Page 5 of The Reunion
Letting in alternating blasts of heat and cold when the evening sun dappled over us through the space between its cars, the train took my mind with it as it inched along the tracks when it left town.
Stuck in the side door of the last car, a long strand of shiny yellow tape beat against the wind.
Since I found out we were moving to this little Podunk town trapped on all sides by tree-covered mountains, my parents just dragged me along like that ribbon.
Kicking and screaming at them in my head as a little more of me disappeared every day, I fell into a pit of sadness with no way for me to regain my footing on solid ground again.
Just this morning, on my way to school, I was thinking about tossing myself off the train bridge — at least I had control of that. But Faith came out of nowhere and opened the door to free me, and everything started to fall into place.
I don’t think I even had a choice about loving her. How can I not be forever tied to the girl who saved me?
Another few people rounded the corner of the bleachers, and I stretched up to squint at their faces through the sun’s glare. “Where does she live?”
Jason pulled another nacho from the white and red checkered cardboard container and shoved it in his mouth. “At the top of that big hill, right past the playground at the elementary school.”
He flicked through the chips to find another one that wasn’t too soggy. “Don’t worry. She’ll be here.”
Letting the cheese drip to the bleacher floor on his other side, he shook the chip before shoving that in his mouth. “Her dad mostly works the evening and night shift.”
Pausing to take a drink of his soda, he cleared his teeth with his tongue and shrugged. “But she’s a big fraidy cat. So she usually comes here when something is happening, so she doesn’t have to be home alone.”
I could listen to him talk about her all night, and if she didn’t show up, I would have made him do it, too. “What about her mom?” Lifting my feet to the bleacher in front of us, I leaned against the one behind me, sliding my arms out along it. “Where is she?”
Jason squished the nacho container and tossed it in the trash can at the bottom of the stands. “She ran away right before school let out last year. Just packed up all her shit while Faith was at practice and never came back again.” The Freshman team came onto the field to warm up, and he circled his finger by his ear as he squinted at them. “Her mom was a coo-coo bird who was always doing shit to embarrass Faith. It’s been tough for her, but she’s better off, honestly.”
“Yeah.” I peeked over my shoulder to try to see through the slats of wood when another group of people walked behind the stands. “I got one of those, too. Except she won’t do me the honor of going away.”
Compared to most folks here, I lived in a palace. I bet they thought I was so lucky. But my mother was a religious nut elitist who cherry-picked her Bible to back up her crazy ideas. Letting anyone inside my world to hear her spew her hateful nonsense terrified me. “That woman would have me in diapers with a titty in my mouth still if she could.” Jason nearly spit out his soda laughing as I shook my head at him. “I ain’t even lying, bro.”
The only buffer I had between me and her borderline abuse was my father, who worked too much to ever be of much help. “My dad is so over her bullshit. He just lies about where I am and sends her to spas once or twice a month so I can be a normal teenager sometimes.” It seemed like money was the most important thing to my parents, and I grew to hate them both for it a little more every day. “He knows how sick the whole thing is. I guess he figures it’s cheaper to keep her instead of taking the chance that some judge would bankrupt him if he filed for divorce.”
A dark ponytail blowing away in the wind caught my eye, and I sat up a little straighter to wipe the sweat from my palms. “There she is.”
She paused at the end of the stairs and searched for someone to sit with, so Jason whistled to get her attention. “Faith.” Waving for her, he shifted his ass over to let her sit between us. “Over here.”
Still wearing my sweatshirt, she buried her hands inside the pockets as she climbed up to us. “Thanks.”
Jason tossed up his hands as he leaned back against the bleacher behind us. “Where’s Carolyn?”
Pushing herself back onto the seat, she sighed and lifted her feet on the bleacher in front of her. “She has to work at the diner until eight.”
Like it wasn’t a big deal, he flipped up his hand from the bleacher, but anyone with eyes would notice how excited he got whenever Carolyn was around. “We should stop over and see her after the game.”
Her shoulders rolled up, and she curled around her knees as she shrunk away from us. “I guess I can for a little bit.” I spent almost every second I was with Faith studying how she moved. So, when she tried to make herself smaller like that, I practically felt the stress weighing her down. “I need to go home before it gets too dark since Dad has to work, though.”
The knee of his long gray shorts swayed into her. “What you need is a couple of big, loud dogs.”
Relaxing enough to take a deep breath, she unwound from herself a little. “Trust me. I’ve been trying to talk Dad into it all summer.”
Crashing into her with my shoulder, I bumped the side of her forehead with mine. “I’ll be your watchdog.” Growling at her, I chomped my teeth together until she smiled. “I’m already housebroken and everything.” I kicked my foot into hers as I leaned back onto the bleacher. “I’ll just curl up by your feet, and you’ll sleep like a baby. I promise.”
She barely said anything at all unless you forced her to. So when she sank back against the bleacher where my arm waited for her and turned her chin toward me, it was like I crossed the finish line in making her trust me. “I wish you would. I don’t think I sleep more than a few hours on the nights he’s gone, and I’m so tired.”
I wiggled the edge of my thumb on her shoulder. “You can call me anytime you need me to sing you to sleep.” I leaned in close to have a whiff of her hair and whispered, “Or I can just sneak over and keep you company.” When she smiled back at me, I shook my head to let her know how serious I was because I wasn’t doing much sleeping those last few months, either. “I mean it. Any time, day or night.”
I doubt anyone but me would have noticed, but she shifted her hips a little closer to me, and I froze for a second as I tried to process what that meant.
There’s something gut-wrenching and thrilling at the same time about trying to make someone love you. Waiting for them to catch up to the same level of feelings as you, looking for those signs in their eyes telling you to push a little harder, how happy you are when they finally let their guard down.