This time, the silence changed into a whimpering sound. Astonished teenagers who had not seen such a thing in their lives held their heads, staring at the water. The bartender momentarily stopped bumping the shaker, and the lifeguard rose from his sunbed for the first time that day, just to see if Harry would swim out. Even the guards began looking into the water to see what would happen and Connor tried to imagine the pain Harry had felt from that jump. And there he was, Kidman emerged in Mitch Buchannon style, in slight slow motion, and from the speakers sounded another song "DMX - Fame". Red as a tomato on the front side and white as a sheet on the back, with a smiling face, he waved goodbye to his opponent.
“OMG!” someone shouted and vigorously clapped. Others were quick to follow.
Shelley approached Mike, “I know that smile. He must be in a lot of pain.”
“You think?” Odonal stared blankly at her. “After that jump, even I’m in pain…”
Connor approached Kidman and helped him get out of the pool. After that, he whispered in his ear, “We are even. I will forget that you had sex with that whore, and you will forget about the bet.”
While the big man spoke, Harry stared intently at the lounges, and the only thing he thought was how to get to them. He looked at Connor, winked at him, gathered all of his remaining strength and with a "The Bentley on the parking is mine" type of walk, went to his place. Then he slowly leaned on his back and closed his eyes.
After some time, he felt some gentle hands daub him with something. Harry opened his eyes and saw Shelley. His smile was genuine this time, even though he was still in pain and had no desire to talk whatsoever, his instincts did not fail him.
“Shell, who is this chump with you?”
He felt a burning pain from the slap on his belly.
“This "chump" is my cousin Alex, which incidentally, you have been meeting every summer for the last ten years.”
“Pff, I may need to reduce the dangerous jumps,” blurted the jumper and winked at Mike. He was about to add one of his famous jokes when he suddenly saw the girl of his dreams. His mouth dropped like a clockwork. His sunglasses fell, so everybody was able to see where his eyes were looking. A second before he started drooling, Shelley hit him on the head. Mike laughed louder than usual.
“Better forget her, Harry, Tess is out of your league.”
“You're right, I need to lower one-two levels for her.”
Laughter quickly spread to the nearby lounges.
“Harry, I think the effect of the jump is still holding you!”
Chapter III
Paranoia
The next day, Kidman missed the first period for safety reasons. Super incognito, he managed to get to the school corridor before classmates, friends, acquaintances and everyone who had access to the internet noticed him. Again, a standing ovation followed as in the pizzeria, but this time, it was ten times bigger. Finally, he managed to get to his locker, which had a large inscription "Dirty Harry!".
The second class had begun and Kidman, as always, went in the land of the dreams, now calm, that he got away with Patty and Nat.
“Mr. Kidman!!!” the young history teacher angrily shouted.
Harry lifted his head, on which a big red dot was clearly visible.
“Aaa,” the young man grabbed his head, “what was the question?”
Kidman suddenly noticed that Tess was watching him from the first row and strangely smiling at him, sending mix signals.
“My question was whether you wrote coursework for Napoleon, which you promised, or should I give you an F already?”
“Muss…” Harry choked, “I mean Miss Rosenberg, I was prevented in the weekend. But, if you remember, even Napoleon had a second chance, despite his mistakes. Thus I ask for a few days deferment.”
The lady smiled, “Well, Mr. Kidman, we all know about your big weekend,” a deafening laughter was heard in the room, “I will give you more time. Let’s hope you won’t be prevented again...”
Harry managed to get out of bad position but was worried by the fact that Tess did not stop looking at him. He started to wonder whether this sudden interest wasn’t because of the glory he acquired in the last few days. For him, it did not matter. All he wanted was to take advantage of the fact that perhaps his time had come. But the teenager remembered the notorious incident with Sally in eight grade and decided to ask around first. Who, however, could ask about the intentions of Tess and while thinking about it, he accidentally saw Shelley two rows in front of him and remembered that they were friends.
After classes, Kidman was standing in front of the school thoughtfully, with a cigarette in his mouth, thinking about how to approach Shelley after everything that had happened. His conscience was still eating at him, but he had to act. After a while, he saw his neighbor having lunch with a few girls and decided to try his luck.
He slowly approached the table where the girls had already noticed him. He slightly took off his glasses and winked at one of them as a sign to make room for him next to Shell. Nothing had come to mind about how to break the ice, and once he adjusted next to her, he took a couple of fries from the table. The girls were watching him, smiling from ear to ear, sending love signals.
“Harry,” someone finally broke the silence, “did you already choose a girl for the prom?”
Kidman smiled and, still eating fries, replied, “Shona, right?”
She was delighted by the fact that Harry knew her name.
“Yes?!”
“It is too early, but if I don’t find one, I might call you.”
Shelley laughed so abruptly that she almost choked. The girl looked at her in disbelief. Kidman patted her gently on the back and tried to help her out of the awkward situation.
“I guess Shelley was thinking about the fact that you are eleventh grade and I’m a senior. Right, Shell?”
“Yes, exactly,” his neighbor answered in all seriousness.
“Girls, will you excuse us for a while. I want to talk privately with her.”
All the girls moved from the table, but Kidman just watched his friend eat without violating the silence. Suddenly, he turned to her and stared straight into her eyes. The girl froze for a moment but continued to stare.
“Shell, how long have we been friends?”
“Years?”
“And how many times have I asked you for a favor?”
“Thousands?”
“Sure, you are right. But we have been best friends since childhood, and if it weren’t super important to me, I wouldn’t ask you.”
“Me? For what?”
The girl was still confused, but as far as she knew Harry, it probably wasn’t going to be the thing she had been dreaming about for years.
“Please, will you ask around about Tess, who she’s going with to the prom because she was looking at me super weird today and I'm pretty sure she was sending me signals...”
Shelley started to feel nauseous but remained calm.
“Harry, are you certain that she is the right girl for you? There are all sorts of stories about her. Lately, she was with a 26-year-old rapper. You will get into something again.”
“I tell you, Shell. I’m in love. If it weren’t important, I wouldn’t be asking you. I've been thinking about her for more than a year…”
“Okay Harry, but I’m doing such a favor for one last time.”
“You know I love you, Shell,” he hugged her playfully and ate all of her fries.
Chapter IV
Close Encounter
Harry went home, took a shower and while he was getting out of the bathroom, his phone rang. On the other side was Shelley who explained that Tess was available. It was time to act. Kidman hastily looked through his wardrobe and concluded that there was nothing suitable for the occasion. They were offering fancy rental costumes in the mall, but the price was too high.
Dirty sat at the table in the living room for a few minutes, thinking about where to get the money and suddenly saw the Roman stat
uette on the fireplace, which was the pride of the antiquities of his father.
Harry casually took the statuette in his pocket, jumped in his father's Maserati and drove away to the antiquarian.
After entering the atelier, who welcomed him was an old, slim jew with a sly smile.
“What did you bring this time, Harry? Are you out of cash again?”
Kidman pushed the statuette under his glasses and said, “I want 500 bucks. Tell me how much the interest will be for a week, for a friend.”
The bearded jew looked at the item with his magnifying glass, scratched his head, checked something in his catalogs and returned.
“In the next seven days, come with 600 bucks, or it becomes mine,” but he secretly wished for the young man to fail to collect the amount so that he could keep the artifact.
Harry reached out.
“Come on, I’m in a hurry!”
The jew counted the money faster than a machine and handed it to him. Harry jumped in the car and headed to the mall. After the selling girl had chosen the latest Armani for him, she took three hundred dollars and wished him luck. Kidman signed that he would return the suit in the next 48 hours and went to Tess.
On the way, Dirty bought flowers and wine, and with a satisfied smile, parked the car on the street near her house. He stopped the music, grabbed the bouquet and the bottle, and energetically popped out of the Maserati. Harry was slightly worried, and while closing the door, he clamped the bouquet. Unfortunately, his reflexes worked, and during the closing, he abruptly pulled his hand. As he looked at her, he noticed that all the flowers were pulled out of the handles. Luckily, one flower remained whole.
While trying to separate it from the flower stems, he tripped over something and hit the glass of the car with the wine. The content of the bottle poured into his seat, and the already missing glass was scattered all around.
He looked to the only surviving flower.
“I guess we can do it without the wine!”
Still stressed, Kidman tried to control the situation. Holding the flower tight with his left hand, he looked at himself with the cutest face he could make. With some hope, he stood proudly and knocked at the door.
After a moment, she opened, and a surprised Tess stood before him. Her clothes were very sexy, and that confused Harry even more. Still, with a swallowed tongue, he held out the flower to her with the most trained look.
“For me? How nice, Harry. Come in.”
In a few seconds, Dirty settled comfortable in her room. Tess turned on the stereo, from which "Scorpions" gently sounded.
Harry made his move, “Do you have beer?”
“I'll check.”
After a while, she appeared with two glasses of bourbon in her hand and sat down beside him.
While Harry drank thirstily, the cutie gently ran her hand along his leg. A hot wave went thrоugh his body. Kidman stared at her with his loving look and spoke in French,
“Je t'aime.” (I love you)
And Tess unexpectedly answered, “Prends tout de ta vie.” (Take everything you want from life).
At that moment, he heard the roar of a powerful engine which stopped in the street in front of the house. Tess instantly jumped up and looked out the window.
“Fast, get in the wardrobe. My boyfriend will be here any moment now. I will try to get rid of him quickly.”
“Boyfriend? I thought you were available?”
“It’s complicated, I can’t explain now. Better listen to me, or we will have a lot of troubles with Johnny "The Hammer".”
“Hammer, Hammer,” Harry was speaking to himself as he rushed to the closet because somebody was already knocking at the door.
Kidman sat quietly, narrowed his feet, put glasses of bourbon on the floor beside him and listened.
Tess and The Hammer burst into the room loudly, played a movie and started eating popcorn. The minutes passed slowly, and Harry drank one of the cups. Under the power of alcohol and music from the tv, he fell asleep. His legs relaxed ahead and the closet door opened widely. The rapper stopped the movie and turned to see what was happening. He met the half asleep glimpse of Kidman, whose brain was working at full speed. Before the giant managed to react, Harry stood up and ran. Tess shouted, “Thief!”
Dirty had no time to open the window and jumped through him. He rolled along the wet grass with a torn sleeve and went towards the Maserati. While running, he saw that The Hammer was getting out of the door. Harry thought there was no time to get to the car, so he kept sprinting along the dark street. Two hundred meters in front of him, he saw a large bus with an opened side door. This was his chance. He slipped inside and closed the door. It was dark, but he felt a presence.
At that moment, he heard The Hammer running in the street. Not much time passed and the lamp in the van lighted. Harry saw three Mexicans staring at him with curiosity.
Kidman’s narrowed eyes and asked, “Eee, Fernando, is that you?”
“You are mistaken, ese. And why was that man after you?”
“I fell asleep in his girlfriend’s closet, while they were cuddling on the couch. The door opened, and I found myself here.”
Tattooed, tough and ugly Mexican sat in the driver’s seat, still chewing something. Spit through the open window, turned and looked at the new guy and growled, “Paco, who’s this?”
Paco scratched his balls.
“He fucked The Hammer’s girlfriend, and now Johnny is looking for him.”
With a husky laugh, the driver drove the bus.
On the road Paco spoke, “Homie, looking at your sleeve, it seems you are broke. Do you want to earn some bucks?”
Memories of the Greek statuette, broken car window, and the torn Armani instantly emerged in Harry’s head.
“How much?”
“Two thousand dollars,” Kidman shook his head thoughtfully, “What is required of me?”
“All I want you to do is deliver two bags to two places. We will stay close to you. There is zero risk for you. You are white, a stranger in the neighborhood and you don’t look conspicuous.”
“Let’s do it,” agreed on, Harry.
“Chico, drive to my house to pick up the luggage.”
The van slowly entered the Mexican neighborhood. Two prostitutes were desperately throwing themselves on the neck of a drunken weirdo with the desire to make some money. Under a streetlight, local thugs were throwing dice. The van suddenly stopped, and the back door opened. A strong Mexican, with tattoоs all over his body, with a cast on his right hand and a pit bull in the left, he looked surprised at Harry. When the dog began to growl at Kidman, Paco pushed Harry to get down.
“Get this mutt out of the door.”
Dirty went first. The surroundings were intimidating. From a car parked sideways in a way it was blocking the road, Mexican rap was heard. About twenty gangsters were drinking tequila around it.
When they suddenly saw him, the music stopped, and part of the group headed towards him. Followed loading of guns and shotguns. Knives flashed in the dark. The nearest guy grabbed him by the throat with his great paw and spoke slowly through his teeth, “Which ear should I cut first?”
At this point, Paco also went down.
“Calm down, Ugly! He is with us. Do you remember how The Hammer fucked you with the money?”
“I remember,” and his hand clenched Harry’s neck even more fiercely.
“This dude fucked his girlfriend. Johnny was trying to catch him, and after the hefty sprint in the streets, we hid him in the van. The Hammer is still looking for him in the dark.”
The Ugly Mexican fondly melted. He released Harry’s neck and hugged him as he would his brother.
“What did they call you, hombre?” he asked him.
“Harry!” said Kidman.
“Harry, write my number, if you happen to have problems with that bastard, just give me a call.”
Paco intervened, “Ugly, we came on business. Let’s go upstairs, I will explain.”
In the apartment, Dirty went to the toilet to refresh himself. While splashing his face with water, he looked in the mirror, “What in the world did you get yourself into, Harry? See what women make you do…”
Then he shook his head, “But Tess is worth it.”
He took his phone out and dialed her, “Hello, Tess. It’s Harry.”
“Harry, are you okay?”
“I managed to take off. What happened to Johnny, or whatever the fuck his name is?”
“I don’t know, I haven’t seen him anymore.”
“We will talk tomorrow when we see each other at school. I have to go now, I’ve business to conduct. Bye, Tess.”
“Bye.”
Kidman put away his phone, made some strange positions against the mirror along with a few terrible grimaces and went out. He joined the others and sat on the couch. Paco patted him on the shoulder.
“Harry, this is the bag you will deliver to this address. We will drive you to the next street and wait for you there. Leave your phone with me. I'll give it back when you finish the job.”
Kidman guessed what was in the bag, but still asked, “Is there something, I should be concerned about?”
“No problem, Harry, but if the cops happen to show up, you don’t know us. Deny everything. We'll take care of you.”
Kidman wondered how they would take care of him, but there was no turning back.
The group entered the bus again and drove to the address. Then they stopped under a broken lamp and showed the way to Harry. He calmly got out of the van and went to the place. As he climbed the dark stairs of the building, he took a deep breath to calm his body and knocked on the door.
A sound came from inside, followed by loading pistols. Somebody looked through the peephole and opened the door.
“Are you Harry?”
“I am.”
The African-American guy showed his neck out, looked around and pulled Dirty inside. He took the bag, opened it and energetically inspected the contents. Pulled out one package on the table, cut it with his knife and gave a sign that everything was okay. Another, even darker African-American, came from the kitchen and handed Kidman another bag.
Harry Kidman (Hall Of Fame Book 1) Page 2