“What do the rest of us do?” Bucky wanted to know.
Chief Norris came over and put a hand on his shoulder. “This is kind of unusual,” he observed. “I’ll tell what we’d really like for you to do.”
“Sure.”
“My advice is for you and the young ladies to just return right home. I don’t know what kind of outing you were on, but your best bet is to head straight back to Hampton Beach right now. Take the van and go.”
“But what about Jonathan?”
The officer nodded. “Like I said, his father’s on his way. However things turn out, he can return home with him once bail’s set and so forth. If it goes that far.” He sat down next to the youth. “But really, for the sake of the proceedings here, I think it would be best for you to return to Hampton immediately and check in with the P.D. there before going home. I’ve already indicated to them that we’ll try to have the three of you there by 10:00 this evening.”
Bucky swallowed hard. “We’re not still in . . . any kind of trouble, are we?”
“Oh, no,” Chief Norris assured. “But we need to follow a correct procedure here, and the three of you were technically involved in some very serious infractions. Until it all gets pleaded out, as we say, we need to have you follow the letter of the law. But with what your people down at Hampton have shared with me, I can promise you there’s not going to be any problem.”
Despite the overwhelming feeling of relief, an undefined sense of unfulfilled responsibility bothered Bucky. An image of Jonathan, seated alone in a bare holding room, tugged at him. “Do you mind if I ask you a question?”
“Not at all.”
Bucky shifted in his seat. “I really don’t feel very good about leaving Jonathan here by himself. I mean, I know he messed up and everything. But I’m still his friend. Would it be all right to wait here with him until his dad came?” The words ended on a hopeful note.
The police chief appeared nonplussed by the suggestion. “Do you mean it? You’d really stick around to help him out after all this?” He gave a little humph. “I mean, he was halfway willing to paste the whole thing on you. By not answering our questions. At least that’s how I look at it.”
With a wince Bucky realized that something inside him screamed to just get away from it all and head home with the girls. He fought back the temptation. “He’s just scared,” he murmured. “He panicked and just lost his head. But he’s really not a bad guy.”
“That may be.” Chief Norris gave a little shrug. “But this is still a pretty serious lineup of violations here. Evading lawful authority isn’t ever taken lightly in this town.” He drummed a pencil on his desk for a moment. “Well, Stone, from what the boys down at Hampton Beach told me, I should have expected something like this from you.” After glancing down at a gold wristwatch, he said, “Mr. Shultz probably won’t get in here until 7:00 or 8:00 tonight. That’d have you getting home at 3:00 or so in the morning. We can’t do that.”
“I really hate to leave him here all by himself,” he repeated. “We could go home first thing in the morning.”
After a moment of reflection, the officer nodded. “OK, Stone, if that’s the way you want it. I’ll call down there and tell them what’s happening. I’ll still want you to check in there as soon as you get in tomorrow afternoon. Just so things are by the book, like I said.”
Chapter Thirteen: Just the Three of Us
Jonathan listened dully as Bucky explained to him all that had transpired. “So I’m a cooked goose, sounds like,” he said without bitterness.
“It’s not as bad as that,” Bucky pointed out. “Your dad is on his way to help work it all out. And we’re going to stay right here until he comes.”
An unfamiliar though fleeting expression of gratitude crossed the older student’s face. “I guess I ought to thank you,” he muttered. “Instead of screaming at you for, you know, just telling the cops what happened.”
“Aaaah, don’t worry about it,” Bucky asserted. “The girls and I will stay right here until your dad comes, and then head home tomorrow. And you can ride back with your dad.”
Jonathan nodded wearily. “Guess I won’t be driving for a long time.”
Bucky nodded. “Hey, I figure it’s just a lesson all of us had to learn.” He leaned closer to his friend. “I just feel bad that you’re kind of the one who has to carry the bulk of it. I mean that.”
Jonathan looked at his friend. “Sorry it turned out like this. I mean, missing the games and now sittin’ here for hours and everything.”
“Forget it,” Bucky reminded him. “We’re friends.” He forced a grin. “It’s still you and me against Tracy the Genius in chem lab.”
The long April afternoon passed slowly. Tracy and Jill, informed of the outcome, stayed with the two boys for a while before deciding to hike over to a nearby mall to pass the time. Bucky called his father back to let him know what had happened, then, anxiously monitoring the contents of his wallet, brought some Del Taco food in for himself and Jonathan. They ate slowly, trying to make the time go by.
It was just past sundown when Mr. Shultz finally walked into the front door of the Eugene police station. A big man, he bore some resemblance to his stocky son as he looked around and finally spotted the four students.
He glanced briefly at the others before addressing Jonathan. “Guess you got in a fix, boy.” His son nodded without speaking.
“So what’s happening here?”
Officer Shelton, himself showing signs of weariness after a long Friday in uniform, walked over and explained the situation. “Bucky, here, and the girls, wanted to stay with Jonathan until you arrived. They’ll be heading home first thing in the morning, I guess.”
“What about us?” Mr. Shultz appeared to be unmoved by the fact that his son’s friends had remained with Jonathan.
“Well, we’re willing to release Jonathan into your supervision,” the officer observed. “We do have traffic court on Saturdays, but it runs just from ten to noon, so we’ll need for both of you to be here for that.”
“That’s it?”
“For now, I think so.” The policeman turned to Bucky and the two girls. “The three of you are all set? You know about checking in down at Hampton when you get home?”
Bucky nodded.
“OK, then. You kids can head out. We have just a little bit of paperwork to do here with Mr. Shultz.” He looked at Bucky a moment, then said softly, “You did your friend a real favor by staying.”
With Jonathan’s keys in his pocket, Bucky went over and shook goodbye with him. “Hang in there, man. I’ll be praying for you.”
Fatigue in his eyes, the boy nodded. “Thanks, Stone. You really . . .” He didn’t finish the sentence.
With Tracy in the passenger seat, Bucky carefully drove the maroon van over to the same motel where they had spent the previous evening. Again borrowing cash from the two girls, he paid for two rooms and sank down into the quiet solitude of his own bed with a sigh of weary relief.
The evening shadows casting the room in a murky darkness reminded him of home. He thought of Mom and Rachel Marie back in Hampton Beach and their pleasant Friday evening worships by the fireplace with quiet praise music on their CD player.
There was a knock on the door. “Yeah, come in.” He stirred on the bed.
Tracy and Jill entered with a big carton in their hands. “Pizza girls,” Tracy announced with a giggle.
“Are you kidding?” Bucky had almost forgotten how hungry he was. The aroma from the box was overpowering.
“Somebody has to look after our knight in shining armor,” Tracy grinned. She plopped down on the bed next to him. “Cheese, tomato, olives – the works.”
He shot her a grateful grin as he pulled a piece free, murmured a silent prayer, and took a big bite. “Man, this is gonna save my life.”
“Well, we figured after the kind of day we had, we deserved a treat,” Jill added, taking a nibble of her own slice.
The next half hour
was a welcome change from the previous thirty hours as they ate and talked. Both girls had a thoughtful side, Bucky noticed, as they spoke sympathetically about Jonathan’s dilemma.
It was Jill who finally stretched and yawned. “I’m pooped, you guys.”
“Yeah.” Bucky picked up the pizza wrappings and stuffed them into the motel room’s trash can. “Plus we got a long drive home tomorrow.”
The dark - haired girl climbed to her feet. “Come on, Tracy. Let’s go to bed.”
Tracy, still reclining on the guest bed with a nearly empty cup of Pepsi, didn’t move. “Go ahead,” she said. “I’ll be over in a little bit.”
Jill glanced over at Bucky with a grin. “Well, OK.” She opened the door while fumbling in the pocket to her jeans. “I guess I have the key. Boy, it’s nice out here.”
The redhead, wearing a little strawberry - red shirt and white shorts, looked over at Bucky. “Just you and two Hampton Beach beauty queens,” she grinned.
“Yeah.” He shifted nervously from his perch on the other bed. The girl’s presence in his motel room gave him an odd tingle. “You want to . . . go for a walk or anything?”
“I don’t feel like it,’’ she murmured, looking up at him.
“I know, but . . .” His voice suddenly felt awkward. “Maybe we should anyway.”
“How come?” She gave him a quizzical look.
Bucky looked directly at her, trying to think of a reasonable answer. “I just . . . well, it’s only you and me in here.”
“I won’t attack you.”
“I know.” He climbed to his feet. “But it doesn’t look right.”
“Oh, who cares?” She stayed right where she was.
Picking up the motel room key, he sat back down on the chair next to the bed where Tracy was reclining. “I guess I care what people think of you,” he said at last. “And I care what I think of you.”
She gave him a little smile that brought dimples to her cheeks. “What do you think of me?” Her eyes had an expectant sparkle to them.
As he answered he pulled on a jacket. “Come on for a walk, and I’ll tell you.” He forced a grin.
Outside the Oregon air was comfortably cool as they walked down the quiet street. Tracy, her hands thrust into her jacket pockets, said nothing for nearly a block.
It was Bucky who broke the silence. Fumbling at first, but with a growing confidence, he told her of his decision the night before. “Being a Christian is the number one thing in my life,” he said, looking directly at her. “And I’ve already found out the hard way that for me to go out with someone who isn’t interested in it too . . . just doesn’t work at all. It ends up not being fair to her.” There. It was out.
She seemed to accept his explanation. “But who said I wasn’t interested in it?” she put in.
“Are you?”
A pause. “Not really,” she conceded. “At least I’ve never been before.”
Bucky didn’t say anything. The silence between them was not uncomfortable. He sensed that she had already suspected his faith might be a difficulty.
Quietly they walked back to the motel. Despite the upheaval of the aborted trip, Bucky felt a quiet sense of peace. In finding the strength to openly speak about his faith to Tracy, had he turned some kind of corner?
They arrived back at the girls’ room. “I guess I’ll see you guys in the morning,” Bucky said.
She looked up at him, trying not to smile as they both became aware of the seventeen-inch height gap between them. “See, it would never have worked anyway,” he said softly.
For a moment Tracy didn’t answer as she gazed into his eyes. Then without warning she reached up and tugged on his shoulder. Without meaning to, he bent over just a bit. Standing on her tiptoes, she gave him a kiss that lingered for several seconds.
“Think about that,” she murmured, turning away and slipping the key into the knob of her room. And then she was gone.
Chapter Fourteen: Endings and Beginnings
Bucky was just climbing into bed when he realized he hadn’t called Lisa back. Trying not to think about Tracy’s kiss, he fished out his cell phone and dialed the familiar number up in Seattle.
The sound of a man’s voice on the other end made Bucky start. “This is Bucky Stone. Is Lisa there?”
Her father didn’t say anything. It was nearly a minute before Lisa came on the line. “Hey, mister.”
“How are you doing?”
“OK.” She gave a nervous little laugh. “Are you in the state pen or what?”
He explained what had happened and apologized for the trip being cut short. “I really wish I could see you,” he confessed, “but they want us to head right home and check in down there.”
Lisa sighed. “I kind of figured things were going to get all screwed up,” she admitted, a trace of frustration in her voice. “But I guess we should be glad you’re not in any kind of trouble.”
“Well, listen,” he responded. “I know you’re weary of hearing it, but I really am going to get up there to see you. Soon, I mean.”
“I’ll be waiting right here, babe.”
Bucky drifted off to sleep thinking to himself that, despite all that had happened, there was still something amazingly special about Lisa.
The next morning it was a sober trio that pulled out of the motel’s small parking lot in the Chevy van. Bucky did the driving, and the hours rolled by quietly on 1-5 without the usual wails of heavy rock music.
“Sorry you missed all those A’s games,” Tracy said softly to him as they took a brief pit stop just before reaching the California border.
He nodded, sharing some of his soda with her. “No big deal. There’s plenty of baseball back home.” He thought for a moment about the Panthers and the remaining schedule of games with Dan.
Tracy’s eyes were thoughtful as she looked over at him. In the back, Jill, who had the entire seat to herself, was engrossed in a novel.
“I thought a lot about, you know, last night.”
Bucky couldn’t help but smile. “Yeah. Me too.”
She ran her fingers through her curly hair. “You mind if I ask you something?”
“What?”
For a moment the redhead seemed almost unsure of herself. “Well, it’s just . . . you’re probably the nicest guy I know at school. I mean, with this cop business and everything. I don’t know of anybody else who has the . . .” She tried to think of the right word “Integrity, I guess. You just have a lot of class. Staying up there to help Jonathan out and all that.”
His heart did a little flip - flip, but he managed to force a smile. “Hey, please go on. Tell me more.”
The girl looked directly at him. “Well, on the one hand you’re a great guy. And on the other hand, you’re a . . . major born-again type. And I guess I just don’t know how to put it all together.” Tracy paused. “And how to get what I want.” She said the last without blushing.
As he hesitated, he had for really the first time in his life a sense of discussing important issues with another person his age. He looked over at her.
“I guess it’s possible,” he said slowly, “for someone to be nice . . . and kind and honest and all that – without being a Christian. But for me the two go together. It’s being a Christian – Christ in me – that makes me what I am.” He changed lanes before looking over at her again. “Whether that’s good or not, I guess is up to somebody like you.”
“But how does it work?” She leaned closer to him, her slight form restrained by the seatbelt. “I don’t know of anybody except for you who really has being a Christian work for them.”
A road sign flashed by: “Welcome to California!” He pointed at it with a grin before answering. “I guess you just decide that God and Jesus come before everything else,” he explained. “‘Jesus paid it all, and all to him I owe.’ You know? So you choose to follow Jesus wherever he leads. In your friendships, in how you live and treat people – everything.”
The miles rolled by as
the conversation continued. Tracy, despite her sometimes flippant personality, had a deep spiritual hunger that showed in the thoughtful questions she raised. At one point he threw up both hands with a laugh, pretending to let the van swerve for just a moment.
“Boy, when somebody as smart as you gets around to asking the right questions, I have to run and get my Bible. You’re too much.” He gave her an approving grin, trying in vain to cope with the growing affection he felt for her.
It was late afternoon before they pulled up at the familiar police department in Hampton Beach. Several officers Bucky recognized from last semester’s point - shaving scam gathered around to hear about the episode in Eugene. A scant twenty minutes after arriving, Bucky and the girls wheeled out and headed for home.
“I guess I’ll see you in school Monday,” he told Tracy as he helped carry her tote bag to the Givenchys’ front door.
“I keep feeling like this is Sunday already,” she said with a little pout.
“Yeah, me too.”
At the front door they paused. “Bucky, I . . .” Again the redhead had a momentary lapse in poise. “It’s been interesting.” A laugh. “I guess that’s what they always say after an adventure.”
He nodded.
“I can’t think of anybody else I could have talked about things like this with,” she added, putting a hand on his arm. “Thanks.”
Bucky got home just as the sun dipped below the horizon. “Boy, I’m glad I don’t have busted up weekends like this one very often,” he murmured as he sprawled by the familiar fireplace in the living room.
His mother reached over and gave his hair an affectionate mussing. “I’m glad you’re home, honey.”
• • • • •
The remaining weeks of school fell into place in rapid succession. Jonathan, back to school for Monday’s chem lab, reluctantly shared the news that his license had been suspended for three years. “Plus $400,” he grumbled.
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