The Pearl of the of Sea

Chapter 16

Annemarie is driving around with Tom lying in the backseat and Jeff in the passenger seat. Tom leans up, "So what are we going to do about my wheelchair?"

Jeff turns to Tom, "Nothing, it's in the ocean, maybe the paraplegic fish can use it now."

Tom throws himself down, "Jeff, I'm serious!" Tom then leans up again, "Wait, Jeremy's brother is a welder, do you think he could make me another wheelchair?"

Jeff scratches his head, "I don't know, he's more of a robot builder."

Tom rolls his eyes, "Yeah, I know, but he had metal shop for four years and there's welding involved in building robots."

Jeff turns to Annemarie, "Hey, do you know where Midstreams Elementary School is?"

"Yeah, why is that where you and Tom went to school together?"

Tom speaks up, "No, Jeremy and Jeff went together, I went to Saint Dominic's. It's also where Jeremy lives."

Annemarie raises her eyebrows, "Jeremy lives in the school!?"

Tom shakes his head, "No, he lives by the school! He lives over on Colonial Drive."

"Oh, I know where that is, my cousin, Hailey, lives over there."

Tom puts his thumb up, "Alright let's go there, it's right across the street from the school."

Jeff then claps his hands, "Ooh, Ooh! Hey Tom, can we go on the playground after we get you a chair!"

Tom slaps his forehead, "No, Jeff, I want to go home and it's too dark."

Jeff crosses his arms, "Fine! I wanted to play on the swings!"

Tom rolls his eyes, "Jeff, come on you're going to be 18 years old!"

Later on Annemarie pulls into Jeremy's driveway where a man in a welder's mask is welding together robot parts. The house is a blue split level house on the corner with a brick wall and bushes surrounding it. Jeff gets out of the car and runs up to the man, "Hey Drexel! Drexel, I need you to do me a huge favor!"

Drexel takes off his welder's mask, he is a heavyset man in his early twenties with long black bushy hair and a beard, "Hey, Jeff, you know Jeremy's not home from work yet."

"Yeah, yeah I know, but my buddy Tom needs a wheelchair, could you make him one?"

Drexel crosses his arms, "Only if you promise that you and Jeremy won't mess with my robots again."

Jeff nods his head, "Yeah, sure whatever, I'm going to go get Tom." Jeff runs back to the car and Annemarie helps him drag Tom out. Annemarie and Jeff then place Tom in the garage on his back, "Here he is, now make him a wheelchair."

Annemarie walks around and looks at the various robot parts lying around the garage. She looks over on the workbench and sees a small black robot with wheels as legs and a diamond ring on its robotic hand. She looks over at Drexel who's collecting pieces to build Tom a wheelchair, "Hey, this robot's pretty cool."

Drexel walks over, "Yeah, this was my girlfriend's favorite robot. It was the best robot I ever made. I was going to use it in the robot battle, but she didn't want it to get destroyed so instead I was going to use it to propose to her." He then looks outside, "But she passed away and now I just keep it here to remember her." He then looks back at the robot, "She was a wonderful woman, she loved running for charities."

"How did she die?"
    Drexel wipes his eyes, "She was killed by a drunk driver over on Midstreams Road. She was walking on the side of the road when a drunk swerved into her." He then starts to get teary eyes, "I told her it was too dark and that I was willing to drive her to the store, but she said that it'll be alright." He then puts his hand on the robot, "The driver got away with it, I don't understand why, but he did." Drexel then goes back and starts to create Tom's wheelchair, "Sorry about that, let me get back to work on this chair."

Annemarie stands next to Jeff and watches as Drexel welds together Tom's new wheelchair. Jeff looks over at her, "Yeah, I remember when Drexel's girlfriend was killed. Jeremy and I were sitting on the couch when he got the phone call from Jersey Shore Medical University Center saying that his girlfriend died. He threw the phone against the wall and broke it, then he broke down and cried."

"Man people get so upset when people die, it's scary, Drexel seems like a nice guy."

"Oh, yeah, he's a cool dude, he used to take us to robot fights all the time and he often won the competitions."

Drexel finishes the wheelchair, which is a metal chair with bicycle wheels, "Well it's not perfect, but it should do for now."

They all lift Tom and place him in the chair. He grabs the wheels and pushes himself back and forth, "Not bad, Drexel, I like it."

Drexel smiles, "Thanks, but just be careful, because there's no way to lock the wheels. So if you go up and down slopes, have someone help."

Tom pats Drexel on the back, "Alright, thanks again."

Drexel pats him back, "Anytime buddy."

Jeff grabs the back of Tom's chair and pushes him to the car. Annemarie and Jeff then put him in the passenger seat. They place his new wheelchair in the back seat and Jeff sits next to it. Annemarie then gets in the car and drives off.

When they arrive at Tom's apartment they see Steve standing outside. Tom gets nervous as he sees Steve standing there with his arms crossed, "Guys do you think my dad will be pissed that I lost my wheelchair?"

Jeff laughs, "No, we got you a new wheelchair!"

Annemarie gets out of the car and takes out Tom's wheelchair. Steve sees as it's not Tom's usual wheelchair so he walks up to Annemarie, "Um, excuse me? Where's my son's wheelchair?"

Annemarie sees his hands on his hips and she shows him the new wheelchair, "It's right here, Mr. Cashlin."

Steve looks down at the wheelchair, "No, that's just a piece of a crap chair with wheels on it." He then knocks the wheelchair over, "You know that wheelchair cost nearly 200 dollars!?"

Annemarie starts to shake, "No, sir, I did not know that."

Jeff gets out of the car to calm down Steve, "It's alright, my friend's brother made that wheelchair and it works just like the old one."

Steve throws his arms up in the air, "Ok, but it better work better." He then walks back into the apartment and slams the door.

Tom opens the car door, "I guess my dad's pissed I lost my wheelchair."

Annemarie walks up to Tom and starts to cry, "I'm so sorry Tom if I didn't hate screaming kids so much this would of never happen!"

Tom grabs her and hugs her, "It's alright, Jeff's got me in a lot worse trouble with his stupid comments."