Creed

Chapter Four Orange Sherbet Push-Ups

A cold, dark night in the hills of Kentucky, twenty-eight years earlier, Sylvie is six, Creed is eleven…

I stared up in Tucker Creed’s pretty blue eyes that I could see were a pretty blue even in the dark.

Everyone in town knew Tucker Creed, his Momma and his dead Daddy. I’d even heard about them, all of them.

When his Daddy died, my Daddy told me the whole town went to his funeral. This was because he was a hero. He had the medals to prove it and everything.

My Daddy didn’t talk about Tucker’s Momma straight to me but I heard him talking about her.

What I heard was him saying, “Winona Creed is a slut, a total fucking whore. If Brand Creed was alive today, he’d beat her bloody and the bitch would deserve it.”

I wasn’t certain sure what “slut” and “whore” meant but obviously they weren’t good. And I wasn’t certain sure Brand Creed, Tucker’s Daddy, would beat his wife bloody. That didn’t seem like what a hero would do at all.

Looking up in eleven year old Tucker Creed’s eyes in his cute boy’s face, I could believe his Daddy was a hero. He was so tall. So handsome. His eyes so pretty. He looked like a hero too. Now I knew what all the older girls at church were talking about all the times, and there were lots, when they talked about him. He was everything they said.

And more.

“I cannot believe you are SUCH a DICK!”

I heard the words and my body jerked hard, my eyes flying to the side.

Oh no, the words.

The words were here too.

Suddenly, I felt hands over my ears, my eyes flew back and when they did, all I could see was Tucker Creed.

“Fuck you, you fuckin’ cunt! Fuck YOU!”

That was a man. A man and a woman saying the words and gosh, I didn’t know one of them but it sounded a lot worse than Daddy and my stepmom’s.

My eyes slid to the side and I saw them outside the little, rickety house with its gutters falling down. The outside light was on. I could see the paint on the sides of the house and around the windows nicked and chipped. The screen hadn’t been switched out of the side door since summer which was crazy and the screen had come loose on one end, hanging down. I could see the house was a whole lot smaller than Daddy’s and mine. Then again, everyone in town, even me, knew the Creeds didn’t have a lot of money and my Daddy and Granddaddy and all the ones before made certain that everyone knew we did.

I could also see a man and a woman outside in the snow. She was barefoot. He had his jacket on. She was pushing him. He shoved back and she fell on her bottom in the snow.

I gasped.

I just heard the words.

I never saw. Never, never, ever.

Tucker Creed jerked me around so his back was to the house and I couldn’t see anymore. Then he started walking, fast, making me walk backwards, his hands still covering my ears.

Silently, Bootsie followed us.

He came out like I did. He came out to get away from the words. He came out so he wouldn’t see.

“You don’t like the words,” I whispered and watched his head move funny, hard, fast, like a twitch.

“The words?”

“Mean words,” I told him as he kept pushing us back.

“Fuck you, motherfucker!” the woman shouted. “You leave, don’t come back!”

“I time it right, you got a bottle of Jack in you, you’ll lie back and spread so fast, my head will spin then you’ll spin that tired, used cunt of yours ON my fuckin’ head!” the man shouted back.

Tucker kept pushing me into the woods, his hands over my ears, clenching kind of tight but not hurting, his body blocking the view.

Then his mouth came to my ear.

“I don’t like the words.”

He didn’t like the words. Like me.

“I don’t either,” I whispered in his ear.

“Time it for TWO bottles, asshole. That’s what it’ll take for you to get me to spread!” she screamed.

Tucker kept pushing us back, asking, “You got the words?”

I nodded, his hands moving with my head. “Daddy and his new wife.”

Tucker kept pushing us then he said, “We’re in the sun.”

I blinked.

“What?” I asked.

“We’re in the sun. On the pier. By the lake.”

“Get off me, bitch!” the man shouted, I closed my eyes tight but my hands came up, lifting high, I put them over his ears.

“We’re in the sun,” I agreed, seeing it, feeling it.

We were on the pier on the lake in the sun.

Tucker kept pushing me backwards. “We’ll do cannonballs off the pier. My splashes’ll be bigger than yours.”

I kept my eyes shut, kept moving back with him, feeling Bootsie against my leg following us. I was also feeling the sun, the warmth, seeing the lake in my head, Tucker in swim trunks doing a cannonball off the pier.

“No way, my cannonballs are the best,” I told him.

“Not as good as mine,” he said.

“Better,” I replied then kept talking in his ear as he kept moving us back. “I’ll bring a picnic. In a big basket. We’ll swim and we won’t wait thirty minutes after we eat.”

“We won’t wait.”

“We’ll jump in right after we eat. Bologna sandwiches. With cheese. And Ruffles, they have ridges. The cheesy kind. We’ll drink as much Coke as we want. Cans and cans of it. And we’ll eat frozen Snickers bars,” I said.

“Frozen Snickers bars. Sounds good.”

“Takes forever to eat them. It’s great.”

“Bologna sandwiches and frozen Snickers bars,” he agreed.

“Cannonballs and sun and water,” I said. “And nothing else.”

“Nothing else,” he agreed again.

“No one else,” I told him.

“Just us,” he said.

“Just us.” I nodded, moving his hands with my head. “And Bootsie, my doggie.”

“And your dog.”

We were moving up the incline I fell down and it made me think things I didn’t like.

I started to shiver.

“I been gone a long time, Tucker,” I whispered. “Daddy might find out I’m gone. He doesn’t like it when I take my walks.”

“Then let’s get you home, Sylvie.”

He knew my name. I didn’t know how. I didn’t care. I just liked how it sounded when he said it.

We’d made it almost to the top, he let my ears go but took my hand, turned me and kept us walking. I heard him give a low, quiet whistle and Bootsie trotted with us.

“It happen a lot?” he asked in a soft voice.

“Unh-hunh,” I answered and felt his hand squeeze mine.

“Your Momma… does it –?” I stopped talking when his hand squeezed mine again and he answered, “Yeah. Lots.”

I didn’t like that. I didn’t like the words for me. I didn’t like them for him either.

I squeezed his hand back.

He kept walking me toward my house.

“You know where I live?” I asked.

“Everyone knows all about the Bissenettes,” he answered in a way that was kind of funny. A kind of funny that didn’t feel good.

I didn’t say anything.

We kept walking, Bootsie at my side and we did this a long time.

Then Tucker asked, “You go out when it happens?”

“Unh-hunh,” I repeated.

“He ever catch you?”

“Yeah,” I whispered and the word was shaky but his hand gave mine another squeeze so I knew he knew why my voice was shaky. That squeeze made me feel better.

I saw the fence that surrounded our backyard in front of me and Tucker was leading me to the gate.

He didn’t say anything more until we got there. I thought he’d stop and I’d just go in but he stopped and didn’t let me go. He tugged my hand in a gentle way, like when I tugged at Bootsie when I wanted to pet her and she wasn’t close enough to me.

I liked it.

I looked up as he turned into me.

“Next time you gotta get away, Sylvie, you come to me.”

My breathing felt funny.

“What?” I whispered.

“It gets bad, you gotta get away, you come to me. I’ll take care of you.”

I stared at him.

“What?” I whispered again.

“We’ll talk about the lake and cannonballs and how I’m gonna buy you orange sherbet push-ups from Merlin’s store when summer comes.”

Oh wow.

I loved orange sherbet push-ups. They were the best.

I had this feeling, deep, deep in my belly that Tucker buying them for me would make them better.

“I’ll freeze Snickers bars for you,” I promised.

“Sounds good. I like Doritos. Cool Ranch.”

“Okay. Ruffles for me. Doritos for you,” I planned.

“Yeah,” he agreed.

“Yeah.” I nodded.

I stared up at him and felt my nose sting even as I heard my voice come out in a super, super quiet whisper.

“You’ll take care of me?”

“My Dad said you always got something if you’re not alone. We were alone. Now, we’re not alone.”

That thing deep in my belly felt funny but it also felt nice.

“I don’t like being alone,” I whispered.

“You’re not anymore.”

That felt nice too. Nicer than my birthdays. Nicer even than Christmas!

I nodded.

His hand gave mine a squeeze. “Go in. Be careful.”

I nodded again.

“Happens again, Sylvie, my room is on the right side, first window at the back. Just knock on the window. I’ll hear you.”

I nodded again.

“Don’t let them see you,” he whispered.

And I nodded again.

His hand gave mine a squeeze before he let me go.

He opened the door of the gate and he did it super slow, being careful and I was thankful.

I started through, Bootsie at my side, and looked back at him.

I smiled.

He smiled back.

Wow.

It was the most beautiful thing I ever saw.

Then I slipped through the door, Tucker closed it slow and careful behind me and I did what I would do normally but also what Tucker told me.

I got in and to my bed and didn’t let them see me.