Page 19 of Little Fury

“Uh, hi?” he says.

“Was that a question? Because normally, people say hello without it sounding like they’re unsure if it’s the right word. Hi, hello, or even hey are the right words. I’ve also heard people say Yo, and others don’t even say Hi, but they say How are you right off the bat!!”I tell the guy who is still filling the water trough.

“Um, you know that the water is running over the edge, right?”I hear Marcus say to him. Marcus puts his hand in front of me and makes me step back.“You should be more careful next time. You almost got her shoes wet.”He continues to tell the guy. The guy continues to stare at us and then says“fucking kids”under his breath as he turns and walks away from us.

“Well, that was rude,”I say to myself and Marcus.

Marcus doesn't say anything to me; just nods in agreement.

“Well, well, what do we have here?”I hear from behind us.“Little Ava and young Mr. Marcus.” I turn around to see Harry coming towards us.

“Hi, Harry! I wanted to see if I could pet a horse today.”I tell him.

“You need to tell your employees to be more careful. That guy almost got Ava’s shoes all wet.”Marcus tells Harry.

“It's okay, Marcus. I don’t care if my shoes get a little wet,”I say.

“I care.”He says like I should know it would bother him if I were uncomfortable.

Harry looks between us,“Alright, kids, let’s go pet a horse.”

After about an hour of us petting the horses, Harry stops.“Okay, I need to get back to work. If you make your way over to that blue Building, you’ll meet Parker, and he'll find you guys something to do.”We do as Harry asks and head over to the blue building, where we find Parker.

Parker is young. He’s tall and skinny and pretty pale. He looks like he needs to go outside a lot more.“Hello,”I say.“I’m Ava, and this is Marcus. Harry told us to come see you, and you would give us something to do to keep us busy.”I spew the words out at him.

“He did, did he? “Parker says, laughing.

“Yup. “

“Well, then, let's get to it. Have either of you used a computer before? Have you guys played video games?"Parker asks us.

“Both,”I say, seeing Marcus nod in agreement.

“Perfect. Then come over here, and I'll get the Nintendo going for you. We have pretty much every game, so help yourself. Do you know how to set everything up?”he asks us.

“Yeah, I had one at home, a Sega Genesis, and a PlayStation.”Marcus offers up.

“Perfect,”Parker says.“You’ll find a bunch of games over in that cupboard. Play whatever you want. I’ll be over here if you need anything,”he tells us and moves over to a desk that is set up with a couple screens and a keyboard.

The first month passes like that. Beth cooks us every meal. We eat together; Harry joins us often. Beth, Harry, and I talk, getting to know each other, while Marcus only speaks when he absolutely has to. He only leaves my side when I sleep or go to the bathroom. He doesn’t say much, so I talk for both of us. Beth took us into town a couple of times because Marcus arrived with nothing except a bag with a toothbrush and a couple of changes of clothes.

The start of my second month at Harrys brings a couple new faces around the ranch, but really, Marcus and I spend our time with each other and Beth, or in our rooms, or swimming, or with Parker playing on the computers or video games. We see Harry all the time, but he’s busy, so it's never for very long. He does try to have a meal with us a couple times a week. Summer is passing fast like it always does, and pretty soon, we are only a few days away from school starting.

Beth takes us back-to-school shopping, getting all the required things and new clothes. Both Marcus and I need an entire winter wardrobe because winter will be cold—colder than I'm used to in Chicago or Marcus is used to in New York.

I’m not going to enjoy that.

Beth drives us there on our first day of school and takes us in to meet the principal and our teacher. I don't know what they've been told about me and Marcus, but everyone seems cautious around us.

Or around Marcus

School is apparently the same everywhere. The onlydifference is that Marcus’ and my old school were private so here we don't have to wear a uniform. Marcus is happy about that, but I don't like having to decide what to wear every day.

Time passed, and we just were.

We were kids growing up.

We were best friends.

---