Jimmy (14 page)

     “I could make you some eggs,” her mother said as Megan franticly looked through the cabinets.

    
“Mom,
I don’t have time for eggs.”  She whipped open the cupboard again and looked at the cereal selection.  Nothing.  She slammed it shut.  “There’s nothing to eat.”

     “How about some grapes?”

     “Grapes?  That’s not enough food.”  God, her mother’s help was only making things worse.

     “Toast.”

     “Not enough.  I want Frosted Mini Wheats.  Why does Tim always eat it all?”  When her brother ate cereal he would fill the bowl to the brim and then top it off completely with milk.  Five minutes later he would grow full and dump most of the cereal down the garbage disposal, wasting it.  This pissed her off, especially since she would now have to go to school hungry and her stomach would be growling all day.

     It began at ten.

     She was sitting in Calculus, listening to the teacher droll on, when suddenly her stomach noisily cried out for food.  Petrified, Megan slammed her fist down into her gut to stop the noise.  The damage had been done, however, and everyone knew it was her.

     A few moments later it happened again.

     She looked around to see if anyone had noticed.  No one was looking at her but she knew they had all heard.  God, it was so embarrassing.    

     How far could the sound travel?

     She wanted to shrivel up and disappear.

     There were a few more roars from within before Calculus was finally over.  Unfortunately she still had World Literature and knowing the bitch Mrs. Gliek she would get a detention for her stomach noises because they would be disrupting the class.

     That didn’t happen, though her stomach was continuing to growl angrily.  Thankfully this was the last class before lunch so she thought the worst of the day was almost over.

     This wasn’t the case, but she wouldn’t realize that until later. 

     “Hey Megan,” a voice said.

     Megan turned and saw Steven Charlton coming toward her in the hallway, his class - American Politics - having just gotten out as well.  “Hey Steven, how you holding up?”

     “Okay, I guess.  I was just wondering if you’ve heard from Samantha at all or if your Dad has learned anything.”

     “No, nothing really.  My Dad says he can’t do anything until she’s been missing for a few days, and even then he thinks she left and went to Hollywood or something.”

     Steven’s face twisted while he shook his head.  “Samantha didn’t want to go to Hollywood.  Why does everyone keep saying that?”

     “Because of Misty all those years ago,” Megan said.  In 2005 a girl named Misty had dropped out of high school on her eighteenth birthday and left for California to become an actress.  Instead of being in blockbuster movies, however, she could be found moaning and groaning all across the Internet in a series of low budget porn videos.  It had been quite a scandal, one which caused her parents to leave town, their shame too great.  “Everyone thinks all girls want to be actresses and will throw their lives away to try and become one.”

     “But that wasn’t - ”

     “I know she wouldn’t do something like that,” Megan said. 

     “You know, if something happened to her and she was kidnapped or attacked, your Dad is losing time.  I watch these crimes shows on TV when I can’t sleep and they say the first twenty four hours is the most important and your Dad hasn’t even started to look for clues.”

     Megan thought about something for a second and asked, “You two would almost always talk to each other after school, right?”

     “Yeah,” Steven said.  “It usually took her like twenty minutes to get home, so I’d always give her a chance to get settled.  Sometimes we would go out too.  I would swing by and pick her up and we’d get ice cream or something, but this week she didn’t want to do that at all because she worried about not fitting in her prom dress.” 

     Megan saw emotion in his face when he said this and grew even angrier at her father for not doing any investigating, especially knowing Samantha would not want to miss the prom.  “Did she answer when you called?”

     “No.  At first I thought maybe it was taking her longer to walk home, but then when she didn’t answer the second time I just figured she didn’t want to talk.”  He shook his head.  “I should have known something was wrong and headed over there, but - ”

     “It’s not your fault,” Megan said.  “And whatever happened I don’t think it happened to her at her house.  I think something happened while she was walking home from school.  You know, like someone grabbed her from the side of the road or something.  There is that stretch by the old Hood place that is pretty much deserted.  If someone saw her there walking alone they could have just - ” she saw Jimmy Hawthorn standing there listening to them and turned to him.  “You walk by the old Hood place on your way home from school, don’t you?”

     “Um, no,” Jimmy said.  “I’m a few streets over and that road curves the wrong way.”

     “Oh, for some reason I can picture you by that house.”

     Jimmy shrugged.  “I ride my bike sometimes, so maybe you saw me over there.”

     “Hum, maybe that’s it,” Megan said.  She then asked, “That area is pretty wooded, right, so do you think someone could have grabbed her from there without anyone seeing?”

     Jimmy shrugged again.  “Maybe, though why would someone do that?”

     “Because there are some sick motherfuckers out there who can’t get a girl on their own who - ”

     The bell rang, cutting Steven off.  Right before it rang, Megan thought she saw Jimmy glare at Steven, though maybe it wasn’t so much a glare as a moment of surprise by how quickly he had lashed out at his suggestion.  Whatever the reason she didn’t think too much of it right then or there.  Later she would, but by then everything would make perfect sense. 

*  *  *

     “I saved you a seat,” Tina said with a smile as Jimmy came toward their side of the table, one, which, as usual, they had to themselves.  When he didn’t reply to the joke she asked, “What’s wrong?”

     Jimmy shook his head.  “Oh nothing, I just got caught up back there.  It’s nothing though.  How are you doing today?”

     “I’m okay,” she said, her mind desperately wanting to tell him about what Rebecca was doing, but knowing he probably didn’t want to hear all about her problems.  “I looked at dresses yesterday.”

     “Oh,” Jimmy said.  “That’s cool.  I’m probably going to go get a tux later today.  What does the dress look like, or is it supposed to be a surprise?”

     “Hum, it doesn’t have to be a surprise, but maybe I should keep it one.”

     “Very well, then I won’t tell you what my tux is going to look like.”

     Tina laughed. 

     “I should ask though, what are your favorite tie-dye colors.”

     “What?”

     “For my tux,” Jimmy said.  “I was thinking about tie-dying it, but need to know what colors you like.”

     “Have you ever seen a rainbow?” Tina asked.

     “Um, I believe so,” Jimmy said.  “One of those colorful things after a thunderstorm, right?  Pot of gold at the end if you can find it?

     “Exactly.  Well, I don’t like any of those colors.  In fact, the only colors I like are white and black.” 

     “Ah, I see.  Black was actually my first plan, but if that didn’t work I would go with the tie-dye.  Unless you mean a black and white tie-dye?  That would look pretty cool, though people might get dizzy if you spin me on the dance floor.”

     Tina smiled.  “It’s usually the other way around.”

     “What is?”

     “The guy spins the girl.”

     “Oh.”  He shrugged.  “I’ve never danced before.”

     “Me either.”

     The two talked for the rest of lunch and then during gym class as well, the random spread of topics helping keep Tina’s mind off her mother and the frustrating situation she had found herself in.    

*  *  *

     “Hey, sorry about this morning,” Alan said to Jimmy once Tina had disappeared into her house.  “I couldn’t resist.”

     “Oh, don’t worry about it.  Mom was bound to find out about her soon anyway.”  Jimmy sighed.  “I just wish they wouldn’t make such a big joke about it, you know.  It’s like they think me dating someone is cute.”

     “Like ‘ah, Jimmy has a girlfriend’ kind of thing,” Alan said.

     “Yeah.  It drives me crazy.”

     “I know, but what can you do about it?”

     “Nothing.”  He took a sip of Coke while saying this.

     “Hey let me have some of that,” Alan said.

     Jimmy handed over the Coke and watched as his brother chugged a third of it before handing it back.  “Thanks man, I was dying of thirst and couldn’t watch you drink that thing all the way home.  I’ll spot you one tomorrow after school.”

     Jimmy shrugged and then took another gulp. 

     “Sounds like you two are getting excited about prom?”

     “Yeah, we are,” Jimmy said.  “I’m a little nervous though.”

     “How come?”

     “Well, I’ve never been on a date before and I’m not really sure what is expected of me, especially with it happening at prom,” Jimmy said.  He then took a sip of Coke.

     “It’s no big deal really.  All you do is dance, eat some cookies, and drink punch.  You two could probably go to dinner too if you wanted before the dance.  A lot of guys take their dates out beforehand.”  Alan almost said he could also get laid afterward, but decided not to mention that.  He doubted Jimmy would make a move on Tina, and even if he did, Alan didn’t really want to think about it.

     “Still, this is like the biggest night of a girl’s life up until her wedding, you know, and what if I screw up.”

     “There’s nothing to screw up,” Alan said. 

     “How do you know, you’ve never been to a dance before.”

     “I know, but . . .” Alan didn’t really know what to say.  “It’s not going to be as intense as you think.”

     The two went quiet after that.

     “Do you think a lot of people will make a big deal out of me being there?” Jimmy asked after nearly a minute.  “I know no one really makes fun of me anymore, but I can’t help thinking they will think it’s strange that I’m there, especially since I’ve never gone to any of the dances or games before.”

     Alan shook his head.  “No one will care.  Everyone will be so focused on their date and hoping they don’t make a fool out of themselves that they won’t even notice you, unless . . .”

     “Unless what?” Jimmy demanded.

     “Unless Tina is wearing something really hot, like so hot that other guys have to hide their boners.  Then you’ll be in trouble because all the girls will get jealous and come after you two.”

     “Shut up.”

     “Really, it’s happened before.  Girls go crazy when other girls out shine them and it gets messy.  I’ve read about it in
Newsweek.
”

     Jimmy shook his head and said, “What if I disappoint Tina and she doesn’t have any fun?”

     “Jimmy, she likes you,” Alan said his voice once again serious.  “You can see it in her eyes when she is looking up at you.  Just act like yourself when around her and everything will be okay.  Trust me.  She’ll have the time of her life.”

     The two stopped at an intersection and waited for a few cars to pass.  While standing there Jimmy looked to his right and thought about the Hood place and how two days earlier he had been rushing that way through the woods to get a good spot ahead of Samantha who would have been crossing the same street down there at Lambert.  Less than a mile from there was the Hood place.

    
Less than a mile from here Samantha is still hanging from her wrists.

     Jimmy knew he had to let her down soon.

     Without warning he watched as Megan Reed appeared on the side of the road over there and waited to cross. 

     Alan noticed him looking and said, “What is it?”

     “Oh, I’m just wondering what she’s doing over there since the sheriff lives on the other side of town.”

     “Probably retracing that girl’s steps, you know, the one that disappeared,” Alan said.  “She lived down over there somewhere and that girl - that’s the sheriff’s daughter, right?”

     “Yeah,” Jimmy said.

     “Well she’s been talking like crazy at school and says she is certain something happened to her while walking home and was going to start looking around herself to see if there were any clues.”

     “Okay, that just seems weird.”

     “I know, but she may have a point.”

     “What do you mean?”  Jimmy asked.

     The two started crossing the street. 

     “Well I think something had to happen to that girl, but I don’t think she was kidnapped.  I think her and her boyfriend probably had a fight or something - maybe he even tried to screw her and she fought back or something and he accidentally hurt her - and now her body is lying out there in the woods.  You read about things like that all the time.”