An excerpt from chapter 17
Light blue numbers on the Bronco’s clock switch to10:00. Steven pulls up to the open, gated entrance to the Lindley property. The headlights shine brightly through the weathered metal creating long shadows into the brush. To Erin Le’s surprise, not only does Steven neglect to turn off his lights, but he also pulls in over the cattle guard without showing any signs of stopping.
“Steven,” says Erin Le calmly, trying hard not freak out. The oversized back wheels rumble on the cattle guard before finally clearing it. “Where are you going?” He doesn’t answer, so without panicking she raises her voice and adds staccato. “Steven, stop!” He lifts a corner of his mouth and slants his eyes before slamming the breaks. The Bronco skids to a crunching halt in the caliche and Erin Le flies forwards, nearly striking her head on the dash. “What the hell are you doing?”
“I don’t know,” he says lowly. “Guess I’d try my luck.”
“Your luck? What if my brother or mom were to see the headlights?” she asks. Steven shrugs. “Then we’d be shit-out-of-luck!”
“When are we gonna tell everyone?” he asks. Erin Le scoffs.
“You know I don’t know the answer to that,” she says. “When the time is right, I guess.”
“No better time than the present,” says Steven. He puts the heavy truck in drive and starts to move forward once again.
“No,” she says. “Would you quit!?” He sighs, presses the breaks, and throws the column gearshift back into park.
“I’m tired of this Erin Le,” he says. Steven grasps at his head suddenly. “Also tired of these damn headaches!” After a few seconds of firm, brisk rubbing with his fingertips, he looks at her finally with his golden-brown locks of hair disheveled and in his face. “What is it with you, huh? You ashamed of me or something?”
“We’ve already talked about this,” she says. “And I’m honestly getting really tired of explaining myself.” She opens the door, but Steven grabs her arm roughly.
“Wait a minute,” he says with clenched teeth. “We ain’t done talking.” She turns and looks at him, her shocked countenance aglow in the red light of his after-market stereo system. Even more surprising, he doesn’t let go until she pulls free of his grip.
“You sure know how to spoil a good time,” she says. Erin Le hops out of the Bronco and slams the squeaky door.
“Erin Le, I’m sorry,” he says as he rolls down his window. She ignores him and continues walking the path towards the house. He winces as he grabs his head again. After slamming his hands a few times on his steering wheel, he turns his truck around and leaves with a roar of the engine. She stops, dabs her eyes not giving her tears a chance to fall, then goes into the brush where she left her duffle bag to change back into her Dairy Queen outfit. When she reaches the front of her house, she sees that Abraham’s and Eddie’s trucks are gone. But Mike is seated on the porch, much to her dismay. She stutter-steps when she sees him and swears under her breath.
“How was work?” asks Mike as she walks up the porch stairs.
“Fine,” she says. “Just tired.” She avoids eye-contact. Mike stands up and opens the door for her.
“You have enough energy for some practice?” he asks.
“Maybe tomorrow,” she says. “I’m just so tired right now. Where is everyone?”
“Your mom and Ed went out about thirty minutes ago. Peter is asleep and I have no clue about Abraham,” says Mike. Erin Le nods and hangs her apron on a coat rack in the entryway. “Must have been a slow night for you.”
“Uhm, no,” says Erin Le. “It was actually really hectic.”
“Oh, I figured it was slow since your apron looks clean, and you don’t smell of the usual heavy grease aroma.” Erin Le slumps her shoulders and looks at him annoyedly before walking off. “If you can’t train tonight, we’ll have to make an early start tomorrow—no lollygagging after school.”
“Uhhh,” she says with a sigh and frown. “I have a committee meeting right after school, actually.”
“Committee,” says Mike. “For the party…”
“Yep, that’s the one,” she says with mild sarcasm. “Gonna get some shut eye.”
“So, quit the committee,” says Mike.
“Mike,” she says. She turns around and flips her blonde hair back out of her face and rests her palm on her forehead. Mike is standing there with his arms behind his back in parade rest and without his trademark smile on his face, which Erin Le finds a little unusual. “I can’t just qui—”
A crack of thunder and a rumble momentarily blur Erin Le’s vision as the air grows thick with oppressive heat and soot. The walls around them suddenly begin to break apart and crumble revealing hellish, lavalike liquid steaming and popping in the void spaces. Mike seems to stretch tall into the foyer’s vaulted ceiling and his voice grows loud and frightening.
“You made me a promise,” says Mike with his new, booming, menacing tone. Erin Le cowers to the ground that is now being torn apart. She tucks into a ball on an island of flooring in the middle of a molten rock and slag lake. She can barely breath the sulfurous air. Mike’s voice is a lightning strike just yards away. “You must complete your training as agreed! With your full, unfettered, undivided commitment…”
The ceiling begins to fall all around in fiery pieces and the ground beneath her feet begins to split as a fresh stream of liquid fire channels through the smokey, glowing red furnace that used to be her living room.
“Ok,” she says with a scream. “Make it stop!” Mike examines her steely for a moment before waving his hand.
The chaos reverses like someone hit the rewind button and everything returns to normal. Erin Le is still on the floor, huddled into a ball, shaking scared—her eyes water from the astringent air that was just in her lungs. Mike is standing over her, straight-faced.
“Do not meddle with such a high calling as yours, young Erin Le,” he says with a gentle tone. Mike turns around, opens the front door, and, before stepping out, looks back at her over his left shoulder, almost remorsefully. “Tomorrow. After school. Without delay.”