Tell No One

by Jeff Vrolyks

“You’ll probably have forgotten me by then,” she said passively, threw her fly out and let it drift.

  “Very funny,” he said without humor.

  “What do you mean? Are you saying you’ll remember me?”

  “Why wouldn’t I?”

  “Eleven months is a long time. A long time. I’ll probably be a woman by then, maybe have a husband and a couple kids.”

  “See? You are kidding.”

  “I won’t forget you,” she said. It seemed to Theodore that she was trying to downplay the weight of those heavy words, making it less than it was, but it was everything to him.

  “Carmen, even if I don’t see you for ten years, I’ll still remember you.” He regretted saying that at once. It implied a lot of things he didn’t want her inferring.

  “Really? Ten years? You’d remember me? Why is that?”

  “Nothing. Never mind.”

  She continued fishing, but was now watching him, intrigued by what was going on inside his head. Did he like her more than a friend? She wouldn’t think that to be the case, but who knows? He did just say that he wouldn’t forget her, not for ten years. “You know what we could do? We could write each other. Pen pals.”

  “Okay, that would be cool.”

  “I’ll write my address down later and give it to you. I’ll send you a picture of me so you remember what I look like,” she said jokingly.

  “Great.”

  She looked over at him and laughed. “I was kidding, silly.”

  “Oh.”

  “Do you want a picture of me?”

  “I guess. If you have one lying around.”

  “And what would you do with it, stare at it?”

  “Isn’t that what people do with pictures?”

  “I guess. But… but why would you want to stare at my picture?”

  Theo didn’t like where this was going. “Just forget it.”

  “I don’t want to. I don’t mean to embarrass you. Your face is red.”

  “I’m not embarrassed.”

  “Okay. Well I’ll give you a picture, and you’ll give me one.”

  “Why would you want to stare at my picture?” he asked her. If it was a fair question from her, it would be a fair question from him.

  “So I can remember what you look like.”

  It was a good answer, he supposed.

  It was Carmen who caught the first fish, a twelve inch rainbow. Theodore caught one shortly after, and it was a respectable fourteen inch brown. They slowly made their way down stream, and by eleven they were at least a half mile from camp and thought they should be headed back. Theodore couldn’t believe five hours had gone by already. It felt like one hour. He wondered if pretty girls make time go by faster somehow, like magic. It was an absurd thought, but the evidence was pretty solid that it did. Before they arrived back at camp, he rolled the dice and said something he hoped wouldn’t make him look dumb. “I’m really glad we met. Really I am.”

  “Aww, thanks. I’m glad we met, too, Beaver. Don’t forget to ask your dad if you can come over later. Maybe I’ll show you that old mine.”

  Chapter 5

  James had turned onto the street of George’s residence and thought he’d tease his son a little. He told him to have fun on his date.

  “Date?!”

  “Why sure. That’s what it is, isn’t it?”

  “No! God, Dad…”

  “I’m just teasing you. When should I pick you up?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “How about when it starts getting dark? I’ll have some Chili on the stove for dinner, how’s that sound?”

  “Fine.”

  James parked on the driveway, smiled at his son, told him to have a good time and say hello to Cheryl and George for him. Sure thing. He hopped out of the truck and waved his father goodbye.

  Carmen answered the door and let him in. Cheryl was sitting on the couch reading a magazine and got up, greeted him. She reached over to the coffee table and picked up a digital camera, popped off the lens cover.

  “You two stand beside each other and smile for me.”

  Carmen’s mouth hung open. She looked both shocked and furious. Theo was secretly glad that it was coming from her parents and not his. This was surely something his mother would do. And father, for that matter.

  “Mom! Why do you need to take a picture of us!”

  “Just do as I say.” She aimed the camera at them, lowered it and said, “You look angry, honey. Smile for me.”

  “Because I am angry! You’re embarrassing me! Why are you doing this?”

  “Because your father asked me to.”

  Right on cue George entered the living room from the hallway and said howdy to Theo. His daughter asked why he was making mom take their picture.

  “Because Theo’s dad asked me to. He gave me his email address and asked if I’d email a picture.”

  Theo slouched, closed his eyes.

  “Oh…” Carmen said, sounding a little relieved. “Okay then. It’s not me who should be embarrassed then, it’s Theo.”

  Theo nodded.

  “I’m sorry, Beaver. Don’t be embarrassed. You know how parents are.”

  “Yes, unfortunately.”

  “Can I get you two to smile now?” Cheryl said.

  Carmen decided a little dramatics were in order, and put her right arm around Theo at the waist, hugged him into her so their hips were touching, pushed her cheek up against his and smiled candidly. His smile was mostly forced, as he was still in disbelief what his father had done. He could almost hear how it went down in his imagination, too. His dad was on the phone with his mom, and they got to talking about this new girl, how cute she was and how much Theo liked her, and Mom just had to see a picture of them together. Never mind that she and Jessica would likely meet her in person in a couple weeks, his mother needed to see this couple now.

  Cheryl snapped the picture and looked at the LCD screen, nodded at it.

  “I guess we don’t need to send each other a picture after all,” Carmen said.

  “I guess not.”

  “You two be back before it gets dark,” Cheryl said and sat back down. “Where are you going to be, sweetheart?”

  “Just going for a hike out back. I’m not sure where.”

  “Be careful out there. Bring your pepper spray.”

  “I always do. Let’s go, Beaver.”

  “Are you really going to start calling me Beaver?”

  “I like it. Would you deprave me the opportunity to call you it if it makes me happy?”

  “Deprive, dear,” Cheryl corrected.

  “What’s deprave then?”

  “A bad person is depraved. It’s completely different.”

  “Oh. Let’s go, Beaver.”

  Carmen slung a backpack over her shoulder, writhed her way inside it as they went out the front door and crossed the front lawn, headed south where there were low hills nearby, lots of trees and underbrush. Carmen wore Levi’s and a hooded sweatshirt. From the hoody pocket she produced two small flashlights, handed one to Theo. From her back pocket she produced a can of pepper spray.

  “Do you want to see how it feels to be sprayed in the eyes with pepper spray?”

  “Are you crazy? It hurts, I’m sure.” He twisted the head of the flashlight and a beam of light fanned out before him. He shut it off and stuffed it in his jeans pocket.

  “That’s what I hear. I’ve never tried it. See over there?” She pointed to a cluster of rocks on the crest of a low hill. “Where those rocks are? I saw a bear there once.”

  “Did you shoot it?”

  “No, silly. I don’t carry my gun around with me.”

  “So it’s actually your gun?”

  “Yes, it was a birthday present when I turned eleven. I told you my dad thinks I’m a boy.”

  “You don’t look like a boy.”

  “Well thanks,” she said and snickered, looked over at him, poked him in the side. “I’m the prettiest girl you know, aren’t
I?”

  Theo was certain she was joking. If he answered truthfully, what would her reaction be? He decided not to answer her question. But she was still staring at him, expectantly. “Uh, you’re not bad, I guess.”

  “Thanks, Beaver. You’re not so bad yourself. The mine is a good deals away still. On the other side of that hill. It must have been a long time ago when they used it. There is a dirt road leading away from it; I’m not sure where it goes, but the wheel ruts have grass going on them so it’s been awhile.”

  They breasted the hill toward the rocks Carmen had once spied a bear, and she warned him to watch out for snakes. She had seen several of those and stretched her arms as wide as they’d go to show him how big some of them get. Most are harmless king snakes or gopher snakes, but she once saw a rattler.

  Having arrived at the top of the hill they climbed up the rocks overlooking a valley. On the other side of the valley was a larger hill with great big rocks. Maybe it was all rock. That was where the mine is, she said. “See the road?” She pointed. Theo leaned close to her to line his eyes with her arm and followed it to a what was ostensibly a road. She was looking over at him, her face just inches from his. He was aware of this and had a sudden fantasy of kissing her right then and there. His insides squirmed and tingled at the thought. Was he losing his mind? Why was he so drawn by this girl? Because she was the prettiest thing he’d ever seen, that was why. It really wasn’t any more complicated than that. Her flaxen hair, big blue eyes, pert little nose and rosy cheeks. She looked like one of those porcelain dolls, only better. Her teeth were crooked, but they’d fall out and straight ones would replace them. Even if they didn’t they weren’t so bad. Jewel was famous and guys thought she was pretty, and her teeth were just as crooked as Carmen’s.

  He looked over at her, eyes wonderfully close to each other’s, and hesitated before straightening back up and climbing back down the rock. Carmen didn’t move, just stared down at Theo who was already putting forth toward the mine a mile away. He stopped and looked back. “Coming?”

  “Yeah.” She climbed down and hurried by his side. “I don’t know why I hadn’t thought of it till now,” she said.

  “What’s that.”

  “I thought that you thought of me as any boy our age, someone to hang out with.”

  He swallowed. “Yeah, and…?”

  “That’s not the truth, is it?”

  “Sure it is.”

  “That look you gave me up there…” She took his hand and stopped them. He looked down at their touching hands, then up at her. “You… you wanted to kiss me. Didn’t you?”

  Once again he felt his face burn red. He tugged his hand free of hers and began pacing away from her, down the hillside. “No,” he said flatly.

  “But you did,” she insisted.

  She wasn’t trying to humiliate him, he thought, she sounded more stunned than anything, and was now inquisitive. “I just thought you were cool, that’s all. A girl who fishes and hunts and likes football… that’s cool. Why don’t you see that?”

  She hurried to his side once again and patted his shoulder. “I’m sorry. That was wrong of me to suggest. Don’t be mad, okay?”

  He looked over at her sweet face, her sweet concerned face, and thought it would be impossible to be mad at her. “I’m not mad, Carmen. Let’s forget about it, okay?”

  “Yes, please, let’s do.”

  It wasn’t long after that she broached the topic once again. “Have you ever kissed a girl?”

  “Sure. Lot’s of times.”

  “Really? I’ve never kissed a boy before. No rush to, either. Was she your girlfriend?”

  Theo laughed inside his head. A girlfriend? Not even close. Not only had he no real interest in any girl he’d ever met before Carmen, he doubted any girl had interest in him. “No. My mom. And grandma. Some aunts.”

  “They don’t count, Beaver. Pssh, your mom. That’s a different kind of kiss. I meant one with a girl you liked.”

  “What’s will all the talk about kissing?”

  She paused before saying, “Nothing. Sorry. I’ll drop it for reals this time.”

  “Can I ask you a personal question?”

  “Of course.” She began skipping. “Can you skip?”

  “No. My sister used to. Anyway, I had a question about Mormons.”

  “What about them? Us.”

  “My dad says Mormon men have a bunch of wives.”

  “Yeah. That’s not a Mormon thing, though.”

  “Yes it is.”

  She frowned at him. “You mean to tell me men of other religions can only have one wife?”

  “Yes. I didn’t know such a thing existed until my dad told me last week.”

  “Really… I didn’t know. The thing is, men don’t have to have more than one. Like my dad only has my mom. But a lot of them do. Our neighbor, for example, has three wives.”

  “Dang… three?”

  “Yes. It’s pretty common. Family is very important to Mormons. Lots of children.”

  “How come women can’t have multiple husbands?”

  She giggled. “I don’t know. Good question. Maybe when I’m a woman I’ll have a few husbands. One to earn the bacon, one to clean the house and cook, one to buy me presents… maybe one to constantly tell me how nice I look today.”

  “What if you could find all of that in one guy?”

  “Sign me up. I’m his.”

  “You know, I can cook pretty good.”

  Her mouth opened, tongue holding her upper lip, and shifted her eyes at him. “See what I mean? What are you getting at, bucko?”

  “I’m just saying, I can cook.”

  “After I said what I’m looking for in one of my many husbands. You want to marry me, don’t you?” She poked him again in the side, and it tickled him.

  “No, you want to marry me.”

  “Take a number, pal. There’s a line of guys waiting for me.”

  “Uh-huh,” he patronized. “So you are okay with your future husband marrying other women? I’d think that would be offensive to a girl.”

  “I don’t know, I haven’t thought about it. I don’t much care to think about marriage right now. When the time comes, we’ll see. It doesn’t seem as weird to me for women to share a husband, because that’s what I’ve always been around.”

  They happened upon a giant oak and Carmen stopped, showed Theo where she had carved her initials with a pocket-knife. He asked if he could carve his in it, too. She handed him her pocket-knife and he got to work. Just above her C.H. he carved T.G.

  “What’s the G stand for?”

  “Graham.”

  “Theodore Graham,” she said. Then gasped, giggled. “Teddy Graham!”

  He rolled his eyes. “You aren’t the first person to come up with that, toots.”

  “It’s cute! My little Teddy Graham!” She blew a kiss at him.

  “Beaver, Teddy Graham, what’s next?”

  “Oh shuddup, you like it and you know it. Let’s keep a move on.” She took his wrist and checked the time on his watch. “It gets dark at seven and it’s almost four.”

  They strode on, stepping over loose branches and around bushes, past a great many trees. She pointed in the distance to the mine. Just to the left of it was a tree with long low branches, some of which were obscuring its sight. It seemed likely the tree was either small or not yet extant when the mine was in production.

  “Wait till you see the best part,” she said.

  “What’s that?”

  “Have you seen the movie Indiana Jones and The Temple of Doom?”

  “Sure. A few times.”

  “You know that cart thingy they rode in inside that cave?”

  “Yeah.”

  “There’s one in the mine.”

  “No kidding? There are tracks in there? Rails?”

  “Uh huh. I wanted to sit inside it last time but I was afraid there’d be spiders or bats in it.”

  “Well we have flashlights to ch
eck. How far in is it?”

  “Not very. Just inside, really. I tried pushing it but it only budged. Wheels are rusty.”

  Theo increased his pace in his excitement. He imagined himself riding in the cart, screaming down a tunnel, maybe some bad guys in a cart behind him wielding swords. He wished he had a camera on him. He’d love to get a picture of him inside it, and show Fred and Andy back home. Better yet, he’d like a picture taken of both him and her inside of it, so Fred and Andy could see how pretty his new friend is. They’d be jealous for sure. They hadn’t ever talked about girls in that way, but if they were like him, and they kind of were, they’d blink when they got a load of her.

  They finally arrived at the mine. Theo paused for breath. He didn’t realize how fast he had been moving. Carmen was also out of breath. She asked what time it was. A quarter after four.

  “We made good time. Less than a half hour. So let’s be sure we’re on our way by six-thirty, okay?”

  “Sure. This is so cool, Carmen. Do you think we might find some silver inside?”

  “Hopefully. I didn’t bring a shovel.”

  Really? He thought, and giggled inwardly. “Maybe we’ll find some in the walls. Next time we’ll bring one of those small spade thingies. They’re easier to travel with than a shovel.”

  “Okay. Silver is worth a lot, too. Not like gold, but still a lot. Maybe we’ll strike it rich!”

  “Maybe,” he said hopefully.

  They stepped inside the mouth of the mine. There were railroad ties framing the entrance and they looked old. Very old. At their feet were two rails, about two feet apart. The stopped a few yards outside the mine. Theo imagined how it was once used. Some laborers inside would load up the cart with silver, push it up the mine along the track and outside here there would be a wagon waiting, and take the silver, drive to the nearest store and sell it for tons of money. Very cool, he thought.

  It got dark quickly inside. The cart was on the tracks, no more than fifteen feet up ahead, and it was nothing but a dark shadow. They moved toward it. It was larger than Theo had imagined it to be. It stood about four feet high, to Teddy Graham’s chest, and was wider than the two foot track by about a foot. And it was deep. About the size of a bathtub but much deeper. Theo twisted his flashlight on and stooped down to examine the wheels. They were iron and rusty, about six inches high, an inch wide. Attached to the cart was a tall lever, just like in Indiana Jones.