Hideout Page 13

  “He better get his attitude straight,” Slade grumbled.

  “I’m hungry, anyway,” Fred replied.

  “Jesse better not set foot in that boat,” Slade said. “I’ll kill him and his dog.”

  As we walked I didn’t notice the bird sounds or the cicadas or the mosquitoes. I watched my feet moving up the trail while my ears hummed with fear and my mind raced with escape plans. But I couldn’t think of any way out of the situation. The whole thing seemed like a bad dream that I’d wake up from.

  Why did I come back? Everything was fine. Why did I do this?

  When we broke from the swamp I saw the creek again and Davey’s canoe pulled onto the bank in its usual spot. Then I saw Davey standing on the deck looking out at me, and I breathed a sigh of relief.

  I climbed after the older boys up onto the deck. Slade stepped down onto the dock, got into the Bream Chaser, disconnected the fuel hose, and tied it around his waist like a loose belt. He walked past me and Davey and went into the camp with Fred following. Then I heard Fred inside arguing with Jesse in low voices about something I couldn’t make out.

  I turned and faced Davey. He was staring at me like he’d been watching me the whole time.

  “You shouldn’t have come back,” he said to me, like we’d never been friends at all.

  “I didn’t know,” I said.

  He kept staring at me.

  “I wanted to talk to you,” I said.

  Davey looked at the camp. “Slade,” he called.

  “Yeah?” Slade replied irritably.

  “I need to tell you somethin’.”

  “Then tell me.”

  “Come out here.”

  “I can hear you. Tell me.”

  Davey hesitated. “His dad’s a cop.”

  31

  My heart began to beat heavily at Davey’s words. I felt heat rush to my face.

  Slade stepped out of the camp. He stared at Davey. “What?”

  Davey wouldn’t look at me. “His dad’s a cop,” he repeated.

  Jesse appeared behind Slade in the doorway. “I’m done with all this,” he said.

  Slade spun and shoved him against the door frame, shaking the whole camp. “You’re not done with anything, Jesse!”

  Then Slade glanced at me before turning back to Davey. I saw anger building in his eyes.

  “How long have you known this?”

  “The whole time,” Davey replied with a shaky voice.

  “Why didn’t you say anything?”

  “I … I didn’t think it mattered. Not at first.”

  “Davey didn’t know we were growin’ pot out there,” Jesse said. “He didn’t know anything.”

  Slade kept his eyes on Davey. “Well, he’s known for two days now!” he shouted at him.

  Davey sank to the deck and hugged his knees to his chest like I’d seen him do the day after the storm.

  “My God, don’t start that again,” Slade said.

  “This whole plan of yours is off the rails!” Jesse shouted.

  Slade turned and grabbed him by the throat with one hand. Jesse swung and hit him in the stomach. This only enraged Slade more. He grabbed Jesse’s shirt with both hands, dragged him to the center of the deck, stepped back, and punched him in the face. Jesse staggered and fell. He took a moment to shake it off, then pushed himself up into a sitting position.

  “This has been a screw-up since day one!” Jesse shouted. “You’re gonna get us all arrested!”

  Fred appeared in the doorway with a confused look.

  Jesse started to stand, but Slade kicked him hard in the ribs and he went down again, clutching his side.

  “Come on, Slade,” Fred urged.

  Slade spun and looked at him. “You want some of this, Fred?”

  “No, it’s just—”

  “Shut up, then!”

  “Just let the kid go, man.”

  Slade turned and kicked Jesse again as he was getting to his knees. Jesse went down on his stomach and moaned. Slade watched him, fury boiling in his head. I looked at Davey. He was still balled up, and now he had his hands over his ears.

  “Ain’t nobody goin’ anywhere,” Slade said, still staring at Jesse.

  “Well, what are we gonna do about the kid?” Fred said.

  Slade turned to him. “We’re gonna do just what we talked about. We’re gonna bag a few plants and he’s gonna take it to Walter in his cute little dinghy. And if he screws up, I’m gonna come to his house in the middle of the night and cut his throat.”

  “His dad’s a cop, Slade!” Fred shouted.

  Slade looked at me. “I don’t care what he is. We’re gonna be out of here by the time the kid makes the delivery.”

  “I don’t think it’s a good idea. Why can’t we just do it?” Fred said.

  Slade shook his head and looked down at Jesse like he wanted to kick him again. But Jesse was lying still on his side, holding his ribs and staring off over the creek. Slade shook his head and spit on him. Then he looked at their boat.

  “What about Daddy?” Davey said.

  Slade didn’t answer him.

  “I just can’t get to the end of how stupid you people are,” Slade said. “We got a big grow to haul in and deliver. With a stolen boat. If we get pulled over, we’re screwed. They won’t think twice about the kid here.”

  Fred thought about it for a few seconds and finally nodded.

  Slade turned to him. “So you got that in your thick skull?”

  “Yeah,” Fred said. “I guess you got a point.”

  Slade looked down at Jesse again. “How about you, Jesse? You think you get it now?”

  Jesse didn’t answer.

  “Well, it don’t matter if you get it or not. That’s how it’s gonna be … Nobody leaves until they’ve done their job and I say it’s time to go.”

  “But what about Daddy?” Davey said again.

  Slade spun and looked at him. “Will you shut up about that? He’s not comin’! You know he’s not comin’, so stop askin’ me about it.”

  Davey stared at him with a blank expression.

  “Surely you’re not that stupid,” Slade said.

  “What do you mean, he’s not comin’?”

  “I don’t even know where he is,” Slade said.

  “How can you not know where he is, Slade?”

  “Why would it matter? He never cared about either one of us.”

  “That’s not true,” Davey said.

  “Yeah, well, why isn’t he out here? I thought you’d be gone by the time I got back here. I told him where you were, and he didn’t come get you. So there you have it.”

  “You told him I was out here?”

  “That’s what I said.”

  Davey started to say something, but didn’t. He sat against the outside wall and hugged his knees to his chest and stared over the creek.

  Slade turned and started into the camp. “And don’t start your baby act about it,” he said over his shoulder.

  Fred followed Slade into the camp, and Jesse propped himself up and scooted over and sat against the wall next to Davey.

  “Don’t listen to him,” Jesse said.

  Davey didn’t respond.

  * * *

  The three of us sat there as darkness settled over the swamp, none of us talking, each of us trying to figure a way out of our problems. We strained to hear Slade and Fred inside, discussing their plans, but we couldn’t make out the details. After an hour they came back outside. Fred carried two flashlights, and Slade was no longer wearing the fuel hose around his waist.

  Slade stood over Jesse. “You might as well stay here. Fred and I just voted you out.”

  Jesse looked up at him. “Fine. But I want my share of the fish market money.”

  “Tough crap,” Fred said.

  Jesse looked away and shook his head. Slade stood over him a moment longer, then went to their boat, took the fuel hose from it, and tied it around his waist where the other had been. “Just in case an
y of you get any ideas,” he said.

  Slade came back onto the deck and looked down at Davey. “What about you? You with us or them?”

  Davey looked up. “I’m with you, Slade. I’m always with you.”

  “Well, I’m not so sure.”

  “Don’t say that, Slade,” Davey pleaded.

  “You just remember who’s family and who’s not.”

  “I do,” Davey insisted. “I always do.”

  Slade stared at him for a few seconds. “Good. You stay here, then,” he said. “Keep an eye on these two. Come get me if anybody tries to leave.”

  Davey looked at the deck and nodded.

  “Look at me and say okay,” Slade said.

  Davey looked up at him again. “Okay,” he said.

  32

  As soon as Slade and Fred disappeared up the trail into the swamp Jesse stood up.

  “Hell with him,” he said.

  He went inside, where I heard him scraping about in the kitchen.

  “You want something to eat?” Davey said softly.

  I shook my head.

  “I had to tell him,” Davey said.

  I didn’t answer.

  “I thought if I told him your dad was a cop, then he wouldn’t make you deliver the drugs.”

  I looked at him. “I don’t trust you anymore,” I said.

  Davey swallowed, and I could see that my words hurt him.

  “I don’t want anybody to go to jail,” he said.

  “I don’t think your brother cares what you want.”

  Davey looked at his knees again and didn’t respond.

  Jesse appeared, stuffing the last bite of a sandwich in his mouth. He leaned against the doorjamb.

  “Your dad got out earlier or somethin’. He wasn’t at the prison when Slade went to pick him up.”

  “But where is he?” Davey asked.

  “I don’t know.”

  “Why’d Slade say he was comin’?”

  “At first Slade just lied to you so you’d stop buggin’ him about it. He didn’t know where your dad was.”

  “Why’d he send me out here?”

  “He didn’t know what else to do with you. He got kicked out of his house a month ago. He’s got nowhere to live. He can’t haul you around and let you sleep on his friends’ couches. Then your dad caught up with Slade and found out he’d sent you here. From what I heard, your dad was pretty upset about it and was supposed to come get you.”

  “But he never did.”

  “I guess not,” Jesse said.

  I turned back to Davey. “One of my dad’s friends is a marine policeman. He’s looking for Slade, and he knows y’all are out here somewhere.”

  Jesse shook his head.

  “That’s why I came out here again,” I continued. “To tell you that. And to say you had to come back with me.”

  “Slade knows what to do,” Davey said.

  “Slade doesn’t know crap,” Jesse said. “Slade’s out of control. And as soon as we leave here, he’ll dump you off somewhere else.”

  “Where’s the fuel hose to my boat?” I said. “We three can leave right now.”

  Davey pulled his knees up again and began shaking his head.

  “Where’d he put it, Davey?” Jesse said.

  Davey didn’t budge.

  Jesse went into the camp and I heard him tossing things around. Davey rested his chin on his knees and stared over the creek. Tears welled in his eyes like he couldn’t keep his thoughts from pushing them out.

  After a few minutes Jesse returned. “I can’t find it. But I didn’t see him take it with him.”

  “Come on, Davey,” I said. “Where is it?”

  “Slade’s all I’ve got left,” he mumbled. Tears began rolling down his face. He looked at me. “What if I make him mad, Sam? What if I make him mad and he doesn’t want me to live with him?”

  I watched Davey.

  “Did you hear what I said a minute ago?” Jesse said. “Slade doesn’t have anywhere to live. And even if he did have somewhere to take you, it wouldn’t last. He wouldn’t stick it out for long.”

  Davey wiped the tears from his face. “I’m not goin’ back to a foster home,” he said stubbornly.

  “My mom told me there’s good ones. She knows that because of where she works,” I said. “And I can come see you. And maybe we’ll be in the same school.”

  Davey stared over the creek again. After a moment he got up and went into the camp. He came back with the fuel hose and dropped it before me.

  I grabbed the hose and stood.

  “Let me get my things,” Jesse said.

  I nodded and turned to Davey. “Thanks.”

  Davey didn’t answer me.

  Jesse returned with a backpack over his shoulder and went down to the Bream Chaser.

  “Get in the boat, Davey,” I said.

  “You left your other friend because he embarrassed you,” Davey said.

  “I was wrong. I told him I was sorry.”

  “But that’s how you felt.”

  “I was confused, Davey.”

  “Slade’s all I’ve got.”

  “You have to come with me, Davey.”

  He looked at me for a moment. Then he pulled a small flashlight from his pocket and turned and dropped down into the marsh. He took a few steps up the trail before turning back again. “You better get goin’,” he said.

  33

  Davey was gone into the swamp before I had a chance to argue with him. I figured whatever time he could give us before he alerted Slade to our escape might not be enough. I had a long way to go and a slower boat.

  “Let’s get out of here,” Jesse said. “There’s nothin’ more we can do for him.”

  I hesitated, but I knew he was right. Jesse got onto the front seat and untied us while I started the motor. He shoved us off and I gunned the boat up the dark creek, keeping my navigation lights off, running blind and shooting the gap between the cut in the swamp canopy. The way the tops of the trees patterned against the sky glow was enough to give me a rough estimation of where the middle of the creek was. I thought about Davey, somewhere out there on the trail, with his tiny flashlight, walking toward a horrible fate. It was like he’d died.

  I stared straight ahead into the faint path of this canyon between the trees. I was going home for good now. Leaving all this behind. Finally, there was nothing left for me to do. This swamp camp would always be a dark secret—as if I’d really found the dead body and I could never tell about it.

  But the swamp, suddenly evil and menacing again, wasn’t about to let me go so easily. The boat slammed into something and I was thrown forward. I crashed into the front seat and heard the motor screaming at the night. Then it made a clattering sound and died. After a moment I came to my senses and pushed myself up and pieced it all together. I’d hit the deadhead. Like it had been lying in wait for me all these days. Put there especially for me.

  Jesse wasn’t in the boat. Then I heard something splashing around in the darkness and saw the dark form of a person in the water near the creek bank.

  I crawled to the back of the boat and looked at the motor. It was tilted up at a strange angle, silent and dripping. I looked for Jesse again. I saw him crawling into the marsh.

  “You all right?” he said to me.

  “Yeah,” I said.

  “What happened?”

  “We hit a log.”

  “Is my backpack still in there?”

  I thought it was a strange question. I scanned the front of the boat and saw it lying under the seat.

  “Yeah,” I said. “It’s under the front seat.”

  “Good. Get the boat started again and come get me. Hurry.”

  I reached around behind the motor for the tilt mechanism. My hands shook so much it was hard to grasp it. I finally got hold and lowered the foot of it back into the water. I started the engine and put it into gear. The boat didn’t move. I raced the motor just to be sure, but I already knew what was wrong.r />
  “I sheared the pin,” I said.

  “What does that mean?”

  “The prop won’t turn until I fix it.”

  “How long’s that gonna take? We’ve got to get out of here quick.”

  I turned off the motor, slipped over the side of the boat into the creek, and began swimming it toward Jesse. “I don’t know,” I said. “I need you to help me.”

  “I don’t know anything about it.”

  “I think I can do it,” I said. “I just can’t do it by myself.”

  I felt mud underfoot and pressed my feet into it and shoved the boat forward. I sloshed into the marsh and came around the side of the boat and pulled it into the reeds. Then I tipped the engine out of the water.

  “What do I do?” Jesse said.

  “There’s a cotter pin holding the prop nut on. Use these to take it off.” I gave him a pair of pliers from the emergency kit that was stowed in a well at the bow of the boat.

  Jesse waded back to the motor and began working on the prop. I climbed into the boat and pulled off the engine cowling and got the spare pin. I stuck it in my mouth and replaced the cowling. Jesse got the prop off and held it up like he didn’t know what to do with it. I told him to put the nut and cotter pin into his front pocket. I took the prop from him, set it on the deck of the boat, and slipped into the water again.

  “I’ve got to get—”

  We both heard Slade’s engine crank at the same time, the noise of it traveling all the way down the creek through the quiet night.

  “We don’t have time for this,” Jesse said. He waded alongside the boat and got his backpack from under the seat. Then he tossed it up into the trees.

  I listened to the sound of Slade’s motor accelerate and race toward us.

  “Come on!” Jesse said. “We’ve got to get out of here.”

  He crashed through the grass and into the underbrush. My mind raced as I tried to decide what to do. I took the shear pin out of my mouth and shoved it into my pocket. Then I rushed to the bow and reached in and got a flare from the emergency box. I shoved it into my pocket and hurried after Jesse.

  After fighting a wall of briars and vines and palmettos, I broke through into the dark cavern of the interior swamp.

  “Over here,” I heard Jesse say.

  I followed the sound of his voice, stepping slowly and waving my hands before my face to feel for trees and clear any spiderwebs and vines. Slade’s boat seemed like it was almost upon us.