Total pages in book: 128
Estimated words: 122097 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 610(@200wpm)___ 488(@250wpm)___ 407(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 122097 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 610(@200wpm)___ 488(@250wpm)___ 407(@300wpm)
Jim found us all in the hallway like that and he was screaming, “Oh, my God! Oh, my God! What the fuck? What the fuck?” Asking everything twice. “Are you OK? Are you OK?”
We were OK, I guess. Bloody and traumatized, but we were not hurt.
I kinda lost time, but the next thing I remember is that me, Olive, and Collin were all outside, standing in the driveway. And the police—Jerry Cane and Matthew Reed—were telling us to calm down, take our time, and tell our story.
Olive and I didn’t say anything and Collin lied. Said the guy came at us.
When they asked Olive and me for our story, I repeated what Collin had said. I don’t know why. To protect him, I guess. I mean, I think he was justified. I know the guy was surrendering, but later—days later, actually—when the final report came out, it said that the man had a gun in the waistband of his pants.
So I think Collin was justified.
Olive didn’t say anything that night and no one made her give a statement. Some days later, I think she did corroborate the story. And in two weeks the whole matter was put to bed.
But Collin, the one I knew, anyway, was gone.
He didn’t hardly talk anymore. He skipped classes in school or just didn’t go. And by March we all knew he had joined the Marines. He and Amon both.
I don’t think they planned it that way. Amon ran with a different crowd. Most of his friends were from Revenant. Since the towns are all so small around here, Disciple, Revenant, and Bishop all share schools. The three towns make up a crude triangle on the map, so back in the Seventies or Eighties the county built a school compound smack in the middle of that triangle so we’d all have a ‘better school experience.’ They were just being cheap. They wanted three schools for everyone in the area instead of nine. But it was kinda nice going to school with kids who didn’t live down the street.
Amon lived in Disciple, but his crew was from Revenant, so I can’t even imagine that Collin joined up because of Amon.
But they are friends now, I guess.
Weird how one night—literally the span of seconds—can change the course of an entire life.
I was so mad at Collin. I screamed at him when I found out he had joined up. And I never scream. Not about anything. I don’t even think I screamed when the gun went off. But when Collin joined the Marines, I lost it. I lost my mind. It was a terrible night. I was crying so hard. And it was for so many things. The shooting, the lies, the way Collin just withdrew. And the fact that I was not important enough to stick around for.
He didn’t yell back. Just looked at me as I screamed and cried.
That was Easter night. I remember that. It came early that year, so that whole week prior the town was scrambling to get the tent up and everything ready for the first Revival of the year. They always start on Easter morning and end on Christmas Eve.
And of course, Collin’s daddy, Mr. Creed, was the preacher. So he was busy. So busy. We were all busy, I guess. My family, the McBrides, we ran the souvenir booth, plus my mama had the flea market. And the thing is, when Easter comes early like that it’s cold outside. Some years it snows. And that particular year, I remember, it was snowing.
There were brightly-colored tulips everywhere, their pale yellow and pink blooms peeking up from the blanket of snow that had formed overnight. The tent is an aged cream color, stained brown in some spots, which made it look vintage and charming surrounded by the snow and the bits of green grass as the day warmed up. This was before we had the scaffolding built around it so we could put up an even bigger tent over the Revival one, should the weather call for it.
But it was still nice. There were rabbits scurrying around and a few deer in the field. And the sun was peeking out, shining scattered rays of light down on us like God was pleased. The whole scene was beautiful. It looked like an Easter card you’d get in the mail from your nana.
I was walking to the tent that morning to get ready for work and I had stopped in the street to just look at it. That’s when Amon came up to me. Pinched me on the arm in a playful way. We weren’t friends, but we were friendly. “Never thought I’d see the day that Collin Creed would join the Marines.”
My head whipped to the side to look at him. “What?”
And then he spilled the whole secret.