Chapter 14
SEVEN YEARS AGO
“Callum, stop! You’re going to make me fall into the river!”
“Hold on tight!”
Mason giggles as glee carries him into the upswing. Flecks of light dance through the trees as he looks up at the sky. It’s a kaleidoscope of red, orange, and brown.
The air is crisp, and the scent of fallen leaves invades his nostrils.
Callum’s hands are warm and supportive on his back as he catches the upswing, his chest lifting as he rises with the swing into the sky.
Rushing water from the nearby creek and the chirps of chickadees and cardinals keep the two boys company in a small part of the woods behind Callum’s house.
“You’re the king of the forest!” Callum bellows gleefully as he watches Mason fly from down below.
Happiness surges through Mason’s chest as he gazes down at Callum, who stares up at him like he’s a magical being.
Mason keeps swinging up and down, mesmerized by the amber glow of the setting sun webbing through the branches of the trees.
He wonders if they can just stay here forever and make their own rules. Where his parents don’t force him to go to school and where Mason’s dad doesn’t yell at him all the time. Where they can build a fortress of bricks and stones and they can rule together as two kings. Their own kingdom.
Mason screams as he rushes through the air, a bellow of pure glee and happiness, as he pictures that future for both of them.
Where the birds always sing and the brook always babbles.
Mason slows down on the swing and his chest lifts as he lets himself go, his body flying and landing in the soft caress of a pile of leaves that Callum and he had collected over the past hour.
Mason giggles and Callum runs over to him, jumping into the pile of leaves with him.
“That was so fun!” Mason cries, giggling as he looks at Callum.
Callum beams at him. “My turn now!”
“You’re too heavy to push,” Mason retorts, a playful smirk on his face.
Callum gasps and throws a fistful of leaves at Mason. “Hey!”
Mason giggles and throws his own fistful at Callum.
They both keep pushing each other around and throwing leaves at each other.
This is Mason’s favorite time of year. He loves playing in the leaves and the rush of autumn wind that passes through him.
It reminds him of fall days where he would help Callum and his mom rake leaves and then she would bake them apple crisp as a reward, and they would carve pumpkins after.
They stop play-fighting and Callum gets on the swing now.
Mason gives Callum one big push, loving the feeling of the warmth of Callum’s back on his hands and looking at the back of his head and how his black hair reminds him of a black cat’s fur.
Callum goes higher than Mason did, using his legs to carry him even further.
“Wow, you’re going so high!” Mason cries, as he watches Callum soar.
“Callum! Where are you?” A deep, formidable voice booms and the birds stop singing, the crickets stop chirping, and the babbling brook seems to stop its chatter.
Callum’s smile falls and fear paints his face as his eyebrows draw together, and his mouth opens.
“Mason? Are you here?” his mother’s voice calls from not too far off.
“Get down!” Mason whispers to Callum, who skids his feet on the gravel and slows himself down from the swing.
Callum hops off the swing.
His heart starts beating faster. He’s scared of Mr. Brown.
Mason goes to grab Callum’s hand to calm him down, but Callum throws his hand away, shaking his head at Mason, his eyes bulging.
Twigs snap and the towering figure of Callum’s dad makes its way into the clearing, his eyebrows furrowed, and nostrils flared.
“Where the hell have you been, Callum?”
“I told Mom I was just going into the forest!” Callum said, his voice shaking.
“You’re supposed to stay on the outside, not in the thick brush! And you’re supposed to tell me too. I’ve been searching for you both with Mrs. Fanning for the past fifteen minutes!”
Callum gulps and nods his head.
“You’re right, Dad, I—I’m sorry—”
“Mason!”
Mason sees his mother come into the clearing. “Where were you? I was looking everywhere for you!”
“I told you I was going to Callum’s!” Mason says. He knows he’s in trouble, but he’s not sure why.
“Next time, tell me if you’re going into the forest, honey,” his mom says, resting a hand on his shoulder.
“What were you doing here with Mason?” Mr. Brown asks Callum.
“He wanted to come over and play and—”
“I told you he’s not allowed over here anymore!” Mr. Brown bellows, his voice booming and seemingly shaking the trees, making the birds fly off into the distance.
Mason jumps at Mr. Brown’s sudden outburst, and Callum does too, his eyes becoming misty.
“But Mom said he’s allowed—”
Mr. Brown clenches his fists and his voice wavers. “I don’t care what she says. She’s sick. She—she can’t make sound decisions. She—”
Mason’s mom walks over and tugs on Mr. Brown’s sleeve. “Daniel, let’s just go back—”
“She wanted to see me, Mr. Brown,” Mason says, trying to calm him down. He doesn’t know why Mr. Brown is so angry. He’s always so upset about everything, especially about Callum. Mason wishes he could be happy.
“Well, she’s not going to anymore. You’re not allowed here anymore.
Especially not with how you make Callum into some kind of sissy.
He’s going to be a football player. He doesn’t need some kind of sissy boy to distract him pushing him on swings and playing in leaves,” Mr. Brown practically spits at Mason and takes Callum’s hand and starts dragging him out of the clearing.
Mason’s heart sinks and his eyes sting as Mr. Brown’s comment sears through him. Why did everyone think that about him? Just because he likes math and thinks the world is beautiful and writes poems about it?
Maybe he’s a bit sensitive, but he doesn’t care. Why did everyone say that about him?
“Excuse me? Do you think it’s okay to talk to my son that way?” Mason’s mom says, crossing her arms.
Mr. Brown snorts. “I’m calling it like I see it.”
His mom scoffs. “You can’t talk to my son that way. Not after what he’s done for your wife.”
“He hasn’t done anything. He’s just a loose cannon trying to come between our family. He’s always here, messing around!”
His mom shakes her head and holds her hand open to him. “Mason, come on, let’s get out of here.”
“But I wanted to swing—”
“Now, Mason.”
Mason sighs and takes his mom’s hand.
His mom points a finger at Mr. Brown. “Don’t ever talk to my son that way again. I hope for all of your sakes that your wife gets better.”
“I’ll do whatever the hell I want. Callum won’t have to be held back by your son anymore. Good riddance.”
Mason watches as Mr. Brown beckons to Callum to follow him down a different path out of the clearing.
“Mason’s my friend, Dad!”
“Not anymore. You’re never seeing him again.”
“No!” Callum cries and begins to whimper.
Mr. Brown notices and grabs Callum’s arm with a death grip.
“You are not going to cry. Boys do not cry. Only sissies do!” Mr. Brown says sternly to Callum, before glancing at Mason.
“Just like him,” he says as he juts his chin over at Mason.
Mason’s lip quivers as Mr. Brown’s eyes bore into him like he’s not even worth anything.
“Mason—I’m so sorry,” Callum cries, swiping at his eyes, but his dad grabs his arm harder and drags him away from the clearing.
“Callum!” Mason cries, something in his chest hollowing and breaking at the same time.
“I’ll see you at school!” Callum cries at Mason before disappearing behind the tree line.
“Come on, honey,” his mom says quietly.
Mason whimpers.
School. They would still see each other at school, and Mr. Brown can’t take that away from them.
He can try to separate them and keep Callum from crying, but he can’t take that love out of them. He can’t keep them apart forever.
“Wait—I forgot my bag, Mom.”
His mom sighs and releases him.
He runs back to the clearing and looks up into the trees.
Callum sees the beauty in the world just like Mason does. Birds fly by and the trees seem to protect him.
Mason looks around, watching as the kingdom they built for themselves begins to crumble around him. There will be no more swing pushes or play sword fighting.
He picks up a rock and grunts as he throws it into the river, hoping that somehow it will change the fact that he might not see Callum or Mrs. Brown again.
Maybe he can try to make Mr. Brown happy. Maybe he can cure Mrs. Brown from being sick. Maybe then he won’t have Callum taken away from him.
Maybe holding Callum’s hand and kissing his forehead will keep him with him at all times. He isn’t sure why his love isn’t enough to keep Callum with him.
Mason sighs, picks up his bag, and walks out of the clearing, turning one last time to look at it.
It might be the last time he sees it.
He picks up a stick and draws his and Callum’s initials into one of the trees with two crowns underneath it.
M.F. + C. B.
“There. Now it’ll forever be our kingdom. We’ll always be the rulers. No matter what,” Mason whispers to himself as he smiles at his drawing, trying to swipe away at his tears.
He sniffles and storms off back to his mom, hoping that no matter how much times passes or how much the Brown’s want to keep Callum away from him that they will always have this place to come back to.
That it will always be theirs.