Isle Be Seeing You by Joann Bassett

Author:Joann Bassett [Bassett, Joann]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Lokelani Publishing
Published: 2017-08-04T06:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 17

Kaili patted DJ’s back as we half-dragged, half-pushed him up the porch stairs. His loud shuddering sobs echoed through the stillness of the pastoral neighborhood like ricocheting gunshots. I’m not a big fan of emotional displays of any sort and this was the most raucous I’d witnessed in a very long time.

“Can I get him anything?” I said to Kaili, hoping she’d send me on an errand that would last long enough for DJ to get a grip. “Maybe a glass of water or something?”

“Don’t go,” he wailed. “I need to tell you.”

We plopped him down on a wooden glider, the kind that can hold two people if one of them isn’t a three-hundred pound bruddah. Luckily, DJ was one of those wiry kids who looked like his adolescent growth spurt had focused more on height than girth.

Kaili released her grasp of his shoulder. “You sit here with him. I’ll get the water.”

As the screen door banged shut, DJ sat up straighter and the sobbing ebbed as he gulped air like a mahi-mahi flopping around on the deck of a boat.

“I don’t want my auntie to hear this,” he gasped. “She’ll never forgive me.”

“Go ahead. Tell me.” My terse tone shocked even me. Maybe it was divine providence I wasn’t destined to have kids. I’m not exactly mother-of-the-year material, especially when it comes to dealing with touchy-feely stuff.

“My mom and dad were fighting on Sunday,” he said. “All because of me.”

He expelled a loud breath and continued, “On Saturday my friend, Snags, was at our house and I told him my dad had been an Army Ranger.”

“Snags?” It came out unbidden. I’d meant to keep quiet and let DJ tell his story, but the idea of someone naming a child “Snags” got the better of me. I guess I have a weird fixation on the whole baby naming thing.

“Yeah, that’s not his real name. I think his actual name is Sam or Stan, or something like that, but all us kids call him Snags.”

“Okay, sorry for the interruption. Go on.”

“Anyway, Snags called me a liar. He said if I didn’t prove it he’d tell everyone I was a lying sack of, uh, well, you know.”

“The dude sounds like a real jerk.”

“He’s more than a jerk, he’s a…well, I’m not supposed to say words like that in front of an auntie like you.” He smiled and I saw Doug all over his face.

I smiled back. “It’s okay. I get what you mean. What happened then?”

“My dad was out back and I asked him if he’d show us his gun. The one he got when he was an Army Ranger.”

I gave enough of a nod for him to continue.

“He said it was locked up but since I was fifteen now he thought it was time for me to learn about firearm safety. He went inside and got the gun and brought it out to show us.”

He took a shuddering breath and went on. “When my mom saw us out there with the gun she went ballistic.

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