Raven - 2

Buttons looked in my direction and then back toward the road. There wasn’t a ton of traffic at the moment but the city was still busy because the sun was out. Most people in New Dawn City took some form of public transportation, be it the subway, bus, or hiring a driver to take you somewhere. Those that didn’t walked to where they had to go. One thing for sure was that no one wanted to leave their car or motorcycle out in the open. All it took was a moment before you found yourself missing parts and having to fix it.

I think that was why no one cared about the abandoned cars lined on the side of the streets. They just weren’t worth moving, and the owners didn’t want to pay to fix them.

“So, you going to tell me what that was about?” Buttons finally spoke up after we left the abandoned factory.

I’m just glad she didn’t mention anything about my face. If it looked anything like Ricky’s then I’m sure it was a sight to see.

At the moment I didn’t feel like looking at her, so I did what I always did when riding with someone. I kept my eyes focused on the ever-changing scenery outside the window.

“Not really much to say about it if I’m being honest. After I gave him leadership before I left town, he gave me the classic Ricky threat. Didn’t think he’d act on it though, guess he was serious.”

“With everything that’s going on it isn’t too surprising that he is so wound up. You know how he is, you two will be best buds again before you know it.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Isn’t that how it always-”

I cut her off before she could go on about how it’s a guy thing. Fighting each other then being friends again the next week. “I meant with everything that is going on.”

This time I looked at her instead of staring out the window. She glanced in my direction and then moved her eyes back to the road. “I’ll tell you if you tell me what’s going on with you.”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“I’m not sure how to put it, but you seem different. Also, we never finished that conversation from earlier.”

Was I different? I sure as heck did not feel any change from yesterday or the month before. Maybe I couldn’t see it but she could. Whatever, everyone changes I guess.

“Yeah, I’d rather not. At least not yet,” I told her.

Buttons didn’t say anything about the matter and I was glad she didn’t. As we drove in silence I noticed we were heading in the direction of my home but taking a different street. It worried me a little. There were tons of cases of people being set up to be killed all in the name of the almighty dollar.

This was Buttons though, she wouldn’t do that to me. I think. No, I’m sure of it.

“Hey,” I started to say as I looked around the neighborhood. It was anything but high end and I saw a gang of homeless people under the bridge we passed by. “Where we going?”

Buttons looked at me and laughed. “Ray, I can’t have you going home looking like that. I’m taking you to see the doc.” Right as she finished her sentence she parked in the driveway of a house. The outside looked better than the others, but the dark windows made it seem empty.

“What doctor?”

“One-eye’d Joe. Any more questions?”

“Yeah, you crazy?!” I nearly lost my cool when I heard who she wanted me to see. That old man was bat-shit crazy and anyone would be a fool to go see him. She actually wanted to kill me, I couldn’t believe it.

“Relax. Have I ever done anything bad to you?” She asked me as she opened the gate on the side of the house. It looked as if it were about to fall of the hinges from the way it was slanted.

“Well-”

“It was a rhetorical question. Just follow me, unless you want your mom to worry.”

Alright, she got me there. If my face resembled anything like Ricky’s I truly needed to be healed. The good thing about the world now was how far medicine as come. Minor wounds could be healed with ease and only took a few minutes to a couple hours to vanish.

I still wasn’t too keen on being treated by this crazy old fool, but not like I had much of a choice at the moment. My wallet was coughing dust and the few bucks I did have were stored in New Vegas.

We went around the back and entered the garage through a side door. It was already unlocked and after Buttons entered I followed right behind her. The inside looked much better than the outside, not hospital quality but there was a lot of high-tech equipment in there.

“Hey, I brought you a customer,” Buttons said drawing One-eye’d Joe’s attention. He was leaning back in his chair with a visor across his face.

Removing the visor from his face he saw the two of us. After he took a look at me he spoke.

“Who-”

“Are you going to fix him or do I need to go somewhere else?” Buttons quickly asked before he had a chance to say whatever he was going to say. She was kind of cold to the man, but I guess it was needed when dealing with insane people.

One-eye’d Joe only had one eye, and the only good eye he had was bloodshot red. He was different from the stories I heard, and even his appearance was better than what the news showed. Not sure how to say it, but he looked depressed. Like someone killed his dog right in front of him, then walked away without any remorse.

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

After doing a one-over on me he looked back at Buttons, “I don’t do charity work.”

Buttons reached into her pocket and tossed him a small sack.

“You that deep into the game now?” I commented as I took notice of the pills inside the transparent sack.

“Just doing what needs to be done.” Buttons jumped up on the cabinet in front of the medical chair. There were needles and pills all over the cabinet, some bottles were already open.

I was used to getting by in life by doing whatever was necessary to make some cash. The thing was, I never went so low as to touch what Buttons just gave One-eye’d Joe. What she had given him shouldn’t even be around, it was too addictive and there was a high risk of death. Dead customers make the worst kind.

“This will do,” One-eye’d Joe said as he pointed at the medical chair, “Come and sit down, let me take a look at you.”

Doing what he said I sat in the chair and he flashed a bright light in my face. One-eye’d Joe used to be a doctor, a well-renowned one at that. His skill wasn’t something I could doubt, it was if he was sane enough to treat me. Recalling the story I heard about him I tried to keep my cool. His face was plastered everywhere before I left the city, and the news about him wasn’t good. However, one thing I learned was that hearing one thing did not necessarily make it the truth.

One-eye’d Joe connected me to wires that monitored my vitals, took a sample of my blood, and did a bunch of other things. His equipment was better than most I’ve seen or been attached to.

“So,” He looked up at me with his one good eye. It was creepy being so close to the man. “What door did you run into?”

Buttons who was across from me looked up from her phone. One-eye’d Joe didn’t pay her much attention.

“No door, just a fist,” I replied to him as he began to touch my face.

“No shit,” He sounded annoyed. “Who kicked your ass to next Saturday and back?”

“Hey, don’t worry about that and just fix him up,” Buttons called out.

“Not like I got my ass handed to me,” I corrected him.

Buttons rolled her eyes as if she couldn’t believe what I was saying. Did I look that bad?

Her phone seemed to vibrate and she looked surprised. “Hey Ray, I got to bounce. Want me to leave my car here?”

“No, my house isn’t that far from here. I’ll just walk the rest of the way,” I told her.

Some people would have just left, so I’m glad that she asked. Luckily my house wasn’t far, or else I might just take her up on that offer. Buttons didn’t say too much more and left.

“Need you to take your shirt off,” One-eye’d Joe told me a few minutes after Buttons vanished.

I furrowed my brows. I took a few body shots, but I felt fine and nothing hurt. My face was the issue here. “Why?”

“Just standard routine, unless there’s something you want to hide.”

We both stared at each other for a second then I took off my shirt. The way he looked at me was like he was staring at a dead person walking. I knew what he was staring so intently at and was just thankful this was going on after Buttons left. If she found out… I wasn’t sure what she would do.

That begged to question, did I even want her to know?

On my chest where my heart was located was a bulge. My chest felt fine but the strange sight was something many would kill over.

“This should have stopped growing years ago,” One-eye’d Joe started to say before he started checking my lungs. “You know it’s dangerous to let it get so far. If you don’t get that cut out of you soon, you won’t be doing much living.”

“Yeah, I know. Don’t tell Buttons or anyone for that matter.”

He laughed a little for the first time. “I’m not one to go around gossiping. Not like I have many people to talk to these days anyway.”

After the incident, I guess he was alone now. People knew him as a crazy old man so everyone stayed away. I wouldn’t be here talking to him now if it weren’t for Buttons.

He motioned for me to get dressed. “So, what kind is it?”

“Doc in New Vegas said Ruby. Surgeries expensive though.”

One-eye’d Joe nodded. “So costly that ninety percent of the world can’t afford it. Most people’s never grow past a certain limit, but there are rare cases like yours. If you don’t remove it then it will continue to grow and your heart will stop beating.”

I listened to him but in truth, I already knew that. The knowledge was well-known.

“I tell you what, I’ll cut it out for free.”

When a crazy old man says he wants to cut you open he was probably aiming to murder you. I wasn’t too comfortable with that even if his skills were still top-notch. Especially because he wanted to do it for free.

“Woah, don’t give me that look. I have a favor to ask you. I’d like you to bring me my daughter, Julia.”

“Julia? “ I asked. “I don’t know anyone by that name.”

“That girl of yours does though. Figured if you were close she could introduce you two. Thing is, I haven’t seen her in ten years, so I’d like to reconnect.” He told me.

“Ten years is a long time,” I said as I got up from the chair. “Guess she’s not answering any of your calls or messages, huh?”

One-eye’d Joe nodded. He did not go too much into the matter and I was not that interested in his backstory. Everyone was dealing with something and it was not anyone’s business to know what that was. If they told you, then they did. That’s all there was to it.

“I’ll think about it,” I told him before I headed out. What I did not tell him was that my time in this city was limited. Being here for the long haul was not what I had in mind. We were here to bury my father, after that, we’d head back to New Vegas.

When I made it to my house my mom was watching tv. This was our old house that my father insisted on keeping, and now it was being used once more. There was not much here besides the few items we left behind. Even the tv here was an older model that was last produced ten years ago.

“Hey, don’t forget we are leaving early tomorrow,” my mom told me.

“Yeah, I know.”

“Your aunt asked about you, you should give her a call later. Think Derrick just came back too, so you’ll probably see him at the funeral tomorrow.”

The news was a surprise. Derrick was my older cousin on my father's side that served in the armed forces.

“I thought he was in Europe helping with the rebuilding,” I asked her.

“He was rotated out not that long ago Destiny said. Talk to him, maybe you two can talk about the old days.”

That sounded nice, and it would be cool to hear some stories of what he’s been up to. Europe wasn’t what it used to be after the last war so I was keen on finding out what's been happening there. The news didn’t state much, and Derrick would have first-hand experience.

“Oh, how was Buttons? I haven’t seen her in ages. She’s doing alright?”

“Yeah mom, she’s fine,” I told her.

We had a short conversation and I headed to my room. My bed was a black futon chair that I used to think was the coolest thing ever. I grew out of that phase but just never got rid of it. It used to belong to my uncle James, so I kept it. A memento of sorts that reminded me of the old days when I had no worries.

When I flipped on the tv it went right to the news station. I could have sworn the last channel I left it on was the sports channel. There were a bunch of officers lined up in suits with one standing at a podium. She looked serious, but they all did when it came to being on television.

“The Lotus gang has been responsible for more than a hundred kidnappings and deaths. Today we have put a stop to that by arresting their leaders and recovering more than three hundred gems of various types. Gem harvesting is a heinous crime that carries a hefty sentence-” Before the woman could finish speaking I changed the channel.

‘This city is as bad as I remember.’