She’s surprisingly easy to drag, especially downhill; the pine needles make her glide over the ground, smooth as glass.
Things get rocky only when I reach the boat ramp, which is concrete and much rougher.
But I tug on her ankles, then wade into the warm lake, where I pull her body, flipping it over before I push it all the way in.
The wind is gusting tonight, making the surface of the lake ripple.
Mom’s body bobs but doesn’t sink.
Why the fuck isn’t she sinking?
I’m starting to panic. I’ve got to get rid of the body. It’s waterlogged now; it’s not like I can drag her back out of there—she’s already floating away, just not going under—so what the fuck amI supposed to do?
I need someone to help me.
Someone strong.
I race back to my car, slowly pull out onto the road. I can’t risk driving like a maniac right now.
Please, please let Luke still be at the Circles, I pray to a god I don’t believe in.
As I cruise down the highway, I light up a smoke, trying to calm the hell down.
I pull onto the shoulder and sigh: Luke’s leaning against his Camaro, away from the crowd. Smoking a jay.Fucker.
I kill my headlights, park far away so that no one will notice me, then sneak along the tree line until I’m close to him.
“Hey!” I whisper-shout from the woods.
Luke twists around, spots me. Walks over. “Hey. What are you doing?”
“Shhhh. Listen, I’m in deep shit. And I need your help.”
“Look, I heard you and Jane fighting and—I figured you’d never want to talk to me again—” He hangs his head, stares at his feet. I want to slap him out of this.
“Fuck all that right now. Listen,” I hiss at him. I can use his guilt to my advantage. Use it to play him like he played me. “You gotta help me, okay? I’m going to leave, and when no one is looking, you’re gonna drive away, too. If anyone sees you, tell them you’re going to buy smokes and that you’ll be back. Then meet me at the Boat House. The place by the swimming hole. In the parking lot.Now.”
“Okay—”
I turn and leave before he has the chance to change his mind.
Five minutes later, I’m standing back in the parking lot. The INXS song, “The Devil Inside,” is playing on the radio in my car. I left the stereo on to help calm my nerves, and now this damn song is playing, but it’s so alarmingly spot-on.
Then, over the music, I hear Luke’s tires crunch on the gravel lot. I watch him as he slides out of his car, his body lean but strong, the bottom of his Bauhaus T-shirt creeping up, showing off his tanned abs.
“Does this mean you’re not mad at me?” he asks.
“Um, yeah, sure, whatever,” I say. “Look, I had a nasty fight with my mom, and things got really ugly, and welp—” I point to her body in the lake.
“Fuck, Nellie!”
This makes alarm bells ring loudly in my head. “I know! I know! But just help me! Whatever, make her body sink!”
Luke looks spooked, freaked out. “I’m sorry, Nellie. This is fucked up. I can’t get mixed up in all this.”
“Well,” I reply, “you want to keep that five thousand dollars of blood money without anybody knowing about it?”
“Jesus Christ.” Luke slides a hand through his hair, tugs on the ends. “Okay. Yes. Fine.”
