Chapter 19: Fear

I handed one Coke to Molly. She smiled at me, and our hands touched momentarily as I passed the paper cup to her. I sat down next to her, and gestured for Eric to come over by me. He crouched down at my side, up close so we could converse above the music.

"What's up, bro?" he asked quietly.

"I think we might have trouble," I murmured. I was turned away from Molly, who had returned to watching the dancers. "Find Josh for me, would you?"

"Sure thing," he said, and he stood up and held out his hand for Keisha. Without a word, she took his hand, and they walked out to the dance floor. I watched as they slipped through the crowd, threading their way toward the middle. A few minutes later, Josh and Andrea came out, holding hands. Josh was sweating, but Andi was glowing. I still didn't know how girls did that, but now wasn't the time to be considering it.

Josh flopped down in the chair next to me, and Andi gracefully lowered herself into the chair next to Josh. Girls did that mysteriously, too, I thought. I mentally shook myself. Concentrate, fool, I chastised my inner imp.

"Eric said you needed me," he said, leaning in close to me.

"Yeah, there might be a problem," I said. I leaned across Josh. "Andi, can you sit with Molly for a moment?"

"Of course," she said. "I think we need to powder our noses, anyway. Let me just go find Tessa, okay?"

She glided back out into the crowd, and a few moments later brought Tessa and Austin back with her. She leaned over to speak into Molly's ear, so she would be heard over the music. Molly nodded and stood up, smoothing her dress out by running her hands down her thighs, and the three girls moved around the gymnasium toward the restrooms.

Jake and Jaimie happened to walk up just then, and when he saw Austin, Josh and me huddling, he waved Tiny over, and they joined up with us.

"Okay, here's the deal," I said, looking around at all of them. "I was in the can, and I saw Joey Amonte, all dressed up in a suit, doing a line of coke."

Josh's face looked thunderous. "What the fuck is he doing here?" he spat.

"I don't know, but I had to look twice to be sure it was him," I said. "He was all cleaned up, dressed as sharp as trailer trash like him could come up with. I think he's trying to work his way around the dance, kind of incognito. You know, it's dark in here, with the mirror ball lights and all, who's going to give another kid in a suit a second look, if he's just wandering around? But anyway, he's here, believe it."

Jake glanced around, as if expecting Joey to be leaning over, listening to our conversation. I pulled him back around.

"Listen up, guys. I haven't seen any of the other Bulls here, but that doesn't mean they're not trying the same scam, so keep your eyes peeled. Okay?" I got affirmative nods from everyone.

"And make sure there are at least two couples sitting here with Molly and Sean at all times," said Josh. "Don't get lulled into thinking there's no threat here in this crowd, especially now that we know Amonte's sneaking around somewhere. If you want to go out and dance, or go to the shitter, or anything, make sure somebody else knows about it. Got it?"

"And don't leave your dates alone," said Jake. "Make sure you've got friends around."

"Good point," said Josh. "Is everybody okay with that?"

Everybody was okay with that. Austin and I sat down and waited for the girls to come back, and Josh and Jake headed back out into the dance crowd to let Eric, Trent, Jorge, and Paco know about the new developments.

Time to circle the wagons, I thought to myself. I tried to put on a game face, though, for Molly's sake.

There was a slow song just starting up as the girls were walking back toward us, so I stood, and held out my hand to Molly. She stopped, and just looked at my hand.

"May I have this dance?" I asked.

"Sean, I..." she began.

"Oh, go ahead, Molly," said Tessa brightly. "You'll enjoy it, I know you will." She gently pushed Molly forward a step closer to me. Molly acquiesced, and took my outstretched hand.

"Well... okay," she said, eyes downcast.

I led her out onto the dance floor, and stepped in to put my arm around her. She flinched just a little at the touch, and then she relaxed a bit, letting me hold her lightly and lead her around my little box-step pattern. Tessa and Austin were dancing right beside us, and I knew the others were very close by.

"Molly," I whispered, "you know I will always be your friend. If you need me for anything, I'll be there. You know that, don't you?"

We were dancing cheek to cheek, so I was whispering right into her ear. I couldn't look at her at the same time, but I heard her start to sniffle just a little, and she held me a little tighter.

"I know you've gone through some rough times," I continued, "and I wish I could just wave my hand and you'd be free of them. But I know it's not that easy. I'm not going to press you or anything, but if you need to talk about it, I'll listen. I promise."

The wetness on her cheek from her tears was being transferred to mine as we swayed to and fro with the music. Her breath was coming in small hitches that shook her frame. I thought I might have gone too far with my brave little speech.

"Thank you, Sean," she whispered, so quietly I almost didn't hear. "Thank you, but I'll be okay. I just need time."

The song ended, but we stayed that way, holding each other, until the next fast song started up. She took a deep breath, wiped her eyes, and held my hand lightly as we walked back to our chairs.

When we got to our spot, Josh stood. "Would you care to dance, little sis?"

Molly smiled, the first real smile of amusement I had seen from her in a very long time. "'Little sis'? You're about five minutes older than me, big brother."

Josh beamed. He was the one to break through with her, and he knew it. "So, that makes you the youngest in the family," he said. "Do you want to dance?"

Molly's smile faltered just a little. "I don't think I'm ready for a fast dance yet. At least, not in these shoes. Maybe the next slow one, though, okay?"

"Okay, your loss," he replied. He grabbed Andi's hand, and they boogied off to dance.

Josh did manage to cajole Molly into dancing after awhile, and she got more animated as the evening progressed, until flashes of the old Molly started coming through. Everybody was feeling terrific about the progress she exhibited, especially considering it had been only five days since we first mapped out a disaster plan. Finally, though, about a half hour before the dance was to end, Molly hit a wall. She slumped in her chair, exhausted from the activity around her.

"Are you okay, Moll?" asked Josh worriedly.

"I'm okay," she said tiredly, "but I think I really need to get home, Josh. I'm so sorry. I don't want to end your evening so soon."

"Don't be sorry," he said. "You've been through a lot. I didn't think you would have the energy to last this long, to be honest." He stood up. "Andi, we're going to have to take Molly home."

"Okay," she said. "Let me just say goodnight to Tessa and Austin." She turned and went in search of our friends, to let them know we were heading out.

I helped Molly to her feet and started guiding her around the crowded floor, toward the door. Josh and Andrea caught up with us before we were even halfway there. Josh took up a position on Molly's other arm, and together we supported her as we walked.

There were just a few other kids walking toward the parking lot when we got outside. It was a clear, cold night, with no moon. The stars were brilliant diamonds splashed extravagantly across the night sky. We crossed the shadowy parking lot, each of us holding an elbow. We really needed to get her home quickly, it seemed, because she was sagging more and more, relying on our strength to hold her up.

I fumbled for my car keys, and unlocked the passenger door, opening it so that Molly could collapse down. Josh opened the back door for Andi, and then crawled in when she scooted over across the back seat. I closed both doors, and jogged around to the driver's side. Just as I was reaching for the handle, I had a sudden premonition that we had made an awful mistake.

"Hello, Porter," said Joey Amonte, standing in the shadows practically beside me. "Fancy meeting you here."

He took two steps toward me and slammed my car door closed, right out of my hand. Harold Barnes appeared by his side, and leaned on the rear door. On the other side of the car, Vinnie Arilio stepped up and leaned on Josh's door, preventing him from opening it, and Jilly Del Toro stepped up to Molly's door and peered in at her, staring at her frightened face. Josh's quick thinking saved her bacon at that moment, when he shoved the lock down on Molly's door, and quickly punched down the button on his own door. Andrea, seeing his reaction, did the same with her door, keeping the three of them temporarily safe. The only problem with this emergency plan was that I was stuck outside the car, surrounded by the Bulls.

Jilly and Joey looked at each other. Joey shrugged, as if to say he really didn't know what to do about the locked doors. It seemed to catch them by surprise. Jilly improvised by sauntering around the front of my car, and the two of them backed me up until I was leaning against the fender.

"Get out of my face," I warned, but they knew as well as I did that it was an empty threat.

Jilly stood about half an inch from me. "What are you doing with my bitch?" he asked.

"Your bitch? You mean Joey, here?" I shot back, unwisely.

He rabbit-punched me in the gut and I doubled over, gasping.

"Don't crack wise with me, pussy boy," he growled. "Answer me quick when I ask you a question, pussy boy, or else."

I tried to straighten up. "Or else what? Or else you'll go back and get more bad lines from old gangster movies?"

He slapped my right ear hard, and a ringing started out in a loud mid-range, and climbed steadily into the ultrasonic until I could feel it in my teeth. Joey grabbed my arm and spun me around, holding me from behind by my arms and stretching me backwards, making my midsection very vulnerable. I was still gasping, trying to catch my breath, and this position wasn't helping.

Jilly said, "I will ask you very nicely, one last time, Porter. If you smart off to me again, I will start asking you not so nicely. Understand?"

When I didn't respond, he cracked me in the ear again.

"Understand?" he said, louder. I could barely understand what he was saying through the noise of the siren in my bruised ear, but I nodded.

"Good," he said, sounding satisfied. "Now we're gettin' somewheres." He turned and looked around at his friends, and got some chortles in response, inconsequential sounds of approval from his cohorts, who were still guarding the doors. Behind him, I could see silhouettes of other kids walking toward their cars. I couldn't make out any details, though, which I took to be a bad sign. It stood to reason that they couldn't see what was going on over here any better than I could see them, which was too bad for me. I could have used some help.