Hendrix
I throw the driftwood down the muddy creek, Thor chases, then drops into the dirt and gnaws on the wood. He gets the concept of catch. It’s the returning he hasn’t mastered yet.
It’s a long walk to the creek, yet it wasn’t long enough. Don’t know how many miles it will take to get the demons clinging on to my back off. Maybe those demons are there to stay. Maybe they’ve just been quiet, riding in silence, waiting for the right time to rear their ugly heads. Mostly, tonight, they whisper...failure.
I attempt to ignore the whisper and instead listen to the gentle lapping of the water. Success. Failure. What does any of that mean?
Failure? Forever being the guy everyone will judge first as a criminal. Five steps behind on the game board because of a past I can’t change.
Success? Liking who I became.
The world doesn’t view that as a success. The world only values climbing the mountain, getting the win, being in the band that was wanted by music labels. So does that mean my hard-earned success this past year isn’t real?
Thor’s head jerks up. One ear points up, the other flops down. He tilts his head, and I try to hear past the water and frogs chirping into the night. This part of the creek is more trees than people, which is why I chose it. Closer to the neighborhood, people party, people rebel, people do an illegal deal. But I’m not that person anymore, so I walked farther into the woods. This must be where people like me go to disappear.
Thor’s ears go back and he emits a deep growl. He trots over, but keeps low and stares into the woods. A sixth sense of evil runs over my skin—a cold black wind, and the hair on my arms stands on end. Quick glance around. There’s nowhere to go besides the water or into the forest, and there’s no telling what I’d run into in there.
Someone’s coming, a shadow that appears human. A car passes on the road farther up. The headlights hit the trees surrounding us. Jeans, T-shirt, shaved head, near my height and build. A million other guys, but only one has a tattoo of a cross with a vine wrapped around it and would be searching for me.
I lower my head and silently curse my sister. I should have known. Should’ve have seen her telling him, but I didn’t think far enough beyond saving her.
He steps into the clearing and sizes me up. I don’t need to do the same. I’ve memorized every hateful thing about this guy the moment he started dating my sister. Plus, he has a gun in his hand. That makes him the winner by default.
“How’d you find me?” I ask.
“I visited some of your old haunts. Figured you had to be at one of them.”
I make a show of looking around. “This wasn’t one of them.”
“It wasn’t, but at the party, someone saw you going in this direction. A guy and his dog. Sounded something old-school.”
“Yeah.” Once upon a time, I was great at small talk, but I’m not anymore. I should be more scared than what I am, but there’s a numbness in the ironic. This kid keeps ruining lives. Fitting that he ends mine. “How’s this playing out?”
“You’re going to give me the evidence you have, you keep your mouth shut, and then I won’t hurt you or your family. Plus, Kellen stays out of jail. If I go down, she goes down with me. Don’t lie to me, Drix. There’s no way she didn’t tell you guys.”
Fine. I yank the folded-up piece of paper and throw it at his feet. Jeremy tracks it and hesitates before picking it up and opening it.
“Where’d you get it?” he asks.
“Stole it,” I lie. “The governor had a file on me, I flipped through it, and when I saw that photo, I knew you were the one who did it.”
“Who else knows?”
“Besides my family? No one. And it’s obvious that no one in power knows either, governor’s office included, as I’m the one who went to jail.”
“How do I believe you?”
“You’re not arrested yet. I’m thinking that says a lot.”
He twitches. Jeremy has no intention of letting me walk out of here. I know what he’s done, I’ve cost him his girlfriend, and he’s still holding a grudge for that scar on his face from me.
A year ago, I would have welcomed this fight. Now, there’s no hunger for blood. “I was arrested for the crime and I did the time. The deal you just offered is accepted. You go home, and I’ll go home. You hate me. I hate you. You stay out of my way. I stay out of your way.”
“Yeah, I’m not ready for that yet.”
Didn’t think he was. Thor rubs against my leg as if he’s aware what’s about to go down. Thor’s getting bigger, but he’s still a puppy. I should have left him home, but I didn’t, so I do the best I can by him. I pick up a small piece of driftwood and throw it farther down the creek. Thankful he hasn’t learned how to come back. “Go get it, boy.”
Before I have a chance to see if he does, Jeremy lifts his arm, and there’s a bang that vibrates through my entire body.