G-Force (Book 2): Forced Gravity

by Nye, Laine

  Alerted by her eyes and mouth forming words, the four turned at once to look at Steve.

  “What up Steve boy. Want some action with us?” The one known as Gorilla said. When they had turned toward him, the one known as Spam grabbed her arm, so she couldn’t slip back through the door of the store.

  “Hey guys. How about you let this one go. She’s a good kid. Doesn’t deserve this.”

  Gorilla snickered. “Why would we let a nice thing like this slip out of our fingers. You gonna play hero? Get bruised a little?” He said.

  Steve continued to slowly approach them. They each took a stance for starting a fight. Steve stopped walking when he was about seven feet away.

  “I just think it would be a lot better if you just let her go.” Steve said. “Come on guys. Let her step back inside.”

  “I’m the only clerk in there. I need to get back to the store.” Nancy pleaded.

  The one called Spam jerked her away from the door and threw her toward Gorilla who in turn tripped her, making her fall.

  “Stay down until we’re done here if you don’t want to get hurt real bad.” He said.

  The one known as J, for Johnny was the least dangerous of the group. He said to Steve. “You’d better just leave Steve. These guys are serious about this one. They want her.”

  “She’s not theirs J. She doesn’t deserve this.”

  Steve looked at the one called Gorilla and said. “Gary. I’m asking you to let this one go. Please.”

  Gary, or Gorilla sneered at him and spit in disgust. “You just so polite homey. Makes me feel warm all over.”

  The fourth member of the mini-gang was called Smack. “You gonna take us all on Stevey boy?”

  “Wasn’t my intention. No. But I can’t let you guys hurt her.”

  That was when Gorilla made a move. He stepped forward to hit Steve, but Steve was already prepared. Knew Gary would be the first to attack. Steve lashed out with both hands so fast that Gorilla never saw it coming. Never expected it. His hands struck Gorilla in the chest before Gorilla could throw one fist or block the incoming strike and then Steve threw a lot of gravity into the wall directly behind him so that he was thrown backward violently. He threw his arms out trying to keep his balance, hitting Spam in the chest in the process which knocked Spam down. Then Gorilla hit the wall with such force that his head bounced forward after a sickening sound that echoed off the walls of the surrounding store backs sounding like a gunshot and he fell to the ground unconscious.

  That sudden forceful maneuver caught the other three so off guard that they were stunned into inaction for a couple seconds. That was when Steve hit J in the mouth and threw heavy gravity onto the ground behind him. He fell backwards into the gravity field hitting the ground hard and was slow to recover. By this point, Spam was back on his feet and didn’t really want to engage Steve after seeing what he had done but felt compelled to due to the fear of looking cowardly.

  He crouched in a fighter position. Steve used forced gravity to cause Smack to stumble into Spam. Before Spam could recover Steve stepped up to him and shoved him backwards and of course the g force augmentation to the backward stumble caused Spam to fall hard. Trying to use his elbows to break his fall, he injured both as he landed.

  Smack stood there looking uncertain. Nancy had not moved. Could have got up and gone back in the store and locked the door but she was frozen watching Steve take out three of the four gang members in a matter of seconds.

  “Your day is coming Stevey boy.” Smack told him as he was backing away.

  “Let’s make today my day Richard.” Steve responded using Smack’s real name.

  Smack shook his head. “No. But your day is coming.”

  Steve stepped toward him menacingly and Smack backed away further.

  “Get out of here Richard. Don’t ever bother her again.” Steve warned.

  “Thanks Steve. I had no idea you were so tough.” Nancy said to him as Smack walked away and Spam got up slowly holding both elbows. Gorilla was just waking up. J was up and backing away from Steve the same as Smack.

  “Go inside and lock the door Nancy. Gary’s right next to you and he’s coming to. You should call the police before they decide to come around the front of the store and come at you again.” Steve advised.

  She nodded as she stepped to the door, opened it and slipped through just as Gorilla was reaching toward the door. She locked it before he could grab it.

  “You’re dead meat Steve. You know that. Right?” Gorilla warned him.

  “Well, I’ve got a few spare minutes if you want to try again Gary.”

  “It’s Gorilla.”

  “Yeah. You’re an animal alright.”

  “We’re coming for you. Ain’t nothing you can do about it neither.”

  “Come for me now animal. All of you can do round two right now, that is, if you don’t have any appointments.”

  “Your time will be later. We will catch up to you another time.” Smack said.

  “Either do something now or shut up Smack. You’re showing yourselves to be cowards. Big- surprise there.” Steve said staring at all four of them one at a time. Then he turned and walked away going close to where J was standing. He brushed J’s arm as he went by and threw some extra gravity behind J at the same time. J went flying backwards to the pavement. He wanted to convince them that he was far too strong for them to take him on. Steve kept walking away, listening for any sounds that they were coming at him from behind. Refused to look back.

  What Steve did not know and could not have guessed was that in defending the innocent girl, he had started something that would lead to multiple repercussions. Consequence would follow consequence until even his father and mother would be involved. His grandfather’s help would be needed. Their lives would be at severe risk in a very short time. Not because of the gang of four. But because of the things that would result from the situation. Steve felt good about defending Nancy. It was the right thing to do. But he could not possibly know about the consequences.

  Gorilla, A.K.A. Gary Clarke had been trouble all his life just like his father was trouble. He had not yet served anytime in jail, prison or reform school like his father, but it wouldn’t be too far into his future at the rate he was going. He was large, homely, barrel-chested. He knew he was stronger, tougher than his peers and even challenged people several years older than him. He usually won if it came to a fight. His dad used to take him down like he was a feather in the wind and ‘knock some sense into him.’ Someone should have done it for his father before Gary was even born.

  J was a contrast to Gorilla. Originally known as Johnny Probasco, He had never been in any real trouble, but he was heading that way by being involved with Gorilla’s group. He was of mellow disposition but seemed to want to try on being mean like Gary and Gary’s father. He was lanky, but not well built. Because of his long narrow nose perched on a face that was also long and narrow, people told him he looked like the scarecrow in Wizard of Oz. Instead of taking Scarecrow as a name he told people to just call him J.

  Smack, or Richard Storey was a troubled man with a troubled past. He gravitated toward Gorilla as soon as he met him seeing in him a kindred spirit of hate and meanness. Smack couldn’t get a girl’s attention by any means because of his homely face and hateful eyes. He was stocky but not near as tall as Gorilla who topped out at just under six-foot-five.

  Then there was Spam. His name was Nick Sparrow. He was a mix of several different races. He was nicknamed Spam because he was like the meat. Not sure of how many different meats could be included in Spam. He was close friends with Smack which was why he hung around with Gary the Gorilla.

  The four of them were bent on getting in deeper trouble all the time, competing as to who was the toughest, meanest, most evil. They would become a large problem in the community over time. Especially for Steve and family.

  Chapter Three

  Brad’s father Steve called him on his cell one day shortly after his son’s en
counter with the four toughs. “Brad, there is someone who contacted me that I think you will want to talk to.” Brad knew that his father would never give his phone number to anyone in Utah because the Shaws would not want anyone to be able to track Brad.

  “Who is it dad?” Brad asked.

  “Her name is Barbara McBride. At one time, she would have been known as Barbara Belasco.”

  “Albert’s daughter.” Brad said in total surprise. She cut herself off from her dad for many, many years. What does she want and how does she even know about me? I never met her, and Albert hadn’t seen her in years when I met him.”

  “Well, they must have had some contact before he died” His father said.

  “And he told her about me? I wonder why.”

  “You were more important to him than you knew Brad. I saw the affection he had for you in his eyes the two times I was there with him and you.” Steve responded. “Telling his daughter about you is proof that I’m right.”

  “Do you know why she wants to contact me?”

  “No idea. But I wouldn’t let her have your number so that I could protect your identity, I don’t know if she is to be trusted.”

  “I will pick up a phone at the store to call her on. That way she won’t have my real number.”

  “Wait a couple days before you call her. I want to get some background on her before you talk.”

  “Still got friends in the DIA that will help you out?” Brad asked. It was understood between the two of them that Secrecy about Brad’s identity never reach the wrong ears or eyes. That was the reason for the caution. Brad still had enemies in Utah that would love nothing more than to locate him. Under the name of Seth Collins, no one had ever come close to finding Brad. That was about to change with the circumstances that Brad’s son was getting involved in.

  “Yes. But it has-to be very low key, so no one gets into trouble.” Steve answered.

  “Alright Dad. I’ll wait to buy the phone until we know if she is one of the good guys.”

  “How is Charlene and Steve doing?”

  “Everybody is good Dad. I would like to tell you what happened to me in The Philippines the next time I see you. Don’t want to mention it over the phone.”

  “Okay son. And we will be seeing you soon. Take care of yourself and your family.”

  Steve was walking to the local Safeway store on that same day. It was the same strip mall that Nancy worked at. He decided to go into the little store where she worked to see how she was doing since the day the four guys had attacked her.

  He stepped into the little shop she worked in to see if she was there. It was a discount greeting card and gift store that was struggling to keep its doors open. No customers were in the store. Nancy was there and when he came through the door her face lit up like the Times Square Christmas tree last winter.

  “Hi Steve.” She said in an excited voice. She was prancing and doing a little dance with her feet while she walked up to him not realizing what her lower half was doing because she was too focused on her upper half where her voice and smile were coming from.

  “Hi Nancy. Just came by to see how you were doing. I was concerned that you might have been hurt that day.”

  “Only a little and I am okay now. Especially since you decided to drop in.”

  Her comment surprised him. They had never been close. Just an associate that he knew in school. She walked up to him swiftly, looked at him from very close with the sweetest smile on her face. Then she leaned in and kissed him on his very surprised mouth. It wasn’t a quick peck. She kissed him long and gentle and he found himself responding. Kissing her back. Finally, she pulled away, still smiling the cutest smile, and something he had never noticed about her before; Her large blue eyes sparkled with such light that one might think there were fireworks going on behind her eyes.

  Now that he had seen her so close and she had kissed him, he could see for the first time that she was quite beautiful. She had a tall slender frame with a long graceful neck and lovely black hair that hung down to her shoulder blades with just a hint of curl in it. Her face was the color of ivory. She had black eyebrows in a thin line that gave her face a delicate appearance. Her nose was also narrow, delicate. She had a pouty mouth until she smiled. The smiling was almost constant. The word that came to mind was elegant. She was an elegant young woman and suddenly he was very attracted to her. The kiss might have helped a little on that score. Right now, her score was way up.

  “Thank you for rescuing me from those horrid guys. I was terrified. I didn’t know what they were going to do with me. They had been heckling me for a long time here in the store that day and then they just grabbed me and hauled me out the back door. You came by about two minutes after that. So, thank you. I have always liked you Steve. I always hoped you would notice me in school, but you seemed to be preoccupied. That kiss I gave you was for my gratitude, but I have always wanted to kiss you. I think you are a pretty special guy and very handsome and I’m just kind of running off at the mouth here. Can’t seem to stop myself. Sorry.”

  Steve chuckled, which caused her face to burn red with embarrassment. She thought that he found her to be amusing which was not at all what she wanted. She feared he was going to ridicule her a little. She needn’t have worried. She had momentarily forgot that Steve was always kind and considerate to people around him. His laughing was because he found her manner to be humorously cute.

  “You were not talking too much Nancy. Those were sweet words. Now I have a lot to think about. You sure have surprised me though.”

  “In a good way?” She asked feeling a little insecure.

  “In a very good way.” Then he got very brave, very courageous. He kissed her for a long lingering kiss. When he was done, she stared into his eyes.

  “Wow.” She said. “Wow. You are a very good kisser and I really enjoyed that. I didn’t know if I would ever get another chance to kiss you after that first one, so I just wanted it to be kind of special. You never paid much attention to me, so I just thought I would kiss you and show you my gratitude and hope like crazy that you were attracted to me, but even if you weren’t, it could still be a nice memory of me getting to finally kiss you and I am running off at the mouth again like a giddy school girl. Steve Collins, you have got me all addlepated. I like it a lot though so…”

  That was about the time she ran out of steam. Besides, she wanted to hear what Steve had to say about her comments.

  “Nancy, I find you to be very attractive. I’m surprised at myself for not really noticing before and I could kick myself for that.”

  “Oh? Why is that?” She said with expectance and her sweet smile still set firmly on her face.

  “We could have been dating for the past ten years or so. That would have been nice.”

  She giggled. We would have been seven years old, silly.”

  He tipped his head back and laughed. “That’s right. We could have got an early start just to make sure we were going to be together.”

  She laughed again. Held up two fingers.

  “That’s about as far back as we could have dated and me not be killed by my father.” She explained. Two years ago, would have been the earliest.”

  “Oh, come on Nancy. We could have snuck you out the window every night.” He said with a joking smile on his face.

  Nancy stopped smiling then, looking very earnestly at Steve.

  “Then we can start dating? Is that what you are trying to say?”

  Sheesh. How come he had never noticed how attractive she was? Now that the smile was gone, and the eyes had stopped sparkling, she looked deeply into his eyes and he saw what would always be etched into his mind. She had a strong interest in him almost to the point of loving him even though they had never spent any serious time together. He almost forgot that he was trying to go to the store for some Coke or Sprite.

  “Yes Nancy. I would very much like to date you. Can I get your number, so I can call you soon?”

  “Oh good.” She e
xclaimed in a cheerful voice. She spun around and virtually ran to the check-out counter to grab her phone. She bounced back up to him and said, “I want your phone number too, Mr. Collins.”

  Then she leaned in and kissed him another lingering kiss.

  “Wow. You taste good.” She said with a smile.

  He laughed. “So do you Nancy.”

  When he finally extricated himself from the store, he was close to floating away. Literally. He wanted to jump in the air with his gravity force taking him up high and give his best ‘cowboy on a wild horse’ yelp.

  He walked down the row of stores to Safeway. Going inside, he went straight to the soda-pop aisle and grabbed a case of twelve cans of coke. Making the purchase at the counter he walked out of the store with a smile still planted on his face and not fifty feet away was Gorilla and his groupies walking toward him with cocky smiles on their faces.

  “Today is the day Stevey boy.” Smack told him. “Told you your day was coming.”

  “Better do it tomorrow. You guys need to make sure you are well rested up for this.” Steve answered.

  “Nope. Today.” Gorilla said.

  “Your funeral.” Steve told him with a shrug. “J, I thought you would be smart enough to get away from these losers by now.”

  “Still here.” J answered.

  “Still a loser.” Steve retorted.

  They were coming up to Steve rapidly. No caution about being in public. Steve bent down and set the 12-count box of diet coke on the ground. Tearing open the flap, he grabbed three cans of soda. Two in his left hand and one in his right. The group was now only ten feet away and coming closer with great confidence… Until Steve let loose with the first can of coke. It hit Gorilla in the forehead before he could get his hands all the way up into a defensive position. After a loud thunk, Gorilla fell on his back. He was out cold just like the first time.

  Steve’s next arm throw was a feint causing the three of them to put their hands up to their faces in defense. Then Steve let loose with a hard throw into the chest of Spam and one more aimed at Smack. Spam grabbed his chest and sank to his knees with two cracked ribs. Smack managed to keep it from hitting his head or body deflecting it with his arm which caused him some pain. Steve immediately grabbed a fourth can and threw at Smack again. This time he hit him with a glancing blow off the top of his head.