Destiny Binds(2)

“What happened back there?” Jase asked as soon as we were out of earshot. I hadnʼt realized he had followed me, but I was grateful. Although, I could have done without the whole concerned hovering thing he seemed intent on doing since my little episode.

“I wasnʼt trying to hit you. You just caught me off guard.”

“I said your name like five times. You were seriously zoning.” He jumped ahead, blocking my path. “Was someone bothering you?”

“It was just some guy with a staring problem.”

Jase worked the muscles in his jaw.

“Calm down. It was nothing.” I spotted a nice flat rock in the shade and started towards it.

The lake was considerably less crowded than the surrounding shops, restaurants, and attractions A few families splashed in the water, but most people preferred the public pool, since it didnʼt have the top layer of green slime that may or may not contain byproducts from the nearby chemical plants. We had a large chunk of the beach to ourselves, which suited me just fine.

Despite assuring Jase it was nothing, the incident with Sir Stares-A-Lot had shaken me up.

Iʼve dealt with my fair share of jerks, bullies, and weirdos over the years, but none of them had ever affected me like this guy. He hadnʼt done anything but look at me a whole lot longer than was socially acceptable, yet I was genuinely frightened of him.

I would have driven myself crazy trying to convince myself that he wasnʼt, in fact, a serial rapist or mass murderer, but luckily I had my brother there to distract me.

“Iʼm going back-to-school shopping,” I said as Jase polished off the last of my banana split,

“and Iʼm going to buy antimatter, baklava, a cyanide capsule, a D&D manual, an Easy-Bake Oven, the Footloose soundtrack, a genetically modified goldfish, a harmonica, an imaginary friend, a janitorʼs uniform, a kidney off the black market, a loincloth, and...medieval weaponry.”

“Medieval weaponry?”

I gave a smug smile. Mom introduced us to the alphabet game when we were little with the purpose of keeping us entertained on long road trips. Over the years it evolved from a simple memory game to a contest to see who could come up with the most ridiculous items.

“Okay, then Iʼm going back-to-school shopping and Iʼm going to buy antimatter, baklava, a cyanide capsule, a Dungeons & Dragons manual, an Easy-Bake Oven, the Footloose soundtrack, a genetically modified goldfish named Gabe, a harmonica, an imaginary friend, a janitorʼs uniform, kidney, loincloth, medieval weaponry for with which to slay, and...” He recited the alphabet under his breath. “N. Nude photos of Betty White.” It was obvious who was winning this round.

“Thatʼs just gross.”

He threw a hand over his heart and squeezed his eyes shut as if he was trying to hold back tears. “How can you say that about my Betty? Sheʼs such a beautiful woman.” He may have gone on, extolling the virtues of naked senior citizens, but I wasnʼt listening.

The guy from the bench -- the big, scary one -- was leaning against a tree about twenty-five yards away.

“Ground Control to Major Spazz. Can you hear me, Major Spazz?”

“Huh? What?” Jase was standing in front of me. I wasnʼt quite sure when that happened.

“You okay?”

“Heʼs back,” I said, my voice a whisper for no good reason.

“Who?”

“The guy with a staring problem.” I nodded towards the small cropping of trees.

I knew by the way he called, “Iʼll be right back,” over his shoulder as he took off down the beach that he intended for me to stay where I was. I gave the idea some serious consideration before taking off after him.

“I know the rules,” Jase was saying as I approached. “This is our territory. You either fight me now or leave.”

Was he insane? This guy could have passed as the Jolly Green Giantʼs considerably less green and jolly brother. It was entirely possible he could bench press a Volkswagen. Jase would get broken into a million little pieces.



“Iʼm not leaving.”

Jase pulled himself up to his full five feet and nine inches, which was less than impressive.

“Then we fight.”

“Like Hades you will,” I said, stepping up beside my brother. “Did you wake up on the stupid side of the bed this morning?”

Jase didnʼt even look at me. “Go away, Scout. This is none of your business.”

“Iʼm not leaving until you do.”

“I think you should go, Scout.” I made the mistake of looking up when he said my name. His eyes were an unusual shade of grey, no trace of blue, green, or yellow visible.

“No, thank you.”

He stepped over to me and someone made a strange whimpering sound. Oddly enough, I felt certain it had originated from Jaseʼs throat instead of my own. The other guy was less than a foot away from me, and I had to crane my neck to meet his steel colored eyes. Being in such a close proximity caused the hair on my arms to stand on end.