quarters,’
Steve said. ‘That was a ten.’
Tina closed her eyes and blew smoke at the ceiling.
Eleanor closed her eyes, too.
She tried to think about what she should do next, but nothing came to her. The music on the car radio switched from Sabbath to ACDC
to Zeppelin. Steve sang along; his voice was surprisingly light.
‘Hangman, hangman, turn your head a while …’
Eleanor listened to Steve sing song after song over the wet hammer of her heartbeat. The beer can went warm in her hand.
i know your a slut you smell like cum She stood up. ‘I’ve got to get out of here.’
‘God,’ Tina said, ‘relax. He won’t
find
you
here.
He’s
probably already at the Rail drinking it off.’
‘No,’ Eleanor said. ‘He’s going to kill me.’
It was true, she realized, even if it wasn’t.
Tina’s face was hard. ‘So, where you gonna go?’
‘Away … I have to tell Park.’
Park
Park couldn’t sleep.
That night, before they’d climbed back into the front seat of the Impala, he’d taken off all of Eleanor’s
layers
and
even
unpinned her bra – then laid her down on the blue upholstery.
She’d looked like a vision there, a mermaid. Cool white in the darkness, the freckles gathered on her shoulders and cheeks like cream rising to the top.
The sight of her. She still glowed on the inside of his eyelids.
It was going to be constant torture now that he knew what she was like under her clothes – and there wasn’t a next time in their near future. Tonight was another fluke, a lucky break, a gift …
‘ Park,’ someone said.
Park sat up in bed and looked around dumbly.
‘ Park.’ There was a knock at the window, and he scrambled over to it, pulling back the curtain.
It was Steve. Right behind the glass, grinning like a maniac. He must be hanging from the window ledge. Steve’s face disappeared, and Park heard him fall heavily onto the ground. That asshole.
Park’s mom was going to hear him.
Park opened the window quickly and leaned out. He was going to tell Steve to go away, but then he saw Eleanor standing in the shadow of Steve’s house with Tina.
Were
they
holding
her
hostage?
Was she holding a beer?
Eleanor As soon as Park saw her, he climbed out the window and hung four feet from the ground – he was going to break his ankles.
Eleanor felt a sob catch in her throat.
He landed in a crouch like Spider-Man and ran toward her.
She dropped the beer on the grass.
‘Jesus,’ Tina said. ‘You’re welcome. That was the last beer.’
‘Hey, Park, did I scare you?’
Steve asked. ‘Did you think I was Freddy Krueger? You think you was gonna get away from me? ’
Park got to Eleanor and took her arms. ‘What’s wrong?’ he asked. ‘What’s going on?’
She started to cry. Like, majorly cry. She felt like herself again as soon as he touched her, and it was horrible.
‘Are you bleeding?’ Park asked, taking her hand.
‘Car,’ Tina whispered.
Eleanor pulled Park against the garage until the headlights had passed. ‘What’s going on?’ he asked again.
‘We should get back to the garage,’ Tina said.
Park
He hadn’t been in Steve’s garage since grade school. They used to play foosball in here. Now there was the Camaro up on blocks and an old couch pushed against the wall.
Steve sat at one end of the couch and immediately lit a joint.
He held it out to Park, but Park shook his head. The garage already smelled like a thousand joints had been smoked in here, then put out in a thousand beers.
The Camaro was rocking a little bit and Steve kicked the door.
‘Settle down, Mikey, you’re gonna knock it over.’
Park couldn’t even imagine a turn of events that would have led Eleanor
here
–
but
she’d
practically dragged him into the garage, and now she was huddled against him. Park still thought maybe they’d kidnapped her. Was he supposed to pay ransom?
‘Talk to me,’ he said to the top of Eleanor’s head. ‘What’s going on?’
‘Her stepdad is looking for her,’ Tina said. Tina was sitting on the arm of the couch with her legs in Steve’s lap. She took the joint from him.
‘Is that true?’ Park asked Eleanor. She nodded into his chest. She wouldn’t let him pull far enough away that he could look at her.
‘Fucking stepdads,’ Steve said.
‘Motherfuckers, all of them.’ He burst into laughter. ‘Oh, fuck, Mikey, did you hear that?’ He kicked
the
Camaro
again.
‘Mikey?’
‘I have to leave,’ Eleanor whispered.
Thank God. Park backed away from her and took her hand. ‘Hey, Steve, we’re going back to my house.’
‘Be careful, man, he’s been driving around in that shit-colored Micro Machine …’
Park bent to clear the garage door. Eleanor stopped behind him. ‘Thank you,’ she said – he would swear that she was talking to Tina.