Page 16 of Full Circle

Suddenly, Celeste started giggling. She tried to cover it up with her hand, but I could see her full set of teeth from how big her smile was spreading. Her whole body racked with laughter and even though I couldn’t see the joke, I joined in at the sight of her losing it.

“What’s the matter?” I asked.

She could barely stop laughing long enough to admit, “I called the sheriff an asshole!” before she lost all hold. She was laughing so hard she was wheezing, clutching her side like it hurt.

“No way!” I cried incredulously. We both lost our minds at the image. Celeste said her first swear word and she said it to the county sheriff in front of her father! I laughed so hard that tears ran down my cheeks and I fell backward onto the mud in the creek bed.

She joined me, her bushy brown hair falling into my face. I didn’t mind, though. I loved her crazy hair. Really, I loved everything about Celeste. The loyalty she had shown me by calling a respected town official a cuss word had me buzzing like the pot kids at my old school smoked in the bathroom.

“You deserved to win that barbecue,” Celeste assured me. “There’s no way Mr. Wyatt would have gone on like that unless you made up something really special.”

I shrugged. “I just wanted to surprise you by bringing a bit of your mom here today,” I admitted.

She snapped her head over to look at me, her gaze critical as she scrutinized my face. “You did it for me?” she asked in a small whisper.

It seemed like the right thing to do to brush my fingers along her cheek. Her skin was always so soft even though she didn’t use any of the millions of moisturizing creams I watched women like Mrs. Aguilar and Aunt Shirley apply.

“This is the first holiday without your mom here, and I wanted you to be okay.”

Her face crumpled, as I expected it to, and I sat up, pulling her with me by wrapping an arm around her shoulder. She buried her face into my collar bone as she cried.

“It’s okay,” I tried to soothe her. “I’m here.”

Celeste’s mother meant everything to her, and although it was a love I couldn’t really understand, I had learned enough by now to know that her grief always made her emotional. She needed me to be strong for her in moments like this.

After a few minutes, her cries subsided and she pulled away to dry her eyes on the palms of her hands. “You know what, I hate all of them, too!” Celeste burst out. “I hate everyone who was ever mean to you, Wesley, because I think you’re perfect.”

I grinned at her, a little cocky from her assessment. It certainly didn’t hurt to have your favorite person in the world feel that way about you.

“Come on, we should get back.” Celeste stood up and did her best to wipe the mud and grass from her red jean shorts. Then she held out a hand to pull me up.

“Do you really think that’s a good idea?” I hedged.

She made a show of looking around the creek. “Or what? You’re gonna stay out here forever?”

Rolling my eyes at her sarcasm, I grabbed onto her outstretched hand and hauled myself up. “I really don’t want to go back yet.”

Celeste looked thoughtful for a moment before nodding. “There’s another path a little ways up that will lead us back into town by the school yard. There probably won’t be anyone that way since everybody’s at the town square. We can just walk around for bit.”

She led the way along the creek, both of us trying to avoid the mud. The dirt path through the trees she pointed out was definitely not as well used as the path we frequented behind the baseball diamond, but we soon found our way back into civilization. It deposited us behind the elementary school, just like she said, and we walked in companionable silence to the front of the building, then onto the main road. We could either turn right and head back towards the town square and The Comfy Cushion or go left and walk through one of the small residential areas in River’s Run.

I made the decision for her. “Let’s go this way,” I prompted, turning towards the houses with their fenced in yards and concrete driveways. None of the houses were very big or imposing, certainly nothing my father would ever deem appropriate, but they were all clean and well maintained. There was plenty of space between them for big yards and swing sets unlike the suburban neighborhoods I’d been in outside Atlanta where the massive houses sat so close to one another that you could hear when the neighbor’s phone rang.

Celeste kept a running commentary of who lived where and what they did or which scandal was attached to their family name. I guess growing up in the town’s only restaurant gave her access to all the gossip. She drew up short when we reached a square brick house towards the end of the lane.

“This is Chief Hillsborough’s house,” she said quietly.

I grinned wickedly at her. “Come on!” Without a backward glance, I darted up his driveway and climbed the chain link fence into his backyard. Mercifully, I didn’t see any sign of a dog.

“Wesley!” Celeste hissed at me, standing right at the fence line. “What are you doing?”

The chief’s house was one of the last on the street and had a large backyard that curved into the forest at an angle. There was a small concrete patio with a glass table and chairs, but otherwise the yard looked empty and mostly unused. A secondary detached garage was at the very back of the property, where the yard met the trees.

“What do you reckon is in there?” I asked her with a wolf’s grin.

Celeste’s face was red and frantic. “Wesley, get out of there this instant! We’re gonna get in so much trouble!”

I rolled my eyes at her. “How are we gonna get in trouble if everyone is at the party?”

---