Free Jaded by Varina Denman Page B

landing on all fours among a cluster of potholes. My palms stung, and my right knee burst into pain, moistening my jeans as they rubbed across a fresh wound.
    A skinned knee.
    When I was five, I bloodied both knees jumping rope, but Fawn held wet paper towels against my skin until the bleeding stopped. I wondered where she was tonight.
    With my cheek close to the pavement, I peered under the camper to see Clyde’s tattered tennis shoes making their way past the front passenger tire. A whimper flipped my lungs into a deep, ragged breath as I leaped into a stumbling sprint, careening past a low hedge, which clawed at my clothing. My muscles turned to clay, and my feet to sandstone slabs, and when I rounded the corner at the stop sign, a brick flower-bed border sent me sprawling across the sidewalk just as a car turned from Main, its headlights blinding me where I lay.
    JohnScott.
    The recognition of my cousin’s truck finally pulled a scream from my throat, and I crawled, then ran, slamming against the passenger door before scratching for the door handle. I scurried inside and yanked the door shut as Clyde staggered to the corner, balancing himself against the stop sign.
    JohnScott sped away, but I stared at Clyde through the back window, his menacing gaze following the truck until we were out of sight.

Chapter Ten
    After my scare with Clyde Felton, I no longer attempted to traipse around town by myself. JohnScott had snatched me up, driven me home, and talked in soothing tones until I calmed, but I still panicked whenever I thought about the rapist. My cousin kept reminding me that nothing actually happened, but I knew he was just as alarmed as I was.
    Regardless of his comforting words, the tension brewing between JohnScott and me was worse, and I wasn’t about to broach the topic of the Cunninghams. Even though JohnScott acknowledged my fear of Clyde, he probably wouldn’t approve of my apprehension about Dodd. I chose to remain silent, but of course he knew something was up, and by the weekend, we had established an elephant-in-the-room rapport.
    After Velma’s big dinner on Saturday night, our options for entertainment were sparse, and JohnScott and I ended up in the parking lot of the Mighty Clean Car Wash, licking dipped cones from the Dairy Queen. While John Mayer sang from the cab of JohnScott’s truck, I sat on the tailgate swinging my legs and gazing up and down the street. “It’s quiet tonight.”
    JohnScott chuckled. “Next week will be rowdy, what with the homecoming game.”
    â€œI hope you’ve got your boys ready. I hear Denver City’s tough this year.” I bit a chunk of chocolate from my cone, and ice cream trickled toward my thumb.
    â€œThey’ll give us more of a challenge than we got last night, that’s for sure.” JohnScott smiled at me, and I almost felt like things were back to normal. If only we could sit on his tailgate at the car wash every evening and ignore the rest of the town. A car engine revved behind us, and JohnScott’s brow wrinkled. “Watch out now.”
    His eyes never left his cone as Fawn Blaylock’s Mustang pulled into the side entrance of the car wash. She eased through a washing bay, then sped out the front entrance after she glanced at us. Gravel showered the change machine, killing my hopes for a peaceful evening with my cousin.
    JohnScott stuck out his bottom lip. “Too bad she couldn’t stick around.”
    I contemplated her tinted windows as she stopped at the intersection. “You think Tyler’s in there with her?”
    â€œWithout a doubt.” JohnScott cocked his head as the Mustang turned the corner. “How do they decide which awesome vehicle to drive?”
    â€œMaybe they flip a coin.”
    The corners of his mouth dropped. “When I taught your history class, Fawn bragged about her car so much I thought I’d scream.” He repositioned his ball cap.