Summer On Fire (The Rock Star Series 4) (Kings of Leon)

Family Tree

...I'll be there to shine a light...

*

It was a little after eight pm that evening and Caleb was out on the front porch halfway through his third cigarette. He'd been holed up in the den with his guitar, writing song lyrics; but because his ma was baking pies and biscuits for the upcoming Bake Sale the heat inside the house had been more stifling than usual and it had driven him outside. As he sat on the steps, cigarette dangling from one corner of his mouth, the mouthwatering smell of cinnamon and sugar tickled his nostrils. The bushes and scrubland that surrounded the Creed and Followill homes was alive with the sound of crickets making happy, and somewhere off in the distance came the faint chirp of a cicada; while inside the house rattling pots and pans and his ma's voice as she hummed along to some tune on the radio. Other than that there wasn't a sound to be heard.

Caleb swiped a forearm over his clammy brow. It didn't seem right the evenings were as hot as the daytime. It made sleeping almost unbearable. Almost two months with no rain, not even a shower. The local farmers were beginning to fear for their crops that coming Fall, while the rising temperatures and drought dominated almost every conversation in every grocery store across Tennessee. In Mt. Juliet and the surrounding counties, the government had already imposed restrictions on water usage and anyone found using a hosepipe could find themselves on the wrong side of the law.

Nathan had left a half hour ago for town, he was taking his newest girlfriend on a date and Jared was up in his room doing whatever Jared was doing. He was fourteen so Caleb could imagine. Other than spending time with Eden, Caleb didn't much feel like doing anything; but he hadn't seen her since the previous night. Usually he saw her leave for work in the morning and often he'd see her return. But nothing today. He was contemplating strapping on a pair and going over to see her, when there came the slam of a door followed by a loud commotion coming from somewhere inside the Creed house.

Nora Creed's tall thin outline was perfectly visible through the kitchen window, but it was Eden who was making most of the noise. Caleb couldn't see her but, boy, could he hear. She was all but screaming at the woman and it sounded mighty serious. He caught snatches of the argument and from what he could make out it was over a bottle of liquor. He felt kind of awkward sitting there listening, like he were encroaching on something private, but the kitchen window was cracked open so it made it hard for anyone not to hear or pay attention.

'I told you to bring no shame on my house!' Now it was Nora Creed's turn to yell.

'Only because you give a hot damn what folks think!' Eden tossed back at her. 'You care more about that than you do anythin' else!'

'You tell me where you got that liquor from, because I know you didn't buy it in town! No one around here would sell it to you. You get it from the boy next door?'

'I told you I bought it! Are you deaf as well as bitter?'

'Oh, you may have had 'em all fooled back in Danville with your pity-me stories but they won't wash here! You're just like the whore that gave birth to you! She knew how to spin a yarn and have folks eatin' from the palm of her hand!'

Silence.

Until the crash, like glass or crockery had been flung against a wall or dropped or something, and the sudden sound startled Caleb so much he actually jumped.

'You don't get to talk about my mama!'  He heard Eden scream, leading him to believe it had been her who'd done the flinging. 'You didn't even know her!'

'I never wanted to! Just like I didn't want you here! I don't know what my brother was thinkin' saddlin' me with the offspring of a whore! I don't need a constant reminder of how she robbed him of his life!'