Lost Together #3
I understood Harmony was talking about Noma, hinting at allowing another mother figure into my life, but it also hit home for Tallulah. She wasn’t my water friend, but she was here, trying to offer me something.
“Hey.” Harmony pointed to the book. “You want to keep it?”
Yes, it was only a book, but Harmony’s kindness appeared to be limitless. “That would actually be pretty ‘cool’ but, you’re not going to dance, are ya?”
She playfully shoved me. “Teenager!” Then she got up from the couch and wiggled—danced—off to the kitchen.
After taking the book to my room, I lay on my stomach on the bed and opened it up again.
The concept of this ‘journey’ to the underworld was quite fascinating for a couple of reasons.
There was a price to be paid to reach the afterlife.
The river, the water, binding together souls with divine oaths…
However, I was also greatly intrigued because of the different names of the rivers.
Styx, the name of one of them, was also the same as a river goddess.
Coincidence? Maybe so. But then I thought about my uncles.
What about the others? Uncle Heron was the first to be shot that horrid day with my dad.
Now I’m reading a book about a river called Cheron.
My gut was experiencing all these pings as if tiny electric shocks.
Then there was the river Lethe. I also had an Uncle Letti.
River Phlegethon. Uncle Pledge.
River Cocytus. Uncle Cocky.
And Dad’s clubhouse just happened to be on a peninsula with only one bridge? Where I happened to almost die but was saved by a—
Rolling to my back, I threw the book across the room, pissed at the similarities.
Pissed that I now felt even more crazy than before.
I lay there, about to blow. My ears were ringing.
My eyes refused to open to read one more word.
My mind was spinning, and so was my stomach.
My face covered with my palms, I growled, “I need help.”
I needed water of a different kind. So, I ran downstairs while pulling a piece of paper from my front pocket.
Finding the houseline, I picked up the receiver and started dialing the digits, feeling it could be a lifeline.
When Tallulah answered her cell, I insisted, “My choice is to be of the highest intelligence.”
As if sensing I was about to unravel, she calmly promised, “You won’t regret it.”
And I didn’t. Tallulah was an old soul in her own right. I found it easy to talk to her in our quiet moments. She was also vivacious. A welcome challenge. And a beautiful distraction. Forgetting my past was a drug of its own. And I was a willing addict.
As far as I could see, there was only one downfall to dating Tallulah.
One day, while I was brushing my teeth, Finn appeared in the bathroom doorway. He casually warned, “Watch your back,” while tossing a baseball in the air, only to catch it again. “Locker room is full of talk by some jealous Tallulah fans.”
Fuck me.
Around my toothbrush, I smarted off, “Thanks fo’ carin’, as’hole.”
“Better than getting a lecture from Dale or Harmony when you come home with a black eye.”
Dick!
After rinsing my mouth, I went up to my room and grabbed my brass knuckles. Staring at them in my grasp, suddenly the attic felt stifling, so I went outside while thinking it was only a matter of time before I was going to have to face some Tallulah fans and defend myself.
“What’s with the brass knuckles, kid?” asked Dale from over my shoulder.
I was sitting in Harmony’s gazebo, staring at the Life Date metal in my hand. “Strengthening a weakness.”
There was not an ounce of surprise in his voice. Dale had been there, too. “And if they ain’t in your pocket?”
Squinting at the sunrays trying to reach me, I peered up at him. “What are you saying?”
Casually, he warned, “Taking those to school is an automatic expulsion.”
Fuck. Didn’t think of that. Wait—“How’d you know—”
He laughed. “Fighting over girls is as old as time, Brass.” He sat on the bench across from me, like I had with Blue. “It’s very appropriate.”
I thought of my damaged hand, hence a lip curling.
He waved me off. “Nope. No self-pity allowed. That can blind you.”
Blinking through his hidden meanings, I said, “Huh?”
Dale pointed to what was in my hand. “If I had to guess, whoever gave you those knew you well.”
That stuck my heart in a blender. I swallowed. “You guessed right.”
The wise bastard smirked. “Brass. A metal with many purposes and abilities.” He stared into my soul. “It gives instruments… a voice.”
Even though I wasn’t totally comprehending all of his meanings, chills took over my body. I couldn’t move. I just listened.
“It can be tricky, appearing beautiful yet holding so much strength.”
My throat tightened. Noma, were you telling me something?
“It can be a conductor, allowing electricity to flow…” His eyes squinted as if making sure I was truly hearing him.
I was hearing nothing but him.
His voice softened. “Most of all? It’s forgiving, easier to bend in certain circumstances—conditions.” His voice lowered as if to make sure this last part socked me in the chest. “It is corrosion resistant. It won’t rust… even when drowning.”
I stopped breathing. My ears rang. Dale knew. Dale knew of my accident.
He took in a breath so deep his expanding lungs made him sit up straight. “So, yeah. That gift giver knew you very well.”
I thought of Noma’s last note to me. We put on our brass knuckles and swing because we sinners have the grit it takes.
Jaw locked to fight forming tears, I kept staring at the man I would never forget.
As if the silence between us was screaming my understanding, Dale dipped his chin. Then he said, “Ready to get back to your immediate problem?”
Taking a deep breath myself, I stretched my right hand and its scars. “Yeah, what can I do?”
Dale was up for the challenge. “Let’s make your left hook a dangerous one for when that weapon isn’t in your pocket.” He winked.
And he did. Growing up in a foster home without caring parents like he and Harmony, he had to learn how to make a punch count.
Most of us wanted to learn. Even Sarah. Blue was a little more timid, but Dale convinced her it was only for play.
At least that is what he told her. Although his inquisitive eyes spoke of wanting this little girl to have a fighting chance if ever faced with what brought her to him in the first place.
“I don’t like fighting,” Harmony announced from her gazebo while drinking hot tea.
Dale motioned to us all, “Huddle time,” before saying over his shoulder, “Just getting exercise, babe.” Our arms linked over our shoulders and leaning forward to be face to face, he whispered to us, “This is what most girls say because they feel guilty for causing the fight in the first place.” He grimaced at Sarah and Blue. “Sorry, girls.”
In the huddle, Sarah was perplexed. “No one is fighting over me.”
“I would.”
All heads turned to Caleb.
Dude!
He shrugged.
Then all mouths formed big O’s while fighting smiles. Including Sarah, who was more approving than the rest of us. Well, everyone but Ethan, who just stared at Caleb for a few seconds before switching his attention back to Dale.
“I mean,” Caleb shrugged, “there’s some hearts to break and numbers to throw away, but yeah. Ya know.” He shrugged again.
We were all physically interlocked while Caleb revealed some feelings, which was a tad awkward, so Dale teased, “That’s enough huddling.” He playfully shoved us apart. “Get back to work.”
Sparring, Blue’s giggle had us all laughing every time Sebastian pretended her strike knocked him to the ground. His glasses crooked while he lay there.
Dale said, “See? Dynamite in small packages.”
Proud of her own grit, Blue pushed her glasses back up her nose and adjusted her plain dress over leggings before raising her gloves, beckoning Sebastian for another round.
Sarah and Caleb were paired up, grinning at each other as if there was more than one type of ‘sparring’ happening. She sized him up with those big, expressive pale eyes of hers, and I think he didn’t stand a chance.
Understandably, Ethan and I, paired up, lacked the romance the other partners seemed to have. Smirking like the devil, I circled him. Gloved fists hanging between us.
Ethan chuckled while egging me on. “Going to swing or what?”
Observing, Dale reminded me, “Center your weight… Keep that right hand up to block… Let that left hand…”
I was careful not to punch hard, but I didn’t hold back on speed.
Ethan stood there, blinking. “I didn’t even see that one coming.”
Dale jumped up and down. “See?” He was excited. “A stunned opponent is an advantage.”
It’s truly amazing how much thought he put into little details to offer guidance, self-assurance, and room to think for ourselves. Expanding minds is a privilege. One that shouldn’t be taken lightly. Especially to minds that have seen too much too soon.
Finn seemed to be gone more often lately, and I wondered if it was only baseball practice that kept him away from home. He’d gone quiet, offering mostly sarcasm when he spoke to any of us, spending less time at home. Mostly, I saw him at school. Even then, it wasn’t the same as in recent weeks.
Maybe I needed to talk to the guys about it.
Gage was the only one of us who didn’t join in on the daily lessons, especially because he didn’t have sports as an excuse.
We were getting faster and stronger, yet in the backyard, he would only watch from afar.
He would pace with an expression that appeared to be growing rage.
However, there was pain in his squinted judging eyes.
Dale was still instructing us, though his focus often shifted to the pacing lion. He eventually asked, “Need a round, Gage?”
I jolted at the dark voice that growled, “I won’t fight a kid,” as if he no longer were one himself.