MC Chapter 4

July 2000

As the corn grew taller, we started venturing out of our tree patch more often. Andy, being unusually tall for his age, never could hide among the stalks. Even crouched down, he found some way to give away his location. Lucky for him, our fun wasn’t solely in hide-and-seek or tag, but in exploring the fields.

In our adventures, we found remnants of old houses and barns. We spent a few days digging through a 200-year-old trash dump for treasures and planned a day trip to a massive abandoned house about a mile away from our tree patch.

But the closer we came to August, the harsher the sun blazed down on us. The midday temperature was in the high 90s most days, and our delicate, pale skin could only handle so much sun exposure, even with sunblock. Eventually, we retreated to our tree patch and managed to make one real friend. Reggie, who spoke with a thick Bronx accent, matched Andy in lank and awkwardness, something the two bonded over, as well as their outsider status. He joined us in the tree patch nearly every day that month, although he had his reservations about it.

“I’m gonna be real with you guys, nobody ever came to this tree patch for a reason,” Reggie said the first day we brought him to our patch.

“Their loss,” I replied. “This is the coolest patch in the entire town!”

“Literally and figuratively,” Andy added. “The trees are so close together that it feels about 15 degrees cooler than outside, even in the clearings.”

“That does sound cool,” Reggie said. “But for real, me and a few others tried to hang out here not long after I moved to town, and something always felt off.”

“Like someone’s watching you?” Andy asked.

“Exactly,” Reggie replied. I inhaled, ready to speak my piece. “Not a raccoon, Amy. Not a possum or a squirrel, either. Like a person.”

“Or a ghost,” Andy added.

“See, he gets it!”

I rolled my eyes and shined the flashlight on a large root that had grown over the narrow path. “Watch your step. We’re almost to the big clearing. I promise that when you see it, you won’t feel that way anymore.”

Reggie stepped over the root without a problem. Andy tripped and nearly fell on top of him. Our newfound friend helped Andy up and wrapped his arm around his shoulder. “Man, listen. When you look the way we do, you gotta learn to be just a bit more…”
“Graceful?” Andy asked.

“Smooth. You’re gonna find that ladies like tall men, but not when they’re tripping over their own two feet.”

“Do they like guys who trip over their own words?” Andy shot back. Reggie had a tendency to stutter and babble around people he didn’t know well, especially girls. The fact that he spoke so fluently to us the day we met was surely a sign that we were meant to be friends.

“Alright, you got me there.”

Upon breaking through to the main clearing, Reggie uttered a drawn-out whoa. He was greeted with a city of makeshift tents, toy car dirt tracks, and mounds that we used for pretend warfare.

“You guys did all this?” he asked as he marveled at our self-made sanctuary.

“Mom and dad helped,” I replied as I threw myself into an old recliner under one of the tents.

“Lucky,” he mumbled. “My parents would never do something like this. They’re always too tired from work to hang out with me.”

“Well, you’re free to hang out here whenever you want,” Andy said. “None of the other kids want anything to do with us, and since everyone avoids this patch because they think it’s so creepy, nobody messes with our stuff.”

Reggie grabbed a nearby monster truck and fiddled with one of the tires. “I appreciate it. As far as the others go, they’ll get used to you. Give them some time. Most of the families living here have roots in Ferncombe going all the way back to when the town was founded, a couple even before then. I guess it gives them a sense of superiority.”

“Fuck em,” Andy said. My eyes widened, shocked at his sudden change in vocabulary. He never swore, even in private. “We don’t need people like that in our lives.”

Reggie nodded in agreement. “Probably for the best. Even if you do get on their good side, the others are always willing to throw outsiders under the bus if they need to.”