Unpaid Bill

    "It's about time! I called you a half hour ago!" I said, getting into the passenger side of the blue and white Dodge Ram.  I sat my book bag on the seat between me and my older cousin Jeff, his long spiked hair brushing the ceiling.

    "Alright Jay, we'll see you later," he said before folding up his cellphone.  "What's in the bag?"

    I looked down at my hand-me-down blue jeans,"I was hoping to stay at your house tonight?"

    "Does your mom know your leaving?"

    "I told her, she threw a fit though."

    "She high again?"  The disappointment of his Aunt's fall from grace showing in his voice.  The gravel driveway was already behind us.  He wasn't waiting for an answer, and must've remembered the last time he came over when she was smacking us with a fryin pan.  The dent on the hood of the truck was still fresh from her throwing the pan at us before we left.

      "She won't stop, ever since dad left us, she does it everyday."  My eyes were glazed over; this wasn't a problem a fifteen year old should have to deal with.  She said it would be better for us now, but she wasn't even trying to get a job.  We didn't have any money, what we did have was spent on her addictions.  I couldn't tell Jeff, I wouldn't accept his charity anyway. Looking back I saw her holding herself up by grabbing onto the rotten railing of the porch as she watched us leave.  "I need something to drink. Can we stop at the store?"  I asked hesitantly. As we sped down the dirt road, dust and stones rained down behind the truck. 

      Parking next to the only other car in the lot of the mom and pop convenient store, I told Jeff he didn't have to come in.  "Don't get scared," I said stepping from the truck. I pulled a snub nosed revolver from the pocket of my hooded sweatshirt, "My dad forgot to take it when he left."

      "What the fuck are you doing?" 

        Yelling at me wasn't going to help, my mind was made up.  I told him it wasn't loaded and showed him the empty chambers before I shut the truck door behind me. Pulling up the hood of my sweatshirt, and putting the gun back in my pouch, I was on my way to hitting rock bottom myself.

        A bell rang above the door upon entering the establishment.  Heading to the back of the store I turned to hide my face from the employee behind the register.  I got a Pepsi from the cooler using the foggy door to hide. I wasn't lying to Jeff, I was thirsty. I pulled a ski mask from my pocket.  The stores phone rang.

        "Hello...Okay...Okay...Okay..." I heard the clerk say before placing the phone back in it's cradle.

        It was showtime. I pulled the mask on and rushed the counter.  "Empty the drawer!"  I shouted setting my bottle of pop on the counter and holding the gun at my victim's temple, he wasn't much older than me.

        "Billy Louis, is that you?" He asked with a grin on his face.

        "What are you talking about kid?  Just give me the money."  I was sweating under my mask.  This kid wasn't even scared, why wasn't he scared?  I had a gun to his head.

        "I think your ride just left, Billy."

          "Quit calling me Billy!"  I shouted looking over my shoulder to the picture window and saw a cloud of dust where Jeff was parked.  Nothing was going as planned.  When I looked back the boy had the phone in his hand.  "What are you doing?"  He didn't look up. I looked at the phone the number he was dialing, it was the one I called when I needed help, but it didn't belong to the cops.

          "It's for you,Billy,"  he said, handing the cordless phone to my empty hand.

          "Give it up Billy, the police are on their way."

          I handed the phone back across the counter and dropped my gun on the floor not understanding why Jeff would call the cops.  I removed my mask and dropped my head.  As I looked down I noticed the boy's name tag, it said Jay.

          "Thanks for giving me the heads up dude," he said into the receiver.  "You still gonna come back to give me a ride home?....Sure I'll give you a call back after they pick him up."

          There was nothing I could do, nowhere I could go, everyone knew it was me.  I sat on the floor leaning against the counter, opening  the bottle of pop.  I took a swig and waited for my ride.  I heard the sirens closing in on the store.