“Need me to go with you?”
“No, I think more people will only escalate the situation. But… tell Hen I might need bail money.”
“C’mon Oz. It’s not that—” Major stopped and shook his head. “Never mind. I was about to say that it’s not that dramatic, but then again, I’ve met Walker’s parents.”
“Exactly.”
Seconds later, I was back in my Chevelle, racing toward Walker Tire’s main location. Even though it didn’t take me long to get back to Seguin, every minute felt like another disaster waiting to happen.
As I approached the shop, I spotted the big fifteen-passenger van with the Lupe logo on the side. Leo had angled it so no one could get in or out of the bays, and the driver-side door hung open.
Shit.
I screeched to a halt in the parking lot and ran into the office, where Leo was standing over Walker’s dad, yelling, “You take it back now! Stop lying about Mr. Walker! He was the best teacher, and you’re lying about him.”
“He was encouraging you down the wrong path.”
“I need no encouragement to go down the wrong path, you blowhard. He’s the only one who makes me wanna go down therightpath!”
“Leo!” I shouted, pulling him back. “This is not how we handle things. We go through proper channels.”
“This is my proper channel,” he retorted, shaking me off like a fly on a horse’s ass.
Adding fuel to the fire, Walker’s mom came into the office, waving a cell phone. “I called the police, and they said a cruiser was just down the block.”
“You!” Leo pointed at her with every ounce of his righteous anger. “You did this to Mr. Walker!”
“Leo, we’ve gotta get out of here,” I said, trying and failing to move him.
She pointed right back at him, and in other circumstances, the foot-and-a-half height difference between them might have made for an amusing image. “You dirty, nasty boy, trying to do disgusting things with adults.”
“It’s not dirty to have a crush, you hag. Seriously, lady, you have your head so firmly shoved up your ass. Did you know that Mr. Walker didn’t even realize he was gay until a few weeks ago?I’mthe one who had to tell him.”
Despite the seriousness of the situation, I couldn’t help but snort. Fucking Leo. However, the arrival of a patrol car was not humorous in the slightest.
“Leo, the police are here. You need to step away from Mr. and Mrs. Walker, and you need to shut up.”
“Fuck these assholes!”
“Leo, seriously. Shut the fuck up. Rightnow.”
“What seems to be the problem here, folks?” the officer asked as he entered the already crowded space.
“These two are trespassing and threatening me and my husband,” Mrs. Walker cried, pointing at us. The officer looked up at Leo, putting his hand on his gun. Leo raised his hands, and so did I.
“I’m not threatening her, officer,” Leo said respectfully. “I’m just saying that she’s a stupid bigot.”
I dropped my head to my chest. “Leo,shut up.”
“Regardless, if they asked you to leave, then you’re trespassing,” the officer said.
“That’s what happened,” Mrs. Walker said, sneering at me. “We asked them to leave and they refused.”
“You are a lying liar who lies!” Leo shouted.
“Leo,” I hissed as the officer reached for his handcuffs. “Shut.Up.”
I was, unfortunately, familiar with what was going to happen next.
