Hunt Me Down - Chapter 9: Chapter 9

Nathaniel’s POV
The yard to the St. John looked like a market place. People of all ages, sizes and races had gathered here to sell their goods or to buy something, the proceedings from the event going to fund the church renovations. Quickly-made stands were laden with all sorts of things ranging from secondhand clothes and toys to homemade pies and other pastries. People buzzed around like busy bees, laughing, talking and opening their purses in the name of the good cause.
“Do we have to be here?” Val whined, her hands crossed over her chest.
“Vallery, we have been in this town for three weeks now; it’s time we become a part of the community,” mom explained in an exasperated tone.
“Can’t we just go to another barbeque?” My sister asked, referring to the get together our neighbors – the Johnsons, had organized last weekend. “At least there was food there.”
“There is food here too, Vallery; you’ll just have to pay for it. And all the money will go for a noble cause,” mom chirped.
“Yeah, one in which I don’t believe in,” my twin muttered under her breath.
“Vallery Reed, you are not ruining this fundraiser! I expect you to be on your best behavior. And you, Nathaniel, sweetie, will you look after her while I sell our stuff?”
Our mother had bought things to sell. Yes, while others had taken the opportunity to get rid of some unwanted and perhaps completely useless things in the name of God, our parent had spent the last few days shopping for items to sell at a third of their original price. It wasn’t just because we didn’t own that many old things; with moving around, it was easier to pack the necessities and buy all the rest once we settled down. The main reason why mom was about to sell new goods was because she didn’t want anyone to see anything worn-out on her stand; she’d feel too embarrassed.
“Yes, mom, I’ll keep an eye on Val,” I replied and heard my twin whisper ‘now that’s a surprise.’
“Good.” Mom patted me on the head. “I’ll go put these on display – did I tell you I’ll be at the stand next to Mrs. Johnson? –and then I’ll call your father… Such a shame he had to work on this Sunday of all days! And… Oh, I’ll have to talk to the reverend’s wife; she offered to help me since it’s my first time here and who am I to say no to the reverend’s wife? What was her name again, Nathaniel? You know, the skinny woman with curly brown hair, dresses plainly, very modest of course…”
“I don’t think I’ve met her, mom.”
“Oh, too bad, she’s such a quiet woman, perfect for her role. That won’t aid me with getting to know other people, but Mrs. Johnson promised to introduce me to the pillars of our little society,” she went on in her typical way without a pause between the sentences.
“I’ll be going then, kids. And, Vallery – keep all the buttons of your shirt buttoned! We can’t have you displaying flesh here.” She looked my sister from head to toe with a slight frown on her face. “You should’ve taken a jacket like your brother and did you have to dress in all black?”
“Look on the bright side, mom – if anyone kicks the bucket during the fundraiser, I’ll be properly dressed for their funeral.”
“Vallery!” Mom scanned around us to make sure nobody had heard my twin. “No such remarks while here, young lady!” She turned around to leave but halted and delivered her final line: “Or anywhere else for that matter.”
“Freedom, finally!” My sister screamed once mom was out of earshot and immediately undid the top two buttons of her shirt. “And what are you looking at?” She snarled at the old lady who had paused to see why Val had shouted. The woman hugged her bag to her chest and hurried away.
“You seem happy,” Hunter noted, him and his aunt walking towards us.
“Mom’s busy, dad’s working and I plan to get out of here and have me some fun,” my twin replied, giving him a hug and patting him on the back. “You coming with?”
Hunter Harris and my sister had become quite good friends. They hit the gym together, went to a few parties – one ending with Val getting drunk and me having to sneak her in our house all the while trying to explain she should be quiet instead of laughing and singing with all her might God Save the Queen – and they often had lunch together. I’d rather she had that with me but I supposed it wasn’t fair to have her spend time with my friends when she couldn’t stand two of them; Matthew was still set on reforming her and the chatter of the Gossip Mill, a.k.a. Karen, was becoming too much even when you attempted to tune her out.
Besides, Hunter Harris was still a mystery to me yet I’d gotten to know him a bit better and realized that one – he wasn’t as bad as I’d thought after I’d found out about him and jail, and two – he possessed a lot of qualities I admired including loyalty, determination and confidence; the last was something I unfortunately lacked when it came to relationships be it of the romantic or friendly disposition.
“Do I get a hug from you as well?” Hunt asked, letting go of my sister.
I felt the faintest of blush cover my cheeks as I rolled my eyes.
“Perhaps for your birthday,” I suggested, emphasizing on the first word. I didn’t want to make it sound like a promise as I was sure he’d insist I kept it.
“I’d expect more than that for my birthday. At least a kiss on the cheek, that’s for sure,” he teased and my face heated even more.
“Will you ever stop with that?” His aunt rumbled. “You are making the boy bright red. And take your hood off while in the house of God,” she commanded, slapping her nephew at the back of his head.
“We are only in His yard,” he justified but nevertheless lowered the hood of his favorite cream-colored sweatshirt displaying the short bleached mess his hair was. He made no attempts of tidying it and placed his hands in the pockets of his top.
“Come on, Val,” I prompted. “Mom wants us to mingle.”
“No way,” she protested. “Didn’t you hear me before? I want to get away from here.”
“We are staying, Val.”
“We are going, Nat.”
“We are staying.”
“Going.”
I sighed.
“I’m not going to argue like a five year old; let’s both do as we are told for once and go meet some people, maybe buy some food. Didn’t you say you were hungry?”
“I can show you the stands with the best homemade treats,” Betty offered, her hand darting towards her mouth, fingers posed as if she was holding a cigarette.
“Told you that you are not going to make it,” Hunter smirked, making his aunt frown.
“Boy, when I said there will be no smoking in the church yard, I mean it. Now I’m going to support this cause by getting some food and then I’m going to go home and smoke because I miss these da…” She caught herself before she swore. “I miss my cigarettes.”
“You are not going to make it all the way home,” he shook his head, the left corner of his lips upwards.
“Let’s see how long you’ll last without them,” she challenged. “Now are we going to get us some food or not?”
*****
“Your aunt was right; these biscuits are delicious,” Vallery noted, stuffing even more of the treats in her mouth. “Where did she go anyway?”
“Home. Couldn’t wait to go back to her cancer sticks. I bet she’ll light one the moment the church is out of sight.” Hunt replied, reading the text he just got. He then swiped the screen of his phone before putting it in his pocket: “Come on, let’s go, you two.”
“Where?” I asked and he grinned.
“To mingle. Wasn’t that what your mommy wanted?”
I opened my mouth to reply but my sister’s peculiar behavior made me momentarily speechless. She had jumped behind a tree, curling into a ball, with her knees hugged to her chest.
“What are you doing?” I inquired and she whispered in reply:
“That religious freak Mathew is over there and he brought back up.”
I looked around for the familiar face and saw him and five more people – a boy, two little girls, a man and a woman, all of whom with tidy clothes and the same natural shade of blond hair – walking not far away from us.
“Don’t let them see me, bro,” Val kept on whispering. “They’ll probably try to baptize me or something. And stop laughing, Hunter!”
“At least I’m doing so quietly,” he murmured.
Mathew must’ve sensed that we were watching him and his family as he turned his head towards us. Valery gaped in horror as I waved at him, but he only replied with a nod and went on his way.
“Are you out of your frickin’ mind?” Val demanded, getting up from her hideout behind the tree. “What if he thought you were waiving at him to come over?”
“He was looking at me; what was I supposed to do?”
She crossed her arms over her chest and puffed before addressing our neighbor:
“So where were we going before I was at risk of being accused I have a soul to save?”
“Back yard, behind the church,” Hunt explained and began walking in that direction.
“Isn’t that the cemetery?” I asked and received a nod in reply. “Who are we to mingle with there?”
I almost bumped into him as he suddenly halted, turning one-eighty to face me.
“We are raising the dead, Nathaniel,” he replied so seriously that for a moment I thought he was going to force me to perform some weird satanic ritual with wax candles and goat blood which he’d downloaded from the internet. He laughed full-heartedly at my startled face and started walking again, my sister and me following.