Outcast

by Adrienne Kress

  Lacy finally made eye contact with me again and gave me the world’s tiniest smile. Then she turned and marched off to join the other two Alexander brothers, who seemed very happy to see her.

  “Okay, we’re all set up,” said Curtis, as he and Gabe returned. “Who’s first?”

  There was a sudden loud blast from the barrel of a gun, and everyone ducked for cover.

  “Frank!” yelled Daniel.

  “Damn, missed!” said Wild Frank aiming the shotgun again.

  “Stop!” said John rushing over and pushing the gun to one side. “’Course you missed, firing that thing.”

  “You can’t just shoot,” added Daniel his hand on his head. “We gotta take turns.”

  Wild Frank looked at John for a moment, then nodded and lowered his weapon.

  “Well…” said Gabe, “who’s second?”

  I glanced over at Lacy. “Me,” I said standing up. I walked over to where Gabe and Curtis were waiting, and Curtis handed me his rifle.

  “I’ve loaded it for you,” he said

  “Thanks,” I replied, taking it. “So what do I do?” I asked.

  “Disengage the safety,” said Curtis showing me.

  “Then aim and shoot,” said Gabe.

  “Aim and shoot.” I lifted the rifle just as Chris had shown me way back when. It felt different from a shotgun. Having a scope was definitely handy. I looked down it and the white plate tacked to the tree around 50 feet away through the thick brush came into focus.

  I thought of Chris, standing behind me, calmly showing me what to do. It reminded me why I was doing any of this in the first place.

  I aimed.

  I shot.

  It felt different, pulling the rifle’s trigger. And the sound still shocked me. But I knew I was already getting used to shooting when the recoil really didn’t get to me at all this time.

  “I think she hit it!” said Daniel, as I lowered the rifle.

  I laughed. “Thanks for the support. You don’t have to say that, though.”

  “No, I think you did,” he replied.

  I shook my head. I was glad Gabe had asked the Alexander brothers to help out. They were awfully sweet.

  Wild Frank took off and crashed through the brush toward the plate to check it out, running like his life depended on it. We all watched him. He was pretty entertaining to have around when he wasn’t holding a loaded weapon.

  He arrived at the plate and stood still for a moment. Then: “Holy shit!”

  “Everything okay, Frank?” called Father Peter.

  “She just hit the thing damn square in the middle, is all!” he called back.

  Uh…

  “So you don’t know what you’re doing?” asked Lacy with a look.

  “I don’t, I really don’t. Beginner’s luck, I swear,” I replied in a bit of a panic.

  “Sure.” Lacy turned and started to walk away.

  “Look, let me do it again,” I said to her and she stopped. I turned to Gabe. “Let me do it again.”

  “Sure,” he said. “Frank, get out of the way, she’s doing it again.”

  “Yes, sir!” Wild Frank scurried far to the side.

  I raised the gun again and looked through the scope. I debated purposely missing the target, but I figured it wasn’t likely I could hit it twice in a row anyway.

  I aimed.

  I shot.

  Wild Frank ran over to the target in that same frantic way. He looked. “Damn,” he called out, “she missed!”

  I looked at Lacy and shrugged. “See?” She rolled her eyes.

  “Wait!” We all turned to look back at Wild Frank. “Hot damn! Hot doggy damn!”

  “What is it?” asked Curtis.

  “She didn’t miss at all. Hot damn! Girl hit the exact same spot!”

  “Not possible,” I said. “That’s not possible, Frank,” I yelled over to him.

  Wild Frank ripped the plate off the tree and was rushing toward us, his hair flying out behind him. “Look,” he said panting when he finally reached us.

  I looked, there was a hole in the middle, but it really didn’t look like I’d hit it again.

  “Shit,” said Curtis and he looked at me with awe.

  “What are you guys seeing?” I asked. Everyone had gathered around it now, even Father Peter.

  “The hole,” said Gabe, “look close. It ain’t a perfect circle.”

  “Doesn’t mean anything…” I said.

  “That’s definitely two shots,” said Father Peter, and for some reason, because he said it, I finally believed them.

  “Well…” I said. “It was just crazy luck.”

  “I don’t think so,” said Daniel.

  “Come on,” said Lacy. “Of course it was luck. She’s not some gun prodigy or anything.” Even though I knew she was saying it to hurt me, I was actually grateful for her support.

  “Exactly,” I said.

  “Only one way to see,” said Curtis. “Let’s put it back up, another tree, maybe another ten feet.” Gabe nodded in agreement and Curtis was off.

  “This is stupid,” I said, feeling really uncomfortable now, the way everyone was staring at me.

  “This is awesome!” said Wild Frank and wrapped a tight arm around my shoulder. “Our very own Calamity Jane!”

  Well, he had the calamity part right, at any rate.

  “’Kay, all set up,” called Curtis from within the brush. He ran to the side, a pretty far distance—didn’t blame him—and I raised up the gun again.

  The plate seemed tiny now, and I had to squint a bit to focus.

  Just aim and shoot.

  I aimed.

  I shot.

  Curtis ran over to check out the target. He produced a distant yelp.

  Damn.

  “She did it again!” said Daniel interpreting his brother’s cry.

  “No I didn’t,” I said.

  It took a moment, but Curtis returned with the plate to show us all. This time there was no doubt that the third bullet had gone through almost the exact same spot as the first two. The hole kind of looked like a squished eight.

  “This is amazing,” said Father Peter.

  “Damn right!” said John.

  “It’s not!” I wasn’t sure why I was insisting so hard that this wasn’t anything special. Probably because I knew it was and that freaked me out. What did it mean that I was so good at this, and without any practice or anything either? I hoped it was as simple as having good eyesight and a steady hand.

  Fortunately, after the third shot everyone agreed it was time to move on. Curtis got a new plate and attached it to the original tree and Gabe got up to shoot. He managed to hit it in the top right corner second try, which he seemed pretty proud of, grinning at me broadly.

  “Way to go!” I said, hoping it didn’t sound insincere, considering my newfound amazingness.

  “Thanks.” He reloaded the rifle and passed it to Father Peter, who missed the first two tries but hit it on the third. The Alexander brothers each used their own rifles and were very good, all three hitting the plate first try each and all pretty close to the center.

  Then it was Lacy’s turn, and I’d never seen her look so vulnerable. She didn’t even know how to hold the rifle, so Curtis stood behind her and showed her. The quick grin he offered his brothers made me think he didn’t mind helping her out so much. Even with his help, though, she was way off target. Curtis quickly reloaded the rifle for her try again, but after a couple more attempts she got so frustrated that she just shoved the gun back at him and stormed off down toward the dock.

  “I’ll go,” said Curtis, passing the gun over to John, and following her.

  “My turn,” announced Wild Frank and in one move pulled out his revolver, shooting it into the brush. “Damn, missed!” He aimed and shot again. This time he caught the tack holding the plate in place, and the plate flew off the tree. “Ha! Now that’s shootin’!” He gav
e me a big wink.

  “Well, I guess we have a sense now about skill levels,” said Father Peter. “I think we’re in a pretty decent place. Aside from…” He glanced down toward the dock where Curtis was sitting with Lacy.

  “Give her a chance,” I said quickly. “She’s really disciplined, been working really hard to win the pageant next month, and does well in school and is head cheerleader. If she puts her mind to it, she’ll do it.”

  “As long as she puts her mind to it,” said Gabe.

  “Look, let’s forget about her right now. We should make a plan, a schedule. I know you guys are done with college already,” I said to the remaining Alexander brothers, “and Father Peter and Frank don’t have to worry about school. But the rest of us still have to go.”

  “Do we really?” asked Gabe.

  “Yes, we do,” I replied looking at him hard. He sighed. “You’re two months away from graduating with a high school degree. Don’t even think about it, Gabe.”

  “Fine, fine.”

  “So we have to come up with a plan until the end of school, when we’ll have more time.”

  “’Kay. How ’bout we do it while we have some lunch?” suggested Gabe.

  “Oh…yeah, okay…” I looked at everyone. “Did anyone bring anything?”

  There was some shaking of heads, but Gabe raised his hands. “It’s cool, cats, it’s cool. Etta Mae said she’d have something ready for us around now.”

  33.

  We walked over to Etta Mae’s, everyone talking up a storm. It seemed like everybody was pretty excited about our plans, and I was thrilled that they all seemed to get on okay. Even Wild Frank had a loveable quality when he wasn’t firing weapons without warning.

  Only Lacy seemed sad still, as she and Curtis brought up the rear of our group. I wished there was something I could say to make her feel better.

  The same kids were playing on Etta Mae’s lawn, and that same girl with the yellow dress smiled brightly at me. Mr. Clayton was sitting in his chair ignoring us all as Etta Mae welcomed us into her home. Even though I’d been at her place half a dozen times by now, I was always struck how frozen in time it seemed. Nothing ever changed.

  “Aunt Mae!” called out John and rushed into her open arms.

  “There’s my strapping boys! All smarter and taller I see!” said Etta Mae squeezing John tight.

  “Not taller, Aunt Mae,” said Daniel. “Not sure about smarter either.”

  “I can tell just by holding y’all, you’re a damn sight smarter.” She pulled Daniel into the hug as well.

  “If you say so,” said John with a laugh.

  “Never thought I’d live to see the day when one of my kin went to college. Never even dared hope it would be three at the same time. Where’s my Curtis?”

  “Here, Aunt Mae,” he said, climbing up the stairs holding Lacy’s hand. “Aunt Mae, this is Lacy Green.”

  “Hi,” said Lacy quietly. I’d never seen her shy before.

  “It’s lovely to meet you,” said Etta Mae with a soft smile. “Aren’t you just the prettiest thing.”

  “Thanks,” replied Lacy, her eyes lowered.

  “Frank Tinsley and Father Peter,” I said, introducing the last two.

  “I know them both,” said Mae shaking each of their hands. “Father Peter, I tell you what, with everything being as it is, you’re a good man and that’s enough.”

  “Uh, thank you,” replied Father Peter.

  “This is Mr. Clayton,” said Etta Mae, making a quick gesture of introduction. As usual, Mr. Clayton didn’t pay any attention to any of us. “And now come inside! Y’all must be famished!”

  We all passed through into the small front room. I was last, and as I did so, I saw Mr. Clayton look at me, and then back again. He always seemed to pay special attention to me whenever I visited, which wasn’t saying much. It was little more than a glance, but it always left me feeling unsettled.

  Lunch, as usual, was amazing, as lunch always was at Etta Mae’s, and the conversation was lively and full of laughter. Even Lacy opened up and seemed happier, and it was pretty clear that Curtis really interested her. Once we were done eating, it was time to coordinate schedules. For now it seemed weekends were best. Lacy had cheerleading practice after school three nights a week and was working with a coach for the beauty pageant the other two nights. The weekend would be fine for now anyway, giving me and Gabe a chance to do our school work, and the Alexander brothers time to find summer jobs. Once school was over we could meet up more regularly, of course, and work around whatever job schedule the Alexander brothers might have at that point.

  With times planned out, we then figured out a training plan. Focus first on aim, and everyone agreed I’d help out with that. They agreed on that before I could say anything. Like maybe that I had no idea how I managed to hit the target so well and that I wasn’t exactly sure I could therefore show anyone else how to do it. Still I said yes. What else was I supposed to do? Once we’d perfected that, then we’d learn how to shoot something in flight.

  Lacy proved very useful then, saying she’d seen her dad at the club over in New Adamstead do some skeet shooting.

  “I could probably see if I could borrow one of the throwers, but how we’d get it here I don’t know.”

  “We’ve got a truck,” said Curtis instantly. Lacy smiled and nodded. “It’s okay if I show up at the club, though, right?”

  Lacy bit her bottom lip. “Yes. Well…yes.”

  “It isn’t officially off-limits is it?” asked Daniel.

  “Not officially,” replied Lacy, her face turning red.

  “That’s good enough for us. Hell, it’d be good enough even if it was,” said John, and it was settled.

  As far as I could see, we had a pretty good plan. I was surprised really. It’d seemed earlier like it’d be almost impossible, but everything appeared to be coming together perfectly. Even Wild Frank wasn’t so wild. Once you got to know him.

  “I think this actually might work,” I said to Gabe later that night back at home over dessert, as Mother was doing the dishes in the kitchen.

  “I know,” he replied shaking his head. “Still a nutty group. Neat about Curtis and Lacy, though.”

  “Yeah, I think there’s something happening there.”

  “Yeah.”

  “Is it wrong that I’m kind of finding all of this fun?” I asked Gabe leaning in toward him so Mother wouldn’t hear.

  “Not at all.”

  “Just, it’s a pretty serious thing, what we’re trying to do…”

  “Riley,” said Gabe leaning in too, “it ain’t about the right thing to feel or the wrong thing. You feel how you feel. This all might be leading to something serious, but if you have fun on the way, that ain’t wrong or nothing. It’s like with Chris. Or my ma. Sometimes you miss them and it hurts, sometimes you miss them and you remember the good stuff. Sometimes you don’t miss them at all. You feel how you feel in the moment. But you never forget.”

  “You sing ’em to remember,” I said automatically.

  “You don’t need to. When it’s deep inside, it’s safe. You sing ’em, because you remember.”

  I smiled. “That’s kind of deep, Gabe.”

  “Oh, I’m all kinds of deep.”

  We laughed. Because that’s how we were feeling in the moment.

  34.

  The next couple months were insane. First there was the training. That would have been enough, thank you very much, without everything else besides. It turned out I actually was a pretty good teacher with the aiming thing. I guess to me it just seemed obvious. Keep both eyes open, aim, and shoot. It was about getting out of your head. You had to stop looking at yourself from the outside and just be in the moment. I hadn’t realized how most of them had trouble just focusing on the target in front of them. I guess I should have realized it, considering how much was going on in my mind usually. But for some reason, with this, I co
uld just be empty and present. Explaining and teaching that to everyone was tricky, but it was a cool challenge.

  At first I’d let Curtis show Lacy what to do, but after a while it just seemed like he was more of a distraction than a help, so I wound up taking over. She didn’t seem so keen about that idea, but then when she hit her first target, thanks to my instruction, she got over her resentment pretty fast. After that, like I’d predicted, Lacy was a quick study. She’d put her mind to it that she was going to be just as good as the rest of us, and her learning curve was really steep. I wound up working with her more than anyone else. She was so insistent we practice as often as possible. And when she hit three targets in a row, she’d actually hugged me. We pulled apart and sort of just stared at each other after it’d happened.

  “You know what, Lacy?” I finally said.

  “What?”

  “How about, while we’re doing all this stuff, we just get over our opinions of one another and decide we like each other.”

  Lacy thought about it for a minute. “Well, I’ve always liked you okay, Riley. I invited you over to eat with us in the caf remember. It’s you who doesn’t like me.”

  “What are you talking about? You were the one with all the little snide comments about my clothes and stuff—not telling me about the pool party and making me wear one of your swimsuits that were way too small for me.”

  “Yeah, but that doesn’t mean I don’t like you, just that…well, I felt you thought y’all were better than me so I had to bring you down. You know.”

  “Seriously?”

  “And you were the one to stop eating with us. That was kind of mean.”

  “I didn’t think you’d care. But it had nothing to do with you. It was Amber. I don’t think I like her very much.”

  “Oh my god, she’s so annoying. And I hate how much she worships Pastor Warren.”