Fifteen Years

by Allison Rios

  “Oh yeah? Let’s see you do it!” He watched as she steadied herself on the first one. “Go!”

  Her long legs stretched out as she raced across each one and leaped to the next.

  “Thirteen seconds!” he called out to her as she jumped into his arms.

  “Thirteen? Not a chance! That was nine seconds.”

  “If you’re counting faster than a rapper.”

  “Want to do it again?”

  “Not really,” he answered. The sun slowly shifted in the sky above them and the heat beat off the black asphalt and onto their bare skin. “Let’s head home and get a drink.”

  “I don’t want to go home yet,” she stalled. “I just want to be outside.” She plopped down on a parking block and looked up at him. “Tell me something no one else knows about you.”

  “I’m utterly brilliant,” he replied. “Although I guess everyone knows that.”

  “Shut up. I'm serious! Tell me something.”

  He sat next to her and picked up a rock. As he skipped it across the ground, he uttered words which had only ever echoed in his mind.

  “I’m scared of playing varsity football.”

  “Why does that scare you? You’re so good at football.”

  “I was good with the freshmen and sophomores. I don’t know if I’ll be good on varsity. Not sure I have what it takes.”

  “They wouldn’t put you on the team if they didn’t think you did. You’re the best player I’ve ever seen.”

  “That doesn’t count for much, baby,” he laughed. “I’m the only one you watch. I think you just look for my number and block everyone else out.”

  “I look for your number, then I look for your butt in those cute little pants ya’ll wear.”

  “Haven’t you even learned a thing about football since being with me?”

  “I have no idea what the heck is going on out there! There are too many people on the field. I get distracted by all those firm behinds in tight pants. I mean really, I should have started watching football long ago!”

  Her smile enraptured him. “But seriously, I only watch you because I’m scared you’re gonna get hurt.”

  “I’m not going to get hurt.”

  “The last game you got walloped, and they carried you off the field. When they asked you what season of the year it was, you said football season.”

  “Well, I wasn’t wrong. It was football season.”

  “I think that sport is making you dumber.” She elbowed him in the ribs, and he elbowed her right back. “Want to head back?”

  They began the fifteen-minute walk back to his house with their hands intertwined. Their biggest problem consisted of what to do tomorrow, then the next day, and so on. As they arrived at his house, she opened the door ahead of him.

  “Surprise!” Voices reverberated inside the house and caught him off guard.

  “What is this?”

  “Surprise,” she whispered in his ear as she planted a kiss on his cheek. “Happy birthday!”

  “You planned a surprise party for me? No one’s ever done something like that.”

  “I hope I keep surprising you for the rest of your life.”

  Chapter 7

  Friday, October 2

  She awoke in the bed she’d grown up in, although the room had changed significantly. Her mother had wasted no time in redecorating upon Rae’s move to Chicago. Lorraine repainted the once yellow walls with a robin’s egg blue. Vintage sewing decorations replaced the high school ribbons and photos. She wrapped the blanket around her as she descended the stairs.

  “Is Daddy up?” The smell of freshly cooked bacon and the sizzle of eggs enticed Rae down from the comforts of the warm bed.

  “He’s out tending to the chickens,” Mama replied. “Breakfast?”

  “Yes, please.”

  Rae savored the taste of the bacon. In Chicago, she frequently ate at gourmet restaurants with food prepared by world-renowned chefs. None of that could top fresh bacon straight from the family farm.

  “Do you still cook like this every morning?”

  “Yes, I do,” Mama replied. “Always have and always will.

  Some traditions you just don’t break.”

  “It’s just you and Daddy now. I thought you’d be off traveling and such. There are so many great places to see in the world, Mama.”

  Lorraine kept stirring the eggs in the pan and shifted her gaze towards Rae. “Where have you been lately?” Mama’s raised eyebrow drove the point home.

  Rae avoided the question. She hadn’t gone anywhere in a long time.

  “I have a job and responsibilities.”

  “Just as I do,” her mother grinned. “I can see all those magnificent places in books or magazines or the computer or television. There’s so much beauty right here in front of me. My home is the most beautiful place I’ve ever seen, and I want to explore every inch of it.”

  “Mama.”

  “Don’t ‘Mama’ me. Different people want different things. This is what I want. Speaking of beauty, your daddy wants to cook his favorite daughter a special welcome-home dinner tonight.”

  “I’m your only daughter. An only child, actually.”

  “Well then, only child, seems like it makes the most sense then for me to ask you and not some other favorite child to go and pick up some groceries for me.”

  “That’s fine. I was going to head into town anyway.”

  “Good. I’ll expect you back in about twenty minutes then.”

  “No, I meant town. Like, city. I want to see that new mall they opened up.”

  “No. Uh-uh. You are home this weekend, and home you shall stay. No gallivanting off to see some shopping center as an excuse for your avoidance. We have a perfectly good grocery store here in town, and Becca bought you plenty of nice clothes that are hung up in your closet, courtesy of your mother. Now get going.”

  “Does the Preston family still own the store?”

  “Yes, they do.”

  “Mama!”

  “I am fairly confident that after this long, your relationship with James is water under the bridge. You all have moved on with your lives. I see them and talk to them all the time. They’ve never been anything but friendly to me. Besides, it’s just groceries.”

  “Of course they’re nice to you. You didn’t inflict undue emotional distress on their beloved baby boy.”

  “Isn’t someone the drama queen?” Mama smirked. “Get over yourself and get going. I want fresh eggs, and if you wait too long, they’ll be sold out. It’s high school reunion weekend.”

  “Yeah Mama, and I’m the only one who doesn’t live here. I’ve raised the population by one, and I’m pretty sure I haven’t caused a mass purchasing of fresh eggs so outrageous that we won’t be able to find any in another hour.”

  Her mother didn’t flinch. Rae gave in to her stubbornness. She knew she’d never win the battle. At thirty-three, Rae had yet to win any argument against her mother.

  She braced herself for the trip. She hadn’t seen the Preston family in just over fifteen years. Their last name struck both happiness and fear into her heart.

  She’d met James their freshman year of high school after his family moved to town. His slightly-wavy, light brown hair and his happy, green eyes attracted her to him from the moment they’d met. The duo rarely spoke as he held a position in the popular crowd and she hung around in the middle of the high school hierarchy. He never acted as though he were better than anyone else, which she found refreshing in a town where gossip could make or break a person. He was kind to everyone and walked the halls with a smile so contagious it spread like wildfire as he passed. She was drawn to him and worked up the courage to ask him to a dance during their sophomore year. With shaking hands and all the courage she could muster, she chickened out and convinced one of her friends to ask James for her.

  He said no. He had made a commitment to take someone. As the gentlemen she came to know him to be, he planned to uphold his end. There was so
mething special about James, and she spent the evening of that dance hoping that one day, she’d have a chance to be wrapped up in his arms.

  The ask had been enough, however, and started a fairytale that played out over the next three years. She’d kindled his interest. James looked at her differently than he had before. Before he ever asked her to be his girlfriend, she gave away a piece of her heart that would remain in his possession until the day she died – no matter how hard she tried to sever that tie.

  Rae shook away the memory and finished lacing her running shoes.

  “Well look here, if it isn’t my long-lost daughter,” a baritone voice bellowed from the back hallway.

  “Daddy!” Rae squealed. She hadn’t seen her Dad, Dwight, in months and relished his familiar hug. “I was wondering when I’d see you!”

  “I was beginning to wonder the same thing,” he said with a wink. “Your mama has basically rolled out a red carpet for you, she’s so excited.”

  “Mama gets excited about the littlest things.”

  “It’s good to see your face,” Dwight replied. “I just want to memorize every inch of it all over again.”

  “Daddy, quit talking like that. You’re gonna make me cry.”

  “Well, we can’t have that while you’re here visiting. No tears! Just happy thoughts.”

  “Has Mama been pounding that mantra into your head?”

  “Every morning,” Dwight whispered with another wink. “Every damn morning. It’s good to see you baby girl.” He kissed her forehead and headed towards the upstairs as Rae did a little stretch.

  “Mama, I’ll be back!” she yelled. The grocery store was the only one in town and a five-minute run from the family farm. The scenery stood in stark contrast to her daily runs along the lakefront in Chicago, where the sun reflected off the water and melted the stress of the day. Jessup was beautiful in its own way. The fields and greenery combined with the small subdivisions that had sprung up over time and added to its small-town charm. Her disdain for her hometown came not from the lack of technological progress, but rather from the memories that she couldn’t avoid seeing in the familiar faces and places.

  She stopped across the street from the store and prayed that James had decided not to come home from whatever big job he had or country he was visiting. She hadn’t asked the girls because she’d prevented them from ever talking about him.

  Chapter 8

  Friday, October 2

  The coffee shop across the street from the grocery store served as the daily morning meet-up for Nella, Micah, and Reed, who all loved an early dose of caffeine.

  The sun had been up for a couple of hours. The light danced through the leaves on the trees and formed intricate patterns on the bricked walkway. After years of eating breakfast together, the three of them had found they didn’t need to fill every moment with chatter although some days that’s precisely what they did. Today, they worked on perfecting their second favorite past-time: people watching.

  In a town so small, they’d grown accustomed to the voices, movements, and schedules of most of the residents. Mr. Barber could always be counted on to walk past the florist at nine in the morning to pick up a fresh bouquet for his wife, just as he’d done every Friday for as long as they could remember, and probably long before that. Mrs. Varga would be picking the freshest vegetables for her dinner table in the next half-hour, and Mr. Swanson would be pulling the town’s only school bus into the parking lot shortly to purchase his morning coffee and unwind from the wild children under his watch.

  That’s what Micah liked about the town: the predictability. He had no siblings and no parents anymore, and no relatives to tie him to the town – except for James’ family. He’d grown to love them like his own and had never found anywhere as comfortable as Jessup. Micah had dated every girl in at least three counties and had not discovered one that met his standards. Standards set by a woman with cinnamon skin and bright brown eyes, currently occupying the seat next to him, who had no idea how he felt about her.

  “What are you staring at?” Nella asked as she playfully punched Micah in his ribs. “Do I have something in my teeth?”

  “Nothing. No. Nothing in your teeth.”

  Reed snickered as the trio sat around the ornately sculpted metal table.

  “Well I’ll be,” he said. “I can’t believe it.”

  His gasp made them all turn around.

  “Believe what?” Micah set his mug down and turned to see what the other two were gawking at.

  “Rae Pinemore actually came back to town.”

  “I told you she was coming,” Nella added.

  “I wouldn’t believe it if I didn’t see it with my own two eyes,” Reed replied. “How’d you get her to come?”

  “Trade secrets,” Nella laughed. “She wanted to see everyone.”

  “Not everyone wants to see her,” Micah interjected.

  Nella shot him a look, and he backed down. The one thing Micah never did was push a strong-willed woman.

  “Don’t wave her over, please,” Micah said. “At least let me finish my coffee. I’m not ready to put on a smile for your sake before I’ve even gotten enough caffeine in me to feign joy at the return of such an enjoyable part of our high school history.”

  Nella kicked him under the table – not hard, but hard enough.

  “She looks different,” Reed said as he squinted to get a better picture.

  “It’s been a long time, Reed. Obviously she’s going to look different.” Nella focused her stare on her friend and silently noted that Rae did indeed look different from the last time she’d seen her. She’d lost a few pounds, and her skin just seemed paler.

  “How long is she staying?” Micah sipped at his one-cream-two-sugar-cubes-every-morning liquid breakfast.

  “Supposed to be the week but who knows. If I know her, she’s probably formulating a way right now to get back on the next plane to Chicago,” Nella said. “Promise me you boys will be nice while she’s here?”

  “We’re always nice,” Reed said.

  “Always.” Micah sneered. His sarcasm did not go unnoticed.

  “Behave,” Nella said as she retrieved her coat from the chair. “Nice chatting with you, as always. Some of us, however, have to work. I’ll see you boys later.”

  “You’re not going to go over and talk to her?” Reed asked.

  “Looks like she’s busy,” Nella smiled. “I may not have seen her often over the years, but I’ve seen her. I have a feeling she has catching up to do elsewhere.”

  “See you later, then.” Micah watched as Nella walked away and only shifted his attention from her when he heard Reed snicker. “What?”

  “Man, when are you gonna tell Nella?”

  “Tell her what?”

  “That you like her.”

  Micah set down his cup and shifted in his chair to face as far away from Nella’s dwindling silhouette as he could. “I don’t like Nella.”

  “You do, too. Just admit it.”

  “I’m not admitting anything. And why would you care?”

  “I only care because I think it’s about time you two face the facts that you’ve dated every other eligible single bachelor or bachelorette in one-hundred miles and refuse to acknowledge that you might actually make a good pair.”

  “You’re talking gibberish,” Micah replied. “I haven’t dated everyone in one-hundred miles.”

  “Fine. Three hundred.”

  “Very funny. Let it go, man, it isn’t going to happen.”

  “You sure can dish it out to other people, but you can’t take some ribbing in return. For what it’s worth, I think you're ridiculous! You’ve had a thing for her ever since senior prom.”

  Reed got up and tossed a few dollars down on the table next to the five Micah had already set down.

  “If it looks like a couple and acts like a couple, it probably is a couple,” he added.

  Micah replied with a one-finger salute as Reed strolled away from his lifelong f
riend. Micah slumped back in his chair and stirred the already-cold beverage that he had no intention of finishing.

  Rae was still standing outside the store as if she were working up the courage to go in – which, Micah decided, she probably was.

  She’d done the same thing when she and James had first started dating. Micah laughed at the memory of he, Nella, and Reed sitting in the very same coffee shop – which was, back then, a diner – and staring out the window as Rae had walked up to the Preston’s store for what was probably the thousandth time. Just like today, she couldn’t bring herself to go in, though likely for very different reasons.

  He almost called out to her before he stopped himself. She’d been such a good friend way back in their high school years. While he’d never admit it, part of him was excited to see her again, if only to know she was doing okay. Sometimes he wondered what it would be like to have the group finally back together. It never took long, however, for him to remember the joy he felt when she eventually left and stopped returning James’ messages. His best friend had suffered enough torment at the hands of the woman now shifting nervously from one foot to the other across the street, and Micah had no intention of welcoming her back to Jessup with open arms.

  He couldn’t help but smile at how different the same scenario had been years earlier.

  “So, you gonna go in, or stand out here all day and stare at him like some crazy girlfriend?” Micah asked. He’d been working at the shop to save money to hopefully buy a car he could rebuild.