Side Effect ● Open Novella Contest Entry 2019

4 • Bullets and Boots

I had a countdown for how long Levi had in Idaho. He left on the 14th and soon he had a week left. Then five days.

"Le-vi!" I cried, kicking open his bedroom door. His head snapped up from the suitcase he was packing.

"Gosh, are you trying to kill me?" Levi said with a smile. He dropped the T-shirt and closed the top of the case.

"Let's go somewhere," I said, fondling the metals on the wall. They were from academics and art. I remember when I was little I was jealous of Levi's awards. But I got awards for essays and music so all was forgiven.

"Like where?" Levi asked, coming towards and me and slapping my hands away from the metals.

"Somewhere cool," I said. I walked out of the room, headed turned back to see if he was following me. He, of course, was. I walked past the key rack and snatched the keys to his truck. "Let's go!" I called. I threw open the door and stepped into the garage. I heard Levi call out to our mom that we were leaving.

Levi followed and I tossed the keys to him. He threw them back. "You drive," he said.

I rolled my eyes and climbed into the driver's seat. Levi got in and put the seatbelt on and pressed the palms of his hands together. "Our dear, kind Lord," he said, his eyes closed and his head tilted to the heavens. "Please don't let Jo kill us today."

I smacked his shoulder. "Come on! I drive better than you!" Levi opened his eyes. He pressed the garage opener and pointed to the sunlight filling the room. "Drive woman."

As I pulled out onto the road. "Where should we go?" I asked.

"This was your idea," he said.

I thought and then smiled. "Wanna see how long it takes to get kicked out of Wal-Mart?"

"We did that a month ago," Levi said. "What if they remember us?"

"They won't," I said. I chose a route that would get us there.

"How do you want to do this?" I asked.

"Let's play, 'You Won't Do It,'" Levi said with a wide grin.

"Okay, but we can't do anything that would require us to end up paying for damages," I said. "Good?"

"Let's do it."

We pulled into the parking lot. I was filled with nervous energy. We walked into the building and began to scout out the area. We walked through until Levi found something.

"You won't get that book," he said, nodding to the stand. "And open and begin crying over a character. Bonus points for how weird it is."

"Deal," I said. Levi hung back with his phone and I walked confidently to the stand. I picked up a random book and opened it up. I stood there for a minute or two before 'crying'.

People walked past me awkwardly. One person, an older woman asked me," Are you alright?"

"No!" I cried. I held out the book. "Why would Mikey sell his dog? She was so good..."

The woman began to walk away and I followed. "And what about Chloe?! Why her? She didn't have to get rabies from the dog."

The woman walked quickly away. A couple people around us started laughing. I put the book back. Levi shut off his phone. "That was okay," he said.

"Alright," I said. "You won't... turn something into a commercial."

"Easy." We walked around until we found something. Levi grabbed a knife block and waited until a bunch of people walked by. I got my phone ready.