…Maybe I’m totally screwed.
I come to the fence bordering the farmer’s property and clumsily scale the low wooden barrier, ignoring the splinters lodging painfully in my fingertips.
Kieron is right behind me.
I stumble and fall. Quickly, I pull myself back up again as Kieron draws closer, almost upon me now. Suddenly, I’m distracted by the appearance of an elderly man. He’s charging toward us holding something long and skinny in his hand. Blinded by my fear and crushing devastation at the pure insanity of the moment, I keep running toward the man and the house, as Kieron barrels up behind me.
I know there’s no point in continuing. My plan to escape has failed miserably. If anything, I’ve only managed to make things worse. But I keep going, mostly so I won’t have to face Kieron and my mortal shame.
Soon, my body makes the choice for me. I stop, gasping for air. The mile sprint has made my legs feel like spaghetti, and they wobble beneath me. Kieron reaches my side. I push him back, but he doesn’t budge, asserting his place beside me. We notice the old man again. He has been watching us with curious interest up to this point, but now that we’ve stopped, he’s lifting his arms, aiming straight at us.
“Stop right there, or I’ll shoot ya both!” the man yells.
******
Kieron instantly jumps in front of me, his arms held high. I double over, hands on my knees, panting heavily. “Sir, please lower your gun. We wish you no harm,” he says.
The old man scowls and points his shotgun directly at Kieron’s chest. I clutch the back of his sweater, and he presses back against me protectively.
“What are you kids doin’ on my property? This here’s private land. Ain’t no one s’ppose to be here!” His lined face is contorted with rage, his wispy grey hairs wild and unkempt.
“Sir, we apologize. We just had some car trouble back on the mountain, and we were hoping to use your phone.” Kieron’s voice is so calm and professional he sounds more like he’s ordering a pizza than negotiating with an angry man holding a shotgun.
And he’s not even out of breath. How is that possible? Even if he ran miles every day, he should be breathing a little heavy, shouldn’t he?
The old man spits something on the ground and moves closer, giving Kieron a look of disgust. “Don’t look that way to me. Looks like she was runnin’ from ya, and you was chasin’ her.” He bobs his head to me. “Y’all ar’right missy? He tryin’ to force hisself on ya against yer will?”
“No…no...sir,” I gasp, still short of breath. “Nothing like that. Honest. We were driving and ran out of gas. We wanted to get help before it turned dark.”
But I know nothing will help me now. The sun is going to set any moment now, and when it does, my whole world is going to collapse.
The old man shifts his narrowed eyes from Kieron to me. He grunts and lowers his weapon slightly, still wary.
“What’re you two doin’ out this way anyhow? Ain’t no one s’ppose to be up there. You havin’ immoral relations and injectin’ yerself with drugs?” He spits on the ground again and kicks at the dirt with a scruffy boot.
Kieron slowly lowers his arms, and pulls them back and around me. I’m biting my lip so hard I can taste blood. This crazy man doesn’t seem to need a valid excuse to shoot us both. And Kieron’s right in the line of fire, protecting me. If I hadn’t acted like such a psychotic lunatic we wouldn’t be in this position.
If something happens to Kieron because of me...
Please, Lucky…hurry up…we need you…
“No, sir. We were just out for a drive and found ourselves in a bit of trouble is all. I sincerely apologize if we gave you a fright. It certainly was not our intention.” Kieron’s voice is loaded to the brim with charm and grace, but the man is unmoved.
“Well I guess we’ll have’ta see what the cops say about that. You can tell them yer story, why you bein’ places you don’t belong and doin’ Lord knows what to that young girl there…” He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a cell phone.
“Sir, please. Trust me… you don’t want to do that,” Kieron says, sounding like he’s trying not to laugh.
“Don’t you be tellin me what I do and don’t wanna be doin, boy! You hush up and put your hands where I can see ‘em!” He scowls and spits again. Dialing the phone with one hand, he steadies the rifle with the other.
“Sir, please, I’m warning you…you don’t want to do that. Please just let us be on our way.”
“Oh, God. Oh, no” I moan softly behind him. My body trembles uncontrollably, the familiar fire returning. Tears trickle from my eyes.