Читать книгу BORDER JUSTICE - Aubrey Smith - Страница 12

“We did it, Sierra,” he slurred.

“What? Don’t you dare start that again, Randy.”

“What’s the matter with you? I was talking about the election. Hey Sierra, I’m sorry about the other night, okay. Things just got out of hand. That band sounds good, doesn’t it? Come on Sierra, let’s dance.”

“Get the heck out of my way, you low life.” Sierra pushed by Randy and hurried away from the crowd. She walked, her head down, away from the music and the merrymakers, out of the park and past the football field. She followed the dirt street around the vacant Tec-Cal building and past her father’s restaurant. When she passed Alonzo Custer’s unoccupied house, she wondered if Alonzo Custer really had murdered Mr. Bommer. Sierra shivered when she thought of all the awful things Alonzo Custer was supposed to have done when he was Chief of Police in Magic Valley.

Every time I waited on Mr. Bommer he seemed nice enough. But, that Custer, he looked right through you, she thought as she recalled Custer’s tall slim frame towering at six‑six or more. In her mind, she could see his long gray hair fall from under his wide-brimmed hat and cover his ears. Dark from the Texas sun, he had squinted crows feet around hot, raging blue eyes. Sierra could still picture the round silver badge on the man’s shirt glimmering in the sun. She recalled that people said he was bad to the bone. “Junkyard dog bad” is what Papa said about him.

She knew she had to finish making the four-block circle and get back to the park before her mother discovered she had left. About a block from the park, she began to hear the music. It was dark now. She picked up her pace when she heard something rustle in the leaves to her right. Ahead the street was packed full of cars. Sierra’s heart raced and suddenly pounded an unsteady rhythm when she saw a shadow move toward her from the underbrush.

Abruptly, she was nauseated and began to sweat. Looking hard for the person behind the shadow, she took a deep breath to calm her rattled nerves. What else can I do? No one can hear me even if I scream. Two steps farther, she still couldn’t make out who was lurking in the bushes.

Sierra knew the worst thing she could do was panic, try to run or lose control. Her mind was running with anticipation when she heard a grunt and huge hands grabbed her, pulling her into the brush. Jerked and twisted, she was thrown to the ground. Hot, sour breath huffed in her face. She felt a hand grappling at her skirt. She felt dizzy. Her resolve slowly began melting from tension and violence. Perspiration dripped from her attacker’s face. Tightly gripping his shirt with her right hand, she felt along the ground with her left hand hoping to find something that she could use to hit the man.

“Come on Sierra.” She heard him say. She knew then it was Randy. “Come on Sierra. You made a fool out of me in the cafeteria and now you embarrass me at the dance. You owe me a little.” She was sure she had quit breathing when she found a large rock. She froze and almost panicked when Randy pulled her up and the rock slipped out of her hand before she had a solid grip on it. Her throat seemed to swell shut. Fear blanketed every inch of her mind and body. Stay calm, she pleaded with herself, stay calm.

Randy slapped her so hard that a light flashed in her head. Horror swept through her mind like a torrent. Ten heartbeats, six-seconds was all it took for Randy to pull her off the ground and reach under her dress. He stumbled and almost dropped her. Thank God he’s drunk, she thought. Maybe I have some chance to get out of this before he rapes me.

“Randy wait. Let me take off my underpants before you tear them. Okay?”

She made herself relax. Randy slacked and released her to fall back on the ground. There was a tight pressure in her chest as two more heartbeats, one-second ticked and Randy was again pushing her legs apart.

“Okay just get ‘em off,” he said. “Hurry up.”

For another second she was frozen to the ground, locked by fear. Three heartbeats, one and a half seconds more and she felt the rock.

“You little prick teaser,” Randy slurred just as Sierra swung the rock with all her might. She felt the solid thud of the rock as it smashed into Randy’s head. He went limp and fell to the ground beside her.

She kicked his legs away from her and scrambled to her feet. Fighting the urge to kick and stomp Randy, she ran toward the park and safety.

Mary Jane Story was the only person in the restroom when she entered. Mary Jane’s attention was focused on the tube of red lipstick as she twisted the color down and put the cap on. “Hello Sierra,” she called, as Sierra closed the door to the first stall. “Having fun?”

“Oh yeah Mary Jane, life’s a real blast,” Sierra said. She was out of breath and rushed into the first stall she came to. She closed the door and sat on the commode. As she brushed a twig from her hair and straightened her blouse and skirt, she realized that all in all she’d come out of an attempted rape in pretty good shape. That sorry little puke. I ought to tell Papa, she thought, and let him beat the heck out of Randy or, better yet, I ought to call the law and have him arrested for what he tried. Her mind raced with excitement. After what happened prom night and then kicking him at school, who would believe me?

She heard Mary Jane walk away from the mirror and out the door. Sierra wished she had a cigarette. She had just stepped out of the stall when Sandra came in the bathroom. “Where have you been little sister? Everyone’s been looking for you.”

“Just around. Can’t a person even go to the bathroom without everyone getting excited?”

“You’d better go tell Mama where you’ve been.”

Sierra gave her sister her best mind your own business look and slammed the restroom door behind her as she walked back into the crowd. She saw her mother and waved to her and then went to look for Connie. When she saw her, she disappeared into the crowd of young people standing in the dark near the band.

The ride home from the victory celebration was quiet. Rosemary was asleep in her mother’s lap. Sandra had gone with her boyfriend to get a Coke. Tony drove in silence, happy and a little tipsy. When they pulled up in front of their house, Anna told Sierra, “Now that school’s out, you can help your father and Sandra at the cafe. Sandra is going to help me tomorrow, so you can get up in the morning and take the early shift. She’ll be in about noon to work the lunch crowd.” Sure, let her sleep late and let me do all the no-tip breakfast customers.

“Yes ma’am,” she said.

The morning was busy and Sierra was making the twelfth pot of coffee on the Bunn when Rey Garza came in.

She almost dropped the coffee pot when she heard him tell her daddy, “It looks like I’m going to have my work cut out for me as soon as I get sworn in this morning. Someone killed a high school boy last night.”

Tony looked surprised and asked, “Where?”

“In some brush near the park. Not very far from where we were dancing. They think it happened sometime around eight or nine. I heard them say the boy had been at the victory celebration. Someone saw him there just about dark. Said he was drunk and they never saw him again.”

“Who was the boy?”

“Kid by the name of Randy Howard. His truck’s still parked at the park. They think he wandered out into the brush to throw up. His pants and underwear were pulled down to his knees. It looks like he tripped and hit his head on a rock.”

“That’s what killed him?”

“Nope. Because of all the blood on the ground, they figure he hit his head on the rock when he fell, but then someone put a small-caliber gun to the back of his head and pulled the trigger. Shot him, execution style.”

“Dear God, murder?”

“Looks like it.”

Tony turned and looked at Sierra. She was pale and her hands trembled as she set the coffee pot down on the warmer.