At the very least, he thought he should confront the creep about what he’d heard, or maybe get Mallory aside once she came back and tell her the truth about her Prince Charming.
But he already knew both tactics would fail. First of all, he possessed half the menace of a pissed-off chihuahua. Threatening Derrick would no doubt end with the hospital scenario. On the other hand, if he told Mallory about Derrick’s two-timing secret, she’d either play a jealousy card or go to Derrick for confirmation. And even if she did confront him, the asshole would just tell her a reworded version of the truth and woo her into believing Tim had misinterpreted what he’d said.
The concession attendant asked Tim if he wanted anything, and he politely declined.
Leaving the vendor, he slipped around the drinking hut and quietly waited out of sight, not rejoining the others until Mallory returned.
“Everything cool?” Derrick asked when she came back.
“Yeah, I told my dad you guys could give us a ride home, so he and Rebecca are going to catch a late movie. I still need to be back by midnight to relieve the babysitter, though.”
“No prob,” Derrick told her, once more sliding his hand over the curve of her hip.
Tim saw it and looked away.
They went on a few more rides, working their way toward the park’s exit. Tim remained silently removed from the crowd the entire way. At one point, Mallory asked him if everything was okay, why he was being so detached, but rather than speak up, he waved her concerns away, blaming his behavior on exhaustion.
When they reached the parking lot, the group split up. Becky, Adam, and Chris trailed after Troy, while Mallory, Lisa, and Elsa stayed beside Derrick.
Tim glanced over his shoulder at the park and wondered if he should just slip out of sight while the others weren’t looking. He could go back to the pay phones and call one of his parents, get the hell out of here and let Mallory sort out the details later, if she ever noticed he’d left.
“Hey, Tim!”
He looked up and saw Mallory gesturing to him while the others kept walking.
“You’re riding with us. Come on.”
Ahead of them, Derrick disengaged the car alarm of a gleaming black Mercedes.
“That’s your car?” Mallory asked, eyes beaming.
“Sixteenth birthday present,” he smiled. “Like it?”
“I love it!”
Lisa gave her brother an obvious look of contempt and opened the rear driver-side door. “Yeah, he gets this, and I’ll probably get a bus pass or something.”
Chris called from two rows over, shouting to Derrick and asking if he wanted back some borrowed CDs.
“I’ll be back in a sec,” the boy told Mallory, sliding his hand across her butt when he slipped away.
They piled into the car while he went to get his stuff. Much to Tim’s surprise, Mallory opted to sit between him and Lisa in the back seat while Elsa sat up front.
With Derrick not present, Lisa turned to Mallory and said, “My, God. Derry’s all over you tonight.”
“I’ll say,” Elsa chimed in, checking her makeup in the rearview mirror. “Watching the two of you is starting get me hot. This must be like a dream come true for you?”
Tim noticed Mallory glance at him from the corner of her eye and seemed reluctant to reply. “I’m having a good night,” she said.
Elsa swiveled around in her seat to listen, but when Mallory didn’t elaborate about Derrick, her eyes shifted to Tim. “You’re kind of a quiet guy, aren’t you?”
And you’re blunter than a baseball bat, he thought, forcing a smile. “Yeah, sometimes, I guess.”
Mallory turned to face him and put a hand on his arm. “You were so funny earlier; you guys should’ve heard some of the lines he had. I couldn’t stop laughing. He practically had Cherry Coke coming out of my nose at one point.”
“There’s a beautiful image,” Lisa laughed.
He gave her a dull smile, then stared out the window.
Ignoring her friends, Mallory leaned closer, touching his shoulder. “Are you all right?”
“Actually, I don’t feel so good,” he half-lied.
Her voice came again, this time with concern, and she slid her hand across his back. “Do you feel sick?”
“Nah, I just have a headache. Maybe I shouldn’t go with you.”
“We could stop and get you some Tylenol or something,” Elsa said.
Thanks a lot, he thought.
“Besides, our parents are already on their way to a movie,” Mallory reminded him.
Shit, I forgot about that. Now I really do feel sick.
Derrick returned and dropped into the driver’s seat. “Okay, all set. I think the only thing left to do is pick out some tunes.”
The boy began to list off his selection of music when Mallory interrupted him. “Actually, maybe you should drop me and Tim back at my house?”
Derrick swiveled around. If not for the uncomprehending shake of his head, he could’ve passed for a half-competent mental patient pumped full of Thorazine.
“It’s just that Tim isn’t feeling too well—” Mallory said.
“It’s okay,” Tim interrupted, not wanting to be responsible for ruining the night.
“No,” she assured, “we were supposed to hang out tonight, but we haven’t had much chance to.” She bit her lower lip and gave Derrick a pleading gaze that made Tim’s heart sag in his chest.
Derrick eyed Tim without comment then refocused on Mallory. “I could drop him off somewhere. You could still hang with us.”
“Yeah,” Elsa agreed. “Come on, the night’s young.”
Mallory glanced to Tim. “What do you think?”
He met her gaze, thinking of the conversation he’d overheard between Derrick and his friends. He tried not to imagine what the boy had in mind for her once he got her alone. “I don’t think so,” he answered.
The comment drew everyone’s attention, but before anyone spoke up, he opened the door and stepped out.
Mallory scooted after him along the seat. “Tim, wait a sec. Where are you going?”
He stood alongside the car, tipping his head toward the park. “I think I’ll stick around here for a while.”
“What, all alone?”
“Not for long. I thought I’d give Derrick’s ex a call and see what she’s doing.”
Mallory’s friends stared on in amazement.
“What’d you say, man?” Derrick asked from the driver’s seat. He leaned over Elsa’s lap to glare at Tim through the open passenger-side window.
Tim bent to meet the boy’s gaze. “What’s wrong with that? You dumped her, right? Why should she care if I told her you went to a party with another girl but I stayed behind to see if she’d like to join me here? Unless you’re full of shit and screwing around behind her back.”
The boy wordlessly unbuckled his seatbelt and exited the vehicle. Tim straightened up, waiting for him to round the front of the car. He didn’t even flinch when Derrick shoved him in the chest with both hands, slamming his back into the rear quarter panel of a pickup truck parked in the next space.
“Derrick,” Mallory shouted, but her cry vanished under Derrick’s bellow of rage.
“You wanna start some shit, smart-ass?”
A family of four had been passing by along the main avenue of the parking lot, and a middle-aged man in beige shorts and polo shirt stopped to face them. “This isn’t the place for that kind of language, young man.”
“Fuck off,” Derrick boomed at him.
The man got blown back a step by the force of Derrick’s reply. After a second hard look, he hurried after his wife and kids without saying another word.