Part 10 (2/2)
”Tommy, you've always been big on learning for the sake of learning. Just think of it that way,” David said. ”I can't get these guys to give us a tailor-made weekend of training. Can't afford to, anyway. We take what we need and don't worry about the rest.”
Kristi sat across from Maddy and took her field cap off. Her hair stuck up in a thousand different directions. ”I don't know. It all may come in handy. We don't know what's waiting for us out in Idaho. It's the Wild West, right? Maybe we'll have to defend our land.”
Maddy thought about their property's real estate brochure, which went on for paragraphs about how suited the acreage was for living a survivalist lifestyle. There were ”defensible ridges” where you could take the high ground and track the movements of others approaching your land. If nothing else, she thought it possible they'd have to defend themselves against extremist groups in the area.
”I think I'll just pa.s.s on tomorrow's training,” Maddy said. ”I've been wounded in battle today.”
”That son of a b.i.t.c.h,” Kristi said. ”I can't wait for tomorrow so I can take him down.” She looked fierce. Then she looked back at Maddy and her face softened. ”I've got some Vicodin. Do you need some?”
”You've got Vicodin?” Maddy said.
”Sure. Steady source of it.” She said this as if she were talking about school supplies. Tommy groaned.
”I don't understand. Are you an addict or something?” Maddy said.
Kristi laughed. ”Oh, h.e.l.l no. I'm not stupid.”
”Kristi's resourceful,” David said. ”That's one of the things she brings to the table for us.”
”Thanks, man,” Kristi said. She smoothed her hair down. ”But like I was saying, if you're head hurts bad, I can give you something for it. Maybe you'll feel different about going tomorrow.”
”She's going tomorrow,” David said. ”We need to be strong here, because we're going to have to be twice as strong in Idaho. Right, Maddy?”
They all looked at her. Maddy wasn't used to doing things she didn't want to do. Her parents seldom made her do anything. But she didn't want to look like the weakest link in a chain of weak links.
”Let me sleep on it. I feel like s.h.i.+t.”
”Yeah, let's let her sleep on it,” Kristi said. ”Where are we all sleeping, anyway?”
Tommy looked alert for the first time in hours.
”Kristi, you sleep downstairs with Maddy. Tommy will bunk with me,” David said. ”Diane will meet back up with us tomorrow.”
”Great,” Kristi said. ”Come on, Maddy. Let's get you to bed.”
Maddy didn't know if she liked the sound of that. Kristi suddenly seemed eager.
”But there's only the one mattress down there. Where's Kristi going to sleep?”
David smiled. ”Get used to community living, sweetheart. Kristi and you are going to have to share the mattress tonight.”
Kristi got up and came around the table. Maddy felt like she was about to be escorted to the honeymoon suite. ”Come on, kid. Let's get you to bed. Your head must be splitting.”
David kept smiling as they left the room. Maddy's head was pounding and she was starting to consider the Vicodin. When they got down to the bas.e.m.e.nt, Kristi looked at the shabby corner where Maddy slept.
”Look how nice you made this,” she said. ”It's not half bad. Which side of the bed do you want?”
That was a strange question. Maddy had never shared a bed with anyone. Why would it make any difference which side she had?
”It doesn't matter.”
”You sure? Because I always like the left side. I don't know why. I was once with a girl who insisted on the left side and I knew I had to get rid of her.”
There it is, Maddy thought. Kristi's a lesbian. She felt simultaneously thrilled and terrified. She'd never had s.e.x with anyone, but when she imagined it, boys never came to mind. But neither did someone like Kristi.
Maddy made quick work of was.h.i.+ng up. She asked Kristi to turn around when she used the toilet. Then she put on a T-s.h.i.+rt and shorts and slipped into the bed while Kristi brushed her teeth.
”I am so psyched about getting out of this town,” Kristi said. She was talking as she sat on the toilet. ”I don't know what your story is yet, but if it's anything like mine, the idea of a place that isn't all f.u.c.ked up is like heaven to me. This town is dead. Dead to me.”
”Did you ever think of just moving to another town?” Maddy said.
”I tried it. I went to Kalamazoo and then to Lansing. It's the same thing everywhere. No one wants to hire me, or if they do it's for s.h.i.+t jobs. I want to build something for myself.”
That wasn't so different from what Maddy wanted. She was going to suggest to Kristi that she could try getting an education and find better work, but then she remembered that she was a high school dropout herself.
Kristi got into bed with the same T-s.h.i.+rt she'd been wearing all day. She smelled earthy, but not in an entirely unpleasant way. Maddy could feel her warmth. Or was it her own warmth? Suddenly there was warmth, and she wasn't sure what was happening.
”So what's your story?” Kristi asked. ”Did you just graduate from high school this year and decide to leave everything? What did your parents say?”
Kristi was leaning on one elbow, looking down at Maddy.
”I'm not really close to my parents. I'd say they aren't in the loop on this decision.”
”You mean they don't know?”
”Well, they know I'm gone, but they don't know where.”
”Huh.” Kristi considered this. ”Well, as long as you're eighteen they don't have a say, do they?”
”That's the whole point, really. I don't want anyone to have a say in what I do.”
Kristi lay down with her arms behind her head. The tip of her elbow was next to Maddy's temple. She felt like rubbing her head against it, but she didn't. They were silent for a few minutes.
”How's your head?”
”It'll be okay. Sleep will help.”
”Let me feel where he hit you.” Kristi raised herself again and gently touched the side of Maddy's head. Maddy lay frozen, but she didn't protest. ”Yeah, there's a little knot. It's not too bad. You want that Vicodin?”
”No. We have to get up in a few hours. I'll be a mess.”
”So you're going to go tomorrow?”
”Do you think I have to?”
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