“Vic got suspended for the prank he pulled. He’s gone until the new year. Heard about it because he couldn’t play ball this weekend.”

For some strange reason, Thomas felt something weird inside of him. He couldn’t believe it, but he actually felt sorry for Vic.

“Why? How?”

“Every single person at school knows about that page, man,” Carlos said. “Even the teachers.”

“Oh, boy.”

Carlos let out a low, laid-back laugh and then shook his head. “I bet he’s fu-ri-ous.”

“I better watch out.”

“We got your back. No worries.”

Carlos walked away in his casual strut as Thomas stuffed the bags in his hands into his locker.

They might have my back but they’re not always going to be around to protect it.

He suddenly wondered if he had just made things worse.

Like a Circus in There

Kevin was heading over to the Salvation Army on Wednesday morning to bring the gifts that were already late when he got the call about Jenny. Not from Jenny but about her.

Lately, every time the phone rang, he got a little nervous. He mentioned it one evening to Jenny and she just laughed at him, calling him paranoid. But that was exactly what he was: paranoid. Worried that every call or knock on the office door or sudden groan from Jenny meant LABOR AND DELIVERY AND BABIES. He wanted just a little more time. Just a little more time to find Wonka’s Golden Ticket, to discover a miracle under the Christmas tree, to wake up and be able to tell all his employees that they were doing just fine, thank you very much, let’s toast to the new year.

But the call on the way to the Salvation Army changed everything.

“Kevin—we’re at the hospital.” It was Jenny’s mom, who came out a couple times a week to help her out.

Here we go; it’s game time.

“What happened—is Jen okay? Mom?” It was amazing that he could speak without being able to breathe.

“She’s fine. She just fainted this morning.”

“Fainted? Did she—is the baby okay?—are the babies okay?”

“Yes, they’re fine. Everybody’s fine. She’s just a little dehydrated and tired.”

A car honked behind him, and he realized that the light had turned green. He rolled down his window, ready to tell the guy behind him to take a hike.

What are you doing, Kev?

Instead he started down the road, then realized he was going in the opposite direction from the hospital. He could feel his heart beating, and he was consciously trying not to speed. He turned on the radio and cranked a loud rock song to try and get composed.

It’s not gonna go loud enough to drown out the worries, Kev.

He stared down the road and knew that he had really truly no idea where it went. All he could do was stay in his lane and drive the speed limit and maybe he’d get there in one piece without an accident or a ticket or a breakdown.