County Line Road

by Marie Etzler

  “We’ll give you a ride,” Allison said.

  “No,” she said. “I got a ride. I gotta’ go.” She grabbed some more paper towels and threw the bloody ones away and turned to leave. She stopped and looked back at Allison. “Thanks.”

  Then Jeanie was gone.

  Meanwhile, Jimmy went in the men’s room while Double A waited in the hall. As Jimmy zipped up his jeans, a hand landed on his shoulder and spun him around.

  It was Rich.

  “What the hell?” Jimmy said When he saw Rich, he was relieved. “Where have you been?” Jimmy thought Rich looked high. The guy next to him too. Jimmy didn’t recognize him at first then he remembered he was Tim McBride, the guy with the Z28 Camaro.

  “I gotta’ talk to you,” Jimmy said. “Linda is on the warpath.”

  “Again? To hell with her,” Rich said. “When you gonna’ learn?”

  “This is different,” Jimmy said. He whispered to Rich, “She said she put a steroid in my food.”

  “I’ll get a masking agent for that,” Rich said.

  Then Dion came out of a stall.

  “Jimmy!” Dion said when he saw him. “You were right. Your brother is good for something.” Dion reached in his pocket and shook a bottle of pills in Jimmy’s face.

  “What is that?” Jimmy said and grabbed the bottle from him. The label read a type of steroid.

  “Don’t take that shit,” Jimmy said. “Who sold this to you?”

  “What difference does it make to you?” McBride said, getting in Jimmy’s face.

  Rich put a hand up as if he was about to negotiate. “I got this one, Tim.”

  “Stay out of our business, Jimmy,” Rich said. “Just turn around and walk out of here.”

  “You sold this to him?!” Jimmy threw the bottle across the room.

  Dion chased after it desperately.

  “He’s on my team! I’m competing against him!”

  Rich’s expression changed as he realized what he’d done.

  “You’re losing against me now,” Dion said, holding the bottle up. “Nothing you can do about it either.”

  “I’ll turn you in,” Jimmy said.

  “You won’t get that chance,” McBride said. He got up close to Jimmy and pulled a gun out of his jacket pocket and showed it to him. “Do like your brother said, and walk away.”

  “I can’t believe you did this,” Jimmy said.

  “I didn’t know, Jimmy,” Rich said.

  “Did Linda steal these? She’s going to turn you in,” Jimmy said. “Both of us.”

  Rich turned to Dion. “Give me that bottle.”

  “No way,” Dion said and tried to leave.

  Rich grabbed him, and they started to fight.

  Jimmy jumped in and grabbed Dion. Rich kicked Dion’s legs, and Dion sank to the ground.

  Rich grabbed the bottle of pills from Dion and tucked it in his pocket.

  “Get out of here, kid,” Rich said to Dion.

  Dion ran for the door, shouting, “I’ll get those back!” He left.

  “Bodine! What the hell are you doing?” McBride yelled. “You gonna’ start get personal about customers? This is business, my business.”

  Rich spun on McBride and hit him square across the face.

  The swing caught McBride off guard and almost knocked him over.

  “Here’s your fucking money,” Rich threw some bills at McBride. “Nobody messes with my brother.”

  McBride was stunned, but he recovered quickly and became dangerous. He grabbed Rich by the shoulders and kneed him in the stomach.

  Rich doubled over, coughing.

  A switch went off in Jimmy’s brain, and he tackled McBride, sending him against the back wall.

  The bathroom cleared out fast. A guy started yelling, “Fight! Fight!”, which drew a crowd.

  Double A got pushed around in the crowd and swept away out the door.

  Allison had just arrived near the door, and they ducked against the wall to avoid getting knocked over by the guys trying to see the fight. They held the door open and cheered.

  “What’s going on?” Allison said. “Where’s Jimmy?”

  “There’s a fight,” Double A said. “He’s in there.” He pointed just as Jimmy and Rich scrambled out the bathroom door.

  McBride was on their heels.

  “Go! Go” Rich yelled at Jimmy. Rich got swamped by the crowd.

  Allison saw McBride’s hand clamp down on Jimmy’s shoulder and take him to the ground. He disappeared from her view like someone pulled underwater by a shark.

  Two security guards passed her, heading for the bathroom.

  Somebody in the crowd yelled, “Security’s coming!”

  McBride turned to look. He shoved Jimmy into the wall.

  “I’ll find you, and your brother,” McBride said. He slipped away through the crowd.

  Jimmy made his way to Allison and Double A.

  “Who was that?” Allison said. “What happened?”

  “We gotta’ get out of here,” Jimmy said. “Where is Ritchie?”

  “He went that way,” Double A said, pointing.

  They poured out of the exit into the parking lot already busy with cars kicking up dust and crawling forward to the exits.

  They scrambled into Double A’s car, and Double A drove around the back of the Sportatorium to a less crowded exit. Jimmy wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth with his T-shirt.

  “There he is!” Jimmy pointed to Rich who was on his Kawasaki, cutting around the line of cars.

  Just then Jimmy saw McBride driving his Z28 Camaro right toward Rich.

  CHAPTER 23

  “Ritchie!” Jimmy yelled. “Get out of here!”

  Rich swerved on his bike, and McBride slammed on the brakes to avoid hitting another car. Horns blared and people yelled. Rich took off, out the gate and down the road. McBride followed him.

  “Let’s go!” Jimmy said.

  Jimmy and Allison were thrown around as Double A cut around cars and made his way past the last entrance where people still poured out of the concert and away from the crowd. Jimmy gripped the dashboard and Allison was holding her breath and the seat. Double A stomped on the accelerator and charged out of the parking lot.

  “My car’s faster than his,” Double A said. “We’ll catch them.”

  He jammed the pedal to the floor and pushed the engine for all it was worth. The engine and tires responded with precision and power.

  They charged down County Line Road, out past the last street light to where the pavement ended and the road turned to dirt. The dirt road narrowed, and canals lined each side of the road.

  Jimmy looked out the windows, but dust obscured his view. “Where did they go?”

  Suddenly Rich zoomed up alongside the 442, almost giving everyone inside a heart attack.

  Jimmy started yelling to Rich, but Rich couldn’t hear him. Rich pointed up ahead and waved to tell them to follow him. Rich lifted the shield of his helmet.

  “Go north, I’ll lead him south,” Rich said. Just then the Z28 appeared out of the dust and sandwiched Rich between the two cars.

  Rich tried to accelerate out of the wedge, but McBride cut the wheel hard and clipped Rich’s back tire. The Kawasaki wobbled but Rich got it under control, accelerated fast and escaped.

  “Damn it!” Double A yelled. “He almost killed Rich and hit my car!”

  They approached the highway, US 27, a dark road used mostly by truckers hauling cargo to and from Miami. The intersection was dark. Only one blinking light hung overhead, casting an eerie flash like a warning.

  Rich headed for the right lane.

  “What is he doing?” Jimmy screamed. “That’s not south!”

  Double A slowed down as he approached the turn. The Z28 raced around them and cut a hard right turn to follow Rich.

  At the last second, Rich turned at a police cross-over to make a u-turn, letting the Z28 zoom past him. Rich accelerated again and headed off south. The Z28 skidded and
turned around to follow him again but got slowed down in the dirt.

  Jimmy saw a cloud of dust kick up like a tornado. It swirled around the car and motorcycle until Jimmy could not see them.

  “Where are they?”

  He and Double A and Allison peered out the window. Suddenly Rich zipped past them, going the opposite direction.

  “There!” Double A said and turned his car around.

  “He’s heading back down County Line Road!” Jimmy said.

  “It’s too crowded,” Double A said. “He’ll get in an accident.”

  “No way,” Jimmy said. “He’ll make it. He’ll slip in and out and lose McBride.”

  The Z28 appeared in the rear view mirror. “Here he comes,” Double A said.

  Double A swerved to the left and the right on the road, blocking McBride every time he tried to pass.

  “Slow down too,” Jimmy said.

  Then they heard a loud bang.

  “What was that?” Double A said. He checked the gauges on his dashboard to see if any indicators came on but nothing showed.

  “He’s got a gun!” Allison yelled, eyes wide.

  Double A stepped on the gas and accelerated so hard, Jimmy and Allison were thrown back against the seat. The Cutlass 442 charged forward and the Z28 headlights got smaller in the rear window.

  They approached the lights of the auditorium and traffic ahead. Double A had to slam on the brakes. They came to a skidding stop that kicked up a cloud of dust.

  Jimmy could see Rich weaving his way through cars ahead.

  McBride stopped behind them. He jumped out of his car and came for them on foot.

  Jimmy opened the door and grabbed Allison’s hand to run, but McBride grabbed him by the shirt.

  McBride wrenched Jimmy from the car and grabbed his arm. He forced Jimmy up on the roof of the Cutlass, climbing up and dragging Jimmy as he went. His boot heels dented the trunk. “Get up there!” McBride pointed the gun at him.

  Double A was too stunned to speak. Other people ducked down in their cars or ran.

  Jimmy climbed up, McBride shoving him the whole time. Jimmy almost lost his footing and slipped. McBride climbed up while still holding onto Jimmy. He tucked his gun away and held Jimmy by his arm. He was squeezing so hard, Jimmy thought his arm would pop off.

  “There he is,” McBride said.

  Just then, Rich turned his head to look back. He stopped.

  McBride pulled out his gun, pointed it at Jimmy, and waved Rich back with it. Then he rested the gun against Jimmy’s head.

  Jimmy could feel the metal barrel bang against his head. It made him stand very straight.

  Rich turned his bike around and worked his way back to the Cutlass.

  It felt to Jimmy like it took an hour for his brother to get there.

  He took off his helmet and said to McBride, “Let him go. This is between you and me.”

  “I’m negotiating this one,” McBride said to him.

  “Come on,” Rich said. He got off the bike. “Let’s go, you and me. Out of here. Someone will call the cops. They probably already did. Look around.”

  The people in the car ahead of them saw the gun. They scrambled out of their car and ran, the girls screaming. That kicked off a chain reaction. Other people started screaming.

  “The cops are probably on their way already,” Rich said.

  “Then I better finish you off so you won’t talk,” McBride said.

  He aimed the gun at Rich.

  Just as Jimmy felt the barrel slide off his skull, he elbowed McBride.

  But it wasn’t fast enough.

  McBride pulled the trigger.

  Jimmy saw Rich stagger back.

  McBride slipped and dragged Jimmy with him.

  The last thing Jimmy heard and felt was his head crack against the pavement as he hit the ground.

  Everything went dark and quiet.

  CHAPTER 24

  Jimmy heard clattering sounds, muffled voices and felt himself being jostled around. He could hear but not see yet. As his vision cleared up, he saw the red Emergency sign as the paramedics wheeled him into ER on a stretcher.

  He lifted his head and saw another stretcher being pushed through the doors ahead of him. He wondered if it was Rich, but he couldn’t see. A blinding pain shot through him when he moved, so he tried to stay very still.

  As they moved him through the ER doors into a bay, he saw Rich in the next bed. A curtain separated them. Jimmy could hear the nurses and the doctor calling out medical terms.

  A nurse kept saying, “What is your name? Can you hear me?”

  It sounded like a TV show to him.

  Jimmy said aloud to the curtain, “Rich, his name is Rich.”

  The nurse leaned around the curtain and said, “What did you say?” It was Corrine, Linda’s co-worker.

  Jimmy pointed in the direction of the voices. “My brother. His name is Rich.”

  Corrine told the other nurse and Jimmy heard her using his name as she tried to get him to respond.

  Rich was silent.

  The fact that Rich did not respond began to make its way into Jimmy’s fuzzy brain as he laid there, staring up at the bright lights on the ceiling. He tried to filter out all the other noises so he could hear when Rich replied.

  The staff bustled around him, moving in well-established routines. He heard a baby cry and a mother try to soothe it by hushing him, but it was in Spanish and Jimmy didn’t understand what she said. Not that he was capable of comprehending much. Jimmy rolled his head to look around him. An elderly man sat in a chair pulled close to a woman under blankets in the bed across from him. They were silent.

  Then he heard Linda’s voice in the bay next to him.

  “Oh, my God!” Linda said. “That’s my stepson. Rich! Can you hear me?”

  “Linda, you shouldn’t be in here,” Corrine said to her.

  Linda didn’t listen but began patting Rich, feeling his legs and trying to get to the rest of him.

  “Stop!” The other nurse said and grabbed her.

  “We’re doing everything we can for both of them,” the nurse said.

  “Both? Jimmy’s here?” Linda seemed confused. She whipped the curtain aside and saw Jimmy in the next bed.

  As she rushed to him, her sweater caught on Rich’s bed frame and snagged. The pocket ripped open and pills spilled out of her sweater and rolled all over the floor.

  “What the —,” the nurse said. She scooped up a handful and recognized them right away. “These are from our pharmacy. Is that where you got these?”

  Linda scrambled to gather the pills, crawling around on the floor on her hands and knees, stuffing the pills in her pockets.

  “Linda, get up,” Corinne said.

  “What are you doing with steroids?” the other nurse continued. “Are you selling these? To who? Answer me!”

  “I’m not telling you anything!” Linda screamed at her.

  “Linda!” The head nurse rushed in. “What are you doing?” The nurse quickly grasped what was going on and reached for the phone on the wall. “Security! Get down to ER trauma room 1 stat!”

  “Don’t move,” she said to Linda. She grabbed Linda by the arm.

  Linda looked up, wild eyed, pills in her hands, her hair hanging in her face. She looked down at the pills in her hands and up at Rich on the table. Fear contorted her face and a cry came from her that made the staff stop for a moment.

  The nurse was the first to move and grabbed Linda up off the floor and shoved her out, practically dragging her down the hall to an office where she pushed Linda inside.

  The security guard arrived and the nurse pointed to the office. “Arrest her, for stealing pills from the hospital. I have a patient to help.”

  She ran back to Rich where the staff was cutting his shirt off.

  Jimmy heard a doctor say to prep Rich for surgery.

  As if in a dream, Jimmy watched his stepmother get handcuffed and taken away and his brother rolled down the hall
to the operating room. He laid there like a man who could not speak. The look on his face was one of someone from another land thrust into a strange country full of crazy people.

  He realized a nurse was talking to him. “Your brother’s going into surgery. We’ll call your father.”

  CHAPTER 25

  Jimmy shook out his legs and arms as he stood at the start line. He bounced on his toes, enjoying the feel of his new running shoes.

  Directly at the side of the track were the stands. The university stadium was lined with banners that displayed the Clemson colors and mascot. Students and other families were crowded into the stands, but Jimmy could see Allison, his father, his mother and Rich in the front row. Rich’s bandages showed from under the sleeve of his t-shirt, something Jimmy knew Rich showed off on purpose. His family stood side by side, waiting for the race to begin, but Jimmy knew he’d already won. Linda admitted everything, and his dad actually admitted it to Jimmy. It was the first time Jimmy felt that his father made him feel important.

  He crouched into position at the start line and looked at his competitors to the left and right of him. He touched his fingers to the track. His trademark smile came across his face as the guy next to him looked over at Jimmy. Jimmy’s favorite Lynyrd Skynrd song began to play in his head and he grinned at the guy, saying with his smile, Ain’t no way you gonna’ win this one. Man, senior year is gonna’ be great.

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Marie Etzler lives in Florida with her husband and two dogs. She has been writing since the third grade. Her first publication was in Seventeen Magazine. She is currently working on a screenplay. Her blog is http://metzler.wordpress.com