"All right, we need a plan. They're meeting on a bus bench in a public place. So Alan needs to convince Chow to go someplace more private. Someplace where we can sneak up on him and drug him." Phil strategized, while he drove and Stu and I nodded along to what he was saying.
"Like where?" Stu asked from the back seat, as I looked out the window with a train of thoughts running through my mind. Half my brain was trying to come up with places where Alan could meet Chow and the other half was the plastic bag sitting at my feet.
"I don't know. Like an alley." Phil suggested. "I doubt we'd get him in an alley. It's too sketchy. He's not that dumb." I replied, as Phil sighed and Alan piped up.
"What about a movie theatre?" Alan recommended, as my eyes widened, surprised that he actually made a good suggestion.
"Fuck, that's actually a great idea." Phil admitted. "The lights go down, we take the seats behind 'em, we jab him, and it's fuckin' done." Phil planned, as I nodded, pursing my lips together.
"I'll jab him if you want. I've drugged people before." Alan offered, as I shot him a look with my brows raised. "We know." I sarcastically replied, as Stu scoffed.
"Yeah, us." Stu added. "No offense, Alan, but we're not letting you handle any drugs. You'll kill someone." Phil told him, as he kept his eyes on the road.
"What are you talking about? He's an unregistered nurse, remember?" I joked, with a fake scoff, as Alan smiled and nodded. "Exactly! Thank you, Eve!" Alan thanked me, genuinely, not catching on with the sarcasm, while I smiled and shook my head.
"Anyway, I'm an expert. Remember the marshmallows in Thailand?" Alan asked us, as I nodded my head with furrowed brows. "Yeah?" Phil answered, with a confused look.
"I made it so you could eat at least three before hitting a fatal dose." Alan smugly told us, slurping his drink as my eyes widened. "What?!" I exclaimed, turning my head around the back to face him, while Stu's eyes also widened. "Wait. So you're saying I would have died if I had four?" Stu asked him, his brows raised.
"Nobody eats four marshmallows, Stu!" Alan argued, shaking his head. "So, that insane theory is the only reason I'm still alive?" Stu questioned. "Yes! And you're welcome, by the way." Alan told him. "Don't say "you're welcome" for almost killing me." Stu told him, as Phil sighed, listening to the two bicker in the back, while I looked over at him, dreamily.
I wondered how he would react if I was right about this... We've never actually talked about the possibility or if we wanted this, so honestly, I hadn't the first clue how he'd react.
"Fine." Alan gave in, as I snapped out of my daydream, and looked out the window, while Phil had his eyes glued on the road. "Thank you." Stu thanked him. "You're welcome." Alan quickly replied. "Goddamn it!" Stu exclaimed, frustrated, while I quietly laughed and Phil leaned his head back, fed up with both of them.
***
On the way, we made a few stops for gas. Every gas station we stopped at, I considered using the bathroom to just get it over with. But every time, I chickened out and promised myself, I'd do it in the next one. I didn't.
The drive was mostly filled with Alan bickering with Stu, me bickering with Alan, Phil bickering with Stu and basically it went on in a circle. I managed to take a nap for like an hour, which got disturbed by, guess what?; Bickering.
I was now sitting in the backseat, with the bag still at my feet, while Phil and Stu were in the front, as the three of us watched as Alan sat on a bench, next to a bus stop, waving over at us.
"Oh, God." Phil muttered, sounding fed up and tired. "You know, you were right." Stu informed him, as Phil turned his head to face Stu. "About what?" Phil asked, confused to what he was talking about.
"That place in Arizona. It's not gonna help him. There is no facility that can fix this guy." Stu admitted, as I frowned, feeling a little sorry for Alan. "We're gonna spend the rest of our lives dealing with him because we're all he has now. You guys realize that? We're it." Stu continued, as a bus pulled up in front of Alan, before it drove away, revealing Chow beside him.
"Oh, shit, check it out." Phil sat up when he saw Chow, while I sat in the middle of the backseat, peering my head over to get a better look, furrowing my brows, as I jutted my head back slightly.
"Is that Chow?" Stu asked, equally as confused as me. "What the hell is he wearing?" I ask, as Chow was wearing a cowboy hat, sunglasses and a cambaya shawl around him.
We could see the two of them speaking, but didn't know what they were saying as Chow leaned to Alans side and Alan kissed him on the cheek, causing me to furrow my brows, a slight smirk of humour appearing on my face. "Did he just kiss his cheek?" I asked, snorting, as Phil and Stu looked over at them, with puzzled expressions.
"What the fuck?" Phil whispered under his breath. "He did. He just kissed him." Stu nodded, as we exchanged a quizzical look, as Chow and Alan continued talking.
A moment later, Chow began looking around, and I grew nervous the more he looked. "Something's wrong." I told them, my eyes widening as Chow was now looking over directly in our direction, before he yelled something at Alan and stood up.
"Shit. What happened?" Phil asked, as Chow began walking away from Alan. "Is he leaving?" Stu asked, as I shook my head. "No, he's coming this way." I corrected, squinting my eyes when I seen Chow holding something in his hand. "Uh, shit, guys? He's got a rock..." I warned them, as Chow angrily approached us.
"Oh, fuck. Get down, get down." Phil calmly told us, as we began sinking down in our seats, but it was obviously too late since he'd already seen us, as he grunted and threw a rock at the windshield, prompting me to flinch and gasp.
"Oh, fuck!" Phil exclaimed, wide-eyed, as Chow began grunting and trying to open the door to the drivers seat. "GET OUTTA THE CAR, YOU MUTTS!" Chow angrily yelled at us, as Alan tried pulling him away, but Chow pushed him off.
"Get off me, you fat clown!" We heard Chow yell to Alan.
"Chow! Chow, calm down!" Phil shouted, trying to convince him to relax.
"Who sent you?!" Chow demanded.
"No one! No! We just wanted to see you!" Phil lied. "Liar! No one wants to see Chow!" Chow yelled back, as I shook my head. "No, it's true! We did-- We wanted to see you!" I played along, trying to seem convincing.
"Yeah, we-- We miss you." Phil continued, as I knitted my brows together, my nose unintentionally scrunched up slightly, and darted my eyes from Chow to Phil, thankfully the action went unnoticed by Chow, as he looked to Phil, confused.
"What?" Chow asked, puzzled.
"We miss you, Chow! That's it." Phil laughed, grinning at Chow, as Stu and I looked to each other, before looking back at Chow, nodding our heads in agreement with Phil.
"Yeah." Stu nervously agreed, while I just hummed, with an awkward smile.
"We miss you!" Phil exclaimed, still grinning at Chow.
"You miss me?" Chow asked in disbelief, as Phil placed his hand on the window. "So much." Phil added, as Chow looked at Phil's hand on the window, before he aligned his own hand against the window with Phils, before looking back at Phil.
"You miss Chow." He said, as Phil nodded his head, smiling. "Yeah, buddy." Phil muttered.
"We-- We "ruv" you, Chow." Stu added, while my eyes darted between the two men, unable to hide my disbelief and confusion to what the fuck was happening right now, meanwhile Chow had the full side of his face pressed up against the window, prompting me to sigh and shake my head, pinching the bridge of my nose.
***
Phil, Stu, Alan and I sat at a table at a bar, while the intro of "Hurt" by Nine Inch Nails, played on the karaoke machine, with Chow walking up to the microphone. "I hurt myself today. To see if I still feel. I focus on the pain, the only thing that's real." Chow sang, while Phil, Stu and I watched, wide-eyed and confused, while Chow continued singing.
"What the fuck am I watching?" Phil asked, looking over to Stu and I, while I chuckled lightly, looking down at the bag at my feet. I let out a shaky breath, feeling a wave of nausea wash over me, before I picked it up.
"I'm gonna go to the bathroom." I quickly excused myself, Stu giving me a nervous, knowing look when he saw the bag in my hand, while Phil just nodded, cluelessly.
I quickly rushed to bathroom, pulling the stuff out of the back. "One line for negative, Two for positive." I quietly read aloud on the box, letting out a sharp exhale, as I sat down on the toilet.
A few minutes later, I knew it was time to look at them, but I was too nervous. I closed my eyes, took a few deep breaths, and gasped when I looked over at the two lines on the first pregnancy test. It's okay.. It might just be a false alarm...
My thoughts were quickly overruled, when the next two tests I looked at had the same result. 3 positive pregnancy tests in front of me. I really was pregnant. One positive could've just been a mistake, but 3?! How am I gonna tell Phil? When am I gonna tell him?!
I felt my face reddening, as tears began brimming in my eyes. I sank down to the floor, and sobbed into my hands. I didn't want this. Not right now. I wanted to wait at least another year, before thinking about kids. But besides that, the circumstances right now are so impractical.
I can't tell Phil. Not before we get Doug back anyway. If I do tell him, that's all he's gonna focus on and right now my main priority was getting Doug back safely.
I quickly recomposed myself, pushing myself up from the floor, washing my hand and just splashing water over my face, taking a few deep breaths, as I threw away the bag and two off the tests, deciding to keep just one in my pocket.
I walked out of the bathroom, seeing Stu walk away from the bar with a round of drinks, before he noticed me and quickly looked over to Phil and Alan, before making his way over to me.
"Well?" He asked, making sure he wasn't too loud.
"I took three. All of them came back positive." I replied, with a shaky breath. "Shit... Is it okay to say congratulations or..?" Stu questioned, furrowing his brows.
"I don't know yet.." I sighed, as he gave me a small tight lipped smile, for comfort, as Chow continued singing. "Christ, is he still going?" I asked, as Stu chuckled. "Yeah, I think he's getting into it." Stu joked, and I laughed lightly, as we made our way back to the table. "If you need anything, I'm here for you, by the way." Stu whispered, assuring me, as I smiled.
"Thanks, Stu. I appreciate that." I told him, honestly, as we approached the others, and I took a seat next to Phil.
"What the fuck am I watching?" Phil asked, referring to Chows singing, as he looked over to Stu and I, causing me to lightly laugh, as Stu set the drinks on the table.
While Chow continued singing, Stu dragged Chows drink across the table, over to himself, to shoot the syringe into the drink, while Phil and I watched him. "Is that gonna be enough?" Phil asked him, as Stu stirred the drink and drugs with the syringe. "Oh, yeah." Stu replied, before looking up at Phil and I.
"This'll take about a minute to kick in. We'll tell the waitress he's drunk. By the time we get to the car, he'll be out cold." Stu explained, Phil and I nodding, while Alan just watched Chow singing, Stu slowly placing the drink back on the table and sliding it over to where Chow was gonna sit.
"I will let you down. I will make you... hurt." Chow sang the last line, before he pushed the mic stand to the floor, as he made his way off of the stage, everyone applauding him, while Alan stood up from his seat to give him a standing ovation.
"Alan, sit down." Phil told him, as Chow approached us and took a seat. "That was really nice, Chow." Phil complimented, holding his beer bottle. "Thanks, Phil. The key is to sing from your heart." Chow informed him, as Phil just nodded.
"So, Mexico, huh? What are you doin' down here?" Phil asked him, smiling, just trying to keep him clueless.
"You know, fucking, doing blow. Same old, same old." Chow shrugged, looking over to Stu and I. "Ooh, I got into cockfighting." Chow added, looking over at Alan, while I raised a brow.
"Oh, cockfighting. That sounds wonderful." Alan nodded. "Yes. Basically been killing it down here." Chow informed us.
"That is just terrific. Right? I mean, that's terrific." Stu chuckled, while Phil looked down at the drink, and Chow eyed him. "I think that calls for a toast." Stu announce, I looked down at the drink in front of me. Shit. It was alcoholic, how was I supposed to come up with an excuse not to drink it?!
"I like that. To killing it." Phil raised his beer bottle, while Stu looked over at me, looking down at my drink then shooting me an apologetic look, while I smiled and shook my head.
"Killin' it." Stu raised his glass. "Yeah. To killing it." Chow agreed, holding his glass, as he looked over to me, narrowing his eyes.
"What's wrong, Eve? You don't wanna make toast to killing it?" Chow asked me, suspiciously, as Phil looked down at me, furrowing his brows, while I nervously laughed.
"Uh, it's not that, I'm just not really in the mood for drinking, right now." I quickly excused, while Phil just laughed with a puzzled expression.
"You're turning down alcohol? Don't think I've ever seen you do that before." Phil commented, jokingly, as he took a swig of his beer.
"I haven't been feeling great, all day. Alcohol would probably just make me feel more unwell, I guess." I shrugged my shoulders, feeling a lump form in my throat, growing more nervous.
"What? Are you pregnant?" Chow asked, sarcastically, as Phil spat out his beer, his eyes widening and began coughing, while my eyes nearly widened and I began nervously laughing.
"What?! No, no. I'm not-- no.." I profusely denied, shaking my head, as Stu just awkwardly looked down, and Phil looked over at me with suspicion raised in his eyes, while I cleared my throat.
"Aren't you guys gonna make your toast official now..?" I asked, hoping to just get off the subject, as Stu agreed and took a sip from his glass, while Chow raised his to his lips, eyeing Stu.
"You okay, Chow?" Stu asked him, when he didn't drink. "I don't know. You tell me." Chow suspiciously said to Stu, and I could feel something wasn't right, as Stu began chuckling, nervously.
"So, how many rooster birds do you have, Chow?" Alan asked, before Chow threw his glass on the ground and pinned Stu's head to the table, causing Phil and I to raise from our seats, as Stu exclaimed.
"Woah!" Phil tried to stop Chow, with his eyes widened. "Shit!" Stu exclaimed, through gritted teeth. "Chow, what are you doing?!" I asked, as I looked from him to Stu.
"Act cool or I open his vein." Chow warned, and that's when Phil and I noticed the knife Chow was holding to Stu's neck. "Oh, my God." Phil breathed, as I gasped.
"Why you wanna drug poor Chow?" Chow asked us, glaring daggers at us with his eyes. "No, no. It's not what you think. There's this guy Marshall." Phil tried to explain himself.
"Marshall? How you know that fat fuck?" Chow asked us. "He said that you took his gold and he's got my brother, Doug and he's gonna kill him unless we bring you to him." I summarized, feeling my heart race, as I panicked, while Phil nodded in agreement.
"It's true! I swear to God, it's true!" Stu exclaimed, with a sob, as Chow looked hesitant to believe us. "Chow. Chow, that's the truth." Phil promised, Chow glaring at him, before stabbing the knife into the table. "Goddamn it!" He exclaimed, sinking back in his seat. "That motherfucker." He murmured.
"Stu, you okay?" I immediately asked, with my hand on his shoulder. "You alright?" Phil asked, with concern evident in his tone, as Stu panted. "No." Stu replied, his voice breaking, as he trembled with fear and shock.
"We're sorry, Chow. We're sorry. We didn't know what else to do." Phil breathed heavily as he apologized to Chow. "Next time, don't lie to Chow." Chow responded.
"You're right. You are so right. And we made a huge mistake." Phil admitted, while I continued rubbing Stu's arm in attempt to comfort him, as Chow sighed, while Phil looked at him.
"So, what do we do now?" Phil asked, as all of us looked over to Chow. "That depends... Can I trust you?" Chow asked us, still suspicious.