really I’m not.” He waited to be left alone, with a hint of desperation in his eyes. “I learned a valuable lesson today. A guy can learn a lesson, can’t he?”
Jack stared at him for a moment. “Sure,” he said finally, stepping back to allow his brother to shut the bathroom door. “Yeah, you definitely have a temper.”
“So is it alright if I get back to what I was doing?”
“Knock yourself out.”
Ben paused, before shutting the door and this time making sure it was locked. Heading back to the sink, he squeezed some more soap onto his hands before turning the heat up on the faucet and then gasping as he put his hands back under. The pain was getting worse, but he knew he couldn’t stop, not until all the blood was gone, and then… Then he’d have to get out of town and never come back. He was a marked man in Bowley now, that much was certain. It was only a matter of time before someone found Garland Packer.
***
As soon as he saw the bus coming around the corner, Ben got to his feet and grabbed his backpack. He’d been at the stop for a couple of hours now, and fortunately he hadn’t been seen by anyone he knew. Looking down at his sore, scalded hands, he counted his money again and realized that although he had enough to get far away, he’d be pretty much broke at the other end. He had friends he could stay with, a few people here and there, and he figured he could get by on scraps of hospitality for a while, maybe even a month if he was on his best behavior. After that, he’d need a better plan, but…
Still, that didn’t matter, not right now. All that mattered was getting out of Bowley as fast as possible.
“Ben!” a voice called out suddenly. “Ben, wait up!”
Turning, he saw to his horror that his sister Beth was running toward him.
“I don’t have time for this,” he told her, as the bus slowed for the stop.
“What are you doing?” she asked breathlessly as she reached him. “Jane said she saw you here a few minutes ago, she called to ask if I knew you were leaving.” She waited for a reply. “ Are you leaving? Again?”
“I’ve got things to do.”
“I thought you were staying for a few more weeks?”
“Life moves on,” he replied. “Come on, you know I never stick around for too long.”
The bus came to a stop next to him.
“Beth,” he continued, “listen, I don’t have much time to explain, so -”
“Is it Jack?”
He paused.
“Is it Dad?” she added. “Is it both of them? Come on, you can’t just leave town like this, it’s crazy.” She grabbed his arm, desperately trying to keep hold of him. “Please stay. Please, Ben. I’ve just started to get used to having you around again.”
“There’s a lot of things happening,” he replied, glancing over his shoulder to make sure that no-one else had spotted him. “Bowley isn’t a good fit for me right now, I’ve got a lot of stuff going on.”
“Like what?”
He turned back to her.
“Please,” she continued, with tears in her eyes, “don’t let Jack and Dad chase you away. You need to stand your ground with them for once.”
“There’s a time for standing your ground,” he replied. “This isn’t it.”
“Why not?”
“You coming?” the driver asked, clearly itching to get on his way.
“It just isn’t,” Ben continued, climbing up and dropping his coins onto the plate. “I’ll go as far as these’ll take me,” he told the guy, before looking back down at Beth. It broke his heart to leave her, but at the same time he knew he couldn’t tell her the truth. Somehow, Beth had always seemed pure and innocent, separate from all the other madness, and he didn’t want to pollute her mind by even mentioning the name of a man like Garland Packer. “I’ll be in touch,” he added, as the door swung shut. “I promise.”
Taking his ticket from the driver, he made his way along the aisle and slumped down into a seat. A moment later, the bus started up and he looked out just in