Souls in Peril (25 page)

“Are you going to speak to me again, or do I have to cut out my tongue and offer it up as a sacrifice?” He
’
d used the line on Em whenever they had an argument and she always smiled. But not Izzy.

“How about I cut it out for you?” she snapped. Max didn
’
t speak to her again until they
got
off the bus.

“C
’
mon, Izzy. I really am sorry.” He tugged playfully on her backpack.

“Move out of the way, Lumpy.” Greg gave Max a shove from behind, sending him sprawling onto his hands and knees. Max noted that he didn
’
t shove him until the bus pulled away. Greg and another kid Max didn
’
t know laughed and
foot
ed away.

Izzy stomped back over and helped him up. “Come on. My dad
’
s not home. We can watch a movie or something.” Max brushed the gravel embedded in his palms off. Not knowing where Izzy lived, Max followed slightly behind her.

Only after she rounded the corner did he realize where they were. He lived, or used to live, three streets over from where they
were
. Izzy crossed a well-manicured lawn and walked to the
garage
.
Izzy was rich. Well, maybe not rich, but her family certainly didn
’
t hurt for money.
She punched
the
code
into the keypad
and they
went
inside.
The door leading into the house was unlock
ed
. She went in, Max followed.
She carefully placed her backpack on a hook by the
back
door, and removed Max
’
s from his back and did the same to his. She took off her shoes and put on a pair of slippers that
sat
by the door.

“You can wear my dad
’
s
slippers
again
. He
’
ll never know.” Max watched a wicked grin cross her face. Clearly she liked the idea of deceiving her father. Max took off his shoes and put on the slippers. They were too small,
pinching his toes as he walked.

“Hungry?” she asked, leading them into a large
,
pristine kitchen. White cabinets, white counter tops, even the appliances glowed white. It reminded him of the white rooms of the holding cells he
’
d been in after the accident. She opened a cupboard and grabbed a box of Oreos, setting them on the counter
, but didn
’
t
take any. Max grabbed a handful of the chocolate cookies. They were his favorite. JD
’
s mom always bought the knock off brand from Wal-Mart, but these were the real deal. He popped one into his mouth and groaned. As he bit into a second one, he realized,
I think I like the knockoff ones better
.
But h
e wasn
’
t a fool. The knockoff may have been marginally better, but these were still terrific. He slipped another one into his mouth as Izzy laughed, setting a glass of milk down in front of him on the counter.

“Aren
’
t you going to have any?” he asked, downing the milk.

“Ha-ha. You know I can
’
t have chocolate. Or milk.” She shook her head as if he were dumber than a stick.

Max put the last of his cookies back in the package.
Crohns
. He
’
d forgotten all about her
Crohns
. He felt like a jerk for inhaling Oreos in front of her. “What can you eat?”

“Not much anymore. Bread
’
s not so bad, as long as it
’
s not whole wheat. Ground beef and rice are okay, too,” she explained, pulling a loaf of bread from the pantry. “I eat a lot of jelly
sandwiches nowadays.”

As she ma
de
the boring sandwich, Max noted how
pale
she
’
d
grown
in
just
the past week. The bones of her wrists protruded sharply and her translucent, blanched skin
looked even waxier
. He stood in silence as she sat at the bar, devouring the sandwich. It broke
his
heart to watch. She was literally starving to death.

“I
’
m guessing the doctors haven
’
t helped you get your
Crohns
under control?” he asked, sitting on a bar stool next to her.

“Nope. But if you listen to my mom it
’
s because I
’
m faking it.” Izzy went to the sink and poured herself a tall glass of water and sat back down next to him.

“If I could change anything in my life, well, besides having Crohns, and of course, my father molesting me, it would be the lies I used to tell.” She shook her head. “Never thought I
’
d pay for those for the rest of my life.”

“
What
?” Shock ran through Max at her words. Her father molested her? Why didn
’
t someone do something?
Did
JD know? Where was her mother?
Queasy, he leaned against the counter.

“Let me guess, you can
’
t remember, right?” She shook her head. “I
’
ll be glad when you get your memory back, JD. I
’
m feeling pretty lonely
nowadays
.”

“I
’
m sorry,” Max said quietly.

“It
’
s okay.” She patted his arm. “I
’
ll give you the short version of my days as a liar and see if we can spark those memories.

“When I turned thirteen
,
I starte
d getting these painful stomach
aches. My mom who, as you know, is not the loving doter like some moms . . . You remember my mom, right?” The painful
expression
on her face that
JD
might not remember even the basic things in her life left him feeling like he had no option. He nodded. Her sigh of relief assured him he
’
d made the right choice.

“Anyway, my mom turned into June Cleaver, you know what I mean? She
got
all loving and sweet. She made me peppermint tea and she watched DVD
’
s with me.” Izzy grabbed another slice of bread and ate it dry as she continued.

“It was nice. Instead of going off with her friends to play tennis, or luncheons with a bunch of stuffed shirts, she spent time with me. Only it didn
’
t last.  After two weeks, the pains stopped as mysteriously as they came, and she went back to her friends.

“I started lying, telling her I was still in pain, hoping she
’
d pay attention to me again. Eventually, the doctor told her there was nothing wrong with me that a good shrink couldn
’
t fix. When I really did get sick with
Crohns
, she didn
’
t believe me, neither did the shrink, at first
,
anyway.

“And when my dad started molesting me a year-and-a-half ago, they both accused me of lying again. She and my dad were having marital problems at the time and when they got divorced six months later, she took my sister and moved to California. My mom said she couldn
’
t deal with my neediness, so she left me here.” Izzy shrugged
a
shoulder. Max could see the pain on her pale features. “That
’
s my life in a nutshell. Did it spark your memory at all?”

Max reluctantly shook his head. “Izzy, no one believes you about your dad?” Max struggled to understand.

“When my mom didn
’
t believe me, I sort of shut down, you know. After your own mother tells you she doesn
’
t want you around because you
’
re too needy, it does something to you, JD.” She turned to face him. “Besides, the kids at school already think I
’
m a freak. I certainly didn
’
t want to be known as the freak whose father is a pervert
,
too.

“
The code:
Trust only each other,
‘
cuz no one else cares.
You came up with the idea when one of your mom
’
s lovers tried to molest you when you were fourteen. Remember? You told her how her boyfriend Eddy asked you to take a shower with him while she was at work. And what did she say?” Izzy tossed her hands in the air, mimicking his mother
’
s voice
,
“
‘
You misunderstood what he was saying, sweetie.
’
” Izzy stood and jerked the bread off the counter and shoved it forcefully back into the pantry, misshaping the loaf. “Yeah, right. Tell me, JD, what exactly did she think he meant?”

Max stared at her, trying to take in everything she
’
d told him. This whole situation was nuts. Her father needed to be arrested. And JD
’
s mother. What was wrong with that woman?

“Izzy, you need to tell someone. I was wrong about the stupid code. You need—
”

“Wrong? JD, what happened when you told the princi
pal
about the guys who beat you up after school in seventh grade?” She glared at him incredulously before proceeding to answer her own question. “They got two more guys to join them and they beat you up again. It didn
’
t stop them. Remember
in tenth grade
during gym class when Nate and Jared shoved you under the bleachers and tried to close them on you? They were suspended and you mysteriously showed up at school two days later with a broken arm. I
’
m the only one who knows it was Nate that broke it.”

Max
’
s mind reeled the longer she talked. How did these two function? It was pathetic what had been going on and yet no one help
ed
?
They
’
ve
lived an entire lifetime in just seventeen years. “Maybe we
’
re not asking the right people, Izzy.”

Frustrated, she tossed her head back and let out a rush of air. “Who, JD, are the right people? Because I haven
’
t found any yet.”

Emma. She
’
d help.
B
efore the accident changed everything
, wasn
’
t it her plan to befriend JD and Izzy
? But lunch had been a disaster. Maybe she
’
d give up
now
.

No, not Em. Quitting was not in her dictionary.

“Emma McKay has been really nice lately. And Jeff
Morgan
from the baseball team apologized for hitting me in the face with the basketball,” Max pointed out.

“Emma McKay? JD, you killed her boyfriend and his family. She
’
s probably pretending to be your friend so she can set you up for some horrible payback.”

Max
’
s
head started aching as
, yet
again
,
JD
tried to
remember what happened that night. Izzy
’
s
accusation
hurt
JD,
and Max felt bad for his new friend. “I didn
’
t kill them. Max
’
s dad hit a deer and he veered off the road before hitting a sign that flipped the car. Emma
’
s the one that told me about the report.

“I
’
m just saying that maybe I
’
m wrong about the whole
keeping to the code
thingy. There are good people, people like Em, who want to be our friend. I know she
’
d help us. Her dad
’
s a cop. Maybe you could talk to him about what your dad
’
s been doing to you.”

“My father
’
s a lawyer, JD. He knows all the tricks. After I told my mom about
him
, he said I wouldn
’
t stand a chance against him so I
’
d better just keep my mouth shut.” She leaned against the counter and crossed her arms. Max got the impression she wasn
’
t feeling so good. “Actually, he hasn
’
t touched me since he started dating his new legal assistant, Wanda, six months ago. Thankfully, she keeps him occupied.” She smiled weakly. “It
’
s almost over, anyways. Soon no one will hurt us again.”