Souls in Peril (15 page)

“
Why? You trying to build up those puny muscles so you can beat the crap out of
me
someday, fat boy?
”
Tim
bit out.

Max hadn
’
t thought of that, but he liked the
evil one
’
s
thinking.
“
I want to lose some weight and get in better shape.
”
JD, calm down. Please, stop shaking.

“
You
’
re a liar.
”
Tim
ripped the cans from Max
’
s hands
and
,
going into the kitchen, he opened the
m,
pour
ing
the juice
down the sink.
“
Nice try, fat boy.
”
He tossed the empty cans into the trash.

Tim
’
s
moxie surprised Max. After their little confrontation, he half expected him to be more cautious.
Tim
stomped out of the room.

As soon as he heard the shower start, Max grabbed a kitchen chair.
“
There
’
s
more than one way to skin a cat
.
”
Max created an upper body routine using the chair. He hit every muscle in the arms, shoulders, and upper back. It was even more intense than the cans. JD begged for mercy.

“
Push through the pain, JD. Push through the pain.
”
Max did one more rep of three of each exercise, encouraging
him
with each one. When he heard the shower shut off, fifteen minutes later Max noted, he slipped the kitchen chair under the table and dropped onto the couch just as the bathroom door opened.

Tim
stepped out, dressed in a
tan
pair of Dockers and a button down shirt.  No doubt the blond he
’
d seen picking
Tim
up the past few days
would
be coming
to get him.
The creep
definitely
cheat
ed
on
Mel
.

Max wanted to confront
him
about it, but
he
couldn
’
t say a word no matter how hard he tried. Frustrated, Max folded his arms over his chest and glared at
Tim
instead. If looks could kill,
Tim would
be a dead man.

“
I suggest you stop staring at me, fat boy, and get the kitchen clean.
”

Max slowly dragged himself to the sink and began loading the dishwasher, all the while forcing JD
’
s fears back. He didn
’
t settle down till
Tim
drove away with his little blond friend fifteen minutes later.

Max put JD
’
s body through another half an hour of weight training
,
completely exhaust
ing him
.
“
Don
’
t give up. Reach inside yourself and find the strength you didn
’
t know you had. It
’
s hard now, but it will get easier, I promise. Just don
’
t give up.
”
He repeated his pep talk three more times before finishing. And with
Tim
gone
, he rewarded himself with a
long
refreshing
shower afterwards.

**

“
Hey, JD
.
”
Izzy stood in the doorway, waving to Max.

“
Hi, Izzy. Come in. Where
’
ve you been?
”
Max noted how
badly
she looked. Her complexion was
pale
and waxy. She reminded him of one the many corpses from a movie he and his buddy Leo watched a few weeks ago.

Leo. Max hadn
’
t seen him yet. Man, he missed him. He too was in the band with
Emma,
and Max wondered how he
’
d done at the competition.

“
I was in the
hospital,
again
. I
’
m so sick of that place. I
’
m not going to miss it, not for one second.
”
She looked at him and smiled.
“
Soon, JD, soon.
”

“
Izzy—
”

“
Yes, I know, you don
’
t want to talk about it. Okay, fine. So how was school the rest of the week? Did Nate figure out your hiding place yet?
”

“
No, not yet. Why were you in the hospital?
”
Max sat down next to her. She threw her leg over his and settled her head back against the couch. Max
’
s heart warmed.
JD cared for Izzy, not in a romantic way, but
a
friendship, a
strong
friendship.

“
JD, I do believe you left part of you
r brain back on the Widow Maker
.
”
As soon as she said the name, Max remembered. That was where the accident
happened
.
His dad had just turned on talk radio and Max daydream
ed
about Emma. It
seemed like a life
time ago.
The locals had called the treacherous curve the Widow Maker long before he was born. Max himself knew of three people who
’
d lost their lives on the curve.
Six now.

“
Okay.
”
Izzy
sat up.
“
I was in the hospital because I have Crohn
s disease. Almost everything I eat makes me crap my guts out or throw up. I take steroids to help it, but they
’
re not working for some reason, which is why I
’
m also taking the Percs to kill the pain. Any of this ringing a bell with you?
”

He nodded. His aunt had the disease. She had to be very careful about what she ate because almost everything made her sick. That would explain why Izzy was so skinny, and why she took pills all the time. He
’
d seen his aunt in the middle of an attack once. The pain was incredible.
“
I remember, sorry.
”

She settled back down.
“
So, is your mom still dating that scumbag?
”

“
Tim
? Yeah. I wish she
’
d
dump him. I think he
’
s cheating on her.
”
He got up and went into the kitchen for
some water
. After
a
workout
like that
, hydration was a must. Izzy followed.

“
Of course, he
’
s cheating on her. They all do. What do you expect when she
’
ll only date the
losers
?
”
Izzy
took
a glass and poured herself
some water also
.

“
Water, JD. Seriously? I thought you hated water,
”
she teased.

Max smiled.
“
Head injury, it
’
s messing with me. What can I say?
”
Soda and working out were a no-no. Coach drilled that into the team daily during the season.

He
bent over and
set his empty glass in the
dishwasher
, when
he felt
Izzy
tug on his shirt.
“
Oh my gosh, JD. This guy
’
s sick.
”
She glared at the ugly red welts on his back.

“
You
’
re telling me.
”
Max turned and
pulled
his shirt back down.

“
I think he
’
s worse than the last guy she dated. I just don
’
t get why you don
’
t tell her how they beat you.
”
Izzy shook her head.

“
I don
’
t know. I guess I
’
m afraid he
’
ll hurt her if she confronts him. This guy
’
s one sick creepo.
”

“
Is he worse than my dad?
”
s
he asked
.
H
er gaze fell to the floor for which Max was grateful, otherwise she would
’
ve seen his mouth drop open.

“
I-I don
’
t—
”

“
You know the rules, fat boy. No one in the house unless an adult
’
s here, not that this ugly little stick would be much of a temptation.
”
Tim
entered the kitchen with a small sack from the Burger Bar
n
in his hand. He looked at Izzy and laughed.

“
Be qui
et
,
Tim
,
”
Max said, escorting Izzy out of the room by her arm.

“
You know what, fat boy? I don
’
t like this little attitude you
’
ve developed. You better watch your mouth.
”

Refusing
to let JD get upset
,
he walked
Izzy outside.
“
I
’
m going to head home. My dad
’
s on a date so he won
’
t be
back
till the morning. You can come over if you want. Maybe we can rent a movie or something.
”
She held
out
her left
index finger
again.
“
Oh, and
I
’
m glad to see you
’
re finally wearing your contacts. They look good.”

Max
smiled,
hook
ing
his
finger
around
hers
. Again in unison they said,
“
Keep to the code,
”
with one hard shake
,
and she left. He went back inside and straight to his room, pulling out JD
’
s notebooks. He chose
the titled
The Princess Emma
and settled on the bed to read. He figured since JD spent the morning working out with him, the least he could do was spend some time doing what JD enjoyed. Plus he wanted to get to know him a little better and this seemed the perfect way to do that.

Later,
Tim
forbade him to
go to
Izzy
’
s. Instead
,
he spent the rest of
the evening cleaning the house
under the direction of
Tim,
who spent the evening on the phone talking to someone named Merissa. Undoubtedly the bleached blond, judging from the crude exchanges Max overheard.

Tim
left ten minutes before Mel was due home, only she called to say she would be late. Max finished up the last of his homework and went to bed. He hadn
’
t slept well last night, and after pushing JD
’
s body to the limit all day, he was exhausted.

The next morning
,
he woke to the smell of bacon. He jumped out of bed and quietly went into the kitchen in case it was
Tim
cooking.

He saw Mel, her hair pulled into a tight bun on top of her head, feverishly turning bacon in a skillet. The t-shirt and shorts she wore both had seen better days.