Page 115 of Heart So Hollow

“It’s not difficult,” Bowen grins as he swings his legs back and forth.

“Why?” Leona glances back and forth between Jay and Bowen, “What’s he done now?”

Jay cocks his head at Leona, “You seriously never knew?”

“What?” she narrows her eyes at them, getting more excited by the second and glancing over at Rick, who’s watching the exchange with amusement.

I pull out the remaining chair and take a seat as Jay begins telling his story.

“So, this happened a while ago…” Jay pauses to collect himself, “we’re all sitting out here and Waylon and Brody come tearing out of the woods. Brody’s chasing Waylon because he’s got ahold of something and he’s running like he has a fucking T-bone steak in his mouth. Except—” Jay pauses for dramatic effect, “it was not a T-bone steak.”

I glance at Bowen, who turns away with a laugh.

“I don’t know what it was—a dead possum, part of a deer carcass—but it was foul,” Jay gives a shake of his head, “all mangled and rotten, and Waylon was tearing around like he was having the time of his life. Well,” he squeezes his eyes shut, giggling uncontrollably, “Bo sees him, freaks out, takes a flying leap off the deck, and chases that dog all over creation. So then both Bo and Brody are chasing Waylon, who still has God-knows-what hanging out of his mouth.”

Rick is sitting back in his chair chuckling and Leona is scowling in disgust like she’d rather not hear the rest of the story.

“He must’ve chased him a mile into the woods,” Jay continues, “but when Bo finally came back, he was dragging Waylon up the hill by his collar and, I swear, he used an entire bottle of shampoo on him and hog-tied him so he could brush his fucking teeth.” Then he turns to Leona dramatically, “Because he knew his mom wouldn’t allow Waylon back in the house if she ever found out.”

Bowen hops off the tailgate and strolls over to the edge of the table. Leona is squeezing the bridge of her nose and shaking her head, which only makes Jay and Rick laugh harder.

“Hey,” Bowen interjects, “it was gross, but I took care of it.”

“What was it?” Hildy looks up at him, “What’d you do with it?”

“I don’t know,” Bowen shrugs, “some dead shit from out in the woods. It was a bitch getting him to let go of it, though. I finally had to just grab it and rip it out of his teeth. Then,” Bowen adds with irritation, “I had to go back out there to bury it where none of them could find it again.”

“Gross,” Hildy shudders, screwing up her face.

“That is so disgusting,” I groan.

“You’re telling me!” Bowen chuckles as he tosses an empty can into the five-gallon bucket sitting on the ground at the end of the table.

In the midst of Jay and Bowen’s back and forth, I notice Hannah surreptitiously leave the table, making her way across the patio and disappearing inside the house.

A little while later, I’m the only one left at the table while everyone else scurries around completing tasks that only seem to matter right before we’re about to leave for the evening. Hildy is inside, tearing her bedroom apart looking for one particular shirt, and Bowen and Jay are down at the shed with Rick making sure the quad that was stuck in the creek still runs properly.

My phone vibrates against the wrought iron table, and when I look at the screen, I let out a laugh.

COLSON (6:03PM): Hot or not…Lee Pace. Dallas says hot, but I don’t see it. She said to ask you.

ME (6:05PM): Hot. But only as an elf king.

COLSON (6:06PM): This is the weirdest thing you’ve ever said.

When Colson texted me the first time, I thought he was a wrong number. And then when I realized it was him, I couldn’t believe he still had my number from college. I thought it would be weird, but so far, his texts have mostly included new music and stories about Dallas and her latest antics.

It makes me think there’s a chance we can move beyond what happened. It’s been three years with no contact. Maybe we can be friends. Maybe we can be…normal…

“He’s only across the yard,” Hildy mutters with a laugh as she sits down next to me.

“What?” I quickly put my phone down, “Oh, yeah,” I’m smiling so much that my cheek muscles are starting to ache.

This realization immediately makes me uncomfortable, as does the fact that Hildy noticed. But, right now, she looks equally as uncomfortable, which is not like her.

“What’s up?” I ask.

“I don’t know,” she shakes her head with a huff, “Hannah just left.”

---