by Law, Adriana
David motioned for him to keep going. “Deeper, into the woods, man! Stop being a pussy! We don’t want anyone seeing your truck.”
“David, be nice,” Emily warned.
“I’m always nice,” he told her, kissing the back of her head.
“No,” Brooke yelled through the open cab window. “Trust me, you can be a real dick.”
“I wouldn’t trust you to get anywhere near my dick,” David replied.
Suddenly, Clay’s old truck made a hissing sound, steam shot out from under the hood creating a cloud through which we passed that was even thicker than the mountain mist.
My stomach dropped.
“Oh, that sound can’t be good,” Evie said to me.
No. Breaking down was not part of the plan. The truck crawled to a stop. Gish! More steam from under the hood. No. Not good.
David laughed. “Dude, looks like this piece of shit finally took a dump.”
“You’re just ate up with jealousy,” Clay told him. “This truck is a classic.”
“Classic my ass. It’s a heap of junk.”
Clay stuck his arm further out and flipped David the bird.
I looked through the window of the cab. Steam was still rolling out from under the hood, fogging the front windshield. To either side of us there was nothing but thick woods. Limbs reached out over the narrow road like long, spindly arms, obscuring my forward view as if to say, “this is our road, and we’ve claimed it, turn back.”
My unease grew by the minute at the thought of being stranded.
Evie was staring at me, her bony arms hugging her knees.
“What was that sound?” she asked. “Did the truck breakdown?”
“Nah. It’s probably nothing. Nothing serious, anyway. They’ll get it fixed.”
The engine sputtered and died. Clay tried to restart it. Clunk, clunk, clunk…more sputtering. The tailpipe coughed out black smoke.
“We’re going to get in trouble if we’re not back by dark,” Evie said. “Frank will tell Momma.”
I glanced down at Evie and gave her a tight-lipped smile. “Not we...I’m going to get into trouble. This is my fault. You had no choice but to do what I said. I’m the oldest here.”
She smiled back. “I’m glad you’re the oldest.”
“That’s not what you usually say,” I told her.
“I don’t like getting in trouble. Frank scares me.”
“Me too.” I wished I could go back to when I was standing out in front of Trap Hill High earlier. I would tell Clay I couldn’t go. And I wouldn’t be worried about Frank.
David jumped over the side of the truck. “Be back in a second, babe. He’s going to need help looking at Brownie.”
I assumed Brownie was the truck. Why do guys always name inanimate objects?
Emily stood in the bed of the truck and ran her fingers through her hair, perfect waves falling over her shoulders. She snorted. “Like you know anything about fixing a truck. Don’t go getting in Clay’s way, I’d like to get home sometime tonight.”
David gripped the side of the truck and wiggled his brows at her. “What’s wrong, princess, don’t want to spend the night with me in the woods? Could be fun. Snuggling to stay warm.” He didn’t give her time to respond before he joined Clay at the front of the truck.
“Too many creepy crawling things for my taste,” Emily muttered to herself, picking damp leaves from her sweater. She glared at me and Evie. “You got a problem?” Evie and I shrugged. “Who invited the two of you, anyway?”
“Clay,” I replied.
“Doubtful. Why don’t you find someone else to stalk?”
“I’m not stalking anybody.” I looked from Emily to Evie, sorry she had to hear this. Evie looked up at me and blinked. I could see every one of her freckles.
“Spare me, you’re dying to be like Brooke,” Emily said, and without another word, she jumped over the tailgate to join the boys.
Clay or no Clay, suddenly this was the last place I wanted to be.
***
“Come on, Evie, let’s get out and stretch our legs.”
I jumped off the bed of the truck and helped Evie down. Her hand was unsteady in mine, and the expression on her face was pinched. She did not like what was happening. I felt horrible for her.
“Busted radiator.” Clay’s voice circled around to the back of the truck where Evie and I were stretching our legs.
“What does that mean, are we stuck?” she asked me.
“It’s going to be okay. Clay will fix it.”
“What if he can’t?”
Brooke and Emily came around to stand beside us. It was not to be friendly. Brooke leaned against the rear bumper, lifted her foot, slid off her high-heeled sandal, and knocked it against the truck. Clods of dirt fell away. She slid the sandal back on, flicked her hair from her shoulder, and frowned at me.
“He only asked you to come to make me jealous. He feels sorry for you. You’re nothing but charity.” Brooke turned to her friend. She gave her friend a small, secret smile. They both laughed.
“Charity. Definitely,” Emily agreed.
My face flushed the same way it did when I tried a hot pepper. It happened on one of the few nights we all went out to eat as a family. Frank had been forcing Evie to eat it, shoving the pepper in her face, laughing. Nothing was ever relaxing or fun when Frank was around. Then I agreed to eat it instead. My watering eyes and choking had Frank laughing hysterically. When I cried, he told me it was okay, expected even. “That’s what girls do, they cry,” he told me.
Evie’s hand found mine, and she squeezed to let me know she was with me.
Clay stepped out from where he was hidden beneath the hood. The belly of his red shirt was covered in black grease. His eyes slid from me to his ex.
“You girls okay back there?” he called. His eyes returned to me, concerned. “Everything okay?” I nodded. “You sure?” I nodded again. “Okay, I’m trying to fix this so I can get you home. Won’t be long,” he said. Then he disappeared underneath the hood again.
Brooke watched me closely. She stepped into my personal space and lowered her voice. “Clay’s little brother is retarded. Did you know that?”
I shook my head, because no, I didn’t even know he had a brother. I didn’t know the first thing about Clay. I only knew how I felt when I was around him.
“Yeah. He’s about the same age as your sister. Go figure. Think that has something to do with why he feels sorry for you?” Her eyes dropped to Evie. “What are you looking at?”
“Nothing interesting,” Evie returned. “You shouldn’t talk about people behind their backs when they’re not there to defend themselves.” Evie folded her arms defiantly over her flat chest.
Brooke scoffed. “I’m making a point. Clay is way too nice for his own good.” She stormed off.
Emily paused before following, seeming slightly bothered by what her friend said. “Clay’s brother has Downs,” she told me. “He’s not retarded. Brooke can be a real bitch sometimes.”
“Yeah,” I agreed.
“She doesn’t mean it though. She just still has a thing for him.”
I started liking Emily a little at that moment. She could actually be loyal.
“How’s it going?” I heard Brooke ask Clay. She laid her chin on his shoulder. Threw me a smug grin.
“It’s not going.” Clay shrugged Brooke off, moving away from her and wiping his greasy hands on the belly of his shirt. The action showed his abs. Impressive. Worth every nasty thing his ex said about me. “The radiator hose is shot to hell,” he shouted. “Anybody else got a cell? Mine’s not getting signal.”
“Mine’s not either.” David held his cell phone high in the air, turning in a circle. “Dammit, can’t ever get a signal when I need one.”
“Anybody else?”
“I didn’t bring a cell,” I said when he looked at me. I’d never owned a cell. Only thing we could afford was a home phone and sometimes even it got disconnected when the
bill wasn’t paid on time.
“How about you, babe?” David turned to Emily.
“You know mine is a pre-paid.”
“Yeah, and—”
“I’m out of minutes. Hey! Don’t look at me like that…it’s your fault. I ate up all my minutes talking to you.”
“Well let’s ask the goddess, everyone knows she’s always got her phone.”
“I can answer that,” Clay said. “She broke it during her last little outburst.” He slammed the hood. “All right, we’re going to have to hike back out to the main road. There’s nothing I can do here without a part.”
David pointed off the road, down a steep hill covered with skinny pine trees. There was a road branching away from the one we were on. “Why not walk down to that house and pray they have a phone we can use.”
We all were familiar with the house. The old woman was known for being insane. A hermit. People in town stayed away from her property. She was the last person I ever wanted to go pay a visit.
“We can’t go there,” rushed out of my mouth. My heartrate increased at the mere thought. Old woman Keller will come late at night, as you lay quietly in your bed alone, and she will suck your soul right out of you. Years of hearing stories about old woman’s insanity and cruelty had instilled a great fear. We would have to be just as insane to take that road.
“Yeah dude, her house is a lot farther than it looks,” Clay reasoned. I relaxed, certain Clay had the majority vote.
“Then I suggest we go now,” David replied, drumming his hands on the hood of the dead truck, “before it gets dark. Any objections, ladies?”
“I’m not going through the woods,” Brooke snapped.
Clay walked past her, pausing long enough to tell her, “Stay here then. You can watch the truck.”
A decision had been made. Crossing my arms over my chest and swallowing thickly, I forced down the tears of dread, not wanting to let any of the others know how frightened I really was.
“Stay here, what, by myself?” snapped Brooke.
“Crawl in the cab,” Clay told Brooke. “Take a nap or something until we get back.”
“How long are you planning on being gone?”
“However long it takes.”
“I’m not staying here in the dark by myself.”
“I don’t care what you do.” He looked at me. “Feel up for a walk?”
Against my better judgement I nodded, and Clay opened the driver’s side door, dug out a flashlight, and shook it until the light flickered on. He pulled out the backpack I’d seen him carry at school and slung it over one shoulder. Twigs snapped under his weight as he walked over to where we all stood, waiting. Dropping his chin, he unzipped the backpack; his hand disappeared, and then reappeared holding a bottle of water. He squinted against the last bit of sun breaking through the tall pine trees.
His eyes were his best feature. I’d heard the eyes were the windows to the soul. If that was true, his soul was kind.
He handed me the water. “Here, hold onto this for me.” His gaze dropped to Evie. He gave her a crooked grin.
Evie blushed and stumbled where she stood, knocked off balance. I knew the feeling well. I’d been knocked off balance a few times myself by that grin. I couldn’t resist laughing. It seemed I wasn’t the only Reid girl with a weakness for Clay Emerson.
Brooke appeared at his side, and I immediately took a step back. Written all over her face was how much she hated me.
“Wait, is that all the water we have?” she asked Clay. “Shouldn’t we save it? What if we get thirsty?”
I assumed the “we” she meant was her and Clay.
“You want somethin'?” he asked Brooke, dropping a pair of old boots by her feet. “Start with putting on sensible shoes. It’s going to be a long walk.” He angled his head toward her as if he didn’t want Evie and I to hear. “The little girl gets the water.” He walked around to the bed of the truck.
Brooke spun around, went after him, and grabbed hold of his elbow. “You didn’t give it to the little girl, you gave it to...” she flicked her wrist in my direction. “HER! Why does she get it? There are six of us.”
“It’s a solitary bottle of water, not the last bottle in existence.” Clay’s gaze lowered to the hand on him. His jaw set. He pulled away and lowered his face so close to hers when he talked the blonde strands of hair falling over her cheek moved from his breath. “I decide who gets it,” he said in a steady tone. He backed up a couple of steps. His hand disappeared into the bed and brought out a can of Bud Light from the cooler. “Besides. We have beer.” He threw one to her.
Brooke huffed after a bad catch. She wanted to complain, but didn’t, she only shook her head, kicked off the heels, and put on the hiking boots. It was the first time I’d seen her surrender without an argument.
Clay passed out more cans of beer. David popped the top of one and chugged. Clay offered me a beer.
“Don’t give her any,” Brooke told him, pointing at me. “What are you going to do when her mother calls, bitching about you giving her daughter beer?”
Obviously she had no idea Momma favored harder alcohol. Crown Royal to be exact.
My previous notion to drink tonight vanished. I could have tried to prove some point and got sloppy drunk, but I was already sick of letting people push my buttons. I was ready to try defiance on and see if it would fit.
“Thanks, but I don’t want one,” I told Clay.
Chapter Four
The six of us stood on the ridge staring down at an old logging road. The North Carolina mountains rose up all around us, some hazy and far away, capped by blue shadows, others close enough to make out actual roads cut in the side of the slope.
The closest home sat below us. Her home. We could just make out its old tin roof through the thick growth of oak, pine, and poplar. Smoke curled from a chimney, but there was nothing smokey about the air on the ridge so I was sure the house was farther away than it looked.
A good hike.
The sun was slipping behind the mountains. Soon night would arrive. The last thing any of us wanted was to be caught out in the woods at nightfall.
David held Emily close, hugging her from behind. Brooke stood beside them. Evie was in front of me, my hands on her shoulders. Beside us, Clay propped a boot on a rock—king of the hill—as he studied the valley. He plucked a blade of yellow straw and stuck it between his teeth. His jaw flexed as he chewed, pondering our situation.
Clay, the deep thinker. I liked that about him. I liked that there was more to him than what was on the surface. “It’s going to get dark soon,” he said.
If we would have known then what violence lay ahead, we would have never ventured down to the Keller property.
“How far do you think it is to her house?” David asked Clay.
“Don’t know. Couple of miles. Farther than it looks.” Clay tapped out a cigarette and lit it. He looked over at Evie and me. “Maybe we should go back to the main road, flag a car down.”
“Dude, have you seen any other cars?” David asked. “Don’t tell me you are scared over a few fictional stories being passed around. People make shit up. I bet Old lady Keller doesn’t even live there anymore. I bet she is dead and gone, and the new owners are cuddly as kittens.” Clay made a sound at the back of his thought. David chuckled. “In case you haven’t noticed, we’re the only idiots out this way.”
“It’s not smart snooping around someone’s land,” Clay replied.
David laughed and shook his head. “We’ll just ask to use the phone.”
“David’s right,” Emily said. “I haven’t seen a single car.” She tilted her head backward to rest against her boyfriend’s chest. “Whose big idea was it to go off-roading, anyway?”
Clay exhaled a cloud of smoke. “The girls aren’t going to feel like walking far.”
“Shit, whatcha talkin' bout, Brooke is used to street walking,” returned David.
“Shut up, douchebag.” Brooke punched him in the
arm.
“I don’t see that we have much of a choice,” Clay told them. “Looks like that house down there is our only option. It’s getting colder.”
“You take what you get and don’t pitch a fit,” David muttered, staring at the house below. He released Emily and slid on his jacket.
Clay tossed the straw and rubbed a hand over his jaw. “Somebody should stay behind. Wait for us to get back.”
Brooke coughed, covering her mouth with a curled hand, making an intentionally poor effort at covering up her own opinion about who that should be. Me.
Clay ignored her. “You all go. I’ll stay here and watch the truck.”
Emily raised a hand. “I second the vote on Clay staying. He’s the dipshit that invited a seven-year-old to come with us.” She gestured at Evie. “She’s only going to slow us down. Complain once it gets dark.”
“I’m nine,” Evie corrected. “And I’m not scared of the dark.”
“I’ll stay with Brownie,” David volunteered.
I looked back at the old truck. It was perfectly clean, not one spot of mud on it.
“Over my dead body,” Emily protested. “My boyfriend is going wherever I go.”
“Evie and I will stay,” I tell them. “I’m not big on the idea of taking my sister farther into the woods.”
“No,” Clay objected. “I’m not leaving the two of you here alone.”
“But you would leave me?” Brooke hissed.
“How ‘bout nobody stays,” David suggested. “Bad idea anyway. Brownie doesn’t need protecting. That way everybody’s happy.”
Clay raised a brow. “Leave my truck?”
“Dude, who’s going to mess with it out here?” David glanced back at the truck as if he didn’t want it to overhear him. “Sorry, but Brownie is a piece of shit.” He cut his eyes to Evie. “I mean, it’s a piece of crap. There ain’t another damn person out here, anyway.”
“So it’s agreed, we walk to the house, see if there’s a phone or ask for a ride back into town.” Clay looked at me. “Think the kid’s up for a hike?”
Evie stood taller, the top of her head bumping into my chin. “I’m not a kid. I bet I can walk farther than you.” She unscrewed the lid on the water bottle and took a big, adult swig. “I don’t know why my sister likes—”