Read Seeds of Deception: A Kate Burkholder Short Story for Free Online Page A

thirty pounds lighter. At the moment, the only things that mattered were that she was an easy target, they were alone on a back road frequented by few, and this was a prime opportunity to exact revenge.
    Billy raised his booted foot and brought it down hard on the front tire’s spokes.
    “Stop it!” Katie cried.
    “Why should I?” Billy shouted. “I ought to stomp this piece of shit bike into the ground just for the fun of it. You Amish bitches lied to the cops and got me into a shitload of trouble. They arrested me right in front of my old man and now I got juvenile court. Lying bitches.”
    All Katie could think about was Jacob’s bike. Trying to think of a way to keep Billy from destroying it, she remembered the lighter and pulled it out, brandishing it like a prize. “But we didn’t give your lighter to the police. We protected you. They can’t prove you did it without the lighter. It’s evidence.”
    She had no idea if that last part was true. But she couldn’t let him ruin Jacob’s bike. Her brother didn’t deserve it. And Katie didn’t deserve to spend the next six months paying for it.
    Billy squinted at the lighter in her hand. “That ain’t my damn lighter. Pink? Are you shitting me?”
    “Take it.” She thrust the lighter at him. “You can have it back. We won’t tell anyone.”
    “I don’t want that.” He slapped it from her hand. It landed on the asphalt ten feet away. “It ain’t mine.”
    “But…”
    Again, he brought his foot down hard on the spokes of the front tire. Two of the spokes snapped. The sound of steel scraping against asphalt seemed unduly loud in the silence. He crushed the spokes so severely the wheel bent.
    “Please!” Katie cried. “It isn’t mine!”
    “Aw … too bad,” Billy whined. “Guess you’ll think twice about lying to the cops next time.”
    “I didn’t say anything to them.”
    “Lying bitch. You told them I started that fire. It was that bitch friend of yours who did it!”
    His friend landed a kick on the bike’s housing and the chain snapped off.
    Billy crossed to her and stuck his finger in her face. “Tell your slutty friend she’d better come clean to the cops or I’m going to make both of you pay,” he snarled. “Next time, I won’t stop with the bike. You got that?”
    The urge to hit him was strong; Katie was furious and upset. But some sixth sense warned her that if she did, he would retaliate in kind and the situation would deteriorate into something even worse.
    She looked down at the bike. Tears burned at the back of her eyes at the sight of the mangled piece of steel, but she fought them. She would not give the likes of Billy Marquart the satisfaction of knowing he’d hurt her.
    His friend landed a final kick to the handlebars, scraping off some of the paint, and the two boys walked away, laughing. Katie stood her ground, her bloodied palms and knees aching, not sure what to do next. She heard the engine of the ATV turn over. She glanced over her shoulder to see the two boys astride the vehicle, roaring through the bridge, screaming like banshees. Billy was driving and she knew he was going to take one last shot at her. For an instant, she considered stepping into the way. But she didn’t think that would stop him so she stood there helplessly and watched him run over the front tire of her brother’s bike.
    When the boys were gone, she dropped to her knees and tried to put the broken pieces of the bike back together as best she could. The front tire was still attached, but it was badly bent. There was no way she could put the snapped chain back together. She didn’t think she could get it home. Jacob was going to be so angry with her.
    She was thinking about dragging it into the weeds so she could come back for it later and somehow haul it to a repair shop when she heard the clip-clop of shod hooves against the asphalt. She looked up to see a horse and buggy approaching. Her heart stopped when she realized it was Jacob,