After the Climb (River Rain 0.50)

And with the big, tall trees with their dark bark and the tall grass that grew up between them for as far as you could see with the patches of deep brown dirt.

It was like something from The Fellowship of the Ring books or something.

Corey began to move toward it.

Duncan reached across Genny to stop him.

“Let’s not even leave a footprint,” Dun said, all manly like.

Corey felt something strange inside him, like, a burning kinda thing.

This was a deal for Duncan.

When they were out, he was always saying, Take nothing but a picture. Leave nothing but a footprint.

They didn’t even have a camera.

Duncan’s dad said it was an old Indian saying, but when he did, Dun rolled his eyes and later told Corey, “They didn’t have people wandering around the Wild West with Polaroids. General Custer wasn’t like, ‘Grab my Canon!’ I don’t know who said it, and maybe it was a native, I just know they were smart, and I wish Dad would do as he mouths off about doing, but he doesn’t.”

Dun was right.

He didn’t.

Burt Holloway would stomp all over this place, for sure, killing some rabbits, birds, whatever he could aim his gun at.

And that was what made Corey stop, even if he really wanted to get closer and he wasn’t real big on Duncan stopping him.

He was real big on the fact that Genny was still holding his hand.

She tugged it hard because she was falling to her butt and taking him with her.

He sat next to her and she leaned into him and Corey was suddenly totally okay with sitting all the way over here, not close to that twinkling stream or moss or clover.

“I can see fairies flying through here,” she said.

See?

Totally enchanted.

“I can see trolls hiding under those rocks,” Corey replied.

She pushed her body into his in a shove it gesture but then leaned away from him throwing him a big grin.

She might be a third grader, but she was super cute when she smiled.

“This is definitely a fairy place,” she pushed.

“Trolls,” he pushed back.

“So fairies.”

“So trolls.”

“Both,” Duncan decided, sitting down next to Genny.

Corey wanted to shout at him.

Or punch him in the face.

Why couldn’t he go lean against a tree or something?

Genny pulled Corey down to sit beside her, not Duncan.

And now…

Yup.

There she went.

She was tapping the side of her bent leg against the side of Duncan’s.

Duncan found the rhythm and started tapping back.

Yeah.

Corey…

Wanted…

To shout.

Duncan gave her clover and a little waterfall and sparkles and knew she loved it.

Duncan got to give her that.

He couldn’t let Corey have something?

Just a little something?

Without butting his stupid nose in?

God, Corey might start hating him.

Having that thought, his chest clogged up so bad, whatever that was shoved up his throat, and he immediately felt sick.

Never.

Never.

Not ever.

Everyone thought Corey was a loser.

But not Dun.

Duncan thought he was awesome.

Kids would say things. Be nasty.

Duncan was always there.

Not just telling them to go spit.

But telling them they’d be so lucky to be friends with Corey.

“When he’s old enough to buy and sell you and you want to shove your nose up his butt so he’ll give you a job, come back to me and tell me why you’re being such a dope right now.”

Yeah.

Dun had said that about him.

So he hated to walk all over everywhere, get bit by bugs and slip on mud and have to stand real still because Duncan saw a big cat or a snake or something and Corey did not want to get bit by some gross snake or have to try to outrun some cougar (or whatever).

But Duncan spent way more time over at Corey’s house playing tournaments with him on his Mattel football game or watching Captain Kirk do awesome stuff on TV.

If he didn’t have Duncan…he wouldn’t have anybody.

And if he didn’t have Genny…he would only have Duncan.

And Genny did all guy things with them. She also never moaned about it. Even getting into tournaments with them on his Mattel.

No Barbies or any of that crap for Genny.

So now, she dropped her head on Corey’s shoulder and he felt like he’d grown as tall as Duncan.

But she was still bumping her knee on Dun’s.

Okay.

Whatever.

He had both of them.

She had both of them.

Dun had both of them.

Even if Corey wanted more, he didn’t know why.

He had both of them.

So he had it all.

Chapter 5

The Breakfast

Duncan

* * *

“Holy shit, my man.”

Duncan was curled over his coffee at their table at Zeke’s, his eyes aimed to the java, his hand rubbing the back of his neck.

He’d just told Harv the story.

All of it.

From meeting Corey when they were six. To throwing the frog at Genny when he was ten. To slowly falling in love with her and finally doing something about it when he was seventeen. To cutting her loose because he was such a loser when he was eighteen and hooking up again when he was twenty-four because he’d turned into an asshole.