Creepers by Bret Tallent Page B

her head.  Every thought was more perverse than the previous one, and it caused her panic to grow even more.  Evvie’s panic equated to speed, and she kept muttering to herself under her breath, “dear Lord, dear Lord, dear Lord...”  In her state and the dark of the night, she nearly missed the back end of the car sticking up out of the ditch.
    Evvie slammed on the brakes and slid on the gravel road.  Her car skidded sideways and came to a stop in a cloud of dust just past the back of Precious’ car.  Evvie barely got the car into park before she had the driver door open.  The panic in her hit a crescendo by the time she made it to the ditch and Evvie fell down an embankment.  She found herself in a dry gulley looking up at the stars.  Faster than she had moved in years, Evvie hauled herself up beside the car door.
    When Evvie looked inside the window, her heart dropped into the pit of her stomach.  Her fear at the sight of her daughter was that she was dead, but then Precious moaned.  Evvie yanked the car door open and climbed in behind the wheel.  At first Precious pulled away from her touch, but then her good eye recognized her mother, and she began sobbing again.  Evvie pulled Precious up to her and held her tightly, issuing words of comfort.
    “There, there,” Evvie cooed, “Mama’s here.”  She tried to brush back Precious’ hair where it had stuck to her face in the dried blood, but couldn’t.
    “Why Mama?” Precious muttered.
    “Shhh,” Evvie replied, “hush baby.”  Evvie held her tightly and stroked her hair.  Precious buried her face in her Mama’s shoulder and continued to cry.  Eventually, the tears subsided and Evvie was able to coax Precious out of the car.  With her arm wrapped around her bare shoulders, Evvie directed Precious to her car and together they climbed the embankment.  Once inside her Mama’s car, Precious finally stopped crying.
    “We have to get you to the hospital,” Evvie said.
    “No,” Precious pleaded, “take me home.”
    “No child,” Evvie replied, “you need to see a doctor.”
    “I can’t Mama,” Precious continued, “I just can’t see anyone right now.  I just want to go home.”
    “But you’re hurt,” Evvie responded.
    “I know,” Precious replied, “but not that badly.  Can we go tomorrow?  Right now, I just want to go home and take a shower.”
    “What about the police?” Evvie argued.
    “No police,” Precious replied emphatically, “we can’t call the cops.  And we can’t tell anyone what happened to me, or they might call the police.  Please just take me home tonight, and I promise I will go to the doctor tomorrow.”
    “Why not now?” Evvie protested.
    “I need to take a shower Mama,” Precious pleaded, “I need to wash them off of me.”
    “Them?” her mother thought, “that poor child.”  Finally, Evvie said, “And then to the doctor first thing in the morning?”
    “Yes Mama,” Precious replied, “first thing.” 
    Precious turned to stare out the window, and Evvie knew the conversation was finished.  She pulled out onto the main road to make a U-turn in her old Chevy Caprice.  Headed back to her house, she kept glancing at her baby girl, curled up in the passenger seat.  She looked so tiny in the big seat of the Caprice that it tugged at Evvie, and her heart sank even deeper.  “Tomorrow,” she thought to herself and shortly after pulled up in front of her house.

CHAPTER 9
     
     
    Precious sat in the bottom of the shower crying.  She let the warm water pelt her skin and wash away their filth.  The water stung on several of the abrasions as it hit them.  Precious only bit her lip and continued to let the water dance across her body.  After some time, her tears ebbed and the water began to cool.  When it became too cold to take any longer, Precious shut off the water and stood on wobbly legs.  She toweled off and quickly dressed in her night clothes.  All the while, Evvie had