The River Snakes: A Novel by Adam Darby

Author:Adam Darby [Darby, Adam]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-05-28T00:00:00+00:00

They ate at the kitchen table—both going back for seconds as they drank the rest of the beers—flashes of lightning outside as they shared another can of peaches—sound of thunder always following a few seconds after—never too loud—only a few raindrops hitting the little window that faced the backyard.

“It looked like a clown car so we knew it didn’t weigh too much,” Seth said—sitting across from Isabel—last two beers in their hands as he told her a story from when he was in high school. “So we picked it up in the parking lot—eight of us—and carried it over to the outfield fence of the baseball field.”

“Whose car was it?”

“The principal’s.”

“You stole the principal’s car?”

“We didn’t steal it—just moved it,” Seth said—both smiling as he scooped the last peach into his mouth—Isabel resting her head on her folded arms. “So we made our way over to the fence. My buddy Michael fell down at one point and we almost dropped the car on him.” They both laughed—tired and a little drunk—relieved to be indoors during the storm. “We eventually made it over to the fence and opened the gate. Then we carried the damn thing all the way to second base.”

“What’d you do then?”

“Just left it there—shut the gate and went back to class.”

“Did he find it?”

“Yeah.” Seth drank the last of the beer he had in his hand—tipping it up and rolling it around—shaking it until the last drips slipped into his mouth—then set the empty can with the others against the wall. “It took him a while. We all hung around the parking lot after school to see what happened. Eventually he came out and saw that his little car was gone. He walked around the parking lot for a while with his keys in his hand—looking all around—getting himself worked up. Then he called the cops. He thought somebody stole it.”

“You did steal it.”

“No we just moved it. Eventually a cop showed up and talked to the principal—looked around and spotted the car in the middle of the baseball field—pointed it out to the principal and actually started laughing. We all started laughing too—hiding in our cars watching. Then we got the hell out of there.”

They laughed—Isabel taking a sip of her beer—pausing with the can held up in front of her mouth—looking at Seth with something on her mind. After a few seconds she tipped her head back—raised the can and finished her beer in one big gulp.

“Come on,” she said—dropping the empty can as she stood up from the table.

Isabel leaned forward and grabbed Seth’s wrist—making him stand up—his chair sliding back on the tile floor as he stepped around the little table. They walked out of the kitchen together—Seth looking out the living room window at the wet gravel as they turned down the hallway—darker as they left the light from the kitchen—Isabel sliding her fingers along the wall as she dragged him to his bedroom.

She pulled him inside and shut the door—pushed him toward the bed and started unbuttoning his shirt.

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