County Line Road by Marie Etzler

That’s enough of the past. Let’s get out of here.”
    “If yelling at me is his idea of conversation, I’d rather pass,” Jimmy said.
    Jimmy looked up at Rich who stood with his back to the glass window of the convenience store. The bright lights cast a shadow on Rich’s face, making it look dark and brooding. Jimmy rubbed his forehead and squinted in the harsh light.
    “I’m getting a headache. You got anything for it?”
    “Buy some Tylenol,” Rich said. “Don’t ever let me catch you taking anything. You have a future. Got it?”
    “Okay,” Jimmy said.
    Inside the store, Jimmy bought some Tylenol and took the pills.
    Outside, Rich handed him the motorcycle helmet.
    “I’ll take you home,” Rich said.
    “No,” Jimmy said. “Allison’s. I’ll show you where it is.”

CHAPTER 15
    Rich drove slowly through the sleeping suburb. Jimmy pointed to a house, and Rich stopped one house away.
    It was dark and quiet on the street, normal, expect for how Jimmy felt inside. He climbed off the back of the bike.
    “Don’t stay all night,” Rich said. “Go back home before light.”
    Jimmy handed his brother the helmet without a word and walked away.
    “Hey, Jimmy.”
    “Don’t worry about me,” Jimmy said. “And, hey, about what you said, I won’t tell anyone.” He went up on the grass in between Allison’s house and the neighbor’s.
    A bedroom light was still on. He peeked in the edges of the blinds to see if it was really her room. He felt like a Peeping Tom, but he figured he better make sure he had the right room before he knocked. He could hear music playing low, a song he knew Allison’s liked, so he knocked.
    Allison’s face appeared in the window, wide-eyed until she recognized Jimmy. Then she peered more closely and gasped. Jimmy could tell she was looking at the bruise on his cheek. She pointed. He saw her mouth the words, “Oh my God! What happened?”
    She waved him to the back of the house, pointing and mouthing the word “pool”. She met him by the fence and let him in through the patio.
    Once in her room, she said it again, “Oh, my God. What happened?”
    “Don’t touch it,” Jimmy said and winced as she tried to put her hand on his face.
    “Turn into the light here,” she said and examined him.
    “What are you, a doctor?” he said.
    “I’m trying to see,” she said. “What happened?” She sat down on her bed. The bedspread was white with yellow flowers and very fluffy.
    “Sit down.”
    He sank onto the bed and laid back. Jimmy was so tired that the bed felt like the most comfortable thing on Earth. He saw her closet was open. On her desk was a laptop computer and a small statue of a wizard holding a crystal ball. Jimmy wasn’t sure he wanted to look into the future now.
    “My father hit me,” he said. He told her about the fight, about seeing Linda with that guy in the parking lot, about leaving with Rich. He didn’t say anything about what he and Rich talked about.
    “What? Cancelled your trip to track camp?” Allison said. “But that’s the most important thing. That will get you into that college for sure. Did you say the store called and they have the baseball? Isn’t that what started all this? Now it’s done, right?”
    “It’s worse now,” Jimmy said.
    “Where did they get the ball?” Allison asked. “I mean, did they find it or did someone bring it in?”
    “I don’t know,” Jimmy said, getting impatient. The headache was still with him only a little less than before. “What difference does it make?”
    “Because,” she said, sitting up and straddling over him. “It wasn’t you who brought it in, so they must have who it was on their video tapes. Surveillance cameras, you know?”
    “Holy shit!” he said and bolted upright. He almost knocked her over. “That’s right! They can check the tapes.”
    “Whoa,” she said. She tried to hold onto him, but he was up, pacing back and forth.
    “That will prove it for sure,” he said.