The Year of the Storm by John Mantooth Read Free Book Online Page B

happy.”
    â€œHuh?”
    â€œJust do it. It doesn’t matter what it is, just make sure it’s something good. And picture it. I mean really see it in your mind.”
    I thought of Tina Bray. I imagined me and her walking together in the park, her hand in mine. I saw her leaning her head on my shoulder, whispering in my ear.
    â€œGot it?”
    â€œYeah, I got it.”
    He pinched me again.
    â€œHoly shit, that hurts!” I said.
    â€œBut not as bad as before, right?”
    I shook my head. I didn’t feel a difference.
    Seth shrugged. “It takes practice. The point is, the world is a different place when you come at it from in here.” He tapped his forehead. “Everything sort of opens up. You look hard enough, you can find a way to escape anything. Even pain.”
    I rubbed my arm. “So that day, you thought about something besides drowning, something besides all the sand and grit in your mouth and lungs, and that helped you stay under longer?”
    â€œI guess, if that’s the way you want to look at it. I wasn’t really there, so I don’t remember.”
    I took this in. Truth be told, I thought he was full of shit, but there might be something to it. He had managed to stay under much longer than I ever could.
    â€œSo where did you go that day, when Ronnie held you under?”
    â€œSame place I always go. The swamp. But it was only a brief visit. I call it a glimpse. It’s like a catnap instead of a long night’s sleep.”
    I had no idea what he was going on about. I decided I liked Seth fine, but he was weird. I couldn’t shake the sense that he believed every word he was saying.
    â€œThe swamp? A swamp doesn’t sound very nice.”
    He shrugged. “Well, it is. It’s beautiful.” Maybe he saw the doubt in my face, because he added, “You wouldn’t understand.”
    â€œWhat’s that mean?”
    â€œNothing. I just doubt you would understand.”
    I stood up. “You act like your life is so hard. How bad can it be?”
    He closed his eyes. I don’t know, maybe he was thinking of the swamp, maybe he was just trying to decide how to answer my question. Finally, he said, “It can be bad, Walter. Really, really bad.”
    I believed him. Any fool could see his life was hard. I’d seen some of it firsthand. The rest was in his eyes, the way he carried himself, but I was still put off by him because I hurt too. It wasn’t like he had cornered the market on pain.
    â€œWhat’s so bad? What about today?” I asked. “You know something about this missing girl?”
    â€œNo.” The instant he said it, I knew he was lying. It was the way he ducked his head when he answered, the way he looked away and then back at me after the lie. I’d seen my daddy lie to my mama so many times, I felt like a polygraph test.
    â€œSo what’s eating you?”
    He shook his head. “My mother disappeared years ago. It just reminded me of her. That’s all.”
    I could tell there was more, but I didn’t want to push him. Hell, he was pretty much the only friend I had now. Jake wanted to kill me for what I’d done to him, and Ronnie would always be with Jake as long as he never learned to have a will of his own. He was the kind of person Jake lived for. I had other friends at school, but those kids were more like acquaintances because even back then, these woods were isolated. School was the only time I saw anybody besides Seth, Ronnie, and Jake. So I didn’t push Seth. I figured time would eventually tell all. We sat there, talking about other stuff—movies and books, mostly—until the sun was gone and the park was completely dark.
    The last thing I remember before starting home that evening was getting that feeling again. I knew Seth from somewhere. He carried it in his face, his hair, the slope of his shoulders, the same traits of someone I knew but had