Page 21 of Barbed Wire Fences
“He asked me to come to his game Friday night and wear his jersey number. That counts as dating, right?”
I roll my eyes hard and groan.
Sounds like he wants to mark his territory but not take her on a proper date, but I decide to keep those thoughts to myself because I’m not Jael’s father or her brother, and she’s not myproblem outside of the scope of me giving her a ride to and from school.
“It sounds like something Jael, but I’m not sure what that something is. If he’s on the field playing, and you’re in the stands, that's not taking you on a date.”
“Ugh, you’re so negative. Don’t burst my bubble. He’s dreamy, and I’ve had a crush on him since I moved here in eighth grade. Oh my gosh, what if he asks me to prom?” she cries, clutching her chest as she smiles over at me with those way too big green eyes.
I scowl in response. “Look, it’s not my place to say anything, but just know that Owen’s a player. He's never really been the type to stick with one girl at a time. Just because he’s texting you and you’re going to be wearing his jersey to the game, doesn’t mean there might not be other girls that he’s invited to wear his jersey in the crowd too.”
“Yeah, yeah,” she waves me off as she flips open one of her folders, “I’ve heard the rumors, Rhett. I’m not dumb.”
I nod my head slowly, still staring at the road as I turn down our trailer park’s street.
Well, she’s been warned. Whatever she decides to do with that information is on her now.
Owen is the star quarterback of our high school’s football team, and while I wouldn’t call him talented—at least not by my standards—that kind of notoriety in a small town like ours still gets you far with the girls. His charm, or whatever passes for it, seems to work on everyone.
I remember the last girl he was rumored to be dating from our class—Della—and how I’d overheard him bragging in the locker room about some of the vile things she’d let him do toher the weekend before. He said it loud enough for everyone to hear, like he was proud of it and wanted to embarrass her.
I know I don’t have any right to try to protect Jael from him. Lessons like that are something she’ll have to learn on her own. But something about her innocence and the way her parents mostly ignore her existence has always unnerved me.
She’s been raised in a rough, broken home, nothing like the cushy life that Owen has, and her parents have never been attentive to her needs. I’ve seen it firsthand over the past four years that we’ve been neighbors. That lack of care has left her with a kind of naïveté, an unguarded way of trusting people she shouldn’t and searching for safety in the wrong places.
It’s like watching someone walk into traffic without even noticing the oncoming cars. I don’t want to see her taken advantage of, but I can’t stop her either. All I can do is hope she knows what she’s doing, or that she figures it out before it’s too late.
I pull in front of her parent’s trailer, noting the way that the side paneling is pealing, chipping and even falling off in one large section right outside where I know her bedroom is located. Fucking Meredith and Lawrence. Her parents really need to pull their shit together.
I make a mental note to come over this weekend and fix it along with the screen on the window to their kitchen. It’s a safety issue, and if her dad’s too drunk to handle it, at least I’ll sleep better knowing it’s fixed.
"Thanks for the ride!" Jael calls out without another glance in my direction as she jumps out of the truck with hardly a wave goodbye.
I sit in my truck. Watching every step that she takes up the broken sidewalk until I’m sure she’s safely inside her trailer. Except when she’s away from me she doesn’t feel safe.
I shake my head, backing out of the driveway and trying to bury that thought.
Just like I’ve done for years.
???
I force a breath out and finally look at Penelope, whose hand on my bicep is starting to feel more like a weight and not the gentle touch of a woman I once enjoyed spending time with.
“Yeah,” I say, my voice low and resigned, eyes taking a final scan around the packed football stadium and turning up empty. “Let’s get the hell out of here.”
Chapter 8 – Jael
I’ve wanted to leave this football game since the second we showed up, and running into Rhett only made that itch to bolt ten times worse. What is it about this town that makes it impossible to outrun the ghosts of my past?
Owen and I grabbed food and found seats in the bleachers, and instantly I was thrown back to high school—the roar of the crowd, the way people’s eyes followed us, curious, like they were still keeping score. Those years weren’t the worst of my life, but they sure as hell weren’t the best either.
When I told Owen I wasn’t feeling it and wanted to head out, he brushed me off, too caught up in the game. He stood the whole time, like it was some kind of championship, like he was back under those Friday night lights himself.
I wish I hadn’t agreed to this date, but I didn’t have any other plans, and I don’t have any real excuse to leave. Molly’s on patrol tonight, and I haven’t bothered reconnecting with anyone else since I’d been back. Frankly, I’m not even sure who still lives here. So, I’ve stayed, mostly sitting because my legs arestill aching from my first brutal week at the new hospital, half-watching the field and half-letting my mind wander.
And of course it wanders straight to Rhett.
I don’t know why he’s everywhere lately—why his face keeps sneaking into my head when I least expect it—but tonight is no different. Sitting here, watching Owen cheer like the past ten years never happened, all I can think about is the boy I used to love, and how strange it is to see him now all grown up.
