4. Four #2
The new designer suitcases father had insisted on purchasing for me were stacked outside the office waiting for us.
Their fancy wheels wouldn’t be much use on the gravel and dirt pathways, but at least their handles seemed sturdy enough as I grabbed the biggest one.
Despite my father and brother’s constant pushing over the last year, I still didn’t own a lot of clothes I wanted to wear.
Not that I had a fucking choice in the matter, really.
So, my bag was packed with the few things that didn’t make me ill to look at.
Nothing pink. Thank God. When they asked, I pointed Bells and Abbi to the only other bag in the stack that belonged to me.
It contained sheets, a comforter and one pillow, so it was light enough.
Michele, who had come with us, but so far hadn’t said much, spoke up as I looked at the darkened office door, “You’re in Foxglove again, T. Abbi and I checked with Riley when we spotted your name on the cabin listing.”
Other than my own, there was only one other bag lying in the grass, which Francis then shouldered.
Without a word, he began to walk with it towards the Village.
I focused on his back and silently questioned how he knew what direction to go.
Francis had never been a camper here; he had no history with Agonde or prior knowledge of this place.
Father always kept him at home with him, citing that they spent summers having ‘father-son bonding time”.
I could only imagine what kind of sick shit they got up to, but that had never occurred to me when I was ten.
Other questions occurred to me now, too, like how he planned to survive the next two months with only one suitcase full of clothes.
Asking him about it was a fool’s errand.
So, it was in relative silence that the five of us wandered through the Village, past cabin after cabin, until my perfect refuge–the one that had finally started to feel like home last summer–became visible through a thin veil of pines.
Last summer, it truly felt like I lived in my own secluded corner of the Village.
If you followed the path all the way, eventually, it wound to the left and you would end up in the girl’s section, but otherwise, Foxglove was stationed on an empty path.
It was the last of the single staff cabins, or at least it had been.
Now, dominating the small glen of trees directly across from it was a new cabin, one that was easily double the size of all the others.
Its door and deck faced directly towards my own, and even before he moved towards it, I already knew it had been purpose-built for Francis.
Yet another power play today that screamed of Franklin Barrett.
Not wanting to think about it, I tightened my grip on my own suitcase and hauled ass towards my own cabin, ignoring my sibling in the process.
When I turned around to check on Abbs and Bella, I was briefly relieved to see him walking up his own small steps.
That was, until he paused in the doorframe, dropping his bag and kicking it through the open door, before also turning around to give me a smug smile.
He didn’t move at all while he watched the girls move past me, eyeing each of them one at a time.
Once they were inside my darkened cabin, he gave me a wave that chilled me completely before I retreated, slamming the door to seal us away from him.
From behind me, Bella said, “Ummm…don’t take this the wrong way, T, but your brother is...uh…”
“A fucking creep?” I supplied.
“I mean, none of us were going to say it, but…. yeah.”
“I know, Abbs.” I answered with a sigh, “And thank you for coming along. I’ve spent more than enough time cooped up with that freak today.”
It was the truth, but I was far too aware that more questions about Francis would only back me into a corner, where my only options were terrible lies.
Or even worse, truths. So, in a bid to prevent that, I unzipped the suitcase holding my bedding and began making up the single cot.
With my back to my friends, it was easier to adopt a falsely happy voice and ask, “Okay, so now I want the real gossip. Abbs, what’s going on with you and Riley?
” She barked a laugh, “Ohhhhhhh, T, you have no idea…” And she proceeded to fill me in on their non-break-up at the end of last summer, followed by a year of silence, and then some very passionate-sounding makeup sex against the back wall of the office this afternoon.
The way Bells and Mich laughed along to Abbi’s exploits clued me in that they had already heard this update.
The only downside was that Abbi’s smut-filled story was hard to hear while I slipped the fitted sheets around the corners of the vinyl-covered mattress where my own love story started last summer.
Or, I guess, re-started. Either way, I tried desperately not to think about Brennon or Xav as I finished laying out my comforter, but my chest still flushed at the memories of us all together, despite all the sourness that came after.
As Abbi wound down her story, she turned to Mich and asked, “So, what about Cole?”
“What about Cole?” Mich’s voice peaked.
“Are you guys…?” I asked, sitting on my now made bed to look at her. The girls were spread out around the small room, each leaning back against the timber walls.
“No.” Her blue eyes stared into my own, “Not since last summer.”
An “Oh,” popped from my mouth before I could stop it.
Mich just shook her head at me, “Look. Cole and I were not…um…a good fit, is the nicest way to say it. So, I’m working hard to move on.”
We all chimed in with comforting words, and knowing I owed them my own explanations, I offered up the confession, “Well, I guess you guys probably saw the papers…”
“Are you fucking kidding us, Toni,” Bella answered with a laugh. The other girls chuckled, too.
“Yeah, okay…well what you don’t know is…
” and I proceeded to tell them about Xavi, his incredible efforts during our school year and all our plans for the summer.
I didn’t say a word about my father or sibling, keeping it light-hearted.
Until I got to end and was reminded that all of those plans were now dead in the water, and since I couldn’t fully explain why to my friends, I had no choice but to simply say, “But I think I might have fucked it up today.”
One by one, the girls stood around me. The opening campfire was starting in just a few minutes, and we needed to get going.
Abbi and Michele linked elbows and headed outside, leading the way, and once they had, Bells came up beside me and laced her arm through my own.
We followed our friends outside, and as we did, she whispered, “Don’t worry about Xavier, T.
Whatever you did, we forgive a lot from the people we love. And that boy loves you.”
I sighed, hoping she was right, and I would get a chance to make it up to him.
But heading back outside, the first sight that greeted us was my brother’s new cabin.
How would I ever make it up to Xav when he couldn’t come here, couldn’t knock on my door, let alone come inside without Francis seeing.
And knowing my brother, he would be watching.
Right now, and every night. All summer long.
I was already exhausted thinking about it.