It was another one of those nights. Four year old Emily awoke to the sound of screaming.
“Where were you?!” He father’s deep voice bellowed.
“Will you keep your voice down? I was with a friend,” came her mother’s quiet reply.
“Did this friend happen to have a dick?”
“God, I am not cheating on you Don!”
“Then what were you doing?!”
Emily would hide under her blanket, hands over her ears. She didn’t really know what they were saying, but she knew they were mad, and she just wanted it to stop.
* * *
She woke up Friday to complete silence, a welcome change. He dad had gone on a hunting trip with his friends up in Maine for the long weekend, so she had the house to herself. After getting herself breakfast and cleaning up a little bit, she packed a bag and went to the lake. Her friend, Allison, spent almost all of her free time at the lake, so she wasn’t that surprised to find her there.
“Emily!” Her friend exclaimed. “What are you doing here?”
“My dad’s hunting for the weekend,” she answered with a smile.
“Lucky break.” Allison was one of the only people who knew about her how her dad really was. Usually, she told everyone that he was the kind of dad everyone dreamed of, the kind she dreamed of. A father encouraging her to follow her dreams, greeting her with a smile when she got home, saying “good night” and “I love you” every day.
Allison was the complete opposite of Emily, which is probably why they got along so well. Allison was loud and at times obnoxious. She did what she wanted and didn’t care what other people thought of her. And best of all, she was always there when you needed her.
They almost hadn’t become friends, wouldn’t have if it had gone Emily’s way. Emily learned from her parents that you can’t trust anyone, so she kept to herself. No friends, no tears and no fighting later.
That all changed when Allison moved to town just in time for high school. Emily will never forget the first time she saw her, strolling down the hall in a tie-dyed shirt and hot pink pants. Emily had History and the room was locked, so she was sitting outside until the teacher got back from lunch. Allison walked up to her and said, “Hey, you look lonely, want a friend?”
What was she supposed to say to that? No? Of course she wanted a friend; she just didn’t want the pain that she knew came with it. Relying on people never worked out.
Allison must have taken the silence as shyness because she sat down next to Emily. “Hey, I’m Allison,” she introduced herself, holding out her hand.
Since when do people shake hands in school? Emily thought. However, she didn’t want to be rude so she shook it. “Emily.”
Allison smiled as she lowered her hand. “Hi Emily, I’m new in town…Have you lived here long?”
Emily nodded. “All my life.” She started at the door, willing the teacher to appear or the door to magically unlock.
“That’s cool. I’ve kinda moved around a lot. I wish we could have stayed in one spot. Daddy promises this is the last time though. I hope he’s right, I’m tired of moving, and it’s nice here. Don’t you think so?”
Emily was not a rude person, but all she wanted was to be left alone. “Sure.”
Allison looked at her for a moment. “You’re not very talkative, are you?”
“Not really.”
‘That’s okay, not everyone’s a talker. I am. Some find it annoying.” Allison’s smile changed into a look of terror. “I’m not annoying you, am I?”
The look on the girl’s face made her laugh. “Nah, you’re not that bad.”
Allison smiled widely, and they started talking. The didn’t even notice the teacher as she opened her classroom to let them in. And thus began their still lasting friendship.
The girls went over to the spot Allison had already picked out and Emily set up her blanket and put her sunscreen on.
“Race you to the other side?” Allison suggested when Emily was done.
Emily smiled. “You’re on,” and the girls jumped in the water, swimming like their lives depended on it, to opposite side of the lake.
* * *
Another day alone, another day at the lake. Today Emily and Allison were working on their tans, lounging in the sand, and enjoying the sun. Emily sat up so that she could roll over onto her back when she saw a familiar face. At least she thought it was familiar, she just couldn’t figure out why. And then it hit her, he was the one from the other day, the one that had been watching her from the top of the cliff, she was sure of it. He had been at the lake yesterday too, but she hadn’t made the connection. “Hey Ally, do you know who that is?” She asked, pointing.
Allison sat up, squinting from the sudden sunlight. “You don’t know who that is?”
“Should I?”
“That’s Mick Kingsley, the guy that got arrested for beating and nearly shooting that guy last year.”
“And he’s just allowed to hang out at the lake like that?” Emily remembered now; her dad liked to watch the news and she had caught some of the story. They never revealed what exactly happened, just posed possibilities: “A drug deal gone bad,” “Attempted robbery,” and plenty more. Whatever it was, Mick didn’t appear to be paying for his crimes.
“Apparently. I swear, if he comes near me I will pepper spray his ass.”
“Just like that?”
“Em, he tried to kill a man. I’m not about to let him try anything with me.”
She had a point, who knew what this guy is really capable of. She looked up again, and she swore he was looking back. She quickly turned around and continued tanning, trying to pretend that he wasn’t there.
* * *
It was Sunday; her last day of freedom, and Emily was meeting up with Allison at the lake again. After swimming for a couple hours, Emily's stomach began to yell at her and she decided that she needed food. “Hey, I’ll be right back, gonna run to the food stand.”
“Okay, feel free to bring me back an ice cream.”
“It’ll probably melt by the time I get back,” Emily joked as she got up and put her over-sized shirt on over her suit.
Emily walked up the beach and over towards the only bridge at the lake. The bridge led across a large river that ran through the woods and emptied into the lake.
"Hey, I've been seeing you around-"
Emily spun around and saw that it was none other than Mick Kingsley. "Oh, uh, hi..."
"I was thinking," he said while trying to keep up her pace, "Would you like to, I don't know go out sometime?"
"Me?" She had never been asked out before, and the fact that he was a convict didn't hide her blush. "I-I'm busy. Sorry."
He got a little defensive about this. "Hey, look, if you don't want to go out, then just say so!"
She stepped back at the volume. "It's not that, I just..." She looked around, praying for someone to come and save her.
He pushed her against the railing gently, looking into her eyes. "It’s just what? Because I got charged with assault?"
"I-" She looked down, unable to meet his eyes.
"I thought you were different. I thought that maybe, for once, someone would realize that I'm not a bad guy." He turned away and started to walk down the bridge without her.
Her eyes followed him, but she couldn’t tell her legs to do the same. Part of her wanted to follow him, but he was a criminal. At least she thought he was. “I thought you were different. I thought that maybe, for once, someone would realize that I’m not a bad guy.” What was that supposed to mean? He didn’t even know her, and she didn’t know him.
She turned and headed in the opposite direction he had, back to lake. She tried to get him out of her head, but she couldn’t. There was something about him, something that told her there was more than meets the eye.
“Did you eat it already?” Allison asked when she got back.
“What? Oh um, I kinda got distracted.”
“Distracted? Like ‘oh look at the pretty butterfly’ distracted or ‘check out that fine piece of man’ distracted?”
Despite what had happened, Emily smiled. “More like ‘I just realized how late it was and have to get home before my dad’ distracted.”
“Oh, well that’s not as fun as what I said.”
“No kidding.” She bent down and grabbed her towel and beach bag. “I’ll see you at school tomorrow.”
“See ya, good luck.”
With one last smile Emily turned and headed to her car, praying she’d get home in time.
* * *
She got home from swimming to find him sitting in his chair.
"I'm home," she said quietly, unable to tell what kind of mood he was in.
"Yeah, I figured. Curfew was two hours ago." The sunlight streamed in through the window. He glanced at his cell, in full hangover mode. "Oh, wait. That’s in a couple more. Anyways, that doesn't matter. You were supposed to make dinner tonight."
"I know, I got stuck in traffic. How was hunting?"
"Crap. We barely saw anything all weekend. Where were you, anyway? I swear, if you've been at that stupid lake, so help me…”
"I-I was at the library. I'm sorry, I thought I'd be back sooner."
“You hate reading.”
“It was for school.”
"Whatever. Go wash the dishes. I ordered pizza. Don't eat any of it."
She nodded her head and silently went to the kitchen.