Keeping the Tarnished (5 page)

Chapter Nine

On The Farm

As Johnny emerged from the bathroom wearing a pair of tattered work jeans and a torn, gray Old Navy t-shirt, and some of Jared’s old tennis shoes, he had a plethora of thoughts running through his head. He wondered what Jared thought of him after witnessing his actions. He wondered what he was saying out loud when Jared entered the room, and he was certain that Jackson’s son now thought he was a psycho. He thought Jared would now look at him the way some of the kids at his school looked at him.

He made his way down the hallway toward the top of the staircase banister. The floors were always shiny and dust free. The banister and stairs alike were both as dark as the hardwood floors. Johnny took the time to appreciate the beautiful light fixture in the hallway. From the bathroom, he could see out over to the big red barn. The surrounding property was even more amazing in the daylight.

“How those fit ya, man?” Jared asked from the bottom of the staircase as Johnny appeared at the top.

“Shoes are a little big, but nothin’ too bad,” Johnny replied.

“Well, now we both look like hicks,” said Jared with a smile. “Come on down, dude, I fixed us some eggs and sausage.” Jared motioned Johnny down the staircase with his hand.

Johnny felt a little more at ease, as Jared’s actions and tone seemed extremely welcoming. Perhaps he didn’t think Johnny was such a freak after all.

As Johnny stepped off the staircase and followed the boy into the kitchen, he saw Jared had already fixed his plate and poured him a glass of orange juice.

“Thanks, man. This looks really good,” Johnny said as he eyed the plate of food, walking to the kitchen table. Johnny hadn’t had an actual breakfast in years.

“Hey, man, no worries at all,” Jared replied, standing beside the table, plucking up pieces of piping hot scrambled egg with his fingers and putting them in his mouth.

“Dude, I totally sleep walk sometimes. Mom caught me in nothin’ but my underwear one night, just standing by the front door. She said it was the freakiest shit she’d ever seen. We all do dumb shit when we’re passed out, and most the time we probably don’t know it,” Jared said, chuckling.

This immediately put Johnny’s mind at ease. Even if he were only at the house for the rest of the day, he didn’t want Jared remembering him as the crazy guy that said crazy things in his sleep.

“Yea, man. I think I was about to jump out the window when you came in this morning. I totally forgot where I was,” Johnny said, smiling as he pulled out the kitchen table to sit down and eat.

“Don’t you hate that shit? You wake up and have no damn clue where the hell you are,” Jared exclaimed as he sat down at the table.

“So, she found you by the door? How’d she get you back to bed?” Johnny took a large bite of sausage, which was still extremely hot.

“Hell, I don’t know. I guess I walked back by myself. I don’t know how I made it up the stairs without busting my ass,” Jared said, chewing his breakfast and talking with his mouth full. “I’m glad you decided to sit at the table this morning.” Jared looked at Johnny with humor in his eyes.

Johnny didn’t know exactly how to respond, as he was never allowed to eat at the table at his father’s house, not that he wanted to anyway. He was always forced to eat in the corner of the kitchen.

“Man, I’m just giving you shit. You can sit where you like, I don’t mind chillin’ on the floor to keep you company.” Jared was smiling, but Johnny could tell the boy was serious. He probably would have eaten with Johnny on the floor.

As Johnny continued chewing, he felt it was evident that Jared was regretful of the floor statement. He remained silent a few seconds, formulating his response in his head. “Every house is different, I guess. At my dad’s house I sat on the floor to eat,” Johnny said as he stared at his plate of food, avoiding eye contact with Jared.

“Man, that’s the truth. Every house is different. I know this girl from school whose family ate the placenta after she was born!” Jared was shaking his head and smiling, as both the boys started laughing lightly.

Johnny looked up at Jared with a comical, yet concerned look, “Why would they eat it?”

“Hell, I don’t know. She said her mom baked it in brownies and shared them with her dad!” Jared replied. They both laughed again. The tension was leaving the room as quickly as the daylight was filling it. It was time to get to work.

“Dude, if it’s gonna take six hours, we need to get out there,” Johnny said, and then finished off his orange juice, placing the glass back on the table. Johnny wanted to help Jared, but knew he would more than likely be leaving today, so they needed to get started.

“Yea, we better get out there,” Jared agreed.

Chapter Ten

Sweat

The stable was beautiful, but it almost appeared as though the rest of the property’s structures had been built long after the stable was erected. The structure stood at least two hundred yards from the house. It contained six stalls and was constructed almost entirely of cement. Foundational cracking was evident all about the building. The doors to the stalls, however, looked new, were made of wood, and were painted a brilliant red, the same color of red the large barn was painted. The stall doors opened up to the huge pasture. Green ivy covered the building from the ground and all the way to the top, and even appeared to be growing on top of the building in some areas. There was damp straw scattered in front of the all six doors, two of which were open, and inside every single stall. The Everetts only owned two horses; however, Jackson would frequently board an injured patient within the stalls.

The morning was beautiful, but the humidity was already intense, as it usually is in July in Louisiana. This summer had been relatively mild. There were even some nights that it seemed chilly. Today, however, was starting out as a typical Louisiana summer day. Johnny was almost put off by the fact that Jared’s parents had left them in the house alone. He knew he wasn’t a danger, but for all they knew, he was a serial killer on the run.

Johnny was carrying two shovels, and Jared was pushing a wheelbarrow. From Jared’s description of the task at hand, he was under the impression that the stalls were completely overwhelmed with horse manure. That, however, was not the case. Johnny walked the length of the stable, examining each stall as he passed by.

“Man, this isn’t gonna take us no six hours,” Johnny said to Jared as he leaned the shovels on the first red door.

“You don’t think? Well, that’s good anyways; I still gotta school you at some Call of Duty,” Jared said, smiling as he rested the wheel barrel by the first door as well.

“Call of Duty?” Johnny asked inquisitively.

“Aw, dude. Johnny, tell me you game. Please, for the love of God, tell me you game.”

Jared had a strange smirk on his face as his eyes looked sharply at Johnny.

“You mean video games? Your dad told me you played them,” Johnny said as Jared reached for a shovel.

“Dude, we gotta get this shit shoveled. I gotta get you up to speed,” Jared said in an enthusiastic tone as he opened the door. “My system is in the basement, you haven’t been down there yet. It has surround sound and the recliners down there are pimp!” Jared exclaimed from inside the first stall.

“Well, we better get after it then.” Johnny happily grabbed the remaining shovel. “Dude, I saw a basketball hoop on the side of the barn, do you ever play?” Johnny asked as he walked into the second stall.

“Oh, hell yea, I love me some hoops when it’s not two thousand degrees outside. What about you?” Jared sneezed as he unloaded the first shovel full of manure into the wheel barrel.

“Yea, man. I play. I ain’t too good, but I try,” Johnny replied.

“Don’t let Mom hear you say ain’t, it might cost you a quarter,” Jared said playfully.

From up by the house a horn honked loudly, and the parade of dogs and their wild warning was heard.

“I guess Pops is home,” Jared said as he peeked out of the stall.

“What else do you do around here to stay busy?” Johnny asked as he shoveled manure from outside the stalls.

Jared began laughing an exaggerated, dramatic laugh that was obviously sarcastic. “Dude, there is nothing to do out here. Pop’s hardly ever lets me go to town, and when I do I gotta be home by like, nine o’clock on the weekends.” Jared looked extremely and happily surprised as he emerged from the stall. “Damn, Johnny, you almost got that thing full! We’re gonna be done with this horse shit in like an hour!” the boy said approvingly.

Johnny looked at Jared and found himself completely intrigued. “Your dad didn’t care if you came home at nine at night?” There was a hint of shock in Johnny’s voice.

“Ha, that’s nothing. I used to be buds with this dickhead, Tyler, and his folks don’t even care when he comes home on the weekend. They just leave the door unlocked until he gets home.” Jared heaved another shovelful into the barrel. Johnny felt somewhat bewildered by the statement, and then began to shovel again.

“Man, let’s go empty this deliciousness and fill the bitch up again,” Jared said, smirking, as both the boys started laughing.

“Where do we empty it at?” Johnny asked, looking at the disgusting load of horse manure.

Jared looked at him and then pointed off into the woods across the pasture. “We can take turns pushing it over there, past them trees,” Jared said, continuing to point, standing on his tiptoes, and looking off into the distance.

“Wow, that’s really a long ways away,” Johnny replied as he looked off across the pasture.

Jared started laughing again, “Dude, I’m messing with you. I would smell like total ass if we pushed this bad boy all the way over there,” Jared said, smiling quite proudly.

“What do you mean you
would
smell like ass?” Johnny replied.

“Ohhhhhh!” Jared yelled as both boys began laughing loudly.

Johnny noticed Jackson up by the house, watching the two guys interact. “Boy!” the man finally yelled out loudly.

Jared sat his shovel down on the ground. “Come on, dude, Pops is hollering.” Johnny sat his shovel next to Jared’s and began to follow him up to the house.

As Johnny trailed Jared, he felt overwhelmingly uncomfortable. Jared and Jackson appeared so close. Jackson’s love for his family was evident in everything he did. Johnny felt like he was intruding as he lingered behind Jared. The urge to draw back finally anchored him as he instinctively placed his hands in his pockets and stopped trudging in the direction of the house. He rocked back and forth on his feet and looked up at the sky looking for birds, clouds, or anything else to focus on.

“Johnny! Come on up, bud,” Jackson said loudly from beside the house. He had on green scrubs that were covered in turpentine and excrement. Slowly, Johnny began walking toward the house, with his hands still in his pockets. His gaze remained toward the grass as he approached. He was anticipating that Jackson would tell him he had talked to the salvation place, and that he had found a place for him to stay for the night.

This place was great, but Johnny knew this arrangement was not a permanent thing. He wasn’t a necessity here, and the family had gone out of their way to be kind to him. He had eaten more in the last twelve hours than he had eaten the two days before that. They had done right by him, and Johnny was okay with moving on.

Jared and Jackson were already talking lowly before Johnny approached them. He walked up with his head down, and his hands still in his pockets. He couldn’t help but wonder what the salvation place was like. He wondered if he would be staying there, or if they found him a place to stay at like a shelter.

“Johnny, you like pizza?” Jared turned from his father and asked. Johnny was caught a little off guard by the question, considering he was expecting a different conversation entirely.

“Well, yea. Who don’t like pizza?” Johnny replied, as he felt his mouth curl into a smile.

“It’s settled then,” Jackson announced. “We’re having pizza and a duty calls tournament tonight,” the man said confidently.

Jared stared at his father in a disapproving manner. “Duty calls, Pops? If you don’t even know the name of the greatest game ever known to man, then you don’t stand a chance. And it’s not a tournament, just me teaching two guys the baby steps of playing a masterpiece,” Jared said as he playfully socked his dad in the arm.

“Okay. Okay, I see how it is. You hear this, Johnny?” Jackson asked, giving Johnny a friendly smile.

“Yes, sir, I do. Sounds like he might be scared of a challenge.” Johnny removed his hands from his pockets and began to feel a little less tense.

“Sounds like it!” Jackson replied as Jared flashed a cocky smile, and shook his head.

“Pops, did you know Johnny is the best damn shit shovelin’ fool in Louisiana?” Jared asked laughing as the words came out of his mouth. Both Johnny and Jackson began laughing as well.

“Watch your mouth! What if your mom heard that nonsense?” the older man shook his head again as he put his son in a headlock.