The River's Edge (15 page)

The water was calm and green, not muddy like the day I swam out to
Slippery Rock. All was quiet except for the sounds of the river. The water was
chattering, the birds chirping, and somewhere in the distance a frog croaked
repeatedly.

I lifted my face to the sun and let the warmth soak through me. I
closed my eyes, enjoying the moment. I smelled honey suckle and felt my mother
brushing my hair.

It was quiet for a long time while I stood on the edge of the
river. It seemed like the gang was giving me my space, like you do with an
injured animal. You want to help it out, but you don’t know if the animal is
dangerous or not, so you wait and see before you help it.

“Ready?” Julie asked after a few minutes into my foot bath,
breaking my meditative state.

“Yeah.” I turned from the water and walked back to the gang.

We followed Julie to her house without talking. We entered, and
her mother was in the same chair as last time. The TV was on and her back was
to us.

“Mom, I’m home with some friends,” Julie said. We were all
standing at the entrance to the living room, waiting.

“Hi, Mrs. Thompson,” I said. I even waved like a fool, knowing she
wasn’t going to turn around to greet us.

We went down the hallway and into Julie’s bedroom. Wendy flopped down
on the edge of Julie’s bed. I sat in the makeup chair in front of the mirror.

Julie walked over to me and spun me around to face her. “Let’s do
your makeup.”

I never knew anyone who loved doing makeup so
much. I shrugged and said okay. Besides, I didn’t have anything else to do.

Julie picked up the biggest brush from her tray and dabbed it into
the powder. Then she put it to her lips and blew. Tiny speckles of the powder
danced in the sun before floating to the ground. I loved the way the soft
bristles felt like fingers caressing my face. I closed my eyes and imagined my
mother. Felt her brush my hair that day in the front yard of our house.

“Keep your eyes closed.”

Okay, Mom. Don’t stop.

I felt a little pressure on my right eyelid as the tiny brush swept
across it. Again and again. Then I felt the same thing on my left eyelid.

“I’m breaking up with Tommy,” Julie said.

My eyes flew open. “What?” I asked. I was confused as to whether I
heard her right.

“I’m breaking up with Tommy,” Julie repeated. “As soon as the
summer is over.”

“Why wait until the end of summer?” Wendy asked. She was bouncing
on the edge of the bed and seemed as confused as I was.

“Because.” Julie said this as if we should already know why.

We sat there staring at her.

She realized we wanted an explanation, and put down the makeup and
impatiently brushed back her hair with her hands. “Because, I can’t go the rest
of the summer
without
a boyfriend.”

“But you and Tommy make a great couple,” I said. I regretted it as
soon as I said it. There were a lot of things I wanted to say but that was the
stupid thing that came out of my mouth first. I realized she was conceited, but
this was too much. I couldn’t believe I tried to impress her by risking my life
and swimming out to Slippery Rock and back.

Poor Tommy. He had no idea what was coming and
I felt sorry for him. I also didn’t want to be part of her dirty little secret.

Julie grabbed a tube of pink lip gloss and opened it. She put the
tube down and held the applicator in front of my face. She put her finger under
my chin and lifted gently. “Be still.” She swiped the spongy end of the
applicator across my lips. They felt wet.

“And you two have been a couple ever since I can remember,” Wendy
said. 

 “Well, that’s just it. I’m getting tired of Tommy. We
have
been together a long time . . . and now he’s getting too possessive. I can’t go
anywhere without him asking me where I’m going. And he practically stares at
any other boy who looks at me. The other day when I was life-guarding, he
almost got into a fight with a guy that was just talking to me. And,” Julie
lowered her voice, “ever since I let him feel me up he wants to do it all the
time.”

I didn’t know anything about her private life and her confession
embarrassed me a little.

“I don’t want him to get the wrong idea. He thinks I’m easy, and
I’m not . . . Besides, my friend Anna said that her friend Trish told her that
Joey Garcia likes me, and he was going to ask me to be his girlfriend when
school started. He’s so cute and he’s on the track team, too. I’m so excited.”

I saw Julie for the first time that day in her bedroom. Sure, she
liked the attention of guys, but I really couldn’t blame her about wanting to
break up with Tommy now that I knew the real reason. Ever since I met Julie, I wanted
to be like her, but now everything was different. And if I really thought about
it, the times I was acting like Julie were the times that got me into the most
trouble, were the times I got unwanted attention from Uncle Butch. I couldn’t
wait to be popular, but now, with everything that had happened over the summer,
I just wanted to be a kid back in Virginia again. I wished I had never come
here.

“Ta-da,” Julie said. She turned me around to
face the mirror.

When I saw my face and when I saw how grown up I looked, I gasped.
Blue archways swooped across my eyelids and my lips were pink and heart shaped.
I looked different, but not just different. I looked like an adult. I
remembered what Julie said after the first time she put makeup on me. “You get
noticed.” Suddenly I realized what she meant. I saw what Uncle Butch saw in me.
I wanted to die. I could never let him see me like this.

I jumped up from the chair and ran to the bathroom and closed the
door. I turned on the cold water and lowered my face down near the faucet. I
cupped my hands under the running water to catch it and then I splashed it on
my face. Over and over. I looked up into the mirror, water dripping everywhere.
My lip gloss was smeared onto the sides of my cheeks creating a clown’s mouth.
Blue eye shadow crept out of the corners of my eyes.

“Ugh!” I grabbed the bar of soap and put it under the water. I
rubbed it between my hands generating enough suds to completely cover my face.
I scrubbed until my eyes burned from the soap and then I splashed handfuls of
water over my face until there wasn’t any signs of make-up. Only then did I
open the door.

Julie and Wendy were standing there, waiting.

“Why did you take the makeup off?” Julie
asked with her “notice me” makeup on. She looked like her feelings were hurt.

“Uh . . .”

“Are you okay?” Wendy asked. She had blue eye lids, pink cheeks,
and pink lips.

“I’ve got to get out of here!” I said as I pushed past them and
left.

“You need to spend more time with your daughter!” I yelled at
Julie’s mother as I ran past her. Then I left as fast as I could.

Wendy ran after me. “Where are you going? Wait up.” She trailed
behind me.

As soon as we got back to the cottage, I
pulled her by her arm to the kitchen sink. Luckily no one was around. “Wash it
off.”

“Why? What’s gotten into you?”

“Just wash it off. It doesn’t look good.”

“What’s wrong with you? You’re acting like a crazy person. It’s
just makeup for Pete’s sake.”

“It’s not just makeup. I want you to wash it off. It’s like Julie
said. You get noticed when you wear makeup, but you don’t want Owl to get the
wrong idea. Like Tommy did after feeling Julie up.” I put the bar of soap in
her hand and stood there until every last bit of the makeup was off her face
and she was just my sweet innocent cousin again.

Chapter Eighteen

Sweet
Revenge

BY FIVE O’CLOCK Thursday evening, everyone was at the back door of
our cottage waiting for my command. Except for Paige, who was at Cody and
Callie’s cottage. I watched from the back door window and finally saw Uncle
Butch disappear behind the shower curtain. I tapped Reds’ shoulder excitedly.
“Okay, he’s in the shower. Let the snake out.”

I opened the back door and moved the curtains from the window
panel so we could see in. Then I closed the bathroom door so the snake wouldn’t
go in there. Straight ahead was the shower and behind the curtain was my uncle.
Naked. Vulnerable.

I moved back so Reds could release our planned hell, and we
watched as the snake poked its head out of the burlap bag. After a minute, it
stopped moving, but I saw its forked tongue spit out, so I knew it was alive.

“Why isn’t it moving?” I asked nervously. Tommy and Julie were
standing off to the side holding hands. Little did he know that his time with
Julie was limited. I felt sorry for him and his stupid grin. He looked so
happy. How could Julie be so mean? But in my heart I knew now that meanness
came from somewhere bone deep in a person.

Reds pushed at the burlap bag to coax the
snake out further.

The shower curtain moved, and Reds jerked the burlap bag releasing
the snake fully. I tugged on Reds’ shirt for him to move away from the door.
“Don’t let my uncle see you.”

Reds moved and I pulled the door closed.

Wendy and Owl went to the side of the house where the kitchen
window was. They were on their tip toes looking in.

“Do you see anything?” I whispered.

“Mom’s in the kitchen,” Wendy said.

I looked back in toward the shower. “It’s
moving,” I whispered. The plan was in motion, and there was no turning back.

Finally, the snake slithered toward the shower. It was slow at
first and I waited while holding my breath. “Go into the shower,” I said,
almost willing it to move.

“You can’t control a snake, Chris. Don’t panic,” Reds said.

“Finally! It’s going toward the shower.” I got goose bumps. The
plan was working.

But it turned toward the kitchen instead of
going into the shower.

Wendy gasped. “It’s in the kitchen where my mom is.” We all moved
to the kitchen window to watch, barely seeing above the windowsill.

“Don’t worry,” Reds said mostly to calm down Wendy. “It’s not
poisonous. It’s okay.”

We heard Aunt Lori through the screen. Since it was summer, and
very few people had air conditioning, most of the windows stayed open to let
the breeze in. When there was a breeze.

“Quit it, Oreo. That tickles.”

She swiped her kitchen towel at her feet as the snake slithered by
her. “Oreo, leave me alone.” The snake continued to pass by her ankles, and she
finally looked down.

The snake lifted its head and stuck out its forked tongue. One
hiss and Aunt Lori started screaming, “Butch, come here quick. There’s a snake
in the kitchen!” Careful to avoid the snake, she crept toward the shower,
pulled open the curtain, and screamed, “Snake!”

We watched from the window, all struggling to see.

Uncle Butch appeared in the kitchen with a towel wrapped around
his waist, dripping. He saw the snake and laughed. “Lori, it’s just a harmless
little snake. Nothing to be afraid of.”

“Get it out of here; I
am
afraid.” She climbed onto a
chair, watching from a safer distance.

“Okay, take it easy.” Uncle Butch disappeared. He reappeared with
a broom in his hand. As soon as he hit the puddle on the kitchen floor, he
slipped and fell, twisting his leg underneath him.

Wendy and Owl scattered, but I stayed by the kitchen window to see
what was happening. Julie and Tommy walked off holding hands.

“Butch! Are you all right?” Aunt Lori leaned over him.

“Son of a bitch. My leg!” Uncle Butch said.

“Are you okay?”

“No! My leg,” Uncle Butch yelled.

“What do you want me to do?” She sounded panicked.

“I need help getting up.” He reached up with his hand and she
tried to pull him up but it didn’t work. He was just too heavy for her.

“Help, somebody!” She looked around and we all ducked.

“Lori, help me get some clothes on first,” Uncle Butch said.

She disappeared into the master bedroom and returned with a pair
of shorts and a T-shirt.

He took the shirt and pulled it over his
head, but he couldn’t get the shorts on past his ankles. “It’s my knee. It
hurts.

“Can you lift your legs up so I can pull them up?”

He lifted his legs in the air like a dead bug.

She inched them up to his hips. “Can you lift your butt so I can
get them on?”

“I’m trying!”

She finally got the shorts on him and disappeared again.

I heard a knock and we walked to the front of the cottage. Aunt
Lori was at the neighbor’s door.

Within seconds, Bob came out of his cottage.

“Bob, I need your help.”

“Lori? What is it?”

“A snake got into the cottage and Butch fell. He twisted his leg
pretty good. I think he hurt his knee.”

“Well, I guess we better get him to the hospital.” 

We followed Aunt Lori and Bob into the cottage. I watched from the
porch.

Bob lifted Uncle Butch up by his shoulder and helped him to his
feet. Aunt Lori supported his other shoulder. The three of them walked together
onto the porch like a choreographed dance routine.

“Do you need help?” I asked as they passed by me. I had to force
myself from smiling. This was actually way better than I had planned.

“No.” Bob struggled to get Uncle Butch into the station wagon.
With Reds’ help, he finally got Uncle Butch into the back seat and then got in
on the driver’s side. Aunt Lori got in on the passenger’s side and rolled the
window down.

I watched from the porch. Wendy and Owl were standing by the car.

“Wendy, I have to take your dad to the hospital. Watch your sister
until I get back.” Bob didn’t wait for an answer before he drove away in a
cloud of dust.

I thought about the snake loose in the cottage and cringed. I
hadn’t really thought the whole thing through. “Reds?”

“Yeah?”

“We need to get the snake out of the cottage before it hurts
someone else. It could even hurt Oreo,” I said.

“Don’t worry, it’s not poisonous.”

“Yeah, but we need to get it out of there.”
My fear was rising.

“Okay, okay. I’ll go get it out right now,” Reds said.

I smiled at him. “Thanks.” I watched as he disappeared into the
cottage on the hunt for the culprit.

Paige came out of Bob’s cottage with Cody and Callie and came over
to us. “What’s going on?”

“A snake got in the house, and then Dad was
trying to trap it, and well, it’s a long story, but he twisted his leg,” Wendy
said.

“What if he broke it?” Paige asked.

“He didn’t break it, just twisted it,” I said.

I acted like I cared, but something had changed inside of me. I
hoped he was as broken as I felt. I was Raggedy Ann, empty as my childhood
doll, limp and sapped of life.

Wendy locked eyes with me and gave me one of those I-won’t-tell-if-you-won’t-tell
looks and then I gave her an I’ll-never-tell look. I was getting good at
keeping secrets.

BY EIGHT O’CLOCK, they were back from the hospital. Uncle Butch
had a bandage wrapped around his right knee and he was struggling with his crutches.
He was lousy and clumsy with them, and as soon as he got inside the porch, he
flopped into his chair, his crutches spilling off to the side.

“Well, that was an ordeal,” Aunt Lori said, blowing her hair off
her face and worrying around him. “Can I get you anything, Butch?”

“I’m starving. Do we have anything to eat?”

With that, Aunt Lori kissed his forehead, and went into the
kitchen. “I’ll whip you up something real nice.”

Paige stood beside her dad, looking at the bandage. “Did it hurt?”

“Yeah,” he said.

“I’m sorry you broke your leg, Daddy,” Paige said, patting the top
of his hand.

“I just twisted it, sweetheart, and I’ll be okay,” he said. “I
hurt my knee a little, that’s all.”

Too bad for him.
I shied away and sat at the kitchen table where I could see
everyone and started playing Solitaire. Aunt Lori stirred a pot of macaroni and
cheese while boiling hotdogs.

“Did you girls get anything to eat tonight?” she asked.

Wendy shouted, “No,” from the porch, and I shook my head when Aunt
Lori looked at me.

Paige walked into the kitchen. “How’s Daddy going to walk with a
hurt knee?”

“Oh, honey, don’t worry about Daddy. It’s just a little swollen
and he can walk just fine. He has to get used to those crutches, though.”

Wendy joined us in the kitchen. She leaned
toward her mother, taking her into confidence. “What about the Fourth of July
dance Friday night? Are we still going to be able to go?” She kept her voice
low, but I could hear it from where I sat.

“Well, of course we’ll go to the dance,” she said to us, then
raised her voice so Uncle Butch could hear. “Honey, don’t you think you can at
least go to the dance this Friday to watch?”

“Oh-my-God. The dance! How am I going to win the dance contest?”
This seemed to be the first time he thought about it. I laughed inside and
smiled my shit-eating grin.

Aunt Lori went to the porch and set the table. “Well, maybe it’s
time we let someone else win for a change.” Her voice was sweet and
understanding. “Honey, everyone here knows you’re the best dancer. Alice and
Bob are good at the jitterbug. They might even stand a chance if we’re not
entered.”

“Alice and Bob? They prance around the dance floor like ducks
flapping their wings.”

“I’m just saying. I’m tired of entering the dance every year
because we always win. Let someone else win.”

“I don’t want to let someone else win! It’s the only thing I look
forward to all summer.”

“Keep your voice down.”

When dinner was ready, he hopped over to the table, ignoring his
crutches. For such a great dancer, Uncle Butch wasn’t very coordinated without
his dancing shoes. I smiled, happy in the knowledge that I put him out of
commission, not only from hurting me again, but from dancing in the contest.
The only thing I think he really loved. And I took it away.