Moonshine (16 page)

             
“You don’t owe me anything. You are my best friend in the whole world and that is enough for me.”

25

Moon

              “Holy shit, you have a Mustang. They are my favorite. This is bad ass.” She was literally jumping up and down in my driveway.

             
“Nice, I could tell you had good taste. Can you drive a stick?” I tossed her the keys. “This is my baby so you better take it easy and buckle your seatbelt.”

             
“Are you serious, Ry?” No one has ever called me that before and I secretly loved it. Is that cheesy or what, because I’m pretty sure she could’ve called me lard ass and I still would’ve loved it.

             
“Get in before I change my mind.” She squealed so loud that I thought my ear drums were going to bust. “I’m gonna need you to not yell like that ever again.”

             
“Sorry, I’m just excited.” She buckled her seatbelt and started the car.

             
“You can drive a stick, right?” I buckled my seatbelt and at the moment wished that I had a safety harness. I held my breath the entire time she backed out of the driveway.

             
“My grandpa taught me a few years ago before he passed away.” Well damn… This girl had lost her grandpa too. She has nobody.

             
“You know, I still can’t believe that you convinced them to let you go. I thought Mom was going to flip out when I told her that I wanted to take you to the mill.”

             
“I know her face was priceless.”

             
“Then you turned on the charm. I swear that woman has never caved like that for me. I don’t know how you did it.”

             
“She doesn’t know me like she knows you. If it were my mother she probably would have said I was grounded for even asking. She was really tough on me.”

             
“Make a left at the red light. It’s only a couple more miles.” I interrupted, but waited for her to continue.

             
“My mom was always tough on me, but I think it was because it was just me and her. She never wanted me to get out of control. I understood her reasoning, but I feel like my teenage life was nonexistent. It’s not much different now even with Grams in charge. Since Mom died I think Grams has been waiting for me to break and fall apart, but I don’t want to be out of control.  I mean she knows I’m a good kid. All I have to do is say please and promise to be good and she lets me do what I want. I just don’t normally have many things to do. I don’t have many friends and I have never had a boyfriend. I had one date my freshman year of high school and that didn’t go well. I am just trying to get through with school and get out on my own. Make a life for myself, you know?”

             
“Pull into this parking lot and park over there by that blue truck. Being a good person isn’t a bad thing. I know you feel like you missed out on a lot of shit, but you didn’t. Your life is just starting, or at least that’s how I feel. I feel like I can really be free now. That the small stuff didn’t matter and everything after today is what counts. Does that make sense?”

             
“Yeah it actually does. Thanks a lot, but no more serious stuff tonight. I want to have fun. I only have one night with you. I don’t want to waste it.”

             
“You got it. Let’s go meet my buddy.”

             
“I’m ready.”

             
Valerie followed me through the tall grass and into the weeds to find the path to the mill. It wasn’t a long walk and once I saw the silo I knew we were close. I could already hear the radio blasting. She kept up pace with me and never complained. I couldn’t help but wish that Shine was there with us. She would love Valerie. This was our place and I know she’d want to be the one to show her around.

             
When we rounded the last corner I could see Josh sitting by the fire. There were only a couple of people with him and I was glad. I didn’t want to scare Valerie with too much craziness. I don’t know if she is ready for that.

             
“Come on,” I grabbed her hand. “I want to introduce you to somebody.”

             
“Josh, hey man.”

             
“Look who finally decided to grace us with his presence. Where you been, Man? I was getting worried.” He looked only at me, until I pulled Valerie to my side. His mouth hit the floor, literally. I had to twist his nipple a little and snap him back into reality. “Ouch, damn.”

             
“Josh, this is my sister, Valerie. Valerie, this is my pain in the ass, Josh.”

             
“What the hell ever, you know I’m your future best man. It’s very nice to meet you Valerie.” Josh shook her hand and held it too damn long. He has it bad already. She is beautiful so I can see why he would he couldn’t take his eyes off her.

             
“Nice to meet you too,” oh hell. She had that look too.

             
“Come on Val, I want to introduce you to everybody else.” I yanked her with me. I am not about to be having a love match between those two.  I just met her today and she’s fifteen for fuck’s sake. I took her around the fire and introduced her to a few other people. There weren’t many people there and she was the only girl. That was normally the way it was when Shine was here. It never bothered her and it didn’t seem to bother Valerie either.

             
“Is that a Gibson?” She asked Tanner. He always brought his guitar; it didn’t matter where he went.

             
“Yeah it is. You know how to play?” he asked and it made me curious. There were a lot of things that I didn’t know about my little sister.

             
“Actually, I do.”

             
“Seriously,” I was shocked when she shook her head yes. “I gotta hear you play.”

             
“Okay, do you mind?” She looked at Tanner for approval.

             
“Be my guest, sweet thang.” I growled at him. Come on man. These guys act like they have never seen a girl before.

             
She sat down on a slab of wood next to the fire, and the five of us guys gathered round. She didn’t seem nervous. She looked really excited. When her fingers started to slowly strum the guitar I was amazed. At first I didn’t recognize the song, but then she started to sing. Holy crap she was singing Nirvana. It was the song Come as You Are, and she had put a little twist on it. I could not believe the sound that came from this girl. She was amazing. She had this blues sound that could tear your heart to shreds with a sad song. It was unbelievable. When I looked at Josh I knew it was over, he was lost in her every word. When she came to the end I didn’t want it to be over. How could she not be singing on some big stage in front of thousands of people? I’m not shitting you, she has the voice of an angel, and she sings Nirvana. A thousand times yes!

             
“That was fucking amazing, little girl. Where did that come from? I thought you were just gonna play us a song. I didn’t expect you to sing too. You have a gift.”

             
“You really think it was good?”

             
“Not good, it was unbelievable.” I scooped her into my side for a hug. “What other talents do you have hidden that I need to know about.” She squeezed me tight and it felt like she didn’t want to let me go. I never felt so alive in all of my life. No one here knew how badly that I needed her in my life right now. I would be the best brother to her that I could be. She went back to her seat when the guys requested her to sing another.

             
“What did you think?” I took a drink of the whiskey Josh was holding. He was really celebrating tonight. It wasn’t like him to be drinking and he never hit the hard stuff.

             
“I think I’m in love,”

             
“Of course you are,” I rolled my eyes. This was gonna be a long damn night.

             
“I can’t believe you took all of their drunk ass’s home. That’s pretty cool of you.” I nudged her shoulder. “We somehow gotta get into this house quietly since its three thirty in the morning, and did I mention I’m seeing two of everything. We are so dead.”

             
“No we’re not. Come on. I’ll hold your hand and lead the way. You just have to be quiet. Where is your bedroom?”

             
“Upstairs and to the right,” she shushed me. “You asked. Don’t ask me something and then shush me. You either want an answer or you don’t.”

             
“What I want you to do right now is shut up. Now, come on.”

             
She was a bossy little thing. I can’t believe she just told me to shut up. I followed her as quietly as I could through the house and luckily we made it up the stairs without a hitch. I couldn’t see for shit so if it weren’t for her holding my hand I would have been royally screwed.

             
She quietly closed my bedroom door and turned on my light. “Geez Ry,” she stood in front of the mirror on my dresser. “Why didn’t you tell me I looked like a hooker? I got mascara halfway down my face.”

             
“Probably because right now you have two heads and I couldn’t see your eyes if I wanted to, now shut off the light and let’s go to sleep. Doesn’t that sound like fun?”

             
“I am just gonna go downstairs and sleep on the couch.”

             
“No, you have to stay here. I don’t want you to go. What if I throw up?”

             
“Oh no, if you start to throw up I am out of here for real. I don’t even have pajamas.”

             
“Grab a t-shirt out of my top drawer. You can sleep on the bed and I will sleep beside you on the floor.”

             
“You don’t have to do that, it’s your bed.”

             
Honestly my head was spinning so bad that I could care less where I laid it down at. “Its fine; now turn the light off please.”

             
“Okay,” she turned off the light and I got comfortable on the floor. My mind went straight to Shine the minute my head hit the pillow. All the whiskey I drank still didn’t get her off my mind. I felt like I was in a Willie Nelson song. I needed to pass out or sing the blues. “Thanks for letting me hang out with you and your friends tonight. I had the best time. It was nice to be able to let go of some things and be a teenager for once.”

             
“You’re welcome. The fact that you even came for a visit at all shocked the hell out of me but I loved it, and I’m really gonna miss you when you leave.” I felt her reach down and grab my hand.

             
“I will miss you too. I hope you will text me and call me sometimes.”

             
“I will. You have my number so the same goes for you. You also have to let me know if there is anything you need. By the way, I know you exchanged numbers with Josh tonight. He is a little too old for you.”

             
I felt her pillow smack me right upside the head, and I couldn’t help but laugh. “I live hours away. You don’t have to worry about anything, besides he’s only two years older than me. I just think it will be nice to have a friend to talk to once in a while, and it really doesn’t hurt that he is gorgeous.”

             
“Will you shut up? I don’t want to hear that crap.” Her laugh was so sweet and contagious. I hated that she was leaving. “Maybe you can come and visit again over summer break. I really want you to meet my girl, Shine.”

             
“You have a girlfriend? Where was she at tonight?”

             
“She isn’t actually my girlfriend, she is my best friend. Hopefully, I can convince her to be my girlfriend real soon. She is away right now. She’s been really sick. When she gets back though, I have big plans for her and maybe we can come and see you.”

             
“I’d like that Ry. I don’t want to lose you now that I have found you.”