Victor Black - And the Garden of the Gods

Chapter 19: Friends' Revelations

An hour after Victor finished working in the yard, Willow's yellow and black Mini Cooper appeared in the driveway. She parked to the side of the house by the large Winnebago and outpoured the four teens.

Victor was surprised to see Shadow. He assumed she would likely not show up, but she did, dressed in the same gray outfit, only her long skirt turned into a shorter version—her way of dressing down, Victor supposed.

"Hey, over here," said Victor, waving at the group as they closed the doors. Josh carried a large, chocolate cake covered in sprinkles and sugar roses. Victor was surprised to see Josh had dyed his hair red, spiking it straight up. Darius did the same but had chosen to keep his hair black.

Willow wore leggings under a sheer, pink skirt, and a white blouse. She had pulled her black hair back into a ponytail.

She looks gorgeous, Victor thought, who had prepared to intercept the bunch, but was more focused on Willow.

He noticed, for the first time, she had the same crease in her forehead and a dimple. While her skin was flawless, like his, the mark was new, but not as pronounced as Victor's. He chose not to bring it up.

"Here you go man," said Josh, who hid his eyes behind a pair of red and black sunglasses. He handed Victor the large, chocolate layer cake—it felt like a bag of cement. "Shadow made it."

"Let's run inside. You can meet my mom," said Victor.

As they ascended the steps to the front porch, a used, white Ford Explorer careened into the driveway, coming to a halt by the mailbox. Darius spied it, telling Victor to turn around.

"Who's in the Ford?" said Darius.

Mr. Black had been at the pig pit checking on his three-hundred-pound, smoking creation when the car showed up. He quickly saw it and was fast to find out who drove like an idiot.

"Dad's taking care of it, let's get this thing inside," said Victor.

Mr. Black, in the meantime, had directed the Ford to park next to Willow's car. Alan and Pam jumped out. Mr. Black looked at the two high schoolers and pointed to the house. They gave him a thumbs-up as they took off across the yard

Inside, Victor set the cake down on the kitchen table.

"What an enormous cake," said Victor's mom. "Beautiful decorations, whoever made it." She looked at the five teens standing in front of her, searching for the baker.

"I made it. I'm Shadow by the way."

"It's wonderful. Where have I seen you before?" said Mrs. Black. Her eyes scanned the length of Shadow's bland, gray outfit, trying to show the same enthusiasm as she did for the cake.

"I believe Victor knows me from church. We all sit in the back."

"Oh ... the people in the back, I see, yes —" Mrs. Black stammered her words, making the connection Shadow was part of "those" people.

"Get a load of all those chickens!" said Josh, looking out the back window.

"Mom loves her chickens," said Victor, "we have a coop out back with twenty of them inside. You should check them out. They have feathers on their heads, and they're all big and puffy."

"Mom," said Victor, "you already know Willow. This interesting thing here is Josh, and his friend Darius. Alan and Pam are back in town from the student exchange and should be —"

The front door opened, and with perfect timing, Alan and Pam stepped through. They let out high-pitched screams as they saw the others in the kitchen ahead of them. Willow did the same, running towards them. Willow and Pam engaged in a fierce hug, while Alan shook hands with the guys.