“Years ago, Mom,” I said. “Years ago.”
She nodded. “Yeah. Years ago.”
If he had done what he did to the wall to you, Mom, you wouldn’t be here right now…
My heart ached with the words I wanted to say.
Mom stood up and her chair went flying behind her. “Well, I’m going to bed. You should too. Everything will be okay, Amelia. Fly, baby, fly…”
I nodded. “Always.”
“What’s the new story?”
“Oh, I don’t have-”
“You have to have something. Come on.”
My brain scrambled. “I… uh… well, there’s this one idea. This room with a window, right? But the way out is so steep, this person is trapped. So, she has to find a way out.”
“A person, huh?” Mom asked.
“Well, I don’t know yet.”
“How does she get out?”
Mom was really excited.
I was just making things up as I went along.
“Uh… she just stares down and is afraid. Until she finally just… does it.”
“She climbs down?” she asked.
“Yes. She has the ability and strength to climb down. To freedom.”
“I like that,” she said. “Write it. I want to read it.”
“I will. Goodnight.”
“Fly, baby, fly,” Mom said as she walked away.
I gave her a minute or two to get upstairs.
I wasn’t going to fly.
But I wasn’t going to stay home either.
Chapter 20
Rockin’ It
THEN
(Josh)
“This is for the win, man,” Murph said. “Pick your rock. Make it count.”
Abel stacked up the empty beer bottles on the tree stump.
There was a pile of rocks next to me.
This was how we stayed out of trouble. Which was kind of a lie, because throwing rocks at bottles was just practice for when we needed to throw rocks at windows.
Last week, Nash won.
Tonight he had been eliminated by Murph.
If I broke three of the bottles, I’d win.
And what would I win?
Nothing.
Just the right to brag. And then we’d do it again next week. Get together, drink - because we needed empty bottles to throw rocks at - and have fun.
It sure as hell beat being at home.
And with the nights starting to get comfortable again, I had no reason to go home, ever. I could find my way around, find somewhere to crash or just crash outside. As long as I stayed hidden and the cops didn’t break my balls for being out in public, I was good.
“Take your shot,” Abel called out.
I grabbed the first rock.
Murph liked to go through the rocks.
I eyed the bottles and wound up for my throw.
The rock sailed through the air and hit the bottles so hard, all three broke. They shattered all at once. It was an explosion of glass.
“Damn!” Nash called out. “You did it, man.”
I put my arms up in the air. “Told you I’d win tonight.”
“Now what do we do?” Abel asked. “We’re out of beer.”
“Let’s go steal more,” Nash said.
“And get some snacks,” Murph said. “Unless we feel like going for a run.”
“A run?” I asked. “Where?”
“There’s always work to be done.”
“I’m not in the mood to work,” Nash said. “I’m fucking exhausted after last week’s fight.”
We were all feeling it.
There had been a big fight last week.
Two schools. Meeting up at the coal dumps. Just working some pent-up stuff out. We fought until the cops showed up and then we all scattered before getting arrested.
The fights were needed, but they really didn’t do anything.
They would calm things down for a minute or two and then rumors and other bullshit would start.
I looked down at the rocks in the pile.
“What the hell are we going to do now?” Abel asked.
I pointed to the rocks. “I have an idea.”
We each had a bunch of rocks in our shirts.
“Right here,” I said.
We dropped our rocks down to the sidewalk across the street from my father’s house.
My mind pushed back at me.
He has a family. Another family. A new family. There are other people in the house. Innocent people. People who did nothing wrong to you. People who don’t know what had happened.
Even still… it was just how things went in life.
Kind of like what he did.
When he showed up and…
I brought my arm back.
“What are we doing?” Murph asked.
“We break every fucking window,” I said.
“Are you serious?” Abel asked.
“Watch me,” I said.
“Hey, Josh, wait,” Nash said. “Your girlfriend is here.”
“What?” I asked.
I lowered my arm and turned to see Amelia walking up the sidewalk.
What the hell is she doing here? Again?
She was just walking with her hands in her pockets and her head down. Not even realizing she was walking toward us. Or what street she was on. Not to mention if she kept going and went over the hill, she’d be in the worst part of town. A place where guys like Murph didn’t have guys like me to stop things from happening.
“Hey,” I called out.
She looked up and her eyes went really big.
“She’s cute and hot at the same time,” Murph said to me from the side of his mouth.
“Say that again and I’ll smash this rock through your teeth,” I said to him.
“Whoa,” he said. “Possessive?”
“Protective,” I said. “She has no idea what she’s doing.”
I met her down the sidewalk a little and she had that look on her face. The same look she had right before she cried that one night. Which meant something happened again with her father.
First thing I did was look at her face to make sure he hadn’t hit her.
Murph was right.
She was cute. And she was hot.
I shook my head though.
She was a few years younger than me.
Which was a big deal at my age.
“You okay?” I asked her.
She shook her head.
“Okay. Give me a second.”
I turned and looked at Murph.
I didn’t need to say a word.
“Hey, boys, let’s walk,” he ordered.
“Right,” Nash said.
“Enjoy the night,” Abel said.
They all looked at Amelia and they all started to laugh.
My lip curled.
Sometimes I thought about fighting them.
“Why do they look at me like that?”
“Truthfully? They think you’re my girlfriend.”
“What?” she asked. “Why?”
“I told them you were.”
She swallowed hard. Her cheeks went flush. “Why…”
“It’s hard to explain,” I said. “It’s sort of a claiming thing. That sounds bad. Really bad. But… you’re a pretty girl, Amelia. They look at you a certain way. And a lot of others would too. And they would do anything or say anything to convince you to like them. And it’s not just liking them, okay?”