Her parents' house was in sight. If she could just make it there, she would be safe behind the protective wall of her brothers. They wouldn't let him harm her. They had never liked him to begin with. Guillermo had always said that he was just waiting for a reason to call his homies on him. Alma wasn't entirely certain that that would be necessary anymore. She had walked away from the crash relatively unharmed.
When she had looked at Joey before crawling out the driver side window, he had been bleeding from his eyes and mouth. Even if he could follow her, his blurred vision would slow him down considerably. It had been a good day until Alma picked Joey up to go to dinner at her parents' house. He was already drunk when he got in the car, and the glazed look in his eyes spoke of much more than booze. Alma hid a number of things from her family. Joey's drug habit was just one of these things. Alma had recently started questioning her relationship with Joey. That was another. Alma didn't want her family to think that anything was wrong. She didn't want them to be right. She didn't want to believe that Joey was just anther loser junkie. He was so smart sometimes. He had a lot of really great ideas. He just never really got around to them was all. Lately Joey had taken to snorting meth. It wasn't too bad when Joey was just drunk. They got into arguments when he was drunk; nothing too terrible. When Joey was on the meth though, he could be a terror. The drunken surliness was intensified to a rage by the effects of the manufactured chemicals in his brain. There had been a few times in the last couple of months when Alma truly felt that her life was in danger. Joey had even raped her once after beating her so severely that she couldn't go to school the next day. She didn't want them to be right. She didn't want to give up the nights when Joey was perfect; nights that he would cook her dinner, massage her feet, really make love to her. Joey had cried for hours when Alma had to tell him what he had done to her because he couldn't remember. She couldn't believe that he was unsalvageable. She couldn't believe that he had just threatened to kill her if she didn't pull over the car less than two blocks from her parents' house and give him a blowjob. In a single moment of condenced rage and frustration, the last few months of abuse exploded in a single stomp on the gas pedal and swerve of the wheel into the trunk of an old maple tree just half a block from their destination. Alma was crying so hard as she ran to her parents' house that her tears were streaming behind her on the breeze. She didn't see her brother, Jojo sitting on a lawn chair in front of the house. She was crying too hard for that. She didn't see Jojo stand up, nor did she see Jojo's girlfriend, Ashley come out the front door. She didn't see Jojo move to catch her before she made it to the door. She simply slammed into Jojo's chest where he caught her before she could fall. Alma wanted to explain everything that had happened; how she had had such a good day at school, how everyone in her class had made her feel so good about finding the accellerant in a charred peice of wood, how her mother's praise had warmed her inside. She wanted to explain how Joey was already drunk and high when she went to pick him up, how he had ridiculed her for wanting to please her mother by showing up for dinner on time for once. She wanted to explain how Joey had ripped her blouse just before the crash. All she could get out between sobs however was, "I think I killed him." Jojo held her tight and asked her where her car was. When she pointed in the direction of the crash, Jojo had Ashley take Alma from him and called for the rest of their brothers. The five brothers and their father took off running down the street. When they reached the car, there were flames starting underneath and smoke coming from the engine. Jojo had two of his brothers drag Joey, who was still bleeding and unconcious out of the passenger seat. Jojo and Sergio meanwhile, pried open the trunk to retrieve Alma's school supplies.
Their father supervised the ordered chaos and shouted things like, "Come on! Do you really care if you rip his leg off?!? Just get him out of there."
When the fire trucks and paramedics arrived, the car was already engulfed in flames. The police hand-cuffed Joey to the gurney before he could be taken to the hospital. He still had not come around yet. The police took Alma's statement and instructed her not to leave town. It could be a while before Joey would be in front of a judge. In the meantime he would be put under house arrest.
After everything had calmed down, Alma was sitting on the couch in the living room, flanked by Sergio and Guillermo.
To no one in particular she said, "What am I gonna do? He's gonna come after me when he gets out. He won't care about fucking house arrest."
Without saying a word, Ashley took out her phone and dialed a number. She spoke to the person on the other end for a minute to explain the situation, then hung up.
She then pulled out a note-pad and scribbled something down and handed it to Alma saying, "Talk to this guy tomorrow. He'll probably give you a job and a place to stay. He's a major prick, but he won't let Joey get close to you without losing a limb for it."
Alma stared at the slip of paper for a moment before tucking it into her pocket. There was a phone number and address followed by a name; Jack Bowman.
Ashley sat on Jojo's lap and said, "I worked for him for a few months. You'll probably hate him, but his partner is good people. You and Percy should get along just fine."
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