The Chain-Linked Fence
By: Abby Detmar
Honorable Mention - Prose
Oliver’s shoes skidded across the loose gravel as he turned the corner of a narrow, residential road. His dark brown hair- slightly damp at the tips - flew up out of his eyes as he ran. He quickly glanced over his left shoulder to see Max rounding the corner behind him and the whirling lights of the Los Angeles County police car flying down the adjacent street. Oliver felt more alive in this moment than he ever had before. The chase had been going for almost a mile now. Ever since they were spotted lounging poolside at some mansion. Not even they knew who occupied the home. Someone rich. Someone famous. That’s all they knew. They figured such a venue would instigate the best reaction. They were right.
Being on foot gave them the liberty of ducking in and out of yards and moving easily from one street to the next. The police car was at a disadvantage, having to stick to main roads and often spinning out on sharp turns. The boys were almost relaxed. They laughed, knowing they had already escaped capture. But the mood turned frantic when Max laid eyes on the shoulder high, chain-linked fence at the edge of the neighborhood. It was now the only obstacle standing in between them and freedom. Oliver didn’t think twice about it. He climbed over the fence with ease; smiling from ear to ear as his feet hit the ground on the other side. He looked back expecting to see Max clambering up behind him, but his smile was wiped from his face instantly. Max was standing frozen on the side that had a cop and a pretty angry homeowner. His eyes were closed tightly as if trying to forget something of his past. Trying to wipe a single moment, a single memory, from his mind.
The police car was approaching fast. Oliver could almost discern the face of the officer sitting inside. There was not a second open for hesitation. “Max you need to jump the fence right now! Do you want us both to get caught?! Come on!” Oliver yelled.
Max didn’t respond.
“Dude, jump the damn fence! We have to go! We have to get the hell out of here now! Are you going to make me come over there and get you?”
Max was removed from his trance when Oliver’s hand grabbed a hold of his shaking forearm. He still could not muscle words out of his mouth. But he managed to look up into Oliver’s eyes- wild with desperation- and then past Oliver to the cop car, now only 100 yards away. Oliver realized that he would have to get Max over the fence himself. With a crimson face and blue veins popping out from his skin, Oliver struggled to lift Max. The inevitability of capture brought on a sudden burst of energy. Somehow he climbed the fence with Max’s stone-like figure draped over his shoulder.
All of the emotions of that single moment came flooding back to Max. He felt that instant buried deep inside of him surfacing. The tears began to stream down his face. He heard the heavy knock and the heart-trembling tears of his mother. He saw the men in uniforms standing solemn on his doorstep. Oliver recognized the distress in his friend and went to kneel beside him but was stopped in his tracks at the sound of the police car screeching to a halt. The dust that was kicked up when the tires stopped their rotation turned to mud on the sweaty faces of the young boys. There was no time for questions to be asked. There was hardly enough time for reaction. With a hard pull on his arm, Max stumbled to his feet.
They sprinted around a corner, out of sight of the fence and the officer. It was not long until Max’s trembling legs collapsed again, forcing the boys to stop. To their surprise, their troubles were left back at the fence, in more ways than they knew. Oliver took a seat on the curb next to Max. He was reluctant to ask what had happened. They sat in silence. Finally, Max turned and looked into Oliver’s eyes, in which he found comfort. He took a deep breath and the words came out quickly.
“My father…” He started.
Max had to hold back the tears. Another deep breath.
“My father, got caught on a chain-linked fence once. I suppose they still shake me up a little.” He continued rather light-heartedly.
This false front didn’t last long. Oliver looked at him in a way that broke him down. Max knew then that he didn’t have to be strong for Oliver like he had to be for his mother and little sister. For the first time in their long friendship, the whole story came streaming out of Max like a coursing river.
“I still hear that knock at the door in my sleep, Oliver... And my mother’s hysteric crying echoing through the house. Those men in uniforms standing at my door. That’s shit that never leaves you, man. I heard bits and pieces of the story they told my mom. About how a strap on my dad’s army boot got stuck on the fence. There are times when I wish I wouldn’t have. Sometimes I think it would be better to have no fucking clue of how they saw my father being carried away by those Taliban bastards and didn’t do a damn thing about it. They said it was too late and there was nothing they could do but I will never believe it. I would have done anything to save my dad… anything.”
They sat there on that curb, as Max let go of all of the tears that had been held inside him for so many years. Oliver scooted a little closer and laid a gentle hand on Max’s shoulder.
No more was said of the chain-linked fence.