He’d gotten up early, surprising the hell out of his mom, and played with Puffing Bill in the backyard for a while. Before he went outside, he had secretly swallowed another two ibuprofens. Any more, and Elliot would have been severely disappointed in him. Out in the backyard, part of him was worried about Mrs. Kobritz; she’d always been like a grandmother to him, but he was always thrilled to see her pit bull. Making the dog happy was almost enough to smooth away the churning in his guts. Pretty soon, it was time to gather his backpack and pretend to ride off to school. If he left any later, his mom would insist on giving him a ride.
Kevin had no intention of getting close to school this morning.
He’d ridden through town toward school, though, just in case his mom decided to follow him or something. He didn’t think that would happen; he knew she had to help out with some big funeral or something in town. She’d said there would be a lot of news reporters around, so maybe they’d watch the news later tonight, see if she was on TV.
He hid out under the bleachers that overlooked the high school baseball field, watching the shadow of the old water tower crawl across the infield. It was quiet out there, and it gave him a chance to sort out his thoughts. He’d tried thinking things through last night, but the fears had crowded out everything else, making it impossible to think clearly, until he finally passed out from exhaustion. Now it was possible to lay everything out.
Kevin didn’t think Jerm would take the gun to school. Jerm had to consider the possibility that Kevin had told his mom, and she would be waiting for him at school. If Jerm didn’t have the gun on him, he would allow himself to be searched, then he could deny everything. At least, that’s what Kevin would do.
He realized he had no idea what Jerm would actually do.
Jerm might be stupid enough to take the gun to school, just to show it off.
Of course, there was always the possibility he might bring the gun just to shoot Kevin. But Kevin didn’t think that would happen. If Jerm had wanted, he could have shot Kevin back in the town dump, then claimed it was self-defense. No, Jerm was dumber than a bag of hammers when it came to most stuff related to school, but he was awfully cunning when it came to slipping out of trouble.
Kevin also knew that Jerm couldn’t afford to miss many classes of summer school. Jerm sure as hell didn’t want to get held back another year. That would mean he would be taken out of the regular school system and forced instead to take classes in the special education building out near the school district offices, where he would be sitting alongside the developmentally disabled students. Kevin figured Jerm had too much of a sense of pride to let that happen.
So that meant that Jerm would likely hide the gun while he was in school, then retrieve it later. And the most obvious choice was somewhere safe, somewhere close to home.
When the shadow of the water tower had reached the pitcher’s mound, Kevin hopped on his bike and pedaled out to the southern edge of town. Along the way, the houses went from colorful two-story Victorian ladies down to cheap ranch-style homes decaying behind dead lawns.
Jerm lived with his mother and older brother in the trailer park. The place was full of empty double-wides, high weeds, and garbage cans that always seemed full. The owner had worked at the big tractor factory in Peoria until he was laid off or fired, nobody knew exactly which. Now he sat out on his deck that overlooked the algae-choked pond at the front of the property, drinking beer and fishing. Fishing, in this case, consisted of watching a faded red bobber float listlessly in the green water all day and listening to the Cards games on the radio.
Kevin knew that Jerm lived here because he had once ridden along after his mom had picked him up from school. The owner had been trying to deliver an eviction notice, but Jerm’s brother had threatened the man. Sandy had gone over to smooth things out, to try and work out a deal. She got the owner to give the family another month to pull together enough money, but it had never sat well with Jerm. He saw Chief Chisel as the one who wanted to evict the family. It didn’t matter that Sandy had been trying to help the family out; Jerm was convinced that Sandy was responsible. Kevin had been left waiting in the front seat of the cruiser, and been in plain view when Jerm came storming out of the trailer. From then on, Kevin had been marked.
Kevin walked his bike along the fence line, ducking out of the owner’s line of sight. He left his bike behind when he got close to Jerm’s trailer and waited for any movement. There was still a chance that Jerm hadn’t gone to school; he may not have been able to resist the temptation to stay home and play with his new toy.
After watching the trailer for a while, Kevin was satisfied that Jerm probably wasn’t home. He ran across the little blacktop road and flattened himself next to the front steps. He waited a few seconds, hoping his heart would stop hammering in his chest just a little, then climbed the warped wooden steps, keeping his knees flexed and bent.
He saw that the front door was open, with only the screen door shut. The screen was full of rips that had been repaired at some point with gray duct tape. Now, the duct tape was curling up off the mesh from the summer heat, leaving gaps big enough that Kevin could stick his fist through. It didn’t look like it did a very good job of keeping the mosquitoes out.
The breathless audience inside erupted in orgasmic applause yet again.
Kevin slowly twisted the screen-door handle, cranking the lever down. It clicked, and he eased it open, dreading squeaks and squeals. It swung open fairly silently, and he stuck his head inside the stifling heat of the trailer. It took his eyes a moment to adjust.
The noise from the TV came from off to the right, the front of the trailer. The kitchen was directly ahead of him, which meant the bedrooms waited to the left. He could only make out a few dark blobs from the living room. A couch or something was between him and the TV; he could only see the flickering blue light sizzle around the lumps of furniture.
Kevin stepped slowly inside, gently guiding the screen door shut behind him. He straightened, squinted at the TV. He still couldn’t tell if anyone was up front or not. Part of the furniture grunted at something witty that the host had said, and Kevin realized that there was a very large woman sprawled on the couch. It was clear she was focused on the TV, and did not realize some ten-year-old kid had just stepped into her trailer.
Kevin felt his mouth go dry. He crouched, and moved in a kind of duckwalk back to the bedrooms. The first doorway on the left was the bathroom, and smelled worse than any Porta-Potty he’d ever used. He figured that the doorway at the end of the hall led to the mother’s bedroom, and so that meant that the room off to the right was probably Jerm and his brother’s.
He was right. Beer advertisements featuring bikini-clad women and Playboy centerfolds had been stapled to the fake-wood laminate walls. The single window had been covered with an old black sheet, anchored to the top of the window with thumbtacks. It kept the room in nearly total darkness. As his eyes adjusted, Kevin saw that the two beds were simply a couple of mattresses thrown into opposite corners. The brothers apparently shared a single dresser, built out of particleboard, but most of the laundry was scattered throughout the room. Kevin wasn’t sure if he was more scared of running into Jerm, his brother, or the mother, but he still crawled into the room and started feeling around for the handgun.
Ten minutes later, he was convinced that Jerm had not hidden the gun in his room, and he really wanted to wash his hands. Kevin was disappointed, but not surprised. He didn’t think Jerm would hide the revolver someplace where his brother might find it. Still, he had to try. He eased back into the hall.