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and the driver stepped into the weeds and looked around. He was a chubby man in a black suit. His head was fat and round and without hair except for neat rows above the ears and a black-and-gray

beard. He stumbled to trie rear 01 tne car, lumuicu wim the keys, and finally opened the trunk. He removed a water hose, stuck one end into the exhaust pipe, and ran the other end through a crack in the left rear window. He closed the trunk, looked around again as if he were expecting to be watched, then disappeared into the car.

The engine started.

“Wow,” Mark said softly, staring blankly at the car.

“What’s he doing?” Ricky asked.

“He’s trying to kill himself.”

Ricky raised his head a few inches for a better view. “I don’t understand, Mark.”

“Keep down. You see the hose, right? The fumes from the tail pipe go into the car, and it kills him.”

“You mean suicide?”

“Right. I saw a guy do it like this in a movie once.”

They leaned closer to the weeds and stared at the hose running from the pipe to the window. The engine idled smoothly.

“Why does he want to kill himself?” Ricky asked.

“How am I supposed to know? But we gotta do something.”

“Yeah, let’s get the hell outta here.”

“No. Just be still a minute.”

“I’m leaving, Mark. You can watch him die if you want to, but I’m gone.”

Mark grabbed his brother’s shoulder and forced him lower. Ricky’s breathing was heavy and they were both sweating. The sun hid behind a cloud.

“How long does it take?” Ricky asked, his voice quivering.

__, —..&. ivjuiiR. iweaseci ms brother and eased onto all fours. “You stay here, okay. If you move, I’ll kick your tail.”

“What’re you doing, Mark?”

“Just stay here. I mean it.” Mark lowered his thin body almost to the ground and crawled on elbows and knees through the weeds toward the car. The grass was dry and at least two feet tall. He knew the man couldn’t hear him, but he worried about the movement of the weeds. He stayed directly behind the car and slid snake-like on his belly until he was in the shadow of the trunk. He reached and carefully eased the hose from the tail pipe, and dropped it to the ground. He retraced his trail with a bit more speed, and seconds later was crouched next to Ricky, watching and waiting in the heavier grass and brush under the outermost limbs of the tree. He knew that if they were spotted, they could dart past the tree and down their trail and be gone before the chubby man could catch them.

They waited. Five minutes passed, though it seemed like an hour.

“You think he’s dead?” Ricky whispered, his voice dry and weak.

“I don’t know.”

Suddenly, the door opened, and the man stepped out. He was crying and mumbling, and he staggered to the rear of the car, where he saw the hose in the grass, and cursed it as he shoved it back into the tail pipe. He held a bottle of whiskey and looked around wildly at the trees, then stumbled back into the car. He mumbled to himself as he slammed the door.

The boys watched in horror.

“He’s crazy as hell,” Mark said faintly.

“Let’s get out of here,” Ricky said.

we can … knew about it, then we could get in all kinds of trouble.”

Ricky raised his head as if to retreat. “Then we won’t tell anybody. Come on, Mark!”

Mark grabbed his shoulder again and forced him to the ground. “Just stay down! We’re not leaving until I say we’re leaving!”

Ricky closed his eyes tightly and started crying. Mark shook his head in disgust but didn’t take his eyes off the car. Little brothers were more trouble than they were worth. “Stop it,” he growled through clenched teeth.

“I’m scared.”

“Fine. Just don’t move, okay. Do you hear me? Don’t move. And stop the crying.” Mark was back on his elbows, deep in the weeds and preparing to ease through the tall grass once more.

“Just let him die, Mark,” Ricky whispered between sobs.

Mark glared at him over his shoulder and eased toward the car, which was still running. He crawled along his same trail of lightly trampled grass so slowly and carefully that even Ricky, with dry eyes now, could barely see him. Ricky watched the driver’s door, waiting for it to fly open and the crazy man to lunge out and kill Mark. He perched on his toes in a sprinter’s stance for a quick getaway through the