Tyler’s frown deepened. “Your parents buy you everything, princess.”
Stephanie shrugged. “Well, if you had a GPS, we wouldn’t be sitting here now would we?”
“I’m surprised you know how to program the fucking thing.”
“Hey.” Brett spoke up, trying to defend his girlfriend. His tone was nervous. “Chill out, Tyler.”
“Shut the fuck up, Brett.”
“There’s no need for that. Knock it off or I’ll . . .” Brett’s voice trailed off. He squirmed uncomfortably.
“You’ll what?” Tyler teased. “Beat me at chess? Sit back and shut the fuck up, pussy.”
Sensing his growing agitation, Kerri tried to calm her boyfriend. “Tyler, why don’t we just turn around and go home. We don’t need weed that bad.”
Tyler’s handsome features pinched together for a second, and she saw him trying to control his temper. In private, when it was just the two of them, Tyler could be really sweet, but he also had anger issues. When his temper got the better of him, things usually ended badly. He’d never hit her or anything like that. But he said things—words more hurtful than any blow.
He shook his head. “It’s all good. I can get around this. I just have to go down one block and then backtrack.”
Ultimately, the detour took them in the opposite direction of the Ben Franklin Bridge. Tyler’s calm demeanor cracked when they found themselves driving on a meandering stretch of the Lower Carlysle Thruway, winding through some of the worst parts of Philadelphia. Hookers roamed the streets, looking hollow and emaciated. A woman with haunted eyes and fire-engine red hair gave them the finger as they drove by. A huge herpes sore dotted one corner of her mouth. Brett waved at her. Steph nudged him in the ribs with her elbow.
The road was rutted and cracked. The car bounced over a gaping pothole, thumping and rattling in ways that would have surely sent Dustin after his little brother with an assault rifle. Something scraped along the underside of the vehicle. Brett gasped from the backseat, and the others cringed at the sound as the car continued to scrape along.
“Fuck me,” Tyler whispered under his breath.
“You wish,” Kerri replied.
He smiled, but there was no humor in the expression. They’d continued down the street, slowing to a crawl. The landscape grew steadily bleaker. They drove past a cluster of seedy-looking bars, patrons lounging outside, bathed in garish neon. Then the bars gave way to pawn shops and liquor stores and rundown, shoebox housing.
“Jesus,” Brett gasped. “Look at these houses. How can anybody live like this?”
They’d stopped at a red light. Thumping bass from the car next to them rattled their windows. A large group of black youths stood on the street corner, peering in at them. When one of the teens sidled up to the station wagon and gestured, Tyler gunned it, racing through the light. A car horn blared behind them.
“Lock the doors,” Heather urged, staring wide-eyed.
Tyler ignored her request, but everyone else rolled their windows up. After a moment, he begrudgingly did the same.
“Where the fuck is the turn?”
From the back of the station wagon, Javier said, “Dude, there’s a sign for Route 30. Doesn’t that take us back to Lititz?”
“I don’t want to go back to Lititz. I want to go to Camden.”
“Fuck Camden,” Javier shouted. “Have you looked outside? You’re gonna get us carjacked!”
Tyler stared straight ahead. “You guys worry too much. For fuck’s sake, we just came from a rap concert. Now y’all are worried about driving through the city? Bunch of white-bread motherfuckers.”
“In case you haven’t noticed,” Brett said, “you’re white too, Tyler.”
“I’m not white. I’m Italian.”
Javier sighed.
“Everybody just calm the fuck down,” Tyler continued. “We’ll be fine. Long as you don’t fuck with anybody, they won’t fuck with you.”
He’d kept his voice calm, but his teeth were clenched. Kerri knew from experience that his anger was building inside again.
The last of his facade shattered when the engine light came on and steam began billowing out from under the hood, blanketing the windshield.
“Shit!”
The engine sputtered, then died. The radio and head-lights died with it. Their speed decreased from forty miles an hour to five. They’d rolled a few more yards and then came to a halt. Another car horn blared behind them, the driver impatient. Tyler tried turning on the emergency blinkers, but they didn’t work.
“Motherfucker.” He opened the door, got out, and waved the other car around them. Then he ducked back into the station wagon and pulled the hood latch.
“Stay in here,” he said, then stomped off to the front of the car.
And now here they were—broken down in the middle of the hood.
Tyler’s fault.
Kerri shook her head and sighed.
“Shit happens,” Javier grumbled again.
Heather nodded in agreement. “He just
“Maybe we should go out and help him,” Brett suggested. “I mean, Tyler doesn’t know shit about cars. Dustin was always the motor head. What’s he gonna do out there?”
Kerri frowned. “Tyler said to stay in the car.”
“Screw that,” Brett said. “It’s hot in here, and there’s no way I’m rolling the windows down.”
“You’re afraid to roll the windows down,” Heather said, “but you’d rather stand outside with Tyler?”
“Yeah,” Javier said. “What’s that about, bro?”
Smirking, Heather adopted a baby-talk tone. “He knows Tyler will beat up the big bad gangbangers if they mess with us. He’s afraid.”
Brett’s ears turned red. Instead of responding, he opened the door and got out.
“You know,” Stephanie said, turning to Heather. “That was a real bitch move.”
Heather’s smile died. “I was just kidding.”
“Well, Brett’s sensitive. You know that.”
Sighing, Javier and Heather got out of the car to apologize to Brett. Stephanie remained seated, rummaging through her purse. She pulled out a pink cell phone and flipped it open. The display glowed in the darkness.
“Who are you calling?” Kerri asked.
“My parents. They’ve got Triple A. They can send a tow truck for us.”
“Hold off on that. Let’s just wait a minute and see what’s wrong with the car first.”
“Screw that,” Stephanie said. “I’m not sitting around here waiting to get mugged. Have you taken a look outside? It’s like Baghdad out there.”
Kerri rubbed her temples. A headache was forming behind her eyes.
“Please, Steph? Let’s just wait a few minutes. If you call them now, you’re just going to piss Tyler off even more.”
“I don’t care.”
“I know you don’t, but you’re not the one who has to deal with him when he’s angry. Please? Do it for me?”
Stephanie shook her head. “I don’t know why you put up with that shit. If Brett treated me that way, I’d have dumped him a long time ago.”
“Brett lets you walk all over him. He’s done that since middle school. He’s a pushover.”
“Maybe. But he’s sweet, and he treats me the way I deserve to be treated. He respects me. Like I said, I don’t know why you put up with Tyler. He doesn’t respect anyone or anything. Not even himself. ”
“I won’t have to put up with it for much longer. Once I’m at Rutgers, things will be different. We’ll drift apart.”
“Why not just break up with him now?”
