Page 77 of The Glass Girl

There’s nopath.I could run into a cactus, get needles in my sweatpants. Fall and crack my head open. Are there tarantulas out here?

I look back at the kids with the animals. They’re kind of laughing. That guy Phil, the one from the first day, is with them. He puts his hands on his hips, watching me.

“Go, go, go!” the kids chant.

I don’t like people looking at me, and I can’t tell if the kids are being encouraging or mean. One of them has a shaved head and is covering her mouth, she’s laughing so hard. I start running just to get away from them.

Billy is a black-hooded blip far ahead of me. I can’t evensee Chuck anymore. What if I get lost? My lungs start burning right away. I land on a stone and almost twist my ankle. The bouncing of my body makes my face shake, and it pulsates with pain.

I can feel rivulets of sweat running down my back. Up ahead, Billy seems to have gained his balance. He’s figured out how to move his arms in time with his legs. I’m like a flailing baby bird.

I stop, put my hands on my knees. Drops of sweat sting my eyes. I feel like I’m going to die. Maybe I should just lie down and die in the desert. I cannot do this. I don’t want to do this.

I hear footsteps and pull myself back to standing, turn around.

It’s Brandy, hair flying in her face, in matching pink sweatshirt and sweatpants, winter hat, and sneakers, stumble-running, face splotchy red.

When she reaches me, she pants, “Never. Leave. A. Man. Behind.”

She grabs the fabric of my sweatshirt and pulls me forward with her.

—

I don’t know how long it takes us to finally catch up to Chuck, but when we do, he’s casually perched on a boulder, drinking from his water bottle. Billy is flat on his back on the ground beside him, looking like he’s going to throw up.

“Fancy meeting you here,” Chuck says, grinning.

“Sadist,” Brandy says. She collapses next to Billy. “Do you have water for us, at least?”

Chuck shakes his head. “Nope. You should have thought of that yourself.”

“You should have told us,” I say.

“I’m not here to hold your hand,” Chuck says, pulling a cloth from his pocket and wiping his face. “Somehow all of you figured out how to lie and steal and cheat and keep secrets so you could keep getting high or drunk or whatever, but you can’t remember a basic function like bringing water if you exercise? That’s on you. You need to learn how to take care of yourself in a good way. You lost that somewhere. Maybe you’ll get it back here.”

“Unlikely,” Brandy says. Her neck is shiny with sweat.

Chuck stands up. “Ready?”

“I can’t,” I say. “Running, it hurts my face. I don’t think I should be doing this.”

He guffaws. “You don’t run with your face, girl. You run with your legs. Stay here if you want. I’m headed back.”

“Wait,” I say. “I need to rest longer.”

“Time’s up,” Chuck says, checking his watch. “Like I said, stay here if you want, but I’m headed out. Isn’t it a beautiful day for a run?”

“No,” Billy moans from the ground. “It is not.”

“But how will I get back?” I say, looking around. “I don’t know where we are.” We’re pretty far out. I can’t see the buildings of Sonoran Sunrise anymore. There’s no path; Chuck just ran wherever he wanted and we followed.

He takes off, calling over his shoulder, “Figure it out.”

Billy quickly gets up and runs after Chuck.

Brandy wipes her face with a sleeve of her sweatshirt. “I’m not sticking around here. I don’t want to get lost. I want to go home.”

“That’snotour home,” I say.

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