“I’m okay, sweet girl. I was mad for a little while, but you made it better,” I promised her. “You make everything better, you know?”
A small smile tugged at her lips. “You too. You’re my best friend, Fen, and I’ll always be right by your side. Forever.”
She meant every single word, but no matter how much truth there was in them, I wanted to hear something else from her.
I wanted to hear more.
Sick and twisted words that would only make me cross the line I so desperately tried not to step over.
You want to cross it. You’re a sick bastard.
Of course.
That’s all I ever wanted.
8
We spent the rest of the afternoon cleaning the fish and then preparing dinner until Papa was back.
Instead of greeting us, he walked straight to his tent and hid in there for a few minutes before he came back with a different pair of pants on.
“Are you hungry, Papa? We caught fish and they’re almost ready,” I told him as he walked toward us to the fire.
“Those look great, sweetheart. Where’d you find them?”
“Far east from here, where Fennec usually goes to catch fish,” I explained, smiling up at him.
“Close to the border,” Fennec added, making Papa nod and then quickly change the subject.
“So you had fun today, huh? Next time I’ll come with you guys. I miss doing all these things together like we used to before.”
“Where have you been?” I asked, wanting to know what made him stay away from our camp for so long without telling us he’d be gone.
“Checking to see if there were hunters around our area. Observing and waiting on anyone to pass,” he explained.
That seemed odd. “All day long?”
“Yes.”
“Bullshit,” Fennec muttered, but instead of adding more to his cussing, he continued to check on the fish laying on the grill above the fire.
“Are you guys still mad at each other?” I asked, looking back at Papa with a worried look. “You told me you two would talk it out today.”
“Didn’t say I wouldn’t,” Papa replied, taking a quick look at Fennec.
“But it seems like you’re avoiding him,” I pointed out.
“I’m not. I had things to do.” He let out a heavy sigh and walked over to Fennec, running his large hand across Fen’s hair and leaning in to kiss his temple from behind.
Fennec didn’t seem too comfortable with that, but it was enough for now to act normal around each other again.
“Love you, kid,” Papa said, and Fennec shrugged it off before nodding.
“You too.”
That was good enough for me.
Papa sat down next to me at the table, and I leaned against him while I reached for his hands, pulling them into my lap.
“I found all those packages with different seeds in the bin. Do you think I can plant some? Maybe build a little garden like when I was younger?”
“You found seeds?” Papa asked.
“Yeah, in the bin Jason gave you years ago. Where you store the things he gives you but you never use.”
Because he was too inconsistent to keep a little vegetable and herb garden. I wasn’t though, and most summers and winters I spent here, I planted my own veggies.
Not because we didn’t have enough food from the wild, but because it was a good way of changing up our diet, but most importantly, to keep me busy.
We wouldn’t go hunt every day, and with a little garden, I’d have other things to take care of other than waiting for lunch and dinner each day.
“What else did you find in that bin? I haven’t looked inside for a while.”
“Not much else. Some cable ties and twine.”
“Ah, I wondered where that had disappeared to,” Fennec said, turning to look at me.
“What did you need those things for?” I asked, tilting my head to the side while playing with Papa’s fingers.
“Fixing things,” he replied with a shrug.
I gave him a quick nod and looked up at Papa. “Are you up to something tomorrow?”
“Not sure yet. I wanted to build a cabin a few months ago, but Fennec doesn’t like the idea of it.”
“A cabin? Like the one Jason has?”
“Not as big, but similar, yeah.”
“Why? Doesn’t that defeat the whole purpose of living out here?” I asked, my brows furrowing.
“That’s what I told him,” Fennec spat, keeping his eyes on the fish.
“It’s safer. And I’m getting older. I need a real bed.”
“Then go live in the damn city if you can’t handle it.”
My eyes widened at Fennec’s rude response to Papa.
“Watch it, kid,” Papa warned, his body tensing.
“What’s going on between you two? I was excited to finally come here, but all you’re doing is argue!” I whined, pushing myself away from Papa and standing up to let my gaze move from him to Fennec.
“What happened?”
“Nothing happened, Vespyr. We’re men. We disagree sometimes,” Papa replied.
“Seems like you two disagree about every little thing you say. You’ve never been like this before,” I pointed out, hoping they would just tell me the truth.
“It’s been a rough year, Vespyr. Give us some time.”
I kept looking at Papa and tried to figure out if I should put this aside and let them calm down by themselves or continue to nudge and try to find a way out of this for both of them.
I crossed my arms over my chest and sighed, looking over at Fennec who was now taking the fish away from the fire and placing them onto plates.
Papa’s hand wrapped around my wrist and pulled me back to him, placing his other hand on the side of my thigh.
“We’re fine. Don’t worry about it, sweetheart.”
I needed a few seconds before I relaxed and nodded, but although I was gonna let go of this now, that didn’t mean I would stop worrying.
“Let’s eat,” Fennec said, obviously annoyed by all this.
We sat around the fire, and without saying much, we started to eat.
“I was going to cut down a few trees to get enough wood for the cabin. If you want, you can help me find the right trees tomorrow,” Papa suggested.
“Isn’t building a cabin hard?” I asked.
“Not if I get your help. It’s not going to be a big one, you know? Just one I can sleep in and hide our food. I know it’s never happened before, but I’d rather be safe than sorry. Bears are unpredictable.”
“They can easily get into a damn cabin,” Fennec muttered.
“What do you suggest then?” Papa asked, trying to sound nice but his rough voice was more harsh than gentle.
“I suggest you build another treehouse.”
“’Cause bears can’t climb,” Papa said, his voice filled with sarcasm.
Fennec rolled his eyes. “We’re in the wild, Papa. No matter what you’re gonna do to protect yourself, it’s never going to be enough. Animals aren’t stupid. But a treehouse sounds safer than anything down on the ground.”
I had to agree with Fen on this one.
“I’ll build a cabin,” Papa said after a long pause, and with a smile, he nudged my shoulder. “Gonna help me?”