November 2002

Isaac didn’t remember much of the walk home. Just that it was dark, and long, and seemed to involve a lot of wrong turns. But he got there in the end.

His parents were out. He had his own key. He walked into the house and went straight up to the bathroom to clean himself up. He didn’t bother to turn any of the hallways lights on. Just walked up the dark stairs as if he was on autopilot.

There wasn’t much damage. Just a few cuts and scrapes. Probably some nasty bruises, come tomorrow morning. Nothing huge. You’d think going through a windscreen would leave bigger marks than that, but apparently not.

Isaac patched up all the places that were bleeding, then went into his room. He didn’t bother to get changed. He didn’t bother to turn the lights on. He didn’t even bother to pull back the duvet. He just laid down on the bed, fully-clothed, and wondered what the fuck he was going to do.

 

One Hour Earlier

The car was weaving around on the road. Isaac didn’t know if that was because of the wind, which had got strong enough to blow entire metal rubbish bins across the street, or because of Barry, who was singing along to the radio and thumping the dashboard with his right hand as he tried to steer with his left.

“Barry, slow down,” said Shona, from the back seat. She’d swapped places with Isaac back at the service station, because Barry had said he wanted to keep an eye on him. Now Shona was squeezed in between Tommy and Chris, and Isaac was trapped. The only escape he could think of was if he opened the passenger door and rolled out onto the road, and at this speed he’d probably break every bone in his body.

He knew he might have to risk it anyway. Isaac kept his hand on his seatbelt button, braced for the moment when it got more dangerous inside the car than outside.

“Barry, slow down.”

“What? Come on, woman! The party’s just getting started!” He thumped the dashboard again. “Oh! My! Starry-eyed surprise! Sunlight to sunrise!”

The car swerved from one side of the road to the other. Isaac braced himself to undo his seatbelt. He’d decided- the moment he saw another car on the road, he was going to do it. He was going to take his chances with the tarmac.

But in the end, that’s not how it happened.

Just as Barry steadied the steering wheel, taking a breath so he could belt out another chorus, Tommy reared up behind him, put his hands around Barry’s neck, and squeezed.

(To Be Continued)