Free The Summer of Winters by Mark Allan Gunnells Page B

Winters.
    Paige looked from her brother to me then back to her brother. Perhaps she sensed the tension in the room, but if so she didn’t comment on it. “Mom’s out back hanging up the laundry. We’ve been playing board games. Wanna break out Monopoly? I’ll let you be the shoe.”
    “I gotta go,” I blurted suddenly, headed for the archway that led into the living room.
    Paige followed me to the front door. “You sure? We don’t have to play Monopoly if you’d rather play something else.”
    “No, really, I gotta get back. I forgot I promised my mother I’d do…some chores before she got home.” I hoped Paige wouldn’t ask me what chores because I was drawing a blank. I was not good under pressure.
    “I’ll walk you,” Brody said, stepping up next to me.
    My stomach cramped like I was about to go to the bathroom. “You don’t have to. It’s just right next door.”
    Brody clamped a hand on my shoulder and squeezed, so hard I thought my collar bone might snap. “It’s dangerous out there. You should know that better than anyone else. I’m going to walk you home, no argument.”
    “I’ll come, too,” Paige said.
    “No, you stay here,” Brody said firmly. “You know how Mom feels about you going out right now.”
    “Yeah, but it’ll be okay as long as I’m with you.”
    “I said stay put. I’m just going to make sure Mike here makes it safely inside. I’ll only be a minute.”
    I didn’t want to go with him, but he gripped my arm and hustled me out the door. I looked back toward Paige, but she had already turned away and flipped on the TV. Brody didn’t speak as we walked the short distance to my house, but at the very edge of the property, before actually stepping into the yard, he jerked me to a halt, turned me to face him, and knelt down in front of me. He placed a hand on each shoulder, still squeezing like he was trying to get the last of the toothpaste out of the tube.
    “I gotta go in now,” I said, trying to squirm loose but having no luck. “I got those chores to do.”
    Brody glanced up and down the street then at my house, I guessed to make sure there was no one around to notice us, then said, “I know what you were looking for in my dresser.”
    “Gum. I just wanted some gum.”
    “Don’t bullshit me, Mike. I know you were looking for that hairclip that fell out of my pocket the other day.”
    My throat was suddenly dry and scratchy, and I tried to swallow but couldn’t work up enough spit. I felt like if I didn’t get to the bathroom soon, I was going to wet my pants like I’d done in kindergarten once. Or twice. Fear like I had never known spread cold tendrils throughout my body. Surely Mike wouldn’t hurt me out in the open in broad daylight, but if he was truly responsible for the things that had been done to Sarah, there was no telling what else he was capable of.
    Brody began to knead my shoulders, as if he were giving me a massage, only it felt more like he was trying to poke holes through my flesh. “There’s no need for you to deny it. I’ve known since Sunday that this conversation was inevitable. You must be thinking some pretty awful things about me.”
    I could think of nothing to say to that, so that was exactly what I said—nothing.
    “Listen Mike, thing about that hairclip is, I found it at the movie theater Saturday night. When I came back out into the lobby after using the bathroom, it was lying on the floor by the ticket booth. I picked it up, thinking I’d turn it in to management so they could put it in the lost and found or whatever, but then through the glass doors I saw that bully messing with you so I just stuck the hairclip in my pocket. I kind of forgot about it, and the next day when I got dressed, it was mixed in with my change from the night before and I just grabbed it up with the coins. That’s why I had it.”
    Here Brody paused and looked intently into my eyes, as if trying to judge my reaction to his story. I wasn’t sure if