Page 72 of JoyRide

“So… you took an early out? You made sure you got out before it happened?”

“Something like that. But when I left it was already too late. I cried for days afterwards anyway and I was sorry I left. I missed you and the kids so much. I saved myself the heartbreak of us breaking up, but not the pain of us being apart. In the end, there wasn’t much point to it.”

“Huh, I can never figure out what women are thinking. Probably never will.”

Savanna drove in the lane, circled the house and parked close to the back door. She helped Travis out of her car and in the back door, straight into his bedroom.

“Lie down and let me see the damage.”

“Nah. It’s not nice to look at.”

Savanna helped him lie down on the bed and she sat down next to him and pulled up his shirt. She eased the stained bandage off of the wound and then screwed up her face. “Ooh, that’s nasty. This bandage is about done too. You need a new dressing. Do you have antiseptic cream to put on that mess?”

“Yeah. It’s on the counter in the bathroom. All the gauze and tape is there too. You don’t have to do it. I can do it myself.”

“The bullet hole is in an awkward place for you to see what you’re doing, Travis. I’ll do it.”

After cleaning the damaged area in his side and fixing up the bullet wound, Savanna laid down on the bed next to Travis and pulled the quilt up over both of them. “Time for our nap.”

“I’m ready.” Travis was out like a light.

Shelby Fairgrounds.

Me and Tammy took a break from constantly watching the crowd and ate burgers from the food trucks down at the end of the midway. We sat at the picnic tables watching people go by and decided to stay longer hoping the kids would show up.

It was quitting time and Ted bought burgers and fries to take home to his father before he left. He gave us a wave. “See you guys tomorrow.”

Billy left shortly after Ted, and we told him we’d stay for another couple of hours. We hung around waiting for it to get dark.

“There’ll be a whole different crowd at night,” I told Tammy. “The kids might think they have a better shot of making a score after dark. We can go home whenever you get tired.”

“I’m okay, Harlan. I like it here at the carnival. It’s fun seeing all the happy people and it’s kind of like…not working.”

Tammy made me laugh. She was such a sweet and simple person. I loved her like a sister, and a little more than sister love too.

She wanted me to get myself a girlfriend and I’d gone on a couple of dates. Nothing stuck. Compared to Tammy, the girls seemed so…I don’t know. Silly?

After we ate, we strolled down the midway looking for kids who were sixteen, seventeen, hanging around in groups or in twos or threes.

I’d already decided the next time we came here on a stakeout we wouldn’t wear our uniforms. We stuck out like cops and that was a point against us right from the get-go.

Farther down the midway where the crowd was thicker, I grabbed Tammy’s arm and whispered to her, “Over there by the shooting gallery, I saw a kid filch a wallet. I’m gonna grab him.”

“Show me which one.”

“Red T-shirt and torn jeans. Blond hair.”

“I see him.”

We zoned in on the red shirt, and while we were about to grab him, I saw another kid grab a wallet out of a guy’s back pocket. So slick, the guy didn’t even notice.

Tammy and I grabbed both of them and they hollered and squirmed around like the thieving brats they were. “You guys shut up and suck it up. You’re a couple of thieves and you got your asses caught. Both of you belong in jail.”

“We ain’t done nothing. You can’t prove it, cop.”

We hauled their teen asses to the squad which was parked way out in the middle of the parking field.

No way these kids were the ones we were after. These punks were only fourteen or fifteen at the most. Too young, but there was a chance they might know the other kids or know where thebigger gang hung out.

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