BEFORE THE MORNING CAME

.01 - the fourth of july

kildare county high school, freshman year. the trio sat together at lunch each day, listening to one another talk about what had ensued so far that morning. it was typically the same stuff; jj complaining, michelle rolling her eyes frequently, and john b. working as a mediator between the two people on either end of the academic spectrum.

it wasn't until after spring break that the three brought a fourth person to their lunch table. pope hayward, john b's lab partner. as a preface to the new introduction, john b. offered that having another smart person in their group with allow michelle to lay off of jj and have "nerd talk." she could only roll her eyes.

it turned out that pope wasn't all that bad. john b. disclosed to the only girl in the group that if pope and jj were to have a baby, michelle reyes would be the outcome. she shrugged it off with a chuckle and a question of if his statement was meant to be a compliment or not.

when summer rolled around, the trio-turned-quad went their separate ways. jj and john b. were michelle's best friends by far, but they all three never got together outside of school, unless it was something scheduled far in advanced. all she knew was that she would see the boys for the fourth of july island party, but during the month of june, the only thing michelle had planned was spending time in her room, listening to music, and smoking weed with her brother.

rafe cameron was not on the itinerary, yet, there he was, buzzing on the screened porch. as michelle opened the door to the porch, she saw the teenager snap upright, only relaxing when he saw the younger girl staring at him oddly.

"what's up, mitch?" rafe grumbled, leaning his head back again the chair he was propped up against.

"what's up?" the girl shot back as nothing more than a pleasantry, before walking through the stuffy room, plucking a half-smoked joint from her brother's fingers, and exiting the porch towards the lawn.

it was like the boy never went home, but michelle knew better than to say anything. barry had given up his entire life for her, taking on the role of her guardian for as long as both of them could remember. the poor boy did not have time for friends, considering he was a father for most of his childhood. he never gave michelle any grief about it, never made it a point that he resented her birth, or even mentioned a social life. the least michelle could do was be adaptable, now that she was old enough to not need his constant guardianship. so, she tolerated rafe. she put up with his loud rants about his perfect life, listened as he bitched about his younger sisters, and occasionally amused him with her presence during their "boy time," which was often code for "getting high on the porch."

michelle reyes knew she was not an ugly girl, and that often played to her advantage. a perfect example would be the fourth of july. the boneyard was packed with lusty teenagers, many of them new faces that would never be seen again. she braided her hair while barry briefed her on what he was expecting the night to look like.

"okay, you got a zip in here. always sell up. $15 for kooks—tell 'em it's that good shit. run the tourons $20, but only if you think they're stupid enough to buy." he explained, stuffing the dime bags of marijuana into a black fanny pack that would soon adorn the girl's waist.

"and pre-rolls are $30 for one, $50 for two." michelle spoke before barry could get the words out. they had been through this often enough—barry had allowed michelle to sell the lower-grade drug after her claims that she wanted to help bring in money to their house.

"that's my girl." barry winked, before clipping her trusty pocket knife onto the band of the waist bag. the pocket knife was intended as a means of intimidation. barry was always somewhere nearby with his pistol tucked into his waistband. everyone knew not to mess with the reyes siblings, but barry was prepared in case someone was not briefed on that important mindset.