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“Why would you do this?”
    I wanted to tell him I was sorry. That it wasn’t my idea. But what would he care? And it didn’t matter anyway. My idea or not, I had agreed to go along with this.
    I walked about three-quarters of the way up the incline. Then I dropped my board and pushed as hard as I could back into the deep end.
    â€œHey!” he yelled. Somehow I had enough speed to reach the lip of the pool. I rolled over the top and onto the concrete that circled the pool.
    â€œGet back here,” the man yelled. He was making his way toward the deep end. He had a fuzzy housecoat and slippers on. One of his slippers fell off, and he turned to retrieve it.
    I ran for the fence, my shin aching, and tossed my board over. I was halfway up before he reached me. He grabbed my foot and tried to pull me down. I held on tight and kicked him with my other foot. He yelped and grabbed his hand, freeing me to pull myself over the fence. I landed on the other side with a smack, picked my board up and hobbled toward the forest, my leg feeling worse than ever.
    â€œYou think this is funny?” he said. “Ruining people’s property? You think it’s a game? You kids have no respect. None at all.”
    I cut through the bushes back toward the road, where I hoped Sara and Jack were waiting.
    â€œYou’ll get yours,” the man yelled. “The police are on their way. When they ask me if I want to press charges, the answer will be yes. Do you hear me!”
    Branches whipped at my face as I ran through the darkness. I heard noises coming from the street. It sounded like a car revving up and down. I headed toward it and slowed down at the edge of the woods.
    Jack was standing in the middle of the street beside Goat’s old Honda.
    McNaughton stuck his head out the driver’s-side window. “Get in,” he said. Jack moved to open the door, but McNaughton mashed the gas, lurched forward and then stopped.
    â€œCome on, McNaughton,” Jack yelled. “Let me in.”
    McNaughton revved the engine. “All right, come on, hurry up before the cops show.”
    Jack walked toward the car. Just as his hand touched the door handle, the car shot forward again.
    I heard a “pssst” behind me. I squinted into the darkness and saw Sara waving at me, her back pressed against a tree.
    â€œWhat’s going on?” I asked.
    â€œMcNaughton,” Sara said. “The one and only.”
    â€œWhat a jerk.”
    â€œOn the plus side, if the cops do show, we’re here and they’re out there being idiots.”
    McNaughton gunned the car again. I could hear Goat say something to him from the passenger seat. “Forget it, Goat,” McNaughton yelled. “Let him walk.” McNaughton must have nailed the gas, because the car fishtailed away, leaving Jack in the middle of the road.
    â€œJack,” I yelled. “Over here.” He ran toward my voice. “Hurry up. Henderson called the cops.”
    Jack ducked into the brush and knelt beside us. We were only half a block from Henderson’s house. But to walk on the road would be advertising our guilt. I wished we hadn’t all come in one car.
    A police cruiser shot past, its lights and siren off. We watched it pull up in front of Henderson’s and waited to hear the doors open and close.
    â€œWhen they go inside to talk to him, we run,” I said. “Don’t get on your boards until we’re a long way from here.”
    â€œAll right,” Sara said.
    â€œWhy don’t we stay in the woods?” Jack said. “We could try to find a path to the beach.”
    I grabbed his shoulder. “Maybe. But that’s a long walk through the woods at night. And I have no idea where we would come out. No, it’s safer to stay on the road.”
    The officers were still sitting in their cruiser. The interior light was on, and one of them was typing on a laptop. When they got out, they