The Rooster's Escape

Gilmar was very tense behind the wheel. His whole body was sweating coldly, after all, he was almost at the snack bar. What he was about to do was something he didn't like at all.

But his head was telling him that something had to be done for his daughter. He is a hot-headed man, but although he rarely resorted to violence, he was determined to teach a lesson to the bastard who hurt Diana.

On the truck's dashboard there is a photo of his daughter when she was six years old, sitting on his wife's lap. Next to it is another photo of Diana in her teens. He caressed the photo tenderly.

“I'll be right back, my dear. That shameless brat is going to get the fright of his li- “ - He suddenly fell silent.

Something caught his attention. He had just passed his target in the company of a girl. He recognized him easily after recording that smiling face in the selfie in his memory; there was no way he could be wrong. It was Ricardo, the damn guy who hurt his daughter. He was close enough to him and far enough away from the snack bar to exact his revenge.

“Ahhh, it looks like luck is on my side . It's going to be now and here.”

He accelerates his truck and turned the next corner. He intended to go around the block and surprise his prey from behind.

“Tell me something, Ricardo. Did you open my present?”

“Huh? No, I ended up putting it in my pants pocket, it stayed tin my closet. I'll give it back to you when we get there.

“No, it's yours. It'll be a souvenir.”

“Are you sure? I hadn't even bought yours...”

“I figured. But leave it like that for now, give me something later.”

“Okay, I'll try hard to find something worth it.”

“I'll charge you, kay? I'm very pers- huh?”

Julia couldn't finish her sentence. A horn honked loudly behind them and Ricardo reflexively pulled Julia away from the edge of the sidewalk, but the truck that was passing close to them didn't continue on its course, but stopped a few meters ahead.

“Hey, are you crazy? Go scare someone else! - Ricardo shouted while showing his middle finger.”

“Oh, scare? But I haven't even started yet…”

The owner of the answer got out of the truck next. Julia recognized the person as Gilmar, the freelance delivery man who supplies the snack bar.

“Mr. Gilmar? What are you doing here? Hermes is like crazy waiting for you at the store!”

“Oh, I know. It's just that I need to take care of something first. With that young man there by your side.”

“Me?” - Ricardo was confused. - “What do you want with me?”

“Oh, why such a rush, big guy? But, if you want to know... Remember this young lady here?” - Gilmar pulled out his cell phone, displaying a photo on its screen. The selfie.

“This girl… Diana? Oh, it's Diana!”

“That's right. Diana, that's her name, very well.”

“But why do you have this photo?”

“Oh, that's because… she's my daughter.” - He pulled the iron bar out of the truck - “My dear daughter, who you had the nerve to betray! MY DAUGHTER!!!”

Gilmar charged Ricardo with the iron bar, hitting his shoulder. He fell to the ground.

“AHHHHH, my shoulder!!! Wait a minute, let's talk!”

“Ah, but we're already talking, don't you understand? TAKE THAT!”

A second attack, but this time it didn't hit him. Júlia, recovered from her previous fright, grabbed Gilberto's arm before he hit his target.

“LET ME GO! I'M GOING TO BEAT THIS FUCKING KID!”

“No, you're not!”

Julia pushes Gilmar with all her strength and then wields the knife, getting between him and Ricardo who is down.

“Don't even try! I have a knife!”

“HA! You had one!”

With a quick movement like a golf swing, the iron bar whizzes through the air, hitting the knife squarely and breaking its blade, which is thrown into the air and then falls near the wheels of the truck stuck between a manhole and the asphalt. Unarmed, Júlia stumbles back and falls to the ground.

“Look, I don't hit women, so stay quiet now!” - He turns to Ricardo - “So, where were we?”

“NO!”

Julia recovers from the fall and grabs Gilmar from behind. Getting up from the ground, Ricardo threatens to go after the driver in defense of the girl.

“Julia! Let go of him and run away!”

“You idiot! You’re t the one he wants to get! Get out of here, hurry up!”

Ricardo hesitates for a moment, but realizes that if he runs the driver will go after him, leaving Julia safe behind.

“So you want me? Come get me then!”

He ran as best he could and had already distanced himself a little when Gilmar finally got rid of Julia.

“Come back here, brat! OW!”

Even though he got away, he didn't expect that Julia could bites his arm. she managed to take the iron bar out of his hands and throw it a few meters ahead.

“Damn brat!”

This time Gilmar can't contain himself and ends up slapping Julia, who falls to the ground one more time. He tries to get his iron bar back, but Ricardo was already disappearing at the end of the street, and he wouldn't be able to reach him on foot.

“Shit! You're not going to get away!”

Gilmar hurriedly climbed into the truck and started it, accelerating as much as he could. He heard a strange noise, but his anger spoke louder.

If the truck's trunk wasn't full of frozen chickens, he would have been able to get more speed, but he couldn't get rid of the load at that moment. He kept pressing the accelerator as hard as he could without taking his eyes off the fugitive.

The chase beguns. In front, Ricardo ran as fast as he could, especially now that the truck was getting closer. Being on foot, he had the disadvantage of speed, but he used this fact to make it difficult for his pursuer by turning at every corner that appeared.

He thought about jumping over the wall of a house, but with the costume he was wearing, he wouldn't be able to do that, so he preferred to keep going until he could get help.

He realized that the path he had taken was leading him towards the snack bar, which was not the best place to go at that moment, but with the confusion that Julia said she had caused, there was a possibility that Alberto had called the police, which could have been his salvation.

Indeed, upon reaching the beginning of the long street that led to the establishment, he noticed a police car parked in front of Deliwings’s. He was saved.

“Just a little longer, hold on, my legs!”

The truck appeared just behind at the beginning of the street. Seeing where he was and the police car up ahead, Gilmar couldn’t believe that everything had gone wrong.

“Damn, the cops! Why are they here? Right now, when I almost made it!”

“RICARDO! WHERE DID YOU GO? AND WHERE'S THAT CRAZY WOMAN?”

It was Alberto shouting, his scowl more fierce than usual. Next to him was his wife, holding their daughter, who was crying fake tears after giving her statement to the police.

Hermes, who had been reassuring the curious customers and passersby that nothing was happening and the snack bar would continue running as usual, spoke up:

“Look, Mr. Alberto! Gilmar is coming! But why was he running like that? By the way, Ricardo finally you showed up! Where's Júlia?” - His over-the-top acting wasn’t convincing at all.

“Help me! He wants... to get me!”

“Go fuck yourself! I want that crazy woman arrested!” - Alberto retorted.

Gilmar had no choice but to stop the truck. He took a deep breath and parked a few meters away from the snack bar, feeling something was off with the truck. If the situation got complicated for him, he would deny everything with all his might.

He only regretted not giving the beating he wanted. He got out of the truck and slowly approached the group gathered there, his eyes sparking at Ricardo.

“Gilmar, you finally decided to show up! Bad timing, but you came. Did you bring the load?” Hermes asked, ignoring Ricardo's statement.

“I did bring it, sir, sorry for the delay. But What's going on here? He was sweating cold. Maybe someone had seen the chase and called the police after recognizing Ricardo or the girl.

“A crazy woman who worked at the store attacked Mr. Alberto's daughter and ran off with one of the kitchen knives. Can you believe that? By the way... it seems like she was after you, Ricardo. Can you explain that?”

Ricardo never liked Hermes, but hearing him call Julia crazy made him even more furious.

“We had a fight, but we were making up when this guy showed up wanting to hit me. And Julia is not crazy at all!” He retorted.

“It doesn't matter what you think, because both of you are fired! Assault and abandonment of duties. You won't get a penny from me!”

The police officers, who had been observing the situation, decided to intervene this time, intrigued by everything they had heard since they arrived.

“Very well, we came here because of a report of assault and theft and now we have another report of assault. Could you give us more details, young man?”

“Officer, he is making up a crazy story to try to get out of being fired. Gilmar is a good man and he is only here to make a delivery!” - Hermes tried to divert attention, but the police officers became even more suspicious.

“Young man, you were the one who made the report. Is it true or not?”

“Well, it's just that...”

At that moment Ricardo's head started thinking.

He exaggerated, but his anger had a reason. I only got hit in the arm. Accusing that guy wouldn't do any good because the only witness is Julia and because of the assault and the knife, they won't believe her. Hermes will acquit Gilmar and accuse Júuia anyway. The best thing would be to forgive him and try to free Julia somehow.

“So, what's going to happen?” The police officer reinforced his questioning.

“Sorry, officer, I overreacted. I messed with his daughter at a party and then he came to scold me and I ran away.” - He stated. Gilmar was shocked at that moment, not believing that the same guy he wanted to attack was now exonerated him. His anger subsided a little.

“Are you sure? And those bruises on your shoulder and face?”

“I had a fight with Julia, my girlfriend. I told her she could punch me because I was unfaithful to her. Because of that stupid fantasy I tripped and hit my shoulder on a pole.

“But they said the girl who attacked you came after you with a knife. Did she threaten you with that knife?”

“SHE'S CRAZY! SHE PICKED A FIGHT WITH THAT IDIOT AND MY DAUGHTER WAS CAUGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF IT! THAT'S ALL THAT HAPPENED!” - Alberto raised his voice intervening, but the police officer signaled for him to remain silent.

“...Go on, boy, I want to hear you.”

“Thanks. She’s my girlfriend, and the knife was just to scare me. She hit his daughter because she was always teasing her and harming her at the store. Things happened at the same time and she had an outburst. It was my fault. She must be coming back here now, she's embarrassed after all this.”

“Very well, let's wait for her to arrive to find out all this. And you gentlemen, keep yourselves contained! I can't give a statement without hearing all sides! “- He said to Alberto and Hermes, upset by the reprimand.

Ricardo was calmer now. Maybe it would be possible to exonerate Julia of part of the accusations. They would be fired, but that was the least of their problems. They would find a way from then on.

Well, better the devil you know.

A loud bang echoed and everything went dark for Ricardo.