Free Drowning Is Inevitable by Shalanda Stanley

wear this anymore.” He pulled at his shirt. It was stuck to him in places, caked with dried blood. Some blood had soaked into the seat in the night, staining the stitches in the leather.
    Max reached under the seat and pulled out a wrinkled T-shirt. “Put this on.”
    â€œThanks,” he whispered.
    I looked away as Jamie changed. When I looked back, he was balling his old shirt up tight, twisting and turning it. I put my hand on his shoulder.
    â€œHere,” Max said. “Give it to me.”
    Jamie immediately handed it to him, and Max put it under the truck seat. Max turned to me and said, “Try to clean up the best you can. Maggie will get you some water and something to help get the blood off Jamie. Don’t take too long. I’m gonna stay out here with Jamie and pump the gas. Maggie, you pay for it.”
    â€œAlright,” she said, taking the money.
    There was a wrinkled woman behind the counter watching me as I walked toward the restroom. I kept my hands in my pockets and was glad I was wearing jean shorts. The dried blood looked like mud on the denim, and muddy, scratched-up kids were nothing new to see in places like this. I was likely coming off some woods adventure. Once in the bathroom I changed into some clean shorts from my bag. I mirrored Jamie’s earlier actions and rolled the bloody ones up tight before tucking them into a corner of my bag. I didn’t want them touching my clean clothes, but I couldn’t risk leaving them in the bathroom.
    Washing my hands in the sink, I kept my head down, avoiding the mirror. I watched as the last of Tom Benton’s blood swirled around and around, then down the drain. I should’ve felt bad, but the only feeling that came was relief.
    Hands on the edge of the sink, I risked a look at the mirror. I was kind of expecting to see Lillian. There was a pounding on the door. My hands were shaking again.
    â€œOlivia, let’s go,” said Maggie.
    â€œI’m coming,” I said.
    Two deep breaths later I opened the door. Maggie was walking out the front door, and I looked to the woman behind the counter. She hadn’t moved.
    Outside, Maggie was sitting in the driver’s seat. Max was standing in front of the open passenger door. I was almost to him when another truck pulled up. It looked like a work truck, a layer of dust and dirt covering it. The driver hopped out. His eyes were on me, and then he glanced back at Max’s truck. He stared at it for a long time, and then looked at me. This is it. He knows. I stopped in my tracks as he passed me, and then I turned to watch his back. He’s going to tell the clerk, I thought, but I couldn’t move. Someone took my hand. It was Max.
    â€œCome on.”
    â€œI think he knows,” I whispered. He knows, and my life won’t be my own anymore, and no one will save Jamie.
    Max looked in the direction of the store. “He’s buying beer. He doesn’t know. Let’s go.”
    Max pulled me to his truck. I risked one more look back at the store. The guy was putting a six-pack on the counter. I wondered if I’d be like that with every person that passed us by.
    Jamie was in the front seat. Maggie looked toward the road.
    â€œAre we still in Mississippi?” she asked.
    â€œYeah,” Max said.
    â€œSo, we’re gonna just keep going? Don’t we need a better plan?” Maggie asked.
    I dropped my bag onto the backseat. Beth’s letters were in it. Maybe she’d help us. If I explained to her what Jamie’s dad was like, she’d understand. Maybe she’d do it as a favor to my mom.
    â€œMy mom’s best friend lives in New Orleans,” I said. “I think she might help us.”
    Jamie turned to look at me.
    â€œYeah?” he asked.
    â€œYeah.”
    Max’s face brightened at the idea. I didn’t tell him I’d never actually met her.
    â€œI don’t know exactly where she is