The only direction I could run was straight down the road, and I sure couldn’t outrun a truck, no matter how rickety it was.
But this old truck wasn’t creepin’ along. It was coming fast, way faster than Eula drove. A big lump of surrender swelled up in my throat. Black, slimy fear wound itself around it, choking me till my ears rang and my chest hurt. A sob rammed up against that fear and it exploded from me, startling me with its loudness.
Once that first cry was loose, it took over my whole self and there wasn’t nothing left to be but blubberin’ defeat. I’d tried. I’d tried to save me and James. But now Wallace knew my hand. Tears blurred the hulk of hunched-up rust and headlights barreling my way.
I was gonna spend the rest of my life locked up in that bedroom, probably tied up, too.
The truck got closer, not slowing down.
Closer.
It wasn’t gonna stop!
I considered letting death gather me under that truck.
At the last second, I kicked James’s basket, sending it rolling to one side of the road. At the same time I threw myself backward to the other, rolling up and over my shoulders in a backward somersault. As I landed on my belly, head still on the road, I heard my feet hit the water. Had James landed in the swamp on the other side?
The wheels locked up and slid on the wet chip and tar, screaming like a giant bird. The spray splattered my face as the front wheel stopped right in front of my nose.
That wheel didn’t have a hubcap. Why I noticed was a mystery.
My stomach felt like it was still back underneath that truck’s dull, pockmarked front bumper.
I heard James squallin’. He wasn’t underwater and the truck hadn’t squashed him. I couldn’t see if he was hurt. I couldn’t see nothin’ but that fat rubber tire and rusty wheel. It come to me then that I couldn’t move even a finger, laying there with my breath echoing in my body and my eyes on that tire.
The door clunked and squeaked open.
My eyes shifted in their sockets. The shoe that hit the pavement next to me was big and brown.
Tears wetted my cheeks and I hated every one of them.
All the sudden, Wallace had me by the back of my shirt, yanking me up off the ground.
For a second I just hung there, limp with fear.
Fight!
My arm finally listened to my brain and I took a swipe at him. I could only reach his arm. It felt like I was hittin’ a ham.
I opened my mouth to yell, Let me go! But all that came out was a shameful sob.
He gave me a little shake like I was a kitten he had by the scruff.
That knocked something loose inside me. All my muscles woke up. I fought like a catamount to get free of that man, twistin’ and thrashin’ and scratchin’. With a scream through my gritted teeth, I flung my legs, trying to land a kick.
He slapped my face. The sting of it sucked the air out of my scream and stunned my limbs into stillness. My eyes got blurry as I hung there at the end of his arm, half-sitting on the ground.
That’s when I realized I wasn’t the only one screaming.
Eula was coming up and over the side of the truck bed, her hair sticking up like tufts of steel wool, blood running down her cheek. “Stop! Wallace! Stop!”
He jerked his head around, looking surprised to see her.
He moved quick as a snake, whipping me around so my head was toward the water and slammed me down. I grabbed at the marsh grass and tried to pull against him, but my hands kept slipping.
Eula threw herself at him, but he flicked her off like she was no bigger than a bug.
“Don’ make this worse than it gotta be!” he yelled while he pressed me against the ground. The back of my head hit the water.
I wasn’t gonna get tied up. I was gonna die.
“Please, don’t,” I said, my voice so small I could barely hear it. My bladder let go; warmth ran up my back. My heart beat so fast I was dizzy. “I’ll stay with you and Eula. I’ll never tell about James. Never . . .”
His eyes rolled up in his head, looking to the sky. His voice was a harsh whisper when
But this old truck wasn’t creepin’ along. It was coming fast, way faster than Eula drove. A big lump of surrender swelled up in my throat. Black, slimy fear wound itself around it, choking me till my ears rang and my chest hurt. A sob rammed up against that fear and it exploded from me, startling me with its loudness.
Once that first cry was loose, it took over my whole self and there wasn’t nothing left to be but blubberin’ defeat. I’d tried. I’d tried to save me and James. But now Wallace knew my hand. Tears blurred the hulk of hunched-up rust and headlights barreling my way.
I was gonna spend the rest of my life locked up in that bedroom, probably tied up, too.
The truck got closer, not slowing down.
Closer.
It wasn’t gonna stop!
I considered letting death gather me under that truck.
At the last second, I kicked James’s basket, sending it rolling to one side of the road. At the same time I threw myself backward to the other, rolling up and over my shoulders in a backward somersault. As I landed on my belly, head still on the road, I heard my feet hit the water. Had James landed in the swamp on the other side?
The wheels locked up and slid on the wet chip and tar, screaming like a giant bird. The spray splattered my face as the front wheel stopped right in front of my nose.
That wheel didn’t have a hubcap. Why I noticed was a mystery.
My stomach felt like it was still back underneath that truck’s dull, pockmarked front bumper.
I heard James squallin’. He wasn’t underwater and the truck hadn’t squashed him. I couldn’t see if he was hurt. I couldn’t see nothin’ but that fat rubber tire and rusty wheel. It come to me then that I couldn’t move even a finger, laying there with my breath echoing in my body and my eyes on that tire.
The door clunked and squeaked open.
My eyes shifted in their sockets. The shoe that hit the pavement next to me was big and brown.
Tears wetted my cheeks and I hated every one of them.
All the sudden, Wallace had me by the back of my shirt, yanking me up off the ground.
For a second I just hung there, limp with fear.
Fight!
My arm finally listened to my brain and I took a swipe at him. I could only reach his arm. It felt like I was hittin’ a ham.
I opened my mouth to yell, Let me go! But all that came out was a shameful sob.
He gave me a little shake like I was a kitten he had by the scruff.
That knocked something loose inside me. All my muscles woke up. I fought like a catamount to get free of that man, twistin’ and thrashin’ and scratchin’. With a scream through my gritted teeth, I flung my legs, trying to land a kick.
He slapped my face. The sting of it sucked the air out of my scream and stunned my limbs into stillness. My eyes got blurry as I hung there at the end of his arm, half-sitting on the ground.
That’s when I realized I wasn’t the only one screaming.
Eula was coming up and over the side of the truck bed, her hair sticking up like tufts of steel wool, blood running down her cheek. “Stop! Wallace! Stop!”
He jerked his head around, looking surprised to see her.
He moved quick as a snake, whipping me around so my head was toward the water and slammed me down. I grabbed at the marsh grass and tried to pull against him, but my hands kept slipping.
Eula threw herself at him, but he flicked her off like she was no bigger than a bug.
“Don’ make this worse than it gotta be!” he yelled while he pressed me against the ground. The back of my head hit the water.
I wasn’t gonna get tied up. I was gonna die.
“Please, don’t,” I said, my voice so small I could barely hear it. My bladder let go; warmth ran up my back. My heart beat so fast I was dizzy. “I’ll stay with you and Eula. I’ll never tell about James. Never . . .”
His eyes rolled up in his head, looking to the sky. His voice was a harsh whisper when
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