Souls in Peril (13 page)

“
Thank you, Max.
”
Gabe snapped his fingers and disappeared.

“
Can you teach me how to do that?
”
he
said to the ceiling.

Chapter 8

Max dug out the contact
s
and put them in first thing. “Much better,” he smiled.
He
then
wandered around the house, trying to come up with a way to help JD. After
puttering
in circles for twenty minutes, he went outside, needing something new to look at.

The heavy burden JD carried still seemed overwhelming and hopeless most of the time, but Max had to admit being up and searching his mind seemed to help, a little anyway. He tipped his head back and squinted at the sky.
He smiled at the
brilliant blue, a rarity in Port Fare. Gray was the dominant color most of the year. Max
inhaled
a lung
-
full of the late spring air, hoping to clear his head, and relishing the fact that it was
a
dry
air
and not humid for once.

“
Perfect day for running,
”
he said to himself. Then an idea hit. Whenever
he
felt the pressures of life getting to him, he went to the gym and buried himself in a hard, sweaty workout. JD needed to sweat. Plus, if Max could help him lose the last of the extra weight he carried around, the kids
would have nothing more to tease him about. Wasn
’
t getting JD in shape his plan all along? Max c
ouldn
’
t believe he
’
d forgotten.
He
could almost hear JD groan.
“
Trust me, buddy. This will work.
”

He ran back to the bedroom and dug through JD
’
s dresser hoping to find some shorts. He did, wadded up in the back of the bottom drawer. He tugged the wrinkled up mess on and went into the bathroom.
“
I
’
m going to show you a trick,
”
he said to JD
’
s reflection
in the mirror
,
“
but don
’
t let your mother see it because she
’
ll have a fit.
”
At least my mom always did
.

A
twinge of sadness
tugged at Max as he
remembered
his parents. He missed them so much. Max shook his head.
“
I can
’
t deal with my pain and JD
’
s at the same time. Stay focused.
”
He took a washcloth and saturated it. He twisted some
of
the water out, but still left it quite damp. He then rubbed the wet cloth over his shorts.

“
This is what I call the High School Boy
’
s Iron. Now that the shorts are damp, my body heat will dry them and the wrinkles will fall out, all without using an iron. Easy, huh?
”
Max laughed, feeling a little self-conscious talking to himself.
His
mom would
come unglued
if she knew
he
’
d
taught that
trick to JD
.
She was
all about
proper
.

The past three days had been so dark it felt good to laugh again. Max could feel JD brighten infinitesimally. He
did
n
’
t fight
the
idea of exercise, and Max took that as a positive sign he was on the right track.

He dug around for running shoes and found none.
“
I guess we
’
ll use the tennies you wear to school.
”
Max remembered them being in poor shape, but having no other choice
,
he put them on. He opened the front door, stopping as fear flooded him again, so much so he began shaking.

“
JD, stop. I won
’
t push you too hard. We
’
ll start out slow, I promise.
”
Max forced himself out the door one step at a time.
JD, come on. We
’
ll do this together
.

Max stepped down the first step, only the shaking grew worse. Max
went
back inside and dropped onto the couch. Frustration ate at him. How was he supposed to help JD if he couldn
’
t stop the fear from taking over?

After several minutes, the clock chimed four and it all clicked. If Max had left when he wanted to he
’
d have run into Greg, or worse, Nate.

Max
dropped
his
head down
.
“
JD, I
’
m sorry, buddy. I forgot.
”
Just acknowledging JD
’
s fear
seemed to
drop the anxiety level. He went into the kitchen and ate a couple pieces of bread while he waited for time to pass.
“
Carb loading is a good idea before a hard workout, not that this will be too hard,
”
he assured JD.
“
Of course, it would be better if we used whole wheat bread, but beggars can
’
t be choosers.
”
Half an hour later, Max head
ed
to Applegate Park.

He
stretched out his legs, giving step
-
by
-
step instructions to JD. He instructed him on how to stretch out his back and oblique muscles also. He went over to the jogging trails and began running at a slow pace.

Memories of Emma inundated Max. This was the park he and Emma used to run in all the time. Passing
the
large oak tree, Max remembered her standing under it when he first kissed her.

He thought about the hours he and Emma spent tossing the ball to h
is
hyper, black Lab, Belle.
He chuckled at the memory.
The dog would get so tired her tongue almost dragged the ground, and yet she still wanted to play.
The dog died a year later
,
and Em cried for days.
When he approached the playground, Max glanced over at the middle swing. It was where he stood when he first told Emma he loved her. Tears filled his eyes.

He
’
d gotten so lost in his thoughts he forgot to slow down for JD. He bent over and dropped his hands to his knees, struggling to catch his breath.
“
Sor . . . ry . . .
”
he panted.

“
JD, are you alright?
”

Max
’
s knees gave out at the sound of her voice.
His
Emma. He
’
d know the sound of it anywhere. He looked up at her. She stood in front of him dressed in her blue running shorts and a white t-shirt. Her pretty blond hair was tied up in a ponytail. Max leapt to his feet and threw his arms around her.

“
Em,
”
he said, holding her tight. He inhaled her scent. A new flood of memories hit him. Strong, gut-wrenching emotions. Anger because he
’
d been robbed of the chance to grow old with Em. Sorrow because once his assignment with JD was over, he
’
d never see her again
.
N
ever hear her laugh
. O
r see her smile
. N
ever kiss her again.

“
Um, JD,
what
’
s the matter
?
”
She tugged away.

Realizing what he
’
d done, Max stepped back.
“
I—I just wanted to say I
’
m really sorry about what happened to Max and his family. I feel terrible.
”
He took another step back, giving her more space.
“
And I wasn
’
t high, I swear,
”
he added. Max
sounded
like a broken record, he
’
d said it so many times in the past few days.

“
I know,
”
she said sadly.
“
My dad told me this afternoon when I got home from band competition.
”

Max could have slapped himself. How had he forgotten about her competition this week in New York City?
“
How did you do?
”
he asked, longing to hold her again.

“
Good. I placed second.
”

“
Second
’
s good.
”

“
Yes,
”
she laughed.
“
It
’
s better than third.
”

Max
smiled.
“
I
’
ll bet you were the best flutist there. The judges were probably paid off by whoever won.
”

“
I don
’
t know about that, but thanks,
”
she said modestly.
“
How did you know I played the flute?
”
Max stammered, not knowing how to answer that.

“
Oh, wait. You probably saw it in the school paper yesterday,
”
she said.

“Yeah.”

“Did you get contacts?” He nodded, amazed she noticed. “I like them.”

“Thanks.”

“
Well, I
’
d better get going.
”
Em
turned and ran up the trail leaving Max standing there.
Alone.

“
JD! Why didn
’
t you pay better attention that night? Why?
”
Max lashed out. He shoved his hands through his hair.
“
This isn
’
t fair. Do you hear me, Gabe? This isn
’
t fair! Why am I paying for your mistake?
”
he shouted to the heavens.

A couple running past gave him a
wide birth
at his rant. Max didn
’
t care. Anger, frustration and complete exhaustion having to deal with JD
’
s fears had pushed him to the edge. He started jogging home, pushing JD
’
s body hard. He reached the front door of the small green house dripping in sweat and completely exhausted. Shoving
it
open roughly, Max stepped inside. The evil one was there to greet him.

“
You
’
d better be more careful, fat boy, or I
’
m going to have to teach you another lesson.
”
Tim
’
s hand patted his belt.

Max exploded.
“
You ever touch me again
,
I
’
m reporting you to the cops.
”

Tim
walked up to him and shoved him back a few steps. Max
pressed
right back,
pushing
his face into
Tim
’
s.
He glared into
Tim
’
s weak
,
watery eyes
,
add
ing
,
“
And I
’
ll tell them everything, and I mean everything
. Go
t it?
”
There were enough marks on JD
’
s body
,
he
knew
Tim
would be in serious trouble.

“
Wh-what do you mean everything?
”
he stuttered while struggling to
move away
.
“
I thought you lost your memory.
”