a box cutter to it. He would be left disfigured with a half-dozen scars.
Poor Jeff, my baby, she thought. My arrogant, narcissistic, beautiful baby…
She gritted her teeth. If only she had stood her ground, they wouldn’t be in this hellish predicament. Two weeks ago a makeup artist named Cindy had invited Mandy and Jeff to her white-trash-themed Halloween party. Mandy had initially accepted, but when she mentioned it to Jeff, he scoffed, telling her he wouldn’t be seen dead at such a party. A couple days later he sprung the idea for the current trip.
“It’s called Helltown, babe,” he told her while they were getting dressed to go out for dinner with friends. “It’s supposedly one the most haunted spots in all of the country.”
“It’s in Ohio!”
“It’ll be a road trip.”
“A boy’s trip.”
“Austin will bring Cherry.”
“Whoopee.” Mandy had never shared much in common with the Filipina.
“And Steve said he’ll ask that chick he’s seeing.”
“The med student?”
“Whoever. So what do you say? There’s a spooky bridge to check out and a couple haunted cemeteries and other neat stuff.”
“If you’re twelve years old.”
“Sure as hell beats a party mocking the white working class. Don’t you realize how crass that is? Would you go to a party mocking underprivileged blacks or Asians?”
“White trash isn’t an ethnic group, Jeff,” she said, thinking of the teenage deadbeats who’d almost ruined her life. “It’s a description of lazy people who make poor life choices.”
“I think it’d be a poor life choice to attend such a party.”
“It’ll be fun.”
“Helltown will be fun, babe. I’ve found us a great little hotel to stay in.”
“You’ve already booked it, haven’t you?”
“You’ll love it.”
“Forget it.”
“So that’s a yes?”
“It’s a no, Jeff!”
But of course it was a yes. It was always a yes. She would have a better chance giving birth to identical quadruplets than persuading Jeff to do something he didn’t want to do.
Austin was pacing back and forth, chain smoking Marlboros, when Mandy said something. He turned to face her. She was bent close to Jeff, as if examining him.
He tossed away his cigarette and hurried over. “What is it?”
“He moved,” she said.
“He moved?” Austin repeated, filled with sudden hope. “His legs?”
“No, his cheek. It twitched. At least I thought it did. Jeff?”
He didn’t reply.
“Jeff?”
Nothing.
Austin said, “You must have imagined it.”
“I don’t think I did.”
Austin patted Jeff’s cheek. “Hey, buddy? You hear me? You wanna open your eyes for us?”
“Stop that!” Mandy said. “You’re going to wake him up.”
Austin frowned. “So?”
“What if he starts screaming again?”
“So he screams. He’ll stop eventually, and we can find out…”
“Find out what?”
“If he can move his fucking legs!” He patted Jeff’s cheek again, harder. “Jeff? Wake up, buddy. Jeff!”
“Stop it!” Mandy cried.
Austin ignored her and continued hitting Jeff’s cheek. “Wake up, Jeff. Wake up—”
Mandy grabbed his wrist. “Stop it!”
He shoved her backward. She fell on her butt. Tears welled in her eyes. “Fine!” she blurted. “Wake him up! Listen to him scream!”
Austin hadn’t meant to push her so hard. “Mandy, I’m sorry.”
“Jesus, Austin,” Cherry said. She’d been sitting off by herself but joined them now. “Apologize to her.”
“I just did!” he said as Mandy covered her face with her hands. He looked at Cherry helplessly. “Can you talk to her or something?”
Cherry crouched next to Mandy and offered words of comfort.
“I’m not hurt!” Mandy said. “I just want to leave this place!”
Austin returned his attention to Jeff. He ran his hands through his Mohawk in frustration. God, he couldn’t take this. He really couldn’t. He had to know. He slapped Jeff’s cheek, hard.
“Don’t touch him!” Mandy screamed.
“Just scrape the bottom of his stupid foot!” Cherry said.
Austin frowned. “Huh?”
“If he has feeling below the waist, his toes will curl down. It’s instinctual, like when the doctor checks you reflexes by hitting your knee with a hammer.”
“Bloody right!” Austin exclaimed. “Why didn’t you mention that before?” He tugged off one of Jeff’s reddish-brown dress shoes, then a diamond-patterned sock. He dug his key ring from his pocket, chose the largest of the three attached keys, and scraped the tip along Jeff’s sole.
His toes didn’t curl. They didn’t even flinch.
Austin scraped Jeff’s sole a second time.
Nothing.
“Try again,” Mandy said, staring at him with pleading eyes.
“He can’t feel it,” he said numbly.
“Do it harder.”
“It won’t make a difference.”
“Do it harder!”
“I did it twice!” he shouted. “He can’t feel a fucking thing!”
Austin stumbled away from Jeff’s inert body, his collar damp with sweat despite the cold, the air suddenly greasy, unpleasant to breathe. Through a part in the fog