Chasing Ellie: A Chasing Fireflies Spin Off

by Paige P. Horne

  “Who dared you?” Piper asks after she shuts the filing cabinet. Looking back at Dad’s office door and seeing it’s almost closed, I turn around to curious eyes.

  “Tommy,” I whisper.

  She smiles.

  “Who?” Anne questions.

  “Tommy,” I whisper again, trying to keep my dad from hearing. I lift my shirt, unsticking it to my still damp skin. The chief likes my bad influence. I don’t want him to know he’s the reason I do half the crazy things I do.

  “Who’d she say?” Anne asks Piper, who walks closer to her. The pretty lady with the light blonde hair leans in to the one who can’t hear well.

  “She said Tommy, Anne.”

  “Oh! Sorry, my hearing isn’t what it used to be.” Flower girl blushes and laughs a little at herself. “Those dang Kingsleys. It’s bad enough we have to deal with Elizabeth and Joe. Now we’ve got his brother and two hellions.”

  “I like the Kingsleys,” I say, reaching over and leaning the trashcan so I can spit my candy out now that the sour has gone.

  “Well, you would, dear,” she says, displeased with the people I surround myself with.

  “Hey, what’s that supposed to mean?” I ask with a wrinkle between my brows.

  “You’re not like the other kids in Green Ridge, Ellie. You’re audacious and that’s not a bad thing, but the Kingsleys have no limits and that could be a dangerous combination.” She purses her lips, and Piper bites the inside of her cheek.

  Looking down at my shoe, I let her words run through my mind for a second before I decide I don’t care what people think of the Kingsleys or me.

  “You know Ronnie was found passed out behind Banner’s bar the other night,” Piper says.

  “Well, Ronnie’s a drunk,” I reply as Ben, Dad’s deputy, walks in the door. He’s an inch shorter than the chief, but like my dad he wears a wedding ring, except his makes more sense.

  “Well, what’d you do? Go for a swim?” he asks.

  “She jumped off that old railroad bridge,” Anne says, shaking her head. That’s three times she’s looked displeased with me today.

  Dad walks from the back. “You ready, Ellie? We need to grab some flowers for your mama while we still got light.”

  “Okay,” I say, standing before I down my coffee. “You make this?” I ask Anne.

  “I did.”

  “Still as good as always,” I say before I toss my cup into the trash. Regardless of her crossness with me and my choices, she smiles when I lean over and give her a kiss on the cheek.

  “See ya, Piper. Ben, don’t work too hard. I know picking up those ribs at Billy’s can start to wear out the elbow joints.”

  “Bye, kid.” He messes my hair up and laughs.

  I slide my hands into my pockets and kick a cup that’s missed the trashcan. Scanning the streets, I spot Ronnie walking. With oily, unkempt hair and clothes that look worn out, he staggers a bit. I bet he’s already drunk.

  Hearing the bell ring, I look away from unstable and over at the man who after years of trying is now the total opposite of Ronnie. He adjusts his hat on his head and picks up the cup I kicked.

  “Can I drive?” I ask him with a sweet smile.

  “No.” He tosses the cup into the trash.

  “Aw, come on, Dad.” I pout and follow him to the truck.

  “No,” he says again as he opens the door. I roll my eyes and climb in.

  “You’re no fun.”

  “Put your seat belt on, Little Miss.”

  “Dad.” I scowl.

  He winks and turns the key.

  *

  “Go grab a few from her garden and I’ll wait right here,” Dad says after we pull up to the house.

  “I’m gonna run up and change out of these clothes first.”

  “Hurry before it gets dark,” he says.

  Nodding, I slide out of the truck and tug at the cotton that covers my wet bralette.

  Running back down, I push the screen door open and make my way over to Mama’s flowers. Anne mostly tends to them with some help from Dad and me. With a bench seat and little paths made from red mulch throughout the garden, along with stone rabbits and turtles, it’s probably the prettiest around. Dad planted a few trees that are taller than me now, and there are a few birdfeeders placed along the paths.

  I grab the garden scissors from the small table and bend down to trim some white and pink hydrangeas when I hear four legs walking my way. I look behind me as our dog, Bear, comes up and nudges my arm.

  “Hey, boy. I was wondering where you were.”

  He takes a seat beside me as I cut the last flower and stand up.

  “Come on. We’re going to visit Mom.”

  Grazing by the big elephant ears, I walk back with Bear behind me. Making my way to the rear, I let the tailgate down and Bear jumps up. Happy to be going for a ride, he’s open-mouthed as if he’s smiling.

  Bear’s been with us for a long time now. Dad said he was just out of his puppy stage when they took him in, so he’s getting old but still moves around well. I lean up and pet his head. His ears fold back as I kiss his nose. I place the flowers on the middle console and pull my seat belt around me after I climb in with now dry clothes.

  I look in the side mirror at Bear hanging off the edge as Dad leaves the curved driveway. As the wind blows his long hair, his ears flop. My eyes shift to the open fields around us, and I daydream as we head to see a grave that shouldn’t be there.

  Mom’s been gone for eleven years now. People say time is the only thing that can heal a broken heart, but I don’t know if that’s true. I think sometimes a heart just stays broken. Look at the chief.

  Chapter Three

  Ellie

  Winning five-dollar scratch-offs, pocket change, and empty beer cans crowd the upside-down crate as we chill at Tommy and Hudson’s house.

  “Full house,” Tommy says, tossing his cards onto the top. He gives the rest of us a smug smile, and I groan as I lean back against his bed.

  “You’re getting too good at this.”

  Tommy shrugs and collects his winnings. “Practice makes perfect, L.”

  I reach over and grab a black marker from his nightstand. Sliding my Chucks off, I draw arrows and little stick men around the edge of my shoe. “Well, I need more practice, I guess.”

  “Tommy, it’s getting late. Will you walk me home?” Karen asks.

  “You live two houses over. You can’t walk yourself?”

  I snicker and look up from my artwork at Hudson who rolls his eyes.

  “I’ll walk you, Karen. I’ve got to go to the store anyway.” He stands and slips his snapback on backward before grabbing his Marlboro Reds and sliding them into his front pocket. Karen sits up on her knees before she stands too. She looks over at Tommy with doe eyes even though the boy was just a dick to her.

  “See you later, Tommy?” she asks before darting her eyes over at me.

  His lip lifts to the side as he says, “Sure.” He then shrugs and restacks the cards.

  “Later, Hudson,” I say.

  Hudson nods before he exits the room with Karen following. The playboy leaves the stack and walks over to his window. The old pane gets stuck sometimes, but Tommy’s used to it and forces it up before he grabs a smoke from his soft pack sitting on the nightstand. He lights it and I look back at my shoe, drawing a sun and clouds around the edge of the other side.

  “You stick your tongue out when you draw,” he tells me.

  I look over at him. “Huh?”

  “Nothing,” he says, grinning at me. I shrug and slip my shoe back on before I place the top onto the marker.

  “You sleeping with Karen?” I ask.

  He shrugs. “Why do you care?”

  “Just curious,” I say, standing. “She looks at you weird.” I wrap my long hair up before I walk over and grab his smoke.

  He narrows his eyes at me as I take a hit and give it back to him.

  “She wants more.”

  “And y
ou don’t?”

  “Nah,” he says.

  “Why?”

  “You really don’t know?” He lifts his brow and slightly smirks.

  “Because she’s been with half the football team? I hope you wear protection.” I make a face.

  Tommy chuckles. It’s deep like it came from somewhere lower than his chest. “No worries, Ellie.” He shakes his head and looks down.

  “What?”

  “Nothing, girl.” I look toward the door when we hear a loud noise downstairs. Tommy hits his cigarette.

  “Ronnie’s here,” he says before tossing it and slamming his window shut with a loud thump.

  “Yeah, I better get home. The chief will be calling me soon.” I grab my cell from the bed and slide it into my back pocket.

  “I’ll walk you,” Tommy says as I open his door.

  “Don’t have to. I’ll be fine.”

  “It’s dark out and your dad will kill me. I’m walking you.”

  I shrug, like it’s whatever. Unlike Karen’s two houses down, I live a little farther and onto the main road.

  “You didn’t walk Karen home,” I tease and hit his shoulder with mine as we walk down the stairs.

  “Karen isn’t you,” he says, like that’s all there is.

  I don’t think more into it than that. I’m nothing like Karen. At seventeen, she’s been with more than just the football team. The school slut is clingy and acts like she owns Tommy because he wants one thing from her.

  “Tommy,” Ronnie says with a wide smile on his face as we make it down the steps. He’s ten sheets to the wind and leaning. His long hair needs a cut and a brush. I see he has the same clothes on he did from the last time I saw him, and his shoes are untied. Tiny holes line his collar, and the smell that comes off him is nose-cover worthy. I move the leather bracelets on my arm and hold my breath. “Give your old man a smoke, would ya?” he adds, running a hand through his hair.

  “Get your own smokes,” Tommy says, opening the door for me to walk out. “And take a bath. You smell like a brewery.”

  “Fine, you little shit.” He turns to me. “Ellie, tell your pops I said hello.”

  “Will do, Ronnie.” I walk out as fast as I can and breath out. Tommy shuts the door behind us.

  We head down the street with the glow of the streetlamps lighting up our way until we turn onto the main road and can only see by the moonlight. It’s a clear night, the only sounds coming from the crickets, my Converse, and Tommy’s old Vans.

  “I got a job working construction a few miles outside of town,” Tommy tells me.

  “Oh, yeah?” I ask. “You’re not working in Billy’s kitchen this summer?”

  “Nah, the construction job pays more. Harder work, though, but I need the cash. Daddy Dearest sells our food stamps to his brother for pocket money, so it’s up to Hudson and me to keep the lights on and food in the fridge.”

  “You’re only seventeen, Tommy. It shouldn’t be up to you.” I look over at him as he slides a smoke from behind his ear and puts it into his mouth. We stop walking as he reaches for the lighter in his pocket, and he regards me intently as he lets his cigarette hang loosely between his lips.

  “Some of us don’t get to be seventeen, L, and that’s okay. I’m a south side kid. I know how life works. You grow up quick when you have no parents.” He stops his stare down and lights his cigarette. The smoke flows blue from the moonlight, and I slide my hands into my pockets as we start to walk again.

  “Was it rough back home?”

  He shrugs. “It was my normal, just like this is yours.”

  “What happened to your mom? You’ve never told me.”

  “You’ve never asked.”

  “I didn’t want to pry.”

  “But you do now?” He grins.

  I shrug.

  “She dipped out on us when I was a baby. Found a trucker she couldn’t resist and took off,” he says, sliding his lighter back into his front pocket.

  “So, you’ve never met her?”

  “Nope. And you can’t miss something you’ve never known.”

  I gaze ahead and see our front porch light is on and Dad’s trucks are parked in the curved driveway.

  “You never talk about your mom either,” he tells me.

  Looking over at him, I see a quirked brow and questionable eyes. His chest expands underneath the gray cotton when he hits his cigarette, and I can’t believe he hasn’t heard already.

  “What? You don’t know?”

  “I don’t listen to rumors.”

  The wind blows my ponytail, and I stop walking again to lean my head back and look up at the night sky. With no clouds, the stars layer it like a thick blanket.

  “Can you see the stars this good in the city?” I ask Tommy. From my peripheral, I see him look up too.

  “Nah, too much light pollution.”

  “Right.” I fill my air with lungs, trying to think of a way to talk about my mom without sounding detached about it, but there’s honestly no other way to sound. Unlike the chief and almost everyone else around here, I didn’t get to know her well and it’s been years. Truthfully, the way my dad handled it has affected me more than her passing.

  “My mom cut her wrist when I was five,” I say quietly, looking toward the natural satellite that shines by reflected light from the sun. “She died in my dad’s bathroom floor.” I direct my eyes toward our house.

  “Damn, L.”

  “Apparently, sometimes bipolar disorder makes you not want to live anymore.” I look back at him and shrug.

  “She was bipolar?” he asks.

  “Yeah.”

  “Is that something you could be?”

  “Maybe.” I shift my feet and bite my lip.

  He nods and tosses his finished smoke out onto the road.

  “Well, life isn’t always rainbows and unicorns, is it?” he says, giving me a small smile and wrapping his arm around my shoulders.

  “Nope,” I agree, grateful he broke the awkwardness and feeling physical ease from his touch.

  We continue walking until we get to my driveway.

  “I’ll see you sometime this week?” I ask, lifting my brows. Tommy removes his arm.

  “Yeah, go on inside so I know you made it.”

  I chuckle. “Tommy, this is Green Ridge.”

  “Yeah, and Ronnie still seems to find crack,” he says flatly. “I don’t care if it’s Mayberry. Go on inside.”

  “Jesus,” I mutter, walking backward to my house.

  “Bad shit can happen anywhere, L.”

  “Bye, boy.” I turn around, and before I go inside, I look back to give Tommy a wave. He throws his hand up, and I let the door shut behind me.

  “Dad?” I call out.

  “In the kitchen.”

  Bear rounds the corner, and I pat my legs for him to jump up. I grab his paws and ruffle his ears before I kiss his nose.

  “Glad to see me, boy?” His back legs start to slide against the hardwood so I let his front ones down so he doesn’t do a split.

  “Is that food I smell?” I ask, walking into the kitchen.

  Dad has Mama’s old apron on, and a bottle of beer rests on the counter.

  “Yeah, I’m making tacos.”

  “Yummy.” I jump up and slide onto the countertop, grabbing his beer when he turns away and taking a gulp. I put it down quietly and wipe my mouth before I kick my shoes off.

  “Those don’t go there,” he says, looking back at me as my Chucks land with a hard thump on the kitchen floor.

  “I’ll move them when I walk out.”

  “Where you been, anyway? You smell like smoke.”

  “Tommy’s. The boys smoke in the house.”

  Dad casts me a sideways look. “You better not be smoking, Little Miss.”

  I roll my eyes. “No worries, chief. When is dinner gonna be ready?”

  “In about ten minutes.”

  “I’m gonna jump in the shower and get this smoke smell out of my hair.”
Sliding off the counter, I pull my ponytail out, humming a song I heard earlier at Tommy’s.

  “Shoes,” Dad says as I turn out of the kitchen. I sigh and turn back around.

  “Oh, and Piper is joining us.”

  I stop midway of picking up my shoes.

  “Why?” I ask, peeking up at him. He lifts his beer to his lips and takes a sip before putting the bottle down.

  “Because I asked her.”

  “Why?”

  “Because I wanted to.”

  “Why?”

  “Stop with the whys, Ellie,” he says.

  I scoop my shoes up and cross my arms.

  “Do you like her?” I ask, narrowing my eyes as he moves around the kitchen. Why does he have that apron on?

  “Do I like who?”

  “Mrs. Clause, Dad.” I roll my eyes.

  “Mrs. Clause?” he asks, looking at me like I’m crazy.

  “Piper, Dad! Piper, the woman we’re talking about.”

  He laughs.

  “This isn’t funny.”

  “Why?”

  “Because if you like her…” I pause, not sure where I’m going with this.

  “If I like her, what?” He looks over at me with a wrinkle between his brow.

  Bear barks as someone knocks on the door.

  “Nothing. She’s here. You should take Mom’s apron off.” I give him a look. “I’ll get the door.” Walking out, I pull my hoodie off and toss it onto the back of the couch. Piper stands smiling in a light blue dress when I open the door.

  “Ellie,” she greets.

  “Hey,” I reply and move so she can come inside.

  “Thanks for having me for dinner. I hope I’m not intruding.”

  “Nah, Dad’s a great cook. I shouldn’t be the only one who gets to enjoy it. He’s in the kitchen.” I slip my phone out of my back pocket and shoot Tommy a text as I walk toward the stairs with Bear at my feet.

  Make it home okay? The chief invited Piper over for dinner. Think he likes her?

  I toss my phone onto my bed before I walk into the bathroom.

  *

  I quickly run a comb through my wet hair before I wrap it up. Sliding on a long-sleeved T-shirt and some cutoff denim shorts, I grab my phone and swipe the lock screen.