Jacinta Takes a Walk
Copyright© 2025 by BarBar
Chapter 6: Quack Like a Duck
Having got Jenny into bed, I sat on the side of the bed and rested for a moment. Hauling her upstairs and getting her undressed and into bed had been a shit ton of work and it pretty much wore me out.
Suddenly, Jenny’s phone started to quack like a duck. Jenny didn’t stir.
I stared at it for a moment. “Well, shit!” I didn’t even know phones could quack like a duck.
I walked over and picked up the phone. It was lighting up with “Freddy.” I stood there and let it continue quacking. I didn’t really want to talk to her little brother. And Jenny was certainly not in a condition to talk to her little brother.
The quacking stopped. A moment later, the phone chirped like a bird and a text appeared, saying, “Emergency. Help. I need you. Help.”
“Shit!” I figured that maybe I should do something about that.
The phone demanded to see Jenny’s face before it would unlock. That took a bit of manoeuvring, but I eventually managed it. Fortunately, the phone didn’t seem to care that her eyes were closed, her mouth was open, and she was maybe drooling just a tiny bit.
I got up the last message and hit the call button.
Freddy answered almost immediately. “Jenny? Thank God you called. I’m stuck.”
“Yeah, kid. This isn’t Jenny. She’s kind of unavailable right now. I’m her friend.”
“Bria? You don’t sound like Bria.”
The kid sounded like he was either already crying or on the point of bursting into tears.
“I’m a different friend. I’m Jacinta. I’ve been hanging out with Jenny all evening. You said there was an emergency. What’s the problem. Maybe I can help.”
“I was supposed to sleep over with Mike after the game. But Mike got hurt during the game and his parents went with him to the hospital. I think they forgot about me staying with them. And Tabs is staying with Ava so Mum and Dad went out and their phones are switched off because they were seeing a play. Then Brad and Hudson stole my money and hit me and pushed me into the mud. I’ve got nowhere to go because I can’t get home and even if I did, I’d be locked out. I was hoping Jenny would come and pick me up and let me stay at her apartment”
My head was reeling from the storm of unfamiliar names being flung at me.
“Wow, kid. That’s quite a story. Um, for a start, Jenny’s at Uncle Alex’s place and not at her apartment. Second, she’s not up to driving right now. Bria broke up with her and she’s had a bit too much to drink. Can you take an Uber to Uncle Alex’s place?”
There was a pause. Then Freddie, sounding doubtful. “I’m covered in mud. I don’t think an Uber driver will let me in their car.”
“Shit.” I looked around the room as I tried to think of what the kid could do.
“Can you walk to Uncle Alex’s house?”
“It’s dark, and that’s a long way. And Brad and Hudson are still out there. They’ve seen me use my phone now, so they know I have one. I’m worried they’ll try to steal my phone as well.”
“Shit!” I could hear that he was crying. The kid was freaked. “Are you safe now? Where are you? Can you stay where you are and be safe?”
“Yeah! I’m at the petrol station on Dingham Street, across the road from the high school. I’m sitting outside the window where the attendant sits and there’s a security camera pointed straight at me. If they try anything while I’m here, they know they’ll get in trouble.”
My eyes landed on Jenny’s keys which included car keys. “Okay kid. Stay there. I know that petrol station. I’ll come and get you.”
Jenny’s car was parked on the drive. It was a four-door hatchback. The back plus the rear seats were jammed full of her belongings. She’d told me that she spent half the day emptying her stuff out of Bria’s apartment. It took a moment to figure out the remote clicker to unlock the car. Finally, I figured out which button to press and the locks clunked open. I got into the driver’s seat and looked around. Frodo jumped in and sat in the front passenger seat. I know how to drive a car. I’d driven Merv’s ute, even though I don’t have a proper licence or anything. When I turned 16, I’d gotten my Learner’s Permit so I’m allowed to drive, but I’m supposed to have an experienced driver sitting next to me. That wasn’t an option this time, so I simply had to avoid the police and everything would be okay.
I might have driven before, but this car was different. I checked the seat and the mirrors. I checked the gear shift was in Park. Then I took a deep breath and carefully put the key in the slot and turned it. The engine came to life. I switched the lights on and looked around. “So far, so good.”
“You can do this,” said Frodo.
After I’d put the gear into Reverse, I looked in the mirror and oh so carefully eased up on the brake. The car began moving backwards down the drive.
“Nice and slow,” said Frodo. His voice was calm. “Now turn, turn, turn.”
There was no traffic at all on this street, which was good. But there were cars parked along the side of the road. I looked at them suspiciously. None of them seemed to be on the point of jumping out in front of me. It occurred to me that even getting Jenny’s car scratched wouldn’t be good for our burgeoning friendship. Well, I just had to take it easy and everything would be fine.
“Okay, let’s go,” said Frodo. “Foot on the brake. Change to Drive. Ease the foot off the brake. Gently touch the accelerator.”
I did all that and we started moving forward.
“You’re doing great,” said Frodo. I’d never thought of Frodo as being my cheering section before, but hey, he was doing it so I wasn’t complaining.
This car felt a lot different to drive compared to Merv’s broken-down ute. I’d first driven Merv’s ute back when I was fourteen. There were a few times after I’d started straightening myself up, when both Jackie and Merv were too far out of it to get us home. That first time, I’d gone up over the curb and knocked over a couple of bins, before I got it under control. After that, I’d driven pretty slow and gripped the wheel like it would try to fly away. I’d stuck to the back roads to avoid attracting the attention of any police since the cops don’t take too kindly to kids driving around on the streets. After the first time I’d had to do that, I watched a few videos of driving instructors. I learned a lot. Then I stole Merv’s keys and went out and practised a couple of times. I’d gotten to the point where I could drive Merv’s ute okay without freaking out. When I got my Learner’s Permit, I even persuaded Merv to take me out on some legal practice drives in his ute. Despite all of that, I still wouldn’t think of myself as an experienced driver.
By the time I got to the end of the street I was feeling more confident. I was getting the feel for Jenny’s car and how it was different. I had a choice of turning left or right. I knew I was approaching a busier road as I saw a few cars go past ahead of me. I decided it would be easier to turn left since that meant I didn’t have to cross to the other side of the road.
Frodo was still being helpful. “Ease onto the brake. Indicator. Stop at the intersection. Check for traffic.”
There was a car coming then a bit of a gap. As I waited, I glanced around. I wasn’t sure where I was, so my plan was to drive until I spotted something I recognised. The oncoming car went past so I eased out into the main road and accelerated a bit. After a block and a half, I saw a big lit up sign for a supermarket on my left. It was a full shopping centre with signs for a few other shops as well.
“I know where I am, Frodo. And I’m going the wrong way.”
“Don’t panic,” said Frodo. “You can do a U-Turn at the next lights.”
The next intersection had traffic lights, so I indicated to turn right and eased up to the lights. They were showing red so I waited, drumming my fingers on the wheel and looking around. A cop car flashed past on the crossing road and I had to resist the temptation to duck down out of sight. That would’ve drawn more attention than simply sitting there. The lights turned green and I eased out into the intersection, letting the cars going the other way get past, then I pulled hard on the wheel and did a U-turn. I accelerated and was soon travelling at a decent speed compared to the other traffic. Now that I knew where I was, I knew how to get to Dingham Street and the high school from here.
It took a couple of turns and about five or six minutes of driving before I passed the entrance to the high school and pulled into the petrol station. I could see a kid with an unruly shock of fair hair, sitting on the concrete step outside the shop. He was wearing a bright orange sleeveless basketball shirt and matching bright orange baggy shorts. He looked totally miserable. There were several open parking bays off to the side, so I pulled in to one of the bays and parked the car. I might not have got the car exactly between the lines but some things aren’t worth worrying about.
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