Page 48 of Slaughtered Firefly
“Well at least we will have company with the pretty lady that died,” Shaw grinned sheepishly, and I punched him in the shoulder.
“Bro that was bad, funny but man you really need a girlfriend,” I chuckled, shoving him as he wiggled his eyebrows at me. The lake was large and glistened in the sunrise. I stood up and brushed the mud cakes off my suit as best I could, but I had a lingering feeling of being watched. I looked across the lake and noticed a bunch of kids under the tree on the other side. They gawked at us. Why were they staring at us? I had no idea, but I didn’t like it. It made me mad, so I hatched a plan as they continued to giggle and point from across the water. “Come on Shaw, let’s go,” I reached out a hand to pull my brother up and leaned into his ear and whispered, “want to have some fun?” Shaw smiled deviously completely in sync with me as we made our way around the lake.
“Hello,” I said to the group with a plastered smile on my face. The ones laughing were the girls, two of them vastly different in appearance and age. One boy was off the way playing on the lakeshore, and the other was leaning against the tree watching from a distance. The girls continued to laugh at me and my brother, and I frowned deeply as I waited for the laughing fit to be done. I felt Shaw shuffling back and forth next to me as he waited with glee for my plan to come to a head.
“Sorry, you just look so funny with mud smeared on your cheeks after rolling down the hill,” the girl, maybe nine or ten said, she had curly red hair that looked out of place next to the blonde of the little girl next to her and the dark hair colors of both the boys. I swiped at my cheek with the back of my hand, and a small patch of mud came off. I turned towards Shaw, who had just smeared a nice pair of mud eyebrows on. It made the girl laugh more, and he just shrugged towards me.
“Why are you all out here?” Shaw asked. He was always one to ask questions when he should have kept his mouth shut, but he wasn’t as easily riled. It was like all the calm Dad had skipped over me and went directly to him.
There were shrugs and confused expressions from everyone until the blonde little girl spoke. “Daddy said to wait out here and he’ll come get me when they are ready, I hope I see Momma soon.” She had a dreamy-eyed look about her as the other kids looked at each other with unease.
“You must miss her a lot,” the boy with dark hair said as he stood up from the lake. He looked similar to the man who had met Dad when we had entered, and I couldn’t help but think it might be his dad. Poor bastard. That creepy man's being anyone’s father must have been a nightmare. The boy came over and dropped a smooth skipping stone into her hand. She looked at it in awe, like someone had just given her a piece of candy. I got stuck watching the interaction as she showed the little redhead the stone, a smile on her face. There wasn’t anything special about it. It was just a stupid rock.
“You do know she’s dead right? They said it was bloody and her guts hung out of her. The cops blame your dad, that he came home drunk in rage and killed her. I hope it’s an open casket so we can see just how fucked up that guy made her,” Shaw talked animatedly as emotions morphed on the little girl’s face, finally settling with rage. Shaw’s fascination with gore hadn’t been something new, but his bluntness never sat well with me. I swallowed hard as I watched the little girl drop the rock coming close to my brother and me.
“You don’t know anything, you’re just a big bully!” She shouted and beat her tiny fists against his chest. She had spirit but lacked the size and strength to do any real damage.
Her fists continued to smack and hit Shaw, and he just stood there and chuckled out, “What did I hit a cord with daddy’s little princess?”
It was fascinating how the little group of friends stood awkwardly while Shaw said what he wanted, all too stunned to even help.
Smack.
The little girl’s hand made contact with Shaw’s cheek, a line of red beaded where her little fingernails dug in. “That’s it, you little shit,” Shaw gritted as he picked the girl up over his shoulder and started walking towards the lake.
“Let me go you big jerk!” she pounded against him and kicked at him wildly. I couldn’t help but laugh at her fight. It was like setting off a firecracker. Lots of noise but a tiny explosion.
“That isn’t funny, let her go,” the other girl screamed and then ran towards the church door. One of the boys ran after her. If I were going to be punished for ruining the suits, I might as well have some fun while I had the chance.
“Tell him to stop or — ” Rock Boy started but stopped, his face pinched in worry.
“Or what?” I laughed as Shaw made it a few feet from the shore. “You know what, Shaw I think you need a hand,” I joined him, grabbing the girl’s feet. He let her slide down but locked his hands around her arms. She was panicking, trying to free herself, screaming at the top of her lungs.
We ignored her as we swung her back and forth once, twice and on the third swing we let go. She cried out as she flew through the air, and a satisfying splash sounded as her body disappeared below the surface. Shaw high-fived me as the rock boy threw a punch. I laughed as I watched Shaw and the boy rolling on the ground, both trying to get the upper hand. They were about the same size, and there was no harm in letting Shaw get some practice in. My eyes roamed over the surface of the water. The waves settled from the toss, but there was no sign of the little girl.
Worry festered within me as I stared at the spot where she had landed. Nothing, no movement. What fucking six or seven-year-old doesn’t know how to swim? God, I felt horrible as I dove into the water; the icy liquid rippled around me. Several strokes later and I was where we had tossed her. There were no signs of life. Fuck. Water sloshed around me as I plunged deeper into the water in search of her. My eyes burned as I forced them wide, desperately searching for hair, a hand or anything. My heart slammed against my chest, and my lungs screamed for air. I wasn’t the greatest swimmer, and the chill of the water was making it even worse as I shoved my way through the water. If it was this cold for me, it was even worse for her. What a stupid mistake.
As I was about to come up for air, I saw the golden strand of her hair to my right. I pushed my body to the brink as I grabbed her and headed towards the surface. My teeth chatteredas I gasped for air, pulling both of us up on the shore. She was blue in the face; her black dress clung to her frame as I laid her on the pebbled shore. The little girl wasn’t breathing, and I was so screwed. Plugging her nose, I forced air through her tiny lips, pushing on her ribcage in CPR fashion. Thank you, dad for a not so useless lesson in CPR. Shaw raced over and took over chest compressions. Time inched by, and yet she still wasn’t breathing. I looked up, misery clear in my face, before I forced more oxygen into her airway. Nothing mattered except the little girl’s fading life in my hands. Please live, I thought as I paused to suck in more air and continue trying. She inhaled, and I could have cried. I turned her onto her side as she gasped, sputtered and vomited.
“Oh fuck, I thought we killed her,” Shaw sat on his heels as he wiped a bloody nose with the back of his hand.
“We are in so much shit, let’s get her inside before someone comes out, what happened to the boy you were fighting?” I asked as I lifted the tired girl in my arms, more gently than before. Shaw pointed to the large tree we had been at earlier, where the boy was yelling bloody murder as he was bound to the tree stripped to his underwear. Shaw gave a look that said I was proud and disappointed. He shouldn’t have tied the kid up in his underwear, but it was a hilarious sight.
The door to the church opened as we made it up the hill. A deep bronze-colored woman with worried features looked down on us. The other little boy stood slightly behind, although he was lighter in complexion; the resemblance was there. “Give her to me quickly,” Her anxious voice was laced with sadness as I handed the girl over, and she disappeared.
“Here,” the boy handed us choir robes, and I took them, glad for something dry as I dripped water in the hall. He disappeared out the door we came in, and I got the feeling the woman who took the girl was his mother.
“Hey sunshine,let’s get you dried off, and cleaned up,” her soft voice was like a distant dream as she held me close to her. The heat of her body reminded me of Momma’s heat; her infectious smile always kept me warm and full of giggles. I tried to open my eyes but couldn’t; the harsh light forced them closed, and I was so tired I didn’t fight the feeling. I could hear the muffled talking around the ringing in my ears, but I couldn’t make out the words. Surely it was Momma who came to rescue me from those bullies. I could smell her lemon shampoo, and I ached to reach up and comb my hands through her hair.
Momma? Why did you leave? The thought unspoken on my lips as tears leaked from beneath my lashes. My eyes were too heavy, and coldness seeped into my body as we climbed up the steps. I could feel my body as it rocked against hers. I was lulled into a peaceful rest, not ready to face the world again. It was a comforting sensation, like when Uncle Ryan would holdMomma and me in the large swing and we would rock in the sunshine to the breeze. I missed him. It had been a year since he last visited, and he was supposed to take Momma and me on a big trip when she left. There was a creak of the door as the motion stopped. I shivered when I was put down. This wasn’t Momma, even though she had used Momma’s nickname for me, but I held my eyes closed tight, not accepting it. Her smell and voice were so similar, or was I forgetting Momma? No, I couldn’t forget Momma; it had only been a few weeks since we were laughing and playing together.
“Summer, honey did you hear me?” the lady’s voice broke through my cries. I didn’t even know I was crying again. With a soft towel, she wiped the tears away from my cheeks. The woman hummed softly as she continued to dry my eyes. Slowly my ears stopped ringing and my eyes stopped streaming. With a shaky breath, I opened my eyes.
Disappointment surged through me as the blurry vision cleared and the lady in front of me was not my momma. She smiled up at me from her kneeling position, but I felt suffocated. My breath came quickly, my eyes swept the room in search of my momma.
The thudding in my ears was back as I moved to stand but fumbled, caught by the woman. “Hey Summer, it’s okay. You’re safe, I need you to look at me and breathe. We need to get you warm,” Her voice was that sweet, calming tone from earlier. There was a towel wrapped around my shoulders, and I could feel my body screaming as her hands rubbed against in an effort to dry me. The lull of her voice as she hummed again was so nice. It made me want to listen, and as I looked into her deep green eyes I started to calm down.
“Who are you?” I managed to ask after I had stopped my racing heart. My arms and legs felt like jello as I tried to steady myself.
