by Andi Jaxon
“Have you read Tom Sawyer before?”
“The Adventures of Tom Sawyer? Yes.” He flips the page and keeps reading.
“What’s your favorite part?”
Finally, the warm brown eyes of this boy look in my direction. He doesn’t make eye contact, but he takes a minute to look me over. Closing the book, he turns toward me a bit. “When Tom tells the judge that Injun Joe killed Muff Potter.”
“That is a good part! He was so brave. He went against his pack with Huckleberry, risked Injun Joe coming after him. I don’t know if I could have done it.”
“I would have done it. Injun Joe needed to be arrested. He was a bad guy.”
“You’re really brave too.” I shift to the side and sit on the ground, stretching my legs out. “What’s your name, Brave Boy?”
“My name is Milo. Have you read The Adventures of Tom Sawyer?”
“I have! It’s one of my favorite books. Mark Twain was such an amazing writer. Have you read the other two books after it?”
Milo’s face lights up, a big smile splits his face and his eyes meet mine for just a second. “Yeah! I borrowed them from the library at school. No one else here likes to read. What’s your favorite part?”
“Oh man, there’s so many! I really like when he tricks the other kids into painting Aunt Polly’s fence, but I think my all-time favorite part is when the boys show up at their funeral. They got to see how much people really cared about them.”
“Or when they’re pirates! Or when Tom and Becky get lost in the cave!” Milo is so animated, his arms waving around as he describes the scenes in detail. I laugh along with him, smiling just as wide as he is. I’ve never met anyone as in love with stories as I am.
“Milo!” I turn to see another young boy, this one with an air of confidence I’m not used to seeing in someone so young. “We’re going to go throw water balloons at the girls, come on!”
He mulls it over for a second before standing, shoving his book in his back pocket, and running with the other boy.
From my spot on the ground, I watch the boys gather as many water balloons as they can carry and take off. They’re laughing, conspiring against the girls, getting an attack plan together, exactly like young boys should be.
Standing, I brush the dirt and grass off my pants and make my way down the street, away from the smoke of the barbeque. I’ve only gone a few houses when a woman approaches me.
“Hi, I’m Jen,” she reaches her hand out toward me to shake, which I do.
“Hi, I’m Kristen.” She’s not much older than I am, maybe thirty, with a bright smile but dark circles under her eyes.
“I’ve never seen you around here, and I don’t mean any offense, but you don’t look like you live in the area.” She gives me a quick once over and shrugs. She’s not wrong. I stand out, even in jeans and Converse.
I chuckle, “You’re right, I don’t live in the area. I’m actually a journalist and a friend of mine thought I might like to write a story about the block party.”
“Oh! The Bennet family definitely deserves some recognition. We would be much worse off if it weren’t for Alex.”
I want more information, all the information I can get. “Do you mind if I take some notes? I don’t want to forget or get details mixed up.”
“Uh, sure. That’s fine with me.”
Digging in my bag, I find my note pad and pen, flip to a clean page and start writing.
“Do you mind telling me about some of things Alex or his family have done for you?”
“What hasn’t he done? Look around and you’ll see him everywhere. Mowed lawns, clean sidewalks, no moss on the roofs, no broken front doors or windows. He’s fixed leaky pipes, made cars limp along a little while longer, he even feeds the kids in the summer.” Jen gets choked up, her lip trembling as she fights against tears. “My son JJ, looks up too him as a role model, a leader, probably a father figure.”
Tears spill down her cheeks. Stepping closer to her, I wrap my arms around her and hug her tight. I don’t know how to process this. Everything I know about Alex says he’s an immature horn dog.
Jen steps back from me, wiping at her face. “Sorry,” she clears her throat. “He’s been such a miracle, not just for me, but for the entire neighborhood.”
My mind is going a mile a minute, rethinking everything I know. “No problem,” I mumble. “Anyway, I won’t take up anymore of your time. Enjoy the party.”
“Thanks,” Jen walks away, leaving me confused. How does a man who takes nothing seriously, take care of an entire neighborhood? Why? Why does he even live here?
Alex
AWAY FROM THE GRILL, I find a super soaker water gun in one of the pools and sneak up behind the group of girls. I know the boys are waiting for an opportunity to attack, what they don’t know is that I’m waiting for them. They won’t make it out of here unscathed…
Behind a big tree, I’m hidden from the view of the boys as they make their way down an alley. They really need to work on their sleuthing skills, I can hear them whispering and shuffling from here. The girls are distracted by unicorn stuffed animals and glitter stickers, unaware of their impending doom.
Suddenly, there’s an apache scream, and the boys fly out of the alley, raining water balloons down onto the unsuspecting girls. The girls shriek, covering their unicorns, and running in all directions.
Stepping out from behind the tree, I start squirting the boys with freezing water. One by one they all get hit, yelling as they are now under attack and running for cover. Laughing as they duck behind boxes, crates, and trees. Then I’m hit, right between the shoulder blades with a water balloon. Spinning on my heel, I raise the super soaker, ready to take out the sneak.
Kristen?
My moment of hesitation gives her another chance to hit me, landing on my forehead. Laughing so hard, she doubles over, I take my shot and spray her. She screams and runs but I’m not going to let her get away that easily. You can’t shoot a man in the back, that’s cowardice!
Around the corner of the house, I dash out into the open to cross the yard but the girls that were just under attack are now the attackers. Each one holding a bag of water balloons, they throw them. Most of them are terrible shots, but the ones that land are colder than I expected.
Behind me, the boys come running; yelling and armed once again for battle. We’re in an all-out war, water balloons and water guns stashed all over the yard. Girls vs Boys.
By the time we’re out of ammo, everyone is soaked, shivering, and smiling.
“It’s a draw!” I yell for everyone to hear. Cheers erupt around us, parents have gathered around the sidewalk across the street to watch the battle. Glancing at Kristen, she has the biggest smile I’ve ever seen. Cheeks red from excursion, breathing hard, but happy.
Making my way toward her, I’m about to speak when I hear a sorrowful yell from behind me. Turning toward the sound, Milo is on his knees, his book in his hands in front of him.
“It’s ruined!” Everyone sobers up, we all know how important Milo’s books are to him. Shit.
Kristen pushes past me, kneeling down beside him. “I know what we will do,” she tells him. Looking up at her, I’m shocked as he meets her eyes. It’s just for a second, but it happens. “We’ll dry it out and if that doesn’t work, we’ll have a funeral for it. It lived a good life, put up a good fight. It deserves to be buried with respect.”
Milo nods and stands up, holding the book out to Kristen. She stands and takes the book from him, a very serious look on her face as she places it in her bag. “You know, I have a copy at my house that you are welcome to borrow until you can either get yours back or get a new one. I have the other books in the series too, if you would like to read them.”
Milo’s eyebrows draw together as he tries to contemplate what she said to him. “You… you would do that? I could borrow books from you?”
“I don’t let just anyone borrow my books, they’re important to me, but I can tell that you
would take really good care of them.”
Milo doesn’t know what to say, he’s starting to fidget. “Okay, bye.” Are the last words out of his mouth and he’s off, running with the rest of the boys.
Kristen looks at me, a half smile on her lips and she shrugs. Everyone watching turns back to what they were doing, giving me a moment with her. Mom and Dad come out of nowhere, Mom wrapping her arms around the woman I’m itching to touch. As I get close to them, Dad turns and slaps me on the back.
“That was some war. I wasn’t sure there would be any survivors,” his voice light with mischief.
“Yeah, it was pretty close there a few times, but I think a tie is fair.”
“I haven’t had that much fun in a long time.” Kristen’s hair is sticking to her face, shirt soaked and dripping on her shoes. She looks like a drowned rat but still sexy as fuck.
“Hey, I wanted to thank you for taking the time to talk to Milo. Most people don’t put much effort into trying to understand him.” It makes me mad that people don’t get him, he’s such a cool kid.
“He was a blast to talk too once I figured out a good subject. Luckily for me, I’m a big reader.”
My mouth opens to respond when I hear someone call my name, turning JJ is running toward me. “Hey man, what’s up?”
“I’m hungry, can you make more hotdogs?”
“How can you be hungry again? You already ate four!”
JJ shrugs one shoulder but doesn’t say anything. Acting quickly, I swoop down and catch his stomach with my shoulder and lift him off the ground. He starts laughing, trying to fight me but is no match.
“Alright, I’ll see you around. Enjoy the party.” I holler toward Kristen, holding my captive on my shoulder to teach him how to cook on a grill. He’s old enough now, he can start learning.
Kristen
AFTER THE WATER FIGHT, it took me almost an hour to get mostly dry. I’ve talked with multiple people who all have the same things to say about Alex and I still don’t quite know how to reconcile what I know of him with this new information.
Turning back down the street from dumping a garbage bag in the dumpster, I see him.
How did he know I was here?
My heart is pounding, I can’t get a full breath. I’m walking as fast as I can toward the crowd. Run. Hide. Run.
Tears are falling down my face as I hurry toward people. Stumbling, I move as fast as I can toward the groups of people. Lights flash around me, bright colors blurring through the tears. Where am I?
Hide. Run. Hide.
Jane will protect me. She’ll hide me. Find Jane!
I’m sobbing, my breathing getting faster and faster. All I can hear is the pounding of my heart and the screams from my nightmares. My chest hurts, I can’t breathe. My knees give out and I fall to the asphalt. My knees scrapping as they take the brunt of my weight.
My hands fist my hair, pulling on the strands as I rock back and forth.
“Kristen!” I think someone is calling for me, but I don’t know. I don’t know anything except I have to get away from him. Arms circle my shoulders and I scream.
“Kristen, it’s okay, you’re safe.” Ben. I stop screaming but I can’t stop rocking. The tightness in my chest getting worse. Ben. Safe. Ben.
Ben sits on the ground in front of me, his arms around my shoulders, his legs wrapped around my legs. My body trembles and tears still pour down my face. I can’t get my hands to let go of my hair, my fingers are tingling and going numb.
“Bennet!”
I whimper at the voice from a past I don’t know and fight against Ben’s hold to rock again. He found me.
“What the fuck is going on?” Alex is angry. Angry means pain.
“Bennet, you in charge of this cluster fuck?” the voice that haunts my nightmares snaps.
“Cluster fuck? If you mean this block party, yes I am. What do you want Preston?”
They’re so close, he’s going to see me. He’ll see me and take me.
“Do you have the permits for this? The dumpster, closing off the street, a food handler’s permit? Kids are running around without supervision, throwing shit. There’s trespassing, noise complaints, and littering. You’re responsible for all of this.”
I know I’m whimpering but I can’t stop, I just rock harder against my best friend while he tries to comfort me.
“What the fuck is she doing here?” Please don’t hurt me again.
A rough hand grips my arm hard, pulling me away from Ben and forcing me to stand. A cry leaves my mouth as the pain shoots up my arm into my shoulder.
My eyes open when my door slams against the wall. I pull my blankets up to my chin, curling into the smallest ball I can. Maybe if I’m small enough he won’t find me. If he can’t find me, he can’t hurt me.
“Where the fuck are you?” Daddy’s rough voice slurs but the anger behind the words is still clear.
The blankets rip off my body, exposing me in my Jasmin nightgown, cowering and trembling in my bed.
“You’re nothing but a little whore, pretending to be something you’re not.” He grabs my hair and pulls me off the bed. Crying when hair is pulled from my head, my knees scrape against the rough carpet.
“Please!” I beg but doesn’t do any good. It never does. I’m dragged through the house, fighting has hard as I can, but I’m scared and so much smaller than him. “Please, Daddy, I didn’t do anything wrong. Please don’t hurt me again!”
Daddy lifts me off the ground by my arm and I cry harder. It hurts.
“You’re the reason for everything that’s bad in my life!” He throws me onto his bed and hits me hard. Over and over again he hits me. I curl back into a ball, hoping he passes out before he wants to hurt my private place. That’s the worst pain.
“Get the fuck off of her!” Alex has his arm around my waist, pulling me into him. “Yes, I have all the fucking permits I need. Mind your own god damn business!” Alex roars, pulling me away from the devil in sheep’s clothing and cradling me against his chest. I’m trembling so hard my teeth are chattering, and my knees won’t hold me up.
Alex catches me as I start to fall and picks me up. We’re walking but I don’t know where. My arms wrap around his neck and I hold on as hard as I can.
“You’re okay, babe. I’ve got you.” He whispers into my hair, kissing my temple.
A door opens then closes a few minutes later, the music instantly quieting to a dull roar. “I’m taking her to my room to rest, I’ll be right back.” My pounding heart is starting to slow and my breathing is evening out with every inhale of Alex’s cologne.
Another door closes and the scent of Alex intensifies. Without a word, Alex leans over and lays me down on a bed.
Pain. Searing pain rips at my insides, my special place. Hot pokers scraping against me, forcing my body to take more.
“NO! NO! STOP!” the screams rip from my throat.
Just as quickly, I’m off the bed and Alex is standing, breathing hard. “Shit. Okay. You’re okay,” he pants.
I force myself to slow my breathing, control my heartrate. I hate panic. The overwhelming fear that grips me unexpectantly. Taking a deep breath where Alex’s neck becomes his shoulder, I try to concentrate.
Alex. This is Alex. He won’t hurt me.
Alex sits with me in his lap. My eyes are clenched shut but I think we’re on a couch. I curl into a ball on his lap, my go to defense against the pain I’m sure is coming. A big soothing hand rubs circles over my back.
We sit that way for a while, I’m not sure how long, but it’s long enough for me to calm down and be horrified by my panic attack. My cheeks flush and my body tenses. Peeking up I see Alister, Ben, Jane, and David are all in what appears to be Alex’s living room. Curling into myself more, I wrap my arms around my legs and drop my forehead to my knees.
“Hey, Kris. How are you feeling? Would you like a drink of water?” Ben is sitting next to Alex on the couch, speaking quietly. I nod but don’t say anything. Could thi
s be any more humiliating?
“Here,” a bottle touches the back of my hand and I open my hand for it. Unable to figure out a way to get the bottle to my mouth in my current position, I finally sit up but don’t look up. I don’t want to see the pity or the judgement in anyone’s face. All I can picture is the horror on my mother’s face if I had had a panic attack in front of people she knew.
Taking a sip of the water, I screw the cap back on it and pick at the label. I shift on Alex’s lap, not sure what to do. Jane squats down in front of me, places her hands on my knees and looks up at me. “Do you want to talk about it?”
Looking her in the eye, there’s no judgement or pity, only concern. I’ve always wanted my mother to look at me the way Jane is in this moment. I shake my head as tears threaten to fill my eyes again and swallow past the lump in my throat.
A knock on the door startles me, instinctively leaning into Alex. The hand rubbing my back circles my shoulders, pulling me closer to his chest. My cheek lays on the hard muscle, listening to the rhythmic thump of his heart calms me.
“Hey, Alex, a couple of guys are fighting.” One of the neighborhood kids I talked to earlier pokes his head inside. Alex lets out a sigh, kissing my temple he lifts me from his lap.
“Okay, JJ, I’m coming buddy.” He tells the little boy before turning back to me. “I’ll be back as soon as I can, okay?”
I nod but don’t look at him. He saw me completely fall apart over nothing. I’m not even sure he was really here. Maybe it was just a trick of my mind, seeing someone that looked like him.
Alex kisses my forehead and leaves, Jane following along behind him. The door closes and it’s quiet. Painfully quiet.
“So, uh... surprise?” Ben offers.
I laugh. It didn’t even hit me that him and Alister aren’t supposed to be home for another few days.
Alex
STOMPING OUT MY FRONT door, I follow behind JJ to the fight. I can already see the crowd closing in on the drama that’s unfolding. This is the last thing I want to deal with right now. I want to make sure Kristen is alright, find out what happened to make her panic like that, but no. I’m out here breaking up a drunken brawl.
