First Degree Burns

by S. L. Kassidy

  “Not really,” Beth replied.

  “They were the ones that basically shouted it to the mountains,” Lillian said, waving her hand toward the cave entrance.

  “Nikki, they only said what we were all thinking. We had even alluded to it before those morons blurted it out. You know they don’t have a filter,” Beth countered.

  The frown continued to mar Nicole’s features. “That’s not much better, and it’s not a good excuse.”

  “Don’t think too much on it. They sat here all morning looking like you kicked their puppy. They’re really sorry they made you so upset. Hell, I’m sorry we made you so upset. We shouldn’t have been in your business like that, but we definitely should’ve talked to you about it if we were going to be in your business. It wasn’t right of us to judge you like that.”

  “Thanks,” Nicole muttered, even though she felt like Beth had the least to apologize for.

  “Although, you do know we worry about you,” Beth added, trying to justify them a little.

  “I know.” Nicole knew it was also in their nature to defend each other, even when they were in the wrong, so it didn’t surprise her that Beth tried, somewhat, to defend Junior and Spider.

  Truthfully, Nicole felt they had reason to worry. They had watched her go from one bad situation to another as far as relationships went. She wanted them to see she had finally gotten it right with Danny, but they could only see the past. Therefore, they could only see the bad. If that was how it was always going to be, then there’d be a problem, and she really hoped they could avoid having a problem.

  “They’re going to tease you about it,” Lillian said.

  Scoffing, Beth rolled her eyes. “They’re going to tease you point blank.”

  Nicole shrugged because she knew that was the case. She didn’t mind the teasing, as long as they apologized and treated Danny better. That would put things almost back to normal. She’d prefer things that way, even though she wasn’t sure if she was ready to forgive the brothers for all that they had done.

  “So, where’d you and Danny go this morning?” Beth moved to sit a little closer to Nicole, as if testing the waters.

  “I showed her the Witch Tree, and she might’ve gotten cursed by touching it.”

  Beth gasped and her eyes went as wide as dinner plates. “You did not let her touch the Witch Tree!”

  “What? I was going to stop her, but it was too late. Besides, she’s not a chicken like you guys. She won’t care that she touched the Witch Tree. Plus, if touching it gets you cursed, I need my baby to be cursed with me.” Nicole grinned.

  Beth chuckled. “I guess that would make sense. You wouldn’t want to chance the witch’s curse separating you from her.”

  Nicole smiled. “Exactly.”

  “What did she think of the Tree? It used to scare the crap out of me. I couldn’t believe you guys used to climb it.” Lillian shook her head. “I always thought you were half-brave and half-crazy.”

  Nicole laughed. “I remember you were practically in tears, begging me to come down. You promised me all your cookies.”

  “And yet, somehow, you ended up giving Lil all your cookies. Odd how that happened,” Beth said, rubbing her chin with her thumb. Lillian glared at her.

  “I had to do something after scaring her to death. She was crying, after all,” Nicole argued.

  Beth rolled her eyes and scoffed. “Of course, I don’t see why, considering that was far from the scariest thing you’ve done.”

  Sometimes, when Beth got like this, like she was upset with the way Nicole favored Lillian, Nicole wondered if Beth was a little jealous. She never really dwelled on it, but it popped into her mind, because she couldn’t understand why Beth seemed angered for no reason.

  Scowling, Lillian glared at Beth. “She got cursed by a witch. What’s scarier than that?”

  Before they could say anything, Junior wandered back in. He didn’t look happy, but he didn’t look miserable either. Something about him seemed defeated. He didn’t even sit down. He stood a few feet from them.

  “What happened, Junior?” Lillian asked.

  “Nothing happened. We said we’d give Danny a chance, and we shouldn’t have jumped to conclusions,” Junior replied, waving her off. He turned his attention to Nicole. “We should’ve minded our own business.”

  “Yeah, you should’ve,” Nicole stated with a strong nod and a frown.

  “Well, sorry about that. Now, can we stop being all serious and have some fun? This is our last real day in the woods. It’s not like tomorrow is going to be full of anything beyond packing and more packing followed by driving and more driving.” He huffed, but he was grinning.

  “Where’s your brother and Danny?” Nicole asked, glancing at the entrance of the cave. She hoped they hadn’t set Danny up in some way.

  “Huh?” Junior arched an eyebrow and then glanced behind him. “Oh, I thought they were coming. Maybe they found some common ground or something.” He shrugged.

  Nicole was a tad worried, and she was tempted to go check on them, but she knew she had to resist that urge. She couldn’t baby Danny, as the musician put it. But, then again, she also worried about the pair coming to blows. Of course, if she hadn’t come to blows with Junior, it wasn’t likely she would with Spider, because Junior was the more volatile brother.

  “How was the mood when you left them alone?” Nicole hoped he’d tell her the truth.

  “Uh…they didn’t look like they were about to duel at ten paces if that’s what you’re worried about, and I’m pretty sure Spider left his shiv at home,” Junior replied with an amused half smile.

  Beth snickered. “I dunno. Danny’s a pretty big girl. She might be able to take Spider if it comes to blows.” She balled up her hands into fists and took a few mock shots at the air. They had to laugh because she looked so silly doing that.

  “Who might be able to take Spider if it comes to blows? I think I got Danny beat in that department,” Spider said, as he and Danny walked into the cavern.

  Danny let loose a loud scoff. “What? I could take you with one hand behind my back.” Of course, that was probably the way that she had to fight now considering her left hand.

  “Really? You don’t look that tough.” Spider blatantly assessed her.

  Grey eyes rolled, but Danny smiled a bit. “Looks can be deceiving. I’ve never considered myself a fighter, but I can hold my own when necessary.” Spider looked at her, inclining his head, almost as if he considered taking her up on that.

  “No, no, no. No fighting, playful or otherwise,” Nicole said, because he might actually start something. If they were getting along, it would be a game, but Danny could still get hurt or it could turn serious. They didn’t need any more drama now that things were good.

  Spider gave her a boyish smile and innocent glance. “What? It could be fun! We could bond.”

  Nicole scoffed. “No fighting.”

  “Spoilsport.” Spider gave her a teasing smile.

  “So, Danny, Nikki was telling us how she took you to the Witch Tree and she got you cursed,” Beth said.

  “Got me cursed?” Danny’s brow wrinkled and she squinted at Beth. “I didn’t climb it.”

  “You don’t have to climb it to get cursed. You just have to touch it,” Junior said.

  “Touch it?” Danny turned an accusing mock glare on Nicole and pointed at her. “You said I had to climb it to get cursed.”

  Shrugging, Nicole laughed while trying her best to look innocent. “Climb it, touch it, almost the same thing.”

  “What? So, you just let me get cursed?” Danny asked with her mouth gaped open and her eyebrows curled up. She fell to Nicole’s side. “How could you let me get cursed?”

  “I should be cursed alone? I used to climb that tree all the time as a kid, so I’ve been cursed for years. I want us to be on even ground, baby. You want me to be cursed on my own?” Nicole pouted and playfully bumped Danny with her hip.

  Danny grinned and put her arm
around Nicole’s shoulders. “Never that, Nick.” She absently caressed Nicole’s arm as soon as her hand was near the limb.

  “So, what else did you see? She get you cursed with anything else?” Beth inquired with a chuckle.

  “Dunno. Nick, did I get cursed from touching anything else?” Danny asked.

  “Did she take you to the bottomless abyss?” Spider inquired.

  Wide, grey eyes turned to Nicole. “There’s a bottomless abyss?”

  “It’s not a real bottomless pit, but it looked that way when we were all under five feet tall. Junior, didn’t you climb down there one day?” Nicole turned to him.

  “Yeah, Spider bet me twenty bucks that I wouldn’t do it, and then you bet me ten that something would eat me. Honestly, I thought the rope would break more than anything else,” Junior answered with a shrug and a grin.

  “I did, too, which is why I ran back for an adult when you started down.” Beth grinned.

  “Did the rope break?” Danny asked.

  “Nah, I made it. Things got iffy when I couldn’t climb back up, but I proved it wasn’t bottomless and there weren’t any monsters down there. A lot of bugs and rodents and garbage and things like that, but nothing I couldn’t handle. Thank God the dads were there to pull me up, though.”

  Danny shook her head. “You guys were some crazy kids.”

  Nicole chuckled, happy for some odd reason that Danny thought that. Danny glanced at her and gave her a squeeze along with a small smile. She patted Danny’s hand, but didn’t do anything beyond that.

  “Not all of us were crazy,” Beth said. She nodded toward Danny. “What did you do as a kid? You haven’t been camping before.”

  Danny shrugged. “I didn’t do much as a kid.”

  “C’mon. You’ve heard all about our grand and failed schemes as kids. Now, Nikki has been telling us you’re cool and all of this, so you had to do something fun,” Spider insisted.

  Danny scratched her head. “Not really. I had a lot of music lessons. I play six different instruments. That takes up a lot of time.”

  Nicole wondered if, once upon a time, that were true. Maybe when Danny practically lived with the Briarmoors she was a kid that did schoolwork and played her music. Nicole hoped that was the case, even if it didn’t last long. Just so that Danny had a brief stint in her history where things were normal and wholesome. I wish she’d share more about them, but I understand it’s painful for her to even think about them.

  “So, how’d you get those scars on your leg and your hand? I would’ve thought those were wild child scars,” Junior said, nodding toward Danny’s leg.

  “Those were from something much less fun than a crazy childhood.” Danny glanced down at her legs. Those scars were clearly not from being a crazy kid, because there were too many and they didn’t fade into her flesh like aged cuts did. “Now, you guys were going to show me how to play this game, even though you don’t have anything stronger than beer.”

  “We’ll improvise. While we might not get as drunk, it’ll still make the game less boring than being completely sober,” Spider said.

  The others laughed, but they appeared to agree. The beer they had was very weak, and they didn’t seem to be interested in finishing more than one, so none of them were in danger of getting the least bit drunk. They discovered being sober at least made for coherent answers. Danny got the hang of the game quickly and hung in there with them. It seemed like a fun time for everyone involved. Nicole thought there might be hope after all.

  ***

  The day was drawing to a close and everyone was ready to head back to camp for their last campfire dinner. Dane could only wonder what was next after her cornbread and chili; she’d never get the combination. She’d had a good time playing ‘I’m bringing to the picnic.’ She decided she’d introduce the game to Crow and Terri. Crow would probably think she was crazy, but Terri would enjoy the goofiness of it.

  They also played the drinking game ‘Never have I ever.’ Dane had to tell a few lies once the game deteriorated into nothing more than sex talk. She was slowly gaining their respect, so she didn’t want to set herself back by leaving them believing she had once been a whore. They seemed to believe the things she’d normally label as tame would be risqué, so she didn’t want to shock their sensibilities.

  On the walk back, Dane found herself a victim of more misfortune. Maybe it’s just not my day, even if things have calmed down with Junior and Spider. She considered Lillian walking with her to be a fate worse than death at this point. It didn’t help that the others were all talking among themselves, getting ahead of her and Lillian.

  Briefly, Dane tried to increase her pace, but that didn’t work. She’d been walking all day, only stopping for a few hours in the cave. Her leg was in no shape to try to run or even power walk, especially through the woods. She had to grin and bear Lillian’s strangeness. Maybe I’ll even get some insight into her if I don’t write her off immediately.

  “So, you let Nikki get you cursed by the Witch Tree, huh? She can be tricky like that sometimes. Every now and then she used to play tricks on me when we were younger, too,” Lillian said.

  Dane didn’t respond to that because it didn’t sound right. Nicole wasn’t the type to trick, and she hadn’t once mentioned doing such a thing. She had talked about loving Lillian like a little sister and gushed over all the wonderful things the pair had done together. Besides, everyone had mentioned times when Nicole stuck up for Lillian or had given Lillian something to try to make her feel better. Why would she trick someone she seemed to revel in defending and spoiling?

  “But, I guess that’s what kids and teenagers do. So, what else did you guys do in the woods? She show you any of her make-out spots?” Lillian inquired with a taunting smile.

  “Make-out spots?” Dane felt her forehead crease. Yeah, I don’t think she’s going to say anything to make her seem less strange for this walk.

  “Yeah, we all had them for when we brought boyfriends and stuff camping. Our dads let us bring people all the time. Nikki brought the most people, so she had to have make-out spots.”

  “Okay…” In her mind, Dane called bullshit on part of the statement. She wasn’t Nicole’s first or anything, and she assumed most normal teenagers made out with boyfriends or girlfriends whenever they got the chance, but she also knew Nicole didn’t bring a bunch of people on this traditional camping trip. Where the hell is Lillian going with this shit? Is she drunk? It didn’t seem possible. Even with the drinking game, none of them had more than two whole beers.

  Lillian leaned closer and her eyes twinkled, but it seemed nearly devilish. “You know, Nikki’s actually done it in the woods before.” Her voice was low with mischief, but not in a playful manner.

  Dane almost burst out laughing. She couldn’t imagine Nicole doing much in the woods beyond kissing, even if she was an adventurous teenager. Nicole had been timid about tying her up with silk scarves and it had taken them most of their sexual relationship to even change positions. Nicole didn’t tell her much about her past sexual experiences and, honestly, she didn’t want to hear about them, but sex in public with a chance of being caught definitely wasn’t something her lover would try. Well, not without a lot of coaxing and trust. Something to keep in mind.

  “Nick’s done what in the woods?” Dane decided to tease, wanting to see how far Lillian would go, and if she would finally give up the game that she was playing. Even if it was true, Dane doubted Nicole would ever tell someone, even Lillian. She also doubted Nicole would do something like that on a family trip.

  “You know what. She’s had sex in the woods. You know she’s wild. Is that what you two did? Sneaked off for a little quickie in the woods?”

  “No.” That was said as bluntly as possible. And even if they did, she’d never tell anyone, especially Lillian. She wanted Lillian to get it in her head that she was not going to talk about her sex life with Nicole, especially if it seemed likely to degrade Nicole.

  Lillian
gave her a sidelong glance. “Really? I’d have guessed that she’d want you to tear her clothes off considering all of the moaning you did last night.”

  Dane scowled. “That was a massage.”

  “Oh, of course it was,” Lillian said with such clear sarcasm.

  Dane wanted to punch her in the face. Her hand twitched, but she held off. She took a deep breath to keep herself under control.

  “Come on, be serious. Do you think any of us believe that story? That’s what Uncle Raymond wants to believe, but he knows, like we all do. Nikki does stuff like this all the time, but Uncle Raymond can kind of delude himself into thinking Nikki’s an angel.”

  Dane snarled. “Nick is an angel.” She’s my Goddamn angel!

  Lillian scoffed and rolled her cerulean eyes, eyes that seemed to hold something that was clawing its way to the surface with every passing second. “You can’t be that naïve. I mean, look at you. You have to know she’s with you to satisfy some hood fantasy that she has. Do you really think a lawyer like her is going to stay with you? She’s always played sweet and innocent, but she’s not. Hell, I know she does all kinds of crazy stuff.”

  “Like what?” Dane inquired, doing her best to keep from growling. She did want to hear what went through Lillian’s mind in regards to a woman who thought of her as a sister. What the hell do I tell Nicole about this bitch after all of this? This is going to fucking break her heart.

  Lillian shrugged, cool as cucumber, like she wasn’t bashing Nicole. “You name it, she’s probably done it. She used to smoke with one of her boyfriends. I mean, like weed and stuff. She did ecstasy with one of her boyfriends and always got drunk with him. She let one of her girlfriends spank her. Hell, she let another one of her girlfriends treat her like a pet sometimes. She even let one of her boyfriend’s fuck her in the ass all the time. She’s into crazy shit.”

  Dane felt a shot go through her. That she knew was an out and out lie. She could still barely touch Nicole’s ass without Nicole flinching and needing to take a moment to calm down. What the hell is making this woman say this shit? Is she jealous of Nick or a sneaky asshole trying to hurt Nick by making me suspicious? Trying to scare me off by making it seem like my angel is a whore? What the fuck?