Chapter 58 The Haunting Message (1/2)

Laz said nothing. He just looked at the box on the table and at the two grinning old men as they dreamed of the past.

'I should have known,' Laz thought to himself.

He didn't say anything, but reached over and grabbed them. It came as a slight shock that the box was somewhat new. He had a brief moment of horror thinking that the old men were giving him a half used box from their past, but luckily this didn't come to be.

”Actually boy, Your grandpa and I have been waiting for you to finally find a girlfriend. We aren't young anymore, so our time is limited. As such, we've been waiting for you to finally come into your own. Afterall, we've left you big shoes to fill, so to speak,” Bill said with a mischievous grin.

Laz didn't want to know what he meant. Instead, he got on the Harley and took off, waving as he left.

”It's getting closer, isn't it?” Bill asked, while looking at the disappearing back of the young man he thought of as his own grandson.

”You already know it is. It's just a matter of time. You know, in a way, I kind of envy you and our bro Chu.”

”I know. I'm tormented by the past while bro Chu sees the present. But you? Your constantly being burned by seeing things in the future. You have it the worst of all,” Bill replied, somewhat stoically.

”We all have our crosses to bare. It's not like that little guy knowing anything will change anything. I don't want to scare him anymore than he already is. He has so little time left to be a kid, I just want to see him smile a few more times until the end. I guess that's just a greedy part of being old. You don't care much about your own life anymore, but you get greedy when it comes to the youngsters,” Grandpa Crowe commented while sitting back down.

”He is tougher than we all give him credit for. His generation never had a great war. They have only ever been protected by those older than them. The world hasn't burnt in a long time. But now, there is no way to avoid it,” Bill said, while also sitting.

”He will survive. Hopefully, my idiot son will be there for him when he needs it.”

”Have you already gotten in touch with him?”

”Yes. He can't come back right now since he is still needed. And the advice of this old man just goes in one ear and out the other. But then again, two years ago, when all this started, he didn't listen to me then either.” Grandpa Crowe sighed, thinking about the past.

”He did what he had to do, along with your wonderful daughter in law. Don't beat yourself up over it. We know what happens when the ones who can do something choose not to. You raised a good kid who wasn't going to back down. Don't start questioning him or yourself now,” Bill said, comforting his brother like friend.

”Just because it's the right thing doesn't make it the best thing. That boy needed more than I could give him. We just got lucky. Really lucky.”

Neither one said anything else and instead just sat there for a bit while watching the moon rise, lost in thought.

Laz got home quickly and sent a brief text to Kennedy to let her know he had the ride situation figured out. He also warned her to make sure she wore something warm. Although it had been somewhat mild to warm so far, winter had a way of sneaking in quickly to freeze everything.

Since he didn't really have anything to do, Laz just went to his closet while looking for something to wear. He had been through here only a bit so he really had no idea what kind of clothes his dad had left there.

After a while of searhing, Laz was dumbstruck. Leather pants, feathered jackets and snakeskin boots were some of the more normal things he found.

”Was he a pimp or something?” Laz asked himself out loud. This was not the wardrobe of a normal person, not by a long shot.

” Let's see, silk suits, several leather jackets, different types of boots, hold up... are those leather chaps?” Laz couldn't help but shutter.