The Weight of the World (4 page)

“
Mr.
Campbell?”

He
nodded. “My father wasn't the greatest guy and my grandfather
thought that if she cleaned up her mistake, she could go to college
and take over the family business after that. My mother left home--
left this house-- and had me anyway and Grandpa went on pretending he
didn't have a daughter. Say what you will about a woman's right to
choose, I'm just glad she chose me.”

Adam
screwed the lid back on his jar of peanuts. He looked back at her as
he crossed to his back door.

Devon
stood up. “It’s good to talk to someone about anything. Even if
you are a stranger. Thank you.”

“
I’m
always willing to talk. I mean, literally. I have nothing better to
do than talk,” Adam said. “I don't know anyone in this town.”

“
I
can fix that. I know lots of people.”

Adam
smiled. “Alright. Well, you let me know when you want to show me
around.” He tossed a peanut up in the air and caught it in his
mouth.

Devon
dragged her chair back to the patio. There were too many bugs outside
for her liking. She tipped her head back and glanced up at the stars.
It was a clear night. The starry sky was made less-brilliant by the
lights of the city around them. Even so, sitting in the quiet, in the
relative dark, and looking up at the sky as the crickets chirped,
Devon felt small. Alone.

She
closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She just couldn’t wrap her
mind around the idea that she was going to be a mother. This whole
day didn’t seem real.

When
Devon opened her eyes, Adam was staring over the fence at her. He
looked away quickly.

Devon
smiled.
Still
got it,
she
thought.
I’m
going to be the sexiest mom alive.

“
Goodnight,
Adam,” she said, turning to head back into the house.

“
Goodnight.”

“
The
will of Zeus was accomplished.
”

-Homer

iii.

After
she was pushed out of her mother's womb,

the
goddess turned to help deliver her twin,

and
in that time she saw her mother suffer

the
curse of woman.

Terrified
by the sight of bloody child-birth,

She
vowed to never observe the touch of man.

So
when Lord Zeus placed the girl upon his knee,

that
was her one wish.

She
only desired to run on her own

with
flora, fauna and nymph, but never man.

Her
father thought that this was a foolish wish

but
granted it, still.

So
when Actaeon stumbled upon a cave

and
saw her naked back as Artemis bathed,

he
could not avert his eyes with enough speed

to
save his own life.

As
he fled through the woods, changed into a beast,

his
own hunting hounds tore apart his haunches.

And
so she helped Zeus grant her personal wish,

keeping
her own boon.

“
Friends
are as companions on a journey, who ought to aid each other to
persevere in the road to a happier life.”

-Pythagoras

III.

The
sky had only cleared after dinner, but the late summer sunset had
given it extra time to dry the earth below. Now the sun was showing
its last glow along the horizon, and the people of Olympia Heights
were venturing out to enjoy the reprieve from the rain.

The
fair came into town for the first two weeks of the summer in Olympia
Heights and then left for cooler-climates and beach-front towns.
After the weekend it would move on, but on Friday night it was
buzzing with young families and rogue teenagers.

Astin
and Diana Hill moved through the crowd with cotton candy in hand.
Diana was carrying a large stuffed unicorn that she had won from one
of those target shooting games that were supposed to be impossible to
win. She stopped as they crossed a group from the track team, hanging
out on a picnic table. Diana asked Astin to hold on before running
over to her team mates.

The
varsity track team consisted of five people, aside from Diana and
Lewis Mercer. Jimmy and Joey Cooper were brothers, two years apart.
They were both six feet tall and extremely skinny. Alexis Ruiz was a
tiny freshman with a lot of energy. She had black hair, large eyes,
and over-sized ears that stuck out. Her boyfriend, also on the team,
was Scott Snyder. Scott had curly ginger hair and freckles that fused
together in place of a tan. The last member of the team was Ryan
Bear. Ryan’s mother was Kenyan, and he had inherited her sharp
cheekbones and almond-shaped eyes.

Alexis
and Scott were too busy making out to greet Diana. The Cooper
brothers stopped whatever they were talking about to high-five Astin
and praise him for a show he had played last week at the youth
center.

“
Got
enough Unicorn?” Ryan asked Diana. The stuffed toy was nearly three
feet long and had a rainbow mane.

“
You
can never have enough unicorn,” she said.

“
I
didn’t think it was possible to win one of those things.”

“
I
have good aim.”

Ryan
rubbed the back of his neck and glanced over at Astin. In mere
seconds his conversation had turned from receiving praise to a
lecture from Astin about pop music’s part in the decline of modern
entertainment. Ryan looked back at Diana, revealing a dazzling smile.

“
Want
a snow cone?” he asked.

Diana
and Ryan headed off towards the snow cone stand, vanishing into the
swarm of bodies before Astin could see where they had gone. They
stepped into line, standing behind a large woman with two large
children. “Having a good summer?” Diana asked.

“
I’m
working for my neighbor. He started a landscaping business and I’ve
been mowing lawns since school let out.”

“
That’s
no way to spend summer vacation.”

“
That’s
a good way to make some money,” he replied. “He’s paying ten
dollars an hour.”

“
I
take that back, it’s an awesome way to spend summer vacation. You
could buy a car by fall.”

“
I
don’t really need a car,” he said. “I live a mile from school
and all of my friends have cars.”

“
Except
for me.”

“
Except
for you. I can always borrow my Dad’s car to go out with you.”
Ryan focused on the flavor menu ahead. It was a large, painted
composite board with too many colors on it. He glanced at Diana only
for a moment to see if he could read a reaction on her face.

“
I
never knew... what is Tiger’s Blood supposed to taste like?” she
asked with a small smile on her lips.

“
Crap,”
he said. “It’s terrible. It’s only so popular because of the
name.”

“
Blue
raspberry it is, then.”

Ryan
ordered a pair of snow cones and paid for them. They walked away from
the stand. Ryan looked down at Diana. “So what would you think,”
he asked, “about going out with me sometime?”

“
Are
you asking me out or just asking me to envision it?”

“
I’m
asking you out.”

Diana
looked back towards the spot where they had left the track team. She
could see Astin’s head above the crowd. He was straining to spot
his sister. She was a goddess, but she was also a teenager and she
didn’t want to miss out on growing up just because she could talk
to animals. Ryan was nice and polite, and they had a lot in common.
Astin was going to hate this. “I think that sounds... great.”

“
Great,”
he replied with a broad smile.

“
Astin’s
looking for me,” she said. She was the moon and Astin was the sun.
She knew he started to get a little cranky after dark. It was
probably time to take her unicorn and head home.

“
I’ll
call you,” he said.

“
Goodnight,
Ryan.”

“
Freedom!”
Devon shouted as she flung open the driver’s side door of her
little red convertible. Adam stepped out of the passenger’s side,
considerably less excited about their excursion.

“
So
this is the fair?” he asked.

“
This
is an excuse for you to talk to someone besides my Mom... well really
it’s an excuse for both of us.” Devon hadn’t been out of the
house since the big blow-out last week between Frank and her father.
She wasn’t allowed to talk to Frank and he hadn’t so much as
texted her again.

Devon
and Adam crossed the street from parking to the fair. She paid for
admission and their hands were stamped with bright red smileys.
“Alright. Food is priority one. I barely ate all day.” Normally
carnival food was not in Devon’s diet, but she had been sick all
morning and now she was ravenous for something greasy and unhealthy.

Devon
and Adam crossed the fairgrounds through the sea of picnic tables at
the center. Jason Livingstone was sitting at an otherwise empty
picnic bench with three small children. The oldest was a girl with
brown pigtails and cotton candy stuck to her left cheek. The boys
were twins, still toddlers, and Jason was busy trying to wipe ketchup
from one of their noses.

“
Dr.
Livingstone,” Devon said. “Can we sit here?”

“
Beware
of flying french fries,” he said, glancing back at Devon. He had
been wearing a polite smile when he turned to see who had asked, but
the moment he realized who it was, the smile faded. “You and I
ought to talk,” he said. “I’ve had words with Celene.”

Devon’s
constant flirty smile was gone. She nodded. “Okay.” She glanced
back at Adam and then remembered her manners. “Oh, hey, Adam, this
is Dr. Livingstone. He’s the school nurse. Doc, this is Adam.”

“
School
nurse?” Adam asked as he shook Jason’s hand.

“
A
long story,” Jason explained.

“
Uh,
so... Adam. How about you go find what you want to eat or something.
I need to talk to Livingstone about...” she cocked her head and
nodded, as if trying to gesture to her own stomach. Adam nodded. The
tall stranger vanished into the crowd.

“
Cousin?”

“
Dead
neighbor's grandkid.”

“
Huh,”
Jason said.

“
He’s
been my savior the last week.” Devon sat down next to Jason’s
daughter. She realized that she didn’t know anything about his
family. She was going to be a mother. She knew she had to get over
her dislike of kids fast. “What’s your name?” she asked.

“
Haley,”
the little girl said. “That’s James and that’s Scotty.” Haley
put her food down and focused her attention on Devon. “I like your
earrings,” she said.

“
Thank
you,” Devon smiled.

“
She’s
pretty,” said James, though his R was unpronounced.