers, construction and road service crews should be the only ones out during the late evening hours.

As I, and my office, know more, every Ohioian will know more." ended the broadcast, before returning to its pre-scheduled show.

"People are about to go a little more ignorant." Kaleb commented before heading back outside through the garage. Shutting the door behind him, Kaleb began making his way toward the truck once again. Squatting down beside the truck's wheel well, Kaleb began working against the bad, and rusted, brake lines.

Minutes passed into hours as Kaleb continued working on the bad brake lines. The damage done to the lines had been a lot worse than he had first expected, but he was certainly glad he had bought more than he had first thought he was going to need. Once all the rusted line was pulled away, or at least as much as he was able to get to and remove, he began snaking the first line through the frame of the truck. Taking a moment away from the truck, Kaleb stood finally, and began heading toward the back of the truck and over to the workbench. Taking a small break from the brake lines, Kaleb reached into the front pocket of his jeans, pulling out both the pack of cigarettes and his lighter.

Pulling out a loose cigarette from the pack, Kaleb sat the remaining pack down on the workbench; and with his lighter still in hand, lit the opposite end of his cigarette.

"Hey bro," he heard, even before the door had been opened fully, "are you still wanting to go look at this house in Linden?" Jakob said, stepping into the garage, and shutting the door behind him.

"Oh shit! I totally forgot we were doing that. Yeah, let's get going while we still have daylight." Kaleb commented, leaning against the workbench.