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Tom was sitting up when Denise and Kara got to him. |
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'Are you OK?' Denise asked. |
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He nodded and winced. His face looked battered and puffy. Blood no sooner spilled from the split skin above his eye than it was washed away by the spray. |
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'Buddy sort of punched my lights out,' he said. |
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Denise gripped one of Tom's arms. Kara took the other. They helped him up. The three of them walked over to the woman. She was sprawled on the grass beside Buddy, knees up, arms spread out, a tire iron resting across her belly. The bar went up and down, wobbling as she gasped for air. She squinted up at them through the rain of a nearby sprinkler. |
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'Hi,' Kara said. 'Thanks for helping us.' |
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'Would you like to come into the house?' |
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'I think so. Yeah.' She pushed herself up. The tire tool rolled down to her lap. She grabbed it, and got slowly to her feet. |
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Tom crouched down over Buddy. 'Jeez. What happened to him?' |
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