Stranger in the Woods

by Geof Johnson

  “Why does he do it?” Zach said.

  Justin shook his head at the ground and pressed his mouth into a tight wire. “I guess he thinks he can be with her since Daddy’s in prison, but she would never do that. Not with him or anybody.”

  “She hates his guts,” Jason said. “So do I.” He spun toward Shelby, his eyes fierce. “If he ever touches you, I’ll kill him. I swear I will.”

  “Calm down,” Justin said. “She’s always with us, and we won’t let him near her.”

  Jason’s eyes continued to burn and his jaw was hard. “Let’s go back. I don’t want him following us to the clubhouse. Let’s go swimming in the river, instead.”

  Chapter 14

  The next day was the Fourth of July, and Liz got Zach up early to help her get the house ready for the party. She had a new list of things to do, and it was a long one.

  Zach dragged the canister vacuum from the hall closet toward the living room and scowled petulantly. “Why are we doing this? The house is clean already. Besides, it’s just Jason and them. They don’t care.”

  “But I do. I want it to look nice. You should, too.”

  “But everybody’s going to be outside. Shouldn’t we be working on the backyard, instead?”

  “We’ll be doing that, too, but first, we have to clean inside.” She glanced toward the kitchen and said, “I wish we had painted the cabinets in there already. I thought I’d do it next week, but now I wish…do you think we have time to paint them today?”

  “Mom, no! It’s a holiday and we’re supposed to be relaxing. I wish we weren’t having this stupid party.”

  “You’ll be glad once we’re finished cleaning and everybody gets here.” She checked her wristwatch and frowned. “I could really use your grandfather’s help right now. I wonder why he’s not answering his phone.”

  “Because he’s smart, that’s why. He probably went off somewhere.”

  “He better not have.” She looked toward the front windows. “If you happen to see him drive by, let me know so I can catch him before he runs off again.”

  * * *

  Her father didn’t show up until later that afternoon, right before Tina arrived with her three kids. Liz and Tina erected the badminton net in the middle of the backyard while Liz’s father set up the horseshoe pit over to one side, driving in the long metal stakes with a ball peen hammer. In the meantime, the kids played with the new Frisbee Liz had bought and threw the tennis ball for Beepee.

  Liz brought up the idea of getting out the old croquet set that her father had, but Tina nixed that when she reminded her that the twins would turn the mallets into weapons. “Badminton racquets are bad enough,” she said. “Let’s not give them anything more dangerous than those.”

  * * *

  Liz wiped the sweat from her forehead as she retreated to the shade of the terrace with Tina. It was hot outside, and they’d just lost at badminton, beaten badly by the twins. “Boy, am I out of shape.” Liz knelt beside the ice chest and opened it.

  Tina flopped into one of the wrought iron chairs, now rust-free and covered with a new coat of black paint. “I could use something to drink, too.”

  Liz loaded two plastic cups with ice and filled them with lemonade from the pitcher on the folding table, which was covered with bags of hot dog and hamburger buns, paper plates, potato chips, and other things for their cookout.

  Liz gave Tina her drink and sat beside her. “Your boys are good athletes. Do they play any sports?”

  Tina sipped from her cup and shook her head. “I don’t have time to drive ’em back and forth to practice, and I can’t afford the fees, though they’d like to play something if they could. I don’t know what kind of sport would be good for ’em. They don’t do well with rules. They like to make up their own.” She chuckled and took a big swallow of her lemonade.

  “Zach’s never been good at sports. I feel bad that Shelby got stuck being his partner today.”

  “Oh, she wanted to be his partner. I think she’s got a crush on him.”

  Liz suddenly leaned toward Tina. “On Zach?”

  Tina nodded sagely and looked across the yard to where Shelby was playing horseshoes with him, while Liz’s father watched and Beepee lay in the shade of a nearby tree, panting. “Did you notice that Shelby sat by him when we went to the movie the other day?”

  “That wasn’t anything. That’s just the way it worked out.”

  “It wasn’t just chance. When we picked our row of seats, my boys went in first and then Zach followed them. I started to go next, but Shelby pushed me aside…well, more like, elbowed me aside, so she could sit by him.” Tina rubbed her ribs. “Her bony little elbows hurt, too. She was hell-bent to sit there.”

  “I didn’t see that. I must’ve been talking to my dad.”

  “Not only that, they shared popcorn too.”

  “But that’s just because I only bought the kids two boxes, and I gave one to Justin and one to Zach and told them to share.”

  Tina nodded again. “And my boys shared one, so that left Zach and Shelby with the other.”

  “But…so?”

  “I’m sure that meant the world to Shelby.”

  “It’s just popcorn.”

  “Do you remember the first time you shared popcorn with a boy at a movie?”

  She did. Liz was back at the Crown Cinema, the old theater downtown, before it had been demolished to make room for the new city hall. She was fifteen years old and sitting next to Denny Chamberlain, and he held a large bag of popcorn on the armrest between them. She reached for some without taking her eyes from the movie screen, and their fingers touched. Her heart soared, and the moment burned itself into her memory.

  Liz looked at Zach and Shelby and tried to imagine what was happening between them. “I don’t think Zach is even aware of what Shelby’s feeling.”

  Tina put her feet on the chair across from her and sighed. “Probably not. Boys are always behind girls at that age, ’specially when it comes to young love.”

  “But why Zach?”

  “Why not? He’s cute, and he’s the first boy who’s ever been nice to her.”

  “He hasn’t been that nice, has he? It’s not like he’s giving her flowers or calling her or anything.” She swallowed hard. Maybe he is and I don’t know it.

  “He gave her that swan, and that’s the first thing any boy has ever given her. It couldn’t have been more perfect because she loves swans so much. She has pictures of them tacked up on her bedroom wall, and whenever she finds a white feather, she’s convinced it’s from a swan. When she was younger, she was sure they were from an angel’s wing.”

  “That’s the sweetest thing I’ve ever heard.”

  “Isn’t it? But it always caused an argument because Jason and Justin thought they were eagles’ feathers.” She puffed a breath from the side of her mouth. “So, anyway, when Zach gave her that origami swan, that probably did it for Shelby. That’s the nicest thing any boy’s ever done for her. And he’s nice to her in other ways, too. I can see it. He’s a gentleman, in his own awkward way.”

  Liz tried to think back to any interaction she’d witnessed between the two, but nothing special came to mind. “I still don’t get it. I thought you said Shelby hadn’t started puberty yet.”

  “But she’s a little Romantic, in case you haven’t noticed. Most of the books she reads are young adult romance novels or love stories of one kind or the other.”

  “A Series of Unfortunate Events isn’t about romance.”

  “I know, and she likes those books, too. She’s almost finished them, and she’s going to need something new to read pretty soon.” Tina glanced across the terrace toward the back door. “That reminds me. I filled out her form for her library card, and I left it in there on the counter by the phone.”

  “How about the boys? Do they want cards, too?”

  “They’re not into readin’ much. Just Shelby.”

  “I’ll take her to the library one day this week, the
n.”

  Tina sighed again and turned her eyes to the terrace ceiling. “I wish I was the one takin’ her, but there’s nothin’ I can do about it.”

  Her face turned melancholy, and Liz didn’t know what to say. After a long, uneasy moment, Liz pushed her chair back and stood. “I wish you could take her, too, Tina. For now, let’s fire up the grill and get the burgers going. I’m getting hungry, and I’m sure everyone else is, too.”

  * * *

  It started getting dark. Liz had them help put away the food and clean up, and then they piled into her father’s truck so they could go see the fireworks. Everyone wanted to sit in the back, so her father had to drive with Beepee as his only companion in the front seat.

  The ride was short, only five minutes, but it was fun, Tina and the kids all crammed together with Liz in the bed of the truck, wind blowing Liz’s hair out of its ponytail and putting a smile on her face, and everyone else’s, too. It felt good, a little wild and carefree.

  They parked at the West Carolina Bank downtown and spread out on the short lawn at the edge of the lot, both families sitting on a pair of old blankets Tina had brought. They were soon joined by other locals, who filled every available space with lawn chairs or blankets of their own.

  The fireworks show was not as extravagant as any Liz had seen in Raleigh, but it was still exciting. Zach and the twins watched it from the front of their group, and Liz’s father sat to the side with his arm around Beepee to comfort her during the explosions.

  Liz and Tina sat behind the boys, and Shelby snuggled against her mother with her head resting on Tina’s shoulder. Liz watched them for a moment and thought, They needed this time together. Then Liz regarded their entire group, their two fractured families, combining for a while to make one, filling in the gaps in each other’s lives to cover for the missing pieces.

  Liz looked at the back of Zach’s head and wished that he would cuddle with her the way Shelby did with her mother, but she knew those days had passed. Watching him staring wide-eyed at the pyrotechnics in the night sky, sitting with his new friends, made her feel that everything might turn out okay for him. I think he’s happy, if only a little, and only right now. Sometimes that’s all you can hope for.

  * * *

  Zach’s mother informed him the next morning she was going to put him back to work that day. “But I want to go to the woods with my friends,” Zach said.

  “I’m sorry, but we have too much to do right now. I want to get the kitchen cabinets painted with Shelby while you and your grandfather and the boys take out the old carpets. Your grandfather is going to be off for the next couple of days, and I want to get it done while he’s around to help.”

  “Aw, crud.” He put both elbows on the table and scowled over his bowl of cereal. “I don’t want to help. I wanna go to the woods. I worked all last week. How long do you think it’ll take?”

  “A couple of days, if you put your back into it and don’t fool around.”

  “Couple of days?” He felt his scowl deepen, every feature of his face playing its part.

  She wouldn’t relent.

  * * *

  It took all of one day and half of another to pull up the carpets from throughout the house, cut them into manageable sizes, and haul them in Grandpa’s pickup truck to the landfill on the outskirts of town. It was hot, filthy, and unpleasant work for Zach and the twins. Grandpa mainly directed, claiming that he couldn’t bend his knee well enough to get down on the floor, which most of the task entailed, and that his back hurt too much to carry the rolled up sections outside.

  Zach had noticed that his grandfather’s ailments seemed to become more pronounced when the physical demands of the chores became more intense. Zach and the other two boys did almost everything, while Grandpa stood to one side and watched. Shelby had it nice and easy painting the kitchen cabinets with Zach’s mother.

  When they finally finished on Wednesday afternoon, Zach thought they had enough time to go to the woods. He waited to mention it until they were all sitting together on Zach’s front porch steps in the shade, cooling off after their last trip to the landfill. Grandpa had gone home already.

  Jason shook his head after Zach brought up the subject of the trip to the woods. “I want to go swimming,” Jason said. “I’ve got dirt in every little corner of my body.” He plucked at his sweaty shirt with one hand, pulling it loose from his chest. “Those old carpets were nasty.”

  “I feel gross, too.” Justin stuck out his tongue. “I want to go to the river with Jason.”

  Zach thought about it for a moment and realized that he felt sticky and dirty, too. Every time he’d hoisted a rolled-up section of carpet over his shoulder, deluges of grit had shaken loose from them, and now they were caked on his neck, under his T-shirt, and all over his arms and lower legs. He itched everywhere. His damp clothes were clinging to his body, and his legs were tired from hauling the heavy rolls out of the house. But he wanted to go back to the woods to ask the enormous stranger what he meant when he said, Your gift to me is yet to come. Zach had been thinking about it constantly for days.

  Zach lowered his voice, even though his mother was still inside with Shelby. “Don’t you want to see if the white giant is out there?”

  “Uncle Marty’s still in town,” Justin said. “I don’t want him following us. He will, if he sees us, and he’ll shoot him.”

  “The white giant?” Zach said. “Really?”

  Justin nodded and scratched his scar with one fingernail. “Uncle Marty came by the house last night, but Mama run him off. She told him she didn’t have no money to spare.”

  “Doesn’t he have a job?”

  “Not a real one. I think he’s still dealing drugs once in a while, and he makes a little money selling the meat from the deer he kills.”

  “Isn’t that illegal?”

  “So is dealing drugs,” Jason said, “but he thinks he won’t get caught. He already did, once, and he’d be in jail if it wasn’t for Daddy.” Jason sneered and caught his brother’s eye, and their faces darkened. Zach could sense the bitterness inside them. It was so strong he could almost taste it. Sour, like rotting lemons.

  Zach knew they all needed to do something to make themselves feel better. He thought of the river, and how wonderful it would be to let the cool water flow around his tired, filthy body, washing away the sweat and grime of the day. “Let’s go swimming,” Zach said. “I’ll go see if Shelby wants to come with us.”

  Chapter 15

  After breakfast the next morning, Zach’s mother said, “You need to get ready. We’re going to the library, and we’re picking Shelby up on the way.”

  “What for?”

  “So she can check out some books, why else? Her mother filled out the form so Shelby can get her card, and I promised her yesterday that I would take her this morning.”

  “Jason and Justin going?”

  “Just the three of us. I guess they’ll stay home by themselves.”

  “Can I stay home, too?”

  “I want you to go with us.”

  “Can I go to Grandpa’s, instead?”

  “He’s working this morning.”

  * * *

  The visit to the library was embarrassing. Zach’s mother insisted that he be a gentleman and open the car door for Shelby, and then the door to the library building. It was weird not having her brothers with them, and Zach didn’t know how to act around her. She was a stranger, all of a sudden. He only knew her as part of the three-headed beast, The Ross Kids, not as an individual.

  Once inside, Zach tried to distance himself from her, but all of the books that he wanted were in the Young Adult section, which is where Shelby was browsing. He waited uncomfortably behind her while she perused the selections, and when she moved to the far side of the shelf, he went to the other end and pulled out the first promising title he laid eyes on. Then he hurried to one of the cushioned chairs, pretending to be engrossed in his reading, until it was time to go.

&n
bsp; Afterward, his mother took them to lunch at the No Name Deli, even though Zach wanted to go straight home. “We can get sandwiches here,” she said. “It’ll be fun.” Zach didn’t think so.

  Inside, the tables at the tiny restaurant were too small for all three of them, so they sat at a booth. Shelby was the last to join them, and slid into the bench seat on Zach’s side. He pushed all the way against the window, but it didn’t feel far enough, and he glowered darkly throughout the meal. He could only think of three words to describe how he felt: Awkward, awkward, and awkward.

  * * *

  The uncomfortable feeling carried over to the trip to the woods that afternoon. Once they had ditched their bikes, Zach tried to walk in the front of their group, but Jason and Justin always seemed to pass him on the steeper parts of the trail and Zach ended up at the back with Shelby and Beepee.

  It didn’t help that Jason thrust his hand up every few minutes and signaled for them to crouch, shushing them like they were little children. They’d wait like that for several seconds while Jason gazed about, wide-eyed and alert, until he give the all clear signal.

  After the last false alarm, Zach said, “Don’t you think we would’ve seen your uncle by now?”

  Jason glared at him with one finger to his lips. “Whisper!”

  Justin thumped his brother on the shoulder with his fist. “Will you stop it already? Uncle Marty’s probably sleeping off a hangover or gone back to Chattanooga.”

  “We can’t take no chances. He might see us and follow us, or shoot us, thinkin’ we’re deer.”

  Zach ducked his head. “Are you serious?”

  “Happens all the time. Most hunters wear them orange vests so other hunters can see ’em. That’s supposed to keep ’em safe.”

  Zach looked down at his green T-shirt and frowned. “Shouldn’t we be wearing orange, then?”

  “Shouldn’t have to. It’s not deer season.”

  “Tell that to Uncle Marty,” Shelby said with a distasteful curl to her lip.

  They resumed their walk and Zach’s senses were on high alert, his heart sprinting, and he was scarcely breathing for fear of making too much noise. Every twig that snapped under his feet made him flinch, and he noticed that his friends seemed to be on edge, too.