Fireflies In December Part 7

"I can't see why not."

"You said you couldn't pull it back in a tail, and all it did was hang in your ears and make your ears hot."

"Well, that don't help me none when I'm this hot. I should just shave it down."

"Don't be stupid!"

"I'll start wearin' it in a bun, like Granny Rose did."

"Only old ladies wear buns," Gemma said. "You ain't no old lady."

"That don't matter to me none. I just want to cool off."

Gemma clucked her tongue like her momma always used to do when I talked nonsense.

I plucked a b.u.t.tercup from the ground, twirling it between two fingers. "There's only so much a girl can take, and I can't take much more of this heat."

"You ain't got no choice. You ain't G.o.d."

"I don't know why G.o.d likes to make us so hot."

"Maybe it's to remind us why we don't want to go to h.e.l.l."

I laughed at her as much as I could manage on that sleepy day. "You do beat all, Gemma."

"I ain't kiddin'! There ain't nothin' wrong with remem-berin' what's bad about h.e.l.l."

"You'd best not let Momma hear you talkin' about h.e.l.l. I ain't allowed to say that word."

"You just did."

"Well, not in front of Momma."

Gemma shook her head. "Don't make no sense not talkin' about h.e.l.l. It's a place, anyhow, and we ought to remember how much we don't want to go there. Makes us remember how good Jesus is."

"I never said Jesus wasn't good. I just wondered why He gives us so much heat, that's all."

My sharp answer put an end to our discussion. Sweltering heat didn't make for easy friendships. Somewhere after that the two of us dozed off, and when I woke, the sky was darkened with clouds. My head felt fuzzy, and I was chilly from a cool breeze, with goose b.u.mps popping up on my arms and legs. I sat up and rolled my pant legs back down.

"Momma's gonna kill us," I murmured.

I looked at Gemma, but she was asleep with her mouth wide open. A thought ran through my head that she was lucky a bee hadn't flown down her throat, and then I shook her, making her jump in surprise.

"What?" she asked quietly.

"I said Momma's gonna kill us. We fell asleep out here. You know how Momma hates us bein' late for supper."

Gemma sat up and rubbed her eyes. "What time is it?"

"How should I know? The sky's covered in storm clouds. We'd better get goin'."

Gemma glanced at the sky, her face turning fearful. She'd been scared to death of storms ever since the fire, and she grabbed my book, hurriedly hopping up from the gra.s.s.

"I'm comin'," I told her harshly. "You don't need to order me around."

I followed Gemma on our way through the field at a fair pace. She was practically running, but I didn't feel like hurry ing. I was still too tired. Every now and again a rumble of thunder would sound off in the distance, and Gemma would start to go even faster. I felt sorry for her because I understood her fear, but I figured she didn't need me to hurry for her sake. She obviously wasn't worried about leaving me behind.

Rain started to fall in big, sporadic drops, so I picked up my pace. But just before I reached the line of pine trees that separated me from the house, I got distracted by some voices off to my right. I was suspicious because most of the land around those parts belonged to my daddy, and I wanted to find out who was hanging around on it and why.

I edged up to a patch of brambly hedges, peering through them. On the other side was a gazebo my daddy had built for my momma a few years back, and in it were a man and a woman taking shelter from the rain. I wondered who it could be, and being as interested as I'd suddenly become in romantic things, I leaned forward, trying to get a better look.

Gemma came up behind me and grabbed a fistful of my shirt. "What're you doin'?" she asked, angry and scared. "I want to go home."

"Shh!" I scolded. "They'll hear you."

"Who?"

"Them."

Gemma stepped up beside me and peeked through the hedges, careful not to touch the p.r.i.c.kly leaves that were mixed into the bunch of shrubs. She took a good look and said, "So?"

"So . . . I want to find out who it is."

"Ain't no right of ours to spy on someone's courtin'."

"It is if they're courtin' on La.s.siter property."

"You're curiouser than a cat, Jessie. And I don't want to be killed by lightnin' just 'cause you can't mind your own business."

"Fine then! Just get on home, and I'll follow when I'm ready."

Gemma sighed and stayed next to me. It didn't matter how much we drove each other crazy. We always stuck together.

The rain started to come down harder, and my clothes were wet through within seconds, but I was bound and determined to find out the ident.i.ty of the courting couple.

It wasn't too much longer after that when I wished I hadn't.

Soon enough, the lightning and thunder began to get worse, Gemma started to complain again, and the couple hadn't budged from their shelter, so I moved to get a better look. The noise of the storm was enough to keep me from hearing their voices, but it was my safeguard too since they couldn't hear my noisy approach through the bushes.

That didn't help me much, though, when a gust of wind dropped a loose branch from a tree behind me, sending Gemma to yelping that I could've been killed. She knew that branch wasn't even big enough to put a good goose egg on my head, but she was all nerves, and her screech could be heard across the property. It wasn't too much of a surprise, then, that the couple turned toward us.

I froze, ready to be humiliated for being caught peeping, but I was more mortified to find out that the man who'd been entertaining the girl so well was Luke Talley.

Now, it wasn't as though I had fooled myself about his feelings for me or that I'd thought he wouldn't be courting at his age. In fact, I knew that with him being nineteen and me being thirteen it would have been a little funny for him to want to court me. But I'd had a hidden hope that maybe he'd just stay away from girls until I was old enough to catch his fancy. And now here I was caught watching him like this, with my muddy bare feet and wet, floppy hair.

Luke squinted like he was having a hard time making me out through the rain before he called, "Jessilyn! What are you doin' out in this drenchin'?"

I didn't say anything back. I was too busy looking over his girl. She was pretty, I guessed, with her blonde hair and big blue eyes . . . if he liked that sort of thing. She was awfully short, though, I noted to myself. He'd have to bend full at the waist to give her a kiss.

Gemma called from behind, "Jessie, I want to go . . . now!"

Luke stepped out of the gazebo toward me. "Get on in under cover, Jessilyn." Then he spotted Gemma and added, "You get on in here too. You'll both catch your death."

But I was determined that the last thing I was going to do was wait out that storm with Luke's girl laughing and twirling her hair. I turned tail and bolted away from him, cutting myself in three places as I hastily climbed through the hedge and dragged Gemma along with me toward home.

I heard Luke call us once more, but we quickly put plenty of distance between him and ourselves so I couldn't hear if he called again.

By the time we reached home, the rain had stopped, but Gemma and I were soaked and out of breath. She still had enough air left to tell me, "Next time I say I want to go, you best make sure you go."

"I was just curious."

"Ain't no use findin' out what you're curious about if you get killed findin' out."

"We weren't gonna get killed, Gemma."

"Ain't no promise you won't get killed in a storm like this."

"It weren't that bad of a storm, anyhow," I shot back.

Gemma narrowed her eyes and said, "That's what my daddy said that day before it all happened."

I swallowed hard and felt my stomach sink when she said that, and I just stood without anything to say, watching her slam through the front door and run upstairs.

After about a minute, I went in and let the door slam too.

Daddy looked up from his paper and said, "Were you outside in this weather, Jessilyn? I thought you two were upstairs."

"I best had been," I muttered. I clambered up the steps, and when I went into my room, I pa.s.sed Gemma, who had changed and was lying on the bed in a ball. I didn't say a word while I put on dry clothes, but just before I left the room, I said quietly, "I'm sorry I had you scared. Ain't right of me to drag you into things like that."

Gemma shrugged. "It's okay."

"And, Gemma," I said with half of me out the bedroom door, "I'm sure sorry about your momma and daddy."

She looked at me with half-closed eyes. "You already done told me that a hundred times."

"I know," I murmured. "But I wanted you to know I was still sorry."

I waited for a few seconds until she said, "Okay," and then I closed the door behind me as quietly as I could.

I stopped in the bathroom to do some washing and combed my wet hair. The mirror reflected my slightly freckled face and made me sigh. I wasn't nearly as pretty as Luke's girl was, and I wasn't half as grown-up looking. She'd had her hair put up with wavy curls under a big hat. Mine was long and limp and had the look of Momma's dirty dishwater. I swept my hair up and held it there so I could look in the mirror and pretend I was sophisticated.

It didn't work.

I didn't know what I thought about my looks since I'd never really cared about them before, but I didn't think my face was so special. I had light brown hair with sun streaks in it, a little nose, and plain old lips just like anyone else. It was only my sort of slanted green eyes set against my suntanned face that stood out as anything different. I knew how angry my eyes could look when I got my dander up. Buddy Pernell called me Jessie the Cat because he said my eyes were like cat's eyes. I didn't know if that was a good thing or a bad one. It didn't matter any, I figured, since I couldn't change anything. If Gemma saw me worrying about my face, I was sure she'd tell me, "What's the use worryin' about what face you got? It's the one G.o.d gave you, and there ain't nothin' you can do about it."

On my way downstairs, I stopped dead on the third step down because I heard Luke's voice coming from the porch.

"I didn't even know they wasn't home," Daddy was saying when I moved closer to listen. "I sure appreciate you checkin' on them."

"They had me worried is all. I came over as soon as the rain stopped."

"Well, they're home and safe," Daddy told him.

I heard Luke clomp down the porch steps.

"Thanks again," Daddy called.

That night at dinner, I sat staring into my black-eyed peas and pushed them around with my fork.

"You're gonna wear out them peas before you get to eat them, Jessilyn," Daddy said. "I ain't much used to a girl of thirteen playin' with her supper."

"Ain't you hungry?" Momma asked. "You feelin' okay?"

I didn't say anything for a few moments, but I finally asked almost defiantly, "Did anyone else here know that Luke Talley is usin' our property for chasin' girls?"

Gemma stared at me in surprise, and Momma and Daddy exchanged confused glances.

"He's doin' what?" Daddy asked, trying not to grin.

"We saw him today, didn't we, Gemma? We saw him with some crazy girl out at the gazebo in the meadow, takin' shelter."

"Well, there ain't no reason for them to get all wet," Daddy said. "I told Luke he's welcome on our property anytime."

I dropped my fork. "You mean you knew about this? You gave Luke permission to go playin' around with girls on our property?"

"I really doubt he's playin' around. Boys court girls. It's that simple." Daddy was getting angry just like me now.

"Ain't no reason for a boy Luke's age to be goin' about with girls. And without a chaperone!" I cried in proud disgust. "Ain't fittin', sure and simple."

Daddy tossed his napkin down and seemed ready to give me a good yelling at, but Momma laid a hand on his arm before he got a chance. She gave him a look and a nod, and then she said to me, "Luke's only nineteen, Jessilyn. He ain't gettin' married anytime soon."

"I didn't say nothin' about marriage."

"No, you didn't, but I'm just sayin'. Ain't no big deal for Luke to have a little walk-and-talk with a girl. Mercy, I had three beaus before I settled up with your daddy."

"Here we go talkin' about your beaus again," Daddy said, rolling his eyes. "I'll have you remember that I did some courtin' myself before you."

Momma smiled. "There now, see, Jessilyn? Ain't no need to worry like Luke's gettin' close to the altar."

I went back to playing with my peas. Even though I felt better after Momma's words, I didn't want anyone thinking I was jealous, so I said, "I ain't worryin' about Luke Talley gettin' married. I was just makin' sure you knew we had some trespa.s.sers."

"Luke Talley ain't a trespa.s.ser," Daddy told me. "He's welcome anytime on my property, and he knows it."

"Well," I muttered, "I was just sayin' . . ."

Momma smiled that knowing smile of hers, but Daddy shook his head in exasperation.

My stomach swirled nervously. I knew I wasn't fooling anyone.