7. Bonfires and Break Ins
WESLEY
I hated everyone here.No matter what I did, I was never going to fit in. They didn’t like anyone who couldn’t trace their ancestors through the graveyard on Church Road. I was so tired of everyone looking at me like some worthless punk who threw around his daddy’s money.
Except they were right about half of it—I was a worthless punk. Wasn’t that why my mother left? She didn’t love me enough to take me with her or keep in contact? Wasn’t that why all of my teachers gave up on me if I challenged them? Okay, maybe “challenged them” wasn’t exactly what I did, but it’s not like I was the only kid ever to have gotten in fights or messed up school property. They didn’t think I was worth the dirt on their shoes, as Nana would say.
Oh, I could bet what Nana would have to say to me now that I had run out on them like that. She was finally growing to like me and I just ruined it all over again. Probably with Marla and Mr. Hendricks, too. Celeste had promised to always forgive me, but everyone else always broke their promises to me, so why wouldn’t she? My dad promised to call me every week, but I had been here for close to eight with radio silence from Atlanta. Nobody cared about me.
Then fuck them! My rebellious heart sang. Fuck them all!
I threw myself down onto a large rock in the creek bed a few feet away from where our favorite tree was. It only took a minute for me to hear Celeste’s feet pounding behind me. I knew it was her just based on the sound alone, that was how in tune with her I had become. But now that connection felt spoiled. Tainted. How could she be friends with someone worthless like me?
“Don’t you listen to that,” Celeste said quietly behind me, stopping short. I couldn’t see her face, but her voice was low with what sounded like sorrow.
I snorted. “Listen to what? All the people who don’t think I belong here?”
“The voice in your head that’s telling you they’re right.”
I shot up and turned on her. “You don’t know anything about it! You’ve lived here your entire life surrounded by the same boring people, all set to grow up and have more boring babies to keep this stupid town running! I hate it here! I hate all of them!”
Celeste nodded. “’Kay.”
Her monosyllable response made me angrier. “That includes your family! Everyone here is just a dumb, redneck hick! I wish this whole town would burn to the ground!”
Round green eyes filled with tears, but that was the only reaction I got from her. She didn’t say a word, didn’t move to walk away, or anything. Seeing one trail down her cheek made all the rage burn out of me.
“I’m sorry, Celeste.” I pulled her into a hug, throwing my arms around her tightly. Being the one to make her cry made me feel like the world’s biggest prick. She should never have to cry over me.
She instantly molded into the hug, wrapping the arms I pinned to her side around my waist. “I’m sorry, too,” she whispered into my shoulder.
Of course she was. Celeste was too good not to apologize on behalf of those idiots.
“I didn’t mean what I said,” I promised her as I pulled away. “You’re my best friend in the whole world, Celeste. I don’t hate you or your family.”
She sat down on the rock I had been perched on and patted the small space beside her. “I know that, Wes. Mama always said people say hurtful things when they’re mad because they want others to join them in misery. I’m already upset at what they did to you, so nothing you say can hurt me right now.”
More of her mother’s logic to save the day. I would need a book someday to keep up with that woman.
I squeezed into the small space next to her on the rock, our sides pressed together as our bodies fought for nonexistent space. Feeling her touch calmed me even further. Things were just simpler with her. Easy in a way that I couldn’t understand but didn’t want to question.
Suddenly, Celeste started giggling. She tried to cover it up with her hand, but I could see her full set of teeth from how big her smile was spreading. Her whole body racked with laughter and even though I couldn’t see the joke, I joined in at the sight of her losing it.
“What’s the matter?” I asked.
She could barely stop laughing long enough to admit, “I called the sheriff an asshole!” before she lost all hold. She was laughing so hard she was wheezing, clutching her side like it hurt.
“No way!” I cried incredulously. We both lost our minds at the image. Celeste said her first swear word and she said it to the county sheriff in front of her father! I laughed so hard that tears ran down my cheeks and I fell backward onto the mud in the creek bed.
She joined me, her bushy brown hair falling into my face. I didn’t mind, though. I loved her crazy hair. Really, I loved everything about Celeste. The loyalty she had shown me by calling a respected town official a cuss word had me buzzing like the pot kids at my old school smoked in the bathroom.
“You deserved to win that barbecue,” Celeste assured me. “There’s no way Mr. Wyatt would have gone on like that unless you made up something really special.”
I shrugged. “I just wanted to surprise you by bringing a bit of your mom here today,” I admitted.
She snapped her head over to look at me, her gaze critical as she scrutinized my face. “You did it for me?” she asked in a small whisper.
It seemed like the right thing to do to brush my fingers along her cheek. Her skin was always so soft even though she didn’t use any of the millions of moisturizing creams I watched women like Mrs. Aguilar and Aunt Shirley apply.
“This is the first holiday without your mom here, and I wanted you to be okay.”
Her face crumpled, as I expected it to, and I sat up, pulling her with me by wrapping an arm around her shoulder. She buried her face into my collar bone as she cried.
“It’s okay,” I tried to soothe her. “I’m here.”
Celeste’s mother meant everything to her, and although it was a love I couldn’t really understand, I had learned enough by now to know that her grief always made her emotional. She needed me to be strong for her in moments like this.
After a few minutes, her cries subsided and she pulled away to dry her eyes on the palms of her hands. “You know what, I hate all of them, too!” Celeste burst out. “I hate everyone who was ever mean to you, Wesley, because I think you’re perfect.”
I grinned at her, a little cocky from her assessment. It certainly didn’t hurt to have your favorite person in the world feel that way about you.
“Come on, we should get back.” Celeste stood up and did her best to wipe the mud and grass from her red jean shorts. Then she held out a hand to pull me up.
“Do you really think that’s a good idea?” I hedged.
She made a show of looking around the creek. “Or what? You’re gonna stay out here forever?”
Rolling my eyes at her sarcasm, I grabbed onto her outstretched hand and hauled myself up. “I really don’t want to go back yet.”
Celeste looked thoughtful for a moment before nodding. “There’s another path a little ways up that will lead us back into town by the school yard. There probably won’t be anyone that way since everybody’s at the town square. We can just walk around for bit.”
She led the way along the creek, both of us trying to avoid the mud. The dirt path through the trees she pointed out was definitely not as well used as the path we frequented behind the baseball diamond, but we soon found our way back into civilization. It deposited us behind the elementary school, just like she said, and we walked in companionable silence to the front of the building, then onto the main road. We could either turn right and head back towards the town square and The Comfy Cushion or go left and walk through one of the small residential areas in River’s Run.
I made the decision for her. “Let’s go this way,” I prompted, turning towards the houses with their fenced in yards and concrete driveways. None of the houses were very big or imposing, certainly nothing my father would ever deem appropriate, but they were all clean and well maintained. There was plenty of space between them for big yards and swing sets unlike the suburban neighborhoods I’d been in outside Atlanta where the massive houses sat so close to one another that you could hear when the neighbor’s phone rang.
Celeste kept a running commentary of who lived where and what they did or which scandal was attached to their family name. I guess growing up in the town’s only restaurant gave her access to all the gossip. She drew up short when we reached a square brick house towards the end of the lane.
“This is Chief Hillsborough’s house,” she said quietly.
I grinned wickedly at her. “Come on!” Without a backward glance, I darted up his driveway and climbed the chain link fence into his backyard. Mercifully, I didn’t see any sign of a dog.
“Wesley!” Celeste hissed at me, standing right at the fence line. “What are you doing?”
The chief’s house was one of the last on the street and had a large backyard that curved into the forest at an angle. There was a small concrete patio with a glass table and chairs, but otherwise the yard looked empty and mostly unused. A secondary detached garage was at the very back of the property, where the yard met the trees.
“What do you reckon is in there?” I asked her with a wolf’s grin.
Celeste’s face was red and frantic. “Wesley, get out of there this instant! We’re gonna get in so much trouble!”
I rolled my eyes at her. “How are we gonna get in trouble if everyone is at the party?”
Celeste shook her head. “Please get out of there!”
“Guess you’re gonna have to come in and stop me.” I shrugged and headed towards the detached garage. It was only big enough for a single car, but there was no driveway to it, making me assume it was meant for a riding mower.
Sure enough, the window on the side of the garage revealed a gleaming riding mower that looked far too big for the square backyard the chief owned. The rest of the garage looked like a small woodshop, with tools hanging from pegs and pieces of unfinished wood leaning against the back wall. There was a large saw table in the space behind the mower, but I couldn’t see more from the angle of the window.
The urge to see what else was inside was too strong for me to ignore and I found myself shoving the window open. Nobody ever locked things around here. They were all too trusting.
A warm hand clamped around my elbow as I reached my hands inside the window to haul myself up. Celeste’s eyes were pleading with me as she tried to pull me away. “We’re gonna get caught!”
“Then keep a look out,” I instructed her. “I just wanna take a look around.”
Celeste continued her quiet protests as I stumbled down into the garage. It was mainly used for outside storage, metal shelves holding gardening equipment and more tools for the woodshop. There was nothing out of the ordinary, although what I was expecting to find, I had no idea.
“Wesley Carter Madden, you get out here this instant!” Celeste’s tiny voice came through the window.
I rolled my eyes again even though she couldn’t see. “Marla’s lines won’t work on me,” I called out to her.
My eyes fell upon two large portable gas caddies when inspiration hit. Both were full of gasoline that I began pouring over every surface in the garage. They were heavy, full enough to douse the floors, the saw table, and the shiny riding mower. Chief Hillsborough probably thought highly of himself for having a monstrosity like that. I imagined that was the kind of things hicks like him cared about. So I’d take it from him, just as simple as that.
I grabbed a dirty rag from the tool bench and a glass bottle from what looked like a recycling bin. A box of matches sat on one of the shelves next to the grill equipment and I felt the wicked grin return to my face. It had to be karma, right, if I torched this garage like the grill master I wanted to be?
I climbed outside, much to Celeste’s relief, though she was practically hyperventilating by now.
“We’re gonna get in so much trouble!” she whined. As soon as both my feet hit the ground, she took off running towards the fence. “Come on, Wesley, we’ve gotta get out of here!”
She hadn’t seen the objects in my hand or else she would have stayed to take them from me, I was sure of it. However, I knew how dangerous this could be and I didn’t want Celeste anywhere near this building with what I was about to do.
I shoved the rag into the bottle and used a match to light the portion hanging out of the top. Since the window was open and I had only poured the gasoline on the ground, I was betting on having the extra few seconds I needed to run away even though I had no idea if science backed up my logic. Setting the glass on the window ledge, I simply pushed it over so that it rolled down onto the random pieces of lumber beneath the window and ran like hell away from the garage.
The sound of flames erupted behind, but nothing was strong enough that I could feel the heat from an explosion. Celeste was sputtering and pointing at the garage as I hopped the fence.
“Did you just set the building on fire?!” she screeched. I had never heard her voice so high pitched before.
I gave her a one arm shrug as I laced my hand through hers. “I was just manning the grill,” I countered innocently. With a quick smile, I took off down the street, keeping a tight grip on her hand in mine.
It couldn’t be too obvious that we were leaving the scene, so when we got to the cross street that could take us back past the school and towards the town square, I veered to the left as if we were going to the movie theater. That was my destination at the moment before we got a couple blocks away and Celeste dug in her heels.
“We have to alert the fire department!” she insisted.
“What?!” I snapped at her.
She was breathing heavily, trying to get the air in her lungs to function after the adrenaline wore off. “That garage is right next to the forest line and could start a huge fire. We can’t just let it go, Wes.”
She had a point, but that didn’t make it irritate me any less. “So what? You’re telling me to turn myself in?” My hands balled into fists that I clamped on my hips.
“No!” Celeste leaned forward, her hands holding onto her bent knees. She pointed down to the grocery store that still had one lone employee inside. “I’m gonna go call the fire department! You have to get home!”
“Get home?” I repeated in confusion.
“NOW!” she screeched again, louder this time.
I didn’t argue with her at that volume. Turning on my heel, I sped down through the parking lot of the movie theater, behind the town florist shop, and into the alleyway. If I followed it down to the end, there was a fence missing a couple boards that I could only just squeeze out of that would deposit me one street over from my great aunt Shirley’s. Ever since going to Celeste’s house, I had learned that it was rude to cut through people’s yards, but I took that chance today since everyone was still at the Fourth of July party.
I didn’t stop until I reached my bedroom, the patchwork quilt still disheveled from where I forgot to make my bed that morning. Pacing the small space did nothing for my rattled nerves, so I pushed open the lone window and climbed out onto the gabled roof.
The sky was starting to darken and stars were beginning to twinkle as I plopped down on the brown tiles, warm from the day’s sun. In the distance I could hear the sound of a siren, which I hoped meant Celeste was successful in contacting the fire department. It hadn’t occurred to me in the heat of the moment that the garage was next to a flammable forest.
I tried to use one of the breathing techniques a therapist taught me to regulate my heartbeat and calm myself back down, but after two attempts, I gave up. My nerves were like a live wire, my ears listening for the police that were sure to be approaching the house soon to arrest me. Wouldn’t that make my father proud?
“Wes?” I heard Celeste call from my window.
“Up here,” I replied.
Her tan legs swung out and she slowly climbed the slope of the roof towards me. Her eyes were still as round as saucers and her hair was starting to slip out of its ponytail.
“Don’t you ever do something like that to me again, y’hear?!” She was trying not to shout, but her anger was written all over her face. “Best friends don’t scare each other!”
Scared? I hadn’t meant to scare her. I opened my mouth to say so, but she held up her hand to stop me.
“I ran into the store and told the clerk I had been out looking for you,” Celeste explained. “Said I saw smoke coming out of someone’s back yard on Main Street and needed to let the fire department know. The clerk pulled up the phone and called them. I ran back out as soon as I heard him talk to someone.” She pulled up her knees and rested her forearms on them in front of her.
“Thank you,” was all I could think of saying.
She smirked at me, throwing me a sideways glance. “I’m still mad at you, but I have to forgive you.”
I grinned. “Didn’t you give me that lesson on what poetic justice means?”
Celeste snorted, trying to hide her amused smile. “I’d hardly call setting his garage on fire ‘poetic justice.’”
We grinned at each other, then both snapped our heads up to the sky. Fireworks were going off, painting the dark night with dazzling colors. She scooted closer to me and pointed out all the shapes. Her face was alight with wonder and awe, highlighted with the greens, blues, and purples as the world exploded above our heads.
I couldn’t even look at them because I was so mesmerized by her face. The way her mouth sloped with her smile, the straight edge of her dainty nose, the way her wild brown mane surrounded her in a halo of frizz, even when she tried to contain it in a ponytail. She had called me perfect earlier, but she was the perfect one. My best friend…but also the reason my heart now skipped a beat.
She turned to look at me, no doubt noticing my lack of response, and I don’t know what came over me at that moment, but I kissed her. It was the first kiss for both of us, I knew, and I had zero idea what I was doing. Yet when I felt her soft lips against mine, when I felt the way they kissed me back and held the moment, with all the fireworks still lighting up the world around us, I knew I was a goner. Celeste Hendricks might be my best friend, but she was also the love of my life.