A Crooked Mile (Rust Book 1)

by Samantha Arthurs

  Doctor Linn gently closed the file, laying it aside on the table by her chair. She crossed her legs daintily, clasping her hands together with a sigh. “Because that’s just human nature, and that’s sadly something we can’t really do anything to change. It’s nice that you gave Ramona a chance, and that maybe you’ve made a new friend in your life, but your friends only see what they want to see. They want to believe that she’s the same kid she was when they used to make fun of her, and they don’t want to see you drifting away. They think if they can sever that tie, regardless of how it came to be, they don’t have to worry about that. Maybe, with time, they’ll come around. We’ll just have to wait and see.”

  “Sometimes I don’t know if I can wait much longer,” Alec whispered, raising his hands to cover his face. He was so tired, and he really just wanted to go home and lie down. First though they had to turn the discussion to his medication, to his dosages and whether or not they were working, and then his mother was called in to go over everything. They upped his pills and changed the times when he would take them in an attempt to alter his moods and to get him back to a more balanced life.

  By the time they finally left, Alec could barely hold his eyes open. He crawled into the front seat of the SUV and curled up after buckling in, letting his head rest against the door. When his mother asked him about dinner he didn’t answer, already asleep by the time they left the parking lot. She didn’t want to rouse him, so she resigned to pick up dinner at the diner on the way through Rust, figuring that would be good enough. Nothing in the world was worth waking him up for when he was finally resting, so she hit the highway and headed toward home.

  Chapter Fourteen: Action!

  The maple tree had already lost all of its leaves, standing tall and bare by the back corner of the Sanders home. Alec had a forlorn look on his face as he studied it, his lips pursed and his arms crossed over his chest. Beside him stood Ramona, a notebook clutched in her hands as she worried over her bottom lip with her teeth. They had planned to start shooting more of their scenes days earlier, but life had got in the way. More specifically Alec’s basketball practices had got in the way, since he’d been staying late to try and help Bryson out, and the weather hadn’t exactly been cooperating either.

  Ultimately his father had gotten what he wanted, and Bryson and Alec were now both on the Rust High School varsity basketball team. Alec wasn’t sure whose palms had been greased to make that happen, but it was very obvious that his kid brother had not gotten in on pure talent. They were at the gym most evening’s fairly late, working on drills and practicing different shots. It was a lost cause really, but Alec II insisted that they make it happen and so they did. It wasn’t ideal for either of them, neither wanted to be there, but it was hardest on Bryson. Alec tried to keep that in mind as he watched his brother throw up air ball after air ball, but sometimes it was hard to remember that they were both suffering.

  Now it was a Saturday, and practice had ended well before the lunch hour. He had eaten and then headed straight for Ramona’s place with his camera equipment, ready to get some work done. They wanted to have all of the segments filmed by Halloween, so they could watch everything and mark what could stay in and what had to go. After that Bryson would do the editing, and then they would be done until it was time for their presentation.

  The tree that they had planned to use for a backdrop, however, had given up the ghost sooner than they had thought that it would. They had wanted to use it in all its autumn glory, with its brightly colored leaves reaching toward the flat gray sky. Instead it just looked kind of dead; it’s branches bare and sad. Both of them stood staring at it, almost as though they thought they could will it back into something more beautiful. It was no use, however, because the tree stayed just as ugly as it had been five minutes before.

  “Now what do we do?” Alec asked, rubbing the back of his neck as he turned to look at Ramona. She stood with her notebook to her chest, eyes still focused on the tree. Suddenly her eyes lit up and he knew she had an idea, cracking a smile before she even spoke.

  “We just rearrange things a bit, that’s all,” she told him, flipping through the papers. “We can do an introductory bit here, and you can read the line that Cathy said about her love for Linton being like foliage in the woods, and that time will change like winter changes the trees! It would be perfect, and we can definitely find a good place for it!”

  Alec knew she was right, and he also knew he should have trusted her to come up with a good idea despite natures changing their plans. They found an old milk crate and set it up beneath the tree, fixing the camera on its tripod so the video wouldn’t be shaky from someone trying to keep a steady hand. Producing his copy of the book, Alec found the passage and then situated himself beneath the tree on the milk crate, reading the same few lines several times until he finally got it the way that he wanted it.

  There was something wonderful about listening to Alec read aloud, and even though he read the same bits several times, Ramona was content to sit back and listen. He had a lilt to his voice, a passion for the words that just resonated with her. His soft accent, vaguely southern with the way he emphasized certain words, was absolutely wonderful and she wanted to tell him to just keep reading on and on and on. Unfortunately now was neither time nor place for such thoughts, and she cleared her throat and hit the pause button on the camera once he was finished. He seemed dazed when he realized it was time to move on, flashing Ramon a little smile as he rose from the milk crate to stretch out his long limbs.

  “I’d say that was mildly successful,” he grinned, nudging her playfully with his hip as he gathered up the camera, tripod and all without taking it apart. “Do you have anything warm to drink inside? Tea? Cider? I’m not picky, honestly, just not coffee. I can’t really handle coffee these days.”

  In reality caffeine did not mix well with his new medication regime, and he ended up with the jitters. He drank a half cup in the morning to perk himself up, but all other caffeine was cut off from that point forward through the day. It had not been an easy vice to give up, but it was either that or spend the entire day shaking his leg up and down and having a strange little heart flutter that frightened him every single time he felt it.

  Ramona glanced at her watch and then at the house, knowing that her family would be back soon She was almost regretting agreeing to work at her place today, even though the entire purpose had been to use the big tree in the yard. She didn’t want to shoo him off though, since their time together had become somewhat limited and would only become more so as the basketball season got underway. So she found herself agreeing, leading Alec up the sagging from steps and across the porch into the house.

  The house was lived in and worn in a way that suggested people had made a home here and that it wasn’t just for show. The scarred wooden floor creaked underfoot as they crossed the threshold, wiping their muddy shoes on a mat before proceeding. Alec looked at things with interest as they passed, stopping to study a series of family photos that adorned the wall in the hallway. He peered into rooms, noting the way that their dining table was sort of wedged in with little room to spare and all seats necessary, while his own had too many chairs with plenty of room to escape on either side. He liked the sofa in the living room, a big sectional thing with a lot of pillows thrown around and blankets draped over the back, and he really liked the kitchen once they stepped inside.

  In the Sanders house the kitchen was the most used room, and the one that had seen the most wear and tear. The countertops were stained but clean, wiped down after every meal and gleaming under the yellow artificial light. The deep farm house sink had a few dishes stacked in it, but most were in the drying rack off to the side, ready for the dinner hour.

  Overhead the cabinets were all painted off white, but some of them had different fixtures where the originals had broken over the years. Some had pull handles; others had knobs that were mismatched but functional. A stack of mail had been haphazardly tossed onto a sideboa
rd, and someone had left the bread box open. Half a loaf of homemade bread sat inside, already gone stale but still good enough for one last batch of toast in the morning.

  It felt like a home, and that thought struck Alec hard as he ran his hand over the front of the white Maytag fridge, which was making an interesting noise that didn’t seem to concern Ramona. She was too busy getting out milk and packets of hot chocolate mix for their drinks, assembling everything on the counter while she searched for a sauce pan. He didn’t interrupt her; he just watched and felt an overwhelming sense of sadness rise up inside of him. This was what a real home was, a place full of imperfections, a place that didn’t have to be immaculate because other, more important, things came first. He thought about his own house, the way the kitchen was a little too bright, the stainless steel appliances devoid of any fingerprints or dust because they were rarely used. His mother didn’t cook, and the most he and Bryson managed was morning cereal and sometimes a piece of toast. There were no stains on the counters, no crumbs in the bread box. In fact, they didn’t even have a bread box, and he hadn’t even known that was an actual thing until just now.

  Alec was still standing there, staring idly into space, when Ramona shoved a warm mug into his hands. He startled but managed to avoid a spill, giving her a sheepish smile. “Sorry. I was just thinking about how we don’t ever really use our kitchen,” he told her, seeing no reason not to be candid. He took a sip of the hot chocolate and burned his tongue, resolving to wait a few more minutes before he tried again.

  “Really? I mean I guess I never really noticed your kitchen, but we use ours all the time. My dad doesn’t believe in wasting money on takeout food, so we cook at least two meals a day. My siblings are always thinking up projects and stuff to do too, and most of them involve creating a mess in the sink,” Ramona laughed, pouring hot chocolate into another mug for herself. “We spend a lot of time in our living room I guess, but this is the room that gets the most love and attention. Come on, let’s go sit. It’s weird to just stand around in here.”

  Alec willingly followed along behind her, heading into the living room with the large sofa in it. He saw now that there was a television sitting on a stand in the corner, and a cabinet in the opposite corner held all sorts of board games. The coffee table was littered with magazines, coloring books, and abandoned art projects, and Ramona shoved some of it over to make room for their cups. She curled up in the curve of the sectional, pulling one of the blankets over her lap. Alec flopped down to her left, stretching out his long legs and hugging a throw pillow to his stomach.

  “Would you like a ride to school tomorrow?” He asked her then, reaching for his mug. It had cooled a bit now so he ventured another sip, this one not burning his mouth. “Mom is going shopping with a friend, so I’m going to drive Bryson and myself in her SUV. I could swing by to get you, I mean it’s not like you’re out of the way or anything.”

  Ramona liked the idea of that, but she knew she had to run it by her parents first. She was almost eighteen years old, but rules were rules and she would abide by them. She was about to tell him as such when she heard the sound of car doors opening and shutting, inwardly groaning a little bit.

  The front door flung open then, a rush of cold bursting down the hallway and making her shiver. She turned her head to look over the back of the sofa, her siblings flooding in like a tidal wave of noise and running feet.

  “Mona! Mona! Ricky Baker picked his nose and ate it!” Her youngest brother, six year old Michael, came barreling into the room but came up short when he saw her guest. He took a few steps back with his eyes wide, not sure what to say or do.

  “We have company, Mike. I don’t think we need to hear about Ricky Baker’s extracurricular activities,” Ramona scolded him, giving him one of her looks. Mike turned and fled into the hallway, where she could hear him excitedly telling the others about the scene he had just witnessed.

  “Mona has a boyfriend! She has a boyfriend!” They were trying their best to whisper but it just wasn’t working, and she felt her face turning bright pink. Things only escalated from there, with fourteen year old Erica poking her head in for a look.

  “Oh, he’s cute,” she whispered, laughing as she disappeared back into the hall. Alec at least looked entertained, a cheeky grin on his face as he leaned over closer to Ramona, lowering his voice a little.

  “They think I’m cute,” he announced, clearly very proud of himself. There was a hint of laughter in his voice that made Ramona roll her eyes, very much not amused and fully intending to kill her siblings the moment that he was gone.

  “What’s this about a boyfriend?” That voice belonged to her mother, who was the next to appear in the doorway. She looked momentarily shocked and then a bit pleased, stepping forward to offer her hand. “Hello! You must be Alec! I’m Janet, Ramona’s mother! It’s so nice to finally meet you; I was starting to think she was embarrassed of us!”

  “I am embarrassed of you. Well, not you, but them,” Ramona grumbled, shaking her head in disbelief. She wondered to herself if the state would put her away forever if she pled temporary insanity. If anyone on the jury had spent just five minutes in her home then they would fully sympathize, of that she had no doubt.

  Her declaration of embarrassment got a laugh from her mother, who just looked more thoroughly amused. She kept her full attention on Alec though, not wanting to be rude to the first friend her daughter had brought home since she’d been a little kid. “Would you like to stay for dinner, Alec? We’d love to have you!”

  “Alec doesn’t eat meat. Or potatoes. Or bread. It’s against his religion, so I bet he has to go home,” Ramona jumped in, poking Alec sharply in the shoulder, which he politely ignored.

  “Sure, I’d love to stay. My brother is at a friend’s house tonight anyway, so I’m sure my parents would like the time alone,” Alec told her, giving her a bright smile in return. It was one of his fake smiles, the type that meant he was lying, but if her mother suspected anything she was wise enough not to comment. “I also will eat meat, potatoes, bread, and anything else you put in front of me. Cross my heart.”

  Janet gave her daughter a bemused look as she bustled out of the living room, heading for the kitchen to start dinner. Her siblings descended upon them again, this time the entire gaggle, and they promptly began interrogating Alec. He took them in stride though, answering them in silly ways, or making faces at them that had them belly laughing. Finally someone suggested they play a game, but there really wasn’t anything on the shelf that required eight players. So the younger kids set up a rousing game of Candy Land, while Alec, Ramona, and the oldest two settled in with Monopoly.

  By the time dinner time rolled around, Ramona’s father had arrived and introduced himself, and Alec had bankrupted all of them by purchasing the best properties and collecting all of their money every time they landed on one of his spaces. He was still gloating as they filed into the tight dining room, two casserole dishes, a heaping bowl of mashed potatoes, and a loaf of bread situated in the middle of the table. The dishes weren’t fancy like the ones at the Davis home, but Alec liked them. They had a bright colored, loud print on them and he appreciated character over cost any day of the week.

  Ramona crammed onto a bench and Alec squeezed in next to her, their elbows bumping every time one of them moved. He was surprised when everyone bowed their head to say grace, but he was a guest and so he followed suit. It was nice to be thankful for something as simple as dinner, and he liked the warm feeling the entire routine gave him. What he liked even more was the steaming broccoli, cheese, and rice casserole, and the creamy mashed potatoes that Mrs. Sanders had made. He even liked the sour dough bread, slathering it with lots of rich butter that he could tell was homemade. They drank water or milk with their meal, and everyone talked over one another as they tried to squeeze in information about their day. He was absolutely enchanted with her siblings, who all had distinct personalities and a story to tell. He heard about tripping down stair
s, losing homework, getting stickers for good behavior, and experiments gone wrong in science class. Ramona told them all about their project and about the tree, about which everyone laughed, and then they asked Alec questions. He was glad that nobody was invasive, they were just genuinely curious about his life.

  He had settled in for a second helping of casserole when he thought about Bryson, and how he wished his little brother could be here too. While he knew that he wasn’t stuck in the cold house down the road, it would have been nice still to share it with him. To let him in on this secret little world he was enjoying, this tiny bubble that belonged to Ramona Sanders and that he was monetarily allowed to invade.

  After dinner was over Alec offered to help clean up, but Janet insisted that he’d do no such thing. Ultimately he decided it was probably time to get home, and he gathered up his equipment and promised Ramona that they would get together on Tuesday evening since there wasn’t a scheduled practice that evening. He departed off into the cold, wrapping a scarf around his neck before heading out into the dark.

  Ramona was a little sad to see him go, joining her mother at the kitchen sink to work on the dishes. As Janet washed and Ramona dried she brought up their previous conversation about Alec’s father, scrubbing at a casserole dishes corners with a plastic sponge.

  “He’s a good kid, and he seems happy enough to me. He acted like he had a good time tonight, and he appeared to be well adjusted,” Janet praised, though her words seemed to upset her daughter.

  Ramona made a face as she rubbed the dish towel over one of the last plates in the sink, giving her mother a side eye glance as she put it on the rack with the other dishes. “See? That’s the problem right there. He puts on a good show, he acts like things are fine, but they aren’t. If you really pay attention to him, you can tell it’s all an act. He doesn’t want anyone to know that anything is wrong, for whatever reason it is he might have. Like even tonight, I think he had a good time, but I think it also made him sad. Just...you have to pay more attention to him, that’s all. You have to look into his eyes and then you’ll see it. There isn’t a shred of happiness in him, at least not most of the time.”