“But there is nothing through there but forest and soy fields, man,” the first voice said, one which Jimmy now knew belonged to Matt.
“And the school,” the other voice said, this one belonging to Ron. “You can get there through there.”
Matt and Ron were Brett’s little sidekicks and had pretty much been by his side since the fourth grade when all three shared a class, one that Jimmy had unfortunately shared with them as well. As single identities the two couldn’t inspire fear in anyone, especially Matt who was about five three when walking with good posture. Alongside Brett, though, who would have been a formidable obstacle on the football field if he had the grades to play, the two had been able to instill fear in plenty of classmates and under classmates in earlier years. Now most didn’t give a shit and just saw them as idiots, ones who the system was going to leave behind eventually, but the three didn’t realize this and still felt like they were in control over everyone. They thought the lack of confrontation by other classmates was out of respect or fear, but really it was due to indifference. No one cared anymore.
“I don’t give a fuck where he’s going,” Brett said. “I just want to be here when he gets back. The little shit has been disrespecting me and needs to be taught a lesson.”
“Man, I don’t want to sit around here waiting for him,” Ron moaned. “What if he’s already gone?”
“If you want to be a pussy go on home, I don’t give a flying fuck.”
“Do we still have beer inside?” Matt asked.
“We should unless some cocksucker stole it all,” Brett said.
“So there,” Matt continued. “We can chill here for a while with a beer and see if he comes back.”
No, no, no! Jimmy silently screamed. He didn’t want to wait around for them to get bored and leave, especially with his bike tucked away in the bushes because they would find it if they decided to look for it. Even worse, he didn’t want any sort of confrontation near the fallout shelter even though it was well hidden because if he could find it by accident one day when not even looking, they could do the same, especially if they were interested in why he was hanging out here.
Jimmy lifted the trapdoor a little more so he could see out into the yard of the Hood place. Brett and Ron were sitting on the back porch lighting cigarettes - or what appeared to be cigarettes. A second later Matt came out through the broken window with some beers, the plywood covering the window, which they had probably pried open a bit at one point, slamming back in place.
“Seven?” Brett snapped when looking down into the bucket. “How much did we drink last time?”
“Don’t know,” Matt said, “but this is all that’s left.”
“Fuck me. I’m gonna have to get my brother to buy us more.”
“Man, can’t you find someone else to buy us beer,” Ron whined. “He charges too much.”
“Maybe you can find someone to buy it, shithead.”
Ron didn’t reply.
Jimmy considered his options. The three were about thirty feet away, which meant he could get on his bike and ride away from them without a problem, so long as he didn’t get tripped up somewhere. The only trouble was he didn’t want them seeing him anywhere near the fallout shelter.
What a mess.
He lowered the lid and looked back down at the main door at the bottom of the stairs and thought about heading back inside with Samantha, but really didn’t feel like it at the moment. He also had to pee really bad thanks to the handjob, something which always happened after he ejaculated and didn’t feel like using the bucket.
Thank God they weren’t back there when I went to clean out the bucket, Jimmy said to himself. He had taken the bucket all the way around to the hose on the other side of the house and sprayed it clean. While doing that he would have been completely vulnerable and while the metal pale would make a great weapon, especially if he hit one of them in the face, he would still have to contend with the questions on why he was hanging out at the Hood place, both from them and from the police who would undoubtedly investigate the fight, especially if he used the bucket as a weapon. Without it, however, he wouldn’t stand a chance. One on one he could take any of them down without too much trouble. Three on one, well, that was a different story.
He lifted the trapdoor again and looked out. The sun was setting, but not fast enough for his liking.
He lowered the lid and waited.
Once it was dark, he would be able to sneak away, though hopefully the group would get tired of waiting and leave before that. Until then he was stuck.
Chapter Six
Alan looked out the window to see if Jimmy was coming back on his bike yet, but his brother was nowhere to be seen, which surprised and frustrated him because the two had planned on playing some more Goldeneye the moment he came back home from his bike ride. That agreement had been several hours ago, however, and he still wasn’t home.
Where the hell does he ride too? Alan wondered.
The town of Ashland Creek wasn’t heavily populated but it did encompass quite a bit of space, which was something most people from up in the suburbs didn’t realize. They thought ‘small town’ meant ‘small area’ but when compared with the suburbs Ashland Creek actually had more landmass. Most of it was farmland, though, like the suburbs, they also had neighborhoods and a downtown area, both of which were pretty close. Unlike the suburbs one couldn’t simply hop a fence and be in another town. Instead one would have to hop a fence, cut through some woods, and then cut through a farm field or two, then cut through more woods. Once in those woods they would hit a town line of some sorts, but one which they wouldn’t know for sure they had crossed until they entered the scrubland beyond the woods, scrubland that butted up against more farm fields. A walk like that would take hours, and could be pretty dangerous. Alan had done it once with friends one summer day many years earlier, all of whom had started vomiting that night thanks to insecticide poisoning from the fields which had just been sprayed. Ever since then Alan had stuck to the roads when near a farm field and even then he didn’t like to be exposed to the fields for a long time, and always urged whoever was driving to keep the windows closed.
Was Jimmy riding that far?
Alan couldn’t see why his brother would do that, but then at the same time he couldn’t understand why Jimmy would be riding everyday to begin with. It just seemed really boring.
But maybe he isn’t really riding at all? Maybe he’s seeing Tina?
Jimmy was the type that would hide something like this just because he wouldn’t want his parents knowing, though not because they would disapprove, but because they would make fun of him. It wasn’t mean-spirited teasing, and in fact Alan was pretty sure they didn’t even know they were doing it, but it was still annoying and something Jimmy wouldn’t want to experience. The question was why wouldn’t Jimmy tell him about it? Getting together with Tina like this would be exciting for him and most likely wouldn’t be something he could hide for very long. From his parents yes, from Alan, no. The two were best friends and shared everything with each other.
Wait and see. If he really is seeing Tina when he goes riding he’ll tell you soon.
With that Alan headed into the living room to watch TV with his parents. The two were flipping back and forth between NCIS and The Office. Actually his father was flipping back and forth, and his mother was telling him to stop because she wanted to see the new episode of NCIS which was one of her favorite shows. Listening to the bickering one would think the family only had the one television set, but like most households they actually had more televisions than members of the family. This one was just in the best spot of the house.
Not liking the channel flipping - watching one show during the commercials of another always drove him crazy - Alan sided with his mother in the debate. His father had the remote, however, which evened out the odds considerably.
* * *
Brett Murphy grew weary of waiting for the fuck head to return and eventually call
ed off the ambush, one which probably wouldn’t have gone all that well anyway considering they were being so loud that Jimmy would have been warned of their presence. Before leaving he needed to take a piss and started toward the old shed which stood in the left rear corner of the yard. Actually the area was so overgrown with weeds and tiny trees that it probably no longer belonged in the yard category and instead was now just part of the woods.
“Me too,” Ron said after Brett announced his intention.
“Same here,” Matt said.
The two started following.
Brett went to the corner and started peeing, his spray helping to remove some of the flaking paint from the shed wall. Ron joined him. Matt went into the trees.
“What’s the matter,” Brett called. “Can’t piss with us!”
“Yeah, got something we don’t know about going on down there,” Ron added.
“I call it a penis,” Matt shouted back.
Brett laughed for a moment but then realized Matt was making fun of him. Unfortunately he couldn’t think up a comeback. Even if he had though Matt would have cut him off.
“Hey guys, look at this,” Matt said.
“No thanks,” Ron said. “Seeing mine is enough.”
“It’s a bike,” Matt said.
Brett zipped up and came over. Sure enough a bike was lying in the brush right next to a tree.
“Is it his bike?” Matt asked.
“How the fuck should I know?” Brett asked.
“You’re the one that saw him riding.”
“Yeah, but I didn’t like examine his bike, I just saw him and called you guys.” He shook his head. “Fucking moron.”
“Dude, if it’s his bike that means he’s still here so where the fuck is he?”
“Probably hiding in the trees somewhere,” Matt said.
“Yeah, he probably saw us and got scared and was waiting for us to leave.”
“Well, if he wants his bike back he’ll have to come and get it,” Brett said while grabbing hold of the handle and wheeling it back into the yard.
“Wait, what if it isn’t really his?” Matt asked. “What if some kid left it here or something and is going to come back for it?”
“Why the fuck would I care. Kids should know better than to leave shit like this lying around. Finders keepers. Come on, let’s go.” Brett started wheeling the bike to his car.
* * *
Rebecca was sitting in her room when Tina came back, hands folded in her lap.
“What are you doing in here?” Tina demanded.
“Waiting for you,” Rebecca said.
“Wait somewhere else, this is my room.”
“Well, this is my house.”
Tina felt heat rising in her face, yet at the same time knew there really was nothing she could do. If her mother wanted to sit in her room she could. Still, it pissed her off especially since her father had never disrespected her space and had once even yelled at his girlfriend for going into her room. The girlfriend had liked the idea of being a ‘mother figure’ to Tina and kept trying to act like one. Tina, of course, would have nothing to do with it, and one day came home to her room having been searched, the girlfriend thinking she probably was using drugs like most teenagers her age. Thankfully the two had broken up shortly after that.
“Fine,” Tina said. “If you want to sit in this room all night go ahead. I’ll go somewhere else.” She grabbed her backpack and purse while saying this and started heading toward the door.
“So, the prom is this Saturday,” Rebecca said.
Tina stopped.
“I have to admit, I was growing curious about whether or not you were going, you know, since you are my daughter and every mother wants their daughter to go and have a good time.”
Tina looked down at her purse. Normally she kept it zipped shut, but when she grabbed it from the desk it had been open, a fact which hadn’t registered until that moment.
She turned around.
Rebecca was holding her prom ticket, a nasty little smile on her face.
“Give that back,” Tina said, her voice barely able to stay calm.
“Why should I?” Rebecca asked.
“Because it isn’t yours,” Tina said.
“This house isn’t yours yet you feel like you can do whatever you want within it, so maybe I should act the same way.” She held the ticket up and prepared to rip it in half.
Tina was about to lash out, but somehow managed to hold it back. At the same time she wondered if the school kept an electronic record of who had bought the tickets just in case something like this happened.
“What, no comments? No cuss words? No angry outbursts?”
“The school knows I bought a ticket,” Tina said. “If you rip it they’ll just print me a new one.”
“Even if I call them and tell them I don’t want you to go?” Rebecca asked.
“Why would you do that?”
“Oh I can think of plenty of reasons, but let’s see, what would I tell the school?” She looked as if she was pondering over several different possibilities. “Oh, I know. I’m worried because a girl was kidnapped while walking home and I don’t want the same thing happening to my daughter.”
Tina didn’t reply.
“Do you think they would buy that?”
Tina knew they would. Schools bent over backwards to accommodate parents, even if what the parents wanted went against the school’s basic principles. Just last year a teacher in her old school up in Glen Ellyn had told the class about a group of seniors who had cheated on a test somewhere out west and were caught. The teacher gave them all zeros due to the cheating policy, which in turn made it so they couldn’t graduate. Once the parents found out they complained and teacher had to allow them to take the test again.
“I think they would,” Rebecca continued. “But even though I am entitled to be that cruel given how poorly you’ve treated me these last several months, all after I welcomed you into my home, I won’t do that.”
She hadn’t welcomed her into her home. The courts had told her she had to take her. Tina kept the remark to herself.
“This is conditional. If you keep treating me poorly I’ll tell the school you can’t go. If you respect me and do as I say this week, then on Saturday you can have this back. Understand?”
Tina didn’t reply.
“Understand!”
“Yes.” It was everything she could do to not fly across the room and beat the woman to a bloody pulp.
“Yes, what?” Rebecca asked.
Tina stared at her, unsure what she wanted.
“How about a ‘Yes, ma’am.’” Rebecca said.
Tina couldn’t believe this.
“Of course, if you don’t want to respect me as your mother I can always call the school right now,” Rebecca said.
“Yes, ma’am, I understand,” Tina said.
“That’s better.” Rebecca stood. “Now I don’t want you coming out of this room tonight unless I give you permission, understand.”
Again, Tina did not reply.
“Understand!”
“Yes, ma’am,” Tina growled.
Rebecca smiled. “Don’t act like you have it bad. You just have to respect me for a few days, I had to respect my Mother her entire life and if I didn’t - well, society was more accepting of physical punishments back then and to this day I can still taste the bars of soap she made me suck on while taking me over her knee.”
The words were right there. She wanted so hard to lash out at the woman, but knew doing so would be disastrous.
“By the way, what are you wearing to the prom?” Rebecca asked. “I didn’t see a dress in the closet.”
“I have a dress being made . . . ma’am.”
“Really? I hope it is ready in time. We should go pick it up together. It will be a nice mother daughter bonding experience.” With that Rebecca left the room, her hand pulling the door shut behind her.
Tina wanted to scream.
* * *
“Where’s your bike?” Alan asked after meeting Jimmy in the street. He had been getting a Coke from the kitchen during a commercial and had just happened to look out the window and saw Jimmy walking home. Knowing something had happened, just not what, Alan hurried outside.
“Brett took it,” Jimmy said.
“What?”
“I set the bike against a tree to pee and I guess he was following me in his car, because all of a sudden he grabbed it.” Jimmy was obviously pissed off, his anger showing in both his words and his face.
“Why didn’t you stop him?”
“Because I was in the middle of peeing and because his friends were there.” Jimmy shook his head and slammed a fist into his palm. “I can beat the shit out of any one of them by themselves, but together . . .”
“Good point.” Alan could see the three of them overwhelming his brother and then viciously pounding the shit out of him once they had him down. It would not be an honorable fight, but they wouldn’t care. Bullies like that never did. “But now there are two of us so let’s go get it back.”
“I don’t - ”
“We are doing this so don’t even think about putting it off,” Alan said, shooting down what he knew Jimmy would say. “They won’t be expecting both of us to be there so quickly and we won’t stick around. Just grab the bike and go. If they want to come after us, so be it.”
“But he’s on the other side of town and its getting dark,” Jimmy said.
“So we take Mom’s car. She won’t care. Come on.”
Jimmy finally agreed.
* * *
Samantha couldn’t believe it but the rope was actually slipping off her wrist. A shiver went through her.
Jimmy usually tied each wrist separately and then attached the second rope to the rope between her wrists. This time he had just wrapped it around both her wrists and now her right hand was actually coming through.
Oh my god! She thought. “I’m going to get out!”
The burned areas of her wrist screamed as she pulled against the rope, but the pain was masked by her determination to get free. Hell, she would probably slice off her own thumb to free herself and not feel a thing.
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