Raw

David || 21 || God-fearing

[pastorjeremiah-blog]

“Oh, son…” 

The words rolled off in an empathetic gesture from the uncle, his caring tone sounding sincere. What Jeremiah didn’t have, was remorse. David had done a service to God that night in the bayou; the only shame was that the explosion hadn’t taken the true serpents in the grass. 

—But that was murder; the Lord or the law would have to condemn those bastard children. He glared into the eyes of the Thorne children each Sunday as they adorned the disguise of the sheep. Nothing but evil was in their eyes; it was a shame no one else had seen it yet. 

Jeremiah rubbed David’s shoulder affectionately, trying to soothe his troubled nephew. “You are not guilty in the eyes of our Father, and it is only his judgement we should welcome. God will smite them down before they lay a hand on the one they believe to be guilty. Let his love protect you from the demons that you fear.”

[david-hxpkins-blog]

 As his uncle spoke, David looked down at the table and continued messing with his hair. Of course it was something he knew in somewhere in the back of his mind, but David needed to hear that from Jeremiah. He needed the affirmation that he wasn’t guilty in the eyes of God, and he wouldn’t have trusted anyone else to say it. 

Since blowing up the meth lab he had been mentally battling with himself. Even if the Thorne’s were doing the devil’s work, was that any way to begin to deal with them? There was a night he spent lying awake and wondering where the line between doing God’s work and committing a crime was.

        But if the only judgement that mattered was His and not even his own, then maybe he                    had nothing to fear after all.

The hand that had been bothering his hair rested on the table and he rolled the dice. “I wish the Thorne’s would just leave town. I wish all the sinners would just leave town.” He figured a quarter of his problems would leave with them. There was an uneasiness that he wouldn’t be able to get rid of for a while, but he leaned forward and moved his game piece ahead. Still in the lead, he looked up at his uncle. “If I win I want chocolate cake from the diner.” 

[abigailbrown-deactivated2016102]

“No!” Abigail screeched, fingers curling round the doorjamb. “No! Mama spank. Mama spank if Abby go outside.” Her throat hurt. She’d stood there, crying, for the better part of the morning, while her new mother tried to coax her out into the hall. Now, she screamed, digging her nails into the wood, as Mrs. Brown slipped an arm around her shoulders and tried to lead her from the bedroom.

“Honey, nobody is going to hurt you,” Mrs. Brown said.

Abigail shook her head. “No, no, no. Abby good girl, Abby good girl. Abby good girl.” She wasn’t leaving her room. Mama said. Mama said stay-inside, and Mama said I’ll-spank-you-if-you-leave-this-room. And Mama would. And Mama did. Hard. She spanked with Abby’s-hairbrush and Mama’s-belt. Abby had scars, faded now, from the times Mama had spanked her when she was a bad girl.

“Abigail, please,” Mrs. Brown said. Her voice shook.

Abigail shook her head, about to say no again, when Mr. Brown’s voice floated up the stairs.

“Let her alone, Lizzie. She’ll come when she’s ready.”

With a sigh, Elizabeth Brown dropped her arm from Abigail’s shoulders.

Turning, the girl ran back into her room. She snatched Dolly from the bed and retreated to the closet. Crouching inside, back pressed up against the far wall, she hugged her knees and rocked. Abigail hugged Dolly as tightly as she could. Slipping her thumb into her mouth, she muttered, “Abby good girl, Abby good girl, Abby good girl,” as she rocked. She was a good girl. She did what Mama said. 

Even though Mama wasn’t around to see her. Mama said I’m-always-watching, and she was. Mama never lied. She knew when Abigail was bad even when she was away at work. She knew that Abigail had said naughty words when she got mad at Dolly because Mama was gone for two days and she got hungry and Dolly wasn’t talking to her anymore.  She knew about the time Abby tried to leave her room, too. Her new mother could say that-woman-is-never-going-to-hurt-you-again all she wanted. Abby knew better, and she wasn’t moving.

Several hours later, she crawled out of the closet. Her new mother had left her lunch on a plate on the bed. It was peanut-butter-sandwiches, with-the-crusts-cut-off, just-like-you-like-them. Abby crawled up onto the bed and stuffed most of one of the half sandwiches into her mouth. Peanut-butter-sandwiches were easy to eat. 

Probably, this was her new mother’s way of saying sorry. Usually, she made Abby come-downstairs-and-eat-with-the-family, though sometimes new mother fed her, when her hands shook too bad, but usually she made Abby do it herself. Not today though. Today she got to eat in her room. 

Maybe, her new mother wouldn’t make her go outside anymore today. She did a lot, and Abby didn’t like it. Soon her mama was going to come back, and Abby would be in trouble, and it would be all her new mother’s fault. Maybe then she would be sorry she made Abby go outside.

But not today. 

Later that night, Abby sat on the porch, wrapped in a blanket, hugging Dolly as hard as she could. When she first came to live with her new family, new mother took Dolly and gave her Bear instead. Bear was alright, but Dolly was better. The woman from Baton Rouge who came sometimes to teach Abby things made new mother give Dolly back, because Abby had locked herself in the closet–with Bear–and wouldn’t come out till she got Dolly back. Now, she kept an extra tight grip on the doll, just in case. 

Mother had lured her out here with promises of candy, but now she was talking to somebody, and there still wasn’t any candy. Abby stepped off the porch. Sometimes, she could leave the house for a little while if she was all wrapped up. The quilt made her feel almost as nice as being inside did. She walked, slowly, away from the house. New mother was talking, there wasn’t any candy, and she could–and would–run back inside if she got scared. 

[david-hxpkins-blog]

For the second time, David had been caught in one of the town’s local bars. Now he was essentially all out of hiding places (if he was excusing the bayou and Legs, which he was). His punishment? Running errands all day with the church employee that came looking for him in the first place, if he didn’t want the woman getting his uncle involved. 

                From the passenger seat of the car he glanced at the woman. She would probably tell                           Jeremiah anyway. 

What had only been about six hours felt like about two days, especially with all the naps in the car screwing up his timeline. Apparently Mrs. Brown’s house was the last stop -- something about picking up a few things. He didn’t care about that, what he did care about was that the woman forgot to tell him that this last stop would be the longest stop. 

Well into the visit, he simply stayed in the car, figuring he had nothing to add to whatever the two women were discussing. Once or twice, his eyes scanned the porch only to finally land on Abigail, but he didn’t expect her to do much of anything. As far as he knew, Abigail was one of the quietest people in town -- it should have been easy to forget she was there every now and then. But she rarely went off David’s radar. Everybody talked in this town, even he himself gossiped when the mood struck him. 

                    That made Abigail... different. 

She was too quiet, too skittish, and she unnerved him in a way only a few people in town could. So when he looked up from his phone for the first time in a while and saw her walking away, he took the chance to relieve his boredom, and hopefully, his curiosity. 

He made sure he left the car quietly, but once he caught up with Abigail he spoke up so she’d know he wasn’t far behind. “How much longer ‘you think they’ll go on talking?” He walked up slow, tucking his hands into his pockets.

[swiftliz-deactivated20191221]

   “Leaving town?” Elizabeth did nothing to disguise the tone of surprise in her voice, but there was nothing angry or judgmental about it. David was a legal adult, and he was old enough to do what he wanted. She’d miss him, of course, but ultimately it was his decision.

   “Is this something you’ve been thinking about doing?” She gave a small smile, a tinge of sadness in her eyes. “I know this town ain’t been the happiest of late, but if you are going, I wouldn’t like to be worryin’ about you. How long would you be away? Would you be going alone?”

[david-hxpkins-blog]

David nodded when Elizabeth repeated his words, remaining fairly still at her reaction until she started asking questions. 

“I guess I’d go alone, if no one wanted to go with me.” Moving a hand up to mess with one of his ears, he looked up at the sky. “Jer’s pretty cemented here. And so are you.” They were the only people he could think of worth taking, especially since he’d get into trouble for inviting his third candidate.

The hand on his ear moved to rub his nose with his index finger. He was overwhelmed, putting serious thought into his answers rather than saying anything because he was angry. “I’ve thought about it a couple times. Don’t you ever think a’ takin’ a vacation or somethin’?” Suddenly he wanted the attention off of himself.

[evethorn3-blog]

“Life ain’t fair, princess.” 

She took a dramatic bite of the cookie, the comment rolling off her tongue quicker than it should. It was the real Eve showing; a rookie mistake. She’d need to play extra nice now to cover up the fumble, pull out a hail Mary to save the slip.

With a smile sweeter than the desserts in hand, she returned with, “I’ll tell you what, though. If you serve as a good helpin’ hand, I just might make up a whole batch for you to slip on outta here with.” 

Her heart raced as she watched him, unable to predict his next move. It wasn’t as if it was a damning comment; the most David could report was that Eve was mean. Still, she didn’t need an extra set of eyes on her. The Lord was already watching. 

[david-hxpkins-blog]

His eyes darted to Eve’s face, questioning a multitude of things but mostly why he expected her to agree with him. She was right anyway, but he disregarded that fact as he peeled his gaze off of her and turned away. The rest of his cookie was eaten and after rubbing the crumbs from his fingers he would have been left to contemplate who Eve Thorne really was. 

              Maybe she could read minds, because her offer sure felt like a diversion.

The table in front of him creaked as he leaned forward on it, staring down at the dough he should have rolled long ago. “ I dunno...” He was afraid to talk to Eve any more than he already had. Half of his mind was already set on finding someone else to complete a task with if Eve had anymore harsh realities to share. 

He turned again so he was facing Eve as well as the door and looked out at the hall. “You don’ think anyone’ll notice there aren’t as many cookies as there could’a been?” He paused. “An’ how would I get ‘em out of here without anyone noticing?” The real concern here.

[swiftliz-deactivated20191221]

   “Oh, I don’t think it would be a waste.” Elizabeth picked a wilted leaf from a flower nearby and dropped it in the little pile by her knees. “Plants make oxygen and cleanse the air – we need them a lot more than they need us.”

     Regarding David’s inquiry about landscapers, Liz nodded her head in confirmation, but otherwise decided to leave it be as the young blond changed the subject.

   “If it was important I’m sure you’ll remember, sweetheart.”

[david-hxpkins-blog]

David moved the hand on his neck to scratch his head, trying not to smile at ‘sweetheart’. Elizabeth was one of the few people he didn’t cringe at when a term of endearment was used; even if it didn’t mean anything out of the ordinary. 

He stopped walking away from her and turned around to catch a woman across the street leaving her house. As the sun beat down on them he glared at the woman for no reason in particular, letting her form occupy him as he refreshed his memory.

            “Oh!” 

The word came like it was something important. “It was nothing. I was--” Stressed out? Angry? “Bored.” That was much easier to handle. “I,” he hesitated, “got into an argument with Jer about leavin’ town.” He never would, but he looked at Elizabeth, wanting to know how she felt about it.

[daisyhow-deactivated20160912]

            “You shut up!” 

She threw his words back into his face, her face hardening. Daisy knew she was being childish, but she was having a hard time caring. It wasn’t fair, he was so stupid and he said such hateful things, but no one ever bothered to tell him off. It wasn’t fair.

          “You’re not sorry, you’re just an awful, mean person and everyone hates you for            it. The whole town hates you, you know. Everyone thinks you’re stupid.”

It was cruel thing to say, she wasn’t used to being cruel. At least not in such a blunt  manner. But it felt like a relief, finally getting so say what she meant. She felt no mercy for David in that moment. She’d spent years pitying him for his poor, stupid brain, but she no longer felt any sympathy. 

Daisy rubbed her eyes as she choked back tears. She turned her back to David. She  couldn’t stand looking at him for a second longer. 

           “I’m telling Pastor Jeremiah what you said to me. I’m going to tell him what an            awful, dirty sinner you are.” 

She said that final sentence in her coldest, most threatening tone. Daisy took off running, determined to get away from the young man as fast as possible. 

[david-hxpkins-blog]

His eyes darted to the floor when Daisy told him that the whole town hated him. She’s lying. The thought pounded against the front of his mind as his lips trembled and he fought a deeper frown. And he was thankful the girl turned away because he would have lost it if she’d gone any further. 

It should have been done then. If she was done talking, and they were going to go their separate ways, everything should have been okay. But she was going to tell Jeremiah.

A sense of panic froze him in place, even as Daisy started to leave. He felt like a child again; somehow Daisy always brought that out of him. The feeling was akin to all the times at school a teacher would threaten to call home. It wasn’t like he should have worried about what his uncle would do. What trouble did he ever really get into? 

      “Wait!”

                        He just didn’t like having to acknowledge that he did something wrong. 

Finally he ran after her, hoping that the girl didn’t know where Jeremiah was. “Daisy wait! I said I was sorry!” He reached for her should, trying to get her attention again. “What do you want me to do?”

[lincolncane]

You an’ that uncle’a yours can go back to your turf, an’ spread some’a that holiday cheer.  The townsfolk can’t go ‘round spreadin’ their fears like wildfire if they’re too busy prayin’.

[david-hxpkins-blog]

David took a deep breath, exhaling through his nose as he glared at Cane. he wasn’t sure why he thought the man could help him in the first place. “ ‘Don’t think any amount a’ prayin’s gonna stop an angry mob, but --  I’ll give it a shot. For the fifth time.”

[carcosalusk-blog]

At first, Carcosa had almost convinced herself that she’d run into him without even noticing, and the words she’d missed out on were simply those of a pissed off civilian. She was fully prepared to give some sort of an apology and hurry on her way, until she actually processed what the young man had asked.

A tiny wave of relief washed over her, thankful for the lack of confrontation and the fact that somehow, she hadn’t actually rammed into him. Before she could stop herself, a soft chuckle fell from the woman’s lips. His second question was amusing, to say the least, but at least it wasn’t what she’d been expecting; some sort of disgruntled remark or bitter advice to watch where she was going.

“Along Came a Spider,” she replied, turning the cover in his direction while her thumb rested between the book’s pages. “Kinda an’ old one, but it’s somethin’ to keep me busy.” Adjusting the strap of her bag, Carcosa gave a shrug of her shoulders. “Good question,” she let out a laugh. “I guess I should probably save it for later. Jus’ got a bad habit of not knowin’ when to pull my nose out of a book.”

She smiled up at him. This time it was her turn to tack on a question.

“I think I’ve seen ya workin’ a few times when I’ve dropped by the library — I’m guessin’ you’re a reader too?”

[david-hxpkins-blog]

The woman told him what book she was reading and his eyebrows rose in recognition, though he hadn’t read the book himself. Having worked in the library for so long, he’d given himself the task of having general knowledge of just about every book the building held. The novel in her hands was one of them. 

When she gave her reason for reading while walking, he responded with a nod, understanding for the most part. And when her first way of recognizing him was from his time at the library and not the church he smirked, despite his minor confusion. He wouldn’t have been able to explain how he felt about not being immediately recognized as Jeremiah’s nephew.

“Not really.” His tone was almost shy, like he didn’t want to ruin whatever expectations she had already built up about him. And he stopped like that would be his only answer, but he was just thinking. “Well I--I do read some a’ the books there, but I’m mostly there there because I work there.”

“Y’know, if you worked there you could check out as many books as you want an’ keep ‘em as long as you like? I bet it’d help if you like readin’ so much.”

[alondraaleman]

David’s sudden appearance shocked her, her torso jerking upward at not only his presence, but the mention of protection.  “You’re right. They should be, shouldn’t they?”

                                            { … }

                                     “Yeah. I mean… we weren’t friends or anything                                      but she went to church and is a member of this                                      town… she was so young.” Delilah choked back                                      a sob, a hand flying up to cover her mouth, as if                                      that would be enough to keep her emotions at bay.

[david-hxpkins-blog]

David nodded slowly to Delilah’s first question, agreeing for the most part. As she spoke he watched her face and listened carefully. Being so moved by the death of someone she didn’t know personally was something he didn’t understand, but the state she was in almost made him want to relate.

  “... I think it’s unfortunate she got caught in the middle of her mother’s mess.” His way of saying she didn’t deserve it. “I dunno if law enforcement’s gettin’ any closer to catching who’s doin’ it, but hopefully no one else has gotta die.” He paused momentarily and cleared hit throat.  

                                                     “I didn’t mean to get you more upset.”

[evethorn3-blog]

She nodded meekly at his condolences, the proper way to acknowledge such a loss. Eve believed she played the grieving relative fairly well, or how she perceived the idea from afar. The death of a jaded relative was far easier to pull off in comparison to someone closer to home; like say Adam. 

If he ever left this world early, she sure as shit wouldn’t be wasting her time with church cookies. 

The two had nothing to talk about; how do meth distributors relate to Pastor’s nephews? They could talk about Jesus or something, but it would only go so far— Eve only had a small number of verses memorized. 

“I only got a few dozen made. I’m gon’ be slavin’ away ‘til the night’s end at this rate. It’ll be worth it tomorrow, though.” Eve brought on an angelic, albeit small, smile to accompany her words. She left her station momentarily to walk over to a plate of cooling cookies, stealing two off of it to bring to David. Saving one for herself, she offered the second to the boy. 

“So what’d you do to get stuck on kitchen duty? I thought a sturdy boy like you, they’d have settin’ up tables or the likes.”

[david-hxpkins-blog]

The wall of defense around him was crumbling, but he believed the reason was only because they were somewhere so familiar to him. What evil could Eve do under the eyes of God? If he wasn’t safe from wrongdoing here then he wasn’t safe anywhere. Maybe it was best not to be so paranoid.

When she mentioned the work would be worth the trouble tomorrow he hummed in agreement, even though he thought differently. 

                    This kind of work would only be worth it once he got something out of it.     

                                                 Then she was moving again and his eyes followed her form like he was expecting her to pull out some weapon from underneath the cookie sheet. But to his surprise the only thing she pulled on him was a stolen cookie, which he stared at with uncertainty, feeling a little scared. It was likely that he would’ve stolen a cookie or two anyway, but with Eve doing it for him it suddenly felt wrong. 

                                    But boy did he want that cookie.  

                                                                                                  Just take it . . . 

“Usually when there’s gonna be a bake sale I come around ‘cuz I can get away with gettin’ free treats.” Cookie in hand, he watched the doorway in case any of the moms came by. “But this time one a’ the moms told me if I want cookies for free I’m gonna have to make ‘em.” Said with all the detestation he could muster in his tone. “ ‘S not fair.” And finally he took a bite of the cookie, temporarily abandoning his job rolling the dough.

[daisyhow-deactivated20160912]

          “It’s not funny.”

Daisy was hysterical, violently fighting back tears. She felt her face redden with rage. She thought of striking him across the face, like the child he was. She clenched her fists till her knuckles turned pale and white. She couldn’t, not when God was watching.

She was still good, she was still whole, even though bits of her were slowly crumbling away as the days went by. She couldn’t die, she refused to be another dead girl in a ditch.

Daisy felt her every muscle in her body tense as she fought back the urge to scream out something awful.

          “You’re horrible. That’s a horrible thing to say to someone.”

She couldn’t hold the tears back any longer, they started pouring out at rapid speed. Her lip trembled as she tried to find words, but the only ones that came to mind were bitter and cruel.

          “You are sick. You’re sick and you’re stupid and everyone hates you!”

[david-hxpkins-blog]

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          “Shut up!”

David stood as quickly as the two words came from his mouth, and in addition to his balled-up fists he jerked forward like he might have lunged at the girl. It was only one of the ways he might have acted against her if he didn’t still have his wits about him. 

He couldn’t get himself to feel sorry that Daisy was upset or that she was crying. He didn’t understand why she wouldn’t accept he was only joking and leave it at that. But what stood like a flashing stop sign in the front of his mind was the fact that Daisy was a human being—and he hadn’t wanted to hurt another human being the way he wanted to hurt her in that moment in a long time.

      But when was the last time anyone had talked to him like this?

                                                                                                            Would he be justified?

“It was just a joke! I didn’t mean it.” He looked away from Daisy and as her words crawled under his skin his fingernails weren’t far behind.  

                                       “God, if it’ll make you stop talkin’, I’m sorry!”

[daisyhow-deactivated20160912]

His statement took her by surprise, like a punch in the already festering wound that was her anxiety. The stress of recent events combined with the constant pressure of school had taken their toll on Daisy, she was clearly not her normally cheery self. Daisy blinked back through heavy eyelids, suddenly alert at what sounded a lot like a threat.

         “— I-I… I beg your pardon?” She stumbled to find the right response.

He must have seen the fear in her eyes. Maybe David wasn’t as stupid as everyone thought. Or perhaps he smelled it, like a hound could smell blood. She sat silently, halfway between disgust and shock.

          “That’s not — that’s not going to happen to me.”

She stood up from her seat, now starting to raise her voice at the young man. Daisy twisted her face into a frown. She ought to have screamed, to have told him off right there and then.

          “That’s sick, David. You’re sick. Why would you say that to me?”

[david-hxpkins-blog]

David watched her, ready to start smiling before she even began to speak.  His humor in this was entirely self-serving, and in fact he might have chuckled even if Daisy hadn’t reacted at all. Through eyes that embodied amusement, he saw her stand and he couldn’t keep from smirking.

                                                   She looked . . . upset?

He didn’t know why, he hadn’t said anything to insult her. Had he?

It was his turn to frown, and only briefly before he narrowed his eyes in confusion.  S i c k ?  As he looked up at her, his eyebrows furrowed. “Because it’s kinda funny how you;re so worried about it.” He felt like a child explaining his actions to a disgruntled adult.  

“I was joking.” He made it sound like that should have been obvious, like she should understand. For a moment his mind disregarded the fact that it was Daisy standing, angry before him, and he glared at her like he would at someone he knew would back down. “I’m not sick.” 

                                                                                                                    A second thought. 

                                                                            “You’re overreacting.”

[david-hxpkins-blog]

As conversation flew between him and the girl beside him, David’s eyes found other things to focus on as most of Daisy’s words went in one ear and out another. He was listening, intently actually, but as soon as his mind deemed something ‘unimportant’ it was thrown out. It could have been surprising that David had been talking to Daisy so calmly at all, neither too interested nor itching to end the interaction.                                                                                                                                                                         It wasn’t like they were friends or anything.                                                                                                                                                                     And then they began to discuss the towns recent events: new faces, bakes sales, and murder. David had nothing of worth to say about any of those subjects really, but as he listened to the girl go on he started to get a devilish thought.

“-- Better make sure you lock your doors ‘n windows at night, you could be next. An’ you won’t know it ‘til the killer’s got a knife at you neck.” 

[carcosalusk-blog]

Her boots lightly thumped against the pavement, head tucked down while her nose remained buried between the pages of a book. The spine was cracked and the bottom right corner of the cover was missing, its pages worn and faded. 

Another one of those damn mysteries that she was always reading, if one had to guess. One with a plot that she’d probably memorized by now, but never had the heart to let go of.

How Carcosa had managed to avoid running into passersby, even she wasn’t sure. Most likely dumb luck, or the fact that she’d make the effort to at least glance upwards every now and then, stepping to one side or the other whenever someone crossed her path.

As she dodged yet another body, she just barely managed to catch the sound of someone else’s voice, though didn’t really process what had been said. She stopped mid-stride, head popping up as she turned in the direction of the speaker.

“Hm?”

Carcosa wasn’t completely sure that they had even been speaking to her in the first place, but at the risk of coming off as a complete jackass, it didn’t take her long to decide that she was better off asking.

“—- Were you talkin’ to me?”

[david-hxpkins-blog]

During his shift, the library was routinely partially empty and quiet enough to hear a pin drop, two things that had never bothered David until now. He was bored. And it was only temporary, it always was, but he could focus on nothing of importance until his restlessness was gone.

 He didn’t head straight home, taking to wandering aimlessly instead. Sometimes moments like these made him wonder if he wouldn’t get so bored in a bigger city. He got to thinking that, were he going to college in some big city, even the library there wouldn’t be so quiet all the time. 

But these weren’t serious thoughts, at least he didn’t think they were.  He was bored.  And the woman somehow reading a book and avoiding walking into people at the same time would fix that, for now.

"Yeah. What book are you reading--”his second question was tacked on, “And how come you don’t just sit down t’ read it?” 

[lincolncane]

“We all got questions, boy. If it don’t start with what         can I do to help, then I ain’t interested.”

[david-hxpkins-blog]

                                                   { . . . }

        “What could I do to help with this? ‘M not law enforcement, and I didn’t see anything.”

[swiftliz-deactivated20191221]

   “I wouldn’t want to cause any neighborhood disputes,” Elizabeth laughed, sending a warm thought to her neighbors. They tried their best to be good people, each and every one of them, but the instinct for competition and the seed of jealousy were present in every human being, and if one didn’t focus hard enough on not nourishing them, it was easy to let them take over.

   “That’s true.” Nodding her head at David’s comment, Elizabeth looked around her garden. She had plants that reached her shoulders, but none taller than that. She could see above all of them, and so could David. “Maybe my next project should be a hedge maze,” she joked, wiggling an eyebrow at the boy. “Or a big forest – I’d be occupied until my dying day.”

[david-hxpkins-blog]

As his eyes scanned the garden, a yard-sized forest growing in his imagination, he chuckled as Elizabeth finished her last sentence. With his mind preoccupied with whatever his thoughts would bring, David mentally swayed in and out of the very conversation he was a part of; not an uncommon thing for him to do when given a number of things to consider at once. Of course he had heard everything the woman said, only, he prioritized some words over others -- leaving the rest to be ‘interpreted’ later. 

He smirked. “ ‘Would make a fine legacy, I think.The forest I mean.” He shifted his weight from foot to foot as he paused, appearing restless. “I don’t want you wastin’ your life away growing some forest though.” The seriousness of his tone made it sound as though it was his choice how Elizabeth spent her life.  

Wind blew through the patches of flowers and when another set caught his eye he walked away from Elizabeth, though still addressing her. “There’s landscaping people that’d do it, right?” He felt the urge to step on a flower as he watched an ant crawl on its petals. Suppressing, for now, he hung one of his hands on the back of his neck. 

“I can’t remember if I came t’ see you for something important or not, now.”

[evethorn3-blog]

                          He was asking questions that she wasn’t fond                                 of. Nonetheless, she still had answers.                                            She always had answers. 

She slapped her hands against the dusty apron, sending a puff of powder dusting through the air. The particles had caught in the sunlight, its harsh gleam beaming in through the windows. She might have noticed this simple beauty if she’d looked; or paid attention to anything besides herself and Adam. 

Eve crossed her arms, feigning vulnerability. Appearing weak was beginning to feel like second nature to her; she hated it. The act of the church girl was becoming far too easy; as if she was dancing along a parallel life. 

“Well,” her gaze cast downward, as if the wound was still raw to the touch. “Uncle Jeb had always been a troubled soul. Daddy tried real hard to save him, just as I would my brother, if he’d ever been born so tainted.” Jeb was a dick, he deserved what he got. “—But after he got into those nasty drugs, there wasn’t anything more we could do.” 

{…}

“I just wish he could'a asked for help ‘fore it was too late.”

[david-hxpkins-blog]

There was a second--well maybe a few--that David thought he might have slipped up. In the face of trying to act ‘natural’ and keep from seeming suspicious, there he was asking questions about the very event he wanted to go away. The dough on the counter in front of him remained untouched and his fingers wouldn’t move to the rolling pin until Eve started to speak.

He didn’t want to look at her, didn’t want to play audience to whatever show she might have been putting on.

                      -- to whatever show she was putting on.

But the movement in the corner of his eye demanded attention, and from then on he was trapped. He wished he could have interrupted her and told her she didn’t have to talk about it, but he was too aware of how that might negatively affect the situation.

                       “Sorry for your loss.”

He was rolling the dough before he knew it, confused and without any way to relate to the woman. “I guess, that’s just how it goes sometimes. Some people don’t want help-- even if they know they’re doing wrong.” Picking his words wisely, he essentially mimicked what the kinder ladies in the church’s congregation might say. He wouldn’t dare hope Eve realized he was talking about her and her brother.

“How’re those cookies coming?”