Desert Slam

by Steven Barwin

  “Well, I brought you here to show you that there’s another side to the condos and golf courses.”

  I took another big bite, despite being stuffed. Why? Why not!

  “There’s crime everywhere,” Ruby said. “And I’ve seen a lot of it living in New York. And my guess is, there are even more of these crash-for-cash scams there. So please don’t think we don’t like it here.”

  “All right. Ready to do some shopping?” Cristina asked.

  We followed her along the busy road, weaving around the throngs of people fighting to get a look at the booths. Our first stop was the booth of a woman who made jewelry. The prices were good, so I had to pick a bracelet up for myself, my mom and my grandmother.

  “Big spender!” Ruby joked.

  “You gotta get gifts for home, right?”

  “True.”

  Cristina said, “Well, there’s tons more.”

  We stopped at a booth full of well-priced silk scarves. A few steps away a magician was doing card tricks. Then there was a guy who made wood chimes. My dad loved those, so I picked one up for him. We were only half a block up the first section, and my feet were sore. And I had spent most of my cash.

  Cristina asked, “Ready for our first dessert? Because it’s right over there.”

  A man stood in front of a row of six tall, bright flames that rose out of small cylinders. The entire thing was encased in glass. He placed ten extra-large marshmallows on a stick and held it toward the flames until they were perfectly toasted.

  We took turns pulling them off the stick.

  “So?” Cristina asked.

  “Awesome,” Ruby said.

  “Yes. Perfectly messy.”

  The dessert became a game, trying to eat the marshmallows before they fell off the stick.

  I licked my fingers. “So this might sound like a strange thing to ask, but are you guys a little worried about Laurie? Or is it just me?”

  “What do you mean?” Cristina asked.

  “Well, she might be involved, but she wasn’t the one behind the wheel.”

  Ruby added, “She did say she was trapped by those guys.”

  “Right. Kind of like us, but without a grandfather—”

  Cristina cut in. “Or a parent to help bail us out.”

  “Yeah,” Ruby agreed. “But she did refuse to help us. So why should we help her?”

  I nodded. “True. And what can we really do now anyway?”

  The conversation left us without answers, so we kept moving. After downing some freshly squeezed lemonade, we stopped at a store with lots of Palm Springs memorabilia. Ruby clapped her hands, excited to pick up some gifts to take home. We gathered around a mirror near a selection of hats and had fun trying them all on.

  Between a row of T-shirts and snow globes, I noticed a man watching us. He had on a stars-and-stripes tank top. I whispered, “There’s a disgusting guy checking us out. Can we leave?”

  The girls agreed, and we were soon back in the safety of the massive crowds. A man dressed as Elvis caught our attention, a large crowd gathering around him as he sang.

  Cristina started to dance, pulling Ruby and me in. She twirled me around. In the blur of spectators I spotted the guy from the store again.

  I kept smiling as I spoke to the girls, so as not to tip him off. “That weirdo is following us.”

  Cristina took the lead, and we broke off dancing and folded back into the crowd.

  Moving quickly past pedestrians, I looked over my shoulder. Stars-and-Stripes was catching up. Our celebration night was quickly turning into an escape from stranger danger. My heart raced, fueled by our fast pace and nerves. Suddenly the crowd of strangers felt less comforting. “Where are we going, Cristina?”

  She pointed. “There.”

  Ahead was a large collection of paintings on tall pedestals. There was everything from landscapes to abstracts.

  We pushed through shoppers until we were surrounded by paintings. Out of breath, I asked, “What now?”

  “Hide!” Cristina ordered.

  I scrunched up beside a painting of a large red flower. Behind it were thousands of different-sized interconnecting circles. Staring at the pattern, it looked like they were changing shape between big and small.

  I leaned forward just past the edge of the painting and scanned the faces of the crowd until I found the man in the stars and stripes. He was looking in every direction, like he had lost something. That’s when I recognized him. He was the tow-truck driver from the night of the accident.

  Chapter Seven

  We had immediately called it a night and made it home without any more drama. After tossing and turning all night, I awoke the next morning more confused than ever. Why would that guy want to follow us? And how did he find us, and what did he want with us?

  Cristina picked us up, and we went back to the Beach Cove Café. Javier was not pleased when he learned we had gone to see Laurie. When he heard that we were followed by one of the guys from the night of my accident, he slammed the folder of receipts he was carrying down onto the table.

  I was hoping he’d offer us a smoothie and a hamburger for our hard work. I guess that wasn’t realistic.

  “You shouldn’t have done that, Cristina.”

  “But it wasn’t my fault we were followed,” she whined.

  “You don’t get it. You were followed because you went to see Laurie. She tipped them off.”

  “Why don’t we all have a smoothie and calm down?” My comment fell on deaf ears.

  “Your safety is what I care about. You’re dealing with a network of people who are staging accidents. That’s criminal.”

  “So we should go to the police?”

  Javier didn’t answer. Cristina turned to us. “All I wanted was a fun night out. I wasn’t looking for trouble.”

  Javier picked up the folder. “In journalism class, we call where you’re at a ‘crossroads.’ You have information that may put more people in danger if you don’t act on it. If you do act, you could put yourselves in further danger.”

  “What should we do?” Cristina asked.

  “The three of you need to handle this now in a legit way. If you go to the police, you need solid evidence. You need an investigative journalist to get that.”

  “Aren’t you one of those?” I asked.

  He nodded. “Here’s the deal. If I help you, we do it my way.”

  We all nodded. I let out a small cheer.

  “And I’m going to write an article for my class. Who knows—maybe it’ll even get published.” He stood up. “I get off work in an hour. Until then your task is to think about our next lead.”

  “Already ahead of you,” Ruby said. She turned to her phone and worked on it for a minute while we watched. Then she slid the phone to the middle of the table. There was a photo from the night of my accident. Dale was talking to my grandfather. Ruby reached over and pinched in, revealing the tow truck. A pixelated logo on the side of the truck read Cactus Towing.

  We all turned to Javier.

  “You girls are way too good at this.”

  With Javier in the lead, I buckled into the back of his convertible Jeep Wrangler. The late-afternoon sun was scorching—I badly needed sunscreen and an icy drink. We approached an industrial area on the edge of town where the road turned into desert. A sign attached to a barbed-wire fence warned us to keep out.

  Slowing the jeep, Javier muttered, “Anybody see a sign? I didn’t.”

  I began to wonder what a Canadian girl was doing out here. The secure gates of the condo community, the pool and the tennis courts all seemed very far away.

  Ruby had her phone out. She pointed to a sign. The words Cactus Towing and Salvage were painted on a wooden cutout of a tow truck. Two old tires hung from large hooks.

  Javier said, “It’s closed. There’s a gate blocking the entrance. I’ll do a drive around.”

  I held on to the jeep as he drove down an uneven path along the perimeter of the property. To my right the fe
nce continued. To my left the endless desert stretched out as far as I could see—a no-man’s-land.

  Javier slowed the jeep and pulled alongside the fence, almost touching it. I followed his lead and got out.

  “This fence goes on forever. What now?” Cristina asked.

  “I’d like to see what’s on the other side of that.” Javier peered through the fence at the rows of old cars and mountain-high piles of metal parts spread over the lot. “I need to take a closer look.”

  Javier returned to his jeep and stood on the front passenger seat to peer over the fence. He waved us up.

  In the jeep, I pulled myself up using the sturdy rollover bar. Javier stepped back down. Ruby said, “I’m coming.”

  “Someone has to stay here.” Before anyone could offer, he threw his keys to Cristina. “Any trouble, take off, and we’ll meet up somewhere else.”

  “Okay,” said Cristina.

  I followed Javier, extending my arms to the top of the fence, my feet balanced on the roll bar of the jeep. I took a breath and then placed a foot onto the fence. Carefully holding my balance, I moved the next foot over. Javier hit the ground and survived the fall, so I gave it a try. Up and over, I grasped the other side of the fence. My fingers were slowly giving in to the pain. I pushed back and let go. My landing was hard and dusty, but I was in one piece.

  After Ruby made it over, we headed out, keeping close to Javier.

  Endless rows of rusted cars lay before us. Some were sandwiched ten high, while others had their hoods up, guts exposed.

  I crept along, keeping low like Javier. Behind me, Ruby filmed our adventure.

  Stepping past a car that had its fender and windshield crushed, I heard a loud growling noise. I jumped and let out a small scream.

  The sound of guard dogs barking sent us racing to the protection of a flattened school bus. Javier pulled Ruby and me onto the roof.

  “Where are they?” Ruby cried out.

  “I hate dogs!” I exclaimed. “I’m more of a cat person.”

  Javier didn’t acknowledge my joke, scanning the area while I lay down on my stomach. “I don’t see them.”

  “I don’t want to see them,” I said. “We need to get back to Cristina.” I looked at Ruby. “Right?”

  “We came all the way out here. Let’s find some evidence first,” she said.

  The barking stopped, and Javier climbed down. He walked cautiously around, scoping out the area for us. “Think it’s clear,” he called up.

  I followed Ruby down. I didn’t see any guard dogs. “Maybe they’re on leashes.” A car caught my eye. I moved toward it for a closer look. “This is the car I smacked into that night.”

  Ruby got it on her camera. “I think the license plates have changed. Instead of California, now they’re Arizona. That’s something, right?”

  Javier nodded. “Not much else to see around here. Let’s go.”

  “What about that?” Ruby asked, motioning to a trailer up on cement blocks.

  We approached it, and the loud barking started up again.

  Javier pointed, “Look, the sound is coming from a set of speakers.”

  “So there are no dogs?” I asked.

  “Nope. Just cheap security.”

  I smiled. “Then let’s go inside.”

  “Good idea,” agreed Ruby.

  “Terrible idea, actually,” said Javier. “It’s time to go. I’ll try to run the plates. It’s a great start.”

  As I turned to follow him out, the door to the trailer screeched open. An older man, clearly annoyed, held up a baseball bat.

  “We’re closed! How’d you get in here?”

  I turned to Javier, ready to run for it.

  Chapter Eight

  The man stepped out of the trailer and raised his bat. “How’d you get in?”

  Ruby and I huddled close to Javier.

  “We’re lost,” he said.

  The man said, “Can’t you see we’re closed? And that means you’re trespassing.” He took another step forward, and the loud, angry barking started again. He moved to the speakers and flicked them off.

  I wanted to ask him questions, but we were trapped on his property. Besides, he didn’t seem in the mood. Plus, he had that baseball bat.

  Javier lifted his arms, trying to make it clear he wasn’t interested in fighting. “We’re sorry. We shouldn’t have come in here. We’ll be on our way.”

  The man looked over at me, squinting his eyes as if to see me better. Then he pointed with the bat at Ruby. “Why is she recording me?”

  Javier grabbed Ruby’s phone and stuffed it into his pocket. “Kids these days…always with the selfies. Sorry again. I’m just trying to get these girls back home.” Whatever headway Javier had made with the man was gone now.

  “Still don’t see what you’re doing in here. How’d you ‘wander’ in here over the fence?”

  The three of us stood there, out of excuses.

  “So you admit that you are trespassing then?”

  Javier nodded. “We’re very sorry. We’ll walk away right now and you’ll never see us again.”

  “And I won’t charge you with trespassing.”

  I was going back to Vancouver soon. This was my one and only opportunity to get an answer to a question that had plagued my entire vacation. I stepped forward. “More like we won’t have you charged with crashing-for-cash scams. The car that hit me is right over there.”

  “What are you talking about? There’s no scam here,” he said, motioning again with his bat, clearly wanting us to leave.

  Javier put his hand on my arm. “Maya, please stop.”

  “It’s an insurance scam,” I continued.

  “What in the world?” The man seemed genuinely confused.

  “If I’m wrong, then why does that car have new plates?” I pointed.

  “We get all types of cars from all over the United States in here. That’s why it’s called a towing company.” He turned away and back again. “Why should I have to explain my business to you—a total stranger on my property?”

  “Because I smashed into that car! And there was a pregnant lady inside who wasn’t really pregnant!” I took a deep breath. “And someone who works for Cactus Towing has been following us.”

  The man chuckled. “Really? You weave quite the story. I don’t want to be the one to state the obvious”—he touched his temple—“but you’ve clearly got problems.”

  He stood there, the baseball bat now resting on his shoulder. “And I’m beginning to think I might charge you all for being on my property after all.”

  Javier tried to pull me away, but Ruby stepped in.

  “Great idea. Let’s get the police over here. We have proof. All we have to do is tell them about Laurie.”

  “Who’s Laurie? This another story you’re cooking up? Now I know the heat’s gotten to your heads.” He turned to Javier. “I’m going to give you one minute to get these nut jobs off my land.”

  “We’re going,” said Javier. “Thank you, thank you.” He pulled us around the corner and back to the fence.

  Cristina jumped up and down when she saw us. She hugged each of us as we scrambled up and over. “You’re all alive! I thought those dogs ate you!”

  “They weren’t real.” I tried to explain, but she had a hard time believing me. “Cristina, it was awesome. We found the car that hit us, just sitting there with new plates.”

  “What?”

  Ruby jumped in. “And we talked to a man who came at us with a baseball bat! You should’ve seen Maya—”

  “I accused him of doing crash for cash. He’s got a thousand cars to do it with and—”

  “Stop it!” said Javier. “You screwed it all up, and we were lucky to get out of there. Why did you tell him everything? Now they can just cover it all up. There’s no story here. It’s over.”

  Javier got in the jeep, slammed his door and didn’t speak to me the entire way home.

  The tennis ball flew over the net, past the out-
of-bounds line and wedged itself in the chain-link fence.

  “I think that’s out.” Ruby turned to pluck the ball free.

  I smiled at her sarcastic comment and returned to the baseline to receive her serve.

  Not that I was into the game at all. Javier was no longer willing to help us out. He blamed me for ruining everything. I think he was more upset about not getting to write his article than about not getting any kind of justice.

  “You ready?” Ruby called out from crosscourt.

  My grandparents, worried about me obsessing over the accident, were happy I was out here. You’re ruining what’s left of your vacation over something that wasn’t your fault, they’d said.

  The ball whizzed past me.

  “I wasn’t ready, Ruby!”

  “Sorry! Want to quit?”

  “No, I guess not.” I picked the ball up and lobbed it over. I could never have predicted how this vacation would turn out. I remembered how happy I’d been sitting in my seat at the Indian Wells tennis tournament. And then it had all gone sideways.

  Ruby returned the ball, and I smacked it as hard as I could, venting my leftover anger and frustration.

  How many other people were getting scammed somewhere right now? It was bad enough that I’d gotten pulled into the mess. But it was worse that I had had an opportunity to stop these people. And I’d blown it.

  The ball landed at my baseline, and I turned sideways, slapping it with a backhander.

  I had yet to figure out how to pay back my grandparents. I knew I would have to fight to get them to accept any money from me, but it was the right thing to do. Never thought I’d return from an all-expenses-paid vacation with a monster debt instead of a couple of T-shirts and a snow globe of Chino Canyon.

  Ruby hit a beautiful slice serve and I watched it clear the net, smothered in backspin. I half ran to the net and just got the edge of my racket on it and flopped it over.

  The ball landed without much bounce, and Ruby couldn’t get to it.

  “Nice one,” she said.

  We met at the net.

  “Think I’m done for the day,” I said.

  Ruby nodded.

  “Want to hear something sad?” I asked.

  “Not really.”