Souls in Peril (51 page)

“You won
’
t hit me anymore?”

“Yes,” Tim growled.

“Okay. I promise.” JD dry
-
heaved.

“Sit up,” Tim demanded. “Do you need me to pull over? You look like you
’
re about to throw up.”

“No, I
’
m okay.” His stomach rolled again as they entered the turn on the Widow Maker.

Tim pressed the button that controlled JD
’
s window and lowered it. “I mean it, you f—kid. You better not throw up in this car.” Tim
pushed
his head out the window as vomit sprayed out of JD
’
s mouth.

B
usy
shoving
JD
, Tim lost control of the car and it veered to the left.
He
fought to regain control and over
-
corrected. The car slid off the road, spooking a mother deer and her two
fawn
s that
grazed
in the tall grass near a ditch. They bolted across the road, directly in front of a silver sports car. JD, who
hadn
’
t
buckle
d
his seatbelt
in his nausea
,
slammed
through the windshield as their car came to a halt in a ditch. He looked back at his mom
’
s car
. T
he air bag had deployed, saving Tim.
Tim
kicked the door open and ran over to JD.

“Looks like the god
’
s are on my side, fat boy. This little accident will explain your
injuries and save my butt.” He gingerly touched the side of his face.
“
I
’
ll have to come up with a cover story for this, but that will be simple enough.
”

“Help me,” JD begged,
h
is voice nothing more than a whisper.

“No way.” Tim
smiled
. JD shut his eyes to the pain.

Max shot to his feet. JD wasn
’
t dream
ing
. He was trying to remember the accident.
And he just did.

**

Max
, soaked in
sweat
when
he got back to the house
,
immediately took a cool shower. A
long
cool shower. He pulled on a pair of jean shorts and a blue t-shirt before combing his hair. Walking by the door frame, he noted the large chunk of wood that
’
d been glued back into place, no doubt by Tim trying to cover his butt.

“Gabe pointed that out to me when I first got here.” Max shook his head. “You
’
re going to have to be a little more blunt next time, Gabe,” he said looking up.

“Knock, knock, and who
’
s Gabe?” Em stood at his screen door wearing a red shirt and his favorite gray shorts. They had the word
Taken
in bold red letters across the butt.

“Hi, Em. Come in. What are you up to?” he asked, hoping she didn
’
t press the Gabe question.

“Just wondering if you want to go for a burger at the Burger Barn. I thought maybe you were as miserable as me after the funeral and all, so why not be miserable together
?
” She shrugged.

“That sounds like a great idea. My mom works
‘
till nine
,
so I
’
d love to be lonely together.” Max locked the door and followed her to the car.

“The funeral was beautiful. It
’
s too bad it takes a tragedy to open people
’
s eyes, you know?” Em stated as they drove to the Burger Barn.

Excluding ice cream and frozen yogurt, Max had never eaten
at the restaurant
. “So what do you suggest
?
” he asked Em as they walked into the restaurant five minutes later.

“You
’
ve
seriously
never eaten
here
before?” She looked at him, stunned.

“Just ice cream and frozen yogurt. My mom jokes that fast food is
fodder of the devil
,” he laughed, following the waitress to a corner booth in the back.

“Max
’
s mom used to say the exact . . . Sorry. I didn
’
t mean to bring Max up.” Her cheeks
pinked
.

Guilt bit at him. “Em, I don
’
t mind talking about Max, just not all the time. It doesn
’
t help you.”

“I
’
m trying, JD. Honest
,
I am. It
’
s just so hard to let him go. You
’
ll see. Now that Izzy
’
s gone, you
’
ll understand,” she said, near tears. She picked up the menu, fingering it for a minute.

“My mom and dad don
’
t want me going off to college in the fall. They think I should stay around here and continue with counseling.” Squirming uncomfortably, she kept her eyes on the menu.

Max liked the idea of her sticking around. He worried about her going to school alone also. “And what do you think
?
” he asked, hoping she agreed.

“I think maybe they
’
re right. My mom would faint if she heard me say that.” Em laughed. “I talked to Mr. Roberts. He said I could work as a teacher
’
s aide for
his
journalism
classes
next year, and
he
suggested a few online
courses
that are really good I could take. It would put me a little ahead of the game next year when I d
o
go away to college.”

“It sounds like you
’
ve made up your mind.”

“I
’
m pretty sure I
’
m staying.” She turned the menu to the salads.

Max buried his relief behind his menu, glancing up as Mindy from school approached their table. Max knew mice that made more noise than her.

“Hi, JD. I
’
m really sorry to hear about Izzy. She was a real
ly
nice girl.” Her soft voice Max strain
ed
to hear her.

“Thanks, Mindy,” he said. He looked over at Em who was all smiles.

“I made this
sketch
of her for you.” She handed him a file folder.

Max took the folder and opened it. Inside was a lovely pencil sketching of Izzy, smiling, with a paintbrush in her hand. “You
’
re very talented. This looks just like her. Thank you.”

She blushed. “You
’
re welcome. I
’
ll see you around.” She walked away as quietly as she came.

“She has a major crush on you, so you know,” Em pointed out. “I saw her slipping a read heart into your locker a few days ago.”

“Really?
I wondered where that came from.
” Max grinned.
Way to go, JD
.

He ordered the Bacon Ranch Diablo burger since it was devil fodder after all. And he enjoyed every last bite, despite the heartburn he suffered two hours later while lying in bed.

Mel hadn
’
t come home. She left him a message on the answering machine that she
went
out after work again and would be back late.

He grabbed one of JD
’
s stories to read before going to sleep. He didn
’
t want to think about Izzy tonight. JD
hurt
big time
,
and Max hoped to lift his spirits by reading one of his adventures.

Chapter 2
8

“Morning, sleepy head.”
Mel ruffled Max
’
s hair as he stretched. “Time to get up. You don
’
t want to miss the bus.”

“Yeah, it
’
s a long walk to school.” Max
’
s stomach
plummeted
at the sound of Tim
’
s voice. He bolted upright, finding
Tim,
with a cocky grin
anchored to his face,
standing behind Mel.

“Why is he here?” Max demanded, making no effort to hide his anger.

“
I
s that any way to talk to your new daddy?” Tim glowered at Max. “I
’
m offended.”

“Tim! I told you I wanted to tell him.” Mel crossed her arms, pouting.

“You married him?” Max shouted incredulously.

“Not yet, fat boy, but soon.”

“Tim, I thought we agreed, no more name calling,” Mel said.

“You
’
re right. I
’
m sorry.” He bowed dramatically before turning and leaving the room.

“Mom, why?” was all Max could say.

“I love him, sweetie. We were up until five this morning working through our problems.”

“He
’
s cheating on you. That
’
s a bit more than a problem.” Max jumped out of bed and stumbled to the window.

“He
’
s assured me she
’
s just a friend. I told you that. And he
’
s promise to not see her anymore since I
’
m a . . . what did he call me?
A
jealous fish wife.
” She giggled as if he
’
d paid her a compliment. “JD, we
’
re getting married. He
’
s got an interview for a new job over at the Port Fare transit office. They pay really good. We
’
ll be able to buy a house. Isn
’
t that wonderful? No more rentals. I
’
ve never owned a house before, sweetie, never.” She
sounded
positively giddy, like a kid on Christmas morning. “It won
’
t be right away, of course. We need to get a car first. And Tim has some credit card bills that he wants to pay off before we get married, but we
’
ll get there.”

“But, mom, what about the beatings?” Max couldn
’
t believe this.

“We talked at length about that
,
too. He
’
s promised he
’
ll not hit you ever again. All the discipline will be left up to me.” She shook her head at Max
’
s sour expression. “Please give him
a chance. He feels badly about hitting you with the cord. He really does. We
’
ll be a family, JD. A real family for the first time since your dad died.”

“Mom,
we
are a real family,” Max sunk back onto the bed. “We don
’
t need him.”

“You
’
re being selfish,” she snapped. “You leave for college next year, and then I
’
ll be all alone. This is my chance at happiness. I
’
d think you would be more supportive. Maybe Timmy is right. Maybe I do coddle you too much.” She ruffled his hair again. “You
’
re going to have to learn to share me, sweetie. I have to get to work. We
’
ll talk tonight when I get home.” She started for the door. “Wait, Timmy and I are going out to celebrate, and we won
’
t be back until late. I guess it will have to keep until tomorrow.” She smiled. “Try and be happy for me, JD.”

Max watched Mel leave, too sickened to say anything more.
Is she really
so
insecure she
’
d settle for a loser like Tim?
Max ripped his shirt off and slammed it into the hamper. “The guy beats JD, and he lied about the accident, and she wants to marry him?”

The accident! Max ran to the dresser, searching for the pen. He
’
d almost tossed it out when Mel told him she and Tim were no longer together. He jerked the dresser drawer open, spilling his socks and underwear on the floor.