Pieces of Summer

My hands go in my pockets as I study the collapsing porch. All the windows have been broken now, courtesy of the kids running loose in town. The weeds have grown up to be knee high in some places, and the grass is completely dead in other spots. The paint is almost completely peeled away, and the rotting wood is on the verge of finally caving in.

“Mika? Why are we here?” I ask her, still staring at the house from my past as that familiar pit of disgust forms in my stomach.

Suddenly, she’s in front of me and jabbing a beer bottle in my hand that has a rag hanging out of it. My eyebrows go up in confusion when I get a whiff of something that suspiciously smells like gasoline.

“Mika…” I let her name trail off as she pulls out a lighter and grins up at me.

“It’s okay. I researched this. For a book, of course.”

She lights the end of the rag, and my eyes widen in shock when it blazes up.

“You should probably throw it before you get burned,” she points out.

I toss the bottle as hard as I can and the glass explodes against the side of the house. The fire shoots out in a streak, but doesn’t send the house in a blaze or anything the way it does in the movies.

“Are you crazy?” I ask her as she pushes another bottle in my hand.

She blinks before saying, “Yes. Yes, I am.”

When she lights the rag this time, I throw it immediately, and the bottle crashes into the house through the broken storm door. An actual fire starts when the glass shatters, and I roll my eyes.

“Wrong kind of crazy, baby.”

She shrugs before bending over and grabbing yet another bottle, holding it as she studies me.

“You’re helping me chase away my demons, so I’m helping you chase away yours. Actually, I’m helping you burn your demons to the ground. Get it?”

She grins at me before thrusting the next bottle into my hands. There’s a decent blaze flickering from inside the house now, and when she lights the bottle this time, I don’t hesitate to throw it. In fact, it actually feels good when fire spreads.

“I also had Hunter pick you up several extra belts and install a belt organizer for you, but I thought this surprise was the most important,” she adds, causing me to smile despite the fact I’m throwing yet another bottle toward the house.

We’re both fucking crazy.

Bottle after bottle smashes into the house, and when the last one is thrown, the house is burning hard. Mika stands at my side, and my arm goes around her shoulders as we watch all the bad memories burn—metaphorically.

I’m not sure how she knew I needed this, since I didn’t even realize it, but it feels like a weight is being lifted off me. The whoop of a siren has me cringing, and Mika and I both turn around as Dusty pulls up in his patrol car.

He and I went to school together, but we were in different grades.

I expect him to break out his handcuffs, considering we’re committing arson and I’m a James. However, he takes one look at us then glances toward the house, and grabs his radio, radioing in to the station.

When they answer, he says, “Tell the chief it’s just the James house burning down. Don’t worry about sending anyone for a few minutes. I think it’s time this house was gone.”

The dispatcher mutters something that’s too static-ridden for us to understand from our distance away from him, but Dusty says something back before walking toward us.

He nods once at me, then tips his hat toward Mika, before joining us as we stand and watch. As the blaze drives on and takes the house down little by little, more weight lifts off me.

“You two watching the whole thing burn down, or can I call the guys out here before the field catches fire?” he asks.

My smile turns up before I glance down at Mika, but she stares at me like it’s my decision.

“I’m good. Thanks, Dusty,” I tell him, clapping him on the shoulder as I turn to leave.

“Don’t worry about it. I’ll make sure to speak with the fire chief.” He gives me a look of understanding, and I kiss the top of Mika’s head as I guide her back to my truck.

I guess small towns aren’t always a bad thing.

Holding open Mika’s door for her, I turn and take one last look at the house as it folds in on itself. When I look back at her, she’s staring at me.