Run on Red

by Noelle W. Ihli

“But why us,” Laura suddenly spat. Kyle smiled. “I knew you’d have questions. It’s pretty simple: We thought Tish was with you. It’s her car. She RSVPed on Facebook. And she was supposed to be at the bonfire tonight.” “Bullshit,” I hissed, my throat closing over with tears I refused to allow. “You saw us. You saw us both—before you ran us off the road. You knew Tish wasn’t in the Volvo.” Kyle smiled wider and held up his hands in a “don’t shoot” gesture. “Yeah … I realized that pretty quickly. But I didn’t give up my Friday night to turn around just because we got the wrong girl. Tony tried to puss out, but he needs my help. We’ll take care of Tish another day.” He rolled his neck and moved to stand, brushing his hands against his pant legs. “Anyway, that beer won’t drink itself. Hope this helps. Tony isn’t your friend. He was your sister’s pimp.” He lowered his voice, leaning down so that the orange light spilling from the hallway backlit his hair in a sickly halo “And he’s my bitch, too. He just doesn’t realize it.” The crawl space door slammed shut.