Jailbird

Chapter 2

Marco goes to follow Leo, but I stop him with my foot.

My dad announces like it is unusual, "If you need me, I will be in my office." He does this every night after dinner. Why would he have to explain himself? He walks away and down the hall to his office. I pick Marco up and carry him upstairs to my room. I change from my dress to pajamas. I put on my mom's robe. It is grey and fuzzy. It still smells the way she used to, like fresh cut roses. My mom adored roses. My dad always tells the story that when he learned she was his partner he gave her a huge bouquet of roses. A year later, after they were married, he had our house built, and right in the back yard, he had two huge rose bushes planted. When Leo, Maggie, and I were much younger, we used to play by the bushes until a thorn sliced my hand and Leo made the rule that we could no longer play by them. At the time it was a fair idea because we didn't like getting any injuries. Leo avoids anything that could cause anyone he cares about harm. Which just goes to show you how protective he can be.

I walk from my room and go downstairs. I have thought about it and I am going to confront my dad on the dry land. I have to know why he would have lied. Hesitantly, I walk into my dad's office. He sits behind his large cherry wood desk, flipping through some papers. He sees me out of the corner of his eye and jumps. He looks at me fully and sighs in relief.

"Oh, princess. I'm sorry, but you look so much like your mother," my dad explains. I smirk faintly. I get that I look like her a lot. I take it as a compliment. Everyone thought my mom was beautiful. Her honey blond hair and pale blue eyes were the favorite traits of most people who met her. Just thinking about her makes me miss her so much. "Can I do something for you?"

This is my chance to get the truth. "Daddy, I went to the hilltop today."

"You aren't supposed to go up there, you know that." He says calmly with teeth gritted, but you can still identify his anger.

"I know, but I had to know what you were hiding... Why did you lie to me? Why did you tell me we were surrounded by hills when we are a hole in the land? Why is the land so dry around us?" I respond trying to speak calmly.

"It is none of your concern. Forget what you saw." He snaps.

I whine, "But, daddy..." Why can't he come clean to me and just tell me the truth? Why the lies and secrets?

"Roxie, mind your own business! Let me do my job by keeping everyone in town healthy and happy. Do your job by marrying that Leo boy and forgetting what you saw." He stands up, gathers his papers, and storms from his office to his bedroom upstairs. Tears burn in my eyes. I thought he trusted me, but I guess he doesn't. I walk up stairs and shuffle into my room.

I bury myself in the cozy sheets in my bed. Marco howls to be let up onto the bed. I reach down and set him at the foot of the bed. My dad won't tell me the truth, but maybe if I asked a lot of people we might be able to get some idea of what is going on. I can't just tell them what I saw, they would never believe me. Maybe if I showed pictures they would. A devilish smirk covers my face. I am going to anonymously expose my father's lies. He won't be happy, but I have to know the truth.

I fall asleep with the sweet thoughts I will know the truth of the dry land soon.

____________________

The sun shines through my window onto my face. I sit up and rub my tired eyes. I hate mornings, but I am on a mission. I have to get moving before everyone else. I walk into my closet and grab jeans and a white t-shirt. I change and grab my camera bag.

I slip from my room and rush down stairs. I pull my boots on and walk outside. I jump the fence, not wanting to waste any time. I walk through the Griffin's yard when I see Leo sitting on his front porch reading a book like he does everyday when he is waiting for me. I never realized he was up this early waiting for me. I shouldn't have walked through his yard. I quicken my steps hoping he won't notice me.

"Roxie, where are you going?" he asks, probably wondering why I am walking past him.

I look back, but don't slow down, "A walk." He puts his book down, jumps from his porch, runs over to me, and easily keeps at pace with me. I hate how clingy he is sometimes.

He asks, "Where's Marco?"

"Home," I answer simply.

"He is always with you, especially for walks. Why wouldn't you bring him?" He asks, starting to become suspicious.

"Because I didn't want to," I answer calmly, but it is obvious he is starting to get on my nerves. We walk in silence down the sidewalk. I really wish he wouldn't have followed me. As we walk past Maggie's house he looks at it and then me like he is asking, is Maggie coming? The way I walk past gives him his answer. No, she is not invited. I reach the end of the sidewalk where the hill starts. I step into the cool grass and Leo grabs my wrist holding me back from going further.

"Rox, no. We shouldn't be going up there. We made that mistake once," He states, standing his ground.

"My dad wouldn't tell me the truth about what is over the border hills. He told me to mind my own business. Where I live is my business. I am going up there, getting pictures, and exposing him." He grabs my bag and holds it out of my reach above his head. I jump up and down trying to rip the bag from his fingers. I whine, "Leo, give it back!" He starts to walk up the hill. I stop jumping and stare in disbelief. What is he doing? He was keeping me from taking pictures, right? He slings the bag over his shoulder. I check the empty street for anyone and follow him up the hill. When I reach the top I see him pulling my Polaroid camera from my bag and snapping a picture of the dry land. I ask really confused, "What are you doing?"

He looks over at me and answers, "I trust you and if you want pictures to show people I will help you." He hands me the instantly printed picture that he just took. I look down at it and feel guilty for not trusting him like he trusts me. I hear the click of the camera and see him pointing the camera in my direction.

I laugh, "Did you just take a picture of me?" He nods and holds the printed picture up to show me. He looks at it again, smirks, and carefully puts it in his pocket. He takes his time to take pictures of all of the landscape. When we are both satisfied with the pictures, I take my camera bag back and carefully put the pictures inside. I sit in the grass looking over the city. I realize now how trapped I feel when I am in the confines of the city. I see cars and people moving around down there. They seem totally oblivious of the hills trapping them in their own little world.

Leo sits closely beside me. He asks, "What are you thinking about?" I shrug, not in the mood to share my opinions or thoughts. He looks down at the evergreen grass and mumbles, "Can I be honest with you about something?"

I look at him and answer, "Of course. You can talk to me about anything." He takes a deep breath and rubs his hands together nervously.

"Okay... when I was like five I had this huge crush on you. I thought you were the cutest and I would tell my dad that I was going to marry you... Kind of ironic now, but he told me it would be a miracle if I was picked to be your partner and you were too good for me anyways." He lets out a fake nervous chuckle. "Well, I figured that if I had no chance of marrying you, that at least I could be your friend. I was your best friend for of all these years. I liked the fact you trusted me and I sort of got to take care of you... I wanted to tell you that I, umm, never really got over that crush I had on you. If anything being your friend made it worse."

He falls silent. I don't know what to say. I can't tell him I never had those kind of feelings for him. It is true that I haven't, but that would crush him if I told him. Then, he looks at me with sad puppy dog eyes. It literally rips my heart to shreds seeing him look at me like that. I see in those gorgeous eyes the little boy that has been with me through everything, like losing my mom, injuries, and even my dad yelling at me. He has been through it all. He has taken care of me and I really do trust him. The ground under us shakes.

"We have earthquakes here all the time. It's okay," he assures me.

"Leo, that was bigger than they normally are. Something isn't right," I mumble starting to panic.