Still too faded to acknowledge. Her chin weathervaned with the wind, the perfectly distracted angle. Her slouch beanie, hiding her red sandstorm hair completed the cut-off. Hurry feet.
A hand latched onto her elbow.
“Hey there, Freeec…”
Freak. Never Freet. Yeah, she knew the final consonant well. Dead parents gave a respect she long desired. Only now, she didn’t care.
Leif Kollin Bowmaunt. Voted most likely to party.
Reality? Drug head. Once one of her greatest tormentors. Now, pock-marked, and thin as a stalk of celery. Meth supplier to the region’s high schoolers. Convicted, sent up, out and shoveling dirt for the city’s cemetery.
And digging for dirt on her.
She stared at him, but didn’t dare remove her sunglasses.
“Sorry about—you know.” He shrugged in the vague direction of the fresh graves behind her.
She gave a short nod. Her signature. Then she turned. The hand clamped her again.
“I mean, tough sentence. Huh? Both of them.” He swore. “Man. We were all talking down at Tino’s. Your dad was a hoot.”
A hoot? Her fingers snatched his thick pinky finger, and yanked.
“What the—?”
Hands clench. Feet go. Walk. Walk faster. Each step kept her mind in neutral.
“Listen, Freak,” Leif Kollin Bowmaunt called, vice-president of the Senior class. “Just paying my respects. Screw you and your family.”
Duly noted. Status unchanged.
More muffled curses followed her as she continued her trek. The brick arch cast a shadow over her as she passed under. Once through, she paused. It seemed brighter here somehow. Her only regret was not being able to take Mama and Papa along. But the urns had been too unwieldy.
Besides, they never demanded to accompany her on her walkabouts. Papa Charlie’s bad knees and Mama Blossom’s electric wheelchair had them comfortably stabilized in that small farm house.
She looped the edge of town. The post office peeked at her from Main, the dime store, and the pool hall. She dodged the church. A few people waved from their yards. Just out of respect. She ignored them.
She reached the far edge of town and chose a country rock road over the main highway. A no-duh choice. Quiet, less traffic, better scenery. More selection in camping facilities.
Goal: warmer weather, calmer seas. Therefore south.
Bohemian lifestyle had always suited. Even when choked with grief.
The wind reminded her of the tenth month, but the sun encouraged. She glanced down at her black yoga pants to her favorite rain boots, clumping along, covered in giant sunflowers. The one thing she would miss was her collection of rain boots. But she had her goat ones in her pack. No more room for more. Besides, these were the only two pair that had survived. Each step clunked comfort up her spine.
She patted the bills in her brown hoody’s pocket. Greyhound money for bad weather. Or whatever. The smell of smoke now filtered to her nose. The black ruins on the right side of the road clawed at her insides. The old homestead. Gone. Everything was gone. Possession meant nothing. Never had. But Blossom and Charlie?
She took a sharp breath and set her gaze ahead. The wooded area before her would soon envelope her and she would camouflage right in. Blend in. Disappear. Right sun flowered rain boot stepped out.
Time to fade away.
References
All Bible Verses used in The Secret Storm are from the Amplified Bible (AMP) Copyright © 2015 by the Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. www.Lockman.org.
“He hushed the storm to a gentle whisper, so that the waves of the sea were still.” Psalm 107:29
“Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.” 2 Corinthians 5:17
Full version of the passage: “Therefore if anyone is in Christ [that is, grafted in, joined to Him by faith in Him as Savior], he is a new creature [reborn and renewed by the Holy Spirit]; the old things [the previous moral and spiritual condition] have passed away.”
“Flee the evil desires of youth and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.” 2 Timothy 2:22
Full version of the passage: “Flee the evil desires of youth and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those [believers] who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.”
“A soft and gentle and thoughtful answer turns away wrath.” Proverbs 15:1a
“We are pressured in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; hunted down and persecuted, but not deserted, struck down, but never destroyed.” 2 Corinthians 4:8, 9
Full version of the passage: “We are pressured in every way [hedged in], but not crushed; perplexed [unsure of finding a way out], but not driven to despair, hunted down and persecuted, but not deserted [to stand alone]; struck down, but never destroyed”
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