The Draft Dodgers: Part 3
The Final Installment
Part 2 Recap: Jack and Danny make it back into their boat. As Jack helps Danny get dry clothes on, he notices red marks on Danny’s back but doesn’t ask about them. They meet Rachel at the dock and decide to hide the boat and camp out for the night. Jack wakes up in the morning to a police officer going through his bag and pulling out the map.
Jack looked at the map in the officer’s hand. His mind raced trying to come up with a realistic alternative to the truth. He’d marked the spots they were aiming for with small, black dots. It was possible the officer hadn’t seen the final destination.
“We wanted to see the shore. It’s my brother’s birthday. I thought it would be fun.”
The officer looked at Danny still sleeping soundly and considered something.
Jack felt Rachel sit up next to him. She must have been awake enough to hear most of it because she didn’t say anything or act surprised.
The officer picked a stick off their dwindled wood pile and poked at a lump of wet clothes. “You go for a swim last night?”
Jack’s mind scrambled for a story that would pull it together and get the officer to leave them alone. But Rachel was a step ahead. “The boys did. They felt like having a race. I didn’t want to get wet.” She tried her most disarming smile. Jack recognized it. He thought the story was good.
The officer glanced at Danny again. “Didn’t know retards could swim.”
The comment didn’t phase Jack at all, but he felt Rachel bristle.
The officer looked down at the fire. “You make this?” It was clear he was talking to Jack even though he hadn’t looked at any of them.
“Yeah. I made it.”
“I take it camping must be new for you.”
Jack didn’t know why but the comment stung his pride. Even worse he was getting the very clear impression they were not winning him over.
“Well, I’m not sure what you all are up to, but it isn’t seeing the shore. I’d suspect transporting drugs except you brought him along.” He pointed his stick at Danny. “And that wouldn’t make any sense. My car is the only one around, so you didn’t drive. And none of you look old enough to vote. So I’m thinking you’re going to pick this all up, and we’re taking a ride downtown.” He tossed the stick into the coals and put his hands on his hips.
Jack’s hopes slipped out of him like sand through a fist. Without speaking he stood up and started folding the blanket. Rachel looked up at him, but he turned away not wanting to cry. He dropped the blanket next to her and went over to Danny. “Time to wake up, Danny.”
It took a couple tries before Danny’s eyes finally opened. “Where are we?”
“We’re in the park. We’re going to town.”
“I’m cold.”
“I know you are. Get moving and you’ll warm up.”
Danny sat up and opened his eyes and saw the officer. He jumped and asked who it was.
“He’s just going to help us get into town.”
The officer turned and looked around the area. As he did something on his belt clicked. Jack looked and noticed a flashlight, walkie-talkie, and handcuffs. No gun.
Danny pulled his shirt over his head and held it out. Not wanting to upset him any more than necessary, Jack took it and pulled the last sweatshirt out of Danny’s bag. He turned to hand it over and noticed again the red marks on Danny’s back. He saw them more clearly now. Whatever they were, they weren’t from last night. They were older and shared a common geometry. Jack didn’t know who had done it or why, but it must have happened at the home.
A spark of resolve lit in him. And a little resolve can go a long way.
He caught Rachel’s eye and glanced toward the officer who was still scanning the area. She gave a slight nod.
The officer turned back toward them. “Hurry it up.”
Knowing Rachel was aware of the stakes, he continued gathering their things looking for an opportunity.
“Can I have my map?”
The officer eyed him and tossed it over. Jack set it in his pack and zipped it shut and threw it on.
“My car is just up past the trees.” The officer indicated the general direction, and they started the march, him bringing up the rear.
Jack kept Danny to his right and Rachel to his left. He hoped Rachel would catch his cue and jump in. Otherwise, he’d be in for an extended stay in some correctional facility.
Before too long they came to a patch of uneven ground with some rocks protruding up from the dirt. He figured it was as good a place as he could hope for.
“Gah!” Jack stopped short and squatted down. “A nasty sticker or something got in my shoe.” He heard the officer sigh behind him and hoped Rachel would take the opportunity.
She acted like she was looking for something up in the trees and wandered a couple steps so there was some distance between the three of them. “So do you catch a lot of people camping in this park?”
She flipped her hair from one side to the other just when the officer looked at her. It was a reliable trick for distractions and asking favors. The officer paused for one second. Jack sprang.
He planted his shoulder near the officer’s belly button and drove him toward the ground. The officer was strong and fought tipping over.
But Jack still had some control and steered him straight at Rachel who swung her leg hard and fast at the officer’s knees.
He fell to his back. Jack tried keeping all his weight on the officer’s chest. The officer went to push him off, but he held on tight. The officer pulled one arm back and came in with a punch. Jack braced for it, tucking his ear and jaw behind his shoulder. But before the blow landed, Rachel was on his arm, pinning it to the dirt.
Jack felt him go for the walkie-talkie and grabbed it away. He tossed it to the side as far as he could. An elbow knocked the wind out of him, and the officer slammed his forehead into Jack’s cheek.
Rachel yelled Jack’s name. He tried to get back on the officer’s chest, but he was slower now. The officer landed a knee to the inside of his thigh that made his leg buckle.
He fell to the side and saw the officer reach for Rachel. He looked nearly as tired as Jack. His hand snatched Rachel’s shoulder and started prying her off. She let out a defiant scream.
Jack was still dazed from the headbutt, but just then something dark crashed onto the officer.
“No!” Danny shouted and wrapped an arm around the officer’s neck and wrenched it back. The officer let Rachel go and struck back at Danny, but Danny was pulling too tight. The officer’s face turned a deep red.
Jack knew Danny wouldn’t let go. It didn’t happen often, but Jack had seen this side of his brother come out when they were kids. It was always because Jack was endangering one of Danny’s toys.
Jack scrambled to his feet and pulled the cuffs from the officer’s belt. He cuffed the wrist that was flailing toward Danny. The officer’s face was nearly purple and covered in spit and snot.
“That’s enough, Danny.”
Danny kept his hold tight.
“Let him go!” Jack tried pulling his arms off, but they were clenched.
The officer looked at him in desperation, and his eyes started rolling. Jack pulled harder, but nothing changed.
Rachel wrapped her arms around Danny like she was holding a child. “It’s okay, Danny. I’m okay. You can let him go.”
He loosened just enough to let the man breath.
“It’s okay. You got him. Now let him go.”
Danny released the officer’s neck and scooted back.
Jack bent over the man.
“He’s breathing,” Jack said. “I think he’ll be alright.” He looked up at Danny who was shaking despite Rachel hugging his shoulders. “You saved us, Danny.”
Danny blinked. “He grabbed Rachel.”
“And you got him off me.” She kissed the top of his head. “You’re my hero, Buddy.”
Jack looked down at the officer. They needed to get moving. “Help me drag him to that tree.”
Rachel grabbed the other arm and pulled. Searing pain shot through Jack’s knee. He used one hand to pull the officer’s arm and the other to balance on the ground.
They sat him up next to a young tree and wrapped his arms around it and cuffed his wrists together. Jack opened a bottle and splashed some water on his face. The officer groaned and leaned against the tree. Jack offered him a drink. “We’ll send someone to come get you, but you’ll have to hang out here for a while.”
The officer tried to speak, but he just coughed.
“Yeah, your throat will probably hurt. I wouldn’t do much talking.”
The man took one more drink and slumped against the tree.
Jack hobbled over to the walkie-talkie lying in the dirt and picked it up. “Follow me.” He started going up the hill instead of back down toward the boat. He hoped the officer would assume they had caught a ride. The second time he stopped, wincing and holding his knee in pain, Rachel came over and put his arm around her shoulders and helped him on.
Once they could see the road, he pressed the button on the walkie-talkie and asked for dispatch. He told the woman on the other end where the injured officer was. Before she asked any more questions, he threw the walkie-talkie up into the ditch next to the road. From there they went down the hill, uncovered the boat, and got back to rowing north.
They didn’t say much in the boat. It was slow going with Jack’s knee. Rachel took the oars a couple times, but they weren’t in a rush. Something told them the hardest part was behind. Jack dipped is hand in the frigid lake and felt it roll by. The sun was on them all morning, and it was good.
Sometime after noon he checked the map again and looked at the shore line. “I think we’re there.” The trees were the same, but they felt closer, bluer.
They pulled the boat ashore and tied it to a tree. He’d marked a little campground on the map, something small and out of the way. It took a couple hours, but they found a little country road and took it north. They walked into the little office just before sundown.
A woman in her sixties looked up at them from behind the counter. “Can I help you?”
“We were wondering if we could get a campsite.”
“How many?”
“Just one.”
The woman smiled at him. “How many nights, young man?”
“Oh, one night. Maybe two.”
“Let’s start with one. You’re campsite twenty-two. Just keep walking on past the washrooms, and it’s to your right.” She looked the three of them over. “I just don’t understand it.”
“Ma’am?”
“Hitchhiking. The way you kids do. I wonder what your parents must be thinking.”
Jack smiled. “I can’t say.”
She smiled back. “Well, you’re young. May as well have an adventure.”
He pulled some cash out of his pocket and set it on the counter.
She looked down at it and sighed. “I suppose you’d like me to exchange that for you?”
“Yes, please.”