Bad Company

Two Truths and a Lie

A warm breeze barreled through Sam's open windows, and the sun, partially hidden behind a coverage of clouds, fought to break through the dense layers. It was mid-afternoon, and the insects were alive with a symphony of music; brightly spotted pansies blanketed an abandoned field and waltzed to the melody of the songs being plucked across the legs of the crickets. The flowers, ever the Southern Gentlemen, bowed lowly to their nearest dancing partner with every vehicle that rushed by on the road. It seemed very Gone With The Wind-esque as they popped their heads back up and continued to dance feverishly atop their stems.

My nerves hummed in anticipation, and I couldn't help but nibble on my lower lip anxiously. The distant skyline seemed to match my emotions as a storm clouds roiled on the horizon dangerously like dark fumes from a fire, yet, somehow, there was nothing more soothing than a Southern rainfall. The frogs, usually quiet until the cooler temperatures of night teased them from their homes, would suddenly praise the damp environment with deep croaks of appreciation, and it always seemed as if the rain that pelted the ground carried with it a preexisting scent of magnolia deeply ingrained within its splatters.

As a little girl, Don, Alma, Dannie, and I would huddle together on the front porch swing of Alma's home and watch as the sky hand-delivered a drink to the parched flowers peeking up from the soil. Her work-worn hands would comb soothingly through my hair as she explained in her lilting accent about how the rain came to be.

"It's just the angels in the sky bowling, mi pequeña risa," she would hum softly to me, twisting the strands of my hair into an elaborate braid. "The lightning is just an angel celebrating a strike."

Don's chocolate eyes flashed worriedly to his abuela. "But what about the thunder?"

"That is God laughing joyously."

Her replies were simple, but it was all we ever needed.

"You're gonna wear a hole in your lip if you keep chewing it like that," Don's accented voice teased lightly, his dark eyes skimming over my face. He wore a bright grin, and I couldn't help but fight a smile of my own at the sight of it. He just seemed so at ease with one arm hanging out of the window, the other loosely gripping the steering wheel. The dark thoughts from days ago in the hospital were long gone or at least buried beneath his happiness.

"Oh, is that in your professional opinion?" I teased, giving him a side glance from beneath an arched eyebrow that practically dared him to respond. The breeze slicing through the windows tossed the loose strands of my hair wildly about my face, but I never cut my eyes from his own.

Don burst into a round of laughter and tugged at the bill of his hat to keep it from flying out of the window. "Always the smartass, huh?"

I offered a shrug, desperately wishing Dannie could see him like this too. "Only on days that end in 'y'."

Another round of laughter filled the cab as a distant clap of thunder accentuated the bass in his voice. A streak of lightning illuminated the storm miles away, but it seemed as if the electricity pumped into the air by the strike found its way to Don's eyes and settled there. His chocolate gaze seemed so vibrant with life, and I couldn't help but turn back to the waving flowers with a grin tugging on my lips.

I couldn't remember all that followed, but I soon found myself being shaken awake lightly by Don, a boyish attitude overcoming his usually stoic exterior. His tanned skin offered a stark contrast to the ivory hue of his teeth, and my mind, still groggy from sleep, offered the first coherent thought that entered my mind. "Your mouth is like a dentist's wet dream."

A brief flash of fear crossed his expression, but I realized too late as to why before the sting of a chancla bit the tender skin of my shoulder. Immediately, my mind was shocked into lucidity as I met the terrifying sight before me.