Souls in Peril (30 page)

“I only live ten minutes away. It will be today
’
s incentive to run,” he joked.

“If you
’
re sure.” She nodded, relieved, if he read her face right—and Max knew he did because he knew each and every face she made. She turned back to Izzy. “I hope you feel better. I
’
ll see you at school.”

“I have to go to, baby.”
Kevin
stepp
ed over and kissed the top of her head. Max
’
s hands balled into fists.

“Bye,” was all Izzy said to either of them.

Max
debated
whether to walk
Em to her car to protect her from the snake, but didn
’
t. If the creep did try anything with her, she
’
d set him straight. He gloated proudly at Em as they left.

“Shut the door,” Izzy whispered. Max hurried over to the large door
, pre
ss
ing
it closed
. “Oh, JD, it
’
s not good. They want to do a reroute of my intestines.”

The panic on her face frightened Max. His aunt had to have the same surgery. Her Crohns had gotten so bad they rerouted her intestines to a small plastic pouch that sat outside her body on her stomach. He and the other cousins used to laugh whenever the pouched gurgled as the contents of her stomach dumped into her pouch.

“But it
’
s only temporary, right? I mean, as soon as your intestines heal they can put everything back
properly again
.” At least that
’
s what happened to his aunt.

“JD! What do you think the kids at school are going to do when they find out Icky Izzy craps in a bag?” She sat up straight. Horror ruled her face.

“Izzy, no one will find out. I
’
m not going to tell them, and I know you
’
re not.” He ran his hand up and down her arm, her thin, frail arm, in an effort to comfort her. “You need to do this. You
’
re in pain all the time now.”

She flopped back on her pillow. “The pact is in two weeks. I just need to hold them off for two weeks.”

Max sank into a chair next to her bed. The pact. It
’
d been weighing on his mind, and if it were really only two weeks away, he needed the facts, though his gut told him he wouldn
’
t like it. Or maybe JD didn
’
t like it and Max picked up on that. Either way, he needed to know.

“Okay, Izzy. Tell me about the pact.”

Chapter 1
7

“JD, not now, not here.”
Izzy tugged the sheet up to her chin, pinching her eyes shut.

“Yes. Here and now,” Max demanded. “I think we need to get this out in the open. Unless talking about it will bring on another attack.” He hadn
’
t thought of that.

“It will if you get mad like you always do when we talk about it.” She snapped the sheet down and sat up straight. “Okay, fine.”

Max held up his index finger, signaling her to hold on for a moment. He stood and
took
the curtain dividing the two beds and drew it across, blocking them from the snoring grandma. He positioned himself at the foot of the bed and waited for her to continue.

“On the day of the big game,” she began, then hesitated. “Maybe I should back up a little more. Do you remember the day Nate beat you up? It was about a week before you discovered that dumpster you
’
ve been hiding in.” Max reluctantly shook his head. “Of course not. Anyway, it was pretty bad. You had a dislocated shoulder and you had to go to the ER.”

“And let me guess
.
I didn
’
t tell anyone what happened.”

She shook her head. “Nope.
Keep to the code
. You told them you fell out of a tree in Applegate Park.”

“And they believed that?”

“No, but you stuck to your guns so the hospital staff could do nothing about it. Tim came and got you after they set your shoulder. Tim, being what he is, made fun of you.
You snapped, probably the pain
killers you were on. You cussed him out and started walking home. Well, as you know, no one gets up in Tim
’
s face. He chased you down, demanding you get in the car, but you wouldn
’
t. He freaked out, and shoved you down, kicking you several times. The only thing that saved you was when a cop came around the corner. Em
’
s dad. Oh yeah, I wanted to ask you. Why did you bring her here?”

“As soon as you finish explaining the pact, I
’
ll explain Em,” Max said, sitting back in the chair next to her.

“Fine.” She rolled her eyes. “Tim got scared and
pretended he was helping
you up. When Officer McKay asked if everything was okay, Tim made up some stupid story about you being confused from the meds, and he was trying to get you back in the car so he could take you home and put you to bed. That Tim is one smooth operator,” she said, disgusted. “Officer McKay asked you if that were true, and naturally you said yes. As soon as the cop left, Tim got back in the car and told you to walk home. He said your mom coddles you and that you needed a few good beatings to make a man out of you.

“You came to my house because it was closer. You were a mess, JD. Your arm was in the sling, your hands and knees were scraped up
,
and you had dirt on your jeans from falling. You
’
d been crying,” she
added
softly.

“I never told my mom, did I?” Max couldn
’
t believe JD and Izzy actually thought keeping all of this abuse quiet from everyone was the best thing to do.

“No. So none of this sounds familiar?” Izzy rubbed her face in frustration as Max shook his head. “Anyways, you told me you
’
d found a heavy chain in a deserted lot
a couple days
, you know, the one over off Chestnut by your house?”

“Yes. I know the lot.” He
’
d cut across it whenever he
’
d miss the bus and had to walk home.

“You also bought a padlock.” She stopped, still hoping he
’
d remember. When he said nothing, she continued. “You told me that you
’
d buried it, and
‘
someday soon,
’
” she made quote marks in the air, “you were going to wrap the chain around you and . . . dive into the canal.” Again she stopped, searching his face for a reaction. This time she got one.

“As in suicide?” Max threw his arms up, paced to the door, and back to Izzy
’
s bedside. “The pact is me killing myself.”
Not happening, JD, so forget it!
“I thought you were my friend. Friends help each other, Izzy. You should be encouraging me to keep going, not encouraging me to . . .” Max shoved his hands through his hair.

“JD, that
’
s not the pact. Well, not all of it,” she said quietly.

“There
’
s more? How can there be more? Suicide pretty much puts a damper on more, Izzy,” he shouted.

“They
’
re going to kick you out. You can
’
t yell like that,” she chastised in a harsh whisper. The snoring
granny
in the next bed tossed around before settling back down into her rhythmic snore.

“After you told me about your plan,” she hesitated, “I told you I
’
d been saving up my Percocet and when I had enough, I was going to, umm, take them all at once. I told you if you wanted me to, I
’
d save up enough for both of us, and we could use them together, you know, side by side. Amigos to the end. We could go out together.”

This was getting worse by the second. And JD liked this idea?

“You said we should do it the night of the baseball championship. After the game, when everyone had gone home, we
’
d go out onto the field—”

“Diamond,” Max corrected her automatically, as if it mattered. I
t didn
’
t.

“Diamond, field, whatever, and take the Percocet, then lay down on the fi—diamond and . . .”

“Die, putting a damper on everyone
’
s celebration. It
’
d be
the perfect
payback for all the mean things everyone at school
’
s done to
The Ten
,” Max said quietly, planting his head in his hands.

“You remember,” she said with a smile.

No, but he knew just the same. “Izzy, I can
’
t remember why we agreed not to talk about this until the
‘
big day,
’
” he said, for lack of a better phrase.

“That was your idea. You said if we talked about it, we
’
d chicken out. You made it part of the code.”

He couldn
’
t believe what he
heard
.  And yet he didn
’
t know why the pact surprised him. In the back of his mind he suspected it, but hearing it verbalized brought it into reality. A cruel twisted reality. So why was he even here then? If suicide was the ultimate goal, what purpose did it serve to send him back to earth? So he could experience what it
’
s like to be beaten and hated? To see Em and draw out the pain of knowing she
’
d move on some day, finding someone else to love, and he
’
d be . . . Where? Gabe never did tell him what exactly would happen to him after helping JD. Helping JD to die.

No! He refused. This was why he came back. To stop this atrocity.  He knew JD
’
d grown stronger. The overwhelming depression had subsided somewhat, and he
’
d made new friends. Not just Em, but Jeff too, and others. No, they weren
’
t best of friends, but in time, who knew.

“This is stupid. We
’
re not doing this,” he said firmly.

Izzy bolted upright. “JD, why, suddenly, do you want to live? So your mom
’
s boyfriends can smack you around, or worse, again? Or do you enjoy the daily assaults on the bus? And then there
’
s always hiding in a dumpster full of dog crap to keep from getting your brains beat out. Yes, I
’
m sure you don
’
t want to miss out on that.

“Come on, JD. What do we have to live for? Our lives suck.
No one cares
. If we never stepped foot in that stupid school again, would anyone even notice
The Ten
was gone? No. Not a soul. I
’
m tired. Tired of my father
.
T
ired of the pain
.
I
’
m tired of being alone.” She swiped the tears from her cheeks and sank back onto her pillow.

“You
’
re not alone, Izzy. You have me, and we
’
re making friends. Em, she wants to be our friend. And Greg from the bus, he
’
s got it bad for the new girl, Nancy Daybell. He actually protected me today. True, he hoped to impress Nancy, but it
’
s a start.”

“A start? Until he gets over Nancy
.
T
hen what?” She massaged her abdomen while she spoke. The conversation upset her. His fury only helped add to her pain. He sucked in a long breath to help him bring it down a little.

“Izzy. By us shutting everyone out, we
’
ve closed ourselves off from help. We need to keep reaching out until others start reaching back, like Em and Jeff.” She shook her head. Max walked over next to her and took her hand. “Izzy, we need to tell someone about your dad. He can
’
t be allowed to—”

“No! I couldn
’
t face the kids at school if they found out. It
’
s bad enough living it, JD. Besides, my mom won
’
t take me, so I
’
ll end up in foster care
. W
ho knows what will happen to me there.” She pulled her hand away to rub harder on her stomach.

A nurse came in, interrupting Max
’
s plea. “I
’
m sorry, visiting hours are over. You
’
ll have to leave.” She checked Izzy
’
s IV and adjusted a small plastic valve near her arm.