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“I turned it over to Marj. I think we’d all rather not sample my cooking.”
Talon chuckled, and we walked back upstairs and out onto the deck. Everyone had found a seat around the large table, so we joined them. I loaded up a burger with all the fixings and then wondered how I was going to choke it down.
Joe was still being quiet. Not overly odd for Joe, but he was normally a little more talkative when he was with his family. I met his gaze, mentally telling him to get a grip, when something sparked in me.
I’d seen Joe look that way before, one morning as we stood along a riverbank.
Thirty years ago.
“Daddy, can Joe and I invite a friend to go camping?”
My father raised one eyebrow. “A friend? Haven’t we always said these trips are for us?”
“You let Joe come along.”
“Joe’s your best friend. He’s like your brother. That’s what you’ve always said.”
“Yeah.”
“And now you have a new friend?”
“I have lots of friends, Daddy. Joe’s just my best friend.”
“Who do you want to invite, son?”
“Justin. He’s new at school.”
“Why do you want to invite him?”
“He got beat up by Taylor and the other bullies. Joe and I had to rescue him.”
“You know I don’t want you getting into fights.”
“We didn’t. Joe and I are the biggest kids in third grade, so we told Taylor we’d crush his skull if he ever bothered Justin again.”
My father smiled then but quickly changed to a stern expression. “Maybe Justin should fight his own battles. You and Joe won’t always be there to bail him out.”
“We weren’t there, Daddy. We found out about it later. That’s when we told Taylor to leave him alone.”
“Let me think about it, Bryce.”
“Please?” I’d already told Justin he could come along, so I had to get my father to agree.
“I said I’d think about it. I’ll let you know tomorrow.”
I well-remembered Taylor Johns and his band of bullies. The rest of them didn’t seem to have names. I’d known them at the time, but Taylor, as their leader, overshadowed the rest of them. They were just brawn. Nine-year-old brawn. I couldn’t help a chuckle. They’d left me alone because I was Joe’s best friend, and no one messed with a Steel. Of course, it helped that we were the biggest boys in the class too.
We told Taylor we’d crush his skull if he ever bothered Justin again.
Crush his skull? Where had I learned a phrase like that at nine years old? Not from a video game, as children these days might. From a movie? Possibly.
Or perhaps from a conversation I’d overheard once…
Damn. The memory was a sliver on the rim of my brain, trying to push its way in. I was young, so young, and the words had come from…
Damn.
My father had relented the next day and allowed Justin to accompany us. It was the only time another child had ever come along on one of our trips. The trips had begun when Joe and I met in first grade, and they had continued through high school, until we both went off to college.
