I giggle and throw another.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” River says sitting across from me.
“What? Why? Do you think I’m going to be attacked by a squirrel?”
“No, I’m more concerned about those ducks.” He uses his head to motion toward the water.
I look over and see that all the ducks have seen my exchange with the squirrel.
I smile. “I have plenty for them too.” I grab a handful and toss them onto the ground. They move quickly to get the fries while squawking noisily.
When all the fries have disappeared from the ground, they all look at me angrily. I quickly throw another handful down to keep them busy.
“Wow. They must be starving.”
“They’re not starving. Ducks will eat anything. When I was a kid my mom used to take me to this one pond in the city to feed the ducks,” he says before popping a fry into his mouth.
“Did you feed them french fries too?” I ask with a smile, happy he’s telling me about his childhood.
He lets out a laugh. “No, we were pretty poor. I didn’t even know what a french fry was until I was old enough to find food for myself.”
His confession makes me a little sad. Is this why he’s never volunteered much information about his past before?
“We didn’t have a lot of money when I was growing up so I never got to do the things normal kids did. But the one thing I did get to do was going to that pond and feeding the ducks because it didn’t require any money. If we had bread left at the end of the week, she would take me. I loved doing that with her. It was our time together. She worked all the time to provide the little she could. Just to make sure I got that time with her, I would eat sandwiches with only one slice just so we’d get our time together that week.”
“Awe, it sounds like you were a sweet little boy. I’d love to meet her one da— Oww!” I turn and look to see what just caused the blinding pain in my side. A duck stands next to me, squawking, rearing back to bite me again.
River laughs. “They can be demanding little shits.”
I toss more fries and it waddles away.
“You better make sure you save some for the walk back to the car or we’ll be chased.”
I hold up the fry container. “They’re all gone.”
He goes stock still as more ducks start moving in our direction.
“We better go.” He stands and reaches for my hand as the mob nears us.
The ducks must have a sixth sense for this sort of thing because it’s like they all turn on us. I freeze, and they do too as they all stare at me. I swear I can see a shadow of fire dancing in their beady eyes like they all came directly from Hell.
“Let’s go!” River tugs my arm as we rush towards the car with every last duck quacking and chasing after us. I laugh and squeal as we run with them on our heels.
We finally reach the car and I jump inside, slamming the door behind me. I’m clutching my chest and breathless when River jumps in beside me while the ducks surround the car.
“Fuck! One bit me on the ass!”
I roll in laughter, further impairing my ability to breathe.
“That fucking hurt.” He lifts his ass off the seat and lowers his pants enough for me to see the pink, circular mark on his skin. The edges are already turning a light shade of blue.
I lift my shirt to reveal my side, and I have a mark matching his. “Oh my God. Those are Hell ducks!”
He lifts an eyebrow. “Hell ducks?”
“Yeah, they came directly from Hell! I thought ducks were friendly.”
He pulls his pants back up and starts the car. “They are for the most part. They just fight for what they want. Nothing wrong with that.”