Amber Eyes (12 page)

“Jorge, help me with this,” Edward indicated as he took Brian’s backpack, handing it to Jorge. “Once in Magnolia Hall, try to distribute some of Brian’s stuff among the rest of us. It’s too much for the kid.”

As Jorge took the humongous backpack and loaded it in the SUV, Brian’s mother approached Edward, saying she wanted to have a word with him. Edward smiled at her, cocked his head a bit, locked his two hands behind his back and listened.

Brian’s mom explained she wanted to verify Edward’s communication means in case of emergencies such as broken legs, serious injuries or food poisoning—her exact words. Talk about obsessive-compulsive mothers.

“Be confident that all of us will be as safe as in our homes,” Edward said in a voice so silky, it caressed my ears.

Brian’s mother started asking a gazillion silly questions and Edward answered with short and precise comments. He was respectful up to a nauseating point. The woman was annoying. She asked too many stupid little things, like we were leaving for years on a safari in the heart of Africa rather than only five days in a nearby forest. A typical mother worrying way too much. Gimmie a break!

When she was done, she smiled at Edward and shook his hand. She kissed Brian so much, I ended up feeling embarrassed for the kid—I wondered why some parents enjoyed humiliating their children. She finally strolled back to her car and sat behind the wheel. I thought she would leave, but she plugged in her iPod instead and waited. Bet she planned to follow the SUV all the way to the camping site. Moms.
Tsk, tsk.

Edward turned, giving his back to Brian’s mother car. He exhaled showily in relief. “God, that was tough.” He pointed at me. “Your backpack, Justin. Let’s put it where it belongs.”

I handed him the backpack. He placed it inside the SUV’s cargo space along with the rest of the backpacks and many boxes of supplies. There was also a bundle of broomsticks, God only knew for what purpose, three medium-size tents, two huge five-gallon drums containing water, a cooler and a guitar.

Edward contemplated the packed cargo space in silence, pressing a fist to his mouth. “Wait a second…” He turned to his friends, his face suddenly reddened and his jaw tight. “Where on Earth are Daniel and his stuff,
Jorge
?”

His three friends all craned their necks. Abe’s and Brian’s faces turned ashen and both of them blinked fast, gazing from Edward to Jorge.

“Lemme check,” he said winking an eye. “Don’t freak out.”

Edward’s raised finger appeared in front of Jorge’s face. “I’m not freaking out! It’s just Daniel’s always late and I particularly asked you to coach him and make sure he was respecting the rules. A Scout is always on time!”

All of us stood silent while Jorge tapped his cell phone’s screen. Abe and Brian cringed under Edward’s glare.

“Daniel? It’s Jorge. Where the hell are you?” Jorge was actually raising his voice. “We’re almost leaving. Edward’s pissed and is blaming it on me … I don’t care. What part of meeting at half past ten sharp did you miss? … I don’t give a damn. You’ve gotten five minutes, or we’ll leave without you. If that happens, say goodbye to this patrol and ask the Court of Honor to reassign you to the Lions or the Eagles … I’m not kidding. Wanna try my patience? … That’s what I thought. Five minutes.”

He hung up, tapped the cell phone’s screen again and then showed Edward an on-screen countdown. “Five minutes and counting.”

Brian slapped both hands against his own cheeks and Abraham Lincoln’s whistled. Both blinked fast.

“Thanks,” Edward grunted, burying both hands deep into his pockets, his face sullen. Then he smiled. Some seconds later, he burst into laughter and placed an arm on Jorge’s shoulders. “Was I really freaking out?”

# # #

Only 1 minute and 43 seconds were left on the clock. Brian, bouncing on his toes, raised his skinny, milky arm and pointed at a slender teen who, two blocks away, darted toward us carrying a large backpack. He squealed, “There he is. He made it!”

Seconds later, Daniel joined us by the SUV. He panted from his race while Jorge made room for his backpack in the cargo area. As his heavily breathing evened, Daniel stood with one hand on his hip and his other in his pocket, and a smirk on his face. His red hair fell down to his shoulders in untamed curls, and he wore an earring in his right earlobe—a minute zirconia. Standing beside Jorge, Daniel looked short, but anybody else would. He was actually three or four inches taller than I. He looked to be 15.

“Take this off,” Edward grunted. He pulled Daniel’s earlobe. “We’re not a street gang. We’re Boy Scouts and we respect ourselves.”

“Hey, dude, that hurt!”

Edward placed the earring on Daniel’s open hand and glared back at him. Edward raised his index finger. “Next time, be sharp. We can’t wait for you all day. A Scout is thrifty. Not wasting other people’s time is part of it.”

Edward’s tone was dry as a desert. None of the other Scouts dared to talk. Abe kept looking at the ground. Brian had buried his hands in his pockets, and Jorge leaned on the SUV with his arms crossed in front of him. Daniel’s upper lip lifted a bit, and his sneer grew even more contemptuous, highlighting a dark-brown beauty spot above his upper lip.

“So?” Edward’s tone grew drier, and he raised his finger even more.

The sneer didn’t disappear from Daniel’s lips. He chewed his lips for two seconds, which made them turn crimson and glisten, contrasting with his apricot skin. He held Edward’s glare for some seconds but finally dropped his head as his smirk faded. “Okay, dude, I’m sorry. It won’t happen again. It’s not the end of the world, though.”

“It’s not, but I’d appreciate it if you show more respect to your fellow Scouts.” Edward’s finger went down. “Daniel, meet Justin, a new friend of mine. He’s coming with us.”

Daniel scanned me. I could almost feel his gaze crawling up and down my body twice. I cringed because I suddenly felt like he could guess I was a girl and would expose my deception right away. He didn’t though, but when he was done, he glanced at me in disapproval as if I had fallen short of his expectations for some reason. I offered him my left hand, but Daniel only stared at it with narrowed eyes and crossed his arms.

“Hi, dude.” Daniel leaned a shoulder on the SUV. The sneer returned to his face. “First time camping, dude?”

I placed the hand Daniel never shook inside my pocket. “Y… Yes.”

If he’d tried to humiliate me, he had succeeded. I felt like I hadn’t met his high standards.

Daniel raised his upper lip again and rolled his eyes. “That’s obvious, dude. Too much sun today for your sensitive eyes?”

My sunglasses. He should believe I was a freak. “No… I…”

“Pathetic.” Daniel turned his back to me, reached for the SUVs door handle, pulled the door open and climbed into the SUV. He called, “Are we leaving, or are you guys gonna wait for the end of the world?”

I glanced at Edward who stood beside me. He grimaced. “I know. I’ll talk to him. It’s an unacceptable attitude.”

Moments later, all of us had crowded inside the SUV and Abe’s dad was behind the wheel. Edward boarded last after checking if anything had been left on the sidewalk. He sat in the front passenger seat, slammed the door and turned to Abe’s dad.

“All set, sir.”

He turned back and checked us. Jorge, Abe, and Brian were sitting on the long rear seat, and they joked and teased. Daniel and I sat on the middle seat, remaining silent. Edward nodded approvingly and fastened his seatbelt. As the SUV moved, Daniel chewed his lips again. They reminded me of Jenny’s after she’d applied pinkish lip-gloss.

Daniel studied me with hard eyes. I wondered what on Earth I did to make him mad. Had he noticed I was a girl?

“Like,” I said, just for the sake of filling the void of uncomfortable silence between us, “have you been to Magnolia Hall before?”

Daniel stooped and whispered into my ear, “Don’t mess with us, dude. You’re not welcomed. You’re too much of a sissy to survive in the wild. Get out of this van while you still can. I’m deadly serious, dude.”

July 2, 11:21 am

Abe’s dad drove the SUV through Abbeville’s few streets. We passed by a large park in front of the City Hall, one of those whitewashed buildings with columns so common in early America.

Edward glanced back at me. With a finger, he pointed at the park. “Lincoln Park.”

I didn’t give a damn for the park, but I nodded anyway. It was larger than I would expect, extending way beyond the city limits, all trimmed lawns and nicely pruned trees. “Is it a golf court?”

Abe giggled from behind me. “No. It’s only our little central park. There’s a large picnic every 4 of July and people from other towns gather here to celebrate. This year there will be a parade too, and fireworks at 11 in the evening.”

For another 15 minutes, we traveled a meandering highway through a thick forest until we reached a rusty sign that, in fading letters, announced “Magnolia Hall”. An arrow pointed to a narrow, dirt side road. Abe’s dad made a right and all of a sudden we all bounced inside the SUV like King Kong were shaking it. Abe’s dad hit the brakes and I felt the seat belt’s pressing hard, pinning me to my seat. Brian, who had not buckled his, was projected and hit the back of Daniel’s seat, getting a snubbed nose.

“Sorry guys,” Abe’s dad said. “Had to do it. It ages since the last time I drove this road. It’s impassable. If I go any further, I’d need be to be towed. You guys will need to carry the equipment from here. I’ll look for a place to leave the SUV and will join you later.”

We all got out of the SUV. The first thing that hit me was a mint-like fragrance floating everywhere. It permeated my nostrils all the way down to my lungs. Peace flooded my soul. It felt as if the woods wanted to merge with me, like drinking a glass full of pure Mother Nature. I breathed in twice, feeding my body with the vivifying waft from the trees. I didn’t know how I knew it, but I knew it was the trees. I could even point exactly to the fragrant ones. My gaze panned the treetops until I recognized the trees oozing the pleasant aroma. I even knew their scientific name.

School actually works,
I congratulated myself. Around me, the rest of the guys were all breathing in, absorbing the waft just as I’ve done. The forest’s welcoming.
I’m back at home.

The though popped into my mind out of the blue, but it made no sense because I’d never been here before, which meant I couldn’t be back. However, the sensation of hospitality, of a place where one could feel happy and fulfilled, was strong. My mind surprised my heart, claiming that Magnolia Hall was in fact my home.

Edward and Jorge opened the SUV’s back door and Jorge called, “Everybody line up here, we’re going to distribute the stuff.”

Each of us was given their own backpack and two boxes of supplies. My backpack gained weight because Jorge distributed Brian’s content between Daniel, Abe, and I, with much complaining from Daniel who was also given the smallest of the three tents. Edward and Jorge took one of the 5-gallon water jugs each—our drinkable water—one of the two larger tents each, and Edward carried the bundle of broomsticks and Jorge the guitar. Abe was given the cooler, which had wheels and he did not complain at all.

We started to walk a dirt road under direct sunlight. No wonder why we bounced so much inside the SUV, the road had more craters than the moon. The boxes of supply weighted a ton. I walked holding one in each hand by their plastic strings, which cut through my fingers after 5 minutes. When my feet started to ache again because of the one-size-too-short sneakers, the hike under the sun turned into a challenge—I had to prove I was enough of a man to stand the torture.

I tried to walk near Edward who marched in front. I didn’t want to get lost—he was the leader so he should know the route. Also, I didn’t know the rest of the guys and didn’t want to suffer another rejection like Daniel’s. Soon enough, Edward realized I walked clinging to his heels. He slowed down until I caught up with him and smiled at me—a paternal, benevolent smile. “We are marching in line, Justin. You must take your place, look behind me.”

Yes, they all marched in a line with variable distances between them, but keeping their order. Edward led the hike and Daniel followed. Abe walked behind Daniel, then came Brian, and Jorge at the rear. A true Boy Scout parade. I felt stupid, the only one not respecting the right order.

I bit my lip and lowed my head a bit. “Where should I line up?”

He winked me an eye. “Jorge is my assistant patrol leader. He closes the line. Walk between Brian and him.”

I stopped, allowing everybody to walk past me. As Daniel did, he whispered, “Take your place, loser.”

The party only stopped when Magnolia Hall’s main iron gates blocked our way. Beyond the gates, the dirt road penetrated a forest of tall, luxuriant trees. I dropped the boxes of supplies, tossed my backpack to the ground and took a large breath. The little hike had been an actual pain in the ass.

Brian dropped his share of boxes of supplies and backpack too. He approached the gates, closed his hands around the bars—it made the gates squeak—and surveyed the forest beyond them. “How do we get inside?”

The gates were twisted, rusted, and tilted at an impossible angle. They looked like a light breeze would knock them down, which made the huge chain and the large padlock securing them totally unnecessary. I narrowed my eyes because, all of a sudden, I had this weird idea that I’ve seen those gates somewhere else. Except that they were not falling apart as they were today. They towered, shone like gold and the wrought-iron angels crowning them—out of which only one still stood—seemed to be almost alive. Maybe I’d seen them in a movie or in picture, only that I couldn’t recall exactly which one.

Daniel approached the gates. He also dropped his boxes and his tent, but kept the backpack on his shoulders. He seized the bars too, which made the gate squeak again. He tucked one of his russet curls away from his forehead. “Search for a doorbell, dude. Duh!”

Jorge approached the gates too—they all looked like monkeys lining up by the bars of their cages. He pointed at a small wooden shed about 100 yards into the forest. “What’s that? A cabin? Somebody oughta be there. Ahoy! Anybody home?”