Spider Webs - 5. Chapter 5: A Bridge

I opened my eyes and squinted at the faint light filtering in the bedroom windows. Still sleepy, I blinked my eyes rapidly in an effort just to keep my eyes open. Wondering what time it was I rolled over, realizing I was no longer alone. Something was lying at my feet. I glanced over at the alarm clock next to my bed. It was 6:30 in the morning. Shit! Shit! Shit! Then I heard a door slamming shut downstairs.

"Mom! Have you seen my purr-ball?" Reese's voice echoed through the house and into my bedroom. I groaned. There went the idea I had in my head of sneaking into Joel's bedroom and grabbing him before anyone else woke up. I fumbled out of bed even as that thing down by my feet hissed at me. Making my way to the light switch by the closed door, I flicked the switch on and turned around. I was being given the evil eye by a green-eyed grey and white striped cat that was sitting on my bed. I shivered. Its eyes were the exact color of Patrick's. I didn't like that at all. There was no way in hell I'd ever let Patrick in my bed, and I found myself silently objecting to having pussy there too.

"Tabbie!" Reese called.

"Tabbie, huh..." I repeated the name and eyed the cat once more. It yawned at me, revealing the sharp teeth in its mouth before it stretched. Its back arched as claws came out of its paws and kneaded at the comforter on my bed.

I scowled at it and then turned my attention to getting dressed. Unfortunately the only thing I had to wear was the stuff I had worn last night before I went to bed. I was definitely going to have to find a washing machine. But, I could worry about that later.

"Tabbie! Here kitty kitty kitty," Reese called out again. He sounded closer. I suspected he was in the living room.

I eyed the cat one more time. It was looking back with those eyes gleaming evilly. I came up with a plan. I started sneezing and moved toward the bed. The cat crouched as I got closer to it and it hissed at me. I moved to grab it and then snatched my hand back as it started hissing and went to claw me.

Evil cat!

This wasn't going to work, not if it was a biter. That thought made me wonder briefly if Patrick was a biter, but I didn't dwell on the thought long. I pulled the bedcovers up and around the cat until I had it wrapped up. I sneezed again and, armed with my bounty, proceeded to leave my bedroom. Making sure the light was off behind me I bounded down the stairs, sneezing every second of the way with my hissing, meowing prisoner.

I was met in the living room by Elizabeth and Reese. Patrick was sitting on the couch, armed with a backpack about his shoulders. Joel was next to him. From the pointed turn of his face he was still ignoring me. I frowned at him. I didn't see Ken.

"What..." Reese started to say.

My sneeze stopped him.

"Oh dear," Elizabeth said, "I think he's allergic to the cat."

Reese's face turned to a look of horror as he turned to stare at his mother. Perfect! There was just no way in hell they were going to get rid of the cat. That meant I was out the door and on my way to freedom.

"So what's that mean?" Reese asked. There was a slight whine in his voice. He turned to stare at me. I held my luggage out to him. Mostly because it was getting feistier the longer it stayed wrapped up in my comforter. He took it, but didn't release Tabbie.

"It means..." Elizabeth started. She stopped. She took a deep breath. "It means we're going to get rid of the cat," she informed Reese.

What!

"What! NO!" Reese echoed my thought a mere second later. I was stumped. This wasn't going the way I thought it would. They were supposed to get rid of me, not the cat.

"Well, we can't keep Micah if he's allergic to the cat," Elizabeth stated.

Why not? All they had to do was get rid of me. And why were they talking about me like I was a pet?

"Fine," Reese replied sullenly.

A nerf football flew out of the air and nailed him in the head a second later. Reese lost his hold on my comforter and the cat got out of its makeshift bag. The cat ran for it. I turned around at the same time that Elizabeth and Reese did and found my eyes on Patrick as his hand fell into his lap. Patrick had a slightly surprised look on his face.

"Uhm...You can't get rid of a boy, Reese," Patrick blurted out suddenly, as if he'd thought Reese was going to tell Elizabeth to get rid of me.

"I know that!" Reese replied. I guess he was a bit miffed over Patrick thinking that he would want to get rid of me instead.

But that's not what I wanted to know! I wanted to know... Why Not? Most people I knew back home would have never parted with their precious animals. The answer was so simple; all they had to do was get rid of me.

"We can get you a dog or something," Elizabeth stated. Her voice sounded almost apologetic. I sneezed at the mere thought of a yappy mutt in the house.

"Patrick, can Tabby stay with you for a little while?" Reese asked.

I looked at Patrick again. He was in conversation with Joel over something but I couldn't tell what.

"What?" Patrick asked. Apparently he wasn't paying any attention to us.

"Can Tabbie stay with you for a while?" Reese asked again.

Patrick's face scrunched up at Reese's words. His response was almost instantaneous.

"Hell no! That cat is evil, the best thing you could do for anyone is take it to a church and have it exorcised," Patrick replied. His tone filled with rejection. Reese glared at him. Elizabeth laughed. I just kind of nodded my head in agreement. I still hadn't forgiven its pussyness for hissing and clawing at me.

"Please? At least ask your parents for me..." Reese asked again, practically begging. "Pretty please?" I watched as his narrow face turned all pouty.

Patrick let out a sigh, not looking happy at all now.

"Fine," Patrick finally conceded. Reese let out a whoop and, running over, hugged his friend.

"Okay, problem solved, almost," Elizabeth interrupted. "Now let's go, we're going to be late."

Late going where? I thought.

I watched as Patrick marched out of the house. Reese and Joel right behind him. I tried waving at Joel but he just glared at me and then returned to ignoring me. What the hell did I do now? I didn't dwell on the thought for long though. Elizabeth was on her way out the door too, but she stopped and looked back at me.

"I'm going to take the boys to school, I'll be back in an hour or so and then we'll get you all taken care of," she said.

Get me taken care of... What the hell did she mean by that? I didn't get the chance to find out though because she was already out the door. I heard Elizabeth's van start up and a moment later it was gone. I just sat down on the couch and flicked the TV on. I found myself watching the news, but I didn't have the energy to change the channel. I was too busy thinking.

Thinking about the fact that now would be the perfect time to make my escape from these people. But I was going to have to do it without Joel, because it was starting to seem to me that these people were holding Joel hostage in order to insure my good behavior. Perhaps they didn't think I'd be willing to leave without him.

That thought made me scowl even more. Joel didn't want to leave either, and for the life of me I couldn't figure out why. What was so special about these people that Joel would want to stay here?

All I had right now was a bunch of questions; my mind was too foggy to come up with answers. With a scowl I stood up and after making sure the back door wasn't locked, I made my way outside and stood on the wraparound porch. Once I recovered my cigarettes and lighter from the plant I'd hid them behind, I watched as the smoke I exhaled mingled with the fog that swirled around the backfield behind the house. The truck and... barn, as best I could figure it, were barely visible.

"You really shouldn't smoke, you know," a voice stated from behind me.

Jumping, I inhaled on my cigarette wrong and doubled up, coughing my lungs out.

Avery wasn't feeling sympathetic though. "That's another reason why you shouldn't smoke," he added. Once I regained control of my lungs I straightened out and glared at him, ready to say a bunch of not so nice things. Despite the amused look on his face, I couldn't do it.

"Hi," I found myself saying instead. He nodded. I wondered what he was there for. That's when the thought briefly crossed my mind that he had come over to baby sit me until Elizabeth got back.

"I can't stay long, have to get to work. I just wanted to come by and say good luck today, and all that," he stated.

Good luck today? What the hell did that mean?

Once more I didn't get a chance to ask what he meant by that. He was already disappearing around the porch and by the time I got around to chasing after him, he was in his squad car and disappearing down the driveway. That was the second time someone had said something and left me hanging with no answer. It seemed to me that today, everyone's favorite hobby was going to be talking in riddles.

A pot of coffee and four cigarettes later I found the answer to some of my questions. Elizabeth had taken longer than an hour to pick me up and when she finally did, I was still sitting on the back porch, the cigarette I'd just flicked out of my hand smoldering in the distance. She basically ended up hustling me out of the house and, since I was on a caffeine high, I didn't argue with her. I was wishing later on that I had, though.

We ended up going to some store called Best Buy first. I mindlessly followed her around as she looked at computers and printers. Every now and then she would look at me and ask my opinion on something but I still wasn't talking to her. I eventually got bored and wondered away from her. I was standing around in the music section; staring at a bunch of CDs that were in my hand, trying to figure out how I was going to steal them.

"McFly, huh," her voice said from behind me. I jumped. Okay, the new game was scare Micah and see if he wets his pants. It was getting annoying. Trust me.

I whirled around, still surprised at the fact that she had gotten so close without me noticing. She grabbed the CDs from my hand and looked them over for a moment, and then threw them in a cart that contained a laptop I had looked at briefly before walking away, since I... Fine, I admit it; I don't know a damn thing about computers.

"Okay, great...Just a few more things..." she said. Then she took off again. I trailed after her and a little while later we were unloading the laptop, CD's and headphones and a CD player into the back of her van. I thought it was pretty great of her to buy me some CD's. They only cost about seventy dollars, and I still had enough money in my wallet to pay her back, too.

It was just as I was reaching for my wallet to give her the money for the CD's that we came to another stop. Wal-Mart. Huh? Why were we here? Perhaps we were there to get Joel new pajamas since I had ruined the ones she had bought for him. Yeah, that's it; we were there to get Joel new pajamas.

I helped her out and took off when we made it to the men's section in the clothing department until I found pajamas in Joel's size. When I found Elizabeth again she was looking around, a disgruntled look on her face that became aimed at me when I popped up next to her. I held the flannel pajamas that I had picked out for Joel out to her. She took them from my hand and inspected them; a smile crossed her face.

"That's very nice of you to pick out new pajamas for Joel," she said, approvingly. I couldn't help it. A smile crossed my face. That smile was wiped away a moment later when she pulled a pair of pants that were still on their hanger out of the cart and shoved them at me. I took them from her in confusion. We were supposed to be getting pajamas for Joel.

"Go try those on," she urged, looking at her watch a moment later. I stared at her. It all came back to me. Elizabeth had stated she'd take me shopping for new clothes and stuff in the morning... This morning. I had thought we'd go to The Goodwill or something, get used clothes at cheap prices, you know?

"C'mon, go try those on," she told me again. This time she pointed her finger. My eyes followed the direction she was pointing and spotted the changing rooms. Out of confusion I ended up listening to her.

I hated those jeans.

They were tight around my waist and way too tight in the crotch and, without any underwear; chances were pretty good my dick would get caught in the zipper. If you've ever experienced that sensation then you know it's definitely not the best feeling in the world to have. Hell, the mere thought of that happening had me cringing and my dick trying to shrivel up out of self-preservation, to no avail. It was still pretty big, if you ask me.

These jeans had to go.

Someone knocked on the door of my changing room and, despite the fact that I had refused to actually button up the jeans when they started getting tight around my waist, much less zip them up, I opened the door. Elizabeth was on the other side, several more pairs of jeans in her hand.

"Try these..." she started to say, and then she stopped. "Oh my..." Her eyes had trailed from my face, down my torso and were staring at my... Well, let's just say that she got an eyeful of pubes and more than her fair share of skin. Her face turned red.

I was horrified.

"Okay...right..." she remarked. A thoughtful look came across her face. I glared at her, more than ready to take the jeans she still held just so she would disappear.

"Definitely not Reese or Ken...so...more room in the crotch department."

She dropped the jeans she was holding back in the cart and turning it around, disappeared. I was still staring at her back in confusion, trying to figure out what the hell she had meant by that when the sight of an old lady in her blue Wal-mart vest eyeing my crotch; like it was candy, by the way, prompted me to scurry back into the changing room and slam the door.

There was no way Elizabeth was going to pick out my jeans. I hurried up and changed back into the clothes I'd arrived in and rushed out of the changing room; fully intent on stopping Elizabeth from picking out any more pants or shorts on my behalf. Only, she wasn't in the jeans section anymore and she wasn't in the shorts or shirts either.

I found her in the underwear section holding up a pair of Pokémon boxers, a thoughtful look on her face.

There was no way in hell.

I snatched them out of her hands and threw them back on the shelf, doing my best to glare at her despite the blush I could feel making its way up my cheeks.

"What..." she said at the look on my face, "You need underwear."

I growled and looked around for a moment. I grabbed the nearest package off the shelf behind her that appeared to be in my size and thrust it at her. She took it. It turned out to be boxer briefs and I mostly grabbed it because the hot guy in the picture appeared to have a huge... you know...penis! But she managed to one up me. She grabbed four more packages.

I couldn't help myself from letting out a groan. This was so humiliating. Hell, I was so humiliated that I just found myself confused. I hadn't had an adult, much less a woman, take me shopping since my mom had died, and after that I'd done all the shopping for Joel and myself. I didn't even know what to do or say to her to get her to stop, but I needed to do something.

"Okay okay... Reese keeps saying he's old enough to do his own shopping...so...go ahead...Jeans, some shorts and shirts... Don't forget some sweatshirts. I'll go look at socks," she suddenly said.

Or...Maybe I didn't have to say anything, except the vision of socks with Superman poised all over them came immediately to mind. I snatched the nearest bag of ankle length socks off their rack next to the underwear and threw them in the cart.

I ignored her when she grabbed two more bags and three bags of the crew socks that go up past your ankle. In a hurry to do as she requested, I moved past her and grabbed jeans that were at least two sizes bigger then what she had picked out for me before, trying to ignore her when she'd grab an extra pair and throw them in the cart.

That's how my day at Wal-mart began, and how it ended. I had to go to the changing room a few times to get the right fit and she'd grab extras and throw them in the cart. I'd take stuff out when she wasn't looking and put them back on the shelves, not really caring that they ended up in a spot where they didn't belong. All to no avail.

We still ended up walking out with way more than I cared for; hell, I'm pretty sure she threw in more clothes when I had my back turned or was in the changing room. All I know is that the cart was full. She even made me get dress clothes; it was a nightmare, and by the time we got done with all the errands she had planned out for us, it was 11 o'clock in the morning, I had to pee from all the coffee I had drank that morning and I was happy to finally be back at her house.

I was even happy when she helped me take everything inside the house where we threw it on the couch. I was still staring at the couch full of bags and the boxed up laptop when she came out of the kitchen. A tap on my shoulder had my attention turning to her. She was holding out a couple of pieces of paper and three keys that were on a key ring that had my name on it. She'd stopped at a hardware store to pick them up for me.

"Right, here are your keys; front door, back door and your code to the alarm system. This piece of paper has the wireless access code for your laptop..."

My laptop? I gulped, too stunned to say anything at that announcement. I didn't want a laptop; I didn't even know how to use one, much less set up the internet.

"... make sure you put everything away in your dresser, and let Reese know Joel and I might be late getting back tonight so he can order pizza for you guys. Ken should be home about six."

Then she surprised me. She pulled out the cell phone that she'd picked up on another one of her stops and handed it to me.

"Don't forget to charge your phone. Joel's is on the counter in the kitchen next to the debit card. If Reese needs anything he can ask Patrick to take him, pin number is next to the card which is next to Joel's phone. My cell phone, Ken's cell phone and Reese's phone are already programmed into your phone. If you need anything text me; I have to get back to school for my afternoon classes."

Her words were too much for me, and between my morning and now I was having a really hard time processing everything she was saying until it was, once more, too late.

We were back to playing the riddle game.

And she was gone when I finally figured out everything she had just told me. Who knew that she was a college teacher, or perhaps she was a student. She didn't look like the type. Actually, I didn't know what type she looked like, I was still horribly confused over all this, and I definitely wasn't happy. I needed a cigarette. So I ignored the instructions she had given to me in regards to putting everything away and made my way outside to do something about my confusion. I lit up a cigarette and thought everything through.

Once I did I was, if possible, still horribly confused and on top of that confusion I was angry. Angry because it seemed to me like she was trying to bribe me into staying or something; and I was angry because...

I didn't really know why I was angry. Or perhaps angry wouldn't be so good a word to use. I did know that I was upset though. But why was I upset?

I was still having trouble figuring it out. So I did the next best thing, I ignored the emotional mess I was feeling and two trips up and down the stairs later, I was trying on all the clothes she had just bought me to make sure that they actually fit, tearing off the tags and hanging stuff up in the closet or putting them in the dresser while trying to ignore the cat that had followed me into the bedroom I was borrowing.

Everything fit though, even the stuff I hadn't picked out that she had managed to sneak into the cart behind my back. Hell, even the two pairs of shoes she had bought me without my knowledge fit. The school supplies I found in another bag went into the backpack she had snuck in. I thumped that down with a hearty smack on top of the dresser, trying to work out the aggression and anger I was feeling.

Despite the emotions I was having no success at pushing away; I put on Reese's clothes from yesterday, again, and finally found myself downstairs trying to figure out the laptop. I wasn't having much success, it'd taken me thirty minutes to figure out that I needed to plug the damn thing in, the welcome screen that gave me instructions was a great help though, even if I did find myself outside smoking more than I care to admit. Then everything was set up and, because I didn't know what to do now, and was beginning to get bored out of my mind, I found myself staring at all the receipts in my hand, doing the math and adding up the total costs of everything.

Silent tears of frustration ran down my cheek. She should not have spent this much money. Not on me. Not at all. She shouldn't have done this because I had to pay her back, and I didn't know how I was going to manage that one.

My stomach growled at me again, reminding my head that I needed sustenance. I finally decided to listen. Perhaps food would help me sort shit out. I turned my attention to the refrigerator, hopeful at finding edible food. Cartons of Chinese food; left over pizza and other various types of left over and takeout food stared back at me. Surely something in there would be edible. I bypassed last nights' spaghetti out of hand. Quite frankly I was surprised it was even in the refrigerator. There was nothing to eat.

Not a damn thing.

Everything in there had gone bad or, as I discovered, just wasn't edible. Hell, even the milk was expired. Ken and Elizabeth really couldn't cook. Even as I began to wonder when they'd get a hint and stop trying, I started the not so easy task of cleaning out the refrigerator. I ended up reinforcing the garbage bags, which, I'd like to state hadn't been easy to find at all. The condition of the refrigerator should have given me a big clue, though. Ken and Elizabeth didn't know how to cook. They didn't know how to maintain a kitchen, and... I was in way over my head.

I figured that one out after I got the first side of the kitchen completely reorganized. I also discovered, to my dismay, that it wasn't even 12:30 yet. My stomach growled at me. I growled back, frustrated. My frustration was irrelevant. I'd gone hungry before. I was tired of going hungry all the time.

"Damn it," I growled. Whirling, I threw the dirty plastic bowl in my hand across the kitchen; right onto the rest of the pile that I'd gotten into or around the sink. It bounced off and skidded across the tile floor, right into the breakfast bar/cook top island that lay in the middle of the overly large kitchen.

Seeing all those dishes just made me groan. I had to get those done too. I couldn't help it. My untrusting gaze landed on the dishwasher that was open... and empty. I didn't know how to use it. I'd tossed everything in the refrigerator and after tearing out the shelves, I'd washed them by hand.

My stomach growled again. I turned away from the dishes, trying to focus.

My eyes landed on the cell phone plugged into the counter on the breakfast bar. Or rather, more specifically, they landed on the bank card lying under the cell phone, a slip of paper just visible underneath it.

Once more my stomach growled at me, announcing the arrival of Armageddon. Without thinking about it, I gave in and snatched the card up. After checking to make sure I had my keys and staring distrustfully at the alarm for a moment, which I eventually chose to ignore, I was out the door and marching down the side of the road, heading for the closest grocery store.

I swear it took me an hour to get there just so I could do 15 minutes of shopping.

That shopping left me in a quandary. My cart was full, even though I'd managed to bag everything up. I still needed to get everything back to the house though, and no, I didn't feel bad about spending three hundred dollars on groceries. If you asked me, Elizabeth should have already done that. It would have been far better for her to do so rather than spending the amount of money she did on me for useless items like new clothes, a computer I didn't know how to use, and CDs which I decided I'd have to pay her back for later on. I still had a problem though.

There was just no help for it. I threw the job applications I'd picked up on my way to the store in one of the bags and without hesitation I rolled the shopping cart across the parking lot, onto the sidewalk, across the street and, staying on the side of the road, started pushing that cart all the way back to the house. Headphones in my ears and bopping along the road to the sound of McFly, I found myself a little bit surprised when a sheriff's cruiser pulled ahead of me and onto the side of the road, lights flashing. I frowned, now annoyed.

I was going to return the cart, I swear. I couldn't think of a single reason why I'd need it yet. Seriously, I had to stay with the Windleton's until I paid them back. Deputy Hayes stepped out of his vehicle and gave me a look. I smiled at him and waved, just as another Sheriff's vehicle pulled up. This time it was an Expedition.

"What's going on, Micah?" Avery asked as he approached me.

I blinked at him, startled by his tone. "Nothing," I replied. "Just grocery shopping. Elizabeth only has old Chinese food and leftover attempts at cooking for food in her house. I already threw them out."

"You left the grocery store with the cart," Avery stated, looking at my cart. Duh. I didn't say that, though it was on the tip of my tongue. I decided to point out the obvious instead.

"Well, yeah. I have to get the groceries back to the house somehow," I informed him.

He nodded his head, digging through the sacks of groceries in my cart, pulling out hamburger meat and such. After a few moments of looking at various things he finally looked up, an odd look on his face. The deputy from the other vehicle had joined us by then, looking at Avery like he needed a clue or something. I was frowning now, feeling like I was in trouble, and I didn't know what for, either.

"You're not supposed to take the cart home with you," he finally replied. I let out a sigh, exasperated. He just wasn't getting my point any. He smirked at me. Maybe he did get my point, after all.

"Am I going to jail?" I asked, not caring, much, if the meat spoiled. Although, I imagined someone would be pissed off about the three hundred dollars in wasted food. Avery laughed at me.

"No, just a misunderstanding. You should have called me for a ride. C'mon, let's get this stuff in my cruiser. Deputy Lenore can take the cart back to the store for us and..."

Avery's cell phone went off. Without blinking he picked it up and answered. I wasn't going to ask who it was as he said hello.

"Hello Gladys. No, I found him... No, just a simple misunderstanding. He doesn't..."

Avery looked at me and, after a moment, gestured me onward.

"...have a car. He had every intention of returning the..."

I followed the instructions he had given me so far and pushed the cart over to his cruiser. The back door was unlocked. I loaded the groceries into the back of the cruiser, finishing up just as he hung up the phone and turned to me. I looked at him, curious.

"Okay, great. Let's get this cart in the truck and get you home."

Home. I frowned. I didn't have a home. I was just staying there. I had every intention of getting a job and paying rent for Joel and me until I could save enough money and get us our own place. After I paid Elizabeth back for the money she had spent on us.

Avery took the cart from me. I grabbed my applications out of the bag I'd placed them in and opening the front passenger door, slid in. Spotting a pen on the dashboard of his cruiser I started filling out those applications. It wasn't long before they got the cart into the back of the Expedition and Avery was sliding into the driver's seat.

"You're good now," Avery stated.

"Hmm?" I asked, not looking up from the application I had started filling out.

"No charges are being pressed for the theft of the cart... Gladys became extremely understanding once I explained the situation to her. And next time, call me if you need a ride."

"Okay," I replied, not bothering to dignify the theft charge with a response.

"You still have my number, right?" he asked.

"Uh..."

I frowned and looked at my applications, trying to decide which of my many choices would be the easiest to give up. Pizza Hut it is. I'd never really heard of the place before. Wasn't sure I really wanted to even work there. Did they even hire 15 year olds?

"We should get you a cell phone. All the kids have them these days," Avery remarked.

I stopped and stared at him. Reached into my pocket and grabbed the cell phone Elizabeth had gotten for me that afternoon and showed it to him. He grunted, took it and I watched as his thick fingers worked the keypad, turned the phone to the side and slid the phone up, revealing a keyboard.

Cool!

He handed it back to me once he was done. I stared at the phone and started playing with it, found the phone book that had all the phone numbers Elizabeth had already placed in it. I grunted, shoved the phone back in my pocket as I ignored the sudden babble that came squawking out of the cruiser's radio.

I didn't think much of it when Avery flicked the lights and sirens on. Just figured he was taking me back to Elizabeth's house and wanted to get there in a hurry. Until he hit the gas pedal and gunned the engine. Then I almost wet myself, especially since he did a complete one-eighty with the vehicle and sent the car careening down the road I'd just walked up in a mere matter of seconds and right past the store where the Sheriff's SUV was sitting in front of the entrance, its own cherries flickering.

We were approaching an intersection. Our light was red. Avery wasn't slowing down. I closed my eyes as my heart sped up. I couldn't watch. I felt my body hunching up, waiting for an accident that never occurred. I didn't even bother to open my eyes. Didn't ask what was going on. Truth be told, I didn't want to know, so long as I survived this trip to hell, or wherever it was that we were going.

Then we came to a stop. The wail of the sirens was silenced. I could still hear other sirens though, as they were coming toward us. A door was opened and then shut. I finally opened my eyes. We were on another stretch of road. At the scene of a car accident. I felt myself swallow convulsively. I didn't do well with car accidents.

The sight of a kid, about my age when my mom had died, sent me reeling. He was covered in blood. I unbuckled my seat belt and not caring about anything opened the door up.

I was going to be sick.

My mom had died in a car accident.