Los Angeles, USA.
The unexpected traffic on the road worsened matters for Peter McCall who eagerly muttered quick words of prayer . As a child born into a Christian home, he was taught never to overlook prayers. Whoever could see him would surely think him to be insane or probably on the journey to insanity. The desperation of his lips made it very different from the prayers of the biblical Hannah who was mistaken to have been drunk as she muttered silent words in prayer. But obviously, no one would blame him. After all, desperate situations call for desperate measures . He looked at the mirror before him. He could still sight the blue Audi four cars behind him. He hit the horn button as if he was intentionally delayed. polluting the air with more noise. He cursed under his breath. Why on a day like this? He gulped down water from his can, then relaxed . He was advantaged in a way. Before his adversaries would get the opportunity to move, he must have driven and covered several metres ahead of them. He concluded his distorted prayer . The green light came on and vehicles started moving. He sped and overtook cars. Getting to a T-junction, he steered left and drove on. He looked back. There was no sign of the enemy. Just then, Avalon betrayed him. It slowly broke down. He hit the ignition but nothing good happened. He stepped out of the car. Avalon had not betrayed him. Rather he betrayed it. After three hours of a non-stop drive, a refuel was a sure necessity. He didn't see that coming. A man approached him. Judging from the man's appearance, anyone who didn't know much would mistake him for a military personnel. Obviously, he was just a security officer of a bank.
" Hey dude , you aren't parked well."
"I know." Peter replied politely.
"This is a bank . So, get this outta here." The man said to him.
Peter drew in a long night breath. He just felt like getting that man beaten up . But he knew better.
" What's that for? You want a fight?" The man asked.
Peter sighed. He was about to explain when his eyes caught something. The blue Audi had surfaced again. Without speaking a word , he turned on his heels and bolted out of the area.
" Hey!! Why are you running?!" The security shouted.
" Excuse me, sir." A man dressed in a pair of jeans and a black T-shirt spoke to him.
" How may I help you?"
" Did you happen to see the owner of this vehicle?"
" Which vehicle? … you mean this Avalon?"
" Yeah. "
" Of course."
" Oh. That's great. Did he enter the bank?"
" If I may ask, who are you to him?"
" Just give me an answer. "
" The dude just parked…. Wait… wait.. I actually thought he was insane but seeing you now says otherwise."
" What do you mean?"
" Are you after him?"
" After him?" The man smiles. " No. I mean yes. He owes me a huge sum ."
" Oh. I see. I don't doubt you. That guy acted insane not long ago. I was still trying to get him to move his car when he saw something and ran away. He must have seen you."
" He is so screwed today. Which way did he go?"
" I have no idea. You distracted me from seeing his direction. "
" What a waste of time. " The man muttered and sighed heavily.
" Wait. What? Waste of time? Hey dude. " Before he could finish it , the man was already back in the Audi and was off.
" Whatever…. I will just take this out ." He eyed the Avalon.
Some minutes later, Peter McCall came running back to his Avalon, clutching a medium size container in his right hand.
" You know I can have you arrested, right?" The security officer said to him.
" I'm aware of that. And I apologise. Okay? Didn't mean for things to happen this way." He opened his fuel tank and emptied the content of the container into it."
" So, tell me. Why do you owe him that much? "
" Owe?" Peter asked, wondering.
" Don't give me the look. You don't have to be ashamed. If not, you will keep running."
" Whatever.." Peter closed his fuel tank.
" Meanwhile, …. I think…"
"You think what?" Peter settled into Avalon.
" I just sense trouble around you."
" A debtor is in trouble."
" It's beyond that. I doubt you owe him. There's this intent in his eyes and his words seemed fake to me."
"One advice I will offer you is this, stay out of trouble."
The man said nothing.
" And one more thing... Never mind." He closed his doors and zoomed off.
" Hmmm.. what a strange morning." The security officer spoke and returned to his duty post.
Peter's thoughts troubled him..
" Could it be possible?" He thought. " If only it was that he actually owed someone a debt, no matter how big the amount, it would have been preferable to him . But in this situation, not only was he running from someone or people he didn't know or met anytime, he was running for a reason best known to his pursuers . The incident of the past few hours flashed through him. Why would someone strike him this badly? Not like they were extremely rich. But they were very comfortable with their fortune. Besides, they didn't come for his parents. They had come for him. He was only lucky enough to not be caught. But his parents didn't deserve the fate of a sudden death that came on them. It would have been better if they met him. At the same time, he knew his parents wanted it to happen that way. They preferred to die in his stead. For some reasons he couldn't place, he felt his parents knew something he didn't know. After twenty-five years of his life in his family, he still perceived there was a secret or secrets hidden from him. But why? He sighed tiredly and pulled over to a fuel station to fill his tank properly.