Chapter16_Framed_500

Chapter 16 / He Had To Be

I told her I remembered the way back to the pool. The girl said she didn’t want me getting us lost and wasting gas, but I didn’t forget a single turn. We drove through the high grass in the parking lot and I didn’t even wait for the car to stop – I jumped out and crawled through the bent place in the wall. I yelled for Danny. But it just echoed back to me. There was no music, no fire. Merridew and the big kids weren’t there. The girl came in behind me. She kept kicking at the trash on the floor and saying, “Fucking nothing here, fucking nothing here.” That’s not true. Danny had to be there. He had to be. I ran to look in our spot. Nothin’. Why’d he move our stuff? The whole time she just kept yelling, louder and louder. “Fucking nothing here!”

16 girl, kid