Night Time: Two Novels Read online

  I knew my car was done and it desperately needed some gas. I coasted to the right and parked on the street. I had no idea where the next gas station was and, unfortunately, I forgot my cell phone at my apartment. I knew I had to get out and walk but, luckily, I had a gas container in my trunk. I grabbed it and started hiking up the street.

  I walked about three miles until I finally saw a gas station on the left. I decided to take a short cut by cutting through a back alley.

  I walked around a corner building and heard some commotion. I ducked behind a trash dumpster and looked out to what appeared to be some type of altercation. There were a group of high school kids in a circle, all confronting a tall, gangly kid wearing a black hood. I could tell he was young by the way he talked. He appeared to have been at the wrong place at the wrong time. I could relate to that.

  The kid in the black hood was outnumbered four to one. “You really should just let me go,” the young man said. “I really don’t want any trouble.” Unfortunately, by the look of these guys, they were all about trouble. I watched on and then heard something that shocked the hell out of me. The boy in the black hood made a specific demand to the group of thugs that had surrounded him. He said, “You have ten seconds to let me go through or I’m going to kick everyone one of your asses and not feel bad about it.”

  Holy crap! Are you kidding me? The balls on this kid!

  The group of thugs looked at each other and just busted up laughing. Every single of the other guys were taller and wider than the young man. But that didn’t stop the kid from doing a count down, “Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, oh fuck it,” the black-hooded kid said, “Now, I will kick your asses!”

  Are you kidding me!

  I was about to jump out and make sure it was a fair fight, but this kid didn’t need my help. He attacked them all like a superhero defending his city from super villains. I felt like I was watching an action movie where you root for the underdog; this young man quickly proved that he was no underdog! He beat them up individually, in pairs, and at one point, the kid had one in a headlock while high-kicking another, and with his free hand, he right crossed another guy, knocking him to the pavement. He wiped the floor with these guys in a matter of seconds. I wanted to walk out and give him a standing ovation; it was by far the coolest thing I had ever seen on the street. This fourteen-year-old kid either knocked them out or they ran off in fear of another beating.

  He finished off the last guy and wiped his hands. He looked at his masterpiece: three guys laying on the ground and a fourth one a mile down the street. He smiled as if he had just finished planting a garden. He sighed and the turned toward where I was standing behind the Dumpster. He smiled at me and nodded his head in triumph.

  “Hey,” I yelled to him, “What are you? Some kind of black-headed Superhero?”

  “Who’s asking?”

  “I am, you little shit,” I said.

  “You have a name?” he asked.

  “Yeah, sure do. My name is Tommy.” I looked at this kid and he hadn’t even broken a sweat. “You’re about the baddest motherfucker I have ever seen fight. What’s your name?”

  The kid pulled off his black hood and he had long, flowing blond hair. He grinned at me with his piercing blue eyes. “Well, Tommy. I’m glad you enjoyed the show. My name is Josiah.”

  Chapter Twelve

  I stared at this blonde-haired, blue-eyed kid and was astounded that he had just taken out four guys like they were kindergartners.

  “Josiah, huh? Sounds biblical. Do you have God on your side?”

  He smirked. “I might have an angel or two watching my back.” Josiah wiped his brow and stretched his neck and then said to me, “You’re not some creep hanging out in alleys, are you?”

  For the first time, I noticed his stance. Even though we were having a peaceful exchange in dialogue, his footwork would say otherwise. The kid was a trained fighter. Only someone who has Jujitsu training or some kind of boxing training would stand with his momentum potentially ready to spring forward. He wasn’t sure if he could trust me. How could I blame him? I was a twenty-two year old man in a bad part of town hanging around Dumpsters. I was probably sweaty and dirty from my three-mile hike.

  “Well, you’re in luck,” I said. “I’m not a creep. Even if I was, I don’t think I would want to mess with you after that display.” I once again noticed his body language and this punk still wasn’t sure if he could trust me. “Hey, Josiah,” I said calmly. “Stand down. I’m one of the good guys.”

  He looked at me with a curious stare. “How did you know I was on my guard?”

  “I’m a professional fighter and your body language displays that in a blink of an eye, you’re ready to protect yourself.”

  “You can tell that by just looking at me?”

  “Yeah,” I said. “I could also tell you were in protective stance and didn’t want to attack me. It’s subtle, but a guy like me can see it a mile away.”

  “Wow, you really know what you’re talking about.” Josiah eyes widened and then he finally relaxed. “A professional fighter? So, you get paid for it?”

  “That would make it professional,” I answered, with a little snark in my voice.

  “Where do you fight?”

  “I’m in the California Commissioned MMA.”

  “Bullshit!” Josiah was impressed.

  I grinned. “I’m 2 and 0.” Why I felt I needed to validate myself to a young teenager was beyond me, but I guess after what I just witnessed, he deserved it.

  Josiah looked at me with his piercing blue eyes and then his eyes brightened, “Wait! Did you say your name is Tommy? Did you fight a couple of weeks ago at the Staples Center?”

  “Yeah, I sure did.”

  “That is so awesome. I was there. I had horrible seats, but I remember your match. You kicked the crap out of the guy while only using your left arm.”

  “You saw that?”

  “Yeah.”

  “You could tell I was only using the left side of my body?”

  “Yeah, I was thinking this guy is so good he’s fighting his opponent with one arm tied behind his back.”

  “Trust me, it felt that way. I had an injury to my right shoulder.”

  “I figured as much, unless you’re such a badass that you only fight guys one-handed.”

  “I’m impressed you noticed that. Not even in the write-up on Yahoo was that mentioned.”

  “How could I not? My right hand is my bread and butter. The first thing I watch in every fight is how explosive an opponent’s right arsenal is.”

  “Are you training?”

  “I’m a boxer.”

  “That’s a good place to start. Are you any good?”

  “What do you think?”

  I looked at the spot where he easily took care of four guys and laughed. “I guess so.”

  “I’ve been Golden Gloves champ three years in a row.”

  “That is impressive. You plan on doing the Olympics?”

  “Hell, no! My dad would love that. But, I want to do what you do. Olympics are a waste of time. There is no real money there. I want to get into the ring the second I’m 18 and kick ass as much as I can.”

  “Well, you’re off to a good start!” I said, with obvious intentions.

  Josiah looked down the street and noticed the guys he kicked the crap out of had gotten up and left. “Hey, Tommy Boy, we better split, I have a feeling those guys will be back with a few more friends, if you know what I’m saying. Unless you’re prepared to fight about twenty guys with me, we should take off.” I nodded and followed Josiah in the opposite direction I had come from. “By the way, what is a MMA fighter doing in an alley? You buying crack?”

  “Not quite, my car ran out of gas.”

  “Oh, that sucks. Where’s it at?”

  “A couple miles back near the freeway.”

  Josiah pulled out his cell phone. “Let’s go to this Starbucks that’s down the street and I’ll have my sister come
pick us up. Then we’ll drive you to a gas station.”

  “Ah shit!”

  “What’s wrong?”

  “I just remembered. I left my gas can back there by the Dumpster.”

  “Don’t worry,” Josiah said. “Well get one at the station.”

  “They are like twenty dollars.”

  “Who said anything about paying for it?” Josiah winked at me and I shook my head at the young punk. I had to admit, I really liked him. He reminded me of myself, a little more out of control, but he was definitely a cool kid.

  We made our way to the Starbucks and sat down. Josiah called his sister and she told him she would pick him up in about ten minutes.

  I looked at Josiah and he seemed to have an insane amount of poise for a kid his age. He sat there with the confidence of three grown men. “Are you thirsty?” I asked.

  “I don’t drink this stuff,” Josiah laughed. “They are just caffeinated shakes.”

  “I couldn’t agree with you more. You’re better off getting a real milkshake; you would have less of a chance at heart attack.”

  Josiah’s eyes lit up, “But I love their cake lollypops. They are only like 150 calories. It’s like God himself baked them.”

  “God himself? He would make some cook!” I laughed.

  “Dude, you have got to try one. I had a mouth orgasm the first time I had one. My sister likes rocky road, but I’m in lust with the birthday cake one.”

  “Let’s do it,” I said. “I need to splurge now and then.” I got up and walked over to the counter where a there was a cute blonde putting out items behind the display area. She stopped what she was doing and looked up at me.

  “I would like two cake lollipops, one rocky road and one birthday cake.”

  “Oh, I love the rocky road,” the young blonde girl said. “They are to die for.”

  “Apparently so, my friend claims they were made by Jesus himself.”

  “I wouldn’t go that far,” she said, smiling. “Maybe an angel or wise man.”

  “There you go, I guess everyone agrees that there is some divine intervention taking place when these things get made.”

  “You just might be right.” She rang me up and I paid for the lollipops and put a two-dollar tip in the jar. The cute ones get me every time. I took the rocky road and gave the birthday cake to my new friend.

  “Thanks, man,” he said. “I’ll get you next time.” Josiah took a bite out of his birthday cake lollipop and closed his eyes and had what I swore to be a spiritual experience. He ate each bite slowly, savoring each nibble as if it was his last meal. When he finished, he looked up at me and said, “Better than sex.”

  “What do you know about sex? You’re like fourteen years old.”

  “I’m sixteen,” Josiah said, proudly, “or I will be, in a week.”

  “And you know about sex?”

  “I know about orgasms!” he proclaimed out loud.

  “I believe that. You probably spend more time alone than a monk.”

  Josiah was quiet and grinned. “I do have a wild imagination. Trust me, if I wanted to, I would have plenty of options.”

  “Why don’t you want to?”

  “Don’t get me wrong. I want to real bad. I’m just not quite sure what my hang-up is.”

  “Maybe cause you’re twelve years old.”

  “I’m almost sixteen!”

  I looked at this strange, honest kid and had to just smile. “Does Josiah want to wait until he’s in love?”

  “What’s wrong with that?” he answered, indignantly.

  He did! I had to admit I was impressed. I wasn’t about to give a teenager a hard time about being abstinent. I just smiled at him and said, “There’s nothing wrong with it. When you’re ready, you’ll know.”

  “Everyone says that.”

  I thought about that statement for a second. “Actually, you won’t entirely know. It will just sort of happen one night and the whole time you will be having an out-of-of body experience.”

  “Is that the way it happened with you?”

  “It was definitely an out-of-body experience. I was just a kid fumbling around in back of a truck, up in the mountains.” I thought about that moment and said, “She didn’t know it was my first time.”

  “She didn’t?”

  “Nope.”

  “Why didn’t you tell her?”

  “I didn’t want to her to think I was inexperienced.”

  “Would that have been such a big deal?”

  “It seemed big at the time, but I have always regretted not telling her.”

  “Why is that?” Josiah’s eyes were now locked in on me and we were definitely having a ‘bro moment.’

  “I don’t know. I guess I wanted her to know I was going to remember her for the rest of my life. I thought she should know she experienced something I will never forget. She didn’t know any of that. Instead, she walked away, assuming I was just a player and used her to get my rocks off.”

  “Well, you did get your rocks off!”

  “Yeah...but—”

  “But what?”

  “It was a defining moment. I should have told her.”

  Josiah’s eyes never stopped looking at me the whole time I spoke. He was like an apprentice, soaking up all the wisdom of his master. Then Josiah looked through the window. “Hey, my sister is here!”

  I looked out the window and saw a small, white Toyota Corolla pull up. She parked the car and stepped out of the driver’s side. I had just taken my first bite of my rocky road lollipop, and it literally fell out of my mouth the second I saw Josiah’s sister. Josiah’s sister was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. She had beautiful, long blonde hair and amazing blue eyes like her brother. She was about five feet, five inches tall and was wearing a light blue tank top with white shorts. Her legs were long and curvy. She had an amazing body, but what was more amazing was her smile. I was absolutely swept off my feet. It was the first time in my life I had fallen for someone and had not yet spoken a word to her.

  Josiah and I got up and walked to the door and she met us at the entrance. She walked up to Josiah and said, “Let me see your hands.” Josiah put his hands in his sweatshirt pocket. “Take them out, you little turd.” Josiah reluctantly took out his hands and showed them to his sister. They were swollen and he had a couple of knuckles that were cut up. “You can’t even go for a jog without fighting?”

  “They started it,” he said, like a petulant six year-old.

  “They always start it,” she said, disappointed.

  I decided I needed to defend my young friend. “They really did start it,” I said. “I was there. He was only defending himself.”

  Josiah’s sister looked at me and her eyes lit up. “Who are you?”

  “Just an innocent bystander who would have helped your brother out, but he took care of business on his own.”

  “I bet he did.” She looked at me and seemed a little embarrassed. I couldn’t tell if she liked me or if she was just shy. “So, did you bring him here from wherever the fight took place?”

  “Actually, no. My car ran out of gas by the freeway and he and I walked here.”

  “What kind of car do you have?”

  “It’s a black Mustang parked on D street.”

  “Oh, I saw that beauty,” she said. “I noticed it off the freeway and was so jealous.”

  “It’s a nice car.” I couldn’t keep my eyes off this woman and she seemed to not be able to quit looking at me either. “So, Josiah’s sister? Do you have a name?”

  “Yeah, I do. It’s Maya.”

  “Maya? That’s a pretty name.”

  She smiled. “Well, thank you, Mr. uh....”

  “Mister? How old do you think I am?”

  “I’m actually not sure. You could be anywhere from 21 and 30 years old.”

  “Thirty?” I was horrified.

  She quickly stated, “A very handsome, dignified thirty.”

  “Well, I’m a very handsome and s
exy 22 years old.”

  She looked me over and said, “Oh, are we?”

  “Just fishing for a compliment,” I said, smiling at her. I looked over at Josiah and he seemed to be very put off that I was flirting with his sister, seconds after I met her.

  Maya again looked me over and said, “Well, the fact that I said handsome and dignified is all I can give you at the present moment. If you’re sexy, that remains to be seen.”

  “Are you two done?” Josiah finally asked. “I told Tommy we would take him to get some gas and give him a lift back to his car.”

  “Well, Tommy,” Maya said, “Aren’t you just the damsel in distress. I’ll just have to jump on my white horse and bring you to get some gas.” She then smiled at me in a way that completely melted my heart. I had never been more attracted to a woman in my life. She then turned around and slowly walked back to her car. Josiah and I followed behind her. Something told me I just made two very good friends. At least, I hoped so.

  To be continued in:

  WEREWOLF LOVE STORY: PART TWO

  Look for it H.T. Night’s 8-Book Box Set!

  Return to the Table of Contents

  Also available:

  ROMEO AND JULIET:

  A Vampire and Werewolf Love Story

  by H.T. Night

  (read on for a sample)

  Chapter One

  I looked over the Lady’s sleeve and drank in my beautiful city. The stunning fireworks had finished, and once again, I was left overwhelmed at the majestic magnitude of the city. The party boats had left the harbor with their floodlights, raucous cheers, and commotion that commemorated the first anniversary of the renaming of the city. What was once named Manhattan had been replaced by the name Verona.