I fall forward and my face hits the ground hard. I have barely a second to register my new location when everything goes dark and I feel a mass holding my head down.

"Stanturd, you are being sentenced to death, any last words." shouts Tico in a robot voice as he sits on my head. "Beep boop bop subject is dead."

I laugh and roll backwards, tackling Tico into the grass.

"Dogpile!" shouts Gus, jumping on top of us. The three of us wrestle for a second until we become awkwardly aware of the 7th graders on the park bench staring. I stand up and brush off my pants, as Gus and Tico roll around a little longer. Stretch suddenly appears next to me with a taco as if he had been there the whole time. We nod to acknowledge each other.

Tico and Gus finally stand up and the four of us head down to the 7Eleven for some slushies. As we wait for the traffic to stop at the intersection, Gus looks around and says

"Hey, have any of you guys seen Digger lately?" We shake our heads. I hadn't noticed it but he hasn't been around for a few days. Stretch shrugs. I become aware the Tico looks very awkward. Without making eye contact with any of us, he suddenly blurts out,

"Hey I just remembered that my mom wanted me home now. Sorry guys, see 'ya."

He turns and runs off.

Tico POV

Digger's dad hits him. A lot. Hard. And not just slaps in the face like my mom does when I being annoying or something. His dad full out punches him and hits him with a belt. I'm not supposed to know and he told me he would kill me if I told any of the Roadrunners.

A few days ago, I was heading over to Diggers house to grab a T-shirt I had left the day before. I hadn't seen him since he had accidentally sprayed his dad's car with soda. I bounced through the gate and headed to the backyard as usual. I was about to turn the corner around his house when I heard a commotion. I stopped cold because it sounded like Digger's dad. I peeked around the corner through a bush so they wouldn't see me and I was shocked. Digger's dad was holding a long piece of wood and was dragging him towards the basement door by his shirt. When they got to the door, he slammed his son against the door. He held Digger by the neck and got an inch away from his face.

"Now's your last chance, Digger. Tell me the truth. Was it you?" Digger whimpered "I…I…" Digger's dad wound up and hit him so hard in the face that Digger's nose started to bleed. He glanced around quickly to check if the neighbors were looking out of their windows. I quickly ducked back around the house. I heard the basement door open and shut. When I glanced around the corner, Digger and his dad were gone. I was about to run away when my curiosity overcame my fright and I crouched down next to the basement window next to the path. It was mostly frosted over, but I could see though a corner of it. What I saw horrified me.

Digger's dad ripped off Digger's shirt and shoved him against a wall. He wound up his whole arm and began hitting Digger with the piece of wood so hard I couldn't believe Digger wasn't screaming bloody murder. I would have been for sure. Digger stayed crouched over and made little grunting noises and whimpered a lot but he didn't scream and he didn't cry. I didn't know when Digger's dad was going to stop but I could see a dark lines and blood on Digger's back.

Finally he seemed to get tired and he threw the wood onto the ground. He turned around and kicked Digger in the face, causing him to fall onto the floor. Ignoring his son who was moaning on the floor, Digger's dad bent down and wiped the blood off of his shoes and walked up the stairs into their house. I waited until I heard the door click, then I pulled out my swiss army knife and wrenched the window open. Normally I wasn't that type of nosey person but I wasn't about to let my friend get almost killed like that.

I slid into the basement and tentatively said "Digger?" He jumped and turned over. His face was bloody from the bloody nose and I could see his cheek swelling up. He glanced up at the door, then held a finger to his lips. "What are you doing here?!" He whispered furiously. Before I could think of an answer, he jumped at me and pinned me against the wall by my neck.

"If you tell any of the Roadrunners what you saw, I will kill you. Got it?" I nodded fearfully. "Good. Now get the hell out and forget everything you saw." Digger was so terrifying the I climbed out of the window and ran home