Real Bad Things(37)

Jane ran into the bushes to confirm the boat was there and then motioned for them to join her. Once more, their arms burned as they hefted the boat toward the water. The lights from the lock and dam wouldn’t be an issue tonight. Not with the storm. They wouldn’t be noticed at all. That’s what Angie had said and Georgia Lee confirmed and Jane convinced herself was true.

“We’re gonna have to lift him again,” Jane said.

Georgia Lee and Angie nodded. After Jane quietly counted to three, they heaved and almost managed to get Warren’s body into the boat, but Georgia Lee’s arms gave out. His body thudded to the ground. Angie cursed under her breath. Georgia Lee started crying. Jane wanted to hug her, comfort her, apologize. But if she paused, she’d lose her nerve.

“It’s okay. Pick up his arms,” Jane said.

Georgia Lee wiped her eyes and nose on her sleeve, and they all tried again. This time, they succeeded.

Angie studied the boat and Warren in it. It rocked side to side in the shallow water, the metal scraping lightly against the rocks. When Jane lightly touched her arm, she jumped.

“I should help Jason,” Angie said.

“Okay.” Jane couldn’t force her to stay.

“Thank you,” Jane said, which felt like the worst kind of thanks she could possibly give. She didn’t know how things had gotten so out of hand. They’d only gone for a quick walk to talk. They’d come back, and everything had changed. “Do you think we’ll be okay?” Jane asked, even though she couldn’t remember a time when she’d ever believed things in her life would be okay.

“We’ll never be okay,” Angie said, making her way into the woods.

When Angie was out of sight, Jane tried to return her focus to what lay ahead. She wanted to cry, be consoled. To be in bed, asleep. She wanted to wake up to normalcy.

“Get in the front,” she told Georgia Lee. “I’ll push you away from shore and then hop in the back.”

A question lodged in her throat, wanting to come out but lacking the nerve. Wanting to ask if this could be fixed. If there weren’t some other way. Now that the moment had arrived, Jane wondered if this was the line. If they’d end this now, call the cops, or keep going. Before Jane knew what was happening, the boat floated away, out of reach.

“Wait!” Panic surged. Currents swirled below the surface, winds churned above.

Georgia Lee’s arms expertly worked the paddle, left to right, as she steered the boat away from Jane. Jane rushed into the river, up to her chest, chopped her arms through the water.

“No!” she gasped. “Stop!”

Georgia Lee and the boat grew smaller until finally they disappeared into the distance and darkness.



Clouds covered the moon, providing a dark canvas on which Jane could cast her thoughts. After Georgia Lee had taken off, Jane had hurried to brush the ground where they’d walked with a stick to try to cover their footprints. No need now. The rain had begun. Light at first, and then steady. Now she had nothing to do but wait.

Everything had happened so fast. The fear. The fight. The solution.

A wave of gratitude and guilt and horror flooded her. How could she look at Georgia Lee and Angie again without that swell of guilt that felt like it would crush her? What kind of girls would help you out of a situation, even if it meant doing something against the law, against God?

Wasn’t it? Against God? But these girls had saved her and Jason. They’d done more than anything God or Jesus had ever done for them.

There was no turning back. God willing, Georgia Lee would come back.

After what felt like hours, Georgia Lee finally stepped out of the dark edges of the woods toward Jane. Her drenched clothing hung on her body. Her hair clung to her skin. Her whole body trembled, wrecked and weakened. She wouldn’t let Jane touch her, comfort her. Neither of them said a thing. They took a well-used trail through the woods and toward the road and the trailer park without speaking. Their river-soaked sneakers squeaked even more in the mud.

The party a few trailers down that had been in full swing and at full volume earlier that evening despite the impending storm had wound down. The only chatter came from the rain hitting the metal siding. The sky hadn’t yet revealed whether it’d unleash its full wrath.

The trailer was dark. No sign of Jason or Angie or Diane. Georgia Lee stopped at her car. Warren’s car was parked off to the side. That’s what had set this off, Jane realized. Georgia Lee had parked in his spot.

Georgia Lee opened her car door and settled into the driver’s seat. Rain ran in rivulets down their faces. Georgia Lee looked at her with an expression she couldn’t decipher. Not anger, something else.

Like she’d done in the boat, she drifted off without a word. The crackle of stones under the tires and the soft hum of the motor faded.

All that was left to do was wait for someone to find the body. Or, if they got lucky, wait until everyone forgot about Warren and turned their attention to the next man who went missing.





Twelve

GEORGIA LEE

Georgia Lee remembered the precise day and time her high school—and subsequently, college—swim career had come to an end. She hadn’t been able to eat all day. Her stomach tumbled and threatened. Sweat ran down her back and stomach, wet her suit before she even entered the pool. This water, calm. The room lit with fluorescents. Filled with people. Not her alone, debating when to bail out of a boat, how close equaled too close to the dam. If her body could fight the current and return to the riverbank. If her muscles would falter due to fears she couldn’t tamp down no matter how well she had mastered her breathing. If she’d get sucked through the lock along with Warren and tumble out the other side, alive, or get caught and drown. None of her teammates noticed how she stood near the edge of the pool, breath shallow, panicked at the lack of air. She became so unnerved she rushed back to the locker room. Her mother found her after the announcer had called Georgia Lee’s name three times and the gun had gone off without her. She lay down in the back seat on the way home. Her mother reached behind her at the stoplights to pet her and tell her there would be more swim meets. There wouldn’t be. In the weeks after, instead of Georgia Lee returning to the water, her mother returned the new swim cap and suit she’d bought her for that year’s competitions.