chapter 29

word count: 1319

it took everything jack bowman and steve learnagle had in them to suppress their insane laughter till adam was safely across the park,, and out of ear-shot..

jack was the first to break into peels of hysterical laughter.. by the time he let loose, tears were streaming down his cheeks.. steve joined in, as the two of them literally melted to the ground convulsing with the sheer brilliance of what was bound to turn out to be the best prank they had ever played..

“what an idiot!!” jack wailed as he laid gasping in on the grass,, grasping his aching sides..  

“i can’t believe he bought it!! and that ammo!!! bwah!!! he is so fucked!!!” steve barely got out in between the peels of raucous insanity..

“your brother is gonna fucking kill you when he finds out his gun is missing!!" jack huffed, barely able to catch his breath..

“so worth it!!” steve retorted with a loud snort that only sent the two of them further into their howling oblivion..

they laid there splayed out on the grass, until the hysterics subsided and all that was left between them was the sound of their own heavy breathing..

“we gotta get busy.” steve said as his ability to breath returned..

“onward!” exclaimed jack, “phase two!!”

“phase two!” steve repeated mischievously, as the two of them jumped to their feet and jogged off across the park toward the bus stop.. 

“phase two indeed!!!”

 ***

adams heart was beating so hard it felt like it would jump from his throat if he opened his mouth.. ‘please don’t let me see anyone i have to talk to.’ he pleaded with the universe, as he stepped hurriedly aboard the seven bus,, and slipped into a seat right behind the driver..

his eyes darted along the length of the bus.. he was safe.. not a familiar face in the crowd.. he grabbed his backpack, and hugged it tightly.. as he settled into his seat,, and the buses' air-conditioning enveloped him,, adam realized he was drenched in a cold sweat.. he held his backpack firmly with one arm and then the other, as he pushed the rolling beads of sweat off his face, and back into his hair with his shirt sleeves..

he tried his best to breath normally.. to look like everything was ok,, but that was incredibly hard to do.. he settled for sitting completely still,, allowing only his eyes to move.. they darted nervously from side to side.. their rapid movement caused adam to feel dizzy,, he began to wonder if he might get sick.. he closed his eyes, but the movement of the bus just made the nausea that was growing inside of him more intense..

‘stop it!’ adam yelled out to himself.. ‘stop it! stop it! stop it!’ he inhaled deeply and felt a rush of calm beginning to overtake him.. using his left arm to cradle his backpack, he reached into his pants pocket with his right hand and gently stroked the six bullets jack had given him.. as his fingers continued to brush up against them,, the nausea seemed to subside..  they felt smooth and hard.. they were little,, but adam knew, they were powerful.. 

‘just like me.’ he thought to himself.. ‘just like me..’

***

jack dropped the second quarter in what had to be the only payphone left in new albany.. he popped 9-1-1 into the keypad,, and blew his breath out loudly as he waited for the dispatcher to answer..

“911, what is your emergency?” the calm voice of the dispatcher came on the line..

“there’s a kid,, a little red haired kid,, on the bus,, the west bound seven,, and hes got a gun!!” jack yelled into the phone, breathing hard to add emphasis.. he looked at steve,, smiled wide,, and shook his head rapidly up and down to signify everything was going along just as planned..

“could you repeat that?” asked the dispatcher.

jack rolled his eyes as he repeated, “there is a kid, a red haired kid, he is on the west bound bus number seven and hes got a gun!! we SAW him put it in his back pack!!”

“and who is we?” the dispatchers voice echoed out of the phone as jack held it out into the air so that steve could hear what was going on.. he shrugged and looked questioningly at steve,, not quite sure what to do next..

“i repeat, “ the dispatcher droned on into the dead air, “who is we?”

steve could be heard calling out “hang up!!” just as jack slammed the receiver back into its cradle..

“yes!!!” they exclaimed simultaneously,, as they jumped up into the air, smacked chests and high fived..

“we rule!!” said jack as he pumped his fist at the sky.. “we fucking rule!!”

the payphone started ringing back,, just as the bus came to a stop in front of them..

“fuck it!” said steve under his breath as he dug his student pass out of his back pocket,, and glared back at the old lady boarding the bus just ahead of him when she turned,, shook her head,, and shot him a look of great disapproval..

“let’s go!” jack said as they pushed their way past the disgruntled old lady,, and made their way to the back of the bus.. 

***

adam stepped off the bus in front of the dairy queen,, totally unaware that detective gil bettencourt was eying the bus from just inside the window.. a dispatch transmission was blaring in his ear bud,, “all officers in the vicinity, please respond to a possible gun sighting.. west bound city bus number seven.. possible suspect described only as a red haired boy, no age given. no further description available. weapon last seen being placed in suspects backpack.. on scene, please advise”

as dispatch was repeating the transmission,, gil witnessed a little red haired boy stepping off the seven bus right in front of him,, his close cropped red hair matted with sweat,, clutching a backpack tightly with both arms.. it didn’t take long for gil to recognize the boy.. it was adam miller..

‘holy fuck!’ gil whispered to himself,, this was going to have to be handled delicately.. he had to  get to the kid before any other officers appeared on scene.. this was buzz millers kid,, and he owed it to buzz to diffuse this situation as quickly and quietly as possible.. he quickly decided against advising dispatch that he had the subject in his sights.

in one seemingly fluid movement, gil exited the dairy queen, and fell in behind little adam miller just as adam cleared the corner of the building,, and started out across the vacant lot.. gil stopped short at the buildings edge to keep some distance between them.. he watched as adam stopped,, looked nervously around him and then took a seat on the grass beside a clump of low growing bushes..

as he looked on,, the boy proceeded to unzip his backpack,, and allowed his hands to disappear inside of it.. gil couldn’t see a thing.. he needed to get closer.. there was nowhere for him to hide,, and no time for him to lose.. he rolled his head deeply on his shoulders,, took a deep breath,  and set off weaving across the vacant lot in adam's general direction.. as he stumbled along,  a twig broke loudly beneath his heavy foot falls, causing adam's head to jerk around towards him.. he had been exposed.. there was no turning back now..

he looked on as adam quickly zipped his backpack and jumped to his feet.. the look of panic seemed to drain from adam’s face,, as gil ambled closer and adam slowly began to recognize him as the guy who had very probably saved his life just a few nights earlier..

“hey kid!!” gil exclaimed in his best drunken slur,, “boy, am i happy to see you!!”