contrary it made my mouth water.
“What’s that like?” I asked him nodding at the joint.
He inhaled deeply, looking at me from the corner of his eyes.
“It keeps me calm. Never ever tell Nana you saw me smoking this.” Nathan said sounding a little ashamed.
“You’re still afraid of her?” I said with a giggle.
Nathan was considered a grown man that was twice the size of our grandmother.
“Hell yeah. She’d skin me alive.”
I laughed at the thought.
“I’m serious. Don’t tell her nothing Piper.”
“I won’t,” I promised then remembered his reason. “Why do you need to be kept calm?”
I was genuinely curious. He sat for moment in thought, as we watched the water flow by hypnotically. Nathan picked up a rock and tossed it.
“I have a hard time living with what’s happened to you. It’s all my fault, Piper. If I’d stayed, this would’ve never happened.”
He dropped his head and took a drag from the joint. I shook my head in protest.
“Nathan, if you’d stayed, you would probably be in that cornfield with her.” I shivered inside as I said this.
Nana had told Nathan most of my story, of course. He said nothing to me about it, but I knew we would have to talk one day.
No one knew where she was but us. Actually, no one knew anything that one of us hadn’t disclosed. Since Daniel and my mother were dead, Nana wanted me spared from all that would come with being known as “that girl,” for the rest of my life. I was thankful for that.
We did not hide it, or never speak of it. It was all just better “left to God,” as she would put it. We agreed to leave my mother wherever she was in that cornfield. I didn’t want to talk about her. I couldn’t stand the thought of her, not while the image of my daddy’s tie in her hands was so very fresh to me.
Sitting and watching the river now, Nathan didn’t say anything. There was a comfortable but heavy silence with us. Finally I broke it.
“Can I try that?”
Nathan looked at my face as if he heard something but was unsure what exactly.
“Not just no, but hell no,” Nathan said shaking his head.
“And why not?”
“Just cause. It’s not good for you,” he said sternly then tossed the joint in the water.
“There,” he said, proud of himself. “I’d better not hear of you doing stuff like that either. I mean it, Piper,” he warned me seriously, which was kind of ruined by the grin that crept over his lips. I elbowed him in the ribs.
“You’re no fun, Nathan,” I pouted, but felt good he was looking after me, even if it was fairly hypocritical.
He walked with me, as I guided Betsy to the stable, and then he walked me back to the house with a big arm holding me close to him. For a few minutes the hole that was in my chest was almost filled.
…
I was homeschooled for a little over a year to keep me on track for high school. It took some adjusting to social gatherings a little at a time. The following Christmas I was back in school and doing pretty good.
I rode with Matthew and Josh every morning and afternoon, as Matthew drove. I think this helped Nana’s fear, as she never wanted me alone, left to only my dark thoughts. Josh and I were in most of the same classes together, and I had to help him with homework because most of his time was taken up by weight-training for football or some silly giggling female. Even off-season, his schedule revolved around football training.
Matthew and I would wait in the truck until Josh was finished in the afternoons. Josh normally took only an hour after school, so Matthew and I would talk and do homework, or read as the windows fogged up. I would draw on the windows, and more than once I caught Matthew watching me, with sadness. I didn’t feel bad when I saw it in his eyes, like I did with others. After all, he was my hero.
He had pulled me out of thick mud and had gently lain me in the truck bed. That was something I would never forget. In my mind, Matthew could damn
“What’s that like?” I asked him nodding at the joint.
He inhaled deeply, looking at me from the corner of his eyes.
“It keeps me calm. Never ever tell Nana you saw me smoking this.” Nathan said sounding a little ashamed.
“You’re still afraid of her?” I said with a giggle.
Nathan was considered a grown man that was twice the size of our grandmother.
“Hell yeah. She’d skin me alive.”
I laughed at the thought.
“I’m serious. Don’t tell her nothing Piper.”
“I won’t,” I promised then remembered his reason. “Why do you need to be kept calm?”
I was genuinely curious. He sat for moment in thought, as we watched the water flow by hypnotically. Nathan picked up a rock and tossed it.
“I have a hard time living with what’s happened to you. It’s all my fault, Piper. If I’d stayed, this would’ve never happened.”
He dropped his head and took a drag from the joint. I shook my head in protest.
“Nathan, if you’d stayed, you would probably be in that cornfield with her.” I shivered inside as I said this.
Nana had told Nathan most of my story, of course. He said nothing to me about it, but I knew we would have to talk one day.
No one knew where she was but us. Actually, no one knew anything that one of us hadn’t disclosed. Since Daniel and my mother were dead, Nana wanted me spared from all that would come with being known as “that girl,” for the rest of my life. I was thankful for that.
We did not hide it, or never speak of it. It was all just better “left to God,” as she would put it. We agreed to leave my mother wherever she was in that cornfield. I didn’t want to talk about her. I couldn’t stand the thought of her, not while the image of my daddy’s tie in her hands was so very fresh to me.
Sitting and watching the river now, Nathan didn’t say anything. There was a comfortable but heavy silence with us. Finally I broke it.
“Can I try that?”
Nathan looked at my face as if he heard something but was unsure what exactly.
“Not just no, but hell no,” Nathan said shaking his head.
“And why not?”
“Just cause. It’s not good for you,” he said sternly then tossed the joint in the water.
“There,” he said, proud of himself. “I’d better not hear of you doing stuff like that either. I mean it, Piper,” he warned me seriously, which was kind of ruined by the grin that crept over his lips. I elbowed him in the ribs.
“You’re no fun, Nathan,” I pouted, but felt good he was looking after me, even if it was fairly hypocritical.
He walked with me, as I guided Betsy to the stable, and then he walked me back to the house with a big arm holding me close to him. For a few minutes the hole that was in my chest was almost filled.
…
I was homeschooled for a little over a year to keep me on track for high school. It took some adjusting to social gatherings a little at a time. The following Christmas I was back in school and doing pretty good.
I rode with Matthew and Josh every morning and afternoon, as Matthew drove. I think this helped Nana’s fear, as she never wanted me alone, left to only my dark thoughts. Josh and I were in most of the same classes together, and I had to help him with homework because most of his time was taken up by weight-training for football or some silly giggling female. Even off-season, his schedule revolved around football training.
Matthew and I would wait in the truck until Josh was finished in the afternoons. Josh normally took only an hour after school, so Matthew and I would talk and do homework, or read as the windows fogged up. I would draw on the windows, and more than once I caught Matthew watching me, with sadness. I didn’t feel bad when I saw it in his eyes, like I did with others. After all, he was my hero.
He had pulled me out of thick mud and had gently lain me in the truck bed. That was something I would never forget. In my mind, Matthew could damn
Similar Books
