Eli had become part of the Six when the Bentons adopted him five years ago. He never talked about life before then, and no one asked. Times were a little different back when Eli came into our lives. The Bentons had tried for a long time to have a baby and it never happened, so they decided to try foster parenting. Eli was the first, and only, child the state sent to them. When the state contacted them a year later, informing them that Eli’s mother had died from a drug overdose and he had no other family, the Bentons rushed to their lawyer’s office. The rest was history.
At first, they homeschooled him, to get him up to grade level, and I think in some ways to protect him from being bullied. Kids were cruel, but parents could be worse. The Bentons knew that bringing in an interracial child to a predominantly white school might be tricky. Their fears were erased when Eli put his foot down and all but demanded to go to school like everyone else.
He went through hell the first week he started eighth grade, but he never let on to his parents about it. At that point, the other five were just a group of friends. Where you saw one, you saw all, and they saw everything. Jared was the first to snap when he watched the class bully, Seth Johns, corner Eli and threaten him. The next day, Seth came to school with a black eye and apologized to Eli, but he wouldn’t tell anyone what happened to him. The following month, Ace showed up at Josh’s house with Eli in tow, and he’d been one of the Six ever since.
My stomach rumbled, and he snickered. “I guess that means food first, huh?”
The thought of food made my stomach clench. I should have thought of it before I took the pain pills on an empty stomach.
Eli stepped back and jerked his head towards the front of the cabin. “Come on, slugger. I’ll walk with you, so you don’t fall over your own feet.”
“Eli?”
“Yeah?”
I walked past him and ran my hand along the wall to help keep my balance since the next side effect of the pain pills was to make me feel loopy. “The next time you tell me to take medicine, I’m gonna punch you, too.”
He cupped my elbow to steady me. “Duly noted, Riles.”
The screen door of the cabin opened as I crossed the kitchen, and Aiden stuck his head in. When he noticed me, he grinned. “I was just about to come find out what was taking y’all so long.”
“Eli drugged me, and the hallway somehow got longer,” I grumbled.
Eli let go of my arm and tossed his hands out at his sides. “I didn’t drug you!” The exasperation in his voice made me laugh.
Aiden held the door open for me, and I stepped out into the sultry night air, which did nothing to clear out the fog that had settled in my mind.
“Watch out, guys, Riley’s on a bender!” Aiden called out from behind me.
“Shut up, Aiden.” I tried to toss him a dirty look over my shoulder and ended up stumbling into Mark. “Whoa there, Riles.” He steadied me and then walked with me to the closest chair.
Josh leaned forward in his chair. “Hey Riles? Do we need to feed you, too? Or do you got that covered?”
I flipped him off, and the six jackasses laughed.
I gave them all a sweeping scowl. “I’m glad y’all are getting a kick outta this.”
“Aw, come on, Riled-up, how many times have we seen you like this?” Mark asked as he handed me a doctored-up hot dog. He’d made it just the way I liked it, with mayo and mustard—hold the ketchup.
Josh opened the cooler he had beside him, pulled out a Dr. Pepper, and tossed it to Mark. He cracked it open and handed it to me.
“Thanks. What’d you tell my dad, Josh?” I asked. Sliding the can in between my knees, I bit into my hot dog, hoping the food would absorb the acid rolling in my stomach.
Josh sat down in the chair beside me and held out my phone. “He was worried about you, but I told him you knocked that bitch out and it was long overdue.”
“You told him about the fight?” He broke one of the Six’s sacred vows? I could feel my one good eye widen and winced at the sting coming from the other.
Josh put his hand up with a snorted laugh. “Uh, negative. You know us better than that, Riles.”
“But you just said…”
“I was kidding. Your dad thinks we’re hanging out here for a few days. Besides, he was headed out the door for a haul anyway. He said he won’t be back for about two weeks since he’s headed out to Oregon, and then to Louisiana.”
My dad had taken up longer hauls as I got older. When I was younger, he only did runs that got him back home to be with me after school. As I got older, his hauls got longer. Up until last year, I stayed with Paige and her parents. My senior year, I stayed home, and Dad saw to it that the Six kept an eye on me.
I hated that he was gone so much, but I felt selfish saying it to him because up until a few weeks ago, I was supposed to be leaving for college. The Six and Paige knew what happened, but I hadn’t told Dad. I didn’t want to see the disappointment in his eyes when I told him that the scholarship fell through because he made too much money. No way would I ask him to finance college for me. I’d figure it out.
I put the phone on my lap and finished my hot dog while the Six chatted together.
Jared walked over and slapped Ace on the back, as Mark added another log to the fire. “You know what tonight is, right?”
Jared sounded excited, like a kid who knows what he got for his birthday, but had to wait for his parents to give it to him. The rest of the guys murmured along with him. For whatever reason, they all seemed excited about whatever it was Jared talked about. Well, everyone but Ace. His eyes came up to meet mine, and the look on his face said he dreaded whatever it was.
Jared rubbed his hands together. “Are y’all ready?”
Josh walked over and slugged Jared in the shoulder. “Hold on. Christ, you’re like a damn kid on a sugar high.”
The guys laughed when Jared dragged his feet over to the nearest chair, slumped into it, and rolled his eyes. “Aren’t y’all at least a little excited to open that box?”
I couldn’t stop myself from blurting out the question. “The box? The one that’s been locked away for how many years?”
A grin split Eli’s face. “Yep, the box.”
I never in my life thought I’d be privy to the moment when they opened the box they’d locked up four years ago. The day they got together to fill it was the only day they told me I wasn’t allowed to come to the cabin. It had hurt my feelings since they never excluded me from anything. I never brought it up, and neither had they.
Mark cleared his throat and held his soda can up in the air. “To the Seven. May we all find happiness, love, and our way back to each other.”
The guys shot up out of their seats and lifted their cans in unison. “To the Seven!” They stood there with their cans hoisted and when they noticed I hadn’t lifted mine, they all gave me a dirty look.
“What?” I was confused by not only Mark’s toast, but by the fact that they were waiting on me to join in.
“Did you not hear the man?” Jared asked.
“Yeah, he said Seven—not Six… why?”
“Riley, you’ve been a part of us for how long? It’s never been the six of us—it’s always been the seven. You’ve just always excluded yourself, and we’re not allowing you to do that anymore,” Josh explained.
“Hoist yer can, ya mangy dog!” Jared shouted.
Leave it to Jared to let his love of the Pirates of the Caribbean pop out at that moment.
“Now, Riley Ann Clifton!” Mark’s deep voice hollered loud enough to reach the next county.
I pulled the can from between my knees and lifted it out in front of me.
“And…?” Mark prodded me.
“To the Seven.” I tipped my can at them.
“To the Seven!” they shouted.
Jared shot up out of his seat and ran for the cabin.
Aiden crushed his can, pulling the tab off. “That didn’t take him long.” He walked over and tossed the tab at me. “Here Ril
ey, something to remember me by.”
“Gee, thanks, Aiden.”
Ace grumbled from his seat. The word ass-wipe was the only legible thing I heard. Aiden tossed him a smile and cracked his knuckles. “Gotta have a chip in the game, bro. You know the rules, or at least you should anyway, since you made them.”
“Shut up, Aiden.”
“Oh, come on Ace, you know as well as I do what the outcome of it will be.” Aiden shook his head and turned when the screen door slammed shut. Jared strode across the yard with a wooden chest held out in front of him.
“Lookie here, boys! I’ve waited forever for this!” Jared set the chest down on a large stump they used to split wood. “Ace, where’s the key, man? Hurry up! I’m dyin’ here!”
Ace rubbed his hand down his face, grumbling, as he stood up from his chair and crossed over to my truck. He walked around to the passenger side and pulled my keys out of the glove box. My heart raced. I’d had the key to the box all these years? Three years ago, Ace had slipped the key on my key ring, telling me that it was the extra key for his garage door. Ace was forever locking himself out of his house or losing his keys, so I didn’t think anything about it.
The guys hooted with laughter, confusing me even more.
Ace never lost focus as he walked over to the box, unlocked it, and turned around to face me. His eyes locked with mine as he walked over and held my keys out to me. He mouthed the words, I’m sorry, and dropped the keys in my open palm. I wasn’t sure what he was apologizing for, unless he meant the almost kiss that never happened earlier in the bathroom. I could feel my eyes watering up, and I cursed myself at my emotion instability.
“Well, what are you waiting for?” Ace called out to Jared, as he walked back over to his chair and sat down. I watched him flinch when the box creaked open and wondered just what was inside that had Ace ready to bolt.
JARED’S SHOUT OF EXCITEMENT PULLED my gaze from Ace, but not before he looked up and saw me watching him. I quickly glanced away, giving my full attention to Jared. In his hand, he held the watch he’d gotten for his fourteenth birthday. He’d worn it all the time and then one day, it was just gone. I’d asked about it, but he said he’d lost it. What he didn’t say was that he’d lost it to the box.
“Finally!” he said, raising the watch up at the sky. He slapped it down on his wrist and buckled the strap. “I don’t feel naked anymore!”
I laughed along with everyone, remembering what a grouch he’d been for months after he’d ‘lost’ his watch.
“Who’s next?” Jared called out, sticking his hand in the box and pulling out a polished stone. He held it out so that the firelight reflected off the light blue, metal-flaked surface. “Eli, I believe this is yours.”
Eli walked over, and Jared dropped it in his hand. Eli rolled it around in his palm as a grin split across his face. He held it up between his thumb and first finger. “This was the first thing the Bentons ever gave me. A gift for no reason other than to see me smile.”
My eyes teared up, thinking about it. The fact that we’d all taken our childhoods for granted, knowing at the end of the day that our parents would be there, plucked at my emotions. Eli had spent eight years of his life being moved from place to place, waiting for the moment to have just a slice of the kind of lives the rest of us had.
A tear slipped past the corner of my eye. I brushed it away before the Six could see it.
Jared voice cut through the silence as Eli sat down. “Mark, I believe this belongs to you.” In his hands, Jared held a tattered baseball card that Mark plucked from his fingers. “Mickey Mantel, bitches!” He flashed the card around with a smirk on his face.
“It ain’t worth a shit now. Look at it.” Jared laughed as he tried to snatch it out of his hand, but Mark darted away before he could.
“Fine, keep your damn card,” Jared said as he turned back and, once again, his hand pulled out another item from the box. “Aiden,” he called out as he held up a pocketknife. Aiden walked over and put his hand out. Jared slapped the first knife Aiden was given into his waiting palm. It was small, no bigger than two inches. Aiden pulled the blade out, revealing all the chips missing, because he used it on all the things it wasn’t meant for. He winced and closed the knife. “Geez, what did I use this on?”
“Everything,” the answer came in unison.
I smiled, thinking back on our younger years. The Six would never change. The loud, obnoxious boys had only aged, not grown up.
“Ah ha! Josh, what the hell were you thinking back then, man?” Jared pulled out a guitar pick.
“You boys know that I’m the only rock star around here!”
Josh walked over and snatched the pick out of his hands. “Yeah, and you’ll probably be the first and only one of us to get an STD.”
The boys howled with laughter. Jared was a loose cannon, unless he was with the Six. They kept him grounded, but all bets would be called off soon when he left our little town and went on the road. He was hell-bent on being the next Jared Leto and had almost convinced Josh to go along with him. Both weren’t just talented, they had the whole package, except for the fact that Jared looked like a rocker and Josh looked like a country singer. They picked on each other relentlessly for it. And they loved to pick up a guitar in front of a group of people. That was probably part of the reason the girls swooned so hard over them. Little did the girls know that all the Six could play, but Aiden, Eli, Mark, and Ace would only play at the cabin. Truth be told, Ace was just as good, if not better, than Jared—to me anyway.
“Ace, get your ass up here, man,” Jared called over his shoulder as he pulled out a harmonica. “I’ll give this to you on one condition,” Jared said, holding it just out of Ace’s reach.
Ace put his hands on his hips, his T-shirt stretched out over his shoulders, and shifted from one foot to the other. “Do you know how long it’s been?”
“Yeah, right! I heard you not that long ago playing one, so don’t try that bullshit,” Mark said.
Jared went to hand the harmonica to Ace and pulled it back as he gave him the look that said, you better do it, if I hand it to you.
Ace pulled the harmonica from Jared’s grip and held it up to his mouth. I closed my eyes just as the first note of a haunting flow of music seeped into the air. When he was done playing, no one spoke until he tucked the harmonica in his pocket and started back to his seat.
“Where you going?” Jared asked. “That’s only the sixth piece of seven.”
“You can do it,” Ace mumbled.
“Ah, no deal, bro. This is all you.” Jared pulled out a folded piece of paper and a small, white box.
Ace rubbed his hand down his face and turned back to Jared. “Can I talk to you for a second?”
“You’re not backing out. This one was your idea, so you get to be the one to do it,” Jared said, shoving the paper and box against Ace’s chest.
“Who’s idea was it again, Captain Jack?” Ace’s comeback made the guys chuckle.
“Whatever! You know what I meant.” Jared tossed his hand at us. “Carry on.”
Ace looked up at the sky, and he clamped his fingers against the back of his neck. He closed his eyes tight, dropped his hand, and opened the letter as he clutched the box against the lined paper. The sounds of summer were heavy in the air, as we waited for him to read the words written on the page he held.
“Riley,
This is Jared’s fault.
I just wanted you to know that before you hear the rest.”
Ace’s eyes flickered to mine, and then back to the paper.
“I was the one chosen to write this ’cause the rest of them are lazy and their handwriting sucks.
Anyway, the guys and I have something we want to tell you, and I hope you’re sitting down for this. You see, we kinda lied to you, like all the time lied to you. And before you get angry, give me a second to explain.”
I looked around at all the guys. They wouldn’t meet my questioning gaze as they kept
their attention on Ace.
“Ever since well, yesterday—or as I’m reading this—ever since four years ago, our plans have changed, unless they’ve changed again, and then you won’t be mad. You see, we’ve made a pact. Several of them that you had no idea about. The first thing we decided is that we’re each going into a branch of the military. We knew you’d freak out, which is why you think each of us are doing something different.”
Ace lowered the paper and looked at me. “Some of this has changed. Jared chose music. Josh is headed to Penn State to be a bonafide Yankee. Eli’s headed to a third-world country and will probably end up with Malaria or some shit, and Mark’s gonna become a male prostitute.”
“Har, har, dickhead. You know I’m headed for a school of the arts in New York, Riley. I’ve been doing good with my photography, so I want to learn more and open my own studio.”
Josh cupped the bill of his Penn State hat. “Why is it you call anyone north of the Mason-Dixon Line a damn Yankee?”
Eli leaned forward and draped his arms over his knees. “And I’m all vaccinated and ready to roll out in two weeks to do a year of volunteer work at a Red Cross station in Haiti.” He ended his sentence by flicking Ace off.
I squeezed my hands together, cutting off the flow of blood to my fingers. I knew we’d be separating at one point to head off wherever life took us, but it felt more permanent hearing it. “What about you and Aiden? I thought you were going to be going into the forestry division, and Aiden was going to head out for college in Texas?”
Dread rolled in my stomach when Ace bit his lip before answering. “I’m headed off to boot camp in Georgia two weeks from now. Aiden leaves around the same time for Texas, but not for college. He’s going to boot camp, too.”
I clasped my hands tighter, willing my mind to slow down. Ace was leaving. He wouldn’t be around when everyone left.
The Summer I Fell (The Six Series) Page 4
