Joshua didn’t say anything for a really long time. I stared out the window. I’d wait until he wanted to talk.
“I tried to save him,” Joshua said at last, his voice breaking.
I turned to him. I didn’t know what to say. I had never once seen my brother cry. Not even when we were little kids. I didn’t want to see the day that Joshua broke.
“What? Who?” I asked.
“Adam. I didn’t want to shoot him. But when it was clear the fight wasn’t going to end, I tried to shoot him in the arm. Just to stop him. But he panicked when he saw the gun, he moved, and I shot him in the chest instead. I tried to stop the bleeding, but he died. And I left. The police wouldn’t believe that it was an accident.”
I didn’t say anything. I didn’t know what to say. Even though Joshua hadn’t actually said why he had run into the house, I understood why he had.
“Killing yourself isn’t going to bring him back,” I said quietly.
Joshua shrugged. “I’m going to get the death penalty anyway.”
I shook my head. “No, you won’t,” I didn’t know if that was true or not. I wiped my eyes with the back of my arm. “You aren’t going to die, alright? Not on my watch. We’re going to get through this.”
Joshua smiled. “Sure.”
I stayed with Joshua all day. The police stopped by a few hours after we had gotten to the hospital. They interviewed Joshua about the night of the hockey game. They even asked him about what had happened when we were at the hockey game and I had threatened Adam. They determined that Joshua wasn’t going to try to run away, so they left us alone. When Joshua fell asleep, I went to the gift shop and bought a book. I don’t even remember what the book was about. I just picked one at random, so I’d have something to do. I guess I fell asleep, though, because the next thing I knew, someone was shaking my shoulder.
“Ma’am, you have to go now.”
I looked up. A nurse was standing in front of me. “What time is it?”
“It’s midnight. Visiting hours are over. You need to leave.”
I stood up and looked at Joshua. “When he wakes up, will you tell him that I went home?”
The nurse nodded.
I was about a fourth of the way home when someone pulled up next to me. “Hey, you need a ride?”
I ignored them and kept walking. I wasn’t about to get into a stranger’s car in the middle of the night.
“Come on, you can’t walk all the way home at this time of the night.”
I didn’t say anything.
“Chrissy, come on.”
I whipped my head toward the car. How did they know my name?
It was Shane Terse.
I walked over to the car. “Hi, Shane. Sorry, I didn’t recognize you.”
“No problem. Do you need a ride?”
I nodded. “That’d be great,” I went around the car and got in the front seat.
“What are you doing walking all by yourself right now?”
“I just left the hospital. Joshua is in there right now.”
“What? Since when?”
“This morning,” I told Shane the whole story. I told him everything that had happened in the last twenty-two hours. I left out that part about Joshua almost crying, though. Him and Shane were close, but I knew Joshua wouldn’t want me telling anyone about that.
Shane nodded, and probably sensing that I wanted to change the subject, asked, “So, you’re dating that Tyler kid, huh?”
“Yeah.”
He laughed. “You know, Jack has the biggest crush on you.”
“I know.”
“And Whitney likes Tyler. I guess you guys are all just caught up in a big love triangle, aren’t you?”
I shrugged. Then I asked, “How is Whitney?”
“She’s doing good. Are you guys ever going to be friends again?”
I shrugged again.
“I thought girls aren’t supposed to let guys come between them.”
“I wouldn’t know. I haven’t had too many friends.”
“Neither has Whitney. Maybe it’s time you two girls stopped all this bullshit and just made up.”
I nodded. I did miss Whitney. I had really fucked up that day in the school hallway. “Maybe it is,” I agreed.
When Shane dropped me off at home, he asked, “Do you need a ride back to the hospital tomorrow?”
I shook my head. “I’ll be fine. Thanks, Shane.”
I walked inside. There wasn’t a party that night, but Greg was in the kitchen playing poker with a few of his friends.
“Hey Chrissy, where’s my car?” He asked when I walked in.
“At the hospital.”
“Were you just there?”
I nodded.
“Why didn’t you drive it home?”
I rolled my eyes. “I’m fifteen, Greg. I don’t want to get caught driving when I shouldn’t be.”
“Why were you at the hospital?”
You’d think that Greg would be able to put things together and figure out that Joshua was in the hospital, but he was dumb like that. “Joshua’s in the hospital.”
“Wh-”
Greg and I were on good terms, but I didn’t have time for his shit at the moment. “Good night, Greg,” I said, stomping up the stairs to the loft.
I woke up early the next morning. I didn’t know how to get to the hospital without a car or money, so I went to the Peribat house.
No one was awake when I got there, so I sat in the living room and looked through Twitter on Tyler’s laptop. Everyone was talking about Joshua. Some people were talking about me, asking if I’d finally be sent back to ‘the L.A. ghetto’.
Then I saw a tweet from Whitney. It said: “STFU all of you. You all know Chrissy’s better than you, and it scares you all shitless.”
I had to smile at that. Maybe I’d have to give Whitney a call once I got back to Greg’s that night.
But then I began wondering, would Joshua killing Adam land me in a foster home? I was almost certain that it would, even if he did kill Adam in self-defense.
“Hey Chrissy,” I looked up. Tyler had walked into the living room.
I quickly clicked the red X at the top of the page and shut the laptop. “Hi,” I said, standing up.
“How’s Josh? We didn’t know anything until we heard about him on the news, and we couldn’t find out what hospital he was in. We would have been there if we had known.”
“He’s fine. He just has some burns. He should be fine, though.”
“Are you alright?”
I nodded. “Yeah, why wouldn’t I be?”
“Well, I know your dad died in a fire and everything, so-“
“Don’t worry,” I interrupted. “It’s all good.”
“Alright,” He said slowly. “I was just going to make breakfast. Do you want any?”
“Sure. I’ll help.”
While we were making eggs and bacon in the kitchen, Tyler asked, “So Josh is still in the hospital?”
I nodded. “For now. He’s supposed to stay for a few days, but I don’t know if he’s going to. He hates hospitals.”
“Yeah, he’s said that before. How come?”
“I don’t know. He always has.”
Just then, the front door slammed.
Kyle and Caleb came running into the kitchen.
“Where’s Josh?” Kyle yelled. “Does he know he’s famous?”
I laughed. “He’s in the hospital. He does not know he’s famous, and I don’t think he’s going to appreciate you telling him that.”
Caleb asked, “Why not? Doesn’t everyone want to be famous?”
I shook my head. “Not even close.”
“You mean you don’t want to be either?” Kyle asked.
I shook my head.
“You and your brother are freaks, then,” Caleb said.
I grinned.
“What were you doing while Joshua was playing hero?” Kyle asked me.
“My dad died in a fire,” I
said simply.
Kyle nodded. He knew that was all I was going to say about the subject. A lot of people thought that Kyle was stupid because he was failing everything except gym, but I knew that wasn’t true. He understood the things that mattered.
Jordan walked into the kitchen. “There she is!” He said when he saw me.
I gave him the side-eye. “What are you talking about?”
“We were all worried about you yesterday.”
I smiled. So, he wanted to play games. Whatever. “Yeah. Well, here I am. We’re all skipping school to see Joshua today, right guys?”
Kyle and Caleb nodded.
Tyler said, “Yeah, as soon as Cameron wakes up.”
“Don’t worry, I’m up,” Cameron said, yawning as he walked into the kitchen.
Jordan frowned. “You’re all going? Maybe I should, too.”
“Don’t worry, Jordan, I’ll tell him you said hi,” I told him, using my switchblade to clean my nails.
“Yeah, well-“
“Seriously. Don’t bother yourself,” I said without looking up at him.
“Yeah, and don’t worry. I’ll babysit these two lovebirds,” Kyle said, motioning to Tyler and me.
I swung my fist at Kyle, and he ducked. I hit Caleb instead.
Caleb turned to look at me.
“Sorry,” I squeaked.
Caleb grinned. “You hit pretty good for a girl.”
I grinned back. “For a girl? I bet I hit better than you.”
“You wanna see about that?”
“Sure, let’s go!” I said excitedly.
I lightly punched Caleb on the arm a few times.
“That’s enough. You can kick my ass. I get it.”
I laughed. “I was going easy on you.”
“Alright, I’ll see you all tonight,” Jordan said, running into the garage. A few seconds later, the garage door opened. A minute after that, it closed and Cameron watched from the front window as Jordan drove away.
“Alright, what’s going on?” I asked Cameron.
“What do you mean?” Kyle asked with a mouthful of food.
“He feels bad about the way he judged you and Josh,” Cameron told me. “Especially after Josh ran into the fire to look for anyone who needed help.”
I wasn’t about to tell anyone that Josh had been trying to kill himself. Instead, I said, “He tried to save Adam, you know. He tried to stop the bleeding.”
Everyone looked at me.
I shrugged. “Obviously it didn’t work, but that’s what happened.”
“Wow. I guess Josh isn’t as mean as we all thought,” Caleb muttered.
I didn’t say anything. All I knew was that my brother was broken, and someone was going to have to put him back together. If no one could, I might lose him forever.
Chapter 14
In Joshua’s room, he was yelling at a nurse.
“Why do I need these damn IVs anyway? Take them out!” He yelled.
“I’m sorry, sir. I can’t do that,” The nurse said. When she looked up, she saw the group of us standing in the doorway. She rolled her eyes as if to say, Great, there’s more. Then she hurried out of the room.
My friends and I walked in, passing the nurse. I watched as she left the room. “She’s just doing her job, Joshua,” I said.
He shrugged. “I just want to get out of here. So how are you guys doing?”
We all shrugged. None of us really knew what to say. Everything was so up in the air.
“Shane came by,” Joshua continued. “He said he saw the tweets about me,” He lit a joint. I imagine that he had gotten it from Shane, but I had no idea why he thought it’d be a good idea to smoke it in a hospital room with an open door. Then I realized he probably didn’t care.
We all talked for a while, until Caleb asked, “So, how’s it feel?”
“How does what feel?”
“Going from a wanted murderer to a hero?”
I elbowed Caleb in the side, but it was too late.
I saw something in Joshua’s eyes change. “Don’t call me that.”
Caleb smiled, not realizing that Joshua was serious.
I suddenly got it, though. Joshua being the tough guy was an act. It was like an armor. I don’t know. But that bad reputation? He didn’t want it to be real. And now it was.
“What? Murderer or hero?” Caleb asked.
“Get out!” Joshua yelled, sitting up.
“Woah, Josh, I was kidding, man,” Caleb said, holding his hands up.
“Get out!” He yelled again. “All of you!”
Everyone slowly filed out of the room. Everyone except me. I wasn’t about to leave him alone and give him the chance to do something stupid.
Joshua sat in bed muttering things to himself. I ignored him and read my book.
I don’t know how long it was before I noticed him staring at me. “What?” I asked.
“You could have had a better life than this.”
“What are you talking about?”
“When Mom left, she took you, Chrysanthemum. She took you and I cried so much that Dad called her and begged her to bring you back.”
“Why did she leave?”
“Because of me. I was too much for her to handle.”
“I don't remember any of this,” I told him.
He shrugged. “I didn't think you would. You were too young. But if it weren't for me, you could have had a better life.”
I smiled. “I'd rather live here and have a not perfect life, than a good life with someone who abandoned one of their kids.”
After a few hours, the nurse came by. It was the same one Joshua had been yelling at earlier.
“Good news, Joshua,” She said with a smirk as she looked at his charts. “You get to leave tonight.”
I couldn’t help but wonder who she considered that good news for. Her and the hospital employees? Joshua? All of the above?
Joshua smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “Great. The sooner I’m away from you dickwads, the better.”
The nurse just smiled as she left the room.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“I won’t be going home when I’m released,” Joshua told me.
“What? Why?” I cried.
“The police will be picking me up and taking me to jail, where I’ll stay until I’m released on bail. If I’m released on bail, anyway.”
I sat back in my chair. “Shit,” I muttered. “What can we do?”
“Nothing. It all ends here.”
I shook my head, standing up. “No, it doesn’t. We have to run.”
“What?” Joshua asked, almost sounding annoyed.
I was pacing. “We have to run. That way they can't take you away. We'll go anywhere, we just can't stay here.”
“We can't run, Chrissy.”
He wasn’t calling me Chrysanthemum, which meant he was considering my plan.
“We have to,” I said.
“Do you want to go into foster care? Because that’s what will happen if we get caught.”
“No! But that will happen if you surrender to the police.”
“I have a small, small, chance of getting bail. But it’s a chance. And it will never happen if we run and I get caught.”
“And there’s a chance, no matter how small, that we can get out of here. And if we get caught? Foster care is only for four years.”
Joshua looked at me. “Anything can happen in four years, Chrissy. Anything can happen to you.”
I laughed. “I’m not worried about me. I’m worried about you. People get killed in prison,” Joshua opened his mouth, and I continued, “And I know you don’t care, but I do. I don’t want you to die. If you don’t want to stay alive for yourself, stay alive for me.”
Joshua sighed. “Alright, alright. Let’s go.”
A few minutes later, I was sitting in the passenger seat of Greg’s car, watching Joshua run toward it.
“What did you do?” I asked even though I was sure already k
new the answer.
Joshua laughed. “The nurse who was excited for me to leave? She suddenly wanted to stay. Until I threatened a hostage situation.”
“Oh god, you didn’t.” I said.
Joshua laughed and put his gun in the center console. “I did.”
“I can’t believe the cops didn’t search you yesterday,” I muttered.
Joshua laughed, shaking his head. “Stupid pigs.”
Joshua drove to the lot faster than he had ever driven before. And that’s really saying something.
“Do you know how to check the police scanner?” Joshua asked.
I shook my head.
“There’s all kinds of apps. Just download one. Any one will do.”
As I did it, Joshua asked, “Are you sure this is what you want?”
“What else would I do?” I asked.
“I could drop you off at the Peribat’s. It’d save you from a whole lot of trouble.”
“No way, we’re in this together.”
Joshua looked at me. “I don’t know if that’s what I want to hear this time.”
I shook my head. “Don’t worry, I’m sure. No one’s going to be surprised when Crazy Criminal Scoppio runs from the cops.”
My brother smiled. “That’s what people call me?”
“No. It’s what they call me.” And that was the truth. It had been my nickname at school since the incident with Adam at the hockey game. Joshua’s nickname was One Shot Josh. People played it off like it was a compliment, but I thought it was even worse than my nickname. No, I knew it was worse.
“… Caucasian male, five foot nine, about one thirty-five, black hair, blue eyes, threatened a hostage situation with a firearm at…”
“That’s you!” I shouted.
“It’s alright, we’re pretty far away now,” Joshua said. “We’ve got some time.”
“Where are we going?” I asked.
“Utah.”
I made a face. “Why Utah?”
“Because, once we go to Utah, we’re taking a plane to Italy.”
“Why Italy?” I asked.
Joshua shrugged. “Wouldn’t you like to see Italy?”
I laughed. “Sure.”
We drove for a while before I asked, “Would Greg talk to the police if they questioned him?”
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