Souls in Peril (10 page)

Someone hit the trash bin. Max jumped.
“
Come on, let
’
s get out of here,
”
the girl said.

“
I
’
m going to figure out where that little
wuss
disappears to if it
’
s the last thing I do.
”
The car doors slammed shut and tires squealed away.

Max lay in the bin
,
unable to move.
JD
’
s
fear of being caught by Nate took every ounce of energy he had. Finally, he sat up.
“
Let
’
s get out of here.
”

Max raised the lid an inch and peered around to make sure Nate was gone. He climbed out, rubbing his pounding head.
I wish I hadn
’
t flushed those pain pills now
.  He began wiping the trash off his pants, stopping mid-swipe. He tossed his head back and groaned.

“
Please tell me this isn
’
t what I think it is.
”
He lifted his hand to his face.
“
Dog crap. Seriously, JD? You
’
d rather hid
e
in a dumpster full of dog crap than face those losers? Never again, JD. Not as long as I
’
m here.
”
Max shook o
f
f the rest of the mess from his clothes and continued home.

“
Still getting chased
,
I see.
”
A bald man stood in the doorway, his hands resting on the upper corners of the frame, blocking Max from going inside. He had a c
ocky
grin on his face.
Tim
. Max wanted to shove the guy aside so he could shower. He was tired, stinky, and his head would
n’
t stop pound
ing
. Only he couldn
’
t
,
because once again
,
JD
’
s fear swamped him. Max
wondered if
fear was the only emotion JD had.

“
Excuse me. I need to shower.
”
Max
’
s voice came out so soft even he barely heard it.

“
They
’
re after you for killing that family, huh? You should have listened to me when I told you not to take the car. You
’
re regretting it now, I
’
ll bet.
”
Confused, he looked up at
Tim, who
stepped back and waved Max in.
“
Yup. You should have listened to
Tim
,
and none of this would have happened.
”
He tucked his hands in his armpits and slouched against the door.
“
You still don
’
t
remember the accident?
”

Max nodded, dropping his shoulders. Another confrontation
;
not what he needed right now.

“
I
’
ll bet you
’
re lying. I
’
ll bet the guilt is eating you alive.
”
The twisted smiled dropped from
Tim
’
s face.
“
Go shower. You
’
re making me sick.
”
Max
’
s
heart beat increase
d
,
and decided he
’
d better get away from
Tim
, fast.

He grabbed some clean clothes and went directly into the bathroom.
He stood in the shower, letting the water cascade down his weary body, glad the day was almost over. He
’
d been in all of three minutes when
Tim
pounded on the bathroom door.

“
You got one minute left,
fat boy
. You know the rules. You only get five minutes. You
’
re not throwing my money down the drain.
”

Five minutes? Max washed his hair and used the shampoo from his head to wash his body in an effort to save some time.

After maybe thirty seconds,
Tim
beat on the door again.
“
Get out,
fat boy
, now. Don
’
t make me come in there,
”
he bellowed.

Max turned the water off slowly so he
’
d have enough time to rinse the shampoo off. He hurried and dried himself just in case
Tim
had some time limit for using a towel. He put on some clean jeans and a yellow tee shirt. Combing his brown hair, Max quietly muttered
,
“
We
’re not
in Kanas anymore
.
”
How he missed his parents and his old life.

He went
straight
to his bedroom. To
o
w
ound-
up after the dumpster incident, and with nothing better to do, Max relented and pulled out his homework. Anything to avoid being around
Tim
. JD
’
s courses were easier than the ones he
’
d been taking
, c
onsequently his homework took him all of thirty minutes. He heard Mel come home as he lay on the bed shooting an imaginary basketball into an imaginary hoop. He jumped up to greet her.

“
Hi, mom,
”
Max said
,
relieving her of the fast food bags in her hand.

“
Hi, sweetie.
”
She gave him a kiss on the forehead.
“
How was school?
”

“
Fine,
”
he lied. He got the impression JD didn
’
t usually share what happen
ed
to him at school with his mom.

“
Are you hungry?
”
She spread out two paper plates on the table, along with the fast food: fried chicken and mashed potatoes. From the looks of the potatoes, Max guessed they were instant, not real. She placed a large chicken breast covered in
a
crunchy topping on his plate and a huge scoop of faux potatoes. The way Max
fel
t
, he didn
’
t think he could eat it all.

“
Where
’
s
Tim
?
”
he asked, hoping she
’
d say
he
’
d
taken a header off a cliff
and they
’
d never have to see him again.

“
Poker night, remember? He plays every Tuesday and Friday.
”
She bit into a leg, moaning.
“
I just love this chicken. Eat up, sweetie.
”

Max thought of his own mother. They rarely ate out, and when they did it was usually a place that served grilled
,
not fried
,
foods. Max was sure he never had fried chicken in his life. But technically, his life was over, so what did he have to lose? He bit down
o
n the crunch
y
white meat and fell in love. The flavor exploded in his mouth. He ate the entire piece in two minutes.

“
That
’
s my boy,
”
she smiled, placing another large piece on his plate. He gave it a gallant effort, but he couldn
’
t finish the second piece
,
so he wrapped it up for his lunch tomorrow.

“
I need to do some laundry.
”
He
’
d not seen a washer or dryer. He hoped his mother would give him a hint as to where she kept it.

“
Remember
,
we don
’
t have a car, sweetie, so you
’
ll have to walk to the
L
aundr
o
mat. I
’
m sorry.
”

She cleaned up the leftovers as Max gathered up his dirty clothes, including his gym clothes, and shoved everything into a pillow case. He set the full bag down on the chair in the kitchen. The only
Laundromat
he knew of was Suds City, a good forty
-
five minutes away.
“
What time does Suds City close?
”

“
They
’
re open twenty four hours, you know that.
”
Mel
eyes narrowed on him.
“
Maybe you should wait until tomorrow.
”

“
Mom, I have nothing to wear, I have to go.
”
She nodded and searched her purse for some money, handing him a five dollar bill.
“
Be careful,
”
she said as he left.

Max forgot to figure in the condition of JD
’
s body when he estimated the time it would take to get to Suds City. Between the extra weight of the clothes on his back, and the near exhaustion of
his body, it took almost an hour. He washed and dried the clothes, losing three quarters in the dilapidated machines. He didn
’
t get back until ten–thirty.

He came home to an empty house
, finding
a note taped to the fridge:
Went out with some of the girls from work. See you in the morning
,
L
ove mom.

Max was too ti
r
ed to care. He put his clothes away, placing his clean gym clothes in his backpack and flopped down on the bed fully dressed. He rolled over and looked up at the brown water stains on the ceiling.
“
One day. All of this was just one day.
”
It felt as if he
’
d lived a week in that one day. It felt like a lifetime since he
’
d seen Emma. He fell asleep immediately.

Chapter 7

“
W
ake up or you
’
ll miss the bus.
”
Max rolled over, trying to focus on the voice that called out to him. It didn
’
t sound like his mother, yet who else would be in his room telling him to wake up? And why did they think he needed to take
the
bus when his perfectly good
Ford F-150
sat in the driveway. Of course, he
’
d rather it
’
d be a
newer model
, but at least he had
transportation
.

“
Get up,
fat boy
, or you
’
ll be
hoofing it
to school.
”
A harsh gruff voice spoke this time. The name
fat boy
hit Max like a wrecking ball as he remembered where, and
who,
he was.

He dragged himself to the bathroom, hurrying as he stepped into the shower. Five minutes on the nose he shut off the water, toweled off, and got dressed. Thankfully
,
JD didn
’
t need to shave very often
,
so that saved him some time.

His mother handed him two Pop-Tarts and a packet of Twinkies as he came out of the bathroom.
“
No time for breakfast, sweetie.
”
She shoved a brown paper bag into his backpack for lunch.
“
Hurry.
”
She kissed his cheek and opened the door. Max jogged to the corner as the bus pulled up.

“
I didn
’
t think you were going to make it.
”
Izzy grabbed his arm and pulled Max toward the bus. Only then did he notice his heart rate jump.
Hello, fear, my new constant companion.
How anyone could function with this much turmoil going on inside baffled Max.