Free Breathless by Lurlene McDaniel

help you.” He stands, tosses money on the table for the pizza, and says, “Come on. I’ll take you home.”
    He’s almost out the door before I can grab my jacket and catch up with him. At his car, he jerks open the passenger door for me. “Get in.”
    I hurl myself at him, stand on tiptoe until I’m inches from his body. “You’ve got to listen to me. This isn’t about me or you. I’m going crazy. He’s my brother! He’s been there all my life.” I begin to tremble. “We’re a part of each other. If you know something, tell me what it is.”
    Cooper’s face is hard as stone. Did he even hear me? “If you want information about Travis, ask him, not me.”
    I know what a tough spot I’ve put him in—tell a secret, betray a friend. It isn’t fair, but I had to try. And now, more than ever, I’m frightened for my brother, more scared than in any bad dream I’ve ever had.
    Cooper drives slowly. Night has fallen, and street-lamps make puddles of light on the street and sidewalk.Alexander is a small city, with only a few streets along our downtown. The street he takes is off the main drag. The silence between us is a cold wall. I don’t know what to say to make things better. I want information, that’s true, but I like being with Cooper, and I don’t want him to hate me. In my heart, I like him despite my mother’s warnings. If Darla’s right about his liking me, I’ve ruined it.
    All of a sudden, Cooper veers the car to the curb and jumps out. “Wait here!”
    Alarmed, I shout, “What’s wrong?”
    He doesn’t answer. I watch him run across the street toward two men and a woman. The woman is being shoved between the men, and just before Cooper gets to them, one of the men strikes the woman hard across the face. Then Cooper is in the middle of them, pushing the men aside and yelling, fists flying. He punches and kicks them in a fury until they flee. The woman slumps. Cooper scoops her up in his arms and carries her to the car.
    “Get the door, Emily.”
    I scramble to open it.
    He settles her across the backseat and comesaround and gets in the car. He’s breathing hard and he’s bleeding over his eye. The woman in the back whimpers.
    “Who is she?”
    He turns the key. “My mother.”
    I can hardly get my mind around what’s just happened. I’ve never met his mother, and now to meet her like this—
    “I have to take her home.”
    “Sure. Yes. Should she see a doctor?”
    “She doesn’t need a doctor. She’s a drunk, Emily.”
    “And those two men?”
    “Johns.”
    I know what the word means.
    He glances over at me. “You’re not going to feel sorry for me, are you?”
    In a flash, I understand things about Cooper I never have before, and how Travis has protected him because that’s what friends do. I know Cooper’s pride is at stake. I regroup quickly. “Of course not. Those men were horrible! Hitting a woman like that. Good thing you came along.”
    “No biggie.”
    He pulls into a trailer park and up to a small trailer. I can see its outline in the dark. “Wait here,” he says. He takes the woman, his mother, out of the car. With his help, she can stand.
    She peers at me. “Are you Coop’s girlfriend?” Her words are slurry, but she doesn’t seem hurt.
    “She’s Travis’s sister,” he tells her.
    “Hello,” she says, like I’m some long-lost relative. “I always liked your mama. A nice lady. Pitching in to help when Coop was a little guy. He was little once, you know.” She pats her son’s chest and laughs. She’s tiny, with almond-shaped eyes and matted black hair. “Isn’t my Coop the best?”
    “I’ll be right back,” Cooper tells me.
    I watch him guide her to the trailer and take her inside.
    “Yes, he is.” There’s no one to hear, but I answer her question anyway.

Travis
    O ne quiet afternoon, I tell Darla everything. We’re alone in the house, lying together in my bed, skin against skin, April rain sliding down the windows. The soft sound