Erik's mom prepared the guest bedroom for me to stay in. For the rest of the day after dinner I just laid down on the bed thinking about everything that had happened, Pete, my brother, Jackson Pierce. What was going to happen if my brother gets sent away. I don't wanna become some orphan. Before I knew it was dark out. I decided to get up out of bed and step outside for smoke. To my surprise Erik had had the same idea.
"Couldn't sleep?" He asked.
"Yea, I just needed to puff on a cigarette for a bit."
'Erik," I said softly, "I ain't gonna get taken away and thrown in no boys home if Jason gets sent to prison."
"Then don't," Erik replied. "We're in a town in the middle of nowhere. Just make a run for it."
"What are ya sayin' Erik? I can't just run, I'd get caught for sure."
"Like hell you would. You ain't wanted or nothin'. You're just some orphaned kid, not a criminal. Listen, Jonah, I finally got my truck running so I'll drive you to the next town over in the morning, but that's as far as I can take you bud."
"Thanks man."
That night I couldn't sleep a wink. I was cold and tired and I just wanted to be in my own bed. Finally, around 5am Erik woke me up.
"Come on man let's get outta here, before my parents wake up. I left a note on the kitchen that we were gonna go out for breakfast before school. They won't suspect a thing."
As we walked outside to the garage where Erik had his truck parked, I couldn't keep from thinking what would happen to my brother. I mean he was always a stand up guy and never broke the law, at least not since dad left and he started his career. I guess money had been tight though, and Jason did used to do drugs back in the day. "Nah," I thought as I shook my head, "There has to be some reasonable explanation."
We got to the garage and we're surprised to find Sally waiting around the corner.
"Where do think y'all are goin?" She asked.
"None ya beeswax," Erik replied with a grin. "How'd ya know we were leaving anyways?"
"Oh, a girl has her ways. Besides, I've known you two knuckleheads for a long time. I figured y'all would be up to something. Sorry to hear about your brother Jonah."
"It's fine." I replied while staring at the floor and otherwise keeping absolutely silent.
"I figured y'all we're running outta town, right?"
"What's it to ya?" Erik asked.
"So I was right. Y'all are running away. Well, I'm goin with.
"Fine, whatever." Erik said with a sigh and shrugged his shoulders, knowing better than to argue with Sally.
We all climbed into Erik's rusty ol' Ford Bronco that barely started and we were headed off somewhere that none of us knew.
We were free. We were the Junkyard Kids.
As we drove through town I thought about everything I would be leaving behind. Was I making the right decision? All I knew was that I was scared and I absolutely did not want to be thrown into a boys home if Jason goes to prison. Maybe I was jumping the gun though. Sure Jason was in on the whole drug thing with Pete, but maybe the judge would go easy on him. Perhaps he wasn't even involved at all and I had the facts wrong. In any case I wasn't going to stick around to find out.
Suddenly we pulled off to the side of the road just on the edge of town.
"What are you doin?" I asked.
"Jonah," Erik tried not to cry too much. "I'm gonna go with ya, and get outta here. I'm tired of my folks and this shitty town, but I'm scared Jonah." He placed his head on the steering wheel.
"Listen Erik, I'm scared too, but if we're gonna do this thing we just gotta go for it and not look back."
"Alright," Erik wiped his eyes with the back of his jacket sleeve and then put the truck into gear.
"How 'bout some tunes to lighten things up a bit," Sally said with a smile. I had almost forgotten that she had come with us, she had been so quiet in the back seat.
Sally pulled her cassette tape out her pocket and handed it up to me to put in the dash. I placed the cassette into the player and turned it up.
I didn't recognize it.
"Who is this?" I asked.
"It's a group called Saves the Day."
"They new or something?"
"Nah they've been around a while. I think they're first album dropped in '99."
"Cool! I dig it."
I didn't know much about music, especially not obscure or punk shit that Sally jammed out to. Sally was the music gal of the group. She absolutely loved her music.
We kept driving about an hour outside of town and it started getting light out.
"Damn this truck is fucking loud!" I said half asleep.
"Sorry man," Erik answered.
"Where are we goin' anyways?" I asked.
"Oh I don't know. I figure we'll stop for gas in the next town and then continue heading north, maybe all the way to like Omaha or some shit like that."
"Omaha! That's pretty damn far."
"Yea but they ain't gonna follow us there that's for damn sure."
I turned around and Sally was dead quiet, staring out the window.
"How ya doin' Sal?"
"Eh, ya know. I just wanna get outta here. Had a big fight with my parents earlier and I don't think I can ever go back."
I left it at that. She didn't seem like she wanted to talk about it.
I laid my head back to try and fall asleep, despite the loud noise truck bouncin' all over the highway.
The next thing I knew we were stopped at a gas station and Erik was outside sifening gas from the car next to us.
"Hey you kids get outta here!" A man came outside of the convenient store shouting at us. He evidently was the owner of the Buick we were sifening fuel off of.
Erik scrambled in to start the truck and get us the hell outta here, but our detriment the truck wouldn't start.
The next thing we knew the man was standing outside the window with a cop standing next to him.
The officer motioned for us all to get out of the vehicle.
"Where are you kids headed off to?" He asked.
Erik, trying to think of something clever and remembering that there was a meat packing plant in this town, said, "Uh, work. We're on our way to work. At the packing plant."
"Are you sure? You kids look like you should be in school?"
"Nah," Erik said, now feeling clever. "We just graduated last spring."
"Ah, I see. Well in that case I still need to see your IDs if I could please."
Erik reached slowly and nervously into his pocket for his wallet even though he didn't have a driver's license and wasn't near old enough to be driving.
He handed the police officer his learner's permit knowing full well that it wouldn't cut it.
"Son, you're not even old enough to operate this here motor vehicle. You'll have to come with me."
The cop shuffled us one by one into the cop car, Erick trying desperately to explain the situation while Sally and I both remained absolutely silent.
At the police station he put us in a holding cell until he could figure out who we were and who he needed to call to come pick us up.
"These kids with you?" We overheard the officer say, but couldn't see who he was talking to.
"Yes sir, that there is my cousin Jonah, his girlfriend, and his dumbass best friend Erick who decided to steal my truck and go for a joy ride.
The cop walked over to our cell, pulled out his keys and began to unlock it.
"Alright, ya dumb kids. This gentleman here paid your bail, so you're free to go, but don't you go pulling a stunt like that again ya hear me."
"Yes sir," We all said at the same time as we walked out of the cell.
I looked up at the man who bailed us out, rubbed my eyes and stared for a minute. Then suddenly Sally ran up to him and hugged him, saying, "Pete I can't believe you're here. How'd you find us."
"What's up man Erik?"
"Pete! I shouted, "What are you doing here?"
"Come on kids, let's get the hell outta here," he replied to us all.
We walked back to the gas station where the cop had left Erik's truck. He said that it shouldn't be towed yet, because it usually takes a couple hours.
As we were walking back we started asking Pete a million different questions. Finally, he answered one. "I used my fake ID ya numbskulls. How did y'all get arrested anyways? What, you idiots don't know how to take a joy ride and not get caught?"
"We weren't takin' a joy ride," I muttered under my breath.
"We were running away," Erik said.
"Why? Cause Jason and I got arrested. Man you guys are stupid. I got a lay low for a while, but that ain't no reason for y'all to run off too. The cops are tryin' blame me for Jackson Pierce's death, since I did threaten him before I sold him the dope. He supposedly told his daddy that I held him at gunpoint and then the fucker went off and got stoned until he wandered off in front of a train."
"What about my brother?"
"Kid your brother got released yesterday. He ain't bein' charged for nothin' but possession of pot. The cops just think I sold it to him. He'll probably lose his job, but he ain't goin' to jail. I tell ya what though, he's gonna skin ya alive if you don't hurry home."
We arrived at the car and started to climb in. Pete drove since he had the fake ID and he still had the keys that the cop had given to him.
"Why did you tag along Sally?" Pete asked.
"Well ya know I just got tired of my dumbass parents and all their oppressive rules."
"You should be happy to at least have a home and not come home to a drunken loser father everyday like me."
"Pete, why did you fake your death?" I asked.
"Cause of my no good drunken father that's why. I was just fed up with always payin' all his bills and bailin' him out of everything. The only way out from under his thumb was makin' him think I was dead. Besides, I wanna get outta this town anyways, maybe travel a little."
"Really, that's why?" Erik said.
"Well, ya know that and the cops were always on my ass about everything. Not to mention I really did wanna kill that cock suckin' faggot, Jackson Pierce. I figured I could do that after everyone thought I was dead. What are the odds he dies after using the pot I sold him," Pete chuckled.
"That was stupid," Sally spoke up. "Y'all made us upset for nothin'.
"Listen, I had to okay. The cops would've put me in jail for sellin' dope too. That alone was reason enough."
"Fair enough, but I still think you're a big fat ugly jerk, always have," Sally replied.
Before we knew it we were back in town. I was at the front door of my apartment building and taking a deep breath before confronting my brother.