excerpt
“Mom an’ Dad an’ me went to a show. It was a movie show.”
Rachael took a calming breath and controlled her impatience. “So
you went to a show. Then how did you see me?”
“’Cause when we came out I saw you in the car, an’ you were in the
front with a guy and you were kissin’”
She started to protest, to tell him he couldn’t have seen her because
she wasn’t in a parked car in Emblem that night. Then she remembered
that they had stopped somewhere before the dance for Joe to
get some smokes. But Rachael didn’t even know where. She felt the
hot blood rise in her cheeks.
“Did your mom and dad see me … uh, see us?”
He laughed, a great roaring bellow that made her flinch. “Nah,
they didn’t. Just me saw you.”
“Listen Timmy, you won’t tell, will you? You won’t tell a single
soul, will you? Please.”
He stuck out his lower lip and took a step towards her. “Course I
won’t. It’s a secret; it wouldn’t be a secret if I told anyone, would it?”
In spite of her distress, Rachael couldn’t help but marvel at the
depths of understanding he sometimes displayed. He probably was
not as innocent as they all imagined. At the same time the thought
scared her a little when she remembered what Ronnie had been trying
to tell her after the barn episode. But right now, she was more concerned
that he would remember what he had just said about secrets.
“Yes, Timmy, it’s our secret – yours and mine. Promise?”
He grinned again. “Yeah, yours and mine. Ah ha, your secret and
my secret … cause we’re pals, right Rachael?”
“Right, Timmy.” Reassured, she smiled at him. “I gotta get home now.
You’d better go, too, Timmy. Goodbye.” She hurried down the path,
emerging onto the road just as the first huge raindrops fell and a flash of
lightning split the dark sky, heralding a thunderous roar overhead.
She clutched her bag and ran.
Libros Libertad 