“Denise,” Robert said, but it was all he got out before she spun on him.
“Why did you two walk in together?” Denise said, her words short and clipped. If she had a shovel, like that day with the snake in our backyard, there might be two of Robert right now. “Did you know he was back and not tell me? Who are these people? How do they know Ben? Someone please tell me what the hell is going on!”
“I’ll explain everything once we’re away from here,” I said tentatively, not wanting to spark a second attack. “I promise. But if we don’t go—right now—we’re going to be in a lot of trouble.”
For a moment I thought the blows would start again. Then she looked at Robert, who simply nodded, and some of the fight left her. Reluctantly.
“We need to take your car,” I said. She walked past me into the kitchen to grab her keys off a hook above the counter as if I wasn’t even there.
“What will we tell the neighbors?” Robert asked, peering out the front window at the close to two dozen people congregating like groupies waiting for their favorite rock star to emerge from backstage.
“Tell them I’m your cousin and got hurt when the car crashed through the door, and you need to take me to the hospital.”
“Half those people still remember what you look like,” Denise said, as if explaining an exceptionally difficult math problem to an exceptionally stupid child.
“I’ll keep my head down.”
She made a face that expressed how little she thought of that solution but didn’t argue. We went one by one through the tight space between the van and the disfigured doorframe, hopped off the porch that no longer had working stairs, and piled into the Chevy. I had my arm wrapped around Robert’s shoulders and my head tucked low behind his jacket.
“Robert,” the same guy called out, “everybody okay?”
“Yeah,” he replied, not looking up. “Just need to get this guy to a hospital!”
“Who is he?”
“Cousin!”
There was a follow up question, but it was cut off as we slammed the Chevy’s doors shut. Robert sat behind the wheel, Denise next to him. Maggie and Ethan were in the middle row, while Erica and I crammed into the two seats in the very back. The windows were tinted, so I was able to gawk at the gawkers without them knowing as we drove away.
There was Don, whose daughter used to play with Maggie when their school closed on snow days. They’d build entire Frosty families on our front lawn, then come in for hot chocolate and Denise’s chocolate chip cookies, which were famous throughout the neighborhood. Vicki and Shane, whose once cute little puppy had grown into a full-sized Lab that stood obediently by their feet, despite all the commotion around it. Walt, our next-door neighbor, was nowhere to be seen, but he worked nights. Assuming he hadn’t been replaced in the last ten years by a new next-door neighbor. There were other faces I didn’t know, and more I thought I did but couldn’t be sure. Age, poor lighting, and a few quick seconds did not make for the best conditions to identify old acquaintances.
The sirens were louder as we turned the corner. No visible lights yet, but there would be soon. Robert zigzagged through a few side streets to get to the main road, doing his best to avoid any of the more likely routes the first responders would take to get to the house. When we turned left at the traffic light onto Woodlane Road, the sirens were behind us, buried somewhere in the neighborhood’s labyrinth.
The highway was ten minutes away if we made all the traffic lights. I expected his phone to ring before we reached the on-ramp, and I wasn’t wrong.
“Hey Jimmy,” he said into it. “Who called you?” His voice sounded strange to me, but that was likely just my nerves. And the loss of blood. Once we pulled out of the driveway, Erica had taken an extra shirt out of her duffel bag and pressed it against my leg to slow the bleeding. It worked, but I’d still lost enough to begin feeling woozy.
“Yeah, we’re okay.”
There was a pause while Jimmy spoke. I saw Robert’s eyes flick up at the rearview mirror.
“On our way to the hospital.”
Another pause.
“The two guys they found weren’t the only ones who got shot. My cousin was visiting and he took a round in the leg.” He thought for a second then added, “Maggie got grazed too.”
Pause.
“No, I think she’s okay, but my cousin’s bleeding pretty bad. We wanted to get him to the hospital as soon as possible. Didn’t want to risk waiting for an ambulance.”
Longer pause.
“No idea, man. They came crashing through the front door then all hell broke loose.”
Pause.
“No, I’ve still got my piece on me.”
Another long pause.
“I will. As soon as we get Mags and my cousin squared away at the hospital, I’ll give you a call and explain everything. I promise.”
Pause.
“Virtua, the new one in Marlton.”
Short pause. His eyes flicked to the rearview mirror again.
“Yeah, sure. Meet me there.”
Pause.
“See you soon.” He hung up and put the phone in a tray by the gear shift in the center console.
“So what happens when he gets to Virtua and we’re not there?” I asked.
“He’ll call me back, and I’ll tell him the truth.”
