Souls in Peril (53 page)

“JD, I can help. You don
’
t have to live like this,” Coach said.

“I don
’
t want to end up in foster care. Please. It won
’
t happen again. I fought back this time. I actually hit him, right in the face,” JD pleaded.

Coach rubbed his forehead. “This time? How often has this happened?”

Max said nothing, because he couldn
’
t. This was all JD
’
s show now.

“Son, my wife was raised in foster care. She was adopted
at
thirteen by a wonderful family. You can
’
t let what you
’
ve heard on TV frighten you. They only report the bad homes. It makes for sensational news. There are many more good foster homes, JD.”

“But I
’
m not that lucky. I
know
what kind of home I
’
ll get. Lumpy Larry doesn
’
t get a happily ever after.” A single tear ran down his face as he lifted his shirt and turned around.

“Jeez,” muttered the coach.

“You
’
re not Lumpy Larry!” Jeff shouted. “This is ridiculous. Tell me
his
name
.
I
’
ll
talk
to him. He won
’
t ever touch you again.”

“Jeff, thank you for letting me know about JD.” He crossed the room and opened the door. “Head out to class. Coach Mather
’
s getting things started today. I
’
ll be right
there
.”

Jeff stalked pas
t
Max
,
mouthing, “We
’
ll talk later
,
” before heading out the door.

They want to help, let them. Aren
’
t you tired of running and hiding all the time? This is no way to live
,
having to always look over your shoulder. It has to end JD. You can
’
t live like this
anymore
.

“JD, I want you to go to the nurse and have her
check
your back.” Coach
stepped
over to his desk
,
filled out a hall pass for Max and handed it to him. Max didn
’
t like the feeling rising inside him as he took the pass. “I have to make a few phone calls
,
and then I
’
ll meet up with you in about ten minutes.
”

Quietly, Max opened the door. He
filed
out of the locker room, but instead of turning toward the nurse
’
s office, he turned for the
back
of the school, breaking into a run once he reached the street.
JD was still in charge.

Why
i
s he leaving the school?
Ma
x
wondered.
Where is he going?
After ten hard minutes of running, he came to Applegate Park. He sprinted up onto the running trail. In JD
’
s rush, Max tripped several times, only to get up and push himself harder. His now bloodied palms
and knees
resembled raw hamburger meat. But JD kept pushing. To where, Max still hadn
’
t a clue.

JD veer
ed
from the path and stumbl
ed
over two hundred yards
of overgrowth,
stopping only when he reached a
cement bridge. He ran under the bridge, finally coming to a stop. He slumped against the cement alcove, sucking in air. Before Max
caught
his breath, he dropped to his knees in front of a pile of abandon
ed
wood, ripping off piece after piece and carelessly tossing it aside as he worked his way into the center of the pile.

“What is it, JD? Why are we here?” Max kept digging
.
I
t
wasn
’
t
like he had a choice. JD
’
s determination trumped anything Max wanted.

The pile of wood diminished quickly under JD
’
s
frantic
efforts. Alongside a few wood chips, Max saw what JD
’
d been trying to get to. A fairly new looking lock
with a key
was
attached to a dirty, old chain. Max wrapped his bloody hand around the rusted links and pulled. Only it was stuck. He shoved the last large pieces of scrap lumber aside, discovering the other end of the chain. It was attached to a large rock by layers upon layers of duct tape. Max tugged on the chain, but it wouldn
’
t budge free. He dropped onto his butt, exhausted, hoping now maybe he could rest while trying to figure out why they were under a bridge with a . . .

The memory hit him like a fist to the gut
:
the suicide pact. Izzy had told him about JD
’
s desire to drown himself in the canal
with a rusted chain he
’
d found in a field
. That desire had sparked the pact in the first place. 

Max fought
rabidly
against JD as he started wrapping the chain around his waist. “No. NO. This is not an option. Not happening.” Only JD was in charge. He wrapped another loop around his waist.

“Listen to me. This is stupid. It doesn
’
t solve anything. You
’
re doing so much better now. You have friends, people who care about you, like Em and Jeff. And Coach. JD, Coach blew off an important practice to help you the other day.” He tried backing up, but no
go
od;
JD
’
s determination kept him right there. “Coach is right about foster homes. There are a lot of good ones. You know Dave Thomas, right? He
’
s the shortstop for the baseball team. He lives in a foster home and he really likes the people he
’
s with.”

Big mistake mentioning foster care. JD only ramped up his efforts. As the lock clicked into place, Max almost threw up.
The key fell out of the lock and dropped to the ground.
“JD! Listen to me. Think about your mother. Who
’
s going to protect her from these guys who beat her up if you
’
re not here? Think about . . .”

A dark, angry consciousness arose inside JD. An emotion he
’
d kept buried deep within his soul.

And i
t centered on
Mel
.

Why hadn
’
t she protected him from those horrible men who took pleasure in beating him all those years? He
’
d gone to her, complaining time and time again, yet she
’
d stayed with each and every one, telling him they
’
d promise not to hurt him again, but they always did. She
’
d stay with them until
they
dumped
her
. She even stayed with the creep who tried to molest him. JD had to fight that one off over and over again. To protect his mother wasn
’
t the only reason JD stopped complaining about getting beat. He stopped complaining because she wouldn
’
t
do
anything about it.
She wa
s his mother, and it
was
her job to protect him. And still she chose those men over him.

JD, with renewed anger, wanted the large duct taped rock pushed toward the canal. It weighed a ton and took a lot of
energy
to get it to move a few inches.

Good, this buys me time,
Max thought as he struggled
against
JD. “The abuse is going to end soon. You
’
ll be eighteen next May. You can move out, go to college. Come on. You can do this,” he said out loud. But the rock inched closer.

“I know you
’
re angry, and hurting, but this isn
’
t the answer. If you kill yourself, the bullies win. Is that what you want? People like Greg won
’
t even care that you
’
re dead. He
’
ll just find someone else to hurt. Your death will be for nothing.” Unheeded, he pressed the rock a few more inches.

He
glanced around. They were off the beaten path down here under the bridge,
so
there was no one for him to yell out to. Max thought harder.
Em!

“Think about Em. She needs you. She
’
s leaning on you, JD. She
’
s lost Max and now Izzy. What do you think will happen to her if you do this? Remember, she
’
s had these thoughts too. Your choice could be what pushes her over the edge
,
” Max
said in
desperation.

“JD,
please
stop! Be your own hero. Things will get better, I promise. Just hang on.
Please don
’
t give up. Don
’
t you remember what Izzy said in her letter? She said
Live on for the both of us
.
Keep going
forward for
her
. You can
’
t quit, JD.
Be your own hero
.
P
lease.
Be your own hero!
”

The pushing
finally
stopped. He slumped onto his knees as a well of emotions exploded from his chest in a heartrending, guttural cry. Overwhelming sorrow for losing Izzy, anger at his mother for not protecting him, the fear of having to go into foster care, and the years of abuse by his peers
all
poured out of him. His body
was
racked
with
physical pain. He
wept hard
, not caring if anyone heard him.

Max took over. Ignoring his exhaustion, he had to get rid of the rock. He may have stopped JD, but
the
struggled to hold on
was still tenuous
. Max pushed it back over toward the spot
where
the key
landed
, and snagg
ed
it, unlock
ing
the chain from his waist. Sitting on his butt and using his legs, he pushed the rock to the canal
’
s edge, slicing up his already tender palms even more as he braced them against the ground for leverage. Despite the pain, Max eagerly shoved the rock, along with the chain, down into the murky water. He lay on the ground staring
blankly
at the billowy white clouds, spent
;
physically, emotionally, and mentally.

Chapter 29

The sun burned high in the sky before Max had the strength to get up off the ground. He brushed off his gym clothes
. T
hey were covered in dirt. He
’
d have to wash them tonight. His hands and knees were caked in dirt and dried blood. Max didn
’
t dare go near the canal to wash them off.

He climbed back on
to the
path and out to the road, having no idea where he wanted to go. He couldn
’
t go back to s
chool
to get his street clothes
covered in blood and dirt, besides the buildings were probably locked up by now.
He didn
’
t want to head home in case Tim was still there. He
ambled
around Port Fare aimlessly for
about half an hour
before a cop car pulled up alongside him. He hoped for once he could catch a break and the cop would just go on by. But no. He picked up the pace as the cop got out of the car.

“JD.” Emma
’
s dad. “A lot of people are
searching
for you. Your mom
’
s worried sick.”

“Sorry.” He kept walking. He didn
’
t want to talk to anyone yet. He needed to figure out the next step in helping JD. He was still too fragile.