In the Break Read Online Free Page B

catching our breath, we sprinted the long sandy beach to the water’s edge,
     where Jamie should be.
    The overcast was in strong, small cloud wisps rushing past our faces as we stood right above the shoreline. Amber began yelling
     for Jamie, but he never would have heard her, what with the roar of the breaking waves and the onshore wind. Her words were
     just blown about like whitecaps far out at sea. As I looked at her, she was peering out onto the black ocean, and I felt a
     sudden urge to hold her.
    But I said, “Let’s split up; I’ll go north, you go south.”
    “No,” Amber said. “We’re not separating.” The tone in her voice made it final, and she took my arm, placing her hand in mine
     and pulled me forward with her.
    First we walked north, calling for Jamie. When we got pretty close to The Strand and the houses on the sand, we turned back.
     Walking south, I began looking up on the mesa for my house. There were only a few other buildings on the huge flat piece of
     ground overlooking Playa Chica. Our neighbors were horse people, and I could see the lights from the various barns and houses
     surrounding my own house.
    When we were south of the mesa we found Jamie. He was sitting in the sand shivering. Amber hugged him. She tried to give him
     my sweatshirt, which I’d gotten for her, but he refused, and it wouldn’t have fit anyway.
    “Did you see anything? Cops or …” His voice was hoarse and nasal as it trailed off.
    “No.” I wasn’t lying; I hadn’t seen anything, and I was on high alert for sirens.
    The wind was howling, and it seemed to be blowing the tops of waves right on us: I felt damp inside and my hair was wet. We
     sat in silence, comfortable in each other’s company, knowing there was no good solution to Jamie’s problem. The high-tide
     surge was almost up to where we sat.
    “I’m going to hitchhike south,” Jamie said. “I can’t stay here.”
    “Only psychos hitchhike,” Amber said.
    “I’ve got to get out of here. I’m not getting arrested for that prick.”
    Silence.
    “What if the cops are driving Coast Highway?” Jamie on the highway with only the beach for cover, which was no protection
     at all, wasn’t a scenario that I relished.
    “It’s cool, there’s nothing else to do,” Jamie said with a resigned quality to his voice that I’d not heard before. It was
     acceptance and calmness at the same time.
    Amber pulled Jamie into her shoulder.
    “What’s going on, guys? I mean, shit’s happening pretty fast. Jamie, you fought F?”
    “Yeah, I did.” He sounded as if his tongue was too thick or something, making his words raspy and soft at the same time. “I
     kickedhis ass. I surprised him. He went off on me twice and I didn’t respond. This time, I nailed him right in the throat and got
     him on the floor and worked out on his face. I fucked him up. I hit him and hit him and kept hitting him. And you know what?
     It felt really good. I mean, really.”
    “It was ugly, Juan. I hate F, but I don’t want Jamie to …”
    “Be killed by that fucker,” Jamie filled in.
    “No, get arrested. You wailed on him. It’s different now, Juan. F’s weird or crazy or something. He changed big time.”
    “He takes everything out on me,” Jamie said. “And I’m through with it.”
    Amber removed her arm from around Jamie’s shoulder and sat up straight.
    She had always protected him, especially after their father died. She had a fierce protective net around Jamie, always looking
     out for him, once even challenging a bully who was giving Jamie and me shit after school. We were in the first grade and thought
     it was very cool.
    One time when I was with Jamie in his room shortly after his father died, he started crying. I didn’t know what to say, didn’t
     know what to do, but Amber came in and held him. Simply held him and they both cried. I left, letting myself out of the house
     and walking home in a sad daze. At that time she made it a point to keep a