Ice Cream Run

By Lea Anne Stoughton

Bullets slammed into the side of the van. One twothreefour. Five. Rachel gave a small shriek as the window shattered above her head. Shards twinkled in her hair and her hands shook. Becky noticed she had managed to keep hold of the gun. Small favors, she thought.

In the lull, Becky slid up a few inches to look out her window. There were more now, at least three by the basketball court, plus the ones who were wrecking the paint job on the passenger’s side. At least they weren’t trying to negotiate anymore. The dude with the megaphone must be new to the job—the thing kept squealing. Becky had almost surrendered just to get it to stop.

The sirens in the distance grew louder, a bored droning wah-wah-wah that reminded Becky of the adults in a Peanuts cartoon. Laughter burst from her in a rush. Rachel was silent a moment, then joined in with a flurry of giggles.

“Hey Rachel,” she said, her voice still thick with laughter. “Remember last summer when the kids talked us into that damn pool party?”

Rachel swiped her hand across her eyes. “Hell yeah, I do. It was only the worst party ever. I still can’t figure out how that cat got in the pool.”

“And the ice cream? Holy shit, it was everywhere.” Something was going on outside. Becky could hear car doors and men talking. She wanted to look again but didn’t dare.

“Becky?”

“Yeah.”

“What happened?”

Becky shifted. They would have to make a move soon. If she could just see…

“Becky?”

Becky sighed. “I don’t know. I really don’t. We just went out to get the—”  

Clank. Becky felt the gas before she saw it. Water and snot poured from her eyes and nose. Rachel was coughing and gagging, the gun dropped to one side, forgotten now. She scrabbled at the door and managed to open it. Becky saw her collapse on the pavement.

Well. Becky slammed the gearshift into drive. Still slumped low in the seat, she stomped the gas pedal, yanked the wheel left, and hoped the cars hadn’t moved.

They had.

As her vision narrowed and the world grew quiet, Becky saw something red and sticky drip down the windshield. Ice cream.