The Darkest Child

by Delores Phillips

I stopped beside the car and yelled for Wallace, knowing he could not hear me over the din of engines and the cries of terror. Tarabelle and Mattie rushed toward us, and Mattie practically dived onto the back seat of the car. “Let’s go, Tangy!” Jeff urged, but I could not move. Up by the main gate, Wallace and a group of young men had armed themselves with gravel and were slinging it at the grounds crew. “Jeff, look!” I screamed. “They’re going to kill Wallace.They’re going to kill my brother.” “Shit!”Tarabelle said, as she raced back across the lot toward the gate. It seemed she would be struck by one of the vehicles racing from the grounds, but she made it across intact. Another shot sounded, and the gravel throwing ceased momentarily.Then someone bellowed with rage, a high-pitched battle cry, and the gravel slinging resumed. Jeff shoved me into the car, then rushed around to the other side and climbed in.Tarabelle had reached Wallace, and I waited for her to grab him and drag him away from the mob. Instead, she stooped and came up with a fistful of gravel.The