Creepers by Bret Tallent

the cop to be coming back, and he was thinking up excuses.  His mind racing for ideas, Toby licked his lips and gripped too tightly onto the steering wheel.  After a moment, his hands began to ache, and he loosened his grip on the wheel. 
    “Did he see us?” Tom asked, his voice trembling.
    “I don’t think so,” Toby replied.
    “Was that a cop?” Tom asked.
    “Yeah,” Toby replied, “I think it was that half-breed deputy.”
    “We better go home,” Tom pleaded, “in case he saw us.”
    Irritated, Toby said, “If he’d seen us he surely would have turned around.  Grow a pair Tom.”
    “Okay Toby,” Tom said sheepishly.
    “Besides,” Toby continued, “we’re about to have us some fun tonight.”
    “Yeah,” Tom asked, “are we still gonna’ teach that black girl a lesson?”
    “That’s right Tom,” Toby said, “she’s going to get a lesson like she ain’t ever had.”
    “I just don’t think we should do this tonight,” Tom argued.
    “It’s happening little brother,” Toby said angrily, “it’s happening tonight.”
    “Okay,” Tom relented.
    “And get your mask on,” Toby added as he donned a pillow case with eye holes cut in it.
     
    ***
    Precious White finished her shift at the local burger joint and headed home.  She was beat.  Her practice had run long, and she was nearly late for work.  On top of that she had a ton of homework to do.  Precious drove home on auto-pilot, oblivious to the world around her and thinking about her homework.  It was late, and she was so tired, Precious didn’t know if she had the energy to finish her homework tonight.  She thought about it some more and decided she would do half of it tonight and the rest during study hall in the morning.
    Happier but still on auto pilot, she finally reached the turn off to her home.  Precious barely noticed the big four wheeled drive truck parked at the edge of her long driveway, until it pulled out in front of her.  She slammed on the brakes and yanked the steering wheel hard to the right.  Her tires slid on the gravel road of her driveway, and she skidded off into a ditch.  The engine revved for a moment then died.
    Her heart pounding and her hands shaky, Precious held on tightly to the wheel until her mind caught up to what had just happened.  Only then did she exhale.  “Damn.” Precious muttered under her breath.  She took a breath then looked around and saw that her books had tumbled into the passenger floor board, but that was all.  Precious heard a deep rumble and looked up into the rear view mirror as the headlights from the truck came up behind her.  Their dusty yellow light illuminated the interior of her car and momentarily blinded her.  She could barely make out the shapes of two people approaching her from either side of the truck.  Precious took another, deeper breath.  She was still trembling.
    Finally, the two figures reached her doors on both sides, and Precious relaxed.  She turned to speak to the one at her window and only then did she notice that person was wearing a mask.  Terror filled her instantly, and as the panic welled up inside her, it forced its way out her throat as a scream.  However, her cry was caught short when a powerful fist connected with her jaw.  It rattled her skull and sent her over into the passenger seat.
    Lying in the passenger seat, semi-dazed, she glanced out the passenger window to see the figure there also wearing a mask.  More terror filled her, and as Precious started to scream again, sparks of pain shot through her jaw as she opened her mouth.  She screamed anyway, and both doors flew open.  Precious felt hands grasping at her legs, and she kicked as hard as she could.  Then she felt a hammering blow to the side of her head, followed by a cracking sound.
    The baseball bat had hit Precious squarely in the temple, and immediately her world began to spin.  She stopped kicking her legs and let out a small whimper, and then her world went