at the bike shop. As they were evaluating the bikes Jimmy felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned around and Mark pulled him over to the side.
“You stay away from my girl, OK?” Mark said menacingly. Mark was shorter and buffer than Jimmy, but Jimmy knew he could take him on any time.
“Great, as long as I know who your girl is, hot shot.”
“You know very well who it is, son.”
“Who you calling ‘son’, shorty? And no, I don’t know who it is.”
Now Mark was really red. “Don’t you make me go there, Jim.”
“It’s J-i-m-m-y, now get yourself back to the locker room, ref. I’ll see you later tonight.”
“You mean she invited you?”
“Aha, so Jessica is ‘your girl’ then? Last time I checked she was still available.”
“Well, guess what? After tonight she won’t be.”
“We’ll see about that.”
“Yeah, we will,” Mark said then walked away backwards. Jimmy turned to Ryan, who pretended not to have heard the conversation, and said, “Creep, he’s always stalking someone.”
ELEVEN
Jessica ran her plan over in her head once more. She would plant the pictures in her parents’ room—in a not too obvious spot, but somewhere that her mom would find them—and head to the beach to meet up with her friend. Two days later she would sign the contract on the small, yet elaborate house. Then, slowly, to not attract attention, move her belongings over to her new home. Hopefully her parents’ arguments would escalate to the point where Jessica could justify moving. Brittany thought it was a foolproof plan and was bound to work. Now if Jessica could just get her mom and brothers out of the house before her dad came home from work and Jessica had to head to the beach.
The opportunity came within minutes of Jessica’s departure. Her mom took her brothers to football practice and Jessica was left in the house all alone. She edged into her parents’ bedroom. She envied the size of the bed and the room. Her room was small and she only had a single bed. She looked around the room trying to find a good place to hide the pictures. She noticed the walk-in closet—another thing she was jealous of—and remembered that her mom would be taking one of her father’s suit jackets to the dry-cleaners.
She fanned through the jackets looking for one that showed some sign of needing to be cleaned. She found one and stuck the pictures in one of the pockets on the inside. Knowing her mom, Jessica knew that her mom would check all the pockets before take it to the dry-cleaners. Jessica got out as fast as she got in.
Jessica met her father on the way out of the house. “Hey dad, how was work?” She wore a smile on her face.
“Well, you seem to be cheerful? What’s gotten into you?”
Jessica noticed that she did sound cheerful and had to admit that it was one of her happiest moments in her bleary days. “Uh, nothing? Anyway I’m off. I’ll be home at around two.”
“Two?” Her dad said as he gawked. “I thought that this was supposed to be a beach dinner no need for you to stay out that late.”
“It isn’t late. One o’clock or I’ll stay with a friend,” Jessica bargained.
“Alright, one it is, but you had better be there at one sharp! Or you will be staying with a friend!”
“Sure thing, boss,” Jessica said and walked to her bike with a skip in her step.
____________
Jimmy King rode down to the beach on his new racing bike. He decided to bring it and show if off. The sleek bike cut through the air as he hurtled down towards the beach. The aerodynamic frame cut through the wind like a hot knife through butter. He neared 30 mph and saw where Jessica and her friends were. He waved and the bike wobbled a bit—he was still not used to handling it yet. He saw her looking at him and she had a horrified expression pasted on her face.
He heard a shriek from someone on the right and turned to notice a semi-truck about to cross the intersection that Jimmy had blazed into not yielding. The horn sounded loudly and Jimmy clamped on both brakes. As new as the brakes were Jimmy knew that he would not stop in time. Was this how his life would end? Getting smashed by a semi going 55 mph? Would anyone ever tell Jessica about Christ? Could Ryan fill in for him?
___________
Jessica noticed that the truck driver made no attempt to stop as it roared towards the intersection on a collision course with Jimmy. He disappeared as the truck drove by and Jessica heard a faint thud as she ran towards Jimmy. She saw him lying on the ground, his leg trapped underneath his bike. She saw people on their phones and walking towards Jimmy aware of the surrounding traffic.
Jessica was the first to arrive at Jimmy’s side. He let out a little groan and it appeared that he had, thankfully, not been hit by the truck. She stood there shocked, hands over her mouth. Jimmy was holding his head with his right hand; his other hand was trapped underneath his body. Jessica tried to lift the bike, but when Jimmy winced she dropped it. He grimaced at the increase of pain as the bike fell once more on top of him.
“Just pull it all the way up,” Jimmy said through clenched teeth. Jessica was careful when she lifted the bike this time and was surprised at how light it felt. Then she helped as Jimmy gingerly got up favoring his right side. “Does the bike have any scratches on it?” Jimmy asked.
“Not much, just the left pedal and part of the front wheel.”
“Oh, great,” Jimmy said and breathed a sigh of relief. Jessica went around to the other side to help Jimmy cross the street. She gasped at the sight of his left leg and arm. There was blood everywhere. When he slid the road had scraped up his whole left side apart from where his clothes were—which were ripped.
“Oh my God, Jimmy, look!”
“Please don’t use His nam—”
“Yeah, sorry, but look!”
Jimmy brought his left arm and leg into view. He tugged at his shirt and exclaimed, “Oh no! My new shirt! Darn it!”
“That’s all you care about? You are bleeding all over the place! Lemmie call an ambulance.”
“Nonsense, it isn’t bleeding, there is just blood on it. Did you bring your car here or bike?”
“Jimmy, some of it looks pretty deep. I biked here, why?”
“OK, here’s what I need you to do, bike home, get some bandages, and drive back here; then drive me home. Can you do that?”
“So what are you going to do with your bike?”
“I can take some things off so it will fit.”
“But your blood will—”
Jimmy grabbed Jessica’s arm with his good hand and said, “Jessica! Come on! That is the least of our problems right now, OK?! I just need to get home now. Please. You can get back to your barbeque when you are done dropping me off.”
“Alright, fine! Just wait here, I’ll be back soon.”
“It’s not like I’ll be going anywhere.” Jimmy muttered.
TWELVE
As people walked past Jimmy─as he was taking the tires off his bike─he caught strange glances and people kept asking if he was OK. He then proceeded to take his handle bars off and examined his wounds. The scrapes were deepest near his knee and elbow. He looked closer and could see bits of the asphalt clinging to the blood. He tried to pick it out but it stung too much. The blood had almost dried by the time Jessica returned to him.
She exited the car with bandages and some disinfectant. “I’ll just take those,” Jimmy said pointing at the bandage.”
“Oh no, kid. I’m gonna put this on you no matter what, and you can’t run away. It says it won’t sting, so bring that leg over here.”
“You and I both know that’s a lie. And you sound like my mother.” Jimmy allowed Jessica to put the disinfectant on. His face twisted when she put the liquid on him as it seemed to bite at his skin. Jessica noticed his expression.
“That just means that it’s working. Which is why it’s good that I’m putting this on you so you don’t get it infected. I still think you should see a doctor.”
“You’re all the nurse I need Je
ssica.”
“What a sexist thing to say, you know there are male nurses as well.”
“That wasn’t sexist. Many nurses are female and I know you aren’t a doctor so I’ll call you a nurse. I don’t see a problem,” Jimmy said as Jessica dabbed more disinfectant on his arm. They walked gingerly to the car trying not to bend any of the affected limbs.
After they got the bike in the car Jimmy knew that he would have to sit down in the car. That would mean bending his leg. He dreaded the thought of it. He stuck his left leg in and tried to keep it as straight as he could. He forgot to roll the seat back and when he inserted the rest of his body in he was forced to bend his knees.
Grinding his teeth was all he could do to keep from crying out in pain. He felt the thin scab crack and saw blood seeping onto the outside of the bandage.
“Oh! Jimmy, it’s bleeding again!” Jessica exclaimed.
He calmed her down and finally got her to drive to his house. He called his brother—who was the only one home because his parents were both out of town celebrating their anniversary—to ask if he was up for driving. His brother was glad that he got another opportunity to drive. Since he got his learner’s permit he has wanted to drive whenever he could, but he could only drive if he had another person with a driver’s license in the car.
He cautiously got out of the car and his brother ran to help him with his bike. “Thanks a lot Seth.”
Seth nodded a response and asked, “So where are we going?”
“Mr. Berry, the old friend of mom’s?”
“The doctor?”
“Yeah, him. I called him