School just let out a few weeks ago for Rhea and I and our parents decided to do a camping trip before our first annual trip to Myrtle Beach with the Mitchell’s. We weren’t going far, just twenty minutes away from our houses in Fayetteville, but it was enough to get us out of our neighborhood.
“Tanner,” Mama called from the kitchen. “Can you please put this cooler in the RV for me?”
Grumbling, I pause my Xbox game and stomp off towards the kitchen. Rhea’s dad, Eddie, was over helping my mom get things packed because Dad had to finish some last minute things in the office before we took off. My dad always had things to do at the office; I think he spent more time there than anywhere at all.
I pick up the red cooler and carry it out the back door and down the steps to the RV. I don’t know why mama always insists on taking this damn thing anyway; we have a fridge in the camper. The door to the camper opens and Rhea’s mom, Daisy, comes out.
“Morning, Tanner.” She sings; way too chipper for this early in the morning.
“Morning,” I mumble as I step up into the RV.
Daisy reaches up and ruffles my hair, “I’ll be back in a few minutes, Tan.”
I don’t respond back as the door slams shut behind me. I take a few more steps and place the cooler on the table. I go to turn and leave but I hear music playing faintly from the back of the RV. I stalk towards the back to find out where the music is coming from. I see the tip of a black cowboy boot hanging out of the bottom bunk. As I move closer I see that Rhea is lying in bed, her long beautiful brown hair fanned out over the pillow. Her eyes are closed and she has earbuds in so she has no idea I’m standing here checking her out. Over the last year Rhea has been filling out from her awkward skinny stage. It’s probably wrong that I’m noticing these things about her but I can’t seem to help it. Rhea’s in a pair of short white shorts making her legs go on forever. The black tank top is hugging her upper body showing off the curves of her breast. She’s sucking on what I assume is a lollipop from the stick sticking out between her lips. My dick starts to strain against my jeans. I need to sit down before things start to get weird between us. The only spot that’s open is right next to her head. I turn quickly and adjust myself before sitting next to her.
Just as I’m sitting her eyes spring open and her hand holds her chest, “Tanner, you scared me.”
I chuckle because she’s yelling since she still has her earbuds in. I pull on the wire and they fall out. “Well, if you didn’t have your music blasting you would have heard me come in.”
Rhea rolls her eyes and scoots further into the bunk giving me more room to be comfortable and I kind of wish that she didn’t because now I have a full view of her gorgeous face. Her bright blue eyes are my favorite thing about her.
Rhea takes the lollipop out of her mouth, “Are we fixin’ to leave now?”
My eyes follow the pop as she places it back in her mouth and sucks on it, hollowing out her cheeks.
Cursing I look away and clear my throat. I need to get away from her but I can’t right this second. “No, not yet. Mama had me take out the cooler.” I say nodding towards the table.
Rhea is making sucking noises and I can’t take it anymore. I reach over and grab the lollipop out of her mouth and put it in mine.
“Hey,” Rhea pushes me. “I wasn’t done with that.”
I hang my legs over the side of the bunk and stand making sure to keep the front of me at an angle. “You are now.”
“Jerk,” Rhea yells as I walk away and go take another cold shower this morning.
After my second shower of the day we’re all in the RV waiting on my dad to show up so we can head off to Lazy Acres Campground for the week. He should have been here a half hour ago but I knew it was going to be more like an hour.
Rhea is lying in the bunk below me and she’s singing Born to Fly by Sara Evans. I could lay here and listen to her sweet voice sing all day. Countless times I have fallen asleep on the beach listening to her sing.
I roll over to my side, my front facing the side of the RV and my eyes grow heavy from the lack of sleep lately and also from being woken up at the ass crack of dawn, all the while Rhea’s voice is lulling me into slumber.
“Tan, can we go into the house, please?” Rhea whines. “It’s getting really dark and I don’t like the storms.”
I look over to Rex and Knox who are both sitting next to each other down a little ways from where Rhea and I are sitting. They don’t seem too concerned with the storm but it is getting darker by the minute. From what I heard on the news when Knox’s mom, Audrey, was listening to it, a hurricane was coming up the coast. Before we left the house to come down here she warned us to stay out of the ocean because the waves were too rough and the rip current was very strong. Audrey also gave us boys the lecture to watch out for Rhea. She really didn’t need to do that because we’ve been doing it for years anyway but I guess she felt the need to.
“Knox!” I yell.
Knox and Rex both turn their heads in my direction. “I’m fixin’ to head in with Rhea.” Knox waves me off.
I stand up and shake the sand from my towel as does Rhea. This is the first time she has been to the house in Myrtle Beach by herself. She’s always with her parents when they come for a visit. I overheard her mom tell Audrey she was a little worried leaving her by herself for the first time but Audrey assured her that being seven was old enough not to need her mama and daddy. She also promised everything would be fine and to go enjoy her alone time with her husband. Shortly after that she left, leaving Rhea here with the rest of us for a week.
The first rolls of thunder sounded and Rhea jumped ten feet off the ground.
“Hurry, Tan.” She started running up towards the house and I followed after her.
By the time we reached the house the storm was just off the coast. The thunder was rolling in faster. The lightning was lighting up the dark sky and the first few cold rain drops started to fall. I looked over at Rhea and she was shaking like a scared cat. I knew she didn’t like the storms but I’d never seen her like this.
After we dropped our sandy towels and flip flops off in the hallway just outside the laundry room I held out my hand for Rhea. She looked up to me with frightened, wide eyes before taking my hand.
“I’m afraid, Tanner.” Rhea said with a shaky voice.
I brought her closer to me, “I’m here, Bee. Just like always, me and you against the world.” I chuckle. I knew she needed the reassurance.
Rhea gave me a half smile. “Pillows.”
I smiled, “Blankets.”
Rhea pulled me down the hallway behind her, “Gummy bears.”
“Movies.”
This was our thing. When the storms back home would roll in we would bring all the pillows, blankets and junk food to the living room and we would watch a movie and blast the volume to drown out the passing storm.
Rhea and I took the stairs two at a time. First, we stopped in her room to grab her pillow and blanket from the bed and then we stopped in the room down the hall that I was staying in. When I reached my bed a loud crack of thunder and lightning hit at the same time causing Rhea to scream, drop her covers and practically jump in my arms. Summer beach storms always seemed worse than the ones back home and this just showed true.
I finally loosen Rhea’s nails from my arm, “Come on, Honey Bee. Jump on my back.”
Rhea didn’t waste a second.
This was going to be a bit tricky with her on my back and now I was left to carry all our blankets and pillows downstairs without breaking my neck.
I reached down and grabbed Rhea’s pillow, “Bee, can you hold this and still hold on to me?”
“Yeah,” she held the pillow in her hands that were wrapped around my neck.
I grabbed her blanket, my blanket and pillow and turned to make my way back downstairs. When I got to the bottom of the stairs, out of breath and panting, Knox is leaning against the wall.
He cocks an eyebrow, “Whatcha doin?�
��
I roll my eyes; he’s been giving me more and more shit about all the time I spend with Rhea. He forgets that we live right next to each other and our families do everything together so of course I’m going to have a close relationship with Rhea.
“What’s it looking like?”
Audrey whizzed by and grabbed the blankets from me and the pillow from Rhea. She kisses her son on the cheek, “Grab bubba and get your blankets. We’re making a blanket fort in the living room.” Then she turns and walks down the hallway towards the living room.
Knox rolls his eyes.
“And don’t roll your eyes at me either, young man.”
Rhea starts to laugh and I can’t help to laugh either. Knox huffs and yells for his brother as he stomps upstairs.
Audrey helped us build a fort out of all the pillows, blankets, couch cushions and anything else she could find to make the biggest fort I’ve ever seen.
When she was done she put her hands on her hips, “That’s impressive.”
“It’s awesome.” Rhea sang.
Rex was laying all the way in the front near the fireplace with a book and flashlight in his hand. Next to him Knox set up his stuff and then Rhea and I were next to him. Rhea insisted on sleeping near the exit since she didn’t want to sleep in the middle of the boys and if she had to go to the bathroom she didn’t want to have to climb over everyone. She was the only girl and no one argued with her.
Audrey sat and wrapped Rhea in her arms. “Are you gonna to be okay down here with the boys, sweetheart?”
Rhea leans her head on Audrey’s shoulder, “Yes, ma'am.”
“Y’all will come grab me if she gets scared?” Audrey asked us.
“Yes, ma’am.” The three of us said in unison.
Audrey had somehow managed to get the TV under the blankets with us so she turned a movie on with the remote and turned it up pretty loud so Rhea didn’t hear the storm.
“Goodnight, y’all.”
“Goodnight.” We all said.
A little while into the movie the storm was picking up and it could be heard over the movie. I looked over to Rhea and she had the blankets tucked up under her chin. I glanced over towards Knox and Rex who were both asleep before turning towards Rhea and slipping my hand under her blankets to grab her hand.
“Go to sleep, Honey Bee.”
She gripped my hand tightly in hers, “Okay.”
The thunder rattled the window and she jumped. Rhea moved a little closer to me. Before I fell asleep Rhea was snuggled up as close as she could get to me.
“Tanner,” Rhea calls.
I groan and roll over, hitting my shoulder in the close confines of my bunk.
“Tanner, get up.” Rhea nudges me in the back.
“No.”
Rhea sighs, “Fine, I’m goin’ to the pool by myself.”
The thought of seeing her in a bathing suit has parts of me wide awake now. I roll in her direction, “You’re not goin’ to the pool by yourself.”
Rhea raises her eyebrows, “And why’s that?”
I throw my legs over the side of the bed and hop down. My thighs, stomach, and chest touch Rhea’s body. All I have to do is bend my head down and my lips would meet hers. I’ve been fighting this kiss forever now and pretty soon I’m not going to be able to stop myself.
I wink, “Because I’m comin’ with you.”
Rhea shivers and goose bumps break out across her skin. “Come then.”
I take a step back; my dick springs to life at the word come rolling off her tongue. She has no idea what she has been doing to me for years now. I’m afraid to tell her, afraid she’s too young, too afraid to screw our friendship up because of my hormonal urges but things are changing whether I want them to or not.
Rhea laughs and walks away, “Let’s go, Tan.”
Chapter Three
~ Age 16 ~
Rhea
Things are altering.
Time is passing.
People are changing.
My heart is breaking.
Families are falling apart.
Falling in love isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.
Friendships are diminishing.
Have you ever had that feeling deep in the pit of your stomach that something wasn’t right? No matter what I did, no matter how I tried to distract myself from that feeling, nothing was working.
My friends were all starting to arrive for my sweet sixteen birthday party. Mama and Daddy decided to throw me a huge party. It was meant to be a surprise but in a heated argument they let it slip and ruined the surprise for me. The fighting between my parents was getting worse with each passing day. Daddy was working more and more and he hadn’t come home yet after having left early this morning. Mama is distracted these days, barely functioning and not noticing what’s going on around her. Tanner is being more distant than ever. He hardly ever talks to me anymore unless it is just the two of us. I sent him a text this morning wishing him a happy birthday and he has yet to answer his phone.
The doorbell rings again, “Sweetheart, can you grab the door?” Mama asks. I don’t know why she couldn’t do it; she was sitting on the step just staring into space.
My friends Sarah and Bella stand on the porch dressed up in pink and black dresses giggling and carrying on about Lord knows what. Those two are forever laughing and getting in trouble.
They squeal, “Happy birthday, Rhea!”
I hug the both of them before they enter the house. After they pass by me I take a step out onto the front porch and glance over towards Tanner’s house. He’s home. His bedroom light is on but yet he still hasn’t answered my text.
I decide to try one more time before giving up.
Me 7:30 pm: I know you’re home. Your light is on. Where are you? I need you. My birthday isn’t the same without you.
I wait a few minutes, hoping and praying he answers. Giving up, knowing he isn’t going to respond, I sigh and look once more before I head back inside to my party. Tanner has turned his light off. My heart cracks just a little more. Everything is falling apart it seems.
I open the door and Mama is standing there smiling. It’s fake; she’s putting on a show for the guests. “Sweetheart, you’re daddy isn’t gonna make it home for the party.”
My shoulders sag in defeat, “Okay.” I mean what else was I supposed to say? I’m not surprised by this. He’s choosing work over his one and only daughter yet again.
For the rest of the night I avoid Mama. I don’t want to see the pity in her eyes. I’m feeling no pain. Tommy snuck in alcohol and I’ve slowly been sipping on it all night. It’s easing the pain in my chest; I don’t care that my daddy isn’t home, don’t care what mama is doing and I’ve stopped checking my phone for a text that I know isn’t coming.
Braydon wraps an arm around me and kisses me on the cheek. It’s sloppy and wet and grosses me out. His breath smells like stale cigarettes and beer. “What’s up, darlin’?”
I shake my head while holding my breath as he talks. The pungent aroma of his breath nauseates me.
“Whatcha say we go out back?” Braydon pulls me to his chest and wraps his other arm around me.
Braydon is cute but he’s too touchy feely. He’s always flirting with me and telling people we’re dating but we aren’t and never have, never will. We’ve kissed a few times but that’s it. He’s tried more but I’ve never let it progress past that. My heart tells me I’m holding out for one person; the very one I have repeatedly checked my phone for over and over tonight.
I take a step away from Braydon as he starts to sway, “No, Bray.”
“Aw, come on, darlin’.”
I shake my head, “Not happenin’.”
I leave him standing there and make my way toward the kitchen needing some fresh air. Knox and Rex are there leaning against the kitchen counter, girls flanking both sides of them.
Rex sees me first. He comes over and hugs me. “Happy birthday, Rhea.”
I kiss his ch
eek, “Thanks, Rex.”
Knox wraps me in his arms next lifting me off the ground. “Happy birthday, Little One.”
I giggle, “I’m not so little anymore, Knox.”
He sets me back down, “You’ll always be little to me, Rhea.”
I take a bottle of water from the fridge, “Have y’all seen Tanner?”
Knox and Rex exchange a look and my stomach tightens. That look tells me they have, they know what’s going on, and that he’s not coming.
Rex speaks up first, “Yeah, we stopped there first.”
“Mom’s still over there talking to Emma.” Knox explains.
I nod, “Is he coming over?” It’s a stupid question to ask because I already know the answer.
Knox looks down to the floor, “I don’t think so. He said it’s not a smart thing to do.”
My eyebrows furrow, “Whatcha mean?”
Rex looks up to the ceiling, “He was heading out somewhere and told us to just come over here.”
I get the chills but yet my body feels heated. He’s never skipped out on one of my parties when he’s promised he’d be here. I shouldn’t be surprised. Everyone is breaking promises that they are making me lately but somehow his hurts the worst though.
Knox bumps his shoulder into mine and says quietly, “He said to meet him at the spot at midnight.”
I stare at Knox and cock my head. “Our spot?”
Does he know something that I don’t? Does he know how strained things are right now between Tanner and me? Does he feel the same shift that I’m feeling too?
“I know, Little One, more than you think I do.”
“Know what, Knox?”
“Things are changing.”
I close my eyes and take a deep breath. I’ve tried to be numb to the whole situation, block it out, but it looks like I can’t do that for much longer.
“Everything is so messed up, Knox.” I let a single tear fall. I feel a shift in my life but I’m not sure what’s causing it. I’ve tried to ask Tanner but he says not to worry about anything. Everything has a way of working itself out.
Knox and Rex wrap me in their arms as I let the first round of many tears to come fall. I don’t want to grow up; I want to stay oblivious to the world. I want to spend my summers running on the beach with the boys. I want the parents to call us for s’mores when they have the fire on the beach just perfect for us. I want all the laughs. I want my family and even my extended family happy again. But when things are so far gone, how do you right the wrongs?
American Honey Page 15