Desert Wake ✔

Ch. 4, pt. 1: On This Way Forever

My full name is May June Stebbins.

Yeah, I know.

If you thought, guess yer parents couldn't decide on a month, you'd be right. Ma wanted to name me May. Pa preferred June. They never been ones to bicker fer too long, so May June I became. That solved that argument, but Granddad always joked it was a good thing he didn't insist I be called July. Rordan's got nothin' on May June July Stebbins in the mouthful department. The funny thing is, no one thought to name me after the month in which I was born, and I think April's a perfectly acceptable name.

Ro laughs when I tell him 'bout how my name came to be. He says his full name is Rordan Bennett Farnes, which I tell him is a nice name, but not so excitin' as mine, seein' as though it don't got a joke built into it. I'm proud of my name and the story associated with it, and since he spent the afternoon revealin' everything about himself, I figured it's only fair to divulge a few of my own true facts. Turns out, Ro is as curious 'bout me as I am 'bout him. "What you see is what you git," I say to him.

"If only you meant that literally, I'd be a very happy man tonight." Ro grins.

"Now, just what are you implyin', Rordan?" I give him my don't-mess-with-me look, even though on the inside, I ain't totally put off by his flirtations.

"I'm not implying anything, May June Stebbins. I'm saying outright, that you are so beautiful, I couldn't believe you were real when I first saw you standing on your porch."

That's funny, cuz I thought the exact same thing 'bout him. Well, purdy much.

Ro's eyes twinkle. "After everything I'd been through, and so many months avoiding everyone, I suppose I thought I'd be alone forever. But there you were, like the desert knew you were exactly who I needed and it brought me to you. Like you were a gift."

"I ain't no gift," I say quick, cuz what's he thinkin', speakin' like I'm something to be traded 'tween himself and his desert buddy. "But still, thank you fer the compliment, I suppose."

This conversation is takin' place over the dinner table, and he's right across from me, his bad leg situated on a spare chair. He reaches his hand over like he's gonna grab onto mine, then pulls it back. "I don't want you to think I'm trying to take advantage."

"I think you won't have that opportunity. Now I believe it was you who mentioned that I had nothin' to fear from you, Rordan. I don't have to bring Frank back out to prove that point, do I?"

Ro sits back, and he's smilin' but also not smilin' in that way of his that shows mixed emotions.

I should be nicer to him. I should let him grab my hand, and I won't lie, I'm dyin' to taste them lips, to find out what his body looks like under my pa's button-up shirt. I ain't been overly particular with them no-good boys that run the dust up 'round here. I've had my share of fun. But Ro ain't just 'bout fun. He's something more, and I ain't ready to explore what that something more actually is. Cuz won't he be gone in a few days, once his ankle heals up? I cain't be bleedin' my heart out at his absence. I've got plenty of people I bleed over already.

Which leads me to a change in conversation. "My Granddad liked to tell stories, just like you. Well, they weren't based on facts, as far as I cain tell, but they were still nice to listen to. Used to tell me this one passed down from our ancestors 'bout a man who was cursed. He turned into a beast, all ugly and whatnot. And only if he could git a woman to fall in love with him -- furry face, horns, and all -- without tellin' her about the curse, could the spell be undone."

"Did he find someone like that?"

"Granddad says he did. Says there was this young maiden, lovely as the stars, and she had sich a kind heart, she could see beyond the surface, see him fer who he was, and she loved him fer it. Well, that broke the spell and then she had herself not only a brave, noble, and rich man, but a handsome one too. They got married and lived, as Granddad put it, happily ever after."

"Sounds nice."

"Don't it though?" I sigh. "Sometimes I wish I could live in one of Granddad's fairytales."

"May." Ro cocks his head slightly. "What happened to your Grandfather?"

"I told you, he went to town to git supplies."

"How long ago was that?"

"Three months." Ro looks at me sharp, so I add real quick, "But that don't mean he ain't comin' back."

"Oh, May." Ro frowns, and now we got ourselves a new understandin'. Cuz he knows I know there's a bigger chance the desert will stop its spread than that old man will appear back on the farm. Still, the last thing I need is his pity. Truth is, Granddad wasn't all about storytellin' and parentin' orphaned girls. He never was one fer keepin' things up, unless it was his bar tab. I've been runnin' this place since I was fourteen, and don't it show? Sure, if he was sober enough, Granddad might be relied upon to fix a broken board in the fence or help me plow our last remainin' semi-productive field. But spots of sobriety didn't come his way too often.

I tell this all to Ro, maybe not in so many words, but he gits the message. Granddad's a drunk, and he either abandoned me here cuz he didn't wanna deal with the farm no more, or he got himself so inebriated in town that something bad happened. I'm mainly thinkin' it's the latter even though that means he's probably dead. I just cain't bear the notion that he'd leave me of his own free will.

"I did go lookin' fer him, 'bout a week after he left," I admit to Ro. "People in town said they'd seen him, but no one knew what had happened to him. The bartender mentioned that Granddad had warmed a stool some nights passed, but he stumbled out into the street at closin' time and that's all he knows."

"Have you tried to find him since then?"

"No I ain't. I almost lost everything' lookin' fer him the first time." The scorn I been harborin' fer Granddad pours right out of me through my bitter words. "It took me a day to walk to town. I spent the night there and didn't git back till the next evening. Two days I'm gone and when I git back, I'm down two goats. Seems some wild beast carried off a couple of 'em. Reba and Nessie were in sorry shape, too. So I cain't go lookin' fer my good-fer-nothin' Granddad again. If I leave this place, I might as well never come back cuz the girls won't make it without me and Frank to watch over 'em. And I won't make it without the girls. See the conundrum I'm in?"

I rest my elbows on the table and hold my head up with my palms.

Ro mimics me so we got our faces no more than a foot a part. "I do see, May. I do. You can't go on this way forever."

"Like I got a choice? Ain't no stellar prospects waitin' fer me out there in the world. This farm is all I have, sich as it is."

"But it can't last, May."

"No it cain't and it won't, but the way you say it, neither will the world. The only comfort I take from yer dire predictions is that I'll already be in my grave 'fore the end of the world gits here."

Ro, bless him, looks like he might up and cry when I say this. But instead of lettin' tears fall, he lifts his head off his hands and reaches out, cups the outside of my hands with his own, touches my cheeks. "Everyone I called a friend is dead. But you? You're still here. You'll be alive when we fix this world, May. We'll put the dust to rest."

A/N: What do you imagine happened to May's grandfather? Do you think he'll come back, or is he gone for good?

Speaking of May's missing grandpa, now that the kiddos have their slate boards and chalk, we'll be collecting votes for this chapter and sending them to the "Find May's Grandfather Fund." The fund is not doing very well, currently, as the money May might have used to get it off the ground was spent paying off her granddad's bar tab. So, let's help her out! Vote and we'll be one step closer to finding her last remaining relative! Thanks so much!

Today's dedication is for one of my early-on Wattpad friend's @letmelivetonight. Jada's book THE RULES OF THE RED just began featuring on July 10th. I read this story last year and let me tell you, it is completely awesome! If you like werewolves and vampires and suspenseful stories, there's no way you won't like TROTR! It's a fabulous read; I highly recommend it!