Author's Note: As with previous episodes of this chronicle, some of these events and characters are based off of events and people in my own life. However I think it pertinent to explain, now, that I have taken great liberty with certain characters. With that, I leave you to enjoy this action packed chapter.
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Strike! Again, Edwin's bowling ball make the pins practically explode. Most of the others were using nine pounders, Edwin had a twelve pound ball, and he threw it with force. This was the third strike he had gotten this round, and they were only five frames in. Ty laughed and sort of whimpered at the same time. The two of them had gone to visit Ty's girlfriend Caitlyn who lived a few cities over. She had invited the two of them to join her Church's youth group for bowling, and Edwin was beating everyone.
They were having fun though, and Ty was not one to take pride in physical strength anyway (and he accordingly had none). Their team consisted of Ty, Cait, Edwin, and a girl named Liz. What it was short for she would not say, Edwin imagined things like Lizard or Lizbeth. Truth was, her given name was Sam, there was some mix up at birth, so she simply went by Liz. Edwin liked her the moment he laid eyes on her, she was cute and had a sort of awkward sincere personality that just is not found in a lot of girls her age. She was tall and did not seem used to her body entirely, she must have fallen over a dozen times while bowling that day. It was cute, and brought great peals of laughter every time. She did not seem to mind the attention.
They continued till the last frame. Edwin took first by twenty or thirty points, Cait lost to Liz by one point, and Ty trailed behind them by another twenty or so. Edwin was beaming, he loved meeting new people, especially girls, and winning like that only further built up his ego, even if it was mostly luck. Unfortunately, that was the end of his streak, the next two games he came in last, Ty even won one. Did not matter though, Edwin only stopped laughing to catch his breath. If it wasn't one thing, it was another. Liz would fall over or do her little dance thing or someone would make a joke. It was great fun.
It was fun for him to watch Ty and Cait interact. Ty is a tenth level nerd studying scriviner science up north, he is completely oblivious except when it comes to scriv-games and anime. Physically he's one of the weakest guys Edwin had met, but not overweight, just nerdy. He had always wondered if maybe he would be the exception to the rule that there is a girl for everyone, but nope. Edwin had been surprised to learn that Ty was interested in a girl and eventually asked her out and she had said yes. Since then Edwin had talked to her online, but never met in person. So today was important. He was not disappointed. She was a sweet girl, intelligent, beautiful, and for all intents and purposes, very much in love with Ty. The way they could speak nerd was astonishing, Edwin was only partially fluent in the dialect, and that only because he had to in order to get along with Ty for so long. It was nice, but it made Edwin wonder if there was a girl like that out there for him too and who?
Well, it was getting time to go back to the Church. Edwin was flirting with Liz and Ty was rambling on and on about some new game to Cait, when a group of guys came up. One could see they were no good with just a glance, something about the eyes, sinister and cold. They made themselves out to be friendly, greeted the bowlers kindly. But when the youth group leader said to excuse them, the group was just leaving, the thugs kind of smiled.
"Leaving were ya?" One particularly gruff looking man said, he glanced at Liz and the other girls. "You wouldn't bring such beauties into my house and not let us play with em a little." He gestured to the bowling ally, but the way he licked his lips showed he meant otherwise. None of these details escaped any of the males attention, not even Ty's. Everyone was thinking it now, it would be an even match, there were four thugs and four guys in the youth group, plus the girls to help or at least motivate.
"We don't want any trouble. We would like to leave now, would you please step aside and let us leave quietly?" the youth leader said. The thugs sort of smiled and stepped aside. The youth leader paused, not expecting them to step aside, and then stepped forward cautiously. Edwin saw it before anyone else, the thug closest to the youth leader had waited for him to get past before dropping into a fighting stance. "Hey!" was all Edwin had time to yell before the thug had dropped the youth leader. All hell broke loose for a second, the girls screamed and ran behind a counter picking up chairs to throw while the boys jumped into the fray.
Edwin was pissed. He did not know what those guys had in mind of Liz and Cait and the other girls, but he did not like it one bit. When he yelled he was already dropping into a sprint, he took down the first guy he ran into. The impact surprised Edwin, or rather, the lack thereof. The guy he hit was half his size and just crumpled. Then fire erupted in Edwin's skull, he reacted in time to avoid the second hammer fist coming for his head. This brought Edwin back down to earth. Edwin smashed the guys face in with an elbow and cracked a rib with a knee to finish the deal.
No sooner had he finished and stood up, then he felt something close around his neck from behind as a large weight drove him back to the ground. Nothing Edwin did could shake the guy who was at times choking Edwin, at times holding on for dear life. Finally, in desperation, Edwin muscled his way to a standing position with the man on his back, then he threw himself down backwards as hard as he could. The man was winded by the impact enough to loosen his grip. That was all Edwin needed. He spun around and elbowed the man in the face then rearing up he punched him in the throat as hard as he could. That man later died of asphyxiation due to a crushed wind pipe.
The fighting was now over. Edwin was panting heavily, cuts in his mouth and on his face were bleeding something awful. The youth leader was getting up from the ground slowly, rubbing his neck. Ty was in a tight embrace with Cait. He had apparently dropped his guy with one crescent kick to the temple. The other guy managed to get off a groin shot and knee his opponent in the face shortly followed up by a bowling ball thrown by his girlfriend. Sirens could be heard as the mounted police were coming down the road. Edwin looked at Liz. He was afraid. He could not remember if or how many expletives he may have used during that fight, and he had been pretty brutal. He was scared of himself in that moment, and scared she would be too. But to his surprise she rushed over, tears in her eyes, and hugged him tight. Edwin smiled.
The police came in and surprisingly they let the church group go after taking statements. These guys were actually wanted criminals, the Church would be receiving a check from the State with the reward for apprehending the thugs. When the one died they did not seem too worried, "he would've been executed anyway." The local magistrate was especially harsh, and apparently these guys had done some pretty perverse and violent things to a number of people. The police took them away, and medics arrived to take care of everyone's wounds.
Edwin was reluctant to let Liz go, but she seemed content to stick to his side. She sat with Edwin's arm around her all the way back to the Church. That she felt safe next to him, Edwin was pleased. They parted in the parking lot. Edwin wished he did not have to go back to his life, and she to hers, but they did. The rest of that day Edwin hung out with Ty and Cait, they laughed, they sang, they had a blast, but all the while Liz was in the back of Edwin's mind. It is true that Edwin is easily taken with women, but she seemed special, a real find. He would forget about her in a couple days he told himself though, and he did. But while the memory was fresh, he cherished it.
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