FirstLineFiction beta

from Contest #5

A boy with a parrot on his shoulder was walking along the railway tracks. I shouldn’t say along- he was actually wobbling upon the rail, arms spread, as if he were walking on a tightrope.

“Come on, Jessie!” he turned back at me, slipping from the metal as he did so. He stood astride the rail, waving me along. “Come on, Jess! If we don’t hurry, Blackbeard will catch up and he’ll steal our treasure!”

I hesitated, feet tapping out a rhythm on the concrete of the street nearby. “Momma said not to play on the train tracks!” I yelled back at him. “It’s dangerous!”

He rolled his eyes, slapping his arms against his sides. “But we ain’t playing on train tracks! We’re sailing the seven seas!”

I bit my lip, wondering if it was worth it. If I did play with him, I’d have fun- I always do. But if I disobeyed Momma, I’d get a spankin’ for sure. I knew she’d figure out- mommas have a way of doing that.

“I’m gonna go home,” I yelled. So that he wouldn’t think it was ‘cause I was scared, I added, “This is a stupid game anyway. Everybody knows pirates are stupid!”

I turned tail and ran back up the hill to my neighborhood. I knew he would follow. Ever since he got that stupid stuffed parrot that attaches to your shoulder, all Jamie could ever talk about was pirates and treasure. He would be sore, and itchin’ for a fight. If I ran fast, I could get inside before he caught me.

Sure enough, I heard his heavy boots thudding on the pavement behind me. “You’re . . . gonna . . . be sorry,” he puffed. “You shouldn’ta . . . said . . . that.”

I ran as fast as I could, and when I got to my street, I started screaming, “Momma, Momma!”

She was outside as usual, sitting on the front porch with Jamie’s momma, Missus Gill. “What is it now, Jessica?” she called as I sprinted towards the house. She brought up her hand to shield her face from the sun, and saw Jamie behind me. “Did y’all get into another fight?”

I dove onto the porch, jumping behind her. “Momma, Momma,” I panted. “He’s gonna kill me!”

“No he’s not, hun.”

Jamie hopped up after me, trying to get around my momma. His own momma pulled him back by the neck of his shirt, yelling at him.

“James Gill! What have I told you about playing nice with Jessie?”

“No hittin’ girls,” he glared at me.

“That’s right. Now you’re gonna come inside, and help me with the laundry.”

“Aw, Mom,” he whined.

“Quit your whining! You shoulda thought of that before you decided to scare Jessie. Come on, say you’re sorry.”

“Sorry,” he said in a dull voice, not very sorry at all. I glared back at him.

“Missus Gill, you wanna know what he was doing?” I asked, smirking at Jamie. His eyes widened and he shook his head frantically, begging me not to tattle.

“What was he doing?” she said sharply, shaking Jamie a little bit.

Just to show him what good a friend I was, I lied, saying, “He was bossing me around, and not lettin’ me be the cap’n of the ship.”

“Jamie,” his mother scolded, leading him to his house next door. “What did I tell you about taking turns? You be captain one day, Jessie’ll be the captain the next!”

“Yes ma’am,” I heard him say before he was gone.

“Well, now what do I do?” I groaned, coming out from behind Momma.

“It’s getting late, anyway,” she said. “Why don’t you come inside and read a book?”

“Okay,” I sighed, shuffling my feet, hoping Jamie’ll have forgiven me by tomorrow.

*** 

I shouldn’t have worried. The next morning, bright and early, Jamie knocked on my front door saying, “Hi, Missus Hadley. Can Jessie come play?”

I ran out as soon as my momma said it was fine, and Jamie looked at me solemnly. “I’m sorry I tried to fight ya.”

I paused, looking down. “I’m sorry I said pirates are stupid. They’re not. Not really.”

“It’s okay!” When I looked up, he was smiling. “We can play something else today. How about jungle explorer?!”

“Alright!” I grinned and hopped off the porch.

“You can be the explorer, and I’ll be your assistant,” he said, leading me to the hill above the train tracks. We were allowed to play on it as long as we didn’t go down on the tracks. The big kids got the area furthest from the neighborhood, ‘cause they were bigger and their mommas didn’t worry as much. Since Jamie and I were some of the youngest kids, we always stuck close to the trees backing into ole Missus Smith’s yard.

“It’s okay, Jamie,” I said, jogging to keep up. “You can be the explorer. I was just lying so you wouldn’t get in trouble.”

“I know,” he said, “But I want you to get a chance.”

“Jamie, don’t worry about it!” I sighed. “I don’t wanna be the explorer, you be it!”

“You sure?”

“Yeah!”

I chased him through the trees, outrunning tigers, jaguars, and leopards. We saw exotic birds, poisonous plants, and strange creatures that didn’t exist in out little suburban world.

Halfway through the afternoon, I began to get tired. “Jamie, I don’t wanna play this anymore,” I whined.

“You’re right, this is boring. Come on,” he waved me out of the trees, approaching the big kids.

“Jamie,” I frowned, “I don’t think this is such a good idea.” The big kids were mean and smart. They’d make you think you were playing a fun game with them, when they were really laughing at you the entire time. I didn’t like playing with them, because I hated looking stupid.

“Jessie, stop being such a baby.”

I glared at him, and followed, to prove that I wasn’t a baby. He could be made fun of all he wanted! I’d be watching and laughing with the big kids.

Collin, one of the biggest, chuckled as we ambled over to their side of the hill. “Well, well, well. . . What do we have here?”

“You wanna play with the big boys, huh?” Collin’s identical twin brother, Jack, leered down at us, making me squirm.

I frowned at him and crossed my arms. “He does,” I nodded at Jamie. “I’m just gonna watch.”

“Aw, too scared?”

I held my ground, staring straight at Jack. He smirked at me and turned away. “Alright, kid,” he said to Jamie. “Let’s see if you’re brave enough to play with us.”

“No,” Collin said, shoving his twin. “We gotta see if he’s smart enough.”

“We can do both,” Jack shrugged. Out of his pocket, he pulled a shiny quarter. “See this? I’m gonna throw it down to the train tracks. I want you to bring it back to me, okay?”

“Jamie, don’t do it!” The shout tore out of my mouth before I could stop it. I instantly covered my face with my hands, knowing that now, I looked like a scaredy-cat.

Jamie glared at me. “Jessie. Stop being a baby.”

The boys hooted, nudging each other. “Hear that? The baby doesn’t think he should do it!”

“You could die!”

Jamie shrugged. “It’s nothing, Jess, just some train tracks.”

“Jamie, you know this is stupid. Even if you do get that quarter, they’re not gonna let you play with them!”

Collin frowned at me. “What, you think I’m a liar?”

“Jessie!” Jamie hissed at me. “Go away!”

I glared at him for a moment longer, glared at Collin, then Jack. “Fine. But if you die down there, I’m gonna take that stupid parrot of yours, and I’m gonna cut it up with my Daddy’s Swiss Army Knife!”

“Fine! Go ahead! I don’t care! It’s just a stupid kids' toy! That’s why it bothers you so much, because you’re just a stupid kid!” Jamie’s face was red with anger, and as soon as he said it, I saw him glance to the big kids for support.

“All right,” Jack laughed, clapping him on the back. “Way to put that little girl in her place!”

Fuming, I spun around on my heel and stomped back to my house. Just before I was out of hearing range, I turned back and yelled, “I hate you, Jamie Gill! I hope you do die down there!”

***

My momma woke me up early that Sunday, tear stains already on her face. She wordlessly handed me my nicest dress. For once, I didn’t mind the itchy little thing. It didn’t matter. Not that day.

We rode silently to the church. My daddy held my momma’s hand as he drove, and they kept looking back at me, as if to make sure I was still here.

“You okay, sweetie?” he asked me.

“Yeah,” I muttered, looking down. “I guess.”

My momma whispered to him, “I don’t think it’s hit her yet.”

“I doubt she understands what’s going on,” he replied in a low voice. I just pretended I couldn’t hear.

As soon as we reached the church, I saw Missus Gill, standing by the door, leaning completely on her husband. She was sobbing up a storm, and Mister Gill just stood there with a stony expression on his face.

“Daddy,” I said weakly, looking at the sad expressions on everyone’s faces. “Is this my fault?”

“What?!” he parked, and spun around all the way to look me in the eye“Sweetie, listen to me. This is not your fault. You had nothing to do with this! If anything, it was those rowdy Barrett boys. . .” he drifted off, and Momma hit his shoulder.

“They’re only kids, Dave!”

“Yes, Lisa, but they’re old enough to know better than that! They’re ten years old, for God’s sake!”

“Exactly. Ten years old. They never could’ve imagined what would happen!”

“Lisa, they know it’s wrong to play on the train tracks!”

“Please!” I hollered. “Just stop fighting!”

“I’m sorry, honey,” Momma said quickly, stroking my hair. “I guess we’re all just worked up about what happened.”

“Come on,” Daddy said stiffly, opening the door.

I took my parent’s hands and walked between them. We came up to the door, just behind the Barretts. Missus Barrett was crying almost as hard as Missus Gill, and she couldn’t stop saying, “I’m sorry.” Mister Barrett couldn’t meet Mister Gill’s eyes, but Mister Gill put a heavy hand on his shoulder, and said in his deep voice, “Don’t beat yourself up, Jim. There’s nothing that can be done.”

Collin was crying, and Jack kept mumbling to himself.

“Whatcha saying, Jack?” I spoke up before I could stop myself. Momma tapped me lightly in the head. Usually she slapped me for speaking without thinking, but I didn’t think she could muster it today.

Collin looked at me when his brother didn’t respond. “I found it,” he said in a monotone.

My eyebrows furrowed as I looked at him. I tilted my head questioningly. “What does that mean?”

“Jamie,” Collin said dully, red eyes turned to me. “He saw the quarter and didn’t wanna leave the tracks, even though a train was coming.”

“Collin, shush!” his momma said tearily, swatting him on the head. “The Gills don’t need to hear this!”

Collin kept looking at me as he added, “That’s what he said. ‘I found it.’ And then. . .” he drifted off, unable to continue. Missus Gill’s sobbing got louder and I saw a tear roll down Mister Gill’s cheek.

Mister Gill pressed his lips together before adding, “They found a quarter clenched in his hand.”

***

I still have it, you know. The parrot. I was torn between my promise to Jamie that I’d rip it up, and the wish to keep something of his, to keep his memory alive in the slightest way I could. Who knows. Maybe I will cut it up, someday.

back to Contest #5