The Summer the World Ended

by Matthew S. Cox

  I wonder how many years I’ll get for stealing barbecue ribs. Was running at a cop with a gun in my pants a crime? The color drained out of her face. Thank God I wasn’t carrying it in my hand. Holy shit, I was a bloody mess. They’d have shot me. Breakfast did a backflip in her stomach. Going to jail is getting off light. She let her head thud against the cinderblocks behind her, wondering if ‘kid jail’ was anything like the jail they show in movies. The desire to be in her own bedroom, her own sanctuary, away from all the craziness was so strong it hurt.

  The doorknob twisted. She shot upright in the seat.

  Sergeant Rodriguez exited the office with a manila folder under one arm. He looked down at her for a moment before walking past to sit on the bench at her side.

  “Am I going to jail now?”

  “Where did you get that from?” He chuckled. “No, Riley. The DA is not going to file any charges against you. You didn’t really do anything illegal. Freebird and Lonnie were more worried about you than you think. Everyone’s looking at you like a victim in this case.”

  She covered her mouth with her hands and shook. No words came to mind.

  “Your father is going to be held for observation. Looks like the judge will find him not responsible by reason of mental disease or defect. He’ll be hospitalized for some time, I can’t say how long, but he won’t go to prison.”

  She smiled and let her arms fall in her lap. “I guess I can’t stay home, huh?”

  “Nope. Not at fourteen.”

  Riley shrank in on herself. “Guess I go to a shelter again?”

  “Probably.” He leaned back. “Usually.”

  Fear danced through her belly. Memories of horrible stories about sadistic foster parents from the news left her shaking.

  “You seem like a nice girl. Not sure why the universe decided to let you have both barrels.”

  She sniffled. “I dunno.”

  Sergeant Rodriguez pulled the manila folder out from under his arm and laid it across his lap. “I had a feeling something wasn’t quite right when I saw you at the store. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but you had that air around you like something was wrong.”

  “On the ride to New Mexico, some waitresses thought Dad was abducting me. They said I looked ‘forlorn.’”

  “That’s a good word for it.” Sergeant Rodriguez chuckled. “You still kind of do.”

  “I guess I knew something wasn’t right.” She wiped her eyes and tucked a strand of hair behind her hear. “When Dad sat near me at Mom’s funeral, my first instinct was to get away. He seemed scary.”

  “It’s not your fault, Riley. You’re a kid.” He took a breath. “Speaking of which, you need a place to stay, and you don’t seem too happy about the idea of going into the system. I’ve already talked it over with my wife, Elisa. We’ve got a spare room. If you’re open to the idea, we’d love to have you.”

  She gasped. A minute ago, she’d expected him to slap her in cuffs and drag her off to jail, and now he was offering to take her in. Never in her life had she imagined a cop could be so… nice. Mute, she covered her mouth.

  “There’s one small issue.”

  Her heart fluttered.

  “Do you think you can put up with an extremely loud nine-year-old boy? My son Daniel is a handful and then some.”

  “What?” She gulped. “You’re serious?”

  “I convinced the advocate that after everything you’ve been through, ‘the system’ is probably not the best thing for you. A kid in your situation has a high chance of winding up on the wrong end of the law years down the line. You need some stability after the year you’ve had.”

  She stared at nothing.

  “Not to mention, they’d probably send you to Albuquerque or Las Cruces, which would complicate visiting your father. So much has gone wrong for you, I couldn’t turn my back.”

  “I thought you were gonna lock me up.” She took deep breaths.

  “I still might, if you don’t behave yourself.” He winked.

  A hesitant smile formed on Riley’s face, followed by a grin and a nervous laugh. “Uhm…”

  “Take your time. It’s a lot to think about.”

  “I… You’d really let me live with you? That’s so… much.” I need to tell Amber I’m still alive. Riley reached out to him. “Do I at least get my one phone call?”

  He clasped her hand. “Of course, this is America.”

  She grinned. “Okay.” The handshake became a hug. “Thank you, Sergeant Rodriguez.”

  “You’re welcome. That does seem a bit too formal now. If you’re under my roof, you can call me…” He rubbed his chin. “Hmm. Marty doesn’t seem proper. I wouldn’t feel right asking you to use ‘Dad’, ‘hey you’ won’t work either.”

  “Mr. Rodriguez?”

  “I guess that’ll do for now.” He stood. “Let’s go, I’ll introduce you to the family. Tonight you can couch surf. Tomorrow maybe I’ll grab a van and we can pick up your things.”

  She got up and followed him outside, walking on autopilot to the back door. He went around the trunk to the other side and smirked at her over the bar lights.

  “Stop looking like you’re in trouble.” He waved her forward. “Get in up front.”

  Riley pulled the door open and gazed out at the desert. What was supposed to have been the best summer in her life had turned into the weirdest. Her horrible rollercoaster ride of grief, terror, loneliness, and panic came to the most bizarre end she never could’ve imagined. She sent a weak smile over the roof at Sergeant Rodriguez, and climbed in.

  A pang of sadness at the loss of Mom lifted at the thought her father would be okay, and Kieran still wanted to be with her even after the whole town knew her father was nuts. It wouldn’t be the awesomeness she’d spent the entire year looking forward to, but the remaining weeks of summer didn’t look so bleak anymore.

  “Dad would flip if he knew I was living with a cop.”

  Sergeant Rodriguez chuckled. “He knows. I asked him before I spoke to the advocate. Having his blessing on the whole thing made it a lot easier.”

  She gaped at him, speechless.

  “He’s a different person entirely when he’s on his meds.” He pulled out into traffic, craning his neck at the rear view mirror. “Your dad thought it would be a good idea too. That whole stable environment thing. We’re both a little worried about you after all you’ve been through.”

  Riley leaned back in the seat, gazing at the blue sky. Buildings of Truth or Consequences slipped past on both sides. It wasn’t much to look at, but the idea of living in Las Cerezas seemed nice. She wondered if she’d ever come to think of the Rodriguez house as ‘home’ the way she’d acclimated to Dad’s place. Probably not, but it might eventually feel ‘safe.’

  “You can talk to me about anything you like… or you can stay quiet.”

  Amber is going to go crazy. That’s going to be a three-hour phone call. She went over in her head what to tell her friend first.

  After a few minutes, he glanced at her with a concerned expression. “I can’t tell if you’re relaxed or about to throw up again. Are you okay?”

  Riley leaned her head back. “I haven’t been sleeping. Can I answer in the morning?”

  His moustache curled as he smiled. “Alright.”

  arm patches of sunlight glimmered through the folds of a clear plastic shower curtain decorated with blue and brown diamonds. Two small bowls of seashell soaps on the toilet tank filled the upstairs bathroom with the scent of lavender and pine. Riley perched atop the closed seat, one heel up, toes splayed. She leaned forward, knee to chest. Blue felt pajamas specked with white dots would’ve been too warm in Dad’s house at this hour, but this place had AC. She held a bottle in her left hand, arm curled about her shin, and took care to work a tiny brush over her toenails. The sight of the glittery blue polish made her think of Mom, but all the images she recalled were happy. A wistful smile formed. Somehow, some way, Mom was watching over her still. Of all the thousand
and one ways things could have happened… She hugged her leg, knowing Mom was with her under the RV, making sure she didn’t shoot.

  Riley swapped feet and spread a layer of deep blue polish on the big toenail of her right foot.

  Her mind leapt to meeting Lonnie and Freebird two days after moving into her new room. She had to apologize. Though she’d walked in rigid and trembling, the guys were nothing like what their exterior would imply. Would I have yelled at him to go away before I fired? She closed her eyes and felt warm inside. Yeah… probably―as long as he didn’t try to grab me.

  A knock at the door, rapid and light. “I need to pee.” Daniel Rodriguez waited all of two seconds before opening the door and peeking. “Please.”

  “Gimme a minute.”

  He bounced in place. “There’s a boy here lookin’ for you.”

  Crap. “What time is it?”

  The kid shrugged, and walked in.

  Riley, nail polish in one hand, brush in the other, shuffled like a broken tin man over thick beige carpet down the hall to the second door on the right. In her new bedroom, she flopped on the floor and finished the last two toenails.

  “Riley?” yelled Elisa Rodriguez. “Kieran is downstairs.”

  Her throat tightened at the realization Mom would never get to announce a boy. She exhaled, thinking happy thoughts of the time they had. Sergeant Rodriguez’s wife was an okay stand-in. Riley stick-walked to the door and poked her head out and to the right, at the stairway.

  “Couple minutes, Mrs. Rodriguez.”

  She turned a hair dryer on her toes for a moment, trying to speed up the polish setting. Dammit, I’ll just be careful. After changing into a gossamer white babydoll top and jean shorts, she frowned at her socks. Not dry yet. Screw it. She grabbed her purse and darted out the door to the carpeted steps.

  Kieran stood on a panel of false wood grain tiles by the front door, next to a pile of shoes. Elisa had a thing about shoes in the house: ¡prohibido! Anyone unwilling to remove them had to remain on the four-by-four foot square at the door.

  He had his thumbs hooked in the pockets of his jeans, red and white flannel shirt open halfway down his chest showing off his plain white tank top. As soon as he looked up, his face brightened. Riley almost fell twice trying to run down the steps, and stumbled into him on accident on purpose.

  A large grin spread over his face as he caught her. “You look great.”

  “I always dress like this.”

  “No.” He seemed to consider kissing her right there, but Elisa wandered in from the kitchen. “I mean, you look happy.”

  So many emotions crashed together, she couldn’t answer right away. She opened her mouth, but Elisa cut her off.

  “So, where will you be going?” She shot Kieran the ‘cop eyebrow raise.’

  “One of our friends is in a band. They’re playing at the Necropolis.” Kieran handed Mrs. Rodriguez a small card. “I wrote the club’s address on the back.”

  “Black Chakra?” Elisa blinked. “That doesn’t sound very warm and fuzzy.” She chuckled and shook her head. “Okay. What time will you be back?”

  Riley pulled her flip-flops away from the pile of shoes with her toe, and stepped into them.

  “The concert ends at ten. I’ll have her back as fast as the speed limit allows.”

  Elisa patted him on the shoulder. “I’d rather have you back a little later and alive. I see that car you’ve got.”

  Kieran held his hands up. “No way would I do anything stupid with her in the car. She’s too important.”

  Riley’s cheeks warmed and she narrowed her eyes at him.

  “Oh, before you go.” Elisa hurried off to the kitchen.

  “Important huh?” Riley leaned against him, whispering, “Is that why you drove ninety?”

  “Straight line, wide open, daytime.” He squeezed her hands. “We can go slow if you want.”

  Her eyelids heavy, she leaned up to kiss him. The sound of Elisa’s approach didn’t matter. Kieran returned a polite kiss. Riley grinned at his awkward attempt to be ‘proper’ in front of Mrs. Rodriguez.

  “Riley.” Elisa held out a white iPhone 4. “Marty added your phone to our plan. It’ll stay there as long as you’re responsible with it.”

  “I thought I lost it!” Riley clutched the slab of tech to her chest. “Thank you.”

  “Well. You’ve got a police officer looking out for you now, so…”

  Riley glanced at the phone. “He wants to know where I am at all times.” Ugh. Electronic leash. A silent sigh escaped her mouth. It’s better than no one caring about me. She tucked the phone in her purse after making sure the battery meter showed a charge.

  Elisa smiled. “You two be safe… and have a good time.”

  “Thank you, Mrs. Rodriguez.” Kieran smiled at her and opened the door for Riley.

  The blue Trans-Am sat in the driveway behind Mom’s Sentra and Elisa’s little black Ford Escape. Riley looked around at the street. It felt strange having neighbors again. Aside from the abject lack of grass, this patch of Las Cerezas seemed like it could’ve been lifted from suburban New Jersey.

  She scooted between the nose of his car and the rear bumper of Mom’s, and slipped into the passenger seat. The car roared to life and settled to an exhilarating purr. As Kieran backed out and pulled away, she shot a text to Amber to update her on the new cell phone info.

  “I’m surprised Sergeant Rodriguez is letting you go to the concert.” Kieran reached over and held her hand.

  “Me too.” She dropped the phone back in her purse. “Guess he trusts you. Or maybe I need to do normal things.”

  “So, what’s it like living with a cop?” He paused at a stop sign, glanced in both directions, and took a left turn.

  “I dunno. They’re nice. Danny’s being a brat though. I feel like the new cat in the house, and the old one’s pissed off.”

  “Ahh, he’ll get over it. How’s your dad doing?”

  Riley stared to the right at houses drifting by. “He took a plea or something. Mental hospital instead of jail. He signed it.”

  “Well that’s good, I guess.”

  She clutched his hand and looked up at him. “I feel so lost. Mom died right in front of me. My dad’s away. I don’t know if I can handle something else going wrong.”

  He made fleeting attempts at eye contact while pulling onto the highway. “It’s normally pretty damn boring here.”

  “Yeah.” She gazed into her lap, mesmerized by the stretched shadows of denim fray on her thighs. “I feel like such an idiot for believing him. I kept seeing things that didn’t make sense, but he always had an explanation.”

  “Don’t. Anyone in your situation would’ve probably been the same.” He grinned. “You saved his life.”

  “I s’pose.” She shifted in the seat to lean against him. “Mr. Rodriguez wants me to go see a counselor for a bit, just to make sure I’m not like ‘mentally scarred’ or something.”

  “Are you?”

  “I dunno.” She sighed. A little worry that refusing would throw her back into the legal system sped her heart up. “I guess I’ll go. Mom always used to say it was silly how half the world is in therapy.”

  He put an arm around her shoulders. “I got the feeling you weren’t too comfortable around Lyle and Luis… if you wanna bag early and do something else just let me know.”

  “‘Kay. Maybe I didn’t give them much of a chance. I was still pretty upset at being dragged across the damn country when I met them. Luis did kind of creep me out. I didn’t like the way he looked at me.”

  Kieran shook his head. “He gets that a lot. He’s usually baked as hell. He wasn’t trying to imagine you naked. He was trying to figure out what planet you came from. It’s just the way his face is shaped.”

  Riley laughed.

  “Oh, how’s your friend back east?”

  She picked a sleep crumb from the corner of her eye. “I was up all night talking over Xbox. I hadn’t said a word to her sin
ce I left. When I told her about everything that happened, I could almost hear her screaming from Jersey without the headphones. She’s trying to talk her parents into letting her fly out here for a week or two.”

  “That’s cool.”

  Riley frowned. “I doubt they’ll go for it. They already took her to Mexico this year, and her dad would never let her go that far away from home alone. Maybe next summer they’ll take a family trip.”

  He nodded.

  Twenty minutes later, they rolled into the city.

  Kieran slowed for traffic, looking at her once they stopped at a light. “Ever been to T or C before?”

  “Yeah… visiting Dad in the hospital and, uh, other stuff.” She squinted at the brightness outside. “Didn’t really see much. On the way in, we only stopped for gas.”

  “It’s okay. Retirees. Spas. Hiking. Couple museums. I guess it’s kinda nice, but I still wanna get outta here though.” He winked.

  Kieran drove to the lot of an imposing one-story grey adobe building covered with black line paintings of skeletons with musical instruments surrounding a mosh pit. Bones formed the word ‘Necropolis’ over a set of double doors.

  “Wow, this places looks like a Doom level.” She pulled the handle and used her foot to push the heavy door open.

  “It’s new.” Kieran killed the engine and got out. “The club only opened last month, but it’s pulling people from all over. Jaime’s been busting his ass to get in the door. If tonight goes well, they’re probably going to be opening for Lacuna Coil next month.”

  Riley gasped. “Seriously?”

  Kieran led her to the door. “Yeah. I don’t know how the hell this place got a big name like that but, hey.”

  Air conditioning slithered up Riley’s bare legs in the foyer, making her second-guess her choice of attire. A massive man with a shaved head, leather vest, white shirt, and jeans stood by the door with his arms folded. As soon as he saw her, he frowned.

  “Lemme guess, you’re twenty-one but have a young face.”