Hooked

Hooked



         Sheldon Gustavo was in quite a predicament.  “How did I end up like this?” He wondered as he took another drag on his cigarette. The sun turned pumpkin orange as it set, finally disappearing behind the tall pines that surrounded his backyard. “Guess I’ll go see if Shelly is ready to stop bugging me about this whole smoking thing,” he grumbled to himself. “I’ve been smoking for years and all that’s happened to me is a little trouble breathing.” He opened the door to bellow for his wife to come outside and talk to him. The last thing he remembered was yelling “Hey, Shelly! I -…” then everything went black.

         Fists pounded against my jaws, knocking a couple of my pearly whites out.  Blood filled my mouth like a raging river wanting to burst the town levee. I spat a red stream of it out of my mouth . The next thing I knew, an agonizing pain spread throughout my whole stomach, like when I’ve gorged myself at the all you can eat buffet at Taco Bell, and then darkness…..

         When I came to, I was alone in the school parking lot and judging by the fact that it was pitch dark around me, it was late at night. I stumbled my way to my old pickup a few feet away and got in feeling as worthless as the love bugs on the front of my truck.

         I lay awake that night in my tiny room, planning revenge. It was my senior year at Watercrest High and I was sick of the bullies that have been tormenting me since my freshman year.  I thought of all their nasty habits like cursing, stealing, smoking, and a plethora of endless other things.  I chose the lesser of the hundreds of evils and narrowed it down to cursing, smoking and stealing.  I ruled out cursing and stealing. Cursing because I could cuss like a sailor and they’d still use me like a dummy at football practice. Stealing because as much as I wanted to show those jerks that I was as gutsy as them, I didn’t want to end up in jail, where I’d be facing Grape Ape sized buffoons instead of regular sized ones. I turned to smoking. Smoking a couple of packs of Camel cigarettes to show those bozos that I was as tough as them, might just be the cherry on top of my “tough guy” act that I need.

         The ambulance screeched to a halt outside the emergency room. He could see a faint light,  and then he saw his wife. “Everything’s going to be alright sweetie, I promise.” She whimpered through tear filled eyes. Then he heard a doctor’s voice bark out “Anesthetic. NOW, people! Move it or we won’t save this guy!” 

    “That’s when I got hooked.” Sheldon realized. Sadly it was too late. He grimaced at the nurse’s action of slipping the needle of anesthetic into his veins so he’d be out cold during the doctor’s attempt to try to save his cancer dominated lungs.