Come to Me Quietly(22)

And I closed my eyes.



SEVEN


Summer 1999



Aly dragged the heavy piece of wood as best she could. Jared called it plywood, and it was her job to get it from the fence to the tree. Earlier her dad had said they could use whatever they wanted as long as they didn’t make a mess and they brought his tools back.

“And watch your little sister, Christopher,” he’d said as he and their mom left to run some errands.

Aly turned around, walking backward as she struggled with the flat piece of wood. It was so big she could barely wrap her hands around it. It dug into her palms. She wanted to cry because it hurt, but she wasn’t a baby anymore. She was seven and she knew she needed to act like it. She tugged it harder, and it scraped along the ground. She huffed out a proud breath when she dropped it at the base of the trunk. “All done,” she said as she dusted off her hands.

“About time,” Christopher yelled from somewhere up in the tree, the sharp strike of a hammer echoing in her ears.

She jumped back when Jared suddenly dropped from the tree, landing on his feet.

“Good job, Aly Cat.” He leaned down and hefted the plywood over his head, balancing it on one shoulder as he climbed back up the tree. “This is going to be the coolest fort in history,” she heard him say.

“Can I be in the club, too?” she called as she attempted to climb up the same way Jared had gone.

“No,” Christopher immediately retorted, while Jared said, “Depends. You gotta pass the initiation first.”



Her stomach hurt a little. She didn’t think she’d be good enough.

She climbed up toward the sounds happening above her, the ground slowly disappearing below. She wrapped her hand around a branch and pulled. It snapped and her foot slipped. She screamed as she fell.

She hit the ground hard. She struggled to find her breath, but it was gone. Her heart hurt and it made her head hurt and she tried to scream again. Finally something gave and she wheezed air into her lungs. She slowly sat up, her attention going to the pain in her elbow. Blood oozed from a big cut. It hurt so bad, and she squeezed her eyes shut because she didn’t want to cry.

“Aly, are you okay?” Jared’s voice was frantic as he shook her shoulders.

She slowly opened her eyes to find Christopher gaping at her from behind Jared, his eyes wide with fear. Jared shook her again. “You okay?”



“My arm.” She couldn’t keep herself from crying any longer. Tears fell in hot streaks down her dirty face.

Jared looked down and then squeezed his own eyes. “Christopher, she’s bleeding really bad.”



“Oh man, oh man, I told you we shouldn’t bring her. Now we’re gonna get in trouble.”



Jared stayed focused on Aly. “Can you walk home?”



Aly vehemently shook her head. Her whole body hurt.

Jared scooped her up in his arms, kind of like he’d done with the wood, but a lot gentler. “Come on, Aly. Let’s get you fixed up.”



She clung to him while he carried her home. He was breathing all funny and hard by the time he closed the toilet seat and set her down on it. He wet a washcloth under water and kneeled in front of her. It was cold when he pressed it to her arm. She jerked a little because it stung.

“I hate blood,” he mumbled as he cleaned her arm.

Christopher rummaged through the medicine cabinet. “Here.” He shoved a box of bandages at Jared.

Jared carefully peeled back the wrapper and placed it on her cut.