Broken to Pieces (15 page)

The sudden memory of Anish regaling her with fantastic tales so many years ago was brought to the forefront of her mind, dragged back to the surface by the scene that was unfolding. In a way (though she didn't realize it until right then), she always knew that things would come back to it; to the one story that had moved her so deeply.

She felt her lips move but couldn't hear the noise. The only thing that she could register was Tex's twangy drawl.

"You see," he said as he sat down on the steps with a grunt, "my bloodlines in America run mighty deep. Our family has been here since almost the beginning. Why, we go far enough back to have had very close ties to the native people which, in a way, have a big part in this story."

Of course it would be Indians again
, she thought.

"Wait, wait, wait. Are you going to tell me about some half-man, half-beast thing, too?"

Tex scoffed, "Now why the hell would I tell you some nonsense like that?!"

Emily shrugged her shoulders.

"Anyway, my distant uncle, Buck, eventually learned some of the Cherokee language, which allowed him and the tribal elders to share stories-and booze-around the fire at night. There was one beast in particular that they spoke of, called 'Yo-na', that was said to be the enemy of the Cherokee people: an eight-foot tall bear with claws like knives, teeth like bullets and an insatiable appetite for human flesh. They said that it stalked their homes at night, looking for the easiest victim to prey on as it had for generations.

Buck didn't believe them, of course. In his mind-and the minds of most other white settlers-the Indians' myths and legends were the stuff that only an uncivilized culture would cling to.

You can imagine his surprise when, one silent night as he and his family slept in their tiny cabin, he was awakened by the sound of five nails scraping through the exterior logs near his head."

Tex paused and adjusted his belt.

"So Buck quietly climbs out of his thin blankets, crawls over to the window and barely peers his eyes out. Standing next to his window, the Yo-na was raised up on two legs, blocking out the light of the moon."

"Let me guess," Emily shoved her hands in her pockets. "He stormed out and fought with courage, saving the day."

"What? No!"

She looked surprised.

"My uncle waited until morning," he continued, "then packed our family up and left for Texas."

"I don't understand."

He held a finger up to show that he wasn't finished.

"Three days later, every man, woman and child within a quarter mile of their home was mauled to death. It was a vicious scene that, had Buck not fled, would have ensured that I never would have been born."

"So what's the point of this story then, to run away from everything?"

"The point," he hitched his thumbs through his belt loop, "is that you have to know when you are outmatched. You also have to accept that most answers won't be cut-and-dry and that, sometimes, we can't be afraid to reach out to those who have already offered their help."

"Are you saying that I can't do this alone, then?"

"No. I'm saying that you need to come to terms with what was, what is and what will be. It's okay to-"

A little cloud of dust popped out from under Emily's heel as she stomped it into the dirt.

"I have tried to be strong; to stand tall and trudge onward. If I need to prove anything, it's just that I can handle this on my own."

"Why?" He waved his hands, "For what purpose?"

She hesitated and thought back to the fable that she had picked over so many times. Never before had she even questioned the moral of it, let alone been blinded by the fact that its message might have been misguided the entire time.

"I…"

She looked down at a tuft of grass that had broken through the firmly-packed asphalt.

"…I can't," she lamented as her shoulders sank.

"You know," Tex leaned over and continued in a hushed tone, "real bravery isn't just about standing tall. Sometimes, the truly fearless are the ones who know when to bend to the inevitable things in life. Now listen, I know that you're going through a whole bunch of shit and, if my word means anything, you don't deserve one single inch of the miles of hurt being piled on you. I understand the pain that you have in your heart. I have been there before." He grabbed her shoulders and gave her a gentle shake. When she stared up, the look of desperation in her eyes was crystal clear. "But if you take anything away from all of this, let it be that you have to follow your heart and quit fighting these battles for the sake of some cock-eyed idea of honor. It's okay to take a knee every once in a while, Emily."

The eloquence and gravity of his words left the young woman speechless. Deep inside, where her heart sat shattered, a faint spark of hope ignited.

She watched in silence as Tex leaned down and unzipped one of his rifle bags. From inside, he slipped out the gun she had used in the woods with him.

"I want you to have this," he said and held it out to her.

Emily hadn't forgotten the rich history that the weapon held for him and his family.

"No. I can't."

"Really," he shoved it into her hands. "It would mean a lot to me."

She closed her fingers around the cool metal.

"Why, though?"

The crackling sound of tires rolling across the parking lot drew both of their eyes up to the gaudy yellow cab that coasted to a stop behind them. Tex held his index finger up in the air, asking for just another minute.

"Because," he grinned, "you still haven't hit my target yet."

She scoffed, "I doubt that I ever will."

Tex patted her shoulder and grabbed his bags.

"You never know, Missy. You might just surprise yourself." He tipped his hat, "Until next time, Miss Harper."

Walking over to the cab, he opened the door, threw his bags in and paused for one last smile.

"Tex," she called out.

"Yes?"

A tight lump suddenly caught in her throat. She tried her best to swallow it down with the tears that threatened to erupt at any moment.

"Thank you."

After a slight nod, Tex dipped down into the back seat and slammed the door behind him. Seconds after that, Emily clung tightly to the weapon and watched as the car turned into a speck on the horizon.

It was, in her mind, the beginning of the end for the summer, though whether or not that was a good thing was still so hard to tell.

That evening, after she'd had a chance to shower and take a long, quiet nap, Emily stumbled out of her room with matted hair piled on her head and little bits of sleep still stuck to the corners of her eyes.

"Hey."

Adam's voice made her almost jump out of her socks.

"What the hell, man?"

"Sorry," he walked around from behind the corner and leaned up against the wall with his shoulder.

"It's okay, I guess." She tried to not look too obvious as she pawed at her hair in a desperate, though unsuccessful, attempt at flattening it back out. "Did you know that Tex had to leave today?"

"Oh yeah. It's too bad. I really liked that guy."

"Me too."

She looked up at his eyes briefly before shifting them down to the ground.

"Look," Adam said, "I'm sorry about how I acted. I think that maybe things got out of hand." He paused and cleared his throat, "So I was wondering if you would let me make it up to you."

He tapped the bottom of her chin with a curled finger. More than anything, he just wanted her to look at him with her stunningly beautiful eyes.

She gazed up, finally, and smiled with one corner of her mouth.

"Okay. What did you have in mind?"

"It's a secret," he said in a sing-song voice that made Emily laugh.

In reality, however, it took all that he had to keep the nervousness in his gut from making him run away screaming.

"Well," she thought about it for a moment, "let's see it, then."

The grin that spread over his face was intoxicating. He took her hand and pulled her away from her room, "Come on!"

"Hold on," she couldn't help but giggle. "Don't I need to change?"

Her wrinkled yellow dress, though pretty, wasn't anywhere near acceptable for going out.

Adam reached out and pinched a little bit of fabric near the end between his fingers, rubbing it slowly between them.

"It's beautiful."

"But it's all-"

He pulled on her arm again.

"It's perfect. Now let's go!"

—

"You know that I don't even have any shoes on, right?"

Adam looked over from the driver's seat of the late Carl Harper's ancient, lumbering truck. The rusting bucket whined over every hill on the narrow road leading up the mountain's burgeoning shoulders.

"You can have mine," he smiled and turned back to the road.

"That's a little gross."

"Oh come on," he leaned over the steering wheel and furrowed his brow. "You can't tell me it wasn't sweet."

With a genuine fit of laughter, Emily felt an unexpected lightness wash over her. In a way, it made her feel like she was tipsy, just like the first time that they explored each other by the lake's crystal waters.

The similarity of the situation was not lost on her.

"Okay," she said, letting her arm flop down onto the door frame, "it was a little sweet. Still gross, but sweet."

He smiled, letting his white teeth show through briefly.

"Thanks."

"No problem."

There was an odd mix of both good and bad tension as the truck squealed over the last hill and dipped down into the valley. Even though the sky was still a rich blaze of oranges, the tall peak that loomed over the still lake cast a long shadow over all but the very tallest of the trees ,leaving everything under a thin blanket of gray.

Adam turned the truck to the left and started around the lake.

"Why are we going to the dock?"

"Because," he slowed the vehicle to a stop so that its headlights illuminated a little row-boat bobbing in the water, "we are going to take a little boat ride."

Before she was through considering whether or not she wanted to walk around barefoot, Adam jumped out, ran around and flung her door open, making the light hem of her dress flutter.

"Adam!"

"It's fine," he said as he scooped her up and started toward the water's edge.

She reached up and rubbed the growing layer of hair on his head. By then it stood up in little bunches between her fingers.

"What's gotten into you?"

"Here we go," he said and lowered her feet down to the warped wood beneath them. With one hand, he helped her into the tiny vessel and jumped in after, almost capsizing them before they even had a chance to cast off.

Emily reached behind her and removed the boat's rope from the dock's silver post, allowing her excited partner to push away and start rowing.

"You never answered my question."

"What's that?"

He seemed a lot calmer once they were on the water.

"Is there something in the air or what? You're acting funny."

The oars barely disturbed the glass-like surface as they dipped in and out. Clearly, he had rowed a boat or two before.

"I just realized some stuff that made me feel better."

Emily leaned forward and rested her chin in her palms.

"Like what?"

"Like the fact that I love you."

Her hands shot out and grabbed his, stopping the oars dead mid-stroke.

"What did you just say to me?"

The beat of her heart went from steady to erratic in an instant. From the gentle splashing sound as the boat rocked back and forth to the song of the birds and insects in the trees that made a circle around the lake's edge, nothing was spared.

By the time that some sights and sounds began to come back to her, Adam had been rambling on nervously for a few minutes straight. Emily reached over and covered his mouth with her hand, finally silencing him.

"Adam."

"Hm?"

"Listen," she pressed down a little harder to get her point across. "I know that this summer has been weird, but running around saying stuff like that isn't going to instantly make things better."

Adam pulled her hand away from his face and held her wrist.

"I know that I can't guarantee your happiness, Emily, but I do everything that I can."

He leaned over before she could speak and pressed their lips together.

"Just tell me that you will consider it."

The pleading in his eyes made Emily want to cry for him, for herself, for everything. She didn't understand why she couldn't just let go and follow her heart.

"I will consider it," she said in a whisper, their lips grazing by one another as her supple mouth shifted with the sound of each letter.

They moved in for another, more passionate kiss. This time, their arms tangled around one another, forcing their throbbing bodies together. Even in the midst of the pressure both of them faced, their burning hunger for each other was unstoppable.

Something about the situation made them lose control.

Clothing was yanked and ripped away from their groping limbs. One of Adam's pant legs was cast aside and landed with about half of it hanging over the side of the rocking vessel. It dipped in and out of the water with their every nuanced movement.

Left only in their underwear, Adam tackled Emily down to the very bottom of the rickety boat where he took up a daring position pressed between her smooth thighs. The thick bulge of his erection pressed out against her thin panties, making her groan softly under her breath.

After waiting for so long to commit that particular act, neither one of them knew what move to make next. Instead, Emily looked up and locked eyes with her lover. She watched him closely and took note of the hitches and stops in his breathing as he slowly rocked the bottom of his thickness up and down over her tender area. Every time he moved back down and his swollen head rubbed against her mound, he sucked the air through his teeth. Even then, though he did not speak, she could hear the shivering that was taking him over.

Emily reached up and let her fingers slide over every tiny bump and ripple of his exposed chest.