Free Dodge the Bullet by Christy Hayes

back on the
property knowing his dad wouldn’t be around to throw the football,
ride ATV’s or skip rocks along the river. Kevin had learned to fish
their first summer in Colorado before the cabin was built. The
summer his dad died was when he’d promised to teach Kevin to shoot
a gun.
    Being in Colorado without his dad felt like
betraying his memory. The cabin had always felt so warm and cozy,
but now it seemed to strangle the breath out of his chest. He
couldn’t stay inside for more than a few minutes before feeling an
overwhelming need to get outside. He wasn’t staying there, he knew
that for sure. He’d thought of nothing else on the plane ride but
how he’d get back to Georgia. He didn’t know how exactly, but he
was going back in a few days with Jenny no matter what his mom
said. She didn’t care about what he wanted anyway. All she cared
about was getting as far away from home and all the stuff that
reminded her of dad. All the stuff that brought him the greatest
sense of comfort. He hated his mom for making him come out here.
And as mad as he was at her, he was even madder at his dad for
leaving them alone.
    He was the only kid he knew who didn’t have
a father. Lots of his friends’ parents were divorced and their dads
didn’t live with them anymore. But they still got to see them and
hang out and stuff. And Lyle didn’t count because he didn’t seem to
be upset about dad much anymore. He’d been sad at first and a
little angry, but maybe he wasn’t old enough to realize all the
things they were going to miss out on without a dad. Or maybe he
just didn’t care because he’d always been mom’s favorite, now more
than ever.
    He had to find a way to convince Jenny to
take him back with her. He needed to live in Georgia and go to
school with his friends and keep seeing Jessica and just forget
about all the bad stuff that’d happened in the last two years. If
he could get Jenny on his side, she could talk mom into it because
mom always said she was a little bit afraid of her. He heard Lyle
sigh and turned to see him walk slowly back toward the cabin,
listened to the crunch of leaves and twigs under his feet and the
lonely call of a hawk in the distant sky.
    ###
    Lyle heard gravel spray the underbelly of
his mom’s old truck as he emerged from the woods near the cabin. He
could hear his mom and aunt talking on the deck. The smell of the
clean air and woods filled his heart with memories of the laughter
and love they once shared as a family in the wide open space.
They’d always come here to escape what mom called their
unmanageable schedule at home. As crazy as it was, home had
included a father who always had a smile and time to share when he
wasn’t out of town. It also included a brother who could speak to
people without trying to make them feel stupid for trying.
    Lyle had always felt free on the ranch,
kinda like Huck Finn, and he didn’t worry about school and sports
like he did at home. He thought he’d get that feeling again when
they’d gotten here, had hoped being here again would help him not
feel so sad all the time and help his brother not be so angry. But
if he thought moving here could change the way of things in his
family he’d been reminded moments ago just how wrong he’d been.
    ###
    Dodge pulled to a stop next to his truck,
relieved to know he’d be going home in it instead of Sarah’s. Her
truck ran like a charm, but wasn’t built for anyone over six feet.
He’d just come around the hood when Sarah emerged from the
cabin.
    “Lyle, come meet Dodge, sweetie” she said to
the boy who’d walked out of the woods. “Where’s your brother?”
    “Hey.” Lyle stuck out his hand to shake
Dodge and looked him in the eye. “You’ve got a sweet truck, Mr.
Dodge. Sure you don’t want to keep mom’s a little while
longer?”
    Dodge looked down at the kid’s friendly
face. He had a surprisingly strong handshake for an eleven-year-old
and a quality about him that put Dodge