Page 38 of Something Good
Jimmy
Where are you?
I’m still out with Will
You need to come home
Another text came through, a photo of our bedroom. In the middle, right between our beds, sat a trashcan.
There’s a leak
A sense of icy numbness flowed through me. I didn’t have any more energy for anger or the time to wallow in despair. I just had to figure out the next steps.
“Where are we?” I asked Will.
“Couple of miles outside of town.”
I looked at the time. I wasn’t sure what time we’d gotten back in the car, but I was guessing I’d been out for about forty-five minutes.
“Have you just been driving around?”
His eyes flicked over, then returned back to the road. The rain had slowed from a raging downpour to a steady shower. Under different circumstances, the pitter-pat sounds on the roof of the car might have been soothing. “I thought maybe you could use the sleep.”
“I need to get home. Jimmy needs me.”
His eyebrows rose in concern. “Is he okay? I can get you there in ten.”
“Yeah, he’s alright.” At least, I hoped he was. “I just need to get there.”
Nine minutes later, we pulled up to my house, and I hopped out of the car without saying anything to Will. I just needed to get to Jimmy.
I walked straight back to our bedroom, where Jimmy was sitting on the foot of his bed, reading one of his books, calm as could be. I’d been sure I’d find him panicking, but maybe this little scene in our shit show of a life had become par for the course for him. It couldn’t be much worse than parental abandonment and near homelessness.
The steady drip-drip-drip into the trash can had my eyes trailing up, where I could see a wide brown spot spreading across the ceiling.
Fuck.
This wasn’t just a little leak.
Will entered the room, took one look at the mess, and walked back out, pulling his phone out of his pocket as he went. I turned my attention back to Jimmy.
“How long has it been like this?”
He looked up from his book. “Started with a few drips about an hour ago, then steadily got worse and worse.”
I ran my hands through my hair, ruffling it a couple of times, trying to figure out what came next. I didn’t want to call Mrs. McGee in the middle of the night, but I also thought it wouldn’t be long before the drips turned into a steady stream. The worst of the storm seemed to have blown over, but when I looked at the weather app on my phone, it looked likely the rain would last most of the night.
Will walked back in, shoving his phone back in his pocket. “Pack some stuff. You guys are coming to my house tonight.”
“The fuck?”
“I called my mom and asked if you guys could come over.”
“We can’t stay with you, Will.”
“Why not?” Jimmy asked, his eyes bouncing back and forth between us.
“Because…because…” I didn’t even know why I was fighting him on this. My brain couldn’t form a rational argument. But it was like this need to handle it myself was the only thing I had left.
