The Hard Bounce - страница 77

“Start the fucking thing. Now!” I threw him toward the door and out. I only had one leg to push off from, but it gave me enough leverage to give him a good launching. I pitched forward with my own momentum and came down on my face again. White lights danced before my eyes. There was no time for clear thought, but I really had to stop falling the fuck down.

As the hippie van’s engine coughed over and over, I had a minor epiphany. The cell phone was only a few feet away, charging in the living room. I hopped and dragged myself toward the phone at a frantic clip.

Pulling myself onto the couch, I saw the thick trail of blood zig-zagging in my wake.

Shit, that’s a lot, I thought.

I didn’t want to look at my knee. I snatched the phone off the side table and hit the autodial for Kelly’s cell.

Ringing.

Ringing.

Ringing. Motherf-

Connection!

“Hi, this is Kelly. Sorry I can’t answer your call right-”

“Fuck!” I shouted. “Fuck! Fuck!”

Kelly’s home number was next in the menu. It rang twice. “Come on… come on,” I muttered.

It rang a third time and Kelly answered, a bit out of breath. “Hello?”

“Kelly. Call the cops.”

“What? Boo?”

“Lock your door and call the cops right now.” The words were getting harder and harder to produce. My lips felt shot full of Novocain.

“Boo, what’s-”

“Right now, baby. Please.”

“Tell me what’s happening!” Her voice rose in fear.

“I got shot.” Gotta admit: Them’s some strange words to hear yourself say.

“Oh my God, Boo! Who shot you? Where are you?”

“I’m on my way. Don’t answer the door.”

“Boo-”

“Please, Kelly. Just lock your door and call the cops.” I hung up before she asked any more questions I really did not have the time for.

I tried Junior’s number, but my blood-slicked fingers kept slipping off the small keypad. I took a deep breath and collected myself enough to find the right numbers.

“Wuzzah?” came Junior’s sleepy voice.

“Junior, I’m shot. I got shot.” It still felt weird saying it. My voice was calm, but it rang in my ears like I was in an echo chamber.

“Huh?”

“Get to 116 Mt. Vernon!”

“Sorry, think I got something crazy stuck in my ear. Did you just say you got shot?”

“Please, Junior. I think he might be going after Kelly.” Panic started chewing my gut anew.

“I’m out.” Junior hung up. Done and done.

From a distance that seemed too far to be the driveway, the van heaved a mighty cough and started.

Phil came running around the hall into the living room. “She’s running. Oh God.” He got a good look at my knee and promptly turned eight shades of green. “Oh my god.”

I reached out to him. “Help me get up,” I said, slurring. I sounded drunk. That couldn’t be good. My eyes were getting heavy.

Phil slung my arm around his shoulders and helped me to the van. He put me on my back through the rear doors and ran around to the front. “Where are we going? What hospital? Where is the hospital? Jeez, I don’t know where the hospital is!” Phil sounded one notch down the panic meter from where my needle was buried.

“Mt. Vernon. Just… just drive to Mt. Vernon Street.” The dancing white lights were getting bigger. And they’d brought friends. Not good. I was slipping into shock.

“I know where Mt. Vernon is, but there’s no hospital.” From my position, the upside-down Phil turned, confused. “And, uh-you’re in your underpants.”

“Drive, you stupid hippie jackass!” I shouted through clenched teeth.

Phil hit the gas and shot out of the driveway with a screech of tires. He turned a hard left onto Cambridge, centrifugal force flipping me upside down and bouncing my forehead off the van wall. Another explosion of pain shook my nervous system, and I fought back the nausea wringing my stomach.

I looked at the cell phone. Who else could I call?

Twitch. I could call Twitch.

“I don’t have a license, man,” Phil whined hysterically. “The van doesn’t have any plates. What if we get pulled over?”

The van chugged along. Not fast enough. Then I saw Phil had the gas pedal to the floor. We were going as fast as the beat-up van was capable.

I tried to answer him, but somebody had filled my tongue with sand. The lights slow-danced and grouped into one blob-a blob that was spreading over my vision.