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~ 31~

 In Search of Matt

 

 Date: June 1st, 1999

Place: Manhattan

 

 + Nick +

The water was freezing cold. Unbearable almost, and I have to say I found myself just sinking down as if I was made of bricks. I’m a pretty good swimmer and have always been so when my arms decided not to work I did the one thing that every good swimmer should never do and that was panic. My head went under and I glanced up at the distorted view of the night sky only to see an arm reaching for me.

Once again it was Kevin to the rescue.

He grabbed me by my collar and pulled me up. I briefly went from the sensation of drowning to the sensation of being hanged before breaking through the water and choking out some breath.

“I got you buddy, just hang on.”

I nodded, much too weak to say thanks. We swam for the shore as fast as possible. All of us were in a sudden state of shock due to the coldness of our surroundings. Have I mentioned how friggin’ cold it was?

Not only was it cold but it was dark as hell as well. Once the boat took off, our only light source was gone. That is when your mind plays tricks on you. We were just kind of bobbing up and down in the water for a few minutes, making sure that we couldn’t be seen from the shore by the lights of the ferry. I got the sense at that moment that we weren’t alone. I bet if the sun had been out we would have seen a ton of bodies floating all around us or just out of reach underneath us, bloated and frozen.

At that precise moment, I felt something hit my leg and I screamed, not meaning to. On any given day and in any other situation it felt just like seaweed, but not the here and now. It felt like human hair to me.

“Shut the hell up!”

Even though the threat was to me, Don was looking at Kevin when he said it. At least I’m pretty sure he was. In the darkness, it was hard to make out faces, but the inflections were crystal clear. If this guy could drown me himself and get away with it, he would.

It wasn’t the smartest thing to scream so close to the shore where the very people you are trying to hide from can most likely hear you. We were that close and his father was about to make the ultimate sacrifice for us all. If I blew that, he wouldn’t have to drown me because I’d gladly do it myself.

“We better keep moving.”

I heard the lilt of Brian’s accent and shortly another grab of my collar as we headed towards the docks. The plan was to hide right under their noses until they were out of reach. It wasn’t going to be a pleasant experience and we were also unsure if the dock would be completely unprotected once they took Alan away.

The ferry guy told us that usually when he brings them someone there are only two people who greet the boat. They search it from top to bottom, pay him and ask him to wait there as they transport the prisoner to the camps. He said we’d have about fifteen to thirty minutes to get out of the water and make our way to safety before they came back.

Kevin, Howie and Don would have to get out faster so they could follow the guards and see where they took Alan. The rest of us would just have to wait in the water until we got the all clear.

We made it to the docks just as the two guards were making their way onto the boat. I knocked into the wood and winced. It was slimy and cold. The smell was awful. It was a mix of salt and rancid fish and mold. My gag reflex kicked in and I almost puked right in the water.

“Easy.” Kevin whispered to me as he placed his arm under mine for added support.

There was a lot of loud talking but we couldn’t really make out what was being said. A few minutes later, Alan was being led off the ferry at gunpoint followed by the two guards. He briefly glanced in our direction before he was pushed forward.

“Dad…” Charlie sounded like a little kid as he saw his father being pushed around.

“We’ll get him, he’ll be safe.” His older brother tried to sound reassuring.

“We need to move now!”

At that Kevin let go of my arm and pulled me into an embrace as we were in the water, “Stay strong little man, I’ll see you soon!” His grip was so tight to me that I couldn’t breathe for a few seconds.

He handed me off to Brian as he grabbed his cousin in a hug, “If we don’t come back by the time you’re ready to leave, you know what to do.” He tried to whisper into Brian’s ear but sadly, I heard every word.

I felt Howie’s arm on my back, “Love you Nicky.” He said as he did the same to AJ and then Brian as they made their way out of the water with Don. I didn’t like the finality in those words. He sounded like a man who didn’t plan on coming back. I wanted to tell them to forget their stupid plan and just come with us, that Don could handle this alone and that there was no need to find and kill the other me, but before the thoughts had finished running through my head, they were already up the ladder and gone into the shadows.

We heard them running away but couldn’t see them. My eyes focused once more on the ferry man. He was nervously pacing back and forth on the dock and then when he saw the coast was completely clear he waved.

“Let’s go!” Charlie said as he made his way up the rickety ladder.

The ladder felt like it was going to give way and I had a really hard time boosting myself out of the water and using my legs. They were rubbery and useless. “I can’t.” I said before almost letting go and falling back into the murky blackness below.

Just like Kevin did earlier, Brian reached his hands down to me and managed to yank me the rest of the way up with help from AJ below. It felt good to be out of the water, but unfortunately the chills had come back. I started shivering violently and just wanted to stay on the dock and take a nap.

Brian gave me his hand, “You okay Nick?”

“Peachy.”

We were up and heading towards the ferryman. I’m not sure how I managed to jog but I did. Once we were there he pointed us in the right direction, away from where Kevin and everyone else had just gone, away from the danger.

“Thanks!” Charlie gave a nod and off we went down the longest street I have ever seen in my life.

I was still shaking and felt my fever literally going up with every step. I was getting pretty good at being able to tell when it was spiking. The tingling sensation in my ears and overall lightheadedness were signs that I was about to go down. I grabbed on to the closest person I could find. In this case it was AJ.

“What’s wrong?” He asked but I had no strength.

“Shit! Guys wait!” He grabbed for me but he went down as I went down.

Brian knelt beside me, “Nick, can you walk?”

As much as I wanted to say yes, I knew I wouldn’t make it. I could barely keep my eyes open so I shook my head. I felt so useless. They should just leave me here. I was nothing more than a hindrance to them.

“I don’t know if I can carry him.” Brian was trying to be the problem solver since both Howie and Kevin were out of the picture.

“Maybe if you grab and arm and I grab an arm we’ll be able to carry him that way? You know between us?” AJ suggested. I could see from the faint light of the docks we had just left, that Charlie and Larry were looking at each other. I wouldn’t have blamed them if they left the three of us right here.

I felt myself being lifted off the ground. “See, we did it!”

My feet were dragging behind me as we were going at a fast pace down the street. I know if it was up to them, they would be running and in the back of my mind I knew we were running out of time. At any moment those guards would be showing up again and here we were still on this block where they would plainly be able to see us.

“We have to go faster!” Larry’s panicked voice came from slightly up ahead of us.

“We’re trying,” was followed by a few choice mumbles from the man on my left.

I felt like my arms were going to completely dislocate from my body if we didn’t reach safety soon but luckily, we rounded a corner shortly and just as we did, they dropped me to the ground.

“Well I got my workout for the next few months. Nick, two words buddy…Jenny Craig!”

Brian let out a little nervous laugh and I rolled my eyes. In the meantime Larry and Charlie were staring at a map using a small flashlight one of them had packed. “We need to go up about twenty blocks and it should be on the left.”

“There’s no way we can carry him twenty blocks.”

They both looked at each other again, “Fine, we’ll go and you guys stay behind. When we find Matt maybe he’ll have a car or something we can use to get Nick to his place.”

“That sounds like a good idea. Maybe we can find a place to hide.” Brian suggested as he ran a little ways down the street, looking for a place where we could go.

He whistled and pointed towards a door.

“Do you expect me to carry his fat ass alone?”

I love how sensitive and caring AJ was. Yes, my eyes rolled.

Charlie and Larry helped this time, giving AJ a break since he was so fragile and within a few minutes we were safely sitting in the corridor of an abandoned apartment building. Larry handed a spare flashlight to Brian, “We’ll try not to be too long.”

“Be safe.”

“You too!”

And with that being said, they were off.

“I bet the really rich used to live here.”

I looked around at my surroundings and AJ was right. The lobby was pretty extravagant. It looked more like the lobby of a hotel than an apartment building. I’m sure there was a doorman, bellman and valet as well. Maybe this would be a place I would have liked to live in some day if I ever got a place in Manhattan. I’ve always wanted to live in a place where a doorman named Jeeves would greet me every morning when I’d leave for work. I guess his name doesn’t have to be Jeeves. Jeeves is more of a butler’s name. I never really wanted one of those though, unless it was a monkey butler. Those things are cool!

“Nick?”

I looked up at the very blurry face of Brian. Why was Brian blurry? I’m feeling fluffy again…

“Nick?”

“Is he okay?”

“I think his fever is going down. The snow worked.”

I opened my eyes and looked up at the face of AJ, always a scary sight to see. Especially when I realized I was using his legs as a pillow. I shifted slightly and tried to sit up but the world was spinning so AJ’s legs it is.

“Welcome back kiddo, you were out of it for a while there.”

“How long?”

“At least two hours.”

“Have they come back yet?”

Brian answered from his position by the door, “No.”

“They should have been back by now, right?”

“Unless they got lost.”

“Or ran into trouble.”

Brian shot AJ a look.

“What? Can’t I be realistic?”

“And what about Kevin and Howie?”

Once again Brian shook his head, “They don’t know where we are.”

I was able to sit up this time without feeling woozy. I couldn’t help but wonder if maybe Kevin had managed to kill the other me and that’s why I was suddenly feeling better.

“Do you think when it happens; I’ll suddenly feel great again?”

“When what happens?”

“You know, when the other me bites it?”

Before AJ could answer we heard a puttering sound coming from outside. Brian moved from the window and motioned for AJ to turn off the flashlight. My heart started beating really fast as the sound came to an abrupt stop right in front of the building.

The door opened and I felt relieved to see Charlie standing there, “We found Matt and he thinks he can get you guys home! So, let’s get out of here!” He said smiling as I once again felt myself lifted off the ground but this time minus the fat jokes.

 

 

Chapter End Notes:

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