A List of Best Intentions

When I was sure I was at least half a mile away from the county jail, I slowed down and stopped running. I had no clue where I was. I just kept on praying that I’d never be caught.

…My God, what did I do?

I broke out of jail. Did I have any idea what kind of crap that could get me into? I could’ve been shipped away, or killed, or tazed…! Man! Looking back, I gotta say: I was an idiot. Everyone is when they’re a teenager, and I know that’s no excuse.

Pretty soon I got used to the scratchiness of my Rikachu suit and simply forgot it was Halloween. It had to have been past eleven by then. I only hoped I could sneak back home as quietly and quickly as I could…

But God! I couldn’t get over myself. Dakota broke me out. When I closed my eyes I could still see that smirk of his when he yanked the toilet out. Maybe he wasn’t such a bad kid after all, I thought to myself back then.

Knowing him, he’d probably squeal and say I did it on my own, though.

Wait up – nah, he wouldn’t. Would he…?

Man, I hated it when people confused me. Most of all, I hated the fact that I was easily confused.

I was starting to feel really lonely after some time walking along the side of the road. I wasn’t in any neighborhood I knew, and so I guessed I’d pass out later and then make my way home. With some luck I’d still be alive.

Luck…heh…I really wish I had some.

Not only luck, but half a mind.

And Cody? Yeah…I wished he were still there.

If only he didn’t wimp out and run away. But I mean, he couldn’t help it. It was part of who he was. A coward. Always running away, saying things were never his fault. It’s part of that goody-goody philosophy I came to hate about him sometimes, and yet in the end, I saw his side of the story and I knew why he wanted to avoid me at that moment.

He never got in trouble with his dad, not even when his mom was still around. He freaked out when he got a B on a test. Years ago when I took up tee-ball, he wussed out because he didn’t want to get hurt. He’d been like that for as long as I could remember. I honestly couldn’t expect him to change, especially not to conform to the stupid crap I was pulling.

Sometimes I’d zone out and try to think about where I’d be if Cody was still in the cart when the cops came. But I couldn’t. I just wasn’t able to see him stand up and take a ride in a cop car. He’s never changed from the little kid I’d befriended when I was in kindergarten, smarter in hindsight but cowardly in the moment.

But me? I was still reckless. Insane. I once jumped off the roof of my house onto a trampoline with nothing but a hat and a prayer when I was eight. I was wrong to be surprised when he left, because we were polar opposites.

I guess this was it. I guess this was the thing that finally made me realize that our friendship wouldn’t last. When I took a stupid turn and got waist-deep in my own crap, this made me realize that maybe…I needed to grow up.

In the hospital when Cody said the same thing, he was right. Because of that stupid list I’d gotten into, so many things not only could have gotten me killed, but they also could have gotten me into major shit.

Stupid Y2K.

Stupid me.

Every minute or so a car would pass by, rushing by me, just a lone walker who was in need of a home. Lights would help me see for a second, then it was back to darkness.

I roamed along, not knowing where to go. Not knowing where I was. Not clear on who I was.

Maybe everyone was right. Maybe I should have grown up.

I sighed.

The tar rumbled beneath my feet as yet another car prepared to pass me. This one stayed a little longer as if it were slowing down, though. It pulled over right beside me. I, not really knowing what to do, kept on walking, doing my best to ignore the vehicle.

The window rolled down.

“Kevin?”

I turned my head at the sound of a girl’s voice – one that sounded so familiar that it could have brought me back to life. She was decked out in green makeup and a witch hat, and I looked at her funny for a second. When she smiled, my heart fluttered and I knew it was…Stephanie?

I could’ve burst into tears; I was so happy.

“Come on!” she urged, motioning for me to get in.

So I did what any sensible being would do – I gathered my wits and got in the back seat of the van. A lady sat in the driver’s seat, one I assumed to be her mom.

“What are you? That Rika-thing?” Stephanie’s mom smirked. I laughed a little.

“He’s Rikachu. Right?” Stephanie smiled back at me.

“Yeah. I just lost the hat,” I shrugged.

They went quiet as I buckled up. The van zoomed full speed ahead. “So where do you live again?” her mom questioned.

“Shadowlawn. Just, drop me off at a corner.”

Stephanie paused, raised an eyebrow, and then opened her mouth. She hesitated, and then asked, “Where’s Cody? You’re always together.”

Uh oh.

She could not know I was in jail.

“I…er, I lost ‘im a while back. We split up to get more candy, but I got lost, and…here I am,” I choked out.

Stephanie let out a crooked smile. “He seems like the kind of person who’d get lost and start crying.”

A part of me wanted to stick up for my ex best friend, but the dominant part of me, the impulsive and then-angry part, just said, “Yeah.”

We fell silent as we kept on cruising past foreign crossroads, eventually leading up to my neighborhood.

“Is this it?” Stephanie’s mom asked, slowing down. I nodded, clutching the seat tight, not wanting to be caught more than anything in the world.

“Just drop me off here.”

I unbuckled myself and opened the side door, stepping onto the familiar cross of Cherry Avenue and Oak Street.

“Bye, Kev,” Stephanie called out.

“Later,” I smiled.

I slammed the car door and ventured down the road with full intentions sneak back through my window.

Before I could say, “Rikachu, I pick you!” I was back at my window, wrestling with it…man, what idiot locked my window?! …Oh. Wait. I did, I thought. I groaned and grunted, spitting seven curse words in five seconds. Without a doubt I knew my only resort would be to go through the front door…at 11 at night…

So I tried my hardest to quietly open the front door. I really did. I mean, I don’t try too often. This time, I did.

I failed. Wonderfully.

“Kevin Zachary Slater. Ay ay ay, the mess you are in.”

Oy. Defensive mom at 12 o’ clock.

I went inarticulate, fidgeting as I closed the door behind me. The house was quiet. Only one lamp was on, illuminating my mother’s intimidating face, her sharp features a bright contrast to the darkness surrounding us.

“…Wha…what’d I do?” I gulped, knowing in my heart the answer.

Mom’s lips turned into a thin line. “Let’s see. You ride a golf cart on a real street and get pulled over…you end up in jail…you escape…”

Silence.

“How’d you find out?”

“The police called, Kevin. I am a traffic cop. They know me by name down there, and they know that you are mine. Imagine that,” mom said through clenched teeth.

I shifted my eyes to the floor. God, she was right. The mess I was in…

“You’re spending two weeks in juvie. I hope you realize that.”

Then, everything sort of started to blur together. I felt the world tremble beneath my feet, spinning around in a sickening circle. I sat down in the lazy chair behind me, my head still rushing.

Jesus. I was the biggest moron you could find.