Last Train Home (6 page)

“Scared yet?” he shouted again.

“Yeah, just a little.”

I felt the mule slow down and I could hear Jesse laughing quietly.

“Do I amuse you?” I asked.

“Kinda.”

“And what
exactly do you find so funny?”

“Your innocence.”

Now it was my turn to laugh.

“My innocence?
  I am far from innocent, Jesse.”

“I mean about this…life in the country.  Y
ou’re innocent to all of this.”

“You mean ignorant.”

“No.  I don’t mean ignorant,” he said as he continued to maneuver through the paths, only this time it was at a much safer pace. “I mean innocent.”

“I’m not a child
, Jesse.  If you came to Boston, you’d be innocent too.”

“I wasn’t trying to insult you
, Riley,” he said, reaching over and touching my shoulder in a gesture of apology. “It’s just interesting to see this world…my world, through your eyes.  Everything’s so foreign to you. Just like if I went to Boston, I’m sure I wouldn’t know what the hell to do with myself.”

“You’d be like a
fish out of water.”

“I might not be
that
bad,” he said, trying to defend himself.

“Oh, yes, you would.  What’s the big
gest city you’ve ever been to?”

“You’re not going to laugh at me?” he said
, glancing over to me quickly and raising his eyebrows.

“No, I won’t laugh at you.  What’s the biggest city yo
u’ve ever been to?” I repeated.

“Oklahoma City,” he
said and I burst out laughing.

“Oklahoma City?  Yeah…you’d be fine in Boston,
” I laughed and rolled my eyes.

“Hey!
  You said you wouldn’t laugh.”

“Sorry,”
I said, trying to stifle my laughter.

“Laugh all you want, but y
ou never know.  Maybe someday I’ll surprise you and prove to you that I can survive in Boston, or New York, or Chicago, or Tokyo for that matter.”

“I won’t hold my breat
h.”

He start
ed laughing and floored the gas pedal again.  We surged forward and I yelled out as I grabbed onto the roll bar.  The path made a sharp right and he pulled the wheel causing me to fall into him. 

“Geez
, Riley!  Can’t you keep your hands to yourself?  I know you want me, but c’mon.  We hardly know each other,” he said, smiling over towards me as I straightened myself.

“Very funny.
  You’re the one driving like a maniac because you know that’s the only way you could get me to touch you.”

“Ouch
!  You’re ruthless.”

We were quiet for a few minutes and thankfully Jesse had slowed the mule back down to a speed I was comfortable with. 

“So why do you have all this land?  What do you guys do with it?”

“Do with it?” he asked
, confused.

“Yeah.
  Do you farm or something?” 

He started laughing and I
knew I’d made another mistake.

“No.  We don’t farm or keep hogs or cows.  My dad just l
ikes it out here.  It’s quiet.”

“How
long have you lived out here?”

“Forever.”

“Well, what do you do out here?” I continued to prod.

“We go four-wheeling.”

“You’ve already told me that. What else do you do?”

“We hunt.”

“I can’t believe you hunt,” I gasped in disgust as I thought back to the giant buck’s head in his living room.

“Is there something wrong with th
at?” he asked defensively.

“I just don’t know how you can kill a defenseless animal,” I said
, shuddering at the thought.

“Aren’t we a
little hypocrite,” he smirked.

“What do you mean?”

“You seemed to enjoy that hamburger earlier,” he said and I knew he’d caught me.

“
That’s…different,” I stammered.

“How’s that?”

“I don’t know.  It just is.”

“How do you think that burger got on your plate
, Riley?” he said, glaring at me again. “Someone had to kill the cow.”

I stared over at him and I instantly knew
I’d hit a button with him. 

“I’m sorry,” I told him. “It’s just that we don’t have a lot of hunters where I come from.  I guess I’m not used to it.”

“Just try and remember that there is a world outside of Boston, it just may be a little different than what you’re used to.”

I felt like a child being scolded by the teacher.  I’d only been in
Carver for a few days, but I knew my prejudice towards it was becoming more and more obvious to my new friends.

The silence was awkward as we continued to drive.  I had no idea how far out we were.  The sky was black and I couldn’t see any lights coming from the house or the fire. 

“What’s that?” I asked, finally breaking the silence when we passed a raised platform.

“It’s one of the places we hunt,” he said
, stopping the mule in front of the platform.

“You hunt up there?”

“Yeah.  C’mon,” he said, turning off the engine and for the first time I could hear just how quiet it really was out here.

We got out of the mule and I followed Jesse up to the platform.  He stood at the base of the ladder and as I looked up, I guessed it was at least ten feet tall.  Jesse looked at me and then began climbing up.

“Are you sure it’s safe?” I asked, questioning the stability of the elevated lean-to as I tried to squash my fear of heights. 

“Of course it is.  I built it. 
Now, c’mon.”

A second later, Jesse was at the top, looking down at me, the light of the
half-moon just bright enough so I could see his silhouette.

“You
coming?”

“Yeah,” I said as I stepped onto the first rung of the ladder nervously
, and before I could talk myself out of it, I was climbing up.  Jesse held out his hand once I’d reached the top and he helped me step onto the platform.  I breathed a sigh of relief when I discovered it felt surprisingly stable.  I looked out into the black, flat land that from up here wasn’t obstructed by anything.  In the distance, I could see the faint lights of Carver.  It was barely a blip and I couldn’t help but compare it to Boston.  The lights of the city at night were amazing as if announcing:
This is Boston…the greatest city on Earth!

“From up here, you can see everything.  When I’m hunting, I just sit up here and wait,” he said as he used his hands to make a gun.  He pretended to shoot something and then dropped his arms back to his sides.

“It seems like a good spot.  It’s so quiet out here.”

“Yeah
, it is.  Sometimes I come out here just to get away.  Do you think that’s strange?”

“No. 
Not at all.  I’d probably come out here too if I had some place like this.  Now that I think about it, I don’t think I’ve ever heard this much quiet.  It’s kinda unnerving.”

As if on cue, the buzz of an engine cut through the stillness.  I looked out and saw a light coming toward us.

“So much for quiet,” Jesse said as the noise grew louder and the lights drew closer.  A second later, a four-wheeler came to a screeching halt below us.

“What are you guys doing out he
re?” Brandon yelled up to us. 

“I’m just showing Ri
ley where we hunt.”

“Well, you’ve shown her, now c’mon!
” Brandon bellowed.

“Yeah, we should go,” I told Jesse.  I walked back to the ladder and nervously grabbed at it, which shook when I touched it.  I hesitated as I tried to get myself back down.

“Let me help,” Jesse said, coming over and holding the ladder so it didn’t wobble. 

A minute later, I was back on solid ground, joined shortly by Jesse.  Brandon revved the engine of the four-wheeler until my ears were ringing.  I was grateful when he finally stopped and then he looked over to me.

“So, you’ve never been on a quad before?”

“Nope.
  Never.”

“
Wanna ride back with me?  It’s way more fun than that thing,” he said, pointing to the mule.

I looked over to Jesse and he shrugged his shoulders.  The mule had been scary enough.  The quad was downright terrifying. 

“You won’t kill me, will you, Brandon?”

“Cross my heart,” he said
, crossing his chest with his pointer finger, but I found myself looking over to Jesse again for reassurance.  While he’d driven fast, I did trust him.  Brandon, on the other hand, was another story entirely. 

“He won
’t kill you,” Jesse assured me.

“Remember, this is my first time
,” I said, reluctantly climbing onto the four-wheeler.

“Oh, don
’t worry, baby, I’ll be gentle.”

“You’re disgusting!” I said
, whacking him on the shoulder and he started laughing.

“Just hold onto me tight,” he told me and I wrapped my arms around his waist.  He revved the engine again and I instinctively tightened my arms around
him until I practically had him in a bear hug.  A second later, he turned the quad around and we were tearing down the narrow path.  I could hear the mule for a second, but then it faded and I knew we’d left Jesse in our dust.  There was no way the mule could keep up with this monster.  I buried my face into Brandon’s back and I prayed I would make it back alive.  He was driving way too fast as he whipped and whirled through the trail and I was beginning to have my doubts that I would survive.  Eventually my heart started to slow when Brandon turned off the four-wheeler and I finally looked up, realizing I was going to live.  We were safely back to the fire and back to civilization and I jumped off as soon as I could.

“See.  I didn’t kill you,” Brandon said
, climbing off too. 

“Well, you a
lmost did!  That was terrifying!” I said, hitting him on the arm again.

“I knew exactly what I
was doing.  You need to chill.”

I turned around when I heard the sound of the mule behind us.  Jesse eased it to a stop and then he came over to us.

“You look a little shaken, Boston.  You okay?” he asked.

“I’m fine, now that I’m off that thing, but he’s a maniac
!” I said, pointing to Brandon. 

“I am not.  I was in co
mplete control the whole time.”

“Sure didn’t seem that way.”

“I’m sorry.”

I ignored Brandon and then looked around and finally noticed that the girls weren’t around, but then I heard loud country music blaring from the shed.  I turned around and walked inside.  There was a light coming from a room in the back.  I walked towards it, followed by Jesse and Brandon.  As I got closer to the room, I could hear the clanking of pool balls. 

“There you are,” Laura said, looking up from where she was crouched over the pool table with a cue stick.  She struck the cue ball, sending the solid purple ball into the side pocket. 

“How was the mule?” Holly asked a
nd I noticed Mandy was missing.

“Interesting,” I replied

“She’s afraid of quads though,” Brandon laughed.

“No, I’m not.  I’m afraid of your driving,” I said
, glaring towards him.

“What?  You got on a four-wheeler with him?” Holly exclaimed. “Jesse!  How could you let Riley get on a four-wheeler with Brandon?”

“She was fine.  Brandon controls a quad like no one else and you know that.  You guys are just chickens.”

I glared over t
o Jesse, who was smiling at me.

“I knew you’d be fine,” he said
, shrugging his shoulders. “Admit it. You had fun.”

I continued to glare at him, but then I felt myself softening.  Thinking back to how I’d been holding onto Brandon for dear life as we flew through the air, I realized it was actually kind of fun, now that I was safely back on solid ground.  It had been invigorating, exhilarating,
and refreshing.  It had been a rush, and a rush was exactly what I needed in my life.

“C’mon, it was fun,” Jesse said again, nudging me gently in the ribs. “I wouldn’t have let you get on that thing if I didn’t trust him.”

“And I knew I wasn’t going to kill you,” Brandon chimed in. “Promise.”

He crossed his heart again and I felt the corners of my
mouth slowly rise into a smile.

“I guess it was
kinda fun,” I mumbled.

“Alright then,” Jesse said
, walking towards the pool table as the tension evaporated. “I’ve got the next game.”