Page 90 of 2204 Hunter Lane
The birds tweeted in the branches, amused by my joke so I decided to speak again.
“Beautiful day for some ice cream, don’t ya think?”
My dad threw his shovel aside and stared at me with harsh eyes. “You on drugs, boy?”
I scoffed, turning to Payton who also shelved her task and glared my way.
“No.” I replied.
“Then why you actin’ like your brain got tased?”
Ah, big old Dex Lane. Scary bear, brute man got his fuckin’ period again. This is why I was out every chance I could get. Marley fucked us up even more than we already were.I’m done with this conversation.
I stepped around the dirt and started the journey towards my peaceful sanctuary when Payton called after me.
“You say goodbye to Marley, yet?”
Huh?Did I hear that right?My feet refused to move any further, no matter how much I willed them to.And I didn’t will them much, that was for damn sure.
“Goodbye?” I spun around, facing her. “What for?”
“She’s movin’ back, Hunter.”
“Movin’ back where?”
Payton dabbed the sweat on her brow as she peeled off her gloves. “New York.”
I caught my breathing in a chokehold as I stared at Payton in disbelief. My tone was unsteady, hard as rocks when I asked, “why?”
“If you actually gave her the chance to tell ya, you’d know. Instead, you been doin’ everythin’ in your power to run her outta Aurora.”
My eyes travelled from her to my dad as I locked my jaw, clenching my fists with force.Why didn’t she tell me? Why didn’t she just spit it out and fuckin’ tell me?
“I didn’t run her…” I choked on my words, knowing damn well I did. I fuckin’ did. But she deserved…she deserved-
“Save it, Hunter.” Payton combatted, throwing a hand up. “Y’know that girl, the one you hate for savin’ your ass and everyone else in this fuckin’ town. Yah, that girl? She spent days cryin’ over you. She wrote letters that she didn’t even give to me, that I found in the damn storage bin torn n’ tossed. Bout ten, maybe twelve.
“You know why? You didn’t even give her the time of day to explain why she ratted on your dumb ass. Ya just pushed, n’ pushed, until she decided she’d had enough of your shit and waved bye bye to the life she made for herself over here.”
I opened my mouth to retort, to say something that would help my case but there was absolutely nothing. I had nothing.
“So you die, Hunter, what then?” She took a few steps closer to me, red faced and furious.
“What then? You gon’ join your mama, right? You gon’ leave your dad here to lose someone else?”
“Payton.” My dad’s voice boomed, halting her movements.
Ice coated my veins but I couldn’t melt it. I’d bitten so hard on my bottom teeth my head began to scream in agony, commanding me to close my eyes and lay the fuck down so I could think.I needed to fucking think!
“She leaves at noon tomorrow.” Payton spat, turning away from my sight before stepping onto the porch and heading inside.
My eyes burned a hole in the grass beneath me before I found the courage to lift them and meet my dad’s.
“Dad –”
“You made a mess of your life, Hunter…” he shook his head, following the trail of embers Payton left behind. “Bless that girl’s fuckin’ heart.”
I flinched as my dad slammed the farmhouse door shut, leaving me alone with the sunlight and the birds. Only they were no longer tweeting, there was no sound… there wasn’t much of anything no more.
