Concrete Angel

As we walked Joey glanced around to make sure we were alone before he bent closer to my ear.

"Say hello to Leo?" He questioned.

"I'm just missing him." I say not facing him.

"I kind of thought your brother might be dead." Joey said his voice barely above a whisper.

"What? Joey, I told you not to guess but since you are way off maybe you should." I say giggling as we got our food and sat down.

"Today is the day!" Jake says loudly smiling at me.

"Chill out dude." Chris says laughing at him.

"We finally get to see if she is actually good." Scotty says grinning along with Jake.

"I'm sure she is." Chris says smiling at me.

"We'll see. I bet she can't out do me." Jake says and Joey looks at me and nods slowly.

"Bet how much Jake?" I say cocking my head innocently to the side.

"10 bucks. I can do better than you in anything baseball." Jake says reaching out his hand. I take it and we shook on it. This should be fun.

The day went by fast and after our last class we all rushed to the room to change into some clothes to play in. As we reached the field it started to rain; I looked up in the sky and smile a little. Jake was already stretching and warming up.

"Alright guys, let's play some ball." I say smiling at Jake.

Jake nods and we start by racing around the bases. I bet him easily. I knew that if Joey could out run him then I could. The bet was defined that if he could do better than me in one thing on the field then I would give him ten dollars. We batted next and I hit one more than he did. He was starting to get nervous. We caught balls off and on and we tied at that. Next, I suggested that we pitched against each other.

"Pitch?" Jake says smiling slightly. He told me he was the back up pitcher last year but he preferred to play second base.

"Are you sure?" Chris says.

"I'm sure." I say looking at Joey. Jake just grins. He must be pretty decent but Joey didn't looked worried at all.

"Jake, you can go first." I say smiling slightly as I took a seat on the bench to watch him pitch. He was amazing.

"Beat that." Jake says throwing me a ball that I easily caught.

I took my place on the mound and took a deep breath. I ran the dirt through my hand and got myself acquainted with my home. I looked at Joey who was giving me a signal. Just the one I wanted to throw first. It was like he could read my mind. I nodded slightly before throwing the first ball. We threw for a while and then I stopped and walked off towards the outfield to get a ball that Joey threw way over my head. I turned around to see why the guys hadn't started talking yet. They seemed frozen in one spot. I glanced at Joey to see him looking at the guys. He was bent over and I could tell he was a bit tired. He'd never thrown a ball over my head like that. He looked proud, almost as if to say I told you so. Chris had this huge grin on his face. He was almost scoffing at Jake who looked like he had just seen a UFO. Jake's face was priceless. Scotty was just standing there staring at the pitchers mound. He seemed amazed. Ron was just watching me. He seemed awed. Finally, Chris broke the silence by laughing out loud instead of just making the face of a laugh.

"Not a word." Jake says still staring at me.

"You just got served." Ron says standing straight and smiling.

"Beyond served." Chris says laughing.

"You just got killed." Scotty says moving his stare from the mound to me. I knew a blush was creeping up on my face. They were all staring at me though.

"Told you." Joey says as we all sit on the bench.

"I can't believe how amazing you are." Jake says still staring at me.

"I can't believe you bet me. That's ten bucks." I say smiling at him and holding out my hand.

"I'll give it to you later. My wallet is in the room." Jake says rolling his eyes.

We all laughed and went straight to dinner. Jake dropped the money off at my door and then went to his room. He was sulking. I could tell.

"Jake's sulking." I tell Joey as I join him on the couch to watch some TV. He was flipping through the channel to find a news report of the escaped prisoners. He stopped because it showed Leon Miller. He was at my grave. I could tell. They only got a glance and then he rushed off.

"Leon Miller was spotted by the grave of June. The young girl that was kidnapped by him twice, he killed her the second time. Police officers said that it was obvious that he was going to come here, he just got away before they could stop him. But he always has been slippery. The family is now under protective watch." The news lady reports and then it shows a picture of the house. My mom and dad were standing on the porch talking to a cop. Johnny was in the window.

"That really was my home town. That boy there, in the window; is her brother. I knew him. They went to my school. He was really torn up when she was taken. He blamed himself." I say quietly to Joey. Joey glances at me but doesn't say a word.

"He was with her. The first time she was taken. He had took her to the carnival and lost her. He was never the same after that. He always was watching out for her. He had to see her during the day at school or he'd flip out. The next time she was taken, they say he went crazy. Tried to go find her by himself." I say even quieter. I shouldn't be telling him all this.

The TV showed the family getting interviewed. Mom and Dad put up a good front said things like they weren't worried. That there was nothing left for him here. The cops were good and would catch him. Then Johnny came out. He asked to say a few words. I didn't even realize but I stiffened in my seat. His face was filled with worry and fear. He looked horrible.

"I have something I would like to say to him. Leon, if you see this. Leave us alone. You already took my sister from me, there's nothing else that you can take. My life has been over since she died. Move on. Get over it. She's dead." Johnny says staring in the camera with a look of something I couldn't place.

"He's really torn up." Joey says quietly and I nod.

"As for June, she is missed. I loved her dearly. He took that from me. So if he ever shows his face near my house, he's a dead man. I'll kill him if I have to. I'll do it myself." Johnny says before turning on his hill and walking straight into the house. My parents apologized for his bluntness and followed him in.

Oh Johnny, what are you thinking.

Then the talked about me some more. And then there was my last school picture. Before he "killed" me. I was blond and my hair was extremely long. They went on how he killed poor me brutally but I wasn't paying attention. I was staring at my face, wondering if I would ever look like that again.