Chapter 3Back at Seven, I Jumped Into the River Before My Dad

The next day at noon, Dad held my hand as we took the long way to Old Stone Bridge, deliberately avoiding the riverfront where Derek had ordered us to meet him.

The bridge was almost deserted, with only the occasional scooter passing by.

Just as we reached the middle, a desperate scream came from below.

"Help! Somebody help!"

I looked down.

A middle schooler with a backpack was thrashing wildly in the deep water, splashing frantically. He looked like he was in serious trouble.

Almost at once, people seemed to appear out of nowhere, surrounding us within seconds.

"Oh, my God! Someone's drowning!"

A heavyset woman with tightly curled hair shoved her way to the front and pointed at the river.

Then she turned to Dad.

Her eyes locked onto him, and a calculating gleam flashed in them.

"Wait... isn't that the heartless bus driver?"

Brenda Sullivan screeched at the top of her lungs.

"You left someone to drown last time, and now there's a boy right in front of you! You're still not going to save him?"

The crowd erupted.

"That's him? That scumbag from the video?"

"Well, look who it is. Let's see how he gets out of this one!"

Dad went pale.

He stared down at the dark water below, and the terror of nearly drowning came rushing back.

His whole body began to shake uncontrollably. His teeth chattered.

"I... I can't get in the water..."

He took a step back, unable to hide the fear in his voice.

Then he grabbed a life ring from the bridge railing and hurled it toward the boy.

"Grab it! Grab the life ring!"

It landed right beside him.

But then something strange happened.

Instead of reaching for it, the boy kept thrashing around.

"Help! I can't reach it!"

He kept ducking his head underwater and crying out as his body slowly sank lower.

"What good is throwing him a ring if he can't reach it?" Brenda snapped.

She jabbed a finger in Dad's face, spittle flying as she yelled.

"You're a grown man! Get in there and pull him out!

"If you won't get in there and redeem yourself, we'll throw you in ourselves! Maybe your life can save his!"

She reached for Dad's collar.

By then, the crowd was completely worked up.

Someone snatched another life ring from Dad's hands and threw it to the ground.

Someone else shoved him from behind, trying to force him over the railing.

"Jump! Jump!"

"You should pay for what you did! Get in there and save that boy!"

A hard shove sent Dad stumbling forward. Half his body pitched over the railing.

"Dad!"

I screamed and threw myself at him, wrapping both arms around his leg.

"Let him go! My dad can't swim anymore!"

"Get out of the way, you little liar!"

Brenda grabbed me by the hair and threw me aside.

I hit the pavement hard, my head spinning. My knee scraped against the concrete, leaving a small smear of blood.

I didn't have time to care about the pain.

I lunged forward and bit down on Brenda's wrist. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught sight of the water below.

And that was when I noticed something was wrong.

The boy looked like he was sinking, but the water around him was far too calm.

There was none of the violent churning you'd expect from someone actually drowning.

He was exhaling bubbles at a steady rate.

Even stranger, once he reached a certain depth, his body stopped sinking. He just hovered there.

That wasn't how a drowning person behaved.

This was another setup.

Another carefully planned death trap designed to force Dad into the river and get him killed.

"Stop pushing! I'll go! I'll go!"

Dad's eyes reddened when he saw what they were doing to me.

Fighting through the trauma and terror the river had left him with, he reached into the toolbox beside him and pulled out the thick rope he'd prepared the night before.