Souls in Peril (43 page)

“Izzy, this is beautiful.”

She blushed
, tucking a strand of
blond
hair behind her ear.
“Thanks. It
’
s not quite done. I need to work on the sky a little. I remember it being much bluer that day.” She caressed the edge of the painting.

“This is from a memory, I take it.”

“Yes. Every summer when we were little, we
’
d go down to
Virginia Beach
for summer vacation. Kelley and I looked forward to the trips. We
’
d count down the days, and plan out our sand fortresses. We were all so happy back then. My parents snuggled on the beach
while
Kelley and I pretended to be surfers with our Styrofoam inner tubes.” She laughed, allowing her fingers to trace the mother in the painting. “Two years later, they were sleeping in separate rooms and barely speaking to each other.” She sighed, turning
away
from the painting.

“Izzy, you have a gift. What about college? Have you thought about going after you graduate?”

She stomped her foot. “JD! You know I have. Yale
.
W
e
’
ve talked about it.”

“Yale. Yes, that
’
s right. Have you applied? I can
’
t remember.” He scrunched his eyes, hoping she didn
’
t get mad.

“No. Have you applied to Columbia yet?” she snapped back. Columbia University. He remembered seeing the application in JD
’
s box.

“No, but I will tonight,” he said firmly.

“I
’
ve heard you say that before
.”

Maybe, but this time it will get done.

She stepped over to another canvas that lay rolled up in the corner. It was smaller,
about
sixteen by twenty. She set it on
the small
drawing table Max hadn
’
t noticed before. “I want to show you something. It
’
s my favorite painting so far.” She fingered the rolled up canvas for a moment.

“JD, do you remember the summer I turned eleven? I got that digital camera for my birthday and we rode our bikes to the canal. You saw that field of dandelions and I started taking pictures left and right.” Max tried to imagine the scene in his mind. Two best friends, laughing in the sun, snapping pictures of weeds. He smiled.

She pulled out a photograph and handed it to him. “Remember this one I took of us?” The photo was of
Izzy and
JD
laying
back
in a field of yellow dandelions, sunburned noses and bright clear smiles. The innocent looks on their faces as they giggled into the camera awed him. It was before their world turned dark and pain took over their expressions. As he stared at the photo, she unrolled the canvas. Izzy had recreated the picture, perfectly, down to the innocent eyes.

Max teared up. Life had been so unfair to these two. He wanted to grab them both and take them far away from all the ugliness surrounding them.

“JD.” Izzy stepped close
to him and rested her forehead on his. “Why do you always cry when I show you my work? These are happy paintings.”

“It
’
s just that things are so different now,” he said, staring at the painting.

“Yes. Painful and miserable.” She clenched her jaw
, stepping back
. “Are you one hundred percent certain about canceling the pact?”

“Yes,” he said firmly. “And you need to be, too. Things are already getting better, Izzy. We
’
ve made new friends—”

“JD, you got the crap beat out of you,” she pointed out.

“And Jeff
Morgan
stepped in and saved my life,” he rebutted.

“Those are your friends, not mine.” She rolled up the pain
t
ing and carefully placed it in the corner.

“
We
’
ve been over this.
They
’
re
our
friends. You need to reach out to them and trust them. Just today when I visited Em, she asked about you. And she said when she felt better the two of you could compare war wounds.”

“She did
?
R
eally?”
A smile brightened Izzy’s face.

“Yes. Now, where are the pills? I think we should get rid of them, in case one of us has a bad day and tries to do something stupid.” He held out his hand and waited.

Reluctantly, Izzy opened the lower drawer of her drawing table and dug through a small stack of paper. She tugged
out
a plastic bag filled with yellow, oval-shaped pills, fingering them through the plastic for
a
moment before handing the bag to Max.

“Let
’
s flush these.” He stepped toward the bathroom.

“No. You
’
re not supposed to flush them. You
’
re supposed to cover them in something gross and toss them out.”

“Like what?”

“Coffee grounds, for one.” She took the bag and went downstairs. Max followed.

“My dad made
up a
pot
of his specialty brew
before he left.” She pulled out a tray near the top of the coffee maker and dumped the damp grounds into the bag of Percocet
’
s.
“He grinds the beans himself. He
’
ll spend all kinds of money on gourmet coffee beans, but
I
’
ll
get an hour long lecture about the cost of gas when I need to use the car to go to the store for tampons.”
She zipped the bag shut and worked the grounds all around the pills.

“That is
a
disgusting
mess
.” Max grimaced.

“Which
is
exactly the point.” She opened the trash compactor and dumped the bag inside and pushed the button. “Goodbye.” She waved to the pills. “You know I suffered needlessly with pain for two months to save those up, right?”

He held out his index finger. With a crooked grin, she
looped
hers around his. “Keep to the code,” they said in unison.

Chapter 2
4

Max spent his entire Saturday cleaning.
Spring cleaning
, according to Tim. Before leaving for work, he
’
d made a list of chores for Max and told him they better be done if he valued his large backside. It wasn
’
t
un
til Tim drove away with the blond that he remembered
about
the pen
again
.
The dreams had gotten old. Every night. Over and over. He knew why he
’
d forgotten to give the stupid pen to Tim. With the tug of war for his time between visiting Em and visiting Izzy, he barely had time for homework. Why JD kept obsessing over the stupid thing anyway was beyond
him
.

Max
’
s arms throbbed by the time he finished scrubbing the bathroom grout with an old toothbrush. His mother had always had him used bleach to clean their grout. It worked great
,
and he didn
’
t have to scrub. But Mel didn
’
t have bleach. Max had to use baking soda and a toothbrush to beat back the mold.

“I
’
m telling Mel to buy bleach,” he grumbled, rinsing the last of the baking soda off the shower walls. He checked off the shower from the list, glaring at the final task. “Seriously? Dust the tops of the door frames?”

Max grabbed a rag and wiped off all four doorframes. He tossed the rag in the short pile of dirty clothes, grateful
that
Mel had done the laundry last night. Max had no doubt that Tim would have had him hauling it down to the Laundromat today.

He didn
’
t finish the ridiculous list until eight-thirty
that evening
. He called Izzy and talked to her for a bit. Her dad came home yesterday
.

“Is he bothering you at all?” Max opened his math book and sat down at the table.

“He hasn
’
t been home long enough
,
really. Besides, I already told you, since he started dating Wanda, all
’
s good. I think he
’
s going to ask her to marry him. I
’
ll soon have a stepmother who
’
s almost my age. Maybe we can have pajama parties together,” she giggled.

“There
’
s a thought,” Max said dryly.

“I
’
ll be in school on Monday, I think. My dad wants me to get
back in the saddle
. He
’
s such a dork. I told him no one ever says that anymore. He just got mad
and
stomped out of my room. Mature stock I come from.”

“I
’
ll try and come over tomorrow, if Tim doesn
’
t have another list for me.”

After he spoke with Izzy, he called Em. She
’
d improved a lot over the past
few days, much to Max
’
s relief, though she didn
’
t like having to miss the semifinal game. They won. Max only got to see the first three innings, choosing to stay with Em so she wouldn
’
t be alone while everyone else watched the game.

She answered
the phone
on the first ring.
“Hi, Em.”

“Hey, JD. I thought you were coming by today. Getting bored with me?”

Not even in a million years, Em.
“No. My mom
’
s boyfriend decided I should be a grunt today. I
’
ve cleaned the house from top to bottom. It looks pretty amazing, if I do say so,” Max bragged.

“I
’
m sure it does,” Em agreed. “I have some good news. The doctors are sending me home tomorrow.”

“So soon?” Max didn
’
t like that idea
at all
.

“I
’
ll probably
only
stay
half
the
day at school
Monday
. But midterms are coming up
,
and I need to get back to my studies
.”

Max wanted to argue the fact that her life was a tad more important than midterms, but he held his tongue. “Can I come by the house and see you tomorrow?”

“Yes. Please do. I
’
m supposed to be home by noon,” she said.

“Okay, noon it is. See you tomorrow.”

Max filled out the college application for JD and mailed it off before
finish
ing his homework,
free
ing himself
for the entire day
tomorrow
.
Between
visiting both
Izzy and Emma, he
’
d be busy again. He
’
d also be riding a pink bike.

The next morning
,
Tim made him mow the grass and edge the yard. With his mom being home, Tim treated
him
somewhat better, at least when she was within earshot.

“Tim promises to be more patient with you, JD. He really wants to make things good for us, so please, try your best,” she said as he put the edger back in the shed.

Max almost told her about the blond, but Tim
strutt
ed out
,
interrupting their conversation. “You have a phone call, Mel. It
’
s the Rose Garden. They want you to come in this afternoon. I think you should take it. We need the money.”

“Mom, you
’
ve already put in over sixty hours this week. Tell them no.”

“Keep out of this, fa—JD.” Tim glared at him.

Just as Max suspected. Tim had no intention of being patient with JD. He told Mel what she wanted to hear. Max wanted to point out that if Tim were so worried about money, then why did he work only twenty seven hours this week
?
Instead
,
he headed for the house to get a cool drink and take a shower before he went to see his friends.