There had been too many shocking things happening to Laz as of late that he thought he was immune to it. He now found out how wrong he was.
"Grandpa Bill, your... eye?" Laz mutter in total disbelief.
"Oh ho ho, so it's Grandpa Bill now huh? Not asshole, or whatever?" Bill snidely remarked, putting the eye patch back into place.
"I um.." Laz was at a loss for words. He felt this old man was strange, somewhat crazy, and not exactly friendly, but he didn't seem to hate him.
"Let's not talk about that for now. I'm not about to go to a doctor for this as I don't want to become a guinea pig for the little time I have left." Bill brought out some metal plates from the small bag that he was carrying the spices in.
"The thing you need to know is that if this is happening to me, then there are other things happening to other people. Whatever you got seems to not be visible on the surface. Fucking congratulations. But that doesn't mean it won't be. That also means that others might have something like this too. For me, it's a small thing that I can easily hide. For others, it won't be."
Cutting out a large helping, Bill handed the plate over to Laz and cut some for himself. Apparently, he didn't consider forks or knives were needed as he just ate with his hands. At this point, Laz was so hungry that he didn't say anything and just started eating.
One man and one boy sat there and ate, not saying a word to each other. The heat from the fire and the smoke rising into the air on the cloudy yet slightly warm day was a different experience for Laz. He felt comfort in the simplicity of it.
After Laz and Bill finished, Bill cut up the rest of the roast and split it between the two again, not saying a word. Laz just silently accepted it and continued eating. He didn't think he would be this hungry, but he seemed to have burned more energy than even he was aware of.
"Come by next weekend for some more running, punching and whatever else I can dream up," Bill said at last, breaking the silence.
"Why?" It was a simple question, but it was probably the biggest one on his mind. Although Bill had shared his thoughts on these things, he still didn't understand what Bill and his Grandpa expected from him.
"The times we live in are way too peaceful. Most kids like you will never know the ugliness and chaos of war. Normally, we old guys would be grateful for that, but not this time. Me and your grandpa have talked these last few days when he has been ok. We don't want you to end up like another Ziggy, or like me for that matter. When the time comes, if everyone else freezes or fucks up, we want you to react first." Bill didn't hide this matter from Laz. He knew he was a smart kid, albeit naive.
"Lazarus, when the time comes, you might have to face things alone. You need to be ready. It's our last job to make sure you are. You know, me and my wife along with your grandpa and grandma used to be really close. There was this one time that we all got drunk at the beach and me and your grandpa decided to switch ladies for the hell of it. Ah, what a wild ride your grandma was. And god damn she had amazingly large bouncing breasts that put even my wife's to shame. We..."
"OK. NO! FUCKING NO! KEEP IT IN YOUR PANTS OLD MAN." Laz bellowed, not even wanting to picture whatever was going to come out of his mouth next.
"HAHAHA," Bill roared with laughter. "At my age, sometimes the only things you have left are memories. Anyway, I treated your useless father like a son and therefore, no matter what you think of me, I will treat you like a grandson as well. I never had kids of my own and even when my wife passed, I just didn't give a damn about finding another one."
"That's why, even though we only met when you were younger and you probably don't remember me, I don't want to see you die before me. Follow me over to the little shed over there. I've got something for you." Bill pointed at the small wooden shed by his house that sat open with the 4-wheeler sitting in front of it.
Even though the day was somewhat overcast, If Laz wanted, he could have seen inside the shed but he decided against that. Since it was a surprise, he figured he would just wait and be surprised.
Bill walked inside and backed out some sort of a bike covered in a tarp. After he leaned it to the side, he pulled the tarp off, revealing a somewhat old, but well kept dirt bike. Laz could tell that it wasn't used much and that several parts had been replace and changed out, but he couldn't make out the make anymore as it looks like Bill had removed anything identifying when he was fixing it up.
He waved Laz over and had him sit on it.
"This is for you. It runs like a dream and although it's not road registered, riding out here in the country shouldn't be a problem long as you stick off to the side of the road. This will also let you get here on the weekend without needing a ride," Bill beamed, somewhat proud of himself.
Laz was suddenly taken over with emotions. After finding out about Bill's close relationship with his grandpa, he was already looking at this old cyclops in a new light. But this was obviously one of the best presents he had received for as long as he could remember.
"Grandpa Bill, I.. don't know what to say.. but thank you," Laz spouted, more than a little touched. Teens always loved freedom and when they got to a certain age, dreamed about having a car or such. Laz had gotten used to riding the old scooter for deliveries, but this was something he would own himself. In his heart, he might have finally accepted this old man.
"Yeah, yeah. You get going now and be here next week. Also, try to do a bit more during the week like running or some such. You need to stop being such a stick and start getting some meat on those bones. Go on."
Laz turned the key to start to the on position and kicked the starter, firing up the bike. Revving the engine a few times allowed him to feel what kind of power the bike had. Minus the scooter, he didn't have a lot of experience, so it was best to take it slow and steady at first.
"Hey, I kept the shocks a bit stiffer since I don't expect you will be bring this to a dirt track. They should handle the road better this way but it will still be ok for off-roading as well. Just remember this has more torque than your used to so easy on the acceleration." As Bill gave Laz some advice, Laz almost felt like Bill might be getting a bit emotional himself.
"Yeah, I got it Grandpa Bill. I will see you next Saturday morning. Try to work on your aiming a bit, alright?"
"Ha. You want to lecture me know? Get the hell out of here before I give you another reason to run," Bill replied, grabbing a helmet from the shed and tossing it over. It was a half head helmet with an older style Native American eagle on it. It obviously wasn't meant for this type of bike, but it was the best he could do on short notice.
After he put on the helmet, Laz popped the clutch and almost lost the bike out from under him as the front wheel left the ground. It would have looked kind of cool had Laz not let out a somewhat high pitch scream of shock.
He quickly recovered though and started making his way down the driveway to leave.
Bill stood there for a bit, watching him go. His face was completely unreadable.
"Boy, I'm sorry I lied to you. Hopefully you understand one day. But even if you don't, hopefully you don't hate me."
As Bill turned around, a single crimson tear fell out of his almost empty eye socket, only to be lost forever in the endless expanse of grass and dirt.