Children of a Lesser God

Chapter 57: Last Rites

Laz was in pain. However, even he had to admit it didn't hurt as much as he thought it would. Apparently, while his body was being strengthened by the energy that was constantly churning inside of him, his joints, tendons and ligaments were also being strengthened. It hurt, but it was manageable.

The real problem was that he was stuck in this position. It was kind of like a joint lock, ensuring that he was basically stuck with one leg in front of him and one behind him. If it was someone else, he probably would have found it funny.

Of course, since it was him, he wasn't laughing.

'Well now... this is awkward.'

Finally, Laz had no choice but to use his hands to knock himself over, thus ensuring his ability to recover. Standing up, Laz did a few squats and tried running in place a little to ensure everything still worked right.

'Yeah, time to call it a night,' Laz thought as he made his way for the path home. He turned around again as reached the path the the apartments to look at this weird, hidden park for moment. So far, the two times he had come here had resulted in nothing good happening. He may have gained a bit of understanding towards his inner energy, but he didn't know if it was something he could use freely.

'Guess I should just practice more,' was the only answer he could give himself.

As Laz continued on his way, he failed to notice a movement off in the corner of the old park. It was simply a ruffling of leaves, followed by a few quick sniffs. As a cold wind blew, moonlight was able to shine directly between some branches which ended up reflecting off of a pair of deep blue eyes that could be seen above a dark, furry muzzle. The tiny animal sniffed the air a bit before laying back down, as though it were going back to sleep.

The night passed quickly and just as soon as Laz laid down, he felt like it was time to wake up again. Checking his phone, he found a text from Kennedy, once again reminding him about his clothing choice for the party.

Laz didn't exactly have clothes for something like this, so he just figured he would do what he always did and search through his closet. His dad, having lived in the same place when he was younger and single, had quite a collection of stuff. But now wasn't the time for that. Although it was early and he had school, he had something to do tonight. Shooting a quick text to Uncle Chu to tell him he wouldn't be coming to work tonight, Laz got his stuff and left for school.

The day went by rather quick. He had worn his bracelet and brought the one for Kennedy, but he didn't get a chance to see her. He wasn't going to text her unless she texted him first. Laz had a weird feeling about her, one that told him that she wasn't someone who wanted to be bothered a lot. And he didn't really want to seem clingy. As such, he just figured the best thing to do was to react once she acted.

He then called Bill to ask him for a favor.

"What do you want kid? You know what time it is?"

"Yeah, 6 in the morning. Don't tell me you were still sleeping?"

"Of course, it's a perk of being old. You can sleep all day and fuck all night."

"Just... stop. I need a favor."

"Oh? Alright, what is it?" Bill seemed a bit puzzled. He couldn't remember the last time the kid had asked him for a favor.

"I need to borrow the Fat Boy."

"Ha! Good fucking luck!"

"Come on, please?"

"I already gave you the dirt bike, why do you want the Harley?".

"I... uh... have a date."

...

...

...

"Grandpa Bill?"

"With a real girl or... you just looking to get your mojo on for a night of intense whacking?"

"What?"

"So... which is it?"

"It's a real date with a real girl."

"Ah. Well, I guess it's fine. When do you need it?"

"Friday. I'll bring it back with me Saturday."

"Yeah... alright. Tell you what. Bring it back Sunday. I'll be praying that you won't want to get out of bed Saturday."

"Huh?"

"Ha. If that's what happens, you'll know what I mean." Bill couldn't help but laugh to himself as he hung up.

Laz just looked at his cell phone and wondered what exactly the old, perverted man was thinking about. Shaking his head, he could only give up and go to school.

The week went by quickly as nothing of significance happened. Kennedy only contacted him once to remind him of the pick up time for Friday and remind him about clothes. He also didn't see Malene much as she just went around acting like everyone's new best friend while basically ignoring him. Of course this suited Laz just fine.

Thursday came around and Laz rode out to Bill's farm to get the bike. Coming down the dirt path that served as the driveway, Laz came into the clearing and noticed the Fat Boy parked in front of the house, along with Grandpa Bill and his grandpa sitting outside.

"Grandpa, I didn't know you would be here," Laz couldn't help but point out as he park his bike and took off the helmet.

"Ho. Of course Little Laz. The way I see it, I don't have much time left, so any day I am feeling up to it, I like to take the time to visit my friends when they are free. You never really realize how fast time flies until you look in the mirror and barely recognize your own face. So I figure it's best to do what I want when I got time to do it. So I hear my grandson has got himself a date eh?" The old man seemed to beam with pride.

Laz had always been a bit of a loner as far as his grandpa could tell. Despite having his own place, he never really had friends over or did anything wild and crazy as kids his age should be doing. He knew that Laz had never really been somewhere long enough to make friends which was pretty much his son's fault, so he never really felt he should say anything about it. But now, hearing about the young man's first date, he couldn't help but perk up about it.

His greatest wish was for his grandson to be happy.

"Yeah, it's with a girl from school. We just happen to be going somewhere together." Laz didn't really want to explain to begin with, and seeing how happy the old man was, he wanted to talk about it even less.

"Well in that case, it's already been gassed up. Have a good time tomorrow."

"Keys are in the ignition," Bill added on.

"Thanks again." As Laz walked over to the bigger and much more powerful bike, he couldn't help but get excited about it. Of course, it almost seemed like things were a bit too easy.

"Laz..." Bill's voice trailed off while he was frowning and wanting to ask a question.

"Yes Grandpa Bill?" Although Laz normally just referred to the old man who once chased him around while shooting at him, he was in a good mood today and so was a bit more respectful.

"Why do you have a gun stuffed in your pants?" Bill asked while making a weird face.

"Uh, cause it hurts to stuff it in my shoe?" Laz tried to act calm towards the question, but it came out sounding like something else entirely.

"Your date requires you to carry a gun?"

"It's for protection. You never know."

"Little Laz, there are many different types of protection that one can bring on a date, but I don't think a date where a gun is needed sounds like my type of fun."

"Besides, what the hell kind of cheap piece of garbage is that?" Bill seemed like he could see what was stuffed in the back of Laz's pants. Of course, he could only make out the outline of it.

"It's a 9mm."

"Did you buy if off some sort of low life dealer?"

"Kinda stole it actually..."

The two old men looked at each other and starting laughing.

"That's my grandson." Grandpa Crowe said with a smile.

"Way to be kid. But honestly, that cheap piece of garbage is only good for scaring people at most. It would only kill someone if you got lucky and shot them in the eye or something," Bill added on, walking away.

He made his way into the house. It wasn't long before the sound of stuff being thrown around and other things breaking was heard.

Laz just exchanged a glance with his grandpa before sitting down next to him and grabbing a soda from the small cooler on the porch next to the seat.

Both young and old man sat there while enjoying the evening, listening to the sounds of Bill wreck his place behind them.

"AH, FOUND IT!!!" Bill yelled out, making Laz jump a bit while Grandpa Crowe just smiled.

The old man looked a little disheveled as he reappear in the doorway. Walking over, he reached his hand out and curled his fingers a few times, asking for Laz's gun.

Laz took it out and handed it to him. Bill took the gun, popped the clip out and ejected the round from the chamber before tossing the gun into a scrap metal box.

"Here, try this." Bill passed a holster over to Laz that held a gun that was far bigger than the one he had before.

"What the hell is this?" Laz drew the gun out of the holster and drew it close to look at it. The gun looked brand new and weighed quite a bit. He saw the words "Last Rites" etched on the barrel.

"Last Rites?" Laz asked while looking at Bill.

"You know, the old 9 mm would be nothing more than a stick in your hand. Now matter how much you wave the stick around and hit someone with it, it's still a stick. But this? This is like a sword. It's meant for only one thing, taking lives. This should be the last thing someone sees before meeting their maker. So remember that as well. You only pull this out when you mean to kill. Once it gets to that point, don't miss."

Bill reached over and grabbed the gun from Laz's hand before aiming it out hay bail with a target on it. Using both hands, Bill took aim before pulling the trigger. The first thing Laz noticed was the gun cranked wildly in Bill's hands while a loud Bang echoed out into the sky. The next thing Laz noticed was the hay bail practically exploding and knocking backwards after getting hit.

"Holy shit."

"That's why it's called "Last Rites." My own little modified Desert Eagle. It takes a.50 caliber bullet and the kick is wild, but considering your arm strength, you should do just fine with it. Bill handed the gun back to Laz while sitting down again. He passed over a few more preloaded clips as well.

"These fit right into the holster so make sure you practice changing them out."

"Thanks Grandpa Bill," Laz said, truly touched.

"Of course. Now though for the most important thing." Bill said with a bit of a smile.

"Something else?" Laz asked while his eyes were shinning. He could have used his sense perception to figure out all these things in advance, but Laz kind of felt like doing that with family was rather rude.

"Yeah. The gun was easy to find. This took quite a while. Now remember Laz, you are still young and haven't gotten around a lot. But let me tell you something. You got to be careful out there. There is danger everywhere you look, no one will ever be honest with you, and more often than not, they will pass their problem on to you without ever saying a word. That's why, no matter how much you hate it, you have to have protection," Bill explained with the most serious look Laz had ever seen.

'What is he going to give me next, body armor?' Laz couldn't help but wonder while Bill reached around behind him.

In one drastic movement, Bill set a box on the table while both old men sighed a bit.

"These have saved my life more times than I can count," Bill muttered.

"Same here," Grandpa Crowe agreed.

Looking at the box, Laz realized that it was a box of condoms.

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