I guess I wasn’t surprised when Brook came running into the restaurant, followed by her mom and dad.
After I introduced them to the detectives, I explained what was going on. In the middle of it all, my mom and dad called. They conferenced-in Fritz, so I had to explain everything again. Fritz confirmed the location of everyone and said he’d have security at my house soon. In the meantime, he called our local police to update them on the possible threat. Mom confirmed that a police car was in front of their house.
◊◊◊
I debated whether to cancel on the Northwestern event, but decided that I needed to do it. The governor made sure a state trooper kept an eye on me. I did my best acting job and put on a happy face. When I was done, we packed up and drove home. I let Ian drive because I wasn’t sure it was a good idea for me to drive in my state of mind.
By the time we hit our home city limits, I’d received a call that the brother and father were caught trying to board a plane out of the country. I let Fritz know.
◊◊◊
After dropping off Brook and her family, I found myself at the Pearson farm. Zoe took one look at me and put me to work mucking out stalls and putting down new straw while she did other chores. I wondered why I always seemed to get this job or washing horses. Not that I minded, but she brushed, babied, and fed them, while I did the dirty work.
It turned out to be exactly what I needed. Zoe took me for a walk when we were done, and I told her the horrible thing that had happened. She listened and then stopped.
“Let’s pray about it,” she suggested.
I bowed my head and prayed for the girl’s soul and her family and friends, then asked for forgiveness for whatever my role was in her losing her life. I felt better after the work, talking to Zoe, and praying. Somehow, she always made me feel better, more grounded after we did this. Sometimes you needed to get back to basics, talk to a friend, and put it in God’s hands.
◊◊◊ Monday February 22
Tracy, Pam, and Halle were waiting for me when I got to school.
“Are you all right?” Tracy asked.
I assumed she was talking about the alert Fritz had sent out.
“Yeah, I just wanted to make sure you were all okay. I guess, if nothing else, it was good that we tested it.”
“Did you know the girl?” Halle asked.
“No, not really. I met her for just a few minutes. She seemed nice. It was terrible, what happened,” I said.
Pam wrapped me in a hug and whispered in my ear.
“Are you sure you’re alright?”
“Yes. Like I said, I was more worried about you when the police weren’t sure if the brother and father might come after me, or people I knew.”
“It freaked me out when it went off,” Tracy admitted. “It was sort of like when you get those AMBER Alerts, but this time it was for someone I actually knew.”
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you,” I apologized.
“No, no, I’d rather be safe than sorry. I might have to get more pepper spray,” she said with a wink.
“You could get a Taser, like Pam has,” I offered.
“No, I like that I don’t have to get close to do damage. If Pam had my spray, she could’ve nailed Yuri several times. That boy’s fast.”
I had to laugh because Tracy had sent me a video of Pam chasing Yuri down the hall with her Taser.
“Did you practice your lines?” Halle asked, changing the subject to the school play.
I gave her a disgusted look.
“Did you even see how many lines you have?” she asked.
“How bad could it be?” I shot back.
“You’d better not make me look bad. We’re supposed to know what we’re doing,” Halle said as she put her hand on her hip.
I surrendered.
“Hey, can you take Bandit this weekend? I have to fly out to LA to do some voice-overs. He doesn’t like flying,” she said.
“Sure. Just explain to him that he can’t be a big baby.”
“If you paid him more attention, he’d be just fine.”
“Okay. I’ll make sure I take care of him.”
The bell rang, so we walked inside and off to our classes. I pulled the script out in second-period Art Appreciation. I’d studied ahead, so I decided to take a quick look. The copyright said it was from 1938. I smirked when I read the dialogue. My ‘good ol’ boy’ routine with the press had nothing on this. It also seemed that my character George was a dumbass because he let Halle’s character Emily boss him around. I decided this might be fun.
◊◊◊
We had another Junior Class Project meeting. Everything was moving forward just fine. I was surprised when Alan stopped me before I got to my next class.
“Can I ask you something?”
“Sure,” I said tentatively.
He could ask, but I wasn’t sure I would answer. I’d accepted that he hadn’t been responsible for him and Tami waking up naked together. The thing is, I knew Alan. If I acted like I’d forgiven him, Tami would know ten minutes later. I wasn’t ready to explain why just yet.
“What did you get on your SAT?” he asked.
“Worried I did better?” I teased.
“No, of course not,” Alan blurted.
I gave him the stink eye, and he blushed. He always assumed he was smarter than everyone else. I reminded him that I was higher in our class standings than he was. Of course, Alan’s slip had come in PE, which I felt shouldn’t factor into overall grade standings. That was, of course, until I could use it to torment my former best friend.
I told him my score, and of course, he wanted a breakdown. Turns out Alan did a little better than I did, overall. I did better in the Critical Reading and Essay sections, and he did much better than I did in Math. He admitted that Tami did better than both of us. I can’t say I was surprised. What did surprise me was that she did even better than Alan did on the Math section; I could tell that bothered him. I actually beat her in the Critical Reading and Essay portions of the test.
It made me smile that we needed to check to see how each of us did. We’d always been competitive, Tami and me especially. Jeff had been the calming influence and kept everything from getting out of hand. The thing was, I’d bet he would have had a better score than all of us. We were nerds at heart, after all.
Satisfied, Alan left me alone. Tami would have my scores soon if my mom hadn’t already told her.
◊◊◊
I skipped the dojo to try out for the play. I was a good boy and didn’t embarrass Halle. Mr. Dutton, one of the science teachers, was the faculty advisor for the Drama Club. He and a couple of the seniors would decide who won what part. Halle and I rolled our eyes when they told us they’d post their decisions tomorrow. We’d sat through the auditions, and somehow, we were the only ones trying out for our parts. I liked our odds.
“David, before you go,” Mr. Dutton said. “Are you going out for baseball?”
“Yes, and that’ll take priority. I plan to play both football and baseball in college.”
“I’m worried that you might not learn your lines. Do you think you’ll be able to have them ready for the play?” he asked.
“That’s a legitimate question,” I said.
Halle gave me a hard look. She realized I wasn’t above wiggling out of this commitment. I wouldn’t quit, but if they didn’t cast me, I’d be okay with that.