First Degree Burns

by S. L. Kassidy

  There was a flash of something in Lillian’s eyes that Dane thought she imagined. Lillian shook her hand firmly, more so than her brothers did. She smiled, even though, for a brief moment, it looked more like a smirk. Dane decided to ignore it.

  “Nice to meet you, too,” Lillian replied.

  “So, are we ready to go?” Spider clapped his hands together, grinning.

  “Beth isn’t here yet,” Laura said, as she stepped out to greet her children. She gave all three new arrivals tight hugs.

  “She’s at her mom’s house. We’re going to pick her up on the way.” Junior jabbed his thumb behind him.

  “Well, then, as soon as your dad finishes throwing things in one of his bags, you can be ready to go,” Laura stated with a laugh.

  Raymond shook his head as he joined the group, making the foyer extremely crowded. “He was always the last one ready and swore he wasn’t the one that put us behind schedule.”

  “Dad is good for that,” Junior chuckled.

  “You’re not much better.” Spider swatted his brother on the shoulder.

  “I’m still not as bad as him,” Junior replied.

  “No one will ever be as bad as Richard. We used to have to tell him the wrong time to make sure he showed up on time.” Raymond earned laughs from his nephews.

  They stood around chitchatting for a while. Dane was silent, with Nicole still holding her hand. She didn’t mind. She wasn’t sure what to say to Nicole’s cousins, anyway. Junior and Spider didn’t seem very interested in her, but Lillian glanced in her direction every now and then. After a couple of minutes, Lillian eased her way over to Dane.

  “So, Danny, what do you do for a living?” Lillian asked.

  “I give guitar lessons. You?” Dane countered, even though she could guess what Lillian did from her brief exchange with Nicole.

  “I’m a lawyer. Not as big time as Nicole, but I do all right for myself,” Lillian answered with a slight shrug.

  “Only because you don’t want to move to a bigger city.” Nicole bumped her cousin with her hip. Lillian laughed, moving slightly off balance.

  “Hey, your mother wanted to be close to her family, I want to be close to mine,” Lillian said once more.

  “I know, I know, I know,” Nicole replied, holding her hands up in surrender.

  “So, how did you meet Nikki?” Lillian asked Dane.

  Dane glanced at Nicole, wondering what exactly she should tell. Nicole smiled and squeezed her hand, as if encouraging her to tell the truth. She had no problem with them, but as usual she didn’t want to embarrass her lover.

  “She helped me out when I was down on my luck, and we became friends before we realized we had feelings for each other,” Dane vaguely explained. She figured that would keep Lillian from looking at Nicole as if she were crazy. After all, Dane still thought her lover was a little nuts for inviting a homeless person she didn’t know to stay with her, even if that homeless person was related to her boyfriend at the time. Sometimes, I gotta wonder if Chem’s rose-colored glasses aren’t also beer goggles from some of the things she’s done.

  “That sounds like Nikki. She’s always been nice.” Lillian hit them with a bright smile and a perky bounce.

  Dane nodded, but something seemed off to her. She couldn’t put her finger on it and dismissed the feeling, as Richard made his way to the group. He held up a bag to show he was ready to go. Laura gave their travel snacks to Lillian and Nicole, and the group marched out. Richard and his offspring piled into an SUV; while Raymond, Nicole, and Dane got back into their vehicle.

  “Beth’ll ride with us,” Raymond called to the other car.

  “I hope she’s ready,” Nicole said.

  “She should be. She’s usually good with that,” Raymond replied.

  The drive was barely ten minutes with Raymond leading and Richard following right behind. They pulled up to an average, two-story house. There were no cars out front, and Raymond honked the horn. A woman emerged from the house with a large backpack and a duffle bag. Raymond got out and greeted her with a hug before opening the trunk and tossing in her bags. They both got back into the car.

  “Hey, Beth,” Nicole smiled, leaning into the back to give her cousin a hug.

  “Hey, Nikki! It’s been a couple of years, hasn’t it?” Beth returned the hug. She sat down and glanced over at Dane. “Hi, I’m Beth,” she easily introduced herself, offering her hand.

  “Beth, this is my girlfriend Danny, and I think it’s been more than two years,” Nicole answered while Beth and Dane shook hands.

  “Pleasure to meet you, Danny. Nicole’s mentioned you in some of our emails and stuff. You play the guitar and you’re awesome at music, right?”

  Her having information kind of threw Dane off. She knew Nicole spoke with her cousins on occasions, but she never really got the vibe that Nicole spoke about her at any great length. Beth grinned, as if sensing her discomfort.

  “Don’t worry. She said nothing but good things, and she needed someone to talk to. Not like she could mention you to Junior or Spider,” Beth said.

  Dane arched an eyebrow and glanced at Nicole. “Why’s that?”

  “Junior and Spider decided on their own, a long time ago, to be the protector of their female cousins. That means they must hate all our partners until they prove worthy. I don’t think they’ve ever liked one of Nicole’s significant others,” Beth replied.

  “That’s not true! They loved Grant,” Nicole objected.

  “You dated Grant when you were fifteen,” Beth countered with a laugh.

  “But, they liked him. He was awesome when we went camping.”

  “They didn’t even like him in the beginning. It was only after he proved he was cool on the camping trip that they started to open up with him. Whatever happened with Grant?”

  Nicole chuckled. “He was gay is what happened with Grant. Well, not gay. He ended up figuring out that he was attracted to people regardless of sex; he liked personalities, not genders. But, when we were dating, he wanted to step away because he thought he was gay. Turned out to be a good idea, not too long after that, I started to really think about my attraction to women.”

  “Do you still talk to Grant?”

  Nicole shook her head. “No. We tried to keep it up through college, but things got too busy. Last I heard, he was an engineer with two kids and happily married. I hope that’s true, and I hope he’s loving life.”

  Beth laughed and nodded. “I hope one day we’ll hear the same about you.”

  Nicole smiled and Dane silently gulped. She really didn’t want to think about Nicole having kids right now. The car grew quiet as Raymond drove on. Dane studied the woman sitting across from her, if only to distract her from thoughts of weddings and children. Beth had a youthful face, slightly tanned. Her hair was short and chocolate, with what appeared to be red highlights. There were three faded scars on her cheek.

  “How’d you get the marks on your face?” Dane asked before she realized what she was saying. She hoped it wasn’t something horrible.

  “The genius in the front seat dared me to ride my bike through some bushes when I was younger,” Beth said.

  Nicole snorted. “Oh, but who was the genius that actually did it for five stinking dollars?”

  Beth laughed. “You’re older than I am! You’re supposed to know better than to dare me to do stuff like that!”

  “Says who? At least Junior didn’t dare you to do something,” Nicole said.

  “Yeah, I could’ve ended up in a thorn bush like you did,” Beth remarked.

  “I’m still amazed that you made it to adulthood having broken only one bone.” Raymond glanced at his daughter.

  “Funny, too, how I didn’t break my arm doing something with Junior and Spider. You’d think, if I was going to break something, it would’ve been with at least one of them.”

  “I thought they’d killed you when you fell off the roof,” Beth said, shaking her head.

  “Oh, God, I rem
ember Beth’s face when she came in to tell what happened to you. I thought she was going to pass out. She couldn’t even breathe. We thought she was the one in trouble, until she explained you died falling off the roof,” Raymond said.

  “I didn’t die,” Nicole replied.

  “She thought you did. You traumatized the poor girl. She was crying so hard, and then she tried to beat up Junior and Spider for daring you to climb up there in the first place. It was a mess.” Raymond shook his head.

  Beth glanced at Dane. “Your girlfriend was a crazy kid. She was a true tomboy and didn’t turn all ladylike until she met Grant.”

  Dane chuckled.

  “That’s not true!” Nicole tried to object, glaring at Beth.

  “Oh, but it is! Let me tell you how this crazy, daredevil, softball player went from boyish to girly-girl almost overnight,” Beth declared. Dane nodded, wanting to hear this.

  ***

  Nicole groaned. She didn’t mind the tale, even though she knew Beth was trying to embarrass her. She was happy to see one of her cousins getting along with Danny. She had been scared her cousins would be rude, and outright hostile to Danny. She had brought several lovers out to meet her father’s family, just as she had done with her mother’s family. The reactions were really the same. Actually, she considered the families themselves similar, so their reactions being similar wasn’t much of a surprise. She hoped her father’s family would react to Danny in the same manner as her mother’s family had done.

  She knew Junior and Spider would be the hardest ones to win over. It was as Beth said; they had long ago declared themselves the protectors of their younger cousins. It was rare for them to take to anyone’s boyfriend or girlfriend immediately, but they did take to some. She had only experienced that once. She’d like to experience it one last time, even though their approval wouldn’t affect her relationship. If her family liked Danny, and vice versa, then maybe she’d have incentive to come around more.

  There was also the fact that Nicole really wanted Danny to interact with people more often. Danny needed to see humanity wasn’t as horrible as they seemed. Yes, Danny had her friends, but it was just Crow and Terri. Crow was the only one who would drag her out to do things. Danny seemed to like going out once she was out, but it was getting her out that was the thing. She was getting better, and Nicole hoped she could encourage that.

  “So, Nikki had this huge crush on Grant, and she tried to get his attention by wearing dresses and putting on makeup and stuff. She didn’t want to ask her mom for help, so she tried to do the makeup herself. She looked like a clown! I’m talking straight, belongs-in-a-three-ring-circus-juggling-bowling-pins-making-balloon-animals-riding-in-a-tiny-car clown!” Beth was dying of laughter, as she recalled the horrible incident with unfair clarity.

  “Hey, Beth, don’t tell Danny any more crazy stories about me. She’s not going to believe you, anyway,” Nicole chimed in. Of course, her first experience with a makeup kit would happen when Beth was visiting. It could’ve been worse, she supposed, but she wished her humiliation had been a bit more private.

  Beth laughed. “I’ll save the real crazy stories until after she sees you camping for one day. Then, she will know everything I say is one hundred percent fact,” Beth said with a wicked smile.

  Nicole sighed because she knew that was the truth, but she didn’t mind. She’d love for Danny to see this side of her. Hell, she’d love to let this side of herself out. It had been years since she had been able to let loose like she did when she went camping and was around her cousins. It’d be fun and she was certain Danny would have fun, too.

  Chapter Six

  THEY MADE IT TO the camping site in the early evening. Nicole inhaled deeply as soon as she opened the door, and Dane laughed because of the happy smile on her face. She must’ve heard because she turned and gave Dane a cute smirk. Dane only smiled back.

  Dane took a moment to admire the scenery. The richness of the trees already let her know that the campgrounds were nothing like a park downtown, even the big ones that were supposed to give the city green spaces. It smelled so different from any park she’d been to. There were no lingering city scents, like popcorn or car exhaust. This was pure earth. The reality of wood, dirt, leaves, and clean air entered her in one breath and dominated her before releasing her, already changing her view of the world.

  Glancing up at the sky, Dane noticed the sun was just beginning to duck behind tall treetops. She imagined it’d be a glorious sight when the sky turned orange, as if on fire and dancing above the green. She didn’t get much of a chance to think about it or admire the natural wonder around her, though.

  “Well, let’s get moving while we still have sunlight,” Raymond said, as everyone unloaded out of the two SUVs.

  Everyone began grabbing their things and marching off a few yards to where they would be staying for the next couple of days. Beth greeted the cousins she hadn’t seen earlier and then grabbed her gear. Nicole grabbed a few things and walked off with Beth. Dane was about to follow, after taking hold of her guitar, but she was delayed.

  “You brought a guitar?” Junior asked with an arched eyebrow. He looked down on her with something like a tickled smirk and an amused glint in his eyes, mocking her.

  “Yeah,” Dane answered the obvious and watched as the brothers snickered as if sharing some funny joke. Asses. Of course, she had met and dealt with more than her fair share of asses, some even related to her girlfriend. Guess I’ll be ignoring them for this trip. Sorry Nick.

  “You’ve never been camping before, have you? You only saw it on TV or something, right?” Spider inquired.

  “So?” Dane countered, even though she didn’t care. Her guitar wouldn’t save her now. Well, at least it’d give her something to focus on if the others didn’t warm to her either.

  “City girl,” Junior said as if it was a great insult, shaking his head. Spider frowned before the pair walked off, weighed down by their camping gear.

  Dane shrugged it off, even though they clearly had already developed a genuine dislike for her. She wondered if this was what Kathleen had been trying to warn her about. After all, she had used almost the exact phrase that Junior used. Maybe it was a family taunt against outsiders. She wondered if they even knew anything about her to judge her so harshly, so quickly. Even if they did, she didn’t think they were being fair. Even if they thought of themselves as protectors, there was no reason to be rude and unjustly judgmental. But, life has never been fair, so gotta soldier on.

  “Hey, don’t mind my brothers,” Lillian said, taking Dane from her thoughts. Dane turned to look at her and was surprised by how close she was. “They’re like that with all of Nicole’s suitors. It’s a long list, so it’s probably habit by now,” Lillian said with a chuckle before walking off.

  Dane blinked because that was an odd thing to say. She decided to shrug it off because the family could just be weird. She refused to let their negativity or strangeness ruin her first camping trip. She wanted to like this. She wanted to get into camping, because she wanted to want to do it again with Nicole and possibly her nephews and maybe even Haydn when they could trust he wouldn’t lose himself in a hole or get swept down a river. She wanted to have a thing that she did with Nicole, something that could become a tradition.

  She followed the family to the campsite, seeing them laughing and setting up. She didn’t have time to feel out of place, because Nicole called her right over to help. She put her things down and jumped in as best she could. She ignored looks from the family and mumbled comments about her being a city girl from Junior and Spider. She noted Richard practically refused to even look at her, but she refused to let it bother her.

  ***

  The sun was departing, lost behind the trees and the sky was a brilliant play of colors. If Nicole had a moment, she’d grab Danny and pull her off some place for them to watch the sunset, if not tonight then one of the other days they were here. Nicole was pulled from that thought by Junior’s voice.


  “Nikki, why’d you bring this girl camping? She clearly doesn’t know what she’s doing,” Junior said as they finished with the set up. He snorted and wiped his glistening brow. They had worked up a light sweat in setting up, which she knew her male cousins enjoyed.

  “What? She set up our tent all by herself,” Nicole replied. Of course, Danny had gotten tons of practice at putting up the tent before the trip. She thought Danny was doing all right, so far.

  “So what? My son could put up a tent and he’s two.” Spider yawned, stretching out his lean, sinewy arms. He didn’t even bother to wipe away the shine of his skin.

  Nicole rolled her eyes. “You know, if you guys give Danny a chance, you might find out you like her. She’s not like anyone I’ve ever dated before, and I really don’t want you to treat her like she is. She’s a wonderful person, and I know you’d like her if you give her a shot.”

  Spider snorted. “Not like anybody you ever dated?” He made a face, sticking his tongue out and looking like a jerk.

  “So, we won’t have to hear her screaming about there being bugs on her?” Junior inquired.

  “She wouldn’t scream if there was a bear on her,” Nicole replied. She truly believed Danny would try to talk the bear down and if that didn’t work, she might try to fight the bear off. Danny wasn’t likely to scream, because that’d bring help and, really, the only person Danny accepted help from was Nicole. It took a serious emergency for Danny to request others to assist her.

  The brothers twisted their mouths in disbelief. “Let’s be serious, Nikki. That girl hasn’t been in the woods before. She probably thinks this is a big park,” Spider said.

  “Uh…cuz, I love you and all, but you do know this is a big park, right? Giant national park,” Nicole replied, making a whirling motion with her index finger.

  Spider got red in the face while Junior hid a snicker by turning his head. Spider glared at his older brother with incensed lime-colored eyes, which only made Junior stop hiding his laughter. In fact, Junior let out a loud, belly laugh to irk Spider more. The noise earned them some glances, but nothing more. Everyone, except for Danny anyway, was used to the brothers.