CHAPTER Twelve
Alan was in the middle of making a pot of coffee, his body still fighting the urge to go back to bed, his eyes barely able to stay open, when Jimmy walked into the kitchen and said, “Remember, only five scoops.”
Alan turned to reply but stopped and instead said, “Whoa, what happened to your neck?”
“What?” Jimmy asked, his voice panicked, a hand rising to touch his throat.
“It’s all bruised up,” Alan said.
Jimmy hurried from the kitchen and went to the mirror in the front hall.
Alan followed.
“Holy shit,” Jimmy said.
“What happened?” Alan asked.
“I don’t know.”
“Bullshit,” Alan snapped. “You didn’t come home until really late last night and now say you don’t know what happened?”
“I was with Tina,” Jimmy said.
“Not all evening you weren’t. I called to find out because we were supposed to go pick up our tuxes when Mom came home, remember?” Alan had been pretty angry about this and had even driven around the neighborhood looking for his brother thinking maybe he had gone on a bike ride after seeing Tina, but then upon coming home realized the bike was still in the garage.
“Sorry, I forgot.” He continued touching his throat. “We can go today though.”
“Yeah, and it will be packed and we will have to try them on to make sure they fit, which means we will have to wait in line for the dressing rooms.”
“So what?” Jimmy snapped. “It was probably packed last night too, and the day before. We’re not the only ones going.”
“Still, where were you? Mom and Dad were worried and thought maybe you were the next to disappear.” This was a lie. His parents had been a bit concerned but that was all, and hadn’t really thought anything bad had happened. Alan, however, had thought differently.
“Gee thanks, two girls and me,” Jimmy said. “Nice.”
“Hey, you never know with people like this, maybe they would want a teenage guy to go with the two girls. Maybe they are like crazy scientists from U of I that want to breed humans for some sort of illegal testing.”
Jimmy shook his head. “What time does the tux place open?”
“I don’t know, nine, ten.” Alan shrugged. “Maybe earlier than usual because of prom?”
“Okay, then lets go around eight thirty and if they aren’t open we can get some breakfast at the bagel place, my treat.”
Alan nodded. “Fine, and we need to go to the flower place and pick up some corsages while we’re out.”
“Pick up what?” Jimmy asked.
“Corsages.”
“What the hell are those?”
Alan shook his head. “Flower things, you idiot, for the girls to wear. Every guy gets them for their date, it’s tradition.”
“It sounds stupid.”
“Most traditions usually are.”
Jimmy sighed. “How much do they cost?”
“I don’t know.” The fact was Alan hadn’t thought about the corsages either, not until Rachel had called to remind him to pick one up for her. “I just hope the place actually has some because I think you’re supposed to order them in advance.”
“Great. Anything else I should know about so I don’t make a fool out of myself?”
“Yeah, but you’ll want to grab a pad of paper and a pen before I tell you?” He started to fill the coffee pot with water and went to pour it into the machine.
“What?”
“I’m just f*cking with you.”
“Alan!” Kelly Hawthorn snapped while walking into the kitchen.
Jimmy smiled.
“Um,” Alan started, his hand nearly dropping the coffee pot. “What?”
“Just want to make sure you used five scoops and only five scoops before you hit BREW.”
Jimmy cracked up laughing. His parents knew swears were just stupid words that got people needlessly worked up and didn’t care if they used them sparingly.
“Jimmy, what happened to your neck?” Kelly asked.
“I don’t know, I must’ve slept on it weird.” He touched it. “It doesn’t hurt.”
His mother eyed him suspiciously for a few seconds and then turned toward the coffee pot which had started to brew.
* * *
Coffee in hand Jimmy returned to his room where he browsed the Internet for a while, but then grew bored of that - even the bondage sites he visited (it was all the same stuff repeated over and over again) - and headed into the bathroom to look at his throat.
The bruises weren’t too bad, but were obviously noticeable enough to draw unwanted attention, especially the really purple one under his right ear, which was where Megan’s ankle had smashed into when she first grabbed him. Thankfully he had a feeling his tuxedo shirt would cover the bruise so not too many people would ask him about it. Then again he doubted many people would talk to him anyway, so it didn’t really matter all that much.
Actually if they were worse they could be a good conversation starter, he said to himself.
Had the bruises arrived from another more honorable situation Jimmy wouldn’t have minded talking about it, but given the source he would prefer it if people didn’t notice.
An idea occurred.
He flipped off the set of lights closest to the mirror and looked at himself again. The bruises were pretty hard to see when the light wasn’t focusing on it directly, and since the lights at the dance would most likely be set on low to produce a more formal atmosphere he probably had nothing to worry about.
She planned this, he said to himself. It was something he had been thinking about ever since coming home, showing and laying in bed, one which he had not slept in, but merely rested in because sleep had never arrived.
Megan had purposely peed on herself so he would clean her legs and the floor and make himself vulnerable for attack, all without any possible way of escaping afterward, which was startling.
Megan didn’t care if she died as long as she took him with her.
The thought chilled him to the core.
At the same time he knew he didn’t really have to worry about this kamikaze attitude from her any longer because the chances that she would even be able to attempt anything like this again was pretty slim. Future girls might try, though, which is why he would have to be more careful once he felt he was ready to start grabbing them again - his mind still unsure if he should wait until he had his own place or continue to use the fallout shelter.
If you had simply tied her legs together this wouldn’t have happened.
Binding a girl’s legs together had never really been part of his fantasy, but it didn’t really detract from it either, so he figured he would experiment with it. The only downside was that he enjoyed seeing them kicking their legs when lifted off the ground, their feet trying to find something solid to balance on and relieve the pressure from their wrists.
Make a spreader bar.
Though he had never before considered it, he knew he could make the item fairly easily and that once it was in place a girl would not be able to bring her legs together unless she broke the bar, which would require a considerable amount of strength. He also was pretty sure he had everything he needed in the house, but then, such a bondage item wasn’t necessary now because Samantha and Megan were not in any condition to fight with him.
An image of Megan’s face arrived causing him to shudder.
Busting up a girl’s face had never been a part of his fantasy and was something he never wanted to do again. Hell, just slapping Samantha across the face the other day had soured his stomach.
Actually the more he thought about it whipping the girls with his belt like he had done wasn’t all that appealing either. In the videos he watched it turned him on and got him off, but in real life, well, he liked watching things like that and seeing the reaction of the girls rather than being the one to administer it.
You liked taking part in the sex with Tina.
But your favorite part was watching her go down on you and watching your cock being swallowed up by her mouth and p-ssy.
He had also enjoyed seeing the look on her face when he had used his fingers on her, something he had never before done to a girl but seemed to be good at, probably thanks to all the videos from Kink.com where forcing girls to have orgasms over and over again seemed to be the main goal.
Torture her with pleasure!
That is exactly what he had done to Tina. He had made her orgasm so many times with his fingers that she had forced his hand from within her and rolled him over onto his back, her screams of pleasure and cries for him to stop having been replaced by his own moans.
If I had known Tina and I would do that I would never have grabbed Samantha.
His mind didn’t have a response to this statement, though not because it was true, but because he actually feared it was false.
The thought that followed was even more disturbing: If given the choice between the two last week which would you have chosen?
Jimmy knew the answer, but didn’t want to admit it to himself even though it was impossible to hide himself from his own thoughts. Instead he tried distracting himself by heading back into his room and watching TV while he drank his coffee, and then, not long after that, going into town with Alan to pick up the tuxedos.
* * *
“What?” Tina demanded as her mother knocked on the closed bedroom door.
“Can I come in?” Rebecca asked.
“Why?”
“Because I want to talk,” she said.
“Call one of your knitting friends.”
“I want to talk to you!”
“Fine.” Tina had been looking at her blue homecoming dress, somewhat depressed because she hadn’t been able to buy something new, and now got up to unlock her door.
Rebecca stepped inside and said, “Do you know how many mothers would smack their daughter’s silly for speaking to them the way you speak to me?”
“Do you know how many mothers wouldn’t have left their daughters even if their marriage was a little difficult,” Tina asked back.
“Do you know why I left?” Rebecca asked. “Did you father ever tell you?”
Her father had given her many theories on why her mother had left, each one of them seeming to make sense even though they both didn’t have a clue as to which one, if any, was right. Rather than say this Tina kept her mouth shut.
“No?” Rebecca asked with a laugh. “I bet he told you lots of different reasons, but never the real one because in his mind it wouldn’t have been a reason at all.”
Tina had a feeling she wasn’t going to like what she was about to hear.
“He never saw what he did to me that night as wrong even though I protested against it and screamed at him to stop.” She clasped her hands together and looked up as if getting ready to pray but instead laughed. “He thought he had earned it after spending so much time and money on me and the more I fought with him the more aggressive he became.”
Tears started to gleam in her eyes but did not fall, her face still more hysterical than sad.
“I knew what he wanted when he suggested we get some fresh air, but I was so overwhelmed with the entire situation that I didn’t even protest that, and then, when he started kissing me out in the football field behind the bleachers I kind of liked it, and would have cherished the memories if it hadn’t gone any further.”
Tina didn’t want to hear anymore and stood up, but to her surprised Rebecca grabbed her by the shoulders and threw her back down on the bed, her body using strength that Tina would never have expected.
“Don’t you dare leave!” Rebecca snapped. “For nearly eighteen years your father filled your head with lies and now it is my turn to tell you the truth. You father raped me that night behind the bleachers and when I screamed for him to stop he put a hand over my mouth.” She shuddered. “I still remember the sweaty taste of his palm and then the blood as I bit his thumb. I can still hear the sound of his shouting with pain even as he exploded inside of me and to this day I truly believe that if he hadn’t have ejaculated so quickly I would have cut through the bone and severed the thumb.”
Tina was going to say something but then suddenly remembered asking her father about the scar on his thumb when she was younger.
My friend accidentally closed a car door on it, he had said with a smile. That’s why I’m always so careful to make sure you’re clear of the car when I close the door.
“I still have the dress if you’d like to see it,” Rebecca said. “If you don’t believe me you can see the tears and the rips and the mud.”
“Why didn’t you tell the police?” Tina asked.
“Because I didn’t think they would care and I was ashamed of what had happened and then when I realized I was pregnant - ”
“NO!” Tina screamed, her mind finally realizing where this was going.
“I knew I had to take care of you but couldn’t without your father’s help, especially since my mother wouldn’t speak to me and kept calling me a whore.”
Tina tried to block out the words but couldn’t.
“I tried to love you after you were born but I could never look at you without thinking about that night. Even now seeing you sitting there makes me remember what he did to me.”
“Shut up!” Tina snapped.
Surprisingly Rebecca did.
Silence settled, though Tina couldn’t appreciate it because the words didn’t fade.
After a few moments Rebecca said, “I’ve said what you needed to hear,” and left the room.
Tina burst into tears after that.
Anger followed.
* * *
“I looked ridiculous,” Jimmy said while waiting for his BLT bagel to cool down. “My body is not designed for formalwear.”
“But Tina will love it and that’s all that matters, right?” Alan had ordered a bacon, egg, and cheese bagel all on a toasted egg bagel.
“I don’t know, Tina isn’t like other girls and will probably think I look ridiculous too.”
“She’ll love it,” Alan said. “You just worry too much.”
“Maybe.” He took a bite. The sandwich tasted wonderful.
Alan followed suit but then grimaced and said, “Ugh, they put American cheese on it. Don’t I always order cheddar cheese?”
“You forgot this time,” Jimmy said with a smile.
“And you noticed? Why didn’t you say something?”
“Because it’s funnier this way.” He took another bite. “Umm, this is really, really good.”
“Bastard,” Alan muttered and then, “You know, you paid for it and now I’m not going to enjoy it so you aren’t getting your moneys worth.”
Jimmy hadn’t thought about this.
Alan took another bite, grimaced and said, “I’m going to see if they’ll just give me a piece of cheddar cheese for this and scrape off this crap.” His phone rang as he was standing up, stopping him in his tracks. “Oh, it’s Rachel.”
Jimmy thought about saying something funny that would get Alan in trouble, but then held back.
“What?” Alan said and then listened for a second. “No, I figured we would just take my mother’s car.”
Jimmy took a bite.
“Are you kidding me? I don’t think I can get one, it’s too last minute.”
Now Jimmy was curious and mouthed the words: Get what?
Alan shook his head and said, “I’m sorry, you should have said something the other day. It’s too late now.” He listened. “No, it’s not going to ruin the entire night.”
Jimmy actually could hear the angry reply that followed.
“Fine, I’ll see what I can do, but believe me, the dance will still be fun even if we don’t have a limo.” He rolled his eyes. “Yes, it will be, I promise.”
Alan pulled the phone away from his ear because the shouts were really loud this time. Once they were finished he put the phone back and said, “Okay, see you tonight.”
He closed the phone.
“What was that all about?” Jimmy asked.
“Apparently I have already ruined Rachel’s prom night experience because I failed to get a limo to take us there.”
“A limo!”
“Yeah. The school is less than a mile away from her house and she wants a limo to take us.” He picked up his bagel sandwich to take a bite, looked at it for a second and put it back down. “You know if these dances get any more serious they are going to have to start handing out marriage licenses at them.”
Jimmy nodded. “I hope Tina isn’t upset that I didn’t get a limo.”
Alan didn’t reply.
Jimmy thought about calling her and finding out but then decided it would probably be better not to say anything so that the idea wasn’t planted. At the same time he was pretty sure she would be happy without one.
Alan sighed. “You know, I don’t care. If she wants to make a big deal out of this that is fine, I’m not going to let it ruin my night.”
“But then Rachel won’t ‘love it’ and isn’t that all that matters?” Jimmy asked.
Alan glared at him.
Jimmy put up his hands. “Hey, I’m not the one who said it.”
“No, but it doesn’t really apply to me because I’m not dating her so if I f*ck things up and just walk away its fine. You on the other hand are in a relationship, which changes things.”
“How?”
“You still want to be dating tomorrow or the next day or next week?”
“Um, yeah.”
“Then she better enjoy herself tonight. With me, I don’t plan on ever really talking to her again after tonight so it doesn’t really matter. I’m just going to have fun.”
His phone rang again.
He picked it up and saw that it was Rachel again and didn’t answer it.
“Having fun?” Jimmy asked.
Alan gave him the finger.
* * *
Rebecca was sitting in the family room reading a romance novel when Tina came downstairs, the statements about her father still the main focus of her mind, but now for a different reason.
She stepped into the family room.
Rebecca looked up.
“Can I ask you something?” Tina said.
“Go ahead,” Rebecca said.
“Why did you wait until now to tell me all this stuff about my father?”
Rebecca closed her book around her finger and sighed. “Because it was important for you to understand what he did and why I had to leave the marriage.”
“Bullshit!” Tina snapped. “If all of that was important and something you were concerned about you would have told me all of it months ago. Instead you waited until today, all so you could try and ruin my night.”
“No, I - ”
“You are a bitch!” Tina snapped. “A no good spoiled stuck up bitch, one who probably begged to be f*cked that night but then convinced herself she had been raped because she couldn’t live with the fact that she was a whore.”
The book came at her quickly, but Tina managed to move out of the way before it hit her square in the face.
“Get out,” Rebecca said.
“Oh, does the truth hurt?” Tina asked.
“Get out!”
“Don’t worry. As soon as the courts let me I will be on my own and you will never have to see me again. Until then, well, you’re stuck with me and trust me, if you ever try to convince me that my father was anything but a good man I will hit you so hard you’ll wish you died in childbirth.”
Rebecca didn’t reply.
Tina picked up the book that had been thrown at her, looked at the cover which had a really strong shirtless man on it, and said, “Wow, Scott has a lot to live up to if this is what you want in your men,” and threw the book back. “But then again he’s probably cheaper than buying a vibrator so I understand why you put up with him.”
The anger that appeared in Rebecca’s eyes was unlike anything Tina had ever seen before and for a second she wondered if she had pushed the woman too far, but then dismissed the thought. Any pain she caused her was deserved.
* * *
“Just one more, this time out by the flower garden you and Jimmy planted,” Kelly Hawthorn said; her camera once again ready.
“Mom, no,” Alan said, an apologetic look toward his date. “Please, we really have to go.”
“And they will take professional pictures of us at the dance,” Rachel Hayes said. It was one of just a handful of statements that had left her lips since her arrival ten minutes earlier. “You’ll be able to buy as many as you want.”
“But they won’t have the flower garden in them, now will they,” Kelly said and quickly ushered the couple out the front door toward the flower garden that Jimmy and Alan had slaved over in the predawn hours of Mother’s Day as a surprise.
Jimmy watched from the doorway as his mother took several more pictures of Alan and Rachel, her statements that attempted to encourage smiles making the two even more glum. Eventually she stopped and told the two to have a good time.
Though he couldn’t tell for sure, Jimmy thought he saw a look of relief spread across Alan’s face as the two headed toward Rachel’s car, one which she had insisted Alan drive since it was a Lincoln and much nicer than the car he and Jimmy had planned on driving.
Kelly Hawthorn came back into the entryway, watched for a moment as Alan opened the passenger door for Rachel, and said, “I don’t like her.”
“How come?” Jimmy asked. He noticed his tie was crooked and started to fix it in the mirror, but only managed to make it worse.
“She’s a stuck up little brat. ‘They will have professional pictures at the prom that you can buy.’ No shit Sherlock.”
Jimmy laughed.
“And she acted all superior to us, especially with all that ‘let’s take my daddy’s car because it’s nicer and more formal’ crap,” Kelly added.
“I think you just don’t like it that Alan is going to the prom with a senior even though they are only two years apart.”
Kelly didn’t reply to that and instead asked, “When are you picking up Tina?”
Jimmy looked at the clock on the wall and said, “In a few minutes.” He looked at the camera. “And no, I won’t be bringing her by for pictures.”
“Oh, come on, I promise I won’t go crazy.” She looked at the back of the camera. “Besides, I don’t even have much film left anyway so you have nothing to worry about.”
“You know Alan and I bought you that camera for Christmas,” Jimmy said. “So I know it doesn’t take film.”
“Well, the disk is almost full.”
“Nice try.” He looked at the clock again. “I better head out.”
“Okay, fine. But I want to meet her one of these days. You promise.”
“I promise.”
Jimmy gave his mother a hug.
“Have fun, but be careful.”
“I will. Love you.”
“Love you too.”
Jimmy headed out to the car.
Less than five minutes later he was pulling into Tina’s driveway, his eyes surprised to see Tina waiting for him by the front door rather than inside out of the heat.
She started toward the car.
He quickly stepped out so he could be a gentleman and open the passenger door for her.
“Jimmy, the brake!” Tina cried.
At the same time his foot was knocked out from under him as he tried to step onto the shifting pavement, and without much thought he jerked his hand toward the gear shift and threw the car into park.
Protests rang out from the engine as the car bounced to a halt.
“Whoa,” he said while standing up, his hand touching his head.
“Are you okay?” Tina asked.
“Um, yeah.” He shook his head and then rubbed his leg which had been twisted pretty badly, but wasn’t hurt. “I’ve never done that before.” He slowly started around the car. “Here, let me get the door for you.”
Tina cautiously sat herself into the car.
Jimmy closed the door and started back around, the words you stupid idiot echoing inside his head.
Neither spoke for a moment.
“You okay?” Tina asked again.
“Yeah,” Jimmy said, though his heart was racing. “I still can’t believe I did that.”
“I’ve done it before too,” she confessed. “It’s like your brain just skips a step for no reason.”
Jimmy nodded.
“Of course I didn’t get back in and stop the car.”
“Really? What’d you do?”
“Watched in horror as my dad’s car smashed two bikes and then hit the tool bench in the back of the garage.”
“Oh no.”
“It was really bad and then when my dad came outside I burst into tears.”
“Did you get in trouble?”
“No, he was just glad I didn’t get hurt and said the shock of what happened was probably enough to make it so I never made the mistake again.”
“I wonder if your mother would have been as forgiving as him had I smashed into the garage?”
“Ha, she’d try to have you thrown in jail for reckless engagement and destruction of property.”
“And they would probably convict you of being an accessory since it was mostly your fault.”
“My fault!” Tina cried. “What?”
“Well, if you weren’t so breathtakingly beautiful I wouldn’t have been distracted, and would have remembered how to drive.”
“Wow, that is . . . so unbelievably lame.”
“Yeah, well, I see you smiling over there. And believe me, it’s true. The moment I saw you standing there and saw how beautiful you were my mind went blank.”
Tina blushed. “You’re sweet.”
“I really am,” Jimmy said and then leaned over and kissed her.
“Modest too,” Tina said once the kiss was finished.
The two laughed.
“Okay, let’s hope I didn’t kill the engine by shifting it to PARK so quickly,” Jimmy said while shifting the car into REVERSE.
“Fingers crossed,” Tina said.
The car backed out of the driveway without any trouble and soon the two were heading toward the school.
“Aren’t we going by your house first?” Tina asked.
“What?”
“Alan texted me just before you got here and said your Mother wanted to take pictures of us.”
* * *
Deputy Paul Widgeon had been placed on the far corner of the parking lot, his vehicle backed into the rear at an angle so he could see everything that happened from his corner to the rear of the gymnasium where the dance was taking place. His presence there was to be a deterrent against someone grabbing a girl, but in all actuality he had a feeling he would be a bigger deterrent against teens who wanted some private ‘feel each other up and maybe start the process of bringing a new life into this world’ time. The fact that he had lost his virginity during his prom about twenty yards from where he was now sitting wasn’t lost on him and actually brought a smile to his face. Her name had been Ellie. He wondered what had happened to her. The two had broken up when he informed her he was joining the military. Apparently she had been of the opinion that turning the other cheek after September 11, 2001 was more appropriate than attacking the terrorist camps.
Was it worth it? he asked himself.
No answer arrived.
He pushed the thoughts away and once again focused on the parking lot, his mind wondering what the sheriff was doing right now.
Across the parking lot a group of young men awkwardly escorted their dates into the school, their tuxes too formal for their age and giving the impression that they were trying to pull a fast one.
* * *
The pictures didn’t really take all that long, yet were still annoying because his mother just kept insisting on different shots while also bringing up tons of different subjects in an attempt to get to know Tina, whom she had never met before. After that they then had to go inside and talk to his father because he too wanted to meet Tina. By the time it was finally over Jimmy felt like going to bed and hadn’t even arrived at the dance yet. Thankfully the idea of being there with Tina kept him from allowing the exhaustion to overwhelm him and soon the two were standing in line at the school, waiting for their tickets to be verified.
* * *
“Hey, do you remember when he rented that video a few years ago, what was that shit called?” Brett asked while sitting on the Hood’s back porch.
“I don’t remember man,” Matt said. “Something kinky though. You know I should never have told you guys about that because the f*cker almost beat the shit out of me after you guys told everyone.”
“Man, he couldn’t do shit to you,” Brett said. “The guy’s a p-ssy.”
“Didn’t he knock you on your ass the other day?” Ron asked while sipping a beer.
“Yeah,” Matt said.
“The f*cker elbowed me in gut right when a hall monitor was making me let him go. What was I supposed to do? If it wasn’t for her I would have had him shitting his pants in front of everyone.”
“Yeah, whatever,” Matt said. He took a sip from the bottle Brett had brought and winced as it scorched his throat. “Shit Brett, what is this?”
“I don’t know; something my brother had in his room. Good stuff, right?”
“No,” Matt said while reaching over for a beer from Ron who had somehow managed to get them two cases. “It’s awful.”
“You f*ckers don’t know what’s good,” Brett said and took a huge swig from the bottle. A moment later tears appeared in his eyes and he gagged.
Matt and Ron laughed.
“Man, that is awful,” Brett said. “God, give me a beer.”
“See, should’ve tasted it before bringing it over.” Matt said. His throat still burned.
“Yeah, your brother probably knew you’d take it and mixed everything strong he could find together.”
“You know, you’re probably right because he did that once to a guy on his construction crew who was stealing his Gatorade. Filled the bottle with salt water and died it blue and then just set it by his stuff so the guy would swipe it and chug it.” He popped the top on the beer and took a huge swig and sighed. “That’s better.”
“So, what’re you gonna do with the tapes?” Ron asked.
“I thought about playing them at the dance but those damn police wannabes won’t let anyone in without a ticket.”
“You gotta do something,” Ron said. “I mean, what’s the point of having them if they’re just gonna sit in your room.”
“Honestly, I really just want to beat the shit out of the motherf*cker once and for all, especially now that school’s almost out.”
“So then let’s beat the shit out of him,” Ron said.
“But he’s at the prom,” Brett whined.
“So?”
“So, that means I can’t just go there and beat the shit out of him because there are deputies everywhere who will like club me before I even lay a hand on him and then he’ll say he beat the shit out of me. Plus I don’t have a ticket so I can’t even get in.”
“Matt, don’t you have a ticket?” Ron asked.
“No,” Matt said.
“Yes you do, you bought one because you thought that chick Caroline was going to go with you, but then she totally shot you down when you asked her.” Ron mimicked a plane crashing to the earth. “Ka-boom!”
“So what?” Matt said. “I don’t see you at the dance.”
“Because prom is for pansies,” Ron said. “And I’m not gonna spend hundreds of dollars on a girl without even the promise of getting laid. No way. I’d rather drive three hours to Chicago and pay twenty bucks on a street corner.”
“Better start getting used to that trip then because that’s the only p-ssy you’re ever gonna see,” Brett said.
“F*ck you.”
Matt finished his beer, crushed the can and threw it into the woods, his mind wondering what the hell he was doing here with these two idiots.
“Anyway,” Ron said, “Matt can go tell Jimmy you’ve got his tapes and are waiting for him to come get them and then we beat the shit out of him.
“No, I beat the shit out of him,” Brett said while grabbing another beer. “I don’t want you two stealing my glory.”
“Fine, you beat the shit out of him while I film it on my phone and post it on Facebook.”
“Great idea,” Matt said. “You’ll get us all in trouble because the police will watch the video.” He then turned to Brett. “If you want to beat him up so bad you go get him.”
“Dude, didn’t you hear what I said, if I go we’ll get in a fight right then and there and the wannabe police officers will break it up before I can really give it to him.”
“Yeah don’t be such a freaking p-ssy and just go get him,” Ron said even though he really didn’t care what happened.
“Man, you guys suck,” Matt said while standing up. He started walking toward the trees.
“Where you going?” Brett asked with a laugh.
“To go get Jimmy so you can beat him up!” Matt shouted back. More like I’m getting him so he can beat you up you stupid piece of shit. Post that on Facebook.
“Don’t walk, take the car.” Brett held up the keys.
Matt gave him the finger and stepped onto the path that would take him by the school. Going to the prom to get Jimmy was stupid, but it would be even stupider if he did it in a car after drinking - especially with all the deputies keeping an eye on things.
* * *
Tina was stunned by how beautiful the gym was but then grew worried because that had been exactly what her mother said she had felt. Stop it, don’t let her ruin it. How could she not, though. It wasn’t everyday a girl found out she might have been the result of a rape.
“It’s nice, isn’t it,” Jimmy said.
His words pulled her from her thoughts.
“Yes, yes it is,” Tina said. The place had been decorated with streamers and tissue paper. A stage had been set up and a band was playing on it. One part of the gym floor was open for dancing, the other part filled with round tables and chairs. At the far end was a long table with drinks and simple snacks. She wondered how long it had taken to set everything up. Turning the gym into a nice romantic atmosphere couldn’t have been easy. “Where do we sit?”
Jimmy looked around and finally found Alan and Rachel sitting at a table. Earlier at the house Rachel had worn a shawl that covered her shoulders and cleavage, now she didn’t, the dress hardly holding her in. The two weren’t talking, just sitting, each one staring at something else.
“Over there,” Jimmy said while pointing.
“Okay,” Tina agreed.
They walked over hand in hand.
Alan saw the two and stood up. He introduced Tina to Rachel. Rachel gave a high-pitched, ditsy hello and then turned back to face the dance, each movement of her body exaggerated.
The four sat down.
Tina looked around at the gym again. People were dancing to the music. She wanted to join them.
Jimmy was just looking off into space. She nudged him and asked, “Could we dance?”
“Oh, okay.” He stood up and led her to the dance floor and then confessed, “I’ve never danced before.”
“Me either,” she said and laughed. “Just act like everyone else.” She pulled him close, her breasts pressing up against his chest.
Jimmy tried to hide his erection but couldn’t and she felt it poking her as they swayed to the music. She liked it.
For the next five minutes the two clumsily danced along the floor, both stepping on each others feet from time to time, and bumping into other couples who gave them frustrated looks. It was a sight worth watching, which is what Alan did while sitting next to Rachel.
After the dance ended the two walked off the dance floor and sat down, each with a large grin.
“That was something,” Alan said. “You call it pinball dancing?”
Tina laughed.
Jimmy gave him a look. He then turned to Tina and said, “There just wasn’t enough room out there for us, right.”
“Not enough room,” Tina agreed.
Jimmy looked down at her right foot. “Your toes okay?”
Tina laughed again. “Yeah, I think so. It’s a good thing they aren’t open shoed, or whatever the hell you call them.”
“Open toed,” Rachel said. She sounded annoyed, her words almost asking how could someone not know that?
Tina looked at Jimmy who just shrugged back.
Rachel looked at Alan and said, “Why don’t you get me something to drink.” It wasn’t a question.
“Sure.” Alan started to stand.
“Hold up a sec,” Jimmy said. He turned to Tina. “You want anything?”
“Yeah, anything’s fine.”
“Okay.” Jimmy got up and walked with Alan to the buffet setup. There weren’t many people there at the moment and the sound of the gym seemed to fade as they got closer. The two were actually able to hear each other without shouting.
“Having fun?” Alan asked.
“I really am,” Jimmy said. He took two cups and dipped them into the punch. Without realizing it he also dipped the bottom of his left cuff sleeve.
Alan did the same only without staining his sleeve. He then looked around at the crackers and cookies, but decided against trying to balance two cups and a plate. “Tina seems to be enjoying herself.”
Jimmy glanced back toward their table. “You think so?” he asked hopefully. “I really made a mess out of that dance.”
“Don’t worry, she’s having fun. I can tell.”
Tina didn’t see him looking at her. Instead her gaze was on the dance floor, waiting.
“What about you?” Jimmy asked.
The two started walking back.
“Rachel isn’t talking much. I’m not sure she really likes me the way she let on and only wanted me to take her so she could be here.” He shrugged. “You know, so she didn’t miss her senior prom.”
A second later the two returned to the table.
“Thank you,” Tina said as Jimmy handed her the drink. Then, “Oh no, what did you do?”
“What?” Jimmy asked.
“Your sleeve.” She took hold of his wrist and turned it over for him to see. Her face betrayed her determination not to laugh.
“Damn,” Jimmy said loudly, though no one could hear it because of the music. “That’s gonna cost me big time.” The tuxedo had come with a list of offenses that would result in more charges. Stains were one of them.
“Well, go to the bathroom and try washing it out,” Tina said, her voice taking on that of a concerned mother.
Jimmy eased his wrist away and sat down. “I’d rather stay here with you.” His voice had cooled. “Besides, it won’t come out.”
The song ended, along with the current dance. Tina looked at the floor and then at Jimmy. “Want to get in on the next one?” she asked.
“Sure,” Jimmy said.
* * *
Halfway to the school Matt stopped and realized that even with a ticket they probably would not let him into the dance due to his casual attire, and wondered if he should go home and change into something formal.
Thoughts of Caroline and how she had said NO to him a few weeks earlier followed. A mixture of resentment and embarrassment came next, especially since he had been unable to keep himself from tearing up as she let out a laugh, his emotions so high strung from working up the courage to ask her that they broke easily after she turned him down.
It had been one of the worst moments of his life, and afterward he had been too scared to try and ask anyone else, fearful that he would be rejected a second time.
God what if I see her there?
What if I beat the shit out of whomever she is with?
The thought would never become a reality.
The same was probably true with the idea of Brett and Jimmy going at it tonight because even if he got inside he doubted Jimmy would take the bait.
Just go home.
As appealing as the idea was, he continued toward the school so he could at least say he had tried. If they turned him away, which he was almost certain would be the case, he could tell Brett to go there himself and wait for him. If not and somehow Jimmy did take the bait, he would get to see Brett get his ass kicked - he was pretty certain of this as well - which would make it all worthwhile.
He continued toward the school, his hand ready to pull the ticket from his wallet where it had been stored next to his one and only condom, both of which he held on to just in case something unforeseen happened. Unforeseen but dreamt about often.
In the end he didn’t need the ticket, but only because Jimmy was already outside.
* * *
“You know what this reminds me of,” Tina said as the two headed down the hallway toward the door so they could get some fresh air.
“What?” Jimmy asked.
“You promise not to laugh?”
“Maybe,” he said with a smile.
She playfully punched him in the arm. “Promise.”
“Okay, I promise I won’t laugh.”
“It kind of reminds me of the Harry Potter books.”
“Um, how come?” Jimmy asked.
“Because, we are in a decorated school at night having fun yet have to be guarded by the authorities because something bad could be lurking outside.”
“Oh.”
“Okay, it’s stupid, but I can’t help it.”
“No, I know what you mean. I read the books when I was younger and I can see why it feels that way.” In his mind he wondered if that made him Lord Voldemort. “Of course, in the books the Dark Lord and whatever horrible thing that threatened the students of Hogwarts was usually already inside or found its way inside, which makes you wonder if the same is true here.”
Tina’s grip around his arm tightened. “Okay you just caused a chill to run down my spine.”
Jimmy smiled.
At the door the school official who had checked their tickets asked them where they were going. Like before a deputy stood next to him. Unlike before they both had cups of punch and the deputy also had a cookie.
“Just going outside to cool off,” Jimmy said. “It’s really warm in there.”
“Okay, but just be aware that there are dozens of deputies out there and they will be keeping an eye on you.”
“We really are just going out to get some air,” Jimmy said.
The man nodded.
The two stepped outside. “I hate it when adults do that,” Jimmy said.
“Do what?” Tina asked.
“Assume we are up to no good because we are teenagers.”
“I guess that means I’m not going to get lucky while out here, am I, and to think I made that whole story up about being hot and wanting some fresh air, all for nothing.”
“Hey, I didn’t say he was wrong,” Jimmy said quickly. “I just said I don’t like it when adults automatically assume we are up to no good.”
“Really,” Tina said. “Well then maybe we should walk a little farther from the school.”
“Maybe,” he said back and kissed her.
She returned the kiss, a small laugh escaping, and then pushed him away while saying, “I really think we should walk a little farther from the school.”
“Okay,” Jimmy said and took her hand.
A few other couples who were standing outside watched them start to walk away, knowing smiles on their faces, some of the guys thinking lucky bastard.
Together they headed down the side of the hill toward the school plaque, their direction taking them toward an unofficial walkway that went between the football field and parking lot.
“Um, Jimmy,” Tina said as they headed toward the bleachers. “Not over there.”
“How come, I don’t see any deputies over there and it’s nice and dark.”
Tina stopped walking, her hand tugging at his. “Please not over there.” The look on her face told Jimmy this was not something he wanted to argue with, though now he was curious as to what the problem was.
Don’t ask now, it might ruin the moment.
Strangely it wasn’t the hint at having a sexual moment that his mind was thinking about, but the entire prom experience.
“It’s okay, we don’t have to go over there if you don’t want too,” Jimmy said.
“Thank you,” Tina said while embracing him, her head against his chest. “Thank you so much.”
For a moment Jimmy didn’t know what to do but then simply placed his palms on her back. He could feel her heartbeat through the thin fabric of her gown. It felt wonderful.
He tightened his hold.
It was a perfect moment in time.
And then . . .
“Well, well, what do we have here?”
Jimmy lifted his head and looked at Matt. “Leave us alone.”
Matt held up his palms. “I just wanted to let you know that Brett has your bondage videos and is waiting for you at the Hood place.”
* * *
Deputy Paul Widgeon was watching a good looking girl in red lead a not so good looking young man in a black tuxedo across the soccer field, his body getting ready to follow them so he could let them know they were being watched and should stay within the school bounds - and not have sex out in the field - when he caught sight of a small guy in a leather jacket appear from between two houses on the sidewalk and step into the parking lot. Normally such a situation wouldn’t be all that unusual, but given his clothes, which weren’t adequate for the event, and his hurried pace, Paul had a feeling he was up to no good and decided to keep an eye on him. While doing this he also radioed a deputy named Carl.
“What’s up Paul?” Carl asked.
“I got a girl in a red dress leading a guy out into the soccer field on my left and a guy who looks like he is up to no good walking toward the school on my right. Can you take the couple on the left and make sure they find their way back to the school.”
“Where are they exactly?” Carl asked.
Paul looked out into the field and to his dismay saw that they had now disappeared. “They were about twenty feet into the field five seconds ago, so there is no way they could have cut across it already. I’m guessing they are laying down about thirty yards to the right of the second base.”
“Got it,” Carl said. “I’ll be over there in a jiffy.”
“Thanks.” He turned back toward the guy in the leather jacket and suddenly said, “Oh shit, I got two guys fighting near the football field. Guy in a tux just laid out a guy in a leather jacket and is beating him senseless.”
* * *
“Jimmy stop!”
Jimmy heard the words but didn’t really let them register, his mind only focused on the words ‘bondage videos’ and ‘Hood place’ while he smashed Matt’s head into the blacktop parking lot, his lips demanding to know what Brett knew and what he had told people.
“Jimmy!”
A hand touched his shoulder but he shrugged it away. At the same time he realized he wasn’t going to learn anything else from Matt, not after smashing his head so many times into the ground, and quickly headed toward his car.
* * *
Tina didn’t know what to do and just stood there in the dissipating exhaust smoke for several seconds, tears falling from her eyes. She had chased Jimmy all the way to the car after he had stopped beating the guy on the ground, pleading with him to stop, but to no avail and now he had driven away.
“Hey, you!” someone shouted in her direction.
Tina looked toward the voice and saw a town deputy standing over the guy.
“Me?” Tina asked.
Her voice barely registered yet the deputy seemed to understand what she was asking and nodded while saying, “Yes, you, come here.”
Tina obeyed.
Others came as well, most curious onlookers who had witnessed the brief fight from a distance and now wanted to see what was going on.
Several of them gasped when they arrived, the blood leaking from the guy’s ears startling them.
“This is Deputy Widgeon over at the Ashland Creek High School Prom. I need a paramedic here for a head trauma ASAP!” Deputy Widgeon turned toward Tina and said, “Who was the guy you were with and where did he go?”
Tina just shook her head.
Another deputy arrived on the scene and said, “Good god, what happened.”
“I don’t know,” Deputy Widgeon said. “One moment this guy was walking toward the school the next he was being knocked senseless by the guy that was with her.”
The second deputy turned to Tina. “What happened?”
“I - I - I don’t know,” Tina said. She wrapped herself with her arms.
“Yes you do!”
“They just started fighting.”
Voice started to mix and mingle behind her.
“Hey what’s going on?”
“Someone beat the shit out of someone!”
“Huge fight!”
Tina looked around but didn’t see a single familiar face in the growing crowd. Up near the doors of the school students were flooding out of the building as if a gunman had opened fire within, news of the fight having reached them.
“Stay with me, young man,” Deputy Widgeon said. “Help is on the way. Do you know what your name is?”
Tina was close enough to hear him say Matt, but anyone beyond her would have thought he was non-responsive.
“Okay, Matt, can you tell me what happened?”
Nothing.
“He’s in and out,” the other deputy said. He turned toward Tina. “The guy you were with, the one who did this, what was his name?”
“Um? Jimmy.”
“Jimmy what?”
“Hawthorn. Jimmy Hawthorn.”
Her voice was loud enough for a few people in the crowd behind her to hear and the next thing she knew Jimmy’s name was being said back and forth, the words ‘Jimmy Hawthorn beat the shit out someone’ bouncing from person to person until everyone had an idea that Jimmy Hawthorn was involved in something.
“And where did he go?” the deputy asked.
“I don’t know.” Tina really didn’t.
Her emotions suddenly got the better of her. First the thoughts about her father and mother under the bleachers, and then Jimmy’s comfort as he hugged her and said it was okay, and then the fight and now him driving away from her. It was too much. She couldn’t take it and sat against the car next to her crying.
* * *
Alan noticed several people racing from the gymnasium as he and Rachel walked onto the dance floor and wondered what was going on.
“. . . Jimmy Hawthorn . . .”
His head jerked toward the voice, his brother’s name being the only part of the sentence he heard and said, “What about Jimmy Hawthorn?”
The guy, who had been talking to a girl who was wearing a really risqué cocktail dress, looked at Alan and said, “Was I talking to you?”
Alan let go of Rachel’s hand and grabbed the guy by the collar and thrust him backward into a table.
The girl next to him let out a brief, “Oh my,” and stepped aside.
“If it involves my brother you better tell me what you said!”
“Hey man, sorry, chill. I was just saying Jimmy Hawthorn beat the crap out of some guy outside and then took off in his car.”
Startled, Alan asked, “Took off where?”
“How should I know? The police are everywhere though and when I was coming in I heard an ambulance.”
Alan let the guy go, who gasped while pushing himself away from the table edge, and headed toward the door.
Rachel stood and watched him go, confusion distorting her face.
Alan didn’t say a word to her as he headed outside, his body having to push himself through the crowd that had gathered at the door, several cries of excuse me and get out of my way leaving his lips.
Once outside he found himself looking down toward the parking lot. Flashing lights danced across everything as an ambulance pulled in, its siren blaring.
To the left the crowd was being pushed aside to make room for the emergency vehicle while another couple of deputies knelt by a young man lying on the ground. Next to them Alan saw Tina sitting on a car, but no Jimmy.
He hurried down toward her, his legs taking him to the right so he could detour in between the parked cars thereby making his journey much easier than if he had tried pushing through the crowd.
“Tina!” he called as he neared her. “Tina!”
Tina looked up the second time he shouted her name, saw him coming toward her, and quickly stepped between the cars to meet up with him.
“Are you okay, what happened?” Alan asked.
“Jimmy got in a fight,” Tina said. The makeup she was wearing had been streaked by tears and now was smeared as she wiped at the wetness with her arm.
“Do you know where he went?” Alan asked. He noticed she was shivering and quickly took his coat off and draped it over her shoulders.
“I don’t know,” she said, her hands hugging the warm jacket to her body.
“Tell me what happened, okay,” Alan said. “Take a deep breath first.”
Tina did what he said and told him about the guy shouting something to them while Jimmy was holding her and how Jimmy had snapped. “He just went up to the guy and punched him right in the face,” she said. “I heard the sound of him hitting him and then the guy fell to the ground and Jimmy started smashing his head into he ground.”
Good God, Alan thought. Jimmy was going to get in so much trouble even if the other guy started it, especially with this happening on school grounds.
“What exactly did the other guy say?” Alan asked. “You said he mentioned Brett?”
“Yeah.” Tina looked up for a moment and then, “He said Brett had his bondage tapes at the Hood place. I think Brett is waiting for him.”
* * *
Jimmy stopped at home before heading to the Hood place, and hurried down into his room, his mother calling to him from the family room, asking what was wrong.
“Nothing,” Jimmy called back while heading out again. “I just forgot something.”
With that he got back in the car and hurried toward the Hood place, his mind focused on one thing: Brett.
* * *
“The f*cker must’ve gotten lost,” Brett said while opening another can of beer. It was his eighth or ninth of the evening and he was feeling great. Ron hadn’t had as many but was probably feeling the same. The guy was a lightweight. One beer for him was like three for Brett.
“Probably passed out or something,” Ron said. “You know Matt doesn’t drink that often.”
“He just better do his job and get Jimmy over here,” Brett said. “After that he can go piss all over himself for all I care.”
Ron nodded.
Tires screeched to a halt.
“Shit, what was that?” Brett asked while struggling to stand, his hand guiding him up along the porch wall.
“No f*cking clue,” Ron said. He had an easier time standing up.
The two stepped out into the yard just as Jimmy came around the corner of the Hood place. The dork was still wearing his tux.
“I see you got my message shit head,” Brett said with a smile while raising his fists. He was gonna beat the f*cking shit out of him now.
Jimmy raised his right hand. “Yeah, I got the message you motherf*cker. Where are my tapes?”
“Like I’m gonna - ” Brett stopped
“F*ck man, that’s a gun,” Ron said. He started to turn toward the trees.
“Don’t you f*cking move,” Jimmy warned while pointing the gun at Ron. He looked back at Brett. “Where are my tapes?”
“I, they, I - ”
Jimmy fired.
Brett felt the impact before he even heard the gunshot and fell to the ground without a sound, his legs simply seeming to vanish beneath him. A scream followed.
“You shot him,” Ron said, eyes wide, mind suddenly sober.
“Yeah, and I’ll shoot you too if you don’t tell me where the tapes are.” He started to turn the gun toward Ron while saying this.
Ron bolted.
Jimmy aimed at the running figure and fired, but Ron kept running. He fired two more times as Ron disappeared into the woods, missing both times.
“F*ck,” he said as Ron disappeared into the trees. Word about this would spread quickly. He needed to hide Brett. If his luck held people would just assume Ron had had too much beer and hallucinated the entire thing.
Brett was writhing on the ground when Jimmy approached. The pain and sudden loss of bodily control was terrible. Nothing mattered. He just wanted it all to end.
Jimmy grabbed his leg and began dragging him. Brett screamed as his insides shifted. Piss ran down the other leg.
* * *
Alan heard the gunshot and nearly collided with Ron as he came running out of the woods to the sidewalk. Even though he didn’t know the guy personally, he recognized him as one of Brett’s buddies.
The guy did not stop to chat, and after avoiding the collision he kept running. What did that mean? Had Brett gone crazy with a gun?
Alan quickened his pace. Behind him Tina still struggled to keep up in clothes that weren’t meant for running, the two having easily walked away from the school during all the commotion.
If you shot him motherf*cker I’m going to rip your heart out, Alan shouted to himself. Exactly how he would disarm Brett was a mystery, but he would find a way. He never even considered getting shot himself.
Alan pushed himself through the woods. In the darkness it was difficult to find his way. For a moment he worried that he had made a wrong turn, but then everything opened up.
He stepped into the yard of the Hood place. Overgrown bushes and long grass made it almost impossible to see what was going on.
He looked to the left toward the street but couldn’t see anything. Once he neared the driveway of the house, however, he could make out the back of their mother’s car on the street, half of it sticking into the road where another car could easily plow into it if the driver wasn’t paying attention.
Tina came up behind him. She was out of breath and could hardly stand on her sore feet. Between sucking in deep mouthfuls of air she asked, “Was that a gunshot?”
Alan nodded.
“Does Jimmy - ” deep breath “ - own a gun?”
“No.”
There had been several shots and then nothing but silence. What did that mean? Was it all it took, or had they been fired to get Jimmy’s attention? Perhaps Jimmy had been beating the crap out of Brett so he pulled a gun to stop him, but didn’t actually shoot him. Was Brett capable of killing someone?
“I want you to wait here,” Alan said to Tina. “Go by the car or something, but stay out of sight until I yell that it’s okay. Got it?”
“Okay.”
“Good.” Alan turned and looked at the bushes. God what am I doing? he asked himself and then pushed through them rather than just walking around them, a stick instantly swiping his cheek. The cut stung like hell, yet would be nothing compared to a bullet cutting through his insides.
His hope was that he could sneak up on Brett and Jimmy and that the two wouldn’t even know he was there, that way he could tackle Brett if he had a gun.
Alan emerged into the far side yard of the Hood place slowly and looked around.
All was quiet. There were no shouts, no cries, nothing. Only Alan knew something was going on. Jimmy and Brett had to be around somewhere.
The silence chilled him.
What had Ron been running from?
Was is so bad that he didn’t want to be a part of it, or had he fled for fear of his life?
Heart thumping, Alan rounded the corner of the house. The first thing he saw was the case of beer on the steps of the porch and cans scattered across the lawn. He then looked at the shed and saw something that didn’t make any sense - light was coming up from the ground in the center.
Alan walked closer and realized that there was a trap door leading down into some sort of cellar beneath the shed. When closed one would only see the dirt floor of the shed.
A small but steep stairway led down to another open door. Light came from within. Blood marked a path on the steps. More was pooled in a puddle on the ground, some of it smeared through the doorway as if something had been left there for a second and then dragged in.
Not something, someone.
A figure passed by the doorway causing the light to flicker.
What was Brett doing to Jimmy inside?
Alan began down the steps his mind wishing he had his own gun.
He was halfway down when there was a sudden movement in front of him and a cry of, “Oh shit.” The bullet punched through Alan’s shin before the sound of the shot even reached his ears.
“Ahhhh!” Alan cried while falling down the remaining steps, both hands going to his right leg. It felt like someone had taken a red hot sledge hammer to it.
He hit the concrete with his shoulder and rolled over onto his back. Screams shattered the night and for a moment nothing but the agony mattered.
Then a dark figure was looming over him, gun in hand. He braced himself for a bullet to the head.
“Alan?” the figure asked.
The figure twisted which allowed the light to illuminate him. It was Jimmy. His older brother had shot him in the leg.
* * *
“Oh God!” Jimmy shouted. What have I done! “Alan, what are you doing here?”
He had been so focused on getting Brett into the fallout shelter and trying to set it up to look as if he had been the one who kidnapped the girls - all the details weren’t in place but he knew he could make it look good if given time - that he had forgotten to close the trapdoor.
“Jimmy,” Alan said. The word was swimming in pain. “You shot me!”
“I didn’t mean to,” Jimmy said.
Alan looked down at his leg.
Jimmy followed his gaze and could see bone within the hole.
Alan’s face went white.
“Here,” Jimmy said and quickly went to the shelf and got a blanket, his eyes glancing at the two girls and then at Brett who was silently convulsing on the floor, bright red blood bumbling up from his mouth and nose, all within Alan’s line of sight, but so far seeming to go unnoticed. He returned to Alan and handed him the blanket. “Press this against your leg.”
Alan did.
“Let me help you sit against the wall,” Jimmy said. He took his little brother by the shoulders and shifted him around so that he didn’t have to balance himself while holding his leg. “How’s that?”
“Better,” Alan said through clenched teeth.
“Alan!” a voice screamed.
Jimmy pointed the gun toward the door, but this time managed to hold his fire as Tina came down the steps, her tight floor length skirt making it difficult to maneuver down them, her blue heels held in her hand.
Jimmy lowered the gun before she could see it and said, “Tina, go back up.”
At the same moment her bare foot came down in the pool of blood.
“Jimmy?” she questioned while looking down at the ground, a gasp starting to build. “Oh Jesus Christ!” Her eyes saw Alan and then shifted toward Jimmy.
“Tina, it’s okay,” Jimmy said. He then watched as her eyes focused on something beyond his shoulders.
Outside police sirens began to echo.
* * *
“Jimmy?” Tina said quietly, fear running through her veins. “Is that Samantha King and Megan Reed?”
Jimmy followed her gaze and said, “Yeah.”
The two girls looked dead, their bodies just hanging there, toes able to touch the ground yet not even making an effort to support their weight.
Not far from their feet was Brett, head cocked toward them, mouth slightly open, eyes wide. He wasn’t moving. Blood stained his lower face and the floor beneath his mouth.
“Shit,” Alan said and then winced.
“Tina, can you help him hold his leg?” Jimmy asked.
Tina saw the blood soaking through the blanket that Alan was pressing against himself and said, “Did you shoot him?”
“It was an accident,” Jimmy said. He then looked at the gun. “It’s okay, I won’t hurt you.”
“Jimmy, why don’t you put down the gun,” Alan said.
Jimmy looked back at the girls again, and then down at Brett and then at the gun. Tina had no idea what was going through his head, or what was going on period, yet in that brief moment he seemed to decide something.
“I can’t,” Jimmy said to Alan and then to Tina, “Please help him hold his leg.”
Tina did as she was asked, her shoes dropping to the floor as she quickly bent down to press her palms against the bloody blanket.
Alan groaned.
“He needs a hospital,” Tina said.
“I know,” Jimmy said. He looked toward the doorway. The police sirens were louder. “They will be here soon.”
“Jimmy, what’s going on?” Tina asked.
Jimmy didn’t answer. Instead he looked at the gun and for a moment Tina thought he was going to shoot himself, but then someone appeared up by the door and shouted down, “This is Deputy Paul Widgeon with the Sheriff’s Department, is everything okay down there?”
A dark look came over Jimmy.
Alan must have seen it too and recognized what it meant because he suddenly shouted, “Jimmy, no!”
Tina followed his cry with, “Jimmy!”
Rather than listening to the two Jimmy pushed by them into the doorway, waited a second, and fired.
Tina screamed.
More shots erupted.
Jimmy dropped the gun and turned toward them. He took two steps into the shelter, a stunned pale look on his face.
A hand went to his chest where blood was starting to darken his exposed shirt. He then looked at Tina and Alan and said, “Sorry.”
Blood spurted from his lips with the word.
Silence somehow settled upon them despite the sirens above.
Jimmy took another step, but this time his foot didn’t hold his weight when it came down and he fell to his knees, eyes rolling back as his body settled into the corner between the doorway and stairs.
* * *
“Shot’s fired, officer down,” Deputy Lawrence Milberg said into the radio while kneeling next to Deputy Widgeon.
“I’m okay,” Deputy Widgeon said. His voice was incredibly weak, but that was to be expected given the impact he had sustained. “Just help me up.”
“No, stay down for a moment,” Lawrence said. Then, “Who’s down there?”
“I don’t know. They shot at me and I shot back. I don’t know if I hit them.”
Another deputy arrived on the scene and peeked down the trapdoor. “I got a body on the stairs!” he shouted.
“Help us!” a girl cried from within.
“Come out with your hands in the air,” the deputy replied, gun pointed down the stairs.
“Don’t shoot,” the girl said as she appeared in the doorway. Her eyes looked down at the body on the stairs “Please, we need help.”
“Is anyone else down there armed?”
“No!”
“Come on up.”
She looked down at the body again and then back at the deputy. “I-I . . . please, I can’t.”
“Larry, can you cover me?” the deputy asked. His name was Blake. Deputy Blake Bradley or BB as they sometimes called him.
Deputy Lawrence nodded and came over, gun drawn. “Go ahead.”
“I’m coming down,” Blake said. “Just stay right where you are.”
Paul watched as Blake disappeared down the stairs the words, “Sweet Jesus,” suddenly rising from within followed by, “We need several paramedics here now!”