Chapter Nine
1055 Words
"Chocolate or Vanilla?" Matt asks as we walk around the barn aimlessly.
We arrived at the farmhouse way too early and a good cleaning doesn't look like it's on the agenda at this part of the morning.
"What?" I ask, kicking the long golden grass with my sneakers.
"Ice-cream. Which do you prefer? Chocolate or Vanilla."
"Chocolate," I say. "What about you?"
"I don't play favourites."
I turn to look at him and he raises his eyebrows. "You just asked me which is my favourite. And how can you not have a favourite ice-cream? You're weird."
Matt laughs. "I'm weird? I feel like this is my scene to bring up your horrible choice of clothing. This rainbow top is way too colourful," he says, poking at it. "It joins your uggs in ugly section."
I narrow my eyes at him. "Will, you ever stop about that? I like the colour green. What's so wrong about that?"
Matt is laughing and shaking his head. "Everything! But okay. I'll stop now."
"You know what's your problem?"
"What?"
"You're not fun. And you lack colour in your life," I tell him.
Matt nudges my arm. "Please. You learnt the word fun only since you met me. And black and grey are colours, so I have plenty of colour in my life."
"I'm so bored with this conversation already," I mutter as I pace around the barn and kick the loose haystacks.
"You weren't bored yesterday," he says.
I groan. "Are we really going to be like one of those people that do something stupid and then have a long ass awkward conversation about it the next day? Because if we're headed to that conversation, I don't want to talk about it, Matt. So please respect that."
"Geez, you're such a..." Matt runs his hand through his hair as he searches for a word.
"A what?" My voice is sharp.
"You're such a Debbie Downer," Matt says and we both burst out laughing.
"I can live with that," I say honestly.
Matt jogs ahead and points out beyond the golden fields. "Hey, is that a lake down there?"
I walk up to where he stands and look down at the wide stretch of sparkling water.
"Yeah. I forgot about that. It used to be the highlight of our holidays here."
"Whenever we're done here, I'd really like to go down there. It's so damn hot," he says.
"Sure. That'll be fun."
Matt turns around and looks at the grass. "But we need to cut this grass before anything else."
"Yeah, we have a ride on lawnmower, " I say, pointing out towards the barn
The corners of his mouth quirked up. "Okay, that kinda sounds...naughty in away."
I snorted. "No, it doesn't. You just have an extremely filthy mind and an overactive imagination."
Matt winks at me. "My filthy mind is extremely healthy for a boy my age."
"Yeah, okay. Enough gloating, let's get to work."
For the next two hours, I clean up the cabins wraparound porch.
Matt helps me rearrange the outside chairs and we even get the outside fireplace cleaned up.
When we move over to the barn, Matt manages to start up the lawnmower and drive it out a few feet out of the barn doors, before it completely sputters and dies.
"Oh, no, come on." He hits the steering wheel lightly.
"You're so dramatic. Just try it again, " I advise him calmly.
His mouth twitches as he tries it again and again and again, but it just ceases to function. "Just try it again, huh?"
"I'm tired and hungry and it's late. I'm going to set up our lunch stuff. If you want to join, then you're welcome to join," I tell him and start walking towards the car.
I get the food bag out of the Jeep and open it up. My mom has outdone herself today. There are two whole turkey sandwiches stuffed with only the good kind of stuff you'd want in a turkey sandwich.
The whole wheat bread is toasted and crispy. Inside the sandwich are layers of mayo, dijon mustard, shredded turkey, lettuce and tomato slices.
She added two cans of Coke that are still cool, even though the heat is unbelievable.
I'm taking my first bite of heaven when Matt ultimately decides to join me on the grass. The breeze is perfect and the food is amazing.
"I wish I had stuff like this to eat every day," Matt says, as we sip our Cokes.
The gas burns my throat before the sweetness floods my mouth.
"Does your mom hate cooking?" I ask, finishing up my first slice of my Sandwich.
Matt has already finished his, I notice.
He grabs a fist full of grass and clenches his hand. His face contorts with irritation.
"Matt?"
I slowly reach out and hold his arm and suddenly he lets go of the grass.
His face softens as he looks down at me. Sadness clouds his features.
"I really don't want to talk about my parents. I couldn't give a damn about my life. That's why I'm here, Kelsey," he says.
His voice is heavy with emotion and my chest swells with an unfamiliar feeling for him. I don't know what it is, but I keep my hand on his warm arm.
Matt sighs and then he gives out a bitter laugh. "In fact, I'll tell you about them."
I nod slowly and gently knead my fingers into his arm. He doesn't say anything, so I continue because I feel that he needs any kind of support in any way he can get it.
"I was around ten when my dad first started hitting my mom," he whispers, almost as if he doesn't want me to hear, but I do.
"I'm sorry, I didn't know, " I say.
He gives a half shrug. "How do you ever tell anyone? And you must have heard the fighting every night."
"Does Daniel know?"
Matt nods. "He just knows that I have problems at home. So basically, dad hits mom. I tell her to go to the police or to leave him. She doesn't ever do it. I can never figure out why."
"Maybe she's scared," I tell him.
Matt let's out a harsh breath. "I don't know what the f**k it is, but I can't wait to graduate and leave for good."
We sit in silence, unsure of what to say next or what to do. So I stand up and hold out my hand.
"Do you want to give that Lawnmower another try?" I ask.
Matt looks at me, takes my hand and laughs. "Yeah, we can do that. Come on, let's go."
- Writer
