Chapter 21

The boys set out to hitch to Timmy's town. Danny must have forgotten about the fire having been just around the corner from Timmy's apartment. When they got almost to town, Danny suddenly stiffened and grabbed Timmy's hand. The guy who had picked them up gawped at their contact.

"Aw, I just remembered about Ted, and your town being where he..." Danny's words trailed off.

"It's ok, Danny. We don't have to go anywhere near where the house was. I don't care, we could even go back to the main city if you want. Sorry, I didn't think of it, either," assuaged Timmy.

Danny was silent for a moment. "No," he said, in a quiet but determined tone. "I've gotta get past this. Let's just keep going."

"Okay," responded Timmy with doubt, but he was willing to go along and continue supporting Danny.

"Hey, are you two boys queer or somethin'?" the driver sneered.

"Yes, yes we are," Timmy shot back, without thought. "You got a problem with that?

"You gonna start making out in my car?" the stupid moron asked.

Danny heard Timmy's statement of pride, and built on it. He giggled, then made a show of bringing Timmy's hand to his mouth and kissing it. "Tee, hee," Danny teased, "You want to join in?"

That was too much for the redneck. He slammed on the brakes, causing the driver of the car behind them to blast its horn angrily. The troglodyte swerved the car to the side and bounced it over the curb.

"Get out, get out now!" the bigot shouted. "Get out of my car, you fuckin' faggots!"

The boys actually tittered out loud, pleased they had riled the old jerk. They piled out of the vehicle onto the sidewalk, laughing merrily. "See ya' later, fuckhead," baited Danny. Timmy high fived Danny. They jumped out of the way as the fool rammed the accelerator, causing the car to squeal out and fishtail back onto the highway. A delivery truck went sideways trying to avoid the metal meteor, but failed in its attempt and slid into the left rear corner of the redneck's rusty Impala. That action drove the car around and into an oncoming van in the other lane. The van had been traveling too fast, and the boys saw sheer terror on its driver's face just before the van slammed into the Impala. The sound of sickening crunches and thuds filled the air.

A local police car had been right behind the truck, and stopped immediately. The cop jumped out, and yelled, "You! Stay right there," to the boys. They shrugged and nodded their acquiescence, realizing that any options to avoid the oncoming hassle had evaporated. They waited as the policeman ran over and checked all the people involved in the accident. The van driver was badly hurt, and an ambulance was called. Neither the Impala driver nor the trucker were injured. There hadn't been any passengers after Timmy and Danny had been unceremoniously dumped on the side of the road.

More police cars arrived, and officers began directing traffic and investigating the scene. One waved the ambulance in when it arrived. Another took breathalyzer tests of the uninjured, including Danny and Timmy. The first cop took a statement from the asshole they had been riding with. Later the same officer ambled over to the boys, and asked them if they minded answering a few questions. Er, no, they replied, already having decided that cooperation was the best response given the situation.

They accompanied Officer Farnham to his cruiser, and gave him their background information. Yes, Danny had a driving license, but Timmy hadn't gotten one yet, and could only provide a social security card for ID. Farnham carefully recorded their data, then put down his notebook and looked at them silently for a minute. "Why don't you live at home, Mr. Barker?" he inquired.

Timmy groaned inwardly. This was all getting way more complicated than it should have been. He responded, "Ah, I don't get along with my parents, Sir. I've been on my own for a while now, I'm working, and I've got my own place, well, with a roommate, but I pay for my own share. You could talk to my social worker, Jennifer Jones, she's at the DSW."

The policeman kept writing as Timmy spoke. "Ok, we'll check up on where you work, and talk to Ms. Jones. What's your roommate's name?"

"Wilton Barrett," Timmy replied, then spelled it for Officer Farnham. "Sir? Is there a problem? I mean, you're asking an awful lot that doesn't have much to do with the accident." Officer Farnham should have stopped questioning Timmy until either his parents or a court appointed guardian had been located and given permission for the interview. On the other hand, Farnham wanted to get as much information as he could without being hindered by constitutional limitations. Timmy didn't know he had the right to refuse to cooperate.

Farnham had visibly relaxed when Timmy mentioned Will's name. "Ok, I know Mr. Barrett. He's a fine Christian man, alright." It occurred to Timmy that Farnham was another born again. "Well, son, we just like to make sure kids are being taken care of when we find one who appears to be at loose ends. It sounds like you're on the up and up, although we'll make some calls to verify your information."

His face became more serious. "What truly concerns me, however, is the story that Mr. Gifford tells. Mr. Melvin Gifford was driving the Impala. He says that after he picked you boys up as hitchhikers, you, and Danny here, accosted him. He says that you two propositioned him to engage in homosexual sex, and began to touch him while he was driving. He says that in order to protect himself, he had to pull to the side of the road and forcibly eject you from his vehicle. Then, when you threatened him and advanced toward his car, he sped off in fear of assault. What do you say about that?"

Timmy's jaw just dropped open in shock upon hearing the redneck's story. Danny began sputtering. "Why that, that, ERG! Sir, that old guy tried to molest us. He was trying to touch us all over, and we had to keep squirming away from him. He was yucky, and he wouldn't stop. When we wouldn't give in to him, he began jerking the wheel back and forth erratically to scare us. We were begging him to let us out. Finally, he said he might as well, since we weren't going to put out. He said he was just going to leave us there without a ride. He was really angry when he threw us out."

Farnham looked at Timmy. "Is that what you saw?"

"Yes, sir," confirmed Timmy. There was no way he was going to contradict Danny, and besides, it served the old bugger right.

"Hmm," mused the cop. "Well, I admit I saw you all leaving the car when I was driving behind the truck, and I didn't see any action that indicated you two were threatening Mr. Gifford. It seems he tested pretty high on the breathalyzer, too. He is a heck of a lot bigger than both of you combined."

"Yes, sir," said Timmy, relieved. "Thank you, sir."

"On the other hand," Farnham continued, "I could have sworn you were laughing and carrying on when you got out of the car. You didn't look so upset."

Timmy jumped in, "I think we were just so happy to be getting out, sir, that we kinda got silly. I think he wanted us to become unglued because he was making us get out and walk, but we're less than a mile from my apartment, so we certainly didn't mind, and besides we were ecstatic to get outta that car. We didn't think he was going to stop. Our relief made him angrier than ever, and that's when he tore back out onto the road."

"Ok... ," he said, mulling it over, "Tell me what else you saw? How did the accident come down?" The boys told the straight story of what they observed when the vehicles collided.

Finally, Farnham took a long second and looked into each boy's eyes. Satisfied, he nodded, and said, "Ok, then, I think that ties it up. I think you'll be in the clear, but we have to investigate, and something else might come up. Eventually there may be a court case or two arising out of this, and you may be called to testify. Make sure you stay in contact and let us know if your address changes. Here's my card. In the meantime, you can go. Do you need a ride?" he asked, going one step further than he had to.

Both boys thanked him profusely, and Timmy explained that it really was just a short walk. They leapt from the cruiser with relief, and hurried away from the scene.

The episode had one redeeming factor. In the midst of all the goings on, Danny had forgotten his tension about being so near where Ted lived and died. Timmy didn't forget, though. Instead of taking Danny to the diner located within site distance of the ashy ruins, Timmy went to the grocery store and bought some hamburger, condiments, and related supplies. When they went back to the apartment, they found Will home. Timmy included Will in his dinner preparations, and they sat and ate together. Although not overly friendly to Danny, Will was civil and made polite conversation in the rather odd and distant manner he had exhibited since the fire. He only grunted slightly when Timmy told him Danny would be staying the night. After eating, Will repaid his meal by mechanically cleaning up.

Danny wanted to go and buy the blotter acid. "The guy will either be home, or at Charlie's," he mentioned. "Let's track him down and buy it tonight." Apparently, Ron lived in a ratty old place on Goldspink Avenue. Goldspink was near the tracks.

Timmy had some reluctance. If Ron were at Goldspink, great, since that was the other direction from the burned out house. However, if they ended up at Charlie's, they'd be just slightly down and across from ground zero.

They lucked out. As they got near the corner of Union and Railroad Streets (Goldspink was an extension of Railroad), they found a group of older guys hanging out in front of Johnny's Pizzeria. Danny spied Ron, and introduced Timmy to him. Ron looked Timmy up and down speculatively, giving Timmy the creeps. Ron invited them into the fly specked Pizzeria, where Timmy got a good look at Ron. Ron was dark and greasy looking, and the pupils of his eyes were tiny pinpoints. His eyes glittered in the harsh fluorescent lighting. Ron didn't eat there a lot, Timmy concluded, because Ron was thin to the point of boniness, and he had a small but noticeable tremor. Timmy suddenly realized that Ron was an addict. It was like looking into a possible future, and he felt ill at ease. Suppressing a shudder, he signaled to Danny that he wanted to go as soon as they could.