Carver Pike - Scalp

You’ve been given the gift of life, Nitsy. Don’t squander it thinking of all life’s negatives. Always see the good in people, things, and situations.

Pastor Jean’s voice echoed through her mind, and she found herself smiling. She was no longer going to be “Negative Nitsy” as her cousin used to call her. She would find the positive, even if her default mode seemed to be sorrow, frustration, and anger. She could battle it and overcome it.

Once more she glanced over at Robbie and saw his beaming smile focused on the pretty girl. She was smiling back at him and twirling a finger through her hair. They were hitting it off.

Good for you, Robbie. Good for you.

And she meant it. She was happy for the boy. She couldn’t quite call him a friend, but he was an acquaintance.

“Looks like we’re on the same team,” Phyllis said as she filed into line behind Nitsy. “Where are you from?”

“The Fort Lauderdale area. Florida. Wilton Manors to be exact.”

“Cool. I’ve never been to Florida. I’m from Gary… Indiana.”

The two girls talked some more while the other kids took forever lining up. Each group had a leader who was not in high school. These guides ranged from young college kids, maybe nineteen to twenty-two years old, to ages well over that. The bald guy in charge of Nitsy’s group had to be at least twenty-five. Each guide wore a bright red jacket to make him or her stand out from the pack.

“Ladies, gentlemen, my name’s Eggo,” the bald guy started once it looked like he’d snatched up the right number of teenagers. Nitsy counted and there were ten in her line. “Yes, like the waffle. That’s what they call me anyway. I’ll be your group leader. That means any issue you have, you come to me. We’ll get you squared away. As soon as we wrap things up here, we’ll get you into your rooms in time for an early dinner. We’ll be showing a movie in the conference hall tonight. Something scary from what I’ve been told.”

Eggo went on to explain a few more details about their stay at Stonewall Forge, but Nitsy felt her attention drift away and settle on a young man who was bagging fallen leaves not far away. He was a muscular boy, soaked in sweat, with black hair stuck to his brow. His black t-shirt seemed to struggle as it stretched around his biceps. Grass stains adorned the knees of his jeans. The way the kid stared at her made her a bit uneasy.

An old man in blue jean overalls and a filthy white long sleeve shirt walked over to the boy and slapped him on the back of his head. The kid winced and rubbed the spot while the old man said something to him. She felt bad for the boy, but her attention was pulled back to her group by cheering.

“What… what is it?” Nitsy asked Phyllis.

“You’re my roommate,” she replied. “Well, I’m claiming you since I’ve met you already. The other two girls can share a room too and the boys in our group will be split up three and three.”

“Great,” Nitsy said.

“We’re gonna have a blast,” Phyllis said.

Nitsy did her best to mimic her new friend’s enthusiasm while glancing back at the boy who’d slung the bag full of leaves over one shoulder and was following the old man off the lawn. He glanced back once at Nitsy and smiled. She returned the gesture and followed her team as they walked through the gate and into the Stonewall Forge Leadership Conference.

“What did I tell you about peeping on them young girls here for the conference thang?”

This was the first time Thomas cared to check out the girls. Last year, he’d gone on about his job and hadn’t even glanced once at any of them. He hadn’t been interested. With her , he felt a stirring down there. She was a stranger. Maybe that was what made her so exciting.

He was eighteen now, practically a grown man, and where he lived, it was hard to find a girl who wasn’t family. Not because they didn’t exist, but it was a small area, and he didn’t have a lot of friends since he’d dropped out of school to help his old man take care of Stonewall Forge. The town gave them quite a bit of money to take care of the place.

So, Thomas mowed lawns, raked leaves, trimmed trees, picked up garbage, and did whatever else was required of him.

Yep, she was different all right.

Not that his family was into dating its own, but he did have two uncles who were married to second or third cousins. The Hallahan name was common around here. It seemed everyone was related somehow. In his holler, Thomas was practically a prince. He was the best looking around, and he’d noticed some of the neighbor girls looking whenever he took his shirt off to work in the yard, but he’d already been warned by his mother.

“Ain’t none of these girls ‘round here good for you,” she’d said. “Every single one of ‘em is attached to your name somehow. If it ain’t a cousin, it’s a cousin of a cousin. If you’s even thinkin’ of datin’ one of ‘em, you come tell me who she is, and I’ll find out if she’s family.”

This girl, the one he couldn’t keep his eyes off of earlier today, she would have a name he’d never heard of. She was probably a Miller or a Beauchamp or a Gibson. Something like that. She’d have a rich girl’s last name. She probably went to a private school and everything.

“Huh?” Pa continued on. “What did I tell you?”

“You told me I’m gonna get us both in trouble by looking at ‘em,” Thomas replied.

He’d remained quiet enough and Pa wasn’t one to ignore.

“And?” Pa asked.

“If we get in trouble, they’ll find somebody else to be caretakers of the property,” Thomas replied.

Outside, Moses, Thomas’s Labrador, barked. He was always barking at something, but when he got going like this, Pa tensed up and usually yelled at Thomas to go shut the mutt up. For the meantime, the argument at hand seemed more important, so Moses kept yapping while Thomas’s mom decided to jump into the fray.

“And somebody else to run the kitchen when they have these conferences,” Ma added. “You think I want to be out of a job? I only get to work when they have these shindigs going on. You want to take that extra money out of our pockets?”

“No,” Thomas replied.

“No, what?” she prodded.

“No, ma’am.”

Thomas had a strict upbringing. When he was younger, he’d often have to go outside and pick his own switch off a tree for Ma or Pa to give him a proper lashing. Now, he was too big. They seemed slightly intimidated by his size, but it didn’t stop them from giving him hell all the time. For a second, everyone stood silently. Thomas kept his hands behind his back and stared down at the floor. Moses continued to bark.

“Go on and wash up for supper,” Ma said.

“Yes, ma’am.” Thomas was on his way to the bathroom when Pa finally couldn’t take the barking any longer.

“Damn possums,” Pa said. “Got Moses all riled up. Dumb boy too busy washing his hands to help with his own damn dog. Looks like I’ll have to go outside and kick that lazy hound ‘til he shuts up.”

He wouldn’t kick the dog. Pa was a mean, grumpy old bastard, but he wouldn’t put a serious hurting on the dog. They needed Moses. He kept the rats and other pesky vermin away. Without him, possums would be in the fridge and coons would be in the cupboard. Those animals were assholes with no respect for humans. Thomas laughed at the thought of furry rodents flipping his parents the bird.

“Pa, be careful out there,” Colleen called out to him.

The boy called her Ma, but to Pa she was Colleen. Pa, on the other hand, went by Pa. Plain and simple. Everyone called him that. Cleon down at the gas station called him Pa, Sara over at the ice cream shop called him Pa, and even that dumb boy Kip at the bait shop called him Pa.