The road was rutted and cracked. The car bounced over a gaping pothole, thumping and rattling in ways that would have surely sent Dustin after his little brother with an assault rifle. Something scraped along the underside of the vehicle. Brett gasped from the backseat, and the others cringed at the sound as the car continued to scrape along.
“Fuck me,” Tyler whispered under his breath.
“You wish,” Kerri replied.
He smiled, but there was no humor in the expression. They’d continued down the street, slowing to a crawl. The landscape grew steadily bleaker. They drove past a cluster of seedy-looking bars, patrons lounging outside, bathed in garish neon. Then the bars gave way to pawn shops and liquor stores and rundown, shoebox housing.
“Jesus,” Brett gasped. “Look at these houses. How can anybody live like this?”
They’d stopped at a red light. Thumping bass from the car next to them rattled their windows. A large group of black youths stood on the street corner, peering in at them. When one of the teens sidled up to the station wagon and gestured, Tyler gunned it, racing through the light. A car horn blared behind them.
“Lock the doors,” Heather urged, staring wide-eyed.
Tyler ignored her request, but everyone else rolled their windows up. After a moment, he begrudgingly did the same.
“Where the fuck is the turn?”
From the back of the station wagon, Javier said, “Dude, there’s a sign for Route 30. Doesn’t that take us back to Lititz?”
“I don’t want to go back to Lititz. I want to go to Camden.”
“Fuck Camden,” Javier shouted. “Have you looked outside? You’re gonna get us carjacked!”
Tyler stared straight ahead. “You guys worry too much. For fuck’s sake, we just came from a rap concert. Now y’all are worried about driving through the city? Bunch of white-bread motherfuckers.”
“In case you haven’t noticed,” Brett said, “you’re white too, Tyler.”
“I’m not white. I’m Italian.”
Javier sighed.
“Everybody just calm the fuck down,” Tyler continued. “We’ll be fine. Long as you don’t fuck with anybody, they won’t fuck with you.”
He’d kept his voice calm, but his teeth were clenched. Kerri knew from experience that his anger was building inside again.
The last of his facade shattered when the engine light came on and steam began billowing out from under the hood, blanketing the windshield.
“Shit!”
The engine sputtered, then died. The radio and head-lights died with it. Their speed decreased from forty miles an hour to five. They’d rolled a few more yards and then came to a halt. Another car horn blared behind them, the driver impatient. Tyler tried turning on the emergency blinkers, but they didn’t work.
“Motherfucker.” He opened the door, got out, and waved the other car around them. Then he ducked back into the station wagon and pulled the hood latch.
“Stay in here,” he said, then stomped off to the front of the car.
And now here they were—broken down in the middle of the hood.
Tyler’s fault.
Kerri shook her head and sighed.
“Shit happens,” Javier grumbled again.
Heather nodded in agreement. “He just had to go to Camden tonight. If he’d listened to us, we’d be on the turnpike by now.”
“Maybe we should go out and help him,” Brett suggested. “I mean, Tyler doesn’t know shit about cars. Dustin was always the motor head. What’s he gonna do out there?”
Kerri frowned. “Tyler said to stay in the car.”
“Screw that,” Brett said. “It’s hot in here, and there’s no way I’m rolling the windows down.”
“You’re afraid to roll the windows down,” Heather said, “but you’d rather stand outside with Tyler?”
“Yeah,” Javier said. “What’s that about, bro?”
Smirking, Heather adopted a baby-talk tone. “He knows Tyler will beat up the big bad gangbangers if they mess with us. He’s afraid.”
Brett’s ears turned red. Instead of responding, he opened the door and got out.
“You know,” Stephanie said, turning to Heather. “That was a real bitch move.”
Heather’s smile died. “I was just kidding.”
“Well, Brett’s sensitive. You know that.”
Sighing, Javier and Heather got out of the car to apologize to Brett. Stephanie remained seated, rummaging through her purse. She pulled out a pink cell phone and flipped it open. The display glowed in the darkness.
“Who are you calling?” Kerri asked.
“My parents. They’ve got Triple A. They can send a tow truck for us.”
“Hold off on that. Let’s just wait a minute and see what’s wrong with the car first.”
“Screw that,” Stephanie said. “I’m not sitting around here waiting to get mugged. Have you taken a look outside? It’s like Baghdad out there.”
Kerri rubbed her temples. A headache was forming behind her eyes.
“Please, Steph? Let’s just wait a few minutes. If you call them now, you’re just going to piss Tyler off even more.”
“I don’t care.”
“I know you don’t, but you’re not the one who has to deal with him when he’s angry. Please? Do it for me?”
Stephanie shook her head. “I don’t know why you put up with that shit. If Brett treated me that way, I’d have dumped him a long time ago.”
“Brett lets you walk all over him. He’s done that since middle school. He’s a pushover.”
“Maybe. But he’s sweet, and he treats me the way I deserve to be treated. He respects me. Like I said, I don’t know why you put up with Tyler. He doesn’t respect anyone or anything. Not even himself. ”
“I won’t have to put up with it for much longer. Once I’m at Rutgers, things will be different. We’ll drift apart.”
“Why not just break up with him now?”
Kerri paused before answering. “Because I care about him, and I don’t want to hurt him. I’m afraid of what he might do if I did.”
“To you?”
“No. Not to me. To himself.”
Stephanie didn’t respond. She quietly closed her cell phone and stuffed it back into her purse.
Kerri murmured, “I don’t think Tyler likes himself very much.”
“You think?” Stephanie’s tone was sarcastic. “What was your first clue?”
“It’s so easy for you, isn’t it? Pretty little Stephanie, who gets everything she wants. Some of us don’t have it that easy, Steph. You’re supposed to be my best friend. I don’t need that shit from you. You gave Heather shit for picking on Brett, but then you’re going to turn around and do it to me?”
Scowling, Kerri opened the passenger door and stepped out into the street. Stephanie quickly followed her, offering apologies. They joined the others huddled around the open hood. The guys were peering down at the engine intently. Steam rose from the radiator. The motor smelled of oil and antifreeze. Heather was smoking a cigarette. Kerri bummed one from her. Stephanie made a disgusted sound when she lit up.
Tyler raised his head and looked at them. “I thought I told you guys to stay in the car. Doesn’t anyone ever listen to me?”
“It’s hot in there.” Stephanie tossed her head. “Want me to call my parents? They’ve got Triple A.”
“No.” Tyler returned his attention to the engine. “We can figure this out.”
“You’re doing a great job so far.”
Tyler’s knuckles curled around the car’s front grille, clenching tightly. Kerri and Brett both motioned at Stephanie to be quiet. Another cloud of steam drifted up from the engine.