Bottoms Up

This is a scene from 'A Step Over the Edge'. John and Jessica are in a van with Susan and Mr Thompson, the principle of Johns school. A messy situation has developed, so read it. Enjoy!

“What are you doing?” asked Jessica, looking rather angered for the first time that night. “Do you have any plans here, this is looking really stupid,” she continued.

I panicked, looking around, thinking about the gun, the murder I had outwardly committed in the presence of two innocent lovers just trying to escape the world. That’s what I wanted to do, escape the world.

“What are you going to do once they get back to our car? Kill them? – This wasn’t part of the plan. If we let them go they will tell the cops for sure. We’re both going to end up in prison because of your stupid mistakes.”

I had the same fears that she had, but I didn’t want to kill Mr Thomson, in fact I refused. I told her, “We’re not killing them. They are going to leave. I will take the blame for everything, they only seen me kill, right? You are good; I promise I won’t say anything.”

“You’re an idiot.”

Those were the last words she said to me the entire ride. We had whispered, but I wondered if Mr Thomson and Susan could hear anything that we were saying. I wanted them to know that I didn’t want to hurt them, but they did look scared. Terrified even, their worlds were collapsing all around them. No one spoke; they just stared awkwardly into different directions. The lack of any conversation drove me to insanity. My mind wandering circles around its-self – I’m sure that I was probably more terrified in our situation than they were. I was risking my relationship with Jessica, the girl I abandoned the rest of the world for, and my freedom, as I was sure I’d end up locked behind bars. My world was over as I knew it. I was certain that I’d rather risk everything then to kill Mr Thompson, the guilt would have destroy me.

We finally made it back to the car. It had slid about three feet into the ditch, light snow and ice causing it to slide when we attempted to pull it out. “Thanks.” I said, stepping out of their vehicle. Jessica followed, and I started towards the car. I looked back and Susan was burning out on the ice, trying to make a quick escape. Both Jessica and I could have jumped back in before they finally found the traction for movement, but neither of us did. We let them run, not fully explaining our intentions, and knowing that we were fucked. There’s no other word to describe the mess that we were in.