Page 38 of Just in Time
The truck was slammed into gear and the four of us nearly toppled out of the back as Arlo gunned it up the road, I turned to look out at the road whizzing past and saw a green sign announcing our entrance to Dawes County.
He slowed to a halt just inside the limits, and Sal/Jolene sat up and aimed the shotgun, firing off a warning shot as Ivan loaded all six of his horrible dogs into his truck.
Indy, Brody and I gazed up at Jolene as she fired off one more shot as they drove off.
“Holy shit, Mom,” Indy said.
She smirked down at him. “Had to keep my boy safe.”
“Yeah, but me and Brody could have…”
“Could have nothing,” she said, hopping down from the truck bed and walking around to the cab of the truck again.
“But we—” Brody sputtered.
“Could have nothing,” I said, chuckling as we all sat up in the truck bed again.
Arlo/Johnny opened the window in the back of the truck and stuck something through. Sodas.
We cracked them open and leaned back against all the bags, taking in the night sky as we rode through Dawes County. The stars were twinkling so brightly. It would have probably been a perfect evening if we hadn’t had to stop and scare off a pack of dog shifters and Brody’s mean old grandpa in order for it to happen.
We entered the city limits of Dawesbury just after midnight. We pulled up outside the building that would soon become Jolene’s in almost no time.
We each took a bag, with Brody grabbing two so Sal/Jolene wouldn’t have to carry anything up the stairs of hers and Arlo’s new apartment.
We dropped the stuff on the floor, with me and Indy shouldering our bags.
Indy leaned in to hug and kiss his mom again. He swayed back and forth, whispering something in her ear that none of us but her could hear.
Then, he hugged Arlo, clapping him on the back. “You take care of Ma, now… you hear me?” he said, clapping his shoulder before hugging him again.
Brody and I hugged Jolene/Sal as well. Not as tightly as she hugged us in our time, I noted, but still pretty tightly for two people she shouldn’t know very well.
“You take care now,” I said softly as I reached for Indy and Brody, pulling both of them close. Really close. Close enough to feel their body heat and know that the prospect of sharing a bed with both of them was going to result in far fewer blankets than I currently had.
“Y’all too,” she replied, grabbing Arlo/Johnny’s arm as she stepped back.
“I’m sorry it’s gotta be like this,” I said softly.
The knowing look on Jolene’s face was all I needed to see. She knew.
Somehow, she knew.
Maybe it wasn’t for me to know. Or maybe it wasn’t for me to knownow.
I closed my eyes and concentrated on the edges. I found mine and Brody’s, and gripped hard on Indy’s too. He buried his head in my shoulder as I grabbed hold of Brody’s lifeline, and we slid down the opposite way he and I had come.
I could feel his heart thrumming against my arm as our feet touched down in the same apartment we’d left.
Well… the same except for one major detail.
It wasn’t Jolene and Johnny’s anymore. It was mine and Brody’s.
And I guessed it was Indy’s now too.
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TO BE CONTINUED
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