37

I came back slowly to the world, feeling as if the car that had run over me was still parked squarely on my body.

I tried to open my eyes, but they felt like they were sealed shut. I tried to sit up, but could only manage a groan that sounded distant and ugly, as my body rattled with pain.

“Noah?” a voice said. “You awake?”

I forced my right eye open and made out a fuzzy image of Ernie. I groaned again.

“You awake?” he asked again.

I brought my hand up to my eyes and rubbed them, slowly opening the other. Ernie came into focus.

“Ernie?” I said, my throat dry and raw.

“Yeah, it’s me, dumbass. How you feel?”

My arms felt heavy, my legs felt like lead, my back ached, and my head throbbed.

“Alright,” I mumbled. I cleared my throat. “Where am I?”

“My house,” he said. “Somebody called me, told me where to find you.”

I blinked my eyes, then tried to sit up. A fire roared up my spine and into the back of my head. I fell back down.

“Easy,” Ernie said. He was sitting on a chair and I was on a bed.

“Where was I?”

“Out on the beach in IB,” he said, shaking his head. “I guess they dropped you there when they were finished.”

Slowly, I remembered that I’d gone to see Costilla. I remembered the conversation.

“Imperial Beach?” I said. “I thought we were in TJ.”

He shrugged. “I don’t know. I got a call. You were where they said you would be, by the pier.”

I tried to sit up again, held still as my head caught fire, and managed to make it up to a hunched-over position. Ernie handed me a glass of water.

“Thanks,” I said, sipping it. “How do I look?”

“Like somebody kicked the shit out of you,” he said, shaking his head. “But I gotta say, I was wrong. I thought they’d kill you. But somehow you made it back.”

I nodded, drinking more of the water. I knew that the only reason I was alive was because Costilla had wanted it that way. He easily could’ve fulfilled Ernie’s prediction.

“I called Liz,” Ernie said.

I felt my eyes widen. “What? Why?”

“I didn’t know what else to do,” he said. “Carter’s in the hospital, he can’t help. I figured you didn’t want to go to the hospital. You told me you’d been talking to Liz about all of this.”

What I’d forgotten to mention was that I wasn’t supposed to go see Costilla.

“What did you tell her?”

He frowned. “That I dug you up off the beach after Costilla had pummeled you.”

“You said it was Costilla?”

“Yeah.”

“Shit,” I said. I swung my legs over the edge of the bed, invisible spikes digging into the backs of my thighs. “Help me up.”

“Whoa, dude,” Ernie said, putting a hand on my shoulder. “You are in no shape to go anywhere.”

“Liz on her way?” I asked.

“Yeah.”

“Then help me up.”

“Why?”

“Because I gotta take off before she arrives.”

I pushed up off the bed and stood slowly. I felt like I had parts where they weren’t supposed to be and an awful case of the flu.

“Noah, you told me Liz knows what’s going on,” Ernie said, confused.

I braced myself on the back of his chair. “What I didn’t tell you was that I’m not allowed anywhere near Costilla.”

He looked at me, then realized what I was getting at. “Aw, Jesus. I’m sorry.”

I waved a hand at him. “Not your fault. You didn’t know. Help me to the bathroom.”

He hunched forward and I put my arm around his shoulders and we slowly made our way to the bathroom. I was encouraged that nothing seemed to be broken. The small things in life.

I stood in front of the sink and turned on the faucet. My reflection in the mirror didn’t scare me as much as I’d anticipated. A small cut over my right eye and a bruise on each cheek. Dried blood at the corner of my mouth. Most of the damage had been done to my legs and torso. I lifted up my shirt. Reds, pinks, and purples dominated my ribs and back.

“You can take a punch, I’ll say that,” Ernie said.

I grunted at him. I cupped my hands under the cold water and brought them up to my face. The water shocked me, and my head started to clear. I rinsed my face a couple more times and wiped my face with the towel hanging on the wall.

Ernie reached into the mirrored medicine cabinet on the wall next to us. He pulled out a bottle of aspirin and shook four out and handed them to me.

I swallowed the pills, drank another handful of water, and shut off the faucet.

Leaning gingerly against the sink, I said, “My car’s at the border. Can you take me?”

“You sure you can drive?” Ernie asked.

“I’ll be fine. I’m sorry I got you into this. Get me to my car and I’ll be out of your hair.”

“And you’ll owe me.”

“Big time,” I said.

He offered his shoulders again, but I waved him off. If I was going to drive, I’d better walk first. I limped behind him. I felt more awake, but I felt the swelling and bruising a little more, too. I silently pleaded with the aspirin to kick in.

Ernie led me through the single-story bungalow that he owned. It was a couple of blocks from the youth center. He’d bought it a couple of years ago, saying that he wanted to live in the neighborhood he worked in. It would’ve been dangerous for a guy like me to move into the neighborhood, but for Ernie, it was like the mayor living among his constituents.

As he reached for the door, a knock came from the other side of it.

He turned and looked at me.

I had momentary thoughts of looking for the back door, hopping a fence, and trying to get the hell out of there. Then I realized how long it had taken us to get from the bathroom to the front door.

“It’s okay,” I said. “Let her in.”

He opened the door and Liz stood there, glaring at us. In black slacks and a black blouse, she looked like a hot, female version of the Grim Reaper.

“Gentlemen,” she said. “Going somewhere?”

“No,” I croaked. “We were just both so anxious to see you.”

“Right,” she said. “And you look great, by the way.”

“I know.”

Ernie stood between us, unsure of what his role was.

I looked at him. “Thanks.”

“Anytime,” he said, and I knew that he meant it.

I pushed open the screen door and limped out onto the porch. I looked at Liz. “You gonna cuff me?”

She put her hand behind my elbow to steady me and help me to her car. “No, you don’t look like you can do much damage right now.”

“Exactly,” I said. “So why arrest me?”

“Because it gives me pleasure to Mirandize you,” she said.

Then she read me my rights.