The Twenty Year Triangle

Chapter Thirty-Four

"It worked!" I defend.

"Until the candle fell, and the carpet started on fire," Hunter reminds me.

"Kinsey knocked it over because she's a klutz," Oliver says.

"It's your fault. All we had left was marshmallows, Oliver. You always ate all the snacks," I accuse.

"Yeah, you did," Hunter agrees.

"I was a hungry kid," Oliver defends.  

I'm not all that shocked they never changed the carpet, the owners of the houses never cared much. Towards the end when folks moved out no one new ever rented the vacant houses. 

"Man, we had some fun movie marathons in this room," Hunter comments.

"Yeah," Oliver agrees.

"Mr. Mooney, always pounding on the wall," I add with an eye roll.

"Now it's our turn to pound on his." Oliver walks over with a sledgehammer and sends it crashing through his old bedroom wall.

"I can't believe we're about to see Mr. Mooney's' bedroom," I mock shudder. "Who knows what we might find."

As we step through, we only find a dusty boring bedroom, kind of a letdown. As kids, we had all kinds of crazy ideas of what the grumpy old Mr. Mooney probably kept in his room.

**

After several hours, we've done a ton of demolition in the first duplex house.  Despite my earlier thoughts, I even agreed to come back and help Hunter more this week. It'll keep my mind off what's going on with Julian and its actually kind of fun. Smashing the walls especially. 

The house looks so different now, no longer two side by sides one big and very messy space. There is plaster and debris literally everywhere though. Hunter and Oliver are currently hauling all the cabinets and doors into center of the house, and I'm standing here in awe of all we've done.

I lean down and start picking up large hunks of stuff, then tossing it into garage bags. They fill quickly. I'm reaching for a new bag, as I pick more stuff up, when something sharp suddenly cuts my thumb and I yelp as I jump up.

I see right away that my thumb is bleeding, and I feel dizzy at the sight. The room starting to fill with black spots.

"Oh no... don't pass out," I tell myself as I squeeze my eyes shut so I don't look at it again.

"What happened?" Hunter asks as he's rushing back in.

"Kinsey? You, okay?" Olly is asking at the same time, and my head whips from one to the other.

They're both in front of me at once, making me as woozy as the blood coming from my thumb, I'm afraid to look and see how bad it is.

"I'll get the first aid kit," Oliver is saying, and I hear his footsteps walking away.

"A first aid kit? How had it is?" I panic.

"Let me see it, Darlin," Hunter takes my hand in his. "Looks like you nicked your thumb is all. I told you to leave all this stuff on the floor."

"I forgot," I say sheepishly, my cheeks red as I look anywhere but towards my injured hand. "Am I going to lose my thumb?"

Oliver snickers and Hunter chuckles. Seriously? Laughing at me while I'm gravely injured?

"It'll be just fine," Hunter assures me.

"Told you she was going to get hurt," Oliver chides.

"Now is not the time for told-you so's, Oliver," I huff. "I could lose my thumb or even bleed to death."