THE CARJACKERS

            “I am so glad it’s Friday.”  You say, stretching out in the backseat of the van of your best friends, the Hardy Brothers.

            “Me too.”  Joe agrees, yawning.  The lecture his science teacher had given on photosynthesis had almost put him to sleep.

            “Want me to drop you off at home, or are you coming to our house?”  Frank asks while steering the van.

            “If you don’t mind, I think I’ll hang out with you guys awhile.”  You reply.

            “Mind?”  Joe exclaims.  “I was hoping you would come over!  I need someone to go rollerblading with.  Your skates are still at the house.”

            “I was wondering what I had done with them.”  You reply.

            “Rollerblading?”  Frank says.  “There’s no time for that.  I’ve got a great new game for the computer.”

            “A computer game?  On a nice afternoon like this?” Joe argues, rolling down the window, allowing the exceptionally warm February breeze to toss his wavy hair around.

            They continue arguing until you finally break it up.  “Guys, guys. Come on. Both sound like fun.  Joe, I will go rollerblading with you until it gets too dark, and then I will play the computer game with you, Frank.  I don’t have to be home at a certain time tonight.  Mom and Dad are gone on a trip this weekend.”

            The brothers seem satisfied with your solution, and the rest of the trip to their house remains peaceful.  You and Joe have a fabulous time rollerblading and return to his house at dusk.

            “Hi Mom!  What’s for dinner?”  Joe asks, wheeling into the kitchen from the back door.  Mrs. Hardy looks at the roller blades in distaste.  You were courteous enough to take yours off before coming inside.

            “Well, I had planned on making barbecued chicken, but it looks like I’m all out of barbecue sauce.  I will have to make a run to the store.”

            “Want me to go for you?”  Joe asks.

            Laura shakes her head.  “I can go.  It’s no trouble.  I should be there and back in under ten minutes.”  With that, she goes to the living room and collects her purse.  Soon she is in her car and on her way to the store.

            Joe takes off his roller blades and flips on the television.  You decide to make good on your promise to Frank and go upstairs where you rap on his door.  He invites you inside and inserts the disk of the new computer game.

            The two of you are just starting to play when the telephone rings downstairs.  After a few moments, you hear Joe running up the stairs and down the hall, finally throwing open the door of Frank’s room.

            “Frank!  That was the manager of the Raven Supermarket.  Mom’s there, and she’s hurt!  They’ve called an ambulance.”

            You and Frank immediately jump up.  “What happened?”  Frank asks..

            “I don’t know.”  Joe replies as the three of you run down the stairs and out the front door where you crowd into the van.  “The manager said she was able to give him her home phone number but passed out shortly after that.  I didn’t wait around for an explanation, I just want to get there.”

            Joe drives the short route to the supermarket quickly.  Car horns wail in his wake as he runs the only two stoplights that separate the Hardy home from the store.

            He quickly pulls into the parking lot and immediately spots a crowd of onlookers standing in a circle with an ambulance nearby, it’s lights flashing.  Before Joe comes to a complete stop, you and Frank jump out of the van and fight your way through the crowd.

            “Mom!  What happened?”  Frank asks anxiously as Joe joins you.  You all find some comfort in seeing that she is conscious again.

            One of the paramedics is holding a gauze to her head, which is quickly filling with blood.

            “Frank, my car was stolen.”  She whispers.

            “What!”  Frank exclaims.

            Mrs. Hardy becomes too weak to carry on a conversation, so one of the bystanders fills the three of you in on what happened.  “She was driving here in front of the store, apparently looking for a parking space when these three big guys approached her.  They argued for a few minutes then one of the guys opened her door and pulled her out of the car.  He hit her on the head with something then the three of them jumped in her car and drove off, leaving her lying here.

            “I’ll kill them.”  Joe mutters, anger flashing in his eyes.  You can see the same reaction in Frank.  She’s not your mother, but you find yourself becoming angry as well.

            “Did anyone see which way they went?”  Frank asks the crowd.

            Several of the bystanders start pointing when Mrs. Hardy speaks again.  “Frank, let it go.  There were too many of them.  They were big, and they had guns- that’s what I was hit with.”

            “But Mom we can’t just ignore this…”  Frank replies.  In his rage Joe has already gone back to the van where he blows the horn for the two of you.

            “Frank, please don’t go!  Stop Joe!  They scared me so bad, I don’t think they would hesitate to kill anyone.  If you go you are going to get hurt, I just know it!”  Laura’s eyes flash in terror and she begins crying.

            “This woman is loosing a lot of blood and going into shock.  She can’t handle any excitement right now.”  The paramedic warns Frank.

            “Please don’t go Frank.  Tell me you won’t go.”  Laura pleads.

            Frank feels very confused.  He doesn’t want to risk his mother’s health, but at the same time, he doesn’t want the carjackers to get away with what they have done to her.  Pleadingly, he looks at you, waiting for your opinion.

IF YOU THINK THAT FRANK, JOE, AND YOU SHOULD GO AFTER THE CARJACKERS,         CLICK HERE

IF YOU THINK THAT IT MIGHT BE BETTER TO INVESTIGATE THINGS LATER WHEN MRS. HARDY’S HEALTH HAS IMPROVED   CLICK HERE.