First Degree Burns

by S. L. Kassidy

  “Nikki, we don’t mean like that. It’s different because…you know…you don’t really have anything in common with Danny. I mean, what does she have to give you?” Junior asked. Spider didn’t make a sound this time, but studied Nicole. She figured he was waiting for her to convince him to stop siding with his brother.

  “We don’t have everything in common, but we share interests. Some interests she just can’t do because of physical reasons. Besides, even if Danny hiked the whole way, even beat us there, you’d find some way to have a problem with it.” Nicole huffed, folding her arms across her chest for a moment. Why the hell am I trying to justify my relationship to them? Even as the question drifted through her mind, she knew why.

  Spider decided to chime back in. “Except that didn’t happen.”

  “Why don’t you two just stay out of it? Danny hasn’t done anything to you, and you’ve been on her case the whole trip,” Raymond stated in a no-nonsense tone. He glanced back to frown at them.

  “Uncle Raymond, you can’t actually approve of the relationship. You know the kind of people Nikki’s attracted to. What does Danny do for Nikki? Nothing, I’ll bet,” Junior argued.

  Nicole scowled, feeling tension in her neck. “You don’t even know Danny. She does plenty for me.”

  “Like what? What could she possibly offer you?” Spider asked.

  “Love, affection, respect, comfort, support,” Nicole readily answered. “Not everything has to be tangible or measurable.”

  Richard decided to jump in. “What about kids? You can’t have kids with her. You can’t have a real family with her.”

  Nicole frowned at the term ‘real family.’ While she and Danny hadn’t discussed how they might go about having children, she was certain they’d love any child they might have with all their hearts, and they’d be a real family. Besides, it was almost as if her uncle were saying that if they didn’t have children then they weren’t a real family. They were a family already and always would be.

  “We’re already a family.” Nicole and Danny and Haydn were a very close-knit family, like she had while growing up, and had always wanted.

  Richard scoffed. “A real family, kiddo. You deserve that. I’m sure your dad told you.”

  Nicole frowned at the phrase once more and tensed at the idea that her father might think the same thing. She hadn’t seen any signs of it, but he grew up in the same household as her uncle. He might hold similar ideas. She shook that away. Her father had been wonderful with Danny recently, so she doubted he harbored any ideas about them not being a real family or not being able to build a family.

  “Daddy likes Danny,” Nicole felt the need to point out. Richard looked over at his brother.

  Raymond shrugged as his brother and nephews looked at him in disbelief. “She’s not the ideal mate that I would’ve picked for Nicole, but she makes Nikki happy and she’s a good person. She’s probably the best match for Nikki. Plus, I’ve heard a song and dance like this. No one knows the ins and outs of a relationship like the two people involved, so it might look weird to us on the outside, but it seems to work.”

  It wasn’t the shining endorsement that Nicole would’ve liked, but it was better than anything her father would’ve said a year ago. But, then again, it was approval and, really, that was all she needed. Danny would more than likely keep growing on him, and he’d eventually gush about Danny like she did. Okay, maybe not gush, but he likes her.

  Richard frowned and squinted at his brother. “You can’t be serious, Raymond.”

  “I’m very serious, so how about we all get off of Nikki’s case. She’s going to do what she feels is best for her and, right now, she feels Danny is the best thing for her. You all telling her what’s best for her is only going to heighten her resolve into proving you wrong. Thirty years from now, she’ll still be with Danny, and you’ll be choking on your crow,” Raymond said with a strange smirk on his face. Nicole almost got the feeling he wasn’t talking about her and Danny anymore.

  “Nikki, all we’re saying is you should probably find someone more your speed,” Richard said, glancing at his brother.

  “I don’t even know what that means,” Nicole admitted.

  “It doesn’t even matter. Nicole tried to find someone more her speed in nine different forms and they didn’t work out. Maybe stepping outside the box will.” Raymond practically glared at his older brother.

  Nicole cringed, being reminded of the nine times that she got it wrong. She stayed in those relationships longer than she should have, wanting to make them work. Her family had met most of them and didn’t approve, even though they were more her speed. On paper, they had a lot in common, but most of them weren’t good people. Danny was a good person with a very good heart, despite all that life had thrown at her. She was very different from everyone else that Nicole had dated. And that might be part of why we work. I’m not throwing that away.

  “I don’t think those nine people were even close to Nikki’s speed,” Junior argued.

  “And neither is Danny,” Spider added.

  Nicole rolled her eyes. She was curious now, so she had to ask. “Okay, who would be more my speed?”

  “You should date guys like Lillian does,” Junior replied. Lillian smiled at Nicole, who had to struggle not to roll her eyes again.

  Nicole had to bite her tongue to keep from saying something mean, because she didn’t want to upset Lillian. Lillian didn’t date the best of men, from what she could tell from Lillian’s occasional comments about her boyfriends. If the relationships were so great, she liked to think Lillian would be more serious about them, possibly engaged to someone. Instead, Lillian treated her boyfriends like passing fancies, even as she tried to make things sound more serious than they were.

  Lillian liked to paint her relationships in glowing terms, but Nicole noted that none of her boyfriends lasted longer than three months. It was rare, indeed, for Lillian to have the same boyfriend in between the times they spoke on the phone.

  “What do you mean?” Nicole decided to ask, because she wanted to see what Junior thought of his sister’s relationships.

  “You know what I mean. Stop acting like you don’t get it. She dates guys who are generally normal. They come to the house and know how to shake a guy’s hand and not try to lord over anyone. They don’t act superior. They engage you in a regular conversation without being condescending and they don’t brag about stupid shit that none of us care about.”

  “Oh, you mean like Danny’s been trying to do?” Nicole said. Of course, Danny wasn’t a guy, so that was part of the problem.

  “It’s different,” Junior insisted, giving her a frown.

  “Because Danny’s a woman?” Nicole rolled her eyes. She wished they’d come right out and say it.

  “Nikki, you know we don’t have a problem with that,” Richard objected.

  Nicole knew that was an outright lie. The first time she brought a girlfriend to meet them her uncle had almost thrown her out of the house. Well, had almost thrown her out after he somehow managed to not faint at the scandal of it all. Her father managed to stop him. From that moment on, they all pretended they tolerated her sexual preferences, but they didn’t accept this part of her. She wondered if they thought it was a phase, like her mother tended to call it. They were inclined to ignore her girlfriends, claiming not to have anything in common with them.

  “No, but you’d rather I dated a man. It’d make you more comfortable,” Nicole said.

  “We’re not uncomfortable. We’d rather you dated someone who will treat you like you deserve and do all the things you find fun,” Spider replied through gritted teeth.

  “You’re talking about Danny, but you don’t know that because you haven’t bothered to say a kind word to her or look at her without hatred in your eyes. You haven’t given her a chance at all. You’re treating her like she’s all my exes rolled up into one, but she’s nothing like them. You’re being completely unfair to her and, to her credit, she’s le
tting it roll right off her.”

  Honestly, Nicole respected Danny for her patience with her family. A lesser person would’ve probably snapped at Junior and Spider already. Thankfully, her uncle had kept his opinion to himself for the most part. Usually, he glared at her and her girlfriend when she brought women around him. He did his best to never acknowledge that she even dated women. She guessed it was because they were ‘normal’ people and liked to pretend the entire world was ‘normal.’ They didn’t take kindly to someone who came around and tipped the balance.

  Nicole’s words seemed to knock the steam out of her cousins because they were quiet. She hoped they’d think about how they hadn’t given Danny a fair shake. She wouldn’t hold her breath on it, though. Hopefully, Beth is at least being nice to Danny.

  ***

  Dane sat down on a large rock, unstrapping her knee brace. Placing the brace on the ground, she sighed and massaged her knee. She missed Nicole in that moment, knowing she could work out the pain in minutes. Beth eased down next to her on the rock, leaning against her walking stick.

  “How’d you mess up your knee?” Beth asked, glancing down at the body part.

  “An accident,” Dane answered. The only accident, then, had been trusting her supposed best friend.

  Beth nodded a little. “Car accident?”

  “Nah, but my leg and knee were busted up pretty bad. What about you? Do you usually make this hike?” She was willing to bet that Beth did more than that. Based on the photos that she had seen, Beth seemed to be very much into nature and adventure.

  “Yeah, I used to. I got really jammed up in a car accident a couple of years ago, like I said, and I haven’t been the same since. I’m slowly getting back into it. My best friend’s a good cheerleader. On days I get depressed over it, he’s always in my ear, reminding me of all the great stuff we’re going to do once I’m totally healed. He damn sure would’ve been in my ear, if he were here, to get my ass up this hill.”

  Dane nodded. “No amount of cheerleading would’ve gotten me up there.” She wished that wasn’t the case. Seeing how hyped Nicole was over this whole thing, she knew Nicole would’ve cheered her the whole time if that were all it took. She would’ve loved nothing more than to be there every step of the way with her ladylove. Plus, she had come to enjoy walks through nature. Sure, they were in the park close to the house, but she liked the trees, the grass, and the smell of the flowers. Here was even better than the park. There was so much stuff here. She’d like to stop and take it all in and memorize the sights, smells, and sounds. If she possibly could, she’d definitely get into hiking.

  “No?” Beth twisted her mouth up for a moment and then shrugged. “Well, there are other things to do beyond hiking. We’ll get you into fishing yet, since you didn’t flinch at the live bait.”

  Dane scrunched her face up a little. “Flinch? They’re just worms.” She had shared space with much more disgusting things, as well as scarier things.

  “Oh, believe me. We’ve seen people flinch, most of them brought here with Nikki. Lil still flinches, too.”

  “What’s with Lil?” Dane inquired.

  The way Beth glanced away, Dane knew Beth knew what she was talking about. She wondered if she should’ve built up to that question, but she understood what Junior and Spider’s problem was, so she didn’t need to ask. Richard hadn’t spoken to her, so she wasn’t sure if he had a problem or not. Lillian was the only weird one as far as she was concerned.

  “Lil trying to look out for Nikki.” Beth didn’t sound very convincing.

  Dane stared at her with a craned eyebrow. “By telling me about Nick’s former lovers?”

  Beth frowned slightly. “She’s trying to scare you off.”

  “Is she? It seemed like it was something more than that.”

  “She doesn’t want to share Nikki.”

  Nodding, Dane stared off at some birds nesting in the distance. “Then why does she say some things that make Nick sound bad?” She never once got the feeling Lillian was looking out for Nicole. No, that was Junior and Spider. It was possible she was trying to scare Dane off, but nope, she wasn’t buying that. Something wasn’t right about Lillian, and Beth probably knew what it was, which explained why she made up some bullshit.

  Beth glanced away again and licked her lips. “Look, Lil is a strange one.”

  Dane’s gaze narrowed and she studied the odd, almost guilty, look on Beth’s face. “She doesn’t feel the same way about Nick as Nick does about her, huh?” This was what it felt like. Lillian had something against Nicole.

  “I wouldn’t say that. I don’t have a psych degree to totally figure out what goes on with Lil. I’m assuming she loves Nikki, in some way, considering she became a lawyer like Nikki, even though she never really showed an interest in law. But, she’s lived her life like that, from what I can tell. She got into softball when she found out Nikki played. Tried to get into tennis, but her parents couldn’t afford lessons at the time, and she always did her best in school, just like Nikki.”

  Dane nodded. Despite her own very questionable upbringing, if it could be called that, she knew that younger siblings followed in the footsteps of older siblings they admired. Even she had tried it, for a very short time, when she was a child. It hadn’t worked out well, of course, but she had done it. Still, there was something about Lillian that didn’t add up.

  “So, she wants to be just like Nicole?” Dane inquired, even though she knew that wasn’t the case.

  Beth allowed a soft grimace to go through her face. It seemed like she wanted to tell Dane about Lillian, but without betraying her cousin. So, instead of saying things aloud, she telegraphed her facial expressions.

  Nodding, Dane looked for a second, spotting some chipmunks. They were cute in real life. “Is she jealous of Nicole?”

  “I don’t know if I’d call it jealous. I’m not entirely sure. As I said, Lil is strange, and I don’t exactly talk to her about stuff like this. Some things Nicole does, Lil doesn’t even try, especially whenever Nicole did something with Junior and Spider.”

  “Does she resent Nicole spending time with her brothers or resent her brothers for spending time with Nicole?”

  Beth shrugged. “It’s not something I’ve really thought about. I’m the baby of this group. I only started observing these things when I was in my early teens and, by then, they were all set in whatever ways they had. They seemed pretty normal to me, because I was used to them. Junior, Spider, and Nicole are fairly easy to understand. They’re very intelligent, but they’re reckless, which makes them upfront about things. They don’t backbite.”

  “Lil does.” Dane wondered if Beth was like her cousins, very upfront, or if she was more like Lil. So far, she seemed all right.

  “But, I don’t know what her game is. I don’t know what she’s trying to do. I can’t understand why she does the things that she does.”

  “But, you know she does it. Have you ever told Nick or her brothers?”

  Beth scoffed. “Tell them what? Lil could be joking for all I know. She’s got a sick sense of humor, too.”

  Dane nodded, even though she didn’t believe that for one second. She wondered who else knew Lillian talked about Nicole behind her back, and she wondered what type of things Lillian had said to other people. She doubted she’d get that information from Beth, and she didn’t want to badger her, so she decided to shift things.

  “Want to go back to camp?” Dane nodded down the path. There was no way in hell she’d make it to the end of the trail, and she didn’t want to see Lillian again. It’d be nice to sit around camp for a while without having to put up with Junior and Spider.

  “Yeah, might as well. You can show me what you can do with that guitar you brought. Despite the guys ribbing you about it, Nicole promised that you play like a master. I really want to hear that,” Beth replied.

  Dane shrugged. “I’m decent.”

  Beth chortled and rose to her feet. “I’m sure.”

 
Dane followed suit, even though her knee still throbbed a bit. She put the knee brace back on. Watching Beth walk away with the stick to help support her, Dane considered getting one of her own. Of course, it’d be a little hard to maintain a badass image with a walking stick, even if it did look like a wizard’s staff. Wait, do I have a badass image? Like to think I do, even though I spend my weekdays folding laundry.

  “So, what do you do for a living, Danny? Something with music?”

  “I tutor people on different instruments. On rare occasions, I can get a gig in a club,” Dane answered, breathing in the feel of the Earth while she had the chance and wasn’t bothered by anyone. The warm air seemed to make the forest wash over her and take her mind off of Nicole’s less than friendly relatives.

  “Hard to make a living?”

  Dane shrugged. “Used to be easier.”

  “That’s promising. I feel like I’m always hustling with my photography. My family all thought I was stupid for pursuing that as a career. My mother still thinks I’m going to starve to death, and my dad swears to the heavens I’ll end up moving back home after ending up in debt…again. Is that how your family felt when you went into music?”

  “They didn’t care one way or another,” Dane answered at first, and then she stopped herself. Those people weren’t her family. But, the people who were her family, the people who had tried to look out for her throughout her life, even if they were only there for short periods of time, they were different. “You know what, actually, they were pretty supportive. They believed I had talent, and they knew I could go somewhere with it.” They probably thought I could go a lot further than I did, actually. Shit, wish I’d thought about this when I was pissing my life away. Of course, she doubted she was capable of an epiphany when she was pissing her life away.

  Beth nodded. “That’s nice. So, when were your gigs easier to get?”

  “Back when I had a band to go with my guitar. The band was good and we got paid a pretty penny. You have to make the right contacts and impress the right people. Sometimes, I guess, it just comes down to luck.”