Free The Clearing by Dan Newman Page B

hugging him tightly after every sentiment-drenched page. Afterwards they took a picture of Cody holding the book proudly, printed it there and then on their computer, and Nate put it right into his wallet, where it had stayed ever since.
    The officer followed Nate’s stare and looked at the image, turning it round for a better view. He snorted once and cast the wallet dismissively onto the bed. Then, in a strangely choreographed manner, the two officers exchanged serious glances and turned in unison toward Nate. The one on the chair stood up and Nate watched in disbelief as he unclipped the leather handcuff holster.
    Nate stood abruptly. “You’re kidding me, right? You gotta be kidding me...”
    Â 
    1976  
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    By morning, the incident at the party was all but forgotten. It was Sunday, and Nate woke late to find his parents sitting on the balcony eating halves of freshly sliced grapefruit. The place had already been cleaned up; the chairs were all returned to their usual spots, the ashtrays emptied, the glasses cleaned, and the beer cans swept away.
    â€œMorning, sunshine,” said his father, looking up briefly.
    Nate caught the glance and smiled in secret camaraderie. The chat had come late the night before, when the party was nearing its end, and his father had left him with a kiss to the crown of his head – and the whispered magical words, Everything’s fine .
    His mother smiled, oblivious to the silent exchange. “Want some breakfast?” She proceeded to put a bowl of the tart pink fruit in front of Nate’s spot at the table. He never liked grapefruit, but it wasn’t worth the argument, so he ate it anyway.
    Nate’s dad flipped through the paper he was reading and folded the broadsheet into a manageable rectangle. “I had an interesting call this morning,” he said, peering over the top of the paper at Nate. It was clear he wasn’t going to go on unless Nate played along. It was corny, but Nate secretly liked it.
    â€œAnd?” Nate asked.
    His father looked over to his mother with feigned concern. “I don’t know, dear, should I tell him? I don’t want to get him too worked up.”
    â€œOh, stop teasing the boy,” she said.
    â€œDad! Come on!”
    â€œAll right, all right. Seems you’ve been invited to a sleepover – a two-nighter.”
    Nate sat up straight. A sleepover! Now that was some news. In three weeks, he would be thirteen, and for almost a year now it hadn’t been cool to be too openly excited about anything, but this... this was a sleepover. “With who?” he said, his bottom lip suddenly under attack from his teeth. “With who?”
    â€œTristan’s dad called and invited you up to the plantation,” said his dad. “Sounds like a boys’ weekend: it’s you, Pip, Richard, and Tristan. That is, if you want to go.”
    â€œYes! Yes! Yes!” Nate cried out, hopping up from the table. “It’s soooo cool up there!”
    His mother chimed in. “Pip’s mom called as well. She wanted to know if I was going to let you go. Seems that Pip, Richard, and Tristan were over bothering the judge last night.”
    Nate’s enthusiasm took a momentary hiatus; this smacked of trouble. But then his mother went on. “She wasn’t going to let Pip go, but once she heard you were going, I think she changed her mind.”
    â€œThanks, Mom,” said Nate genuinely. “And I don’t think those guys were doing anything bad to the judge. It’s just a shortcut through to Tristan’s is all. It’s lit better there. You don’t have to go through the bush in the dark.”
    Nate’s mom smiled and dipped back into her grapefruit.
    The plantation. It was the stuff of legend in their little group. Tristan had of course been there a million times; he’d grown up on the island and Ti Fenwe Estate was a second home for him. But Nate had