Page 20 of Four Simple Rules
“Cool!” Gavin shouts from in front of me. Turning around, he grins a big toothy grin, pointing toward an enormous tree in the middle of the woods.
My eyes widen. “Wow,” I breathe, stumbling forward and running my fingers over the rough bark.
“There’s even a hole!” Gavin’s voice echoes from within the large tree as I approach him. He grins. “Think it’ll fit all three of us?”
“It might,” Jesse surmises, waltzing away from the two of us.
I swallow hard, my nerves eating me alive. Nothing but forest surrounds us. We can’t even see our houses from here.
“Don’t you think we should go back home?” I ask softly, fidgeting with my bright purple raincoat. Thunder shudders overhead, forewarning us of what’s about to come. Rain. And lots of it for once.
Gavin’s face drops. “Blakey,” he says softly, standing in front of me. “You nervous?” he asks, tilting his face to the side. Those identical hazel eyes examine the quiver of my lip and the twitches of my fingers, instantly knowing how I feel.
“I just don’t want to get lost,” I say lamely, peering around the deserted forest, waiting for the wildlife to eat me. There are bears out here. Wildcats. Things with sharp fangs, ready to devour me. “Or eaten,” I grumble.
“Dance in the rain, Tulip,” Jesse says unhelpfully, throwing his arms out and letting them hang there. I watch in fascination as he tilts his head back just as the first raindrop infiltrates the large trees above us. He smiles, taking a deep breath. “See, Tulip! This is living.”
What the hell does he know about living? We’re only twelve. This isn’t living. This is frightening. I swear my knees knock together when the rain finally pours through the treetops, soaking everything around us. Quickly, I pull my raincoat hood over my head and frown at Gavin as he smiles more, letting the droplets bounce off his shaved head.
“We promise nothing will happen to you, B,” Gavin says, raising a brow.
My brother has always looked after me. He’s only eight minutes older than me but has always seemed older—wiser.
“Well, not anything dangerous!” Jesse shouts, twirling under the raindrops.
“You’re insane!” I shout back, moving under the large tree nearest to me, watching with wide eyes as the boys pick up piles of mud and leaves, tossing them at each other. Their laughs echo through the trees, sending a smile to my face. It’s been so long since Gavin felt any joy. Not since…
“Insane is an exaggeration!” Gavin shouts, grunting when a gigantic piece of mud hits him in the chest. He chuckles, tackling Jesse as they wrestle back and forth, collecting leaves on their rain clothes.
“Uncle!” Jesse shouts under Gavin’s headlock, peeling himself away from him.
I smile when Jesse helps Gavin off the ground and wraps his arm around him. “When are you two going to come to school with me? I could use some backup.” Jesse’s eyes volley between the two of us as they make their way into the hole of the tree with me.
“You know our mom won’t let us,” Gavin says, shaking head. “Especially now since I’m sick.”
My heart physically aches from the reminder of his cancer diagnosis. We’ve spent countless hours at doctors and treatments. Today was the first day Gavin felt well enough to play outside. Not to mention, Mom kicked us out for some fresh air so she could take a nap. Or drink. She’s been doing that a lot lately.
Jesse’s eyes gloss over, and he clears his throat. “You’ll be okay.” His voice cracks with every word, exposing the emotions he’s holding back from us. “You’ll be all better, and then you guys can come to public school with me. We’ll be the three musketeers roaming the halls.” He chuckles at that, clapping Gavin on the shoulder.
“Yeah, I’ll be fine!” Gavin says with fake cheer, flashing his dimming smile at the two of us.
They lazily make their way toward me, covered in mud.
“So, how about this tree?” Gavin asks, running his fingers over the outside of the hole. Without caution, he sticks his head in. “Cool!” he shouts again, completely stepping inside and disappearing. “Get in here, B!” he instructs, sticking his hand out and dragging me inside.
“So dark,” I grumble, huddling against him when Jesse rushes inside and peers around.
“Let’s carve our names,” Jesse says, caressing the inside of the tree.
“Carve?” My brows furrow when Jesse holds out a small knife and flicks it open.
I swallow hard when he hands it off to Gavin first, gesturing toward the spot he cleaned with his hand.
Gavin grins more, nodding. “I’ll go first…” he trails off, grunting as he carves the first letter of his name. After what seems like an hour, his name is firmly etched into the inside of the tree. Forever marking his presence and this place as his. “Your turn,” he says, handing it to me. “Just don’t let it slip, Sis. You’ll cut your hand.”
“I’ll help,” Jesse offers, wrapping his fingers around mine on the knife's wooden handle.
A blush creeps over my cheeks as we hack away, carving my name. Letter by letter, and finally, it’s there next to Gavin’s, carved messily into the wood. Jesse takes the knife from me, but the heat of his hand stays with mine until his name is engraved under ours, and a circle is drawn around all three of our names.
