by C. L. Stone
That afternoon, Kota said he was going to the Academy with Victor. Silas and North had their first football practice. Luke and Gabriel joined Nathan and I on the bus for the ride home. I was under orders from Nathan to check in at home, with Luke as my shadow. We were going to hole up at Nathan’s house for the evening.
Marie walked with me to our house. The swelter made the thin hoodie I wore today feel heavy against my skin. Luke took the back trail around Nathan’s house. He’d wait for Marie and me to enter before he scaled the house to my bedroom window.
I waited until Marie went into her room before closing and locking my door. Luke slipped quietly into my room, dashing into the attic. This was a critical point. Marie could barge in any minute and I didn’t know how my mom was doing.
When the attic door closed behind Luke, I thumped down the stairs louder than necessary to give Luke an idea of where I was. I peeked in at my mom. She was awake but her eyes drooped as she gazed at the television blaring the news. She didn’t notice when I was standing there so I pushed the door against the wall to make some noise.
She turned her head to me, her dull eyes focusing on my elbow, my shoes, at the frame of the doorway above my head. “What?” she grumbled.
“Just letting you know I was home,” I said.
“Go clean your room,” she demanded. “I don’t want to hear a peep out of you today.”
“Can I bring you something to eat?”
She picked up a cup of soup from her night stand to show to me. “Get out of here.”
I ran back upstairs. I tapped on the attic door before crossing the room to pick out a pair of short blue shorts and a thin t-shirt. I checked on Marie before I got to the bathroom to change. She was gone. I suspected she was on her way to Danielle’s house. It occurred to me that our mother hadn’t asked about her. I dismissed it. Maybe she would never have asked for me at all today. Popping in to check on her just set back the unseen timer on when my mother thought to actually check on us.
After I dressed, I poked my head into my room. Luke was ready at the window. He shuffled out onto the roof and I took the back stairs. We met in the garage and we took off for Nathan’s house.
I knocked just so we weren’t scaring them and because it was awkward to me to just walk in.
Luke held my hand, grinning at me and shaking his head. “You’re too nice.”
Gabriel answered the door wearing a pair of jeans and a bright neon green tank shirt. He smirked at me, crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the frame of the door. “Oy,” he said. “Hey there, Trouble.” His eyes went to my hair. “Nope, nuh uh.” He held out his hand. “Give it up.”
I felt my eyebrows pop up. “Why?”
“Pay the toll. You can come in if you give me the clip.”
I sighed. “It’s too hot to have my hair down.”
“Stop it,” Luke said. He slipped off the blazer he was still wearing, undoing the tie at his neck.
Gabriel rubbed at his head. “I’ve been looking at that thing all week and I haven’t said anything. I hate it. I want it back. I was gonna do her hair anyway.”
Nathan appeared at the door. He was in running pants, sneakers and a red Nike shirt. “Oh good, you’re here.” He held a few water bottles in his hands. “Come on, we’re going out.”
“Let me get this stupid uniform off first,” Luke said, chucking off his shirt as he trailed into the house.
Ten minutes later, Luke had changed into a pair of jeans, shirtless and with sneakers. I followed Nathan through Kota’s backyard. Gabriel and Luke trailed behind us. We all carried water bottles. Bees buzzed around the dandelions in the grass. It felt more like a summer day and I half forgot already about school and homework.
“Why are we going into the woods?” Gabriel asked, sounding more curious than concerned. He had his arms up over his head, resting his forearms on top of his hair. With his arms up, his shirt lifted to reveal the red edge of his boxers above the hem of his jeans and a little bit of his tan skin at his hip.
“I promised to take Sang,” Nathan said. He leaned into me to whisper close to my ear. “I really needed to get out of the house.”
“No worries,” I whispered back. I didn’t mind. We’d been cooped up at school and with hiding from my parents at home.
“Stop talking about me,” Gabriel whined. When I looked back, he was pouting but as he caught my eyes he winked and smiled.
We stood at the edge of Kota’s yard. The trees behind his house thinned out at one spot and there was a brown dirt path between two palm trees that crossed above our heads. The palm trees seemed out of place to me. I forgot how far south my family had moved sometimes.
Nathan led the way under the two trees. There was a broad, cleared path just behind the tree line, the ground flattened wide enough to perhaps make a paved road in the future. Or maybe someone had wanted to but changed their minds and left the spot abandoned. The grass was overgrown, up to our mid-calves.
Nathan headed east and was lifting his knees to crunch down on the grass. I wished I had worn jeans this time, but I fell behind him so I could follow along in his trail. Luke shadowed me. Gabriel blazed his own trail to my right.
“Hey wait up!” A girl’s voice shouted from behind us. My heart stopped in my chest. For a moment I was worried it was Marie.
Instead, Jessica was running up, following Gabriel’s trail in. The edge of her glasses had fogged a little and her cheeks flushed.
“What’s she doing?” Nathan asked, wiping his hand against his cheek.
“Maybe she wanted to come along,” I said.
“I don’t know about that,” Nathan said. “I didn’t think she was the outdoor type.”
“She can go, can’t she? It’s Kota’s sister. Let her come.” I had a warm spot for anyone in Kota’s family. They were always so friendly to me. “Hey,” I called to her. “You wanted to come with us?”
She slowed when she got close. She was wearing khaki pants and a rose colored blouse that suited her shoulder length dark hair. She glanced at the guys, hesitating.
I wondered if she was as intimidated as I felt when I was around them. I smiled to her and stretched my hand out. I knew I had to make an effort to be friendlier. It felt a lot easier with Jessica. Maybe because she looked like Kota and she was younger. “Come on,” I said.
She reached out to take my hand and I helped her over until she was standing behind me.
We set off again, letting Nathan lead the way. At certain points the grass was up to our thighs. With Nathan’s persistence, we weaved our way through.
We soon got to a part where the grass had thinned out considerably. The main path curved northward. There was a small dirt road to the right that twisted away, shaded in an archway of walnut trees.
Nathan pointed to the dirt road. “Don’t go back there,” he warned. “There’s a big pile of sawdust they never came back to clear. That’s pretty much it. It’s dangerous so stay out of it.” He glanced back at me, making his point clear. He was specifically telling me. I hid an eye roll at his assumption that I would do anything dangerous on purpose.
Since the grass was short here, it was easier to walk beside each other. The boys moved ahead of us and Jessica and I tailed them. They hovered at the entryway to the dirt road, talking about a good way to post a sign or block it so no one would go in there. Academy boys were always working.
I struggled with something to talk to Jessica about. There was little I actually knew about her other than being related to Kota. We’d been so busy that I didn’t have a chance to get to know her when I was over at Kota’s. I forced my lips apart to start talking. “How do you like your school, Jessica?”
“It’s okay,” she said. “I wish we didn’t have to wear uniforms.”
I blinked at her. “Do you go to a private school?”
“Yes,” she said. “Not to the Academy though.”
“Why not the Academy?”
“Kota won’t let me.”
I perked up. He didn’t want his own sister going, just like he didn’t want me going. “Why not?”
She shrugged. “I don’t think I want to go anyway. They are always working and always at the school. They never get a real break. They’re there during the summer, too. I like school, but not that much.”
I struggled with the idea of Kota not allowing his own little sister to go to the school he went to. Was it because of the things they were doing now? Was getting beaten up and being subjected to crazy situations like helping Ashley Waters a requirement? I wondered how the others felt. They hadn’t objected to Kota’s request.
Crunching sounds and voices filtered to my ears, noises that didn’t belong to us. I wasn’t quite sure where it was coming from. The guys continued to argue about what to do and didn’t seem to have noticed.
“Guys,” I said softly.
Luke was saying something about a barn. “Let’s show it to her.”
“There could be wasps,” Nathan said. “I don’t want to take her there until I’ve had a chance to clear it out.”
“Guys...” The sound of footfalls was getting closer but I still couldn’t locate the direction.
“Sang doesn’t want to see some old barn,” Gabriel said. He splashed some of his water in his face. “Let’s go swim.”
“Guys!”
They all turned to me. I held a finger to my lips to indicate they should be quiet.
Once they stopped talking, they caught on to what I was hearing. Their heads turned but it was Nathan who turned around, looking down the dirt path.
We watched as Derrick emerged from further down the dirt path. He was wearing jean shorts and Converse high tops, but was shirtless. Following him were two boys who looked to be about Jessica’s age. One had straight blond hair cut to his shoulders, was gangly, and shorter than Jessica. The other one had dark curly hair, was thin but taller than her and deeply tan.
We stared at each other for a moment. Both groups seemed surprised the other one was there.
“Hey,” Derrick said, waving.
“Hey,” Nathan said. “What are you doing back there? It’s dangerous.”
“We were checking the surrounding woods to see if there was more than one saw dust pile,” said the blond. His face was pale, his eyes dark and he wore jean cutoff shorts and a white t-shirt and glasses. I couldn’t be sure but it looked like he was scowling.
“Who’s that?” shouted the curly haired kid asked. He pointed to me. He was shirtless and wearing camo shorts that looked ripped and old. His ribs stuck out. He wasn’t sickly, just thin.
“That’s Sang,” Nathan said. “She’s with the family that moved into the new house.”
“Yeah,” Derrick said, his dark eyes lighting up. “Are we allowed to come over and play basketball yet?”
I blushed. I glanced at the others. Little did he know he couldn’t ever come over.
“We’re working on it,” Nathan said, his hand finding mine and he squeezed gently. “Her mom’s a little shy.”
Relief washed over me. At least they weren’t going to tell everyone about what happened.
“I know. Her sister mentioned it,” he said. He pointed toward where we had come from. “You all heading this way?”
“We were thinking of seeing where this main path ends,” Nathan said, nodding his head in the opposite direction.
“There’s nothing out there,” Derrick said. “It goes on for about two miles and then cuts off against a line of trees.”
Nathan looked disappointed. “Why build this thing in the middle of nowhere?”
“Why clear out the trees and leave that saw dust hazard?” Derrick asked and shrugged. “Who knows? They probably meant to make more developments but ran out of money.”
We started heading back the way we came. I wondered why Derrick wasn’t part of their circle. They seemed friendly enough with each other and he was our age.
The younger boys were talking to each other in hushed voices.
“Who are the other two,” I asked Jessica quietly.
“The blond is Micah and the dark haired guy is Tom,” she said. “They live in the houses across the highway.”
“Do they go to your school?”
“No, they go to the public school.” Her eyes kept drifting to them. “They don’t really like me, though.”
“Why not?”
“I’m a girl.”
I laughed. “I’m a girl, too.”
“They might not like you either, then.”
We followed the guys to the trail with the higher grass. We stood together in a big circle. I felt the eyes of the new guys on me as if trying to weigh out who I was and if they could trust me.
“How old are you?” Derrick asked me.
I blushed, looking at Nathan. Nathan shrugged, his face suggesting it was okay to talk. Why was I turning to him as if he was going to answer for me?
“We’re in the same grade,” I replied. Maybe it wasn’t a direct answer but I thought it should be obvious.
“I know,” he said. “I wasn’t sure. You look younger. I thought maybe you skipped a grade.”
“It’s those clothes,” Micah said. “You look like you belong in third grade.”
“Hey,” Gabriel said loudly. He hooked an arm around my neck and half leaned against me. “What’s wrong with her clothes?”
“They’re all...” Micah started, but he fumbled his words and pointed his hand toward me as if just looking at them was enough to explain it.
“Like girl clothes?” Gabriel snapped at him. “Sue her. She is a girl.”
“Stop it, Micah,” Derrick said. Micah shot him a look but Derrick had turned to Nathan. “Did you show her the barn yet?”
“I wanted to make sure there weren’t any wasps,” Nathan said. “I haven’t been back there in a while.”
“We were just there,” piped in Tom. He seemed happier than his friend. He smiled at us. “There weren’t any.”
“Let’s go through the woods instead of taking the long way,” Derrick said. “We’ve been trying to see if there’s anything else through this mess here. Like any more secret barns in the middle of nowhere.”
Micah grunted and started walking toward the trees. “Let’s get this over with.”
Micah led the way. I looked at Nathan, awaiting confirmation that this was a good idea. He shrugged, hesitating but Gabriel and Luke were already following Derrick and Tom into the woods. I did a short sprint to catch up with Gabriel. Nathan fell in behind me, Jessica behind him.
We walked in a line because it was really the only way to make it through. The woods were thick and there wasn’t a specific trail. The underbrush swiped at my legs. The heat and humidity seemed to intensify as the trees enclosed around us.
The sunlight filtered down to us thinly through the crest of leaves overhead. The area took on a heavy haze of green.
Micah wound his way through the trees with Derrick occasionally pointing a direction out to him.
“Why do you keep telling me where to go?” Micah asked. “If we take a straight line we’ll get there faster.”
“Just cut through here,” Derrick said. He pointed to where there was a break in the trees. “There’s a big open space there. I want to check it out.”
We spilled out into a natural circular clearing. The leaves above us appeared thicker and blocked out the light. It was almost like a dome over our heads. Two huge live oaks sat in the middle, gnarled into each other as if in an ongoing battle for dominance of the space. The roots twisted above the ground surrounding them.
We moved forward as a group. The trees were really beautiful, with thick branches dripping with moss. The air was thick with the smell of green and pollen and I let it fill my lungs.
My legs itched and I lifted one high for a moment to scratch. I wondered if I was getting bit by mosquitos.
“You okay?” Nathan asked, his eyes on my fingers scratching.
“Just a bug bite,” I said. I conti
nued to try to scratch at it. I felt one on my other calf, too but I ignored it while he was watching so he wouldn’t worry. “Remind me to spray for bugs before we do this again.”
“Welcome to the south,” he said. “The bugs will eat you alive.”
We were halfway toward the two trees when Jessica shouted behind us.
“Stop!” she said. I turned around to see her waving her hands in the air. “Don’t move!”
“What?” I asked.
“She’s just going to tell us there’s some rare bug or some crazy wild flower,” Micah complained. “Who cares?”
“No,” she cried out. “There’s stinging nettle here.”
We all froze, eyes surveying the ground around us.
“What’s stinging nettle?” I asked. In my mind flashed images of tiny wasps. More southern bugs?
“It’s the plants,” she said. She carefully stood on one leg, bringing her other foot up high so she could unfold the hem of her khaki pants over her shoes to make sure her socks at her ankles were covered. “If you touch it, it’ll sting your skin.”
I looked down. In the underbrush were some prickly looking plants about up to our knees.
The whole area around the two oak trees was covered in the same sticky little plants. The leaves sashayed easily against a breeze that picked up around us.
“It’s all over,” I said.
“If you have pants, you should be okay,” Jessica said. “Sang’s already been stung.”
She was right. The outside of my legs were red and splotchy. I could have mistaken them for a hundred tiny mosquito bites. I hadn’t really looked at them before but now spotting it, my legs itched like crazy.
“What do we do?” I asked, squeezing my legs together in an effort to subdue the itching and become as thin as possible to get away from the plants around us.
Nathan stepped forward as if testing out the area. When it seemed like he wasn’t getting stung, he marched toward me. He turned around and crouched. “Get on my back,” he said.
My heart smashed against my rib cage. I wrapped my arms around his neck. He scooped up my legs under the knees and hauled me up. His muscles flexed against my chest and stomach as he stood.
