Anger swirls on hard knuckle hits and animal growls. There are no voices, no pleas, no mercy between them. Both of them are bleeding from their noses, their mouths, cuts on their faces and hands.
Enough of this! This is ridiculous!
“Stop! Stop!” I scream, but my words fall on deaf ears.
They can’t hear me. My yells mean nothing. I’m no one in this fight. Just the girl who opened the flood gates.
Red and blue lights pop on in the darkness behind us.
It’s the cops. Thank God.
A sigh of relief slips from my mouth as I rub my forehead and step toward the lights, waving my arms. “Over here! Help!”
The officer jogs in my direction and notices the two guys on the ground.
“Hey! Break it up!” he calls out as he darts around my car. “Get off him!” Grabbing Max by the collar, he tears him off of Harlow. “The Ramon boys. Why am I not surprised?”
Harlow climbs to his feet, wiping his face. His eyes veer as he glares at his brother, but he doesn’t say a word.
Another cop car swerves across the lanes and pulls up in front of us. “What’s going on?” Before the cop holding Max can answer, I hear a familiar voice. “Prairie, is that you? What are you doing here? Are you all right?”
Shit, it’s my uncle.
His face is shrouded in darkness, until he steps into the glow of the headlights. Coming to my side, he takes me by the forearm, and turns me to face him. He’s looking down at me, concern flooding his eyes.
Hanging my head, I’m not sure what to say or how to explain any of this. How do I tell him I went looking for Max, and saw my father’s building burning to the ground? How do I tell him that this boy isn’t who he thinks he is? How do I make him believe that Max isn’t the problem?
I don’t have the answers, but I feel it in my gut. Harlow is the issue, not Max. They’re not the same, no matter what anyone else thinks.
“Are you hurt?” he asks, examining me from head to toe. Lifting my arms, he drops them and grabs my chin, moving my face in his hands. “Did they hurt you?”
“No, no, I’m fine.” Slipping myself free from his grip, I lean back against the hood of my car. “I’m fine, Uncle Greg, seriously.”
My uncle moves his attention from me over to Max and Harlow. “Just the boys I was looking for. Bring them in, you can put one in your car, and one in mine.”
“Wait—” Reaching for my uncle’s arm, I ask, “Why? What do you need them for?”
“Prairie, this doesn’t involve you. I warned you about these boys, I did.” Pulling my hand free from his arm, he takes the cuffs off his hip. “Harlow, turn around for me.”
“For what? I didn’t do anything.” Harlow takes a step back, keeping his eyes on my uncle.
The other officer removes his cuffs, and twists Max’s arms behind his back. Max’s eyes shift between the cop and his brother.
Stick up for yourself! Tell them you didn’t do anything!
My eyes plead with Max to do right by himself, and not stay quiet for his brother. But he does nothing, he just stands there.
“Stop!” I yell, holding out my hand. “Max has been with me all night. He didn’t do anything wrong. Harlow attacked him. He’s the one who should get arrested.” Latching onto my uncle’s arm, I hold him tight. “Max didn’t do anything, Uncle Greg, he didn’t.”
My uncle looks down at me, doubt and uncertainty on his face. “Prairie, I’m taking them down to the station for questioning.”
“I’m serious, Max and I were supposed to go to prom, but my car broke down. Look at me,” I say, taking a step back, and running my arms up and down my body. “He isn’t the bad guy, not this time.”
Greg looks at me, his face softening. Stroking his jaw, he glances at the other officer and nods his head. The cop releases the cuffs from Max’s wrists and takes a step back.
“Wait, no, that fucker is just as guilty as me. He lit the match. He wasn’t with that bitch.”
“That bitch is my niece.” My uncle’s jaw grinds down as he snaps his eyes to Harlow. “Get him the fuck out of here.” Flipping two fingers, the patrol officer takes Harlow by the crook of his elbow and drags him to his car.
Harlow is screaming obscenities, blaming his brother, blaming me, blaming the world for everything that’s gone wrong in his life.
My heart hurts for him a little, but only a little. Maybe I’m soft, or gullible, maybe I shouldn’t care about this guy who enjoys destruction. But these two boys lived a rough life. They were dealt a shitty hand.