Bones of the Wicked

Chapter 5 | Master

“Come on, boys,” My mom shouts through the open window. The crappy 80s Daytona pulls up to the sidewalk and Danny and I rush to get inside. It’s warm in the car, making the musty smell more prominent. “Where to, Mr. Bonadio?”

“Back past the school,” Danny replies. “The road to my house is just past the farmer’s market on Greenhorn Street.”

“You got it.”

Mom pulls out of Maple Shore’s parking lot and takes a left. I glance into the side mirror, watching the park shrink in the distance and listen to the radio humming with a slight amount of white noise. It can’t be helped. There are only a few stations that come in clear but they all play country or oldies or the same pop songs over and over. I’d rather have a little interference than unappealing music.

“How was basketball,” my mom asks. “You smell like you had a great time.”

Danny holds in a snicker unsuccessfully while I just roll my eyes. “It was fun,” I tell her. “My team won.”

“Yeah, Briggs kicked ass!”

“Language,” my mom warns. Danny raises his hands in innocence while it’s my turn to suppress a laugh. “I’m glad you guys had fun.”

I lean back in my seat as a comfortable quiet settles in the car. The radio starts coming in clearer as we near the school. This town takes 20 minutes to get anywhere decent but the driving alone is well worth it. The chimes of the trees quiver in the wind and scatter their colorful leaves on the road. I smile and mouth the lyrics pouring from the speakers. This place could be good for us while it lasts.

Then I see her.

Her hair is up in a ponytail today though it’s still messy with a few strands tucked behind her ear. She’s hunched into her black peacoat as she walks her dog in the direction we’re moving in. Even without seeing her face, I know it’s her. Vito senses it. As quickly as our car reaches her, we pass her and I finally catch the features on her face.

The lonely girl’s face is cast down in concentration but I make out her thick eyelashes and full lips. Her awkwardness becomes her, like a quiet beauty with held up by strength of spirit and turmoil from her past. In a flash, she’s behind us but it was all it took for my breath to stumble. Vito draws back as if he is preparing for her attack. I hush him silently and turn around in my seat.

“Who’s that,” I ask a bit more forcefully than I mean to. “She’s in my class and she has yet to even look my way.”

“Getting a big head there aren’t you?” My mom pretends to be busy with the road but I see the smile pulling the corner of her mouth. I send her a look before turning around to talk directly to Dan.

“I’m just… people usually have the common courtesy to say hello to a new classmate.”

“Don’t bother,” Danny tells me with a shrug. “Kayla isn’t a people-person.”

I wait for more of an answer but Dan stares out the window deep in thought. I shift back around and slouch in my seat. His unsettling answer makes Vito uneasy but I just turn the radio up again and try to think of relaxing runs through the trees.

“Right,” I mutter with my unspoken words disintegrating into the air.

We pull up to Danny’s home ten minutes later. He too lives in an isolated house close by Hìtwike Park, though on another side. It’s an older home with beautiful Victorian architecture. The roof comes to multiple points like towers of a castle and back then it must have belonged to a wealthy family. The wrap-around front porch has obviously been repainted but the second floor balcony is peeling at the sides. My mouth gapes open as I get up to let my friend out.