The boys sat on the hood of the car and listened to the engine ticking. It was almost dinnertime. They split a peanut butter sandwich and a cigarette three ways and waited patiently for help like children. They did not doubt that it would come. An hour later, when they saw the flash of the setting sun hit the windshield of a faraway truck, Joey pulled off his T-shirt, swung it over his head, and hooted.

They changed drivers when they hit new places. Joey got Elk City, Santa Rosa, and Kingman. Ralph got Shamrock, Albuquerque, and Needles. Danny got Tulsa, Gallup, and Barstow, all the way up to the Lay-Z Motel (no vacancy) just beyond San Bernardino.

They crashed into the motel sign at half past three in the morning. Ralph was stretched in the backseat and he woke up when he hit the floor, the wind knocked out of him and glass tickling his skin. He could see Danny’s feet. Somewhere there was the sound of choking. Later he learned that Joey had been sleeping on the passenger side with his head out the window. The impact threw him forward and he landed with his neck against the frame.

In the days that followed, a large black stain would spread across Joey Rudolph’s throat as if he had been strangled and released unwillingly. He would not be able to swallow. His voice would come out in a broken whisper as he spelled his name letter by letter for the police. The man writing it down would have to bend over and listen closely so that he could hear.

None of the boys had a license. They were put in a temporary hold at the station. There Ralph chewed his fingers, Danny kicked the wall, and Joey leaned back on the cot and watched the ceiling. It was covered with spots, and he wondered if they were oil or water. Then he turned his face away from the other boys so they would not see him cry.

“I guess I fell asleep,” Danny said.

“You guess?” Ralph tore off a piece of skin. “What’s going to happen?” He meant when the fathers came.

Danny walked over and pulled at the door. It was locked. “They’re going to kill us.”

Mr. Kurtz got a call from the state police. The Lay-Z Motel sign had been destroyed and the owner was pressing charges. The boys were all minors and had to be released to a guardian. The arraignment was in two days. Someone was going to have to fly across the country and pick them up.