Keller and Callahan

Chapter 10

Olivia sat on the dock with her feet dangling in the cool lake water as the sun started to slip lower and lower into the sky, cascading gorgeous hues of purples and pinks across the top of the lake. She hadn’t stopped worrying about Sam all day. Even though they didn’t talk much about his homelife, she wasn’t ignorant to his living situation. She knew that there was very rarely food in the house, and on most nights there were strangers coming and going at all hours.

But the biggest dark cloud that seemed to hang above him was his father. Ever since he had gotten out of jail, there was a sinister darkness that seemed to hover over Sam that he constantly tried to push away. Sometimes he would come around with such danger in his eyes, Olivia almost didn’t recognize him. She knew that had everything to do with his father. On the occasion he would show up to the resort with a black eye, or a bloodied lip, and anytime Olivia had asked about it or suggested they go to the cops, he shot her down immediately. She didn’t know exactly what Sam was so afraid of when it came to his father, but she had decided long ago to trust his judgment and follow his lead.

But now, it seemed they were at a breaking point, and she had made the decision she wasn’t going to let this slip under the rug any longer. It was time they stood up for Sam, despite the fear she knew he held in his heart for his father.

It was the 4th of July – their favorite day of the year. The campground always put on an epic fireworks show, and the fact that he hadn’t shown up to work today made her extremely uneasy. It meant something must really be wrong. True to his word, her dad went over to his house this afternoon when he hadn’t shown up this morning, but there was no sign of Sam or his truck, and no one answered the door when he knocked. When he had come back to the lodge with his head hung low and brows furrowed, she knew there was reason to be concerned. Her dad rarely ever seemed stressed or nervous, and when he had come home that afternoon, he was visibly feeling both of those emotions.

It caused her anxiety and concern for Sam to skyrocket, and she wished that she could get ahold of him somehow and figure out how she could help. She would do anything in her power to help him, she just wished he would see that and let her in so they could take it on together. She wanted to erase all the hurt and pain from his eyes and fill them with joy and laughter, and anytime she felt she couldn’t do that for him, she felt entirely out of control. And she hated that feeling.

As she sat on the dock where she had first taught Sam how to swim, all those years in between started flooding her thoughts. The first time Sam had sat at their dinner table and they had eaten as a family. The beaming smile that lit up his face when he passed the lifeguard test and her father had handed him the official whistle. And the way his beautiful green eyes sparkled in the moonlight on all those late nights they spent lying on the dock looking up at the stars. She suddenly realized that Keller Campground wasn’t quite the same when Sam wasn’t around. So by God, she was tired of sitting around waiting like a helpless damsel, and she was going to go do something about it, damn it.

“Liv,” Sam’s steady voice reverberated throughout her body just as she was standing up from the dock.

Before she knew it, she was sprinting towards him and flung herself into his arms. He pulled her close and held her against him as if he was never going to let her go. In all their years of closeness, they had never touched each other this passionately. Laying his chin atop her head, he inhaled her sweet scent, and after a moment, gently eased her back so he could look into her eyes.

“Sam. I was so worried about you,” her voice cut off as she pulled back and looked at his face in the setting sun. “Oh my God. Sam.”

She gently reached out to caress his beaten and battered face. It was twice as worse as it had been the day before, and fury instantly consumed her.

“Sam. Let’s go get my dad. We’re going to the police.” She started to move towards the shore, but Sam pulled her hand and tucked it tightly together with his own.

“I just came from there. I filed a report to get this on record. I’m sorry I didn’t call you, my father smashed my phone, and I came to you as quickly as I could.”

Despite his swollen face, Sam’s eyes bore into Olivia’s and having her hands interlocked with his brought her a sense of peace. She had felt so powerless all day, and now standing in his arms, she felt as if they could take on anything as long as they were together.

“I should have been there with you. You shouldn’t have done it alone,” she guided him to sitting so they could take a moment to breathe together.

Easing down to rest on the dock, they sat shoulder to shoulder and looked out across the lake. Noises of laughter and celebration could be heard in the background, everyone getting ready to celebrate Independence Day. The sound of joy and happiness was a stark contrast to the intensity that hung between Sam and Olivia.

“No. I want you as far away as possible from him. When he gets like this, there is no telling what he will do. I will never put you in that situation willingly.” There was a steel to his voice that made the hair on her arms stand on end despite the balmy summer weather.

“Sam, I appreciate the knight in shining armor act, but maybe you’re the one that needs a knight right now,” she looked down at their hands and squeezed his tighter.

She was filled with rage, and if all of this excess energy in her body wasn’t exerted in a productive way, she felt as if she were going to explode. Sitting here in the midst of dread, Olivia truly began to realize how deeply her feelings ran for Sam. She hadn’t known the half of it until she saw him walk toward her with a face so swollen she could barely recognize him. Her beautiful, smooth skinned, green eyed boy. She couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something big on the horizon, as if with each hit his father landed on him, he was slowly slipping through her fingers. She couldn’t explain it, but it made her want to hold on to him even tighter.

“Liv,” he exhaled and shifted her body against him, pulling her close to him and wrapped his arms around her waist. Every inch of her body tingled as his chest made contact with her back. They both had a perfect view of the lake, which was so calm and peaceful, a blunt contradiction to what they were both feeling in their hearts.

“That day you tossed those powdered donuts in front of me, you saved my life. That guarded kid could never have imagined that my life could get to a place where not only I was happy, but I couldn’t picture being anywhere else. You have saved me in so many ways. I will do everything in my power to protect you from horror in order to say thank you, and still, it will never be enough.”

Sam laid his chin in the crook of her neck, and Olivia hoped he couldn’t feel all of the electricity that was coursing through her body by being held by him. All of her nerve endings were standing on edge, feeling that she couldn’t get close enough to his body to feel fulfilled.

“I was so worried about you all day, but being here right now with you is the only place I want to be. I appreciate you wanting to shield me, but I’m here with you. This is one thing you won’t have to do alone. I don’t want you to do it alone. We have each other, we will get through it together,” she looked up at him and she could swear she could see into the depths of his heart.

He leaned down and lightly brushed a kiss across her forehead, and pulled her as close as she would come into his chest. Sam had never had the comfort of a loving mother and father. He had found a surrogate in Ray, but as much as he loved him, it wasn’t the same as the love you should receive from your own parents. But holding Olivia in his arms, he swore that he would never know a love like this one. A love that was so pure, and so true, it felt as if it were the only thing he had left, that it would be enough.

“Together. I like that.”

The first firework lit up the night sky and descended its embers into the lake beyond. Sam finally started to relax as he looked down at Olivia’s body, who fit so perfectly with his.

Of course she did.

She had fit from the very first day he met her. And right there in that moment, with the fireworks above them, it seemed they could take on the world together. He wanted nothing more in this world than to be able to call her his own. Despite the fear and pain he had endured in the last twenty four hours, he was leaning into this moment and this happiness, in efforts to wipe away all the pain, and forget all the torment he had felt most of his life. He would face the wrath of his father in the morning, he had no doubt it would come once he found out about the police report. But for now, he was going to put it in the back of his mind as best he could.

The weight of Olivia against his body released such a sense of calm over him, he almost didn’t notice the sound of breaking glass in the distance. Shaking his head at the thought of his peers who were no doubt sneaking beers while everyone was occupied watching the fireworks, the normalcy of school and high school life seemed so far away compared to the enormous feelings that were coursing through him.

Another shatter of glass sounded a bit closer, Sam tightened his hold around Olivia’s waist and tucked her in closer.

“Liv –” His words were drowned out by the sound of smashing glass that now sounded way too close for comfort. The hair on his arms instantly stood on end as a chill raced down his spine.

“Well, well, well. Isn’t this sweet?” As if on cue, Sam froze in terror.

Sam and Olivia scrambled to their feet at the sound of Greg’s voice. Sam instinctively thrusted Olivia’s body behind his as he started to back them away from his father.

“Now I see why you’ve been spending all your time here Sammy, boy. If I had a piece of ass that fine, I would run off and keep it to myself too.”

Sam had never seen this look in his father’s eyes before. He had seen the anger in them when he had delivered blows to Sam’s face in the past. He had seen menace in them any time he spoke to his parole officer on the phone. But tonight, all he saw was pure and unadulterated evil. And that scared the shit out of him, there was no telling what Greg was capable of.

“You keep her out of your mouth,” Sam growled.

“Oh come on, you’ll share with your old pops, won’t ya? I’ll be able to show her things you haven’t even dreamt of, kid. Wanna feel what it’s like to be with a real man, sweetheart?”

Greg’s head snapped back as Sam’s fist connected with his face. In all the years of being his father’s punching bag, he had never hit back. But his anger and protectiveness in this moment outweighed any fear he may have, and he didn’t even have to hesitate.

“I’m going to give you five seconds to get the hell out of here before I call the police.” Sam still held out his arms to keep Olivia behind him. Glancing back at her face, he saw the fear that was blazing in her eyes.

“What you gonna call in, son? That I knocked your mom around a little? That I beat you up? That I showed your sweet little girlfriend how to take a dick like a good little girl? Or…” he trailed off as he lit a match.

“Or how I set your precious little campground on fire?” he sneered.

The look of glee in his eyes was what frightened Sam the most. When his father got that look, there was absolutely no telling to what he would do. He was a wild card. Someone with nothing to lose. And that made him the most dangerous of all.

“No!” Olivia lunged forward but Sam continued to hold her back, his body coiled with tension. He could hear the desperation in her voice as she braced herself against Sam’s back.

“This is between you and me, Dad. Blow out the match and I’ll leave with you, and I’ll drop the police charges. Come on, let’s go,” Sam started to slowly move towards his father, but still kept a hand on Olivia.

Olivia pulled him back and clung to him. “Sam, no.” Her voice trembled. “I won’t let you go with him.”

“It’s the only choice. I won’t risk you.”

He was acutely aware that his father was inching closer to them, the wickedness in his eyes bore straight into Sam. But none of that mattered. Only she did. And he would do everything in his power to get Greg away from the campground and protect Olivia. Even if that meant going back home with him for the beating of a lifetime.

“Oh it’s too late for that, boy. The police are already looking to bring me in, especially since I’m on parole. So I figure, if I’m going down, I may as well go down in a blaze of glory. And all those beer bottles I smashed…well. They were full of gasoline.”

Olivia sucked in a breath of horror and clutched Sam’s arm.

Sneering with pure evil in his eyes, Greg spit on the dock in between them. “Can’t half ass a fireworks show on the Fourth of July, now can we, Son?”

With the smallest flick of his wrist, an evil smile on his face knowing he was crushing their favorite holiday, he let the match go. And the second the match touched the spilt gasoline, a blazing inferno erupted right in front of their eyes, the dock instantly becoming engulfed in flames. As his father turned and raced towards shore, and the fire quickly devouring the dock in front of them, the only way for Olivia and Sam to go was out to the water.

“Go! Run!” Sam shouted as he pushed her toward the end of the dock where they both dove off into the cool, safe haven of the lake. After swimming out about twenty feet, they began treading water and turned around, breaths heaving.

Thanks to the many bottles of gasoline Greg had smashed all over the ground en route from the main campground to the dock, the fire had already destroyed the dock and dock shop in a sea of flames, and was now starting to make its way toward the Rec Center. The fire was starving, greedy to devour everything in its path. The red and orange hues were blinding, erasing everything else from view but the monster that burned in front of them. The blaze quickly ripped through the trees that had stood beautifully on the property, filling the once clear sky with smoke, causing raining ash to start to fall in its wake.

And all Sam could do was watch the campground go up in flames, his whole future going up in flames along with it.