I spent most of the remaining day swimming through the muddy water, feeling around the slimey swamp for any sign of my lost pole. I guess that catfish must have swam into some hidden underwater cavern, yanking my pole along with it.
Because, no matter how hard I searched, I never found any trace of the darn thing.
I ended up using any excuse I could think of in order to search the same spots over and over again.
The definition of insanity and all that.
Any excuse not to go home.
I knew my father would be there... waiting with a leather belt in hand.
Andrew and Dennis were clearly having the time of their lives, laughing and throwing mud at me every time I had to come to the surface of the water for air.
After what felt like hours of fruitless exhaustion, I dragged myself out of the swamp, picked up my remaining pole, and began to walk home in defeat.
It seemed even my friends had gained some semblance of sympathy, considering they finally ceased their relentless teasing.
My clothes clung to me like saggy bandaids, swaying with every sloshed step I took. Each of my shoes were filled with mossy gunk, weighing me down each time I even attempted to lift my tired legs.
Stupid pole... Stupid fish... Stupid girl...
The thing that confused me the most, was the fact that I couldn't get her crying face out of my mind. The way she ran away. The wails in her breath as she disappeared over the hill.
"I'm such an idiot..." I whispered to myself.
Those thoughts of her just felt like dirt in an open wound.
My house looked eerily still as I approached. Our truck still had its hood opened up, tools lazily dropped beside it. I swallowed the loose saliva in my mouth as I inched closer and closer, ever step needing to be forced forward.
Where's Pops at?
The fact that my father was no where in sight only made me feel far more uneasy about the whole situation. Like he was a crouching tiger hiding in the brush or something.
I dropped my fishing supplies by the door, too scared to even touch the doorknob directly in front of me.
Part of me tempted to turn tail and run to Andrew's house... maybe the church... at least there my dad would feel obligated to go easy on me.
All of the crosses might convict him or something...
But, there was no escape, not in the long run.
Let's get this over with...
Finally mustering the courage, I cracked the door open, slower than a cautious mouse stalking a tomcat's hunting ground.
Creeeeak...
It seemed even the door hinges were determined to watch me get my just punishment.
There he was...
My father was pouring some whiskey into a glass, the ice jingling around the little empty space. He had a fresh cigar between his fingers, ash building up at the end of it.
I didn't even make it a single step inside before reality came rushing towards me.
"You wanna explain why I saw that girl runnin through the field in tears, boy?"
He took a swig of the drink, his face not reacting at all to the intense burn of the home brewed alcohol.
I sighed...
"Nothin to say, Pops. She lost my pole, I got ticked. Said stuff I shouldn't have."
He took a long and calculated breath, placed the glass on the old wooden table and droped the cigar into the full ash tray.
His hand raised to the tender spot between his eyes before he began to massage his brow.
"Tuck… There is a way us men must hold ourselves. Can't be losin our temper over things like that. Silly crap like some fishin pole gettin lost." Disappointment was laced in every one of his words.
Somehow, that hurt my feelings more than the yelling and screaming I was expecting when I walked in.
I wiped some dry mud off of my face, too scared to look him in his eyes.
"Girls are dumb anyway. Don't know nothin bout nothin, other than makeup and stupid dolls." I replied.
He ran his hand through his greasy hair, carrying the dry sweat along his forehead.
"Tucker... None of that matters right now. I gave you clear rules to follow, and you didn't. You know the consequences for hurtin someone. Specially a girl."
"I... know..."
I ended up getting exactly what I expected the moment I walked through the door.
My rear end got worn that day. Needless to say, I was glad I wore my thick pair of jean shorts...
Afterwards, it took me hours to scrub all of the moss and algae out of my hair. The bath water was freezing cold. That wasn't all bad though, considering it numbed my sore behind the longer I sat in the silence of the bathroom.
The next morning, my father tightened the top button of my only shirt good enough for church. He licked his hand before running it along the top of my messy hair, trying desperately to get the unkempt mess atop my head to cooperate in some way.
"Let's go, boy… church gonna start soon." He said, taking one last swig of his morning coffee before slamming the stained white cup down like it had offended him.
Even so early in the day, the heat could have cooked eggs on the concrete. It was almost humid enough to take a drink from the air.
I followed behind him, his tucked in white shirt wearing loose around his waist. The man really did resemble a skeleton trying his best to come across as fully fledged human.
Walking our way down the long dirt road, we approached the church in the distance, by far the largest building in all of Ferngolly Luisianna. The little town I called home for the entirity of my life.
The steeple of the church stood tall and proud, a faded cross plastered atop its chipped white structure. The outside of the building was much the same, being overgrown with vines and bushes along every wall, stained brown at the bottom with mud and thrown up dirt from years of mowing the lawn in the same exact rhythmic pattern.
Walking through the big double doors, it looked just how you'd imagine.
Old wood lined the inside walls above the faded purple carpet, the air stained a smell that I could never quite put my finger on. The alter was just two clean wooden benches on either side of a lonely podium at the end of the room. They tried to liven the place up a bit with some potted plants and flowers. Other than that, almost every square inch of the walls were cover in paintings of Jesus, crosses, and lambs. It was all pretty standard stuff for the area.
I sat down in the ancient looking wooden pew beside my father, the red cushions not providing any comfort to my sore behind.
And... I was bored out of my mind almost instantaneously. Funny how just the idea of church does that to kids. It's like a sleeping spell is cast on anyone under the age of sixteen the moment they sit down.
I was already kicking my feet, trying to see how far I could get them to hitting the pew infront of me without touching it when I saw Andrew and Dennis poking each other across the aisles. Their mothers quickly smacked the back of their heads to calm them down.
They started rubbing their heads, mumbling some kind of complaint to their moms.
Serves'em right...
I let out a soft chuckle, feeling happy to see them get some kind of payback for all the mud pies they had thrown at me the day before.
But, that short lived moment of joy was quickly shattered...
Because, that's when I noticed… her.
Charlotte stood like a statue beside, who I assumed, was her brother at the enterance of the church. She looked the exact same, all dolled up like the place she belonged truly was a big city. No matter where she was, or what she was doing, that girl always looked absolutely pristine.
Her brother was a short man, with a broad chest and a patchy beard. Unlike his sister, the clothes he wore looked thrown together at the last minute. His eyes scanned the large room, trying to find an empty space for him and his sister to sit. Probably a place where he wouldn't feel too uncomfortable, considering I had never once seen the man step foot in the church before.
But, I did recognize him... just a the slightest bit...
How do I...
I thought for a moment.
Wait!
A light bulb lit up in my mind.
That's it!
Her brother looked exactly like a co worker of my dad's. Someone I had seen in that old busted up mechanic shop whenever I would stopped by.
So that's how Charlotte got invited to my fishin trip. Her brother must've said somethin bout his sister comin to live with him to my dad!
Well, that was one mystery solved. But, I still couldn't figure out why he was at church. People who weren't regulars didn't just magically show up like that.
Maybe Charlotte begged him to take her?
Perhaps she was hoping to make a few female friends in the children's chior?
Made sense...
Charlotte tried to pretend she hadn't noticed me, looking around the air at nothing in particular. I suppose anything other than me was preferable to her. But, there was no denying the fact that we locked eyes the moment she stepped through those double doors.
At least she's tryin to avoid me... Suppose that's-
My father's hand shot high into the sky, waving towards the two out of place people standing awkwardly in the middle of the aisle.
Pops... why?
Her brothers face grew a content smile as he happily began to stroll towards us. I could see Charlotte yanking on his sleeve, whispering protests as they grew closer and closer.
Her pleas for mercy seemed to fall on deaf ears...
Her brother took his seat first, plopping himself right next to my father.
Seeing no other option, Charlotte sat beside me. The smell of fresh flowers wafted into my nose, overtaking the swamp stink that normally stained the air itself in our little town.
That's when it happened again...
That burning sensation filling up my face from the bottom of my chin to the very tip of the longest hair on my head. I started to think she might have been some kind of walking bioweapon or something.
To me, she was a poison that smelled of spring and sunshine. Worst of all, I couldn't understand why.
She slowly began to shrink into her seat beside me, her arms folded on her lap like an old porcelain doll resting on a shelf.
My dad and her brother started chatting about nonsense that didn't matter in the slightest. I wasn't really listening. Heard something about the weather I think?
I was far too occupied setting my focus on cooling down my quickly burning ears.
What is up with this girl? Somethins done wrong with her! This is-
"S-Sorry about your fishing rod…"
Her words set me ablaze...
I glanced over towards her, only to see that her face was as red as a fresh tomato, tucked between her little shoulders like a guilty puppy caught peeing on the carpet.
She looked as if it took all of the energy she had to muster up the courage to say those five simple words.
My stomach did a summersault.
My heart pounded like a stanpeed of elephants in my chest.
I looked away, hoping her wizardous spell would lose its effect if I couldn't see her directly.
"S'fine… " I said barely above a whisper, the words having to claw their way out of my throat.
I tightened my hands around my old jeans, my attempts to regain my composure failing miserably.
"H-How bout we go after church? I'll teach ya how to actually string a worm or somethin…" The words escaped my mouth without permission.
What on earth am I sayin? Why in the sam heck did I just invite her to my favorite spot?
That was the first time anything of that sort had ever happened to me. My body just simply acted on its own, without my permission. Perhaps deep down I felt horrible about losing my temper like I did. Maybe it was just the consequences I experienced somehow influencing my words. Whatever the reason, my stupid tongue acted without my authorization.
However, little did I know at the time... that kind of thing would become a regular occurrence in my life going forward.
But...
To my surprise, I didn't hear a response from her.
She didn't eagerly accept.
She didn't deny me outright.
She didn't act disgusted by the idea of touching the muddy fishing poles again.
It was just… silence.
An awkward and heavy silence that made me more uncomfortable the longer it went on for.
After a few seconds, I opened my eyes, not knowing if she had even heard what I said.
My cheeks burned with the might of a dying star when I saw her face...
Her cheeks were covered in flowing tears, those big blue eyes staring directly at me. She kept sniffling loud enough to draw the attention of the entire building onto us.
"Do you really mean that?! Really?! You don't hate me?! Honest?! Do you swear it?!" She exclaimed, her voice way louder than necessary.
I lifted my hands waving them in front of me to contain the crying creature I had unknowingly let loose onto our poor and unexpecting church.
"W-Why are you- Hey! Don't-" I mumbled.
I could feel the whole room staring at us as I cntinued to fumble through my words.
She just burst into an even worse crying fit.
As she broke down for reasons I couldn't comprehend, only one thought echoed in my mind.
Girls are scary.