Page 13 of Renegade

I’d torn my shin open again, but I’d done it. I’d taken my old man’s advice and come out of the whole thing no worse for the wear. I opened my mouth and rotated my jaw back and forth—well, only slightly worse than I was before.

My phone rang.

“Mike, where are you? I’m down by your truck.”

I turned away from Patrick and looked over at the sign hidden among weeds. “The fucker jumped me, David. We’re at that old strip club,Captain’s Quarters. You’re gonna have to come get me—my leg’s torn open again.”

David cursed and then told me he’d be right over. Patrick made an odd sound so I hobbled over to him. I hoped David made it here before Patrick decided to wake up. I didn’t think I could take him on again in the shape I was in.

Headlights illuminated the parking lot as David pulled up. He jumped out and ran over. “Holy shit, you knocked him out?”

I nodded. “Should we move him back into his Jeep?”

Patrick made a gurgling sound as bloody foam leaked out of his mouth. I’d never knocked a guy out before, but I was pretty sure that wasn’t normal. We’d only taken a couple of steps toward him when he started convulsing violently.

I looked at David in horror. “Fuck! What do we do?”

Patrick’s body shook for another minute before it finally came to a stop. My shoulders relaxed and I took a deep breath.

“Thank God.”

David leaned down over him. “Uh, Mike. We’ve got a problem—he’s not breathing.”

I pushed through the shin pain and hunched down next to David. “What do you mean he’s not breathing? Why isn’t he breathing? Fucking do something, David.”

He shot me an incredulous look. “What the fuck am I supposed to do, Mike? How hard did you hit him?”

I grabbed onto Patrick’s shoulders and shook him, but got no response. Blood ran from the side of his mouth and I knew I was in deep shit.

David started pacing. “We could drop him off in the ER—explain what happened. You’re gonna have to get your shin fixed up again.”

I nodded. “Okay, let’s get him in the back of your truck.”

We lifted him up and carried him back to David’s truck, while I prayed that Patrick would sit up in our arms and tell us to fuck off and that the whole thing had been a joke.

David took the turn toward the hospital. “Stop!” I yelled and he slammed on the brakes. “David, we can’t take him. They’ll arrest me!”

He stared at me incredulously. “What the hell are we supposed to do then, Mike? Leave him in the back of my truck?”

I pulled my phone from my pocket. “Just give me a second.” The phone rang three times before someone picked up.

“Hello?”

I took a deep breath. “Mom, um…I’m in trouble. I need you to come to Galveston.”

“Where are you? I can be there in thirty.” She didn’t ask me for anything other than my location before hanging up. The residual effects of thirteen years with my father were still very much there.

We sat on the side of the road until headlights illuminated the back window. Most teenage boys wouldn’t have called their moms to bail them out, but if anyone was going to understand what I was up against here, it was her.

David was spinning a silver ring on his right hand while staring off at nothing through the windshield.

“David?” He kept staring straight ahead. “David!”

He jumped and then looked over at me, as if he just realized I was in the truck with him.

“She’s here. She’ll fix everything. Don’t worry.”

There was a light rap on the passenger window and I turned back, expecting to see my mom’s face. Instead, I saw the face of a man I’d left behind five years ago.

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