Every time he almost nodded off, he forced himself awake, remembering the freshly dug grave that was too dark to see.
He stayed unmoving on the branch, despite his mother calling to come inside that it was bedtime. Finally, his pa hushed her up, telling her to leave him alone.
He stayed there until the sun came up in the morning. Then he got ready for school.
He lagged behind Tate, Greer, and Rachel as they walked down the dirt road to the main road where the school bus would stop.
“Dustin.”
Looking to the side, he saw Jessie climb out from behind a bush as his brothers and sister turned the corner.
His jaw tautened. “Get away.”
“I’m sorry about your dog. Ma and Holt tried to stop him.”
“Get away. What don’t you get? You called the sheriff on my family!”
“No, I didn’t! It was Ma! She didn’t want anyone hurt.”
“Your pa is a mean old man. He didn’t have to shoot our dog. He’s lucky my pa didn’t shoot him.”
“I know.”
“I gotta get to the bus.”
“I waited for you yesterday but figured you were too upset to meet me. We can meet at our tree this afternoon after school? We can talk?” she said questioningly.
Ignoring the hopeful look on Jessie’s face, he tugged off the bracelet on his wrist and threw it in the dirt at her feet. “We aren’t friends anymore! If I see you on our property again, I’ll tell Pa, and he’ll call yours.”
“Please, Dustin, don’t be mad at me. You’re the only friend I have …,” she pleaded.
Looking away from her miserable expression, he firmed his resolve. “I’m not your friend! You’re a Hayes, and that makes you an enemy of mine.” Dustin angrily kicked the bracelet toward her, then took off running when he heard the squeal of the school bus’s brakes stopping.
The driver was about to close the door when he came around the corner, barely making it in time.
He sat down next to Greer.
“If Pa catches you talking to that girl, he’ll beat the hell out of you.”
“I ain’t going to talk to her anymore.”
Greer cocked an eyebrow at him. “I thought you said you were going to marry her when you grew up.”
“Shut up.”
“Don’t be mad at me. You’re the one that said it.” Greer huffily turned to stare out the window, leaving Dustin to wish the long school day ahead was already over. He just wanted to get home and take a nap before it got dark.
When he did get home, his father stopped him from taking the nap, telling him as soon as he walked in the door that Greer and Tate weren’t going to pull the slack on doing his chores.
That night, he had to loop one of Pa’s belts that he had sneaked out around his waist to keep from falling from the branch in case he accidentally nodded off.
He was relieved when, three days later, he could finally sleep during the weekend.
On his ninth night in the tree, his father came out after dinner to stand under it. Dustin stared down at his father as the man rolled a joint and lit it.
“If you’re trying to make me feel guilty, it ain’t working,” his pa said casually while releasing the smoke.
Dustin didn’t respond, not taking his eyes off the chicken coop.
“You want to take a break and go with me to Mag’s? One of her customers couldn’t pay his bill and gave her a litter of puppies. You want to help me pick one out?”
When he didn’t answer, his father snuffed out his joint, putting the bud in his shirt pocket.
“Suit yourself.”
The truck backing out of yard didn’t tempt him to change his mind.
After his father left, Dustin could hear the voices coming from inside the house until it grew silent and the lights went out, leaving him alone in the yard with only the crickets to keep him company.
His father would be out until dawn. When he went drinking at the bootlegger’s, he usually spent the night bragging about his crops until Mag threw them out so she could get some sleep.
The sound of feathers flapping had him narrowing his eyes on the chicken coop. Silently raising his bow, he looked through the sight as he pulled back the string. Holding his breath, he waited. A second later, the arrow was released, striking the fox in the side and causing it to fall from the coop’s tin roof.
Dustin slowly climbed down the tree, then opened the gate. He picked up the fox, making sure it was dead. Crying, he carried it out and closed the gate behind him.
Laying it down next to Duke’s grave, he then went to the barn for the shovel. When he was done burying the fox, he patted the grave, making sure the dirt was packed down good.