“I know. I ain’t ever been that close to one without a gun.” I watched his grungy fingers push the hair off his forehead.
“You saved my hand from rotting off.”
“Your hand was gonna rot off?” his eyebrows scrunched up in a frown.
“Never mind. I just wanted to say thank you.”
Jess looked at me for a moment then shrugged. “It’s no big deal. Friends have each other’s backs. I’ll always have your back and you’ll always have mine.”
“Always? That’s like forever. How do you know we will be friends forever?”
“I just do.”
“You do?” I looked over at him in disbelief. He had no control over the future. I knew first-hand how life changed faster than the flash of a hummingbird wing. One moment you’re playing Barbies, and the next your mother is dying while you eat moldy sandwiches.
“If you don’t believe me, then we should swear on it. Then it ain’t gonna change.”
“I don’t think swearing will make a difference.”
“Alright. A blood pact,” his famous grin widened across his face.
“Are you crazy?” Maybe that rattler got in a strike and the venom was eating away at his brain.
“Nah, that’s what they used to do. You know, Cowboys and Indians and stuff.”
Jess pulled a small pocket knife from the left side of his Wranglers. He flipped out a blade roughly three inches in length. With a quick slice, red bubbled from the small opening in his palm.
“Stick out your hand.” Jess grabbed my right hand in a tight grasp.
“I am not letting you cut me on purpose.”
“Just a nick. Then we seal it with a shake. Trust me.”
“Trust you. Really,” I rolled my eyes. This boy was so unbelievable.
“I won’t hurt ya.”
“Ok. But I’m not watching.”
With my head turned to the right, I let Jess Mason slice across the lines of my hand. The pain was the same as a paper cut. I unclenched my eyes to see a streak the color of deep crimson run to my pinky finger. Jess wiped the knife across the knee of his jeans then snapped it shut.
“Ok. You ready?”
I nodded in agreement. Jess mashed the inside of my palm in a tight handshake, mixing the blood and dirt together.
“I promise we always will be friends and have each other’s backs. No matter what. Even when we have no teeth and no hair.”
“No teeth or hair? I will never have no teeth or hair.”
“Alex! Just swear, ok?”
I watched the serious blue eyes of a ten-year-old boy waiting for my answer. Forever was a very long time to promise loyalty. I smiled as I thought about the last two years. I had numerous issues with the Mason family, but I’d never felt anything like I did when I was with Jess.
I saw the picture he painted with Jess bald and toothless, except I had long red hair and perfect white teeth. It was a fantasy that would never happen in the reality of our world, yet I looked into his grinning face and longed for it to be true. Maybe the act of speaking words sworn in blood could cement this pact into cosmic existence.
“I promise we will always be friends and have each other’s backs, no matter what.” I gave his hand a little squeeze to seal the deal. Dabbing my hand against my denim jeans, the cut left dark traces on the fabric.
“Now I’ve got your complete sworn trust,” Jess arched his eyebrows up with a mischievous smile, “I’m gonna help you get up.”
“Why do you need my trust?”
“Because we gotta get you up there,” Jess motioned to Clive.
“Oh no! No. I am not doing it.” There was no way I would get back up on one of those things.
“We don’t got no choice. You can’t walk back and we can’t just sit because the rattler’s over there.”
“I thought you said it’s gone.”
“Well, I didn’t kill it, you know.” A sharp, prickly feeling radiated down my spine at the thoughts of one very not dead rattlesnake. Jess was right. I didn’t have a choice.
With my ankle, it took some effort to get up on the horse. Jess climbed up behind me. I held a tight grasp on the saddle while he handled the reins. It was a completely different experience with someone else in control of the horse. We slowly trotted back to the barn.
“Alex, I’m really sorry. I didn’t think any of this would happen. I should’ve had Uncle Frank out there with us.”
“Um, that may have been scarier than BB and the rattlesnake combined.”
“I know,” his voice came with a burst of laugher behind my ear. “He’s my uncle, but he’s just plain scary sometimes. I turned ‘round the other day in the barn and he’s just standin’ there. Watchin’ me. Cigarette hangin’ from his lips. I don’t know how long he’d been there. He spit on the ground and said, Boy, you better hurry it up or I’m turnin’ the lights out and leavin’ you in here in the dark with the rats cause you ain’t goin’ home ‘till it’s done. Then he used that gross bandana ‘round his neck to wipe his nose. That thing ain’t ever been washed. Every day. Same ol’ snot.”
“Eeew. Have you ever thought Uncle Frank looks like that guy from City Slickers?”
“City Slickers? Like the old dude with the gold?”
“That’s the one.”
“You’re right,” he giggled. “You wanna sneak in his house? See if he’s hidin’ gold under the floor boards?”
“I bet he has shrunken heads or something.”
“Maybe I’ll just tie you up in there one night. See if they come alive. They might bite you.” His fingers pinched my sides. “Eat your toes for supper.”
“Jessup Mason!” I gasped at him. He laughed so hard I felt his body shaking the horse. “Stop it. We’re gonna fall off.”
“Ok, I’m sorry.”
“You think BB will come back?”
“She’ll find her way back. Hope it’s fast though before Uncle Frank finds out.” He stayed quiet for about twenty seconds and then asked sweetly, “Sooo, you willin’ to try horse ridin’ again?”
“I don’t know.” The sway of riding on Clive was nice but not enough to try it again alone. “Maybe I should stick to just petting animals.”
“You can pet BB. I won’t try to make ya ride her again.”
“I was thinking more about one of the dogs in the barn.”
“You like dogs?”
“Yeah, I use to have one of my own. Before we came to Arlis. His name was Digger.”
“Why didn’t ya bring it?”
“He couldn’t come with us. Dad didn’t know where we were staying, so I left him with our neighbor.”
“We should go get ‘im now. Why haven’t you?”
“I asked my dad about Digger after we got moved into the ranch house. He said Digger got sick or something. He died not long after we left. I guess it was the truth. Our neighbor didn’t like him much. He probably just didn’t take care of him and Digger got ran over,” I shrugged. “I thought about it some. Not knowing the truth. But I figured he was dead either way.”
“Why didn’t ya tell me your dog died?”
“I don’t know,” I muttered.
“I’d be real sad if I lost BB and Clive.”
The loss of Digger was a story that should bring a child to tears. I spat out the words in a flat tone knowing it was easier to feel nothing than something. Digger was from another time and another place that existed before Arlis. “I don’t cry, Jess.”
“Not even when you’re by yourself?”
“No.”
“Oh.” His voice seemed strange. Sitting in front of Jess, I couldn’t see his face to read what he really was thinking. “I’m sorry ‘bout Digger.”
“It’s ok. He had nothing to do with here anyway.”
Picturing his mangled and bloody body, I bit down hard on my lip and tasted the metallic salt on my tongue. Digger was in the ground now, the same as my mother. Deep down in the dirt with the bugs.