Miles To Go

Chapter Thirteen

Calvin woke to a throbbing headache. He blinked. He was immersed in total darkness. Am I blind? he thought. Where am I? What happened? He could taste blood in his mouth. He tried to move, but felt a great weight on him, like something was pressing down on him from all sides.

"Lizzy!!!" he cried, and the sound of his voice repeated back to him, sounding scared and more pathetic with each repetition. Where am I? he thought again. Is this some sort of cave? Relying on his other senses, he could smell earth and hear a faint dripping sound, but it was hard to hear over the pounding in his head. He was laying on his stomach, his arms forward. He suddenly realized he was very thirsty. How long have I been like this? Beginning to panic, he cried out again.

"LIZZY!!!" he screamed and it ended in a cough followed by a sob.

"Man, I thought you were dead a few minutes ago and now you're screamin' your head off," someone said.

"Jaymz?" asked Calvin. Some of it was coming back to him now.

"Yes it's me. Who'd you think it was? You're yelling is usin' up all the oxygen in here." He could hear Jaymz wheeze a bit. "Can you move? I need some help over here."

Jaymz sounded like he was close by. Maybe within reach. Calvin coughed again. He had dust in his lungs. His throat was dry. He swallowed. He shifted around as much as he could. He freed his right arm and felt around. There was a large rock on his back and several pinning down his legs and other arm.

"Did the cave collapse on us? I remember you and Raloe fighting... and there was some sort of box..."

"Raloe made us push on it. The mountain fell on us and here we are. All fucked up." He heard Jaymz try to move and then wince in pain. When he spoke again his voice was weaker. "I think my arm is broken. Can you help me get this boulder off it?"

"There's a large rock on top of me. I might be able to slide out from underneath it," Calvin said. He winced as he began to shove his bloody fingers underneath the rock that held down his left arm. He began to lift. He could only lift it just enough to slip his arm out. Inadvertently, he freed Jaymz's hand as well.

"Thanks, man. My hand's been smashed under that thing," said Jaymz.

"No problem," said Calvin, as he attempted to drag his body along the ground with great effort. At last, he slid out from underneath the big rock and it met the ground with a resounding 'wump', stirring up plenty of dirt and dust.

"Get off me!" Jaymz cried.

"Oh sorry!" Calvin immediately stumbled back into the large rock he'd just crawled out from under. Calvin sneezed.

"Now get your shit together and push some of these rocks off me," Jaymz said. Slowly, carefully, painfully, Calvin felt around in the dark. Okay, that's a rock...that's a rock...more rocks. Then his hand met something soft, like cloth.

"That's my ass, you pervert," said Jaymz.

"Sorry," said Calvin, pushing around the various rocks.

"That's great, now get up here and help me get this mother fucker off my arm," said Jaymz.

Calvin got into position, careful not to step on Jaymz, stuck both his hands under, and lifted.

"It won't budge," said Calvin after a few tries, panting. "I'm sorry Jaymz, it must be the size of a..." Calvin stopped himself. He was going to say house, but he didn't want to scare Jaymz. The situation was looking very bleak, especially for his arm.

"Say it, man. My arm is stuck under a rock the size of Manhattan, and you and I are probably gonna die in here," he sobbed a little, "At least you have someone to miss you. No one gives a shit about me. If I disappear no one will even notice!" he said vehemently, his sadness turning to rage.

"That's not true, Jaymz. Sadessa said that Earl Red is sort of a father figure to all the orphans here in the community. Doesn't he look after you?"

"Yeah, I guess so," said Jaymz. He groaned as he re-positioned himself. "You know about Sadessa, don't you? Tell me about her. I heard she killed Gloobenstomper, the baddest Oompa of all. Is that true?" he asked.

"Yeah, that's true," said Calvin, "And she did it with her bare hands, too. Strangled him to death."

"Wow. I like me a lady who's fierce. Sadessa's one hot mama, don't you think?" asked Jaymz.

It didn't surprise Calvin that Jaymz had a thing for Sadessa. After all, they were both black. What did surprise him, was that Jaymz was talking to him like he was an equal, man to man. He didn't want to mess it up.

"Well yeah, she's got a nice...um...look," he said.

"What's she like?" Jaymz asked.

What am I gonna tell him? Calvin thought. How do I put it lightly? She's bat-shit crazy! He decided to try a redirect.

"You do know she's dating Wonka right?" he asked.

"Yeah, everyone knows that. Just tell me something to take my mind off the pain."

Calvin racked his brains for anything he could think of that might interest him.

"Well, I did see her naked once...."