“What about Zach?”
A rueful grin touches my lips. “He's the one having the hardest time with the succession plan,” I say and chuckle. “He's a lot like our father in that way. Thinks he should be the one heading up the company. Says it's something he's passionate about – and knows I'm not.”
“No?”
I shake my head. “No, not really.”
“So, what does fire you up, son?”
I shrug. “Don't know.”
“Ain't that what college is for?” he asks. “To figure out what gets that fire burnin'?”
I let out a wry chuckle. “Yeah, you'd think,” I say. “But, between all of the business classes I'm taking to not screw up when I take over the company – I don't have much time for anything else.”
“That's a damn shame, son,” he says.
We sip our beer in silence for a moment and I let my mind wander. What is it that I'm passionate about? What fires me up? Honestly, I don’t have a clue. I've spent my whole life getting ready for the day my father hands me the keys to the company, that I haven't been able to see anything much beyond that. It's expected that I follow in my father's footsteps. Always has been.
Burns sets his beer down on the bar and looks at me, his steely eyes pinning me in place. The silence between us deepens and I start to feel uncomfortable beneath the scrutiny of his gaze. There aren't many people in this life who intimidate me, but Sheriff Burns is one of them.
“You know that stunt with the Longstreet girl was stupid, don't you?” he asks.
Great. He knows about it too. When I find out who posted it, I'm going to kill them. Though, I already have a pretty good idea of who did it.
“Yeah,” I say. “That was never supposed to get out. That was a private bet –”
“Well, it did get out,” he replies. “And the Longstreets are plenty pissed about it.”
I touch my eye and wince, feeling it start to swell up already. “Yeah, I figured that.”
“Son, I got a feeling that's just the beginnin' of your troubles with that family,” he says. “Clyde wanted to take your head off long before any of this shit. This just gives him more fuel for the fire.”
“I know,” I say.
“And poor Bree,” he replies. “You know she's best friends with my girl, Elizabeth.”
“Yeah, I know Elizabeth,” I say.
Not that I'm ever going to tell him, but she's one of the few girls in Folson Forge I haven't banged.
“That girl is distraught,” he says. “Not to mention the fact that her folks are none too happy with her. Way I hear it, that girl's life was already a living hell and now, because of that stupid shit you pulled, it's about to get a lot worse.”
I look down at the mug on the bar before me, tracing my finger through the condensation on the glass. Truth be told, I feel horrible about it. Bree doesn't deserve any of the shit raining down on her right now. Her family is religious and conservative. They're always buttoned up tight. I can imagine seeing their daughter doing that can't be sitting well with them.
But, it's not like I can do anything to fix it. I can't go over there and say: “Hey, sorry that I degraded and defiled your daughter, filmed it, and put it on the internet. Won't happen again. My bad.” I have a feeling I'd be shot dead if I set one foot on their property.
Not that it matters in the least, but the one thing I don't know is how they knew it was me. I left my mask on for a reason. How could they have possibly known I was the one in the video with her?
“It wasn't supposed to go down like this,” I say softly.
“Yeah, well, it did,” Burns replies. “Can't unring that bell, son.”
“Yeah,” I say and take a long pull of my beer. “Probably a good thing I'm heading back to school.”
“Probably,” he says. “But, have you thought about going a different way?”
“What do you mean?”
He shrugs. “Doesn't seem like you're gettin' much out of that fancy education,” he says. “At least, nothin' that you find interestin'.”
I laugh softly. “I don't know what I'd find interesting, Sheriff.”
He takes a pull of his beer and sets it down on the bar. “Ever think about enlisting?”
I feel my eyes widen. “What, like in the Army?”
“I did a four-year stint in the Marine Corps,” he replied. “Best four years of my life.”
“I'm not so good at taking orders,” I say. “You, of all people, should know that.”
“True,” he says. “But, the Corps can teach you some discipline. Something you need if you're going to get anywhere in life, son.”
The idea of enlisting is intriguing and an avenue that I'd never considered before. It's an interesting concept, but also terrifying. All I've ever known is Folson Forge. People here treat me like some type of god, catering to my every whim and notion. I'm used to it. It's comfortable. The idea of leaving it all behind – I don't know if I could do it. It's interesting and a challenge – and there is nothing that I love more than a good challenge – but, there's a more practical reason it'll never happen.
“Yeah, I don't see my father ever letting that happen,” I say.
Burns nods and takes another sip of his beer. “And your how old now, son?”
“Twenty-one.”
“You're a man,” he says. “A man capable of blazin' his own trail in life and makin' his own decisions.”
A wry grin touches my lips. “If only it were that easy.”
“Now, look,” he says. “Don't take this the wrong way. I got nothin' but respect for your dad. But, the question you need to ask yourself is whether you're gonna live your life as the man you want to be? Or live your life bein' the man your father tells you to be? Which one do you want, son?”
“Easy to say, Sheriff,” I reply. “A lot more difficult to answer when you're caught up in the weeds.”
He nods. “Understand, son,” he says. “But, at some point, you have got to decide for yourself, what kinda man you're gonna be. That Clyde Longstreet? He already done decided. He's gonna be exactly like his old man and that ain't necessarily a good thing. He ain't never gonna leave Folson Forge, son.”
I take a long pull of my beer, a million different thoughts running through my head. I felt awful about what I did to Bree, and I don’t think I can continue down the path my family set for me. I need to change, and things need to change. There's part of me that always wanted to leave Folson Forge behind. To start a new life somewhere else. But it would mean leaving my family behind. Leaving the comfortable life I've grown up in. That I've grown used to.
Still, the idea of leaving it all behind isn't without its appeal. Being away at college has given me a little taste of freedom and life on my own – albeit a taste of freedom on a very short leash. The old man controls everything – which classes I take, how much money I get, where I live, everything.
I have to say though, living away from the family, being away from the old man and all the pressures and annoyances of family, and Folson Forge has been liberating. I'm enjoying every moment of it and yeah, there's a piece of me that wants more of that.
Well, more of that life away, free of the leash the old man keeps me on.
“Can I ask you something, Sheriff?”
He nods and raises his mug to me. “Shoot.”
“Don't take this the wrong way, but why do you care what I do or what happens to me?”