Free The Night Wanderer by Drew Hayden Taylor Page A

weekend until it snowed. It was secluded but accessible. The pit had seen several generations of fire builders and party animals over the years. It was a wonder the trees and bushes in the immediate area weren’t dying of urine poisoning.
    â€œHey, miss me?” Tony slid onto the hood next to her.
    Tiffany was leaning over to kiss him when she noticed a strong odor. “Tony, is that what I think it is?”
    He took his coat off and wrapped it around her. “Oh that. Just smoking a joint, that’s all. Getting into the party mode.”
    It’s not that she minded Tony doing stuff like that, or at least she tried to tell herself that. After all, he was a year older than her. And Tiffany Hunter did not consider herself a prude. This very evening, in fact, she had downed two beers, and sixteen-year-olds who drink two beers cannot be called prudes, she reasoned. But her mother had been a chain-smoker, and the smell of smoke constantly coming off her mother’s clothes, their couch, even their curtains had dimmed Tiffany’s interest in smoking of any kind.
    â€œI know, you don’t like it. That’s why Mitch and I smoked it over there. See, I’m always thinking of you.” That sounded like an odd way of thinking about her, but Tiffany decided to let it pass. She didn’t want to argue. Instead, she looked around at the crowd once more. An awful lot of white faces.
    â€œWant another beer?” asked Tony.
    Tiffany took the beer, not sure if she wanted another one. “Don’t any of your friends know anybody from Otter Lake?”
    â€œI think George’s father hires a fishing guide or something over there. And Jamie gets his cigarettes from somewhere on the reserve. And there’s a Native guy on Terry’s baseball team. Why?”
    â€œI don’t know. Just curious.”
    She could see people near the fire, occasionally stealing looks at them and talking in hushed tones. Tiffany had seen stuff like that all night, and it was beginning to make her feel uncomfortable. Why were they looking at her, and at her and Tony? She wanted to ask them directly but thought better of it.
    â€œTony, why do those guys keep looking at me funny?” She pointed discreetly to three boys near the fire, each with a can of Labatt’s Blue in his hand. Tony casually glanced in their direction.
    â€œOh them. That’s Dave and his two cousins. It’s nothing.”
    â€œIt must be something.”
    â€œWell.” Tony, for the first time that night, seemed a little uncomfortable. “You’re the first Native person to come to one of these. That’s all. They were probably just commenting on that. That’s all.” He took big swig of his beer.
    â€œHow come?”
    Tony shrugged. “I don’t know. I’ve only been coming to these parties for a few years. Maybe nobody from Otter Lake ever wanted to come.” Tiffany found that highly unlikely. There had always been a bit of friction between Otter Lake and the rest of the area. In the high school, each hallway belonged to a different part of the county. Since most of the students were bussed in, they tended to congregate together and took over different parts of the school. There was some intervillage rivalry, but any difficulties that had developed had seldom entered Tiffany’s specific world.
    Though the night was hot, Tiffany was beginning to feel chilly. “Maybe I shouldn’t have come. I’m feeling weird here.” She saw another two people near a cedar bush taking turns looking and whispering. “Tony, have you ever gone out with another Native girl?”
    Tony laughed. “No. You’re the first. Have you ever gone out with a white boy?”
    Smiling, Tiffany shook her head.
    â€œThere you go. It’s a learning experience for the both of us.” He gave her a quick squeeze.
    â€œHey, Tony!!” On the other side of the bonfire, a group of four