Truth Comes Second

Sending Him Off

Author's Note: Sorry for the delay. School and work have both been crazy busy and I hit a bit of writer's block. Hopefully I can update more often soon!

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Jimmy's POV:

Every day seemed to be longer than the next. Tommy and I were stuck inside that house. Neither of us dared go outside. We had been glued to the television since we left that garage. Every day, the reporters seemed to know something new about us.

It had all come from Carrie. She was being interviewed by people on television and she was telling them all about what Tommy had done to her. I knew Julie was defending our family. I hadn't heard her say anything since they played that clip of her crying. They wanted us to seem like monsters, and Julie made that hard to believe.

Relief washed over me yesterday when the police got a false lead. The were heading out to Albuquerque to go find us. I had no clue where that was, but when the put a map up on the screen I saw that it was nowhere near us.

Julie was still stuck in the hospital. one of the news stations had mentioned that she was going through therapy for her leg. I hope she has somewhere to go once they let her go. I want to go get her, but I've settled with the reality that I can't get her out the hospital. I'd have to go into the city late at night and sneak around to find her. If anyone saw my scar, they'd scream and go to the cops. I could send Tommy to go find her, but I never want him anywhere near her again.

"What do we have left to eat?" Tommy asked me.

I opened up the cupboard and pulled out the last handful of cans. I set them down onto the counter.

"We only have this," I told him. "We need to start rationing it."

"Give me the keys to the truck," Tommy said. "I'll go get more."

"Are you crazy? Everybody in the country is looking for us."

"Nobody has any idea who I am. Everyone is out looking for the guy with the scarred face."

"What about your leg?"

Tommy had been able to drag his leg around without holding onto anything. I still didn't like the idea of him going into town. I didn't hear anything about Tommy getting shot in the leg on the news. Maybe they just didn't release that to the news.

"You can't drag yourself into town," I said.

"I found a cane in the closet," he said. "I can walk like normal if I use it."

"I think we should wait."

"They're looking in Albuquerque for us! Nobody will give me a second look."

I let out a deep breath and ran my fingers through my hair. Arguing with Tommy had always been difficult. Back home, they never went on too long because Dad always stopped us. Since we have been in Steve's house, it seems like we have nothing else to do, but argue.

It wasn't really Steve's house anymore. It was ours. His greasy little brother Peter hadn't shown up since he dropped us off here almost a month ago. I didn't know what we were going to do once he came here. I didn't know if he had a key, and if he did we'd have to kill him. Then the gas station would abandoned and the police would go looking for him. Once I got Julie and Hunter, we'd have to spend years moving from house to house until we can get to a place that nobody would be looking for us. I could write Taylor a letter and see if he'd let us move in with them until we could build or buy a house, but I didn't want the police to find them either.

"If you want to go, then go," he said. "But if you get caught you better not say anything."

"I'm not a fucking idiot, Jim," Tommy said wryly.

"Watch your mouth!"

"It's a word. It was so stupid Dad wouldn't let us swear."

"It's a tradition. It's respect."

"The traditions are pointless!"

If Dad was here he would have punished Tommy. I couldn't even imagine what Dad would do to him. He would have locked him in the basement. He did that to Tommy that one day he threw a plate at me. Tommy was only six years old, but Dad locked him down there for almost two days. Mom begged for him to be let out, but he refused.

"Go then," I said. "Go out and get food."

I picked the truck keys up off of the counter and threw them at him. I pulled the wad of cash that I had found in Steve's dresser out of my pocket. I handed him a couple of bills. Tommy shoved them into his pocket and wobbled down into the room he had claimed. He had on a black jacket and a silver cane in his hand. His walk improved a lot more and his limp was almost gone.

"When you're in town, find me a map," I told him.

"What for?" he asked.

"I want to know where we are."

More importantly, I wanted to know where St-Agatha was. I wanted to know where Julie was now. It would make it easier to find Julie once she was released.

"Can I have more money then?" he asked.

I pulled another bill out of my pocket. I watched Tommy slowly make his way over to the door.

"Wait a minute!" I yelled out. Tommy looked over his shoulder at me. "Don't take the truck. I have the keys to Steve's car."

I ran into the room I claimed. I picked up the keys I found up off of the the dresser. They had mentioned our old, blue pickup truck on the news. Carrie remembered it vividly when Dad got her. I was going to have to destroy it so that nobody could find it.

I took the truck keys from Tommy and handed them the ones to Steve's car.

"Does this drive the same way?" he asked.

"It should," I said. "A car is a car."

Tommy nodded his head and then left. I plopped back down on the couch and turned on the news. I was going to have to wait for it to be dark and for Tommy to go home before I destroyed the truck.