“She asleep?” Dylan asked, nodding toward Alex.
“Yeah,” Lucas replied, pulling up the blanket on her shoulder.
“I can’t believe she found the magazines,” Jacob groaned. “You think she'll rat us out?”
I laughed. “Nah, just don't piss her off anytime soon. What the hell did you think was going to happen? I told you not to bring them up here.”
“That was not me.” He pointed to himself. “It was that fucker over by you.”
Dylan grinned. “Please, I was doing you dickwads a favor. I’m the only one that has actually seen a pair of tits in real life.”
“Your mom’s don’t count,” I joked.
“Go fuck yourself, Austin.”
I laughed even harder, my head falling back. “Just sayin’, brother.”
“Yeah, and I’m just sayin’ you can go fuck yourself,” he chuckled back.
“You know better than to mess with Dylan’s manhood. The boy’s been kissing girls since our playground days in grade school,” Jacob chimed in.
“Someone had to show you pussies how it was done.”
We all laughed, looking over at Alex to make sure we hadn’t woken her up. It was rare not to have her prying ears listening to everything we said. We tried our best not to say vulgar things around her, but we were just boys. Things slipped out of our mouths all the time. She was innocent and a true lady. Her mama did right by her, and it shocked the shit out of all of us that our filthy mouths never rubbed off on her, especially as we got older and cusswords became a thing of the norm.
Oh and getting laid, let's not forget about that one.
“Hey, I’ll give credit where credit is due. My boy Austin here has already tongue-kissed a girl,” Dylan said proudly, squeezing my shoulder.
A few weekends before we had all gone to a girl named Stacey’s birthday party. Well, all of us but Alex, she never went to any parties. We ended up playing spin the bottle out on the beach when her parents went back inside. It was my turn to spin the bottle and it landed on Kimberly. She had braces and cut my lip. I lied to my mom telling her I bit it surfing.
“What have you done with a girl, Lucas? Jack shit,” Dylan knowingly added.
“I’m sorry I have standards and won’t make out with anything that just has tits and ass, Dylan.”
He shrugged. “You forgot curves and blonde hair. I like that shit too.”
“Does it have to be longer than yours?” Jacob goaded.
Dylan had blond hair down to his shoulders since he could walk. We all made fun of him for it. He looked like a damn girl, but they loved it.
“Just enough for me to grab onto something,” he mocked, moving his hand up and down above his dick.
“Oh, bullshit! You haven’t gotten head,” I called him out.
“Yet,” he arrogantly countered. “I know what I want out of life.”
“A girl?” Lucas asked, surprised.
“Pussy,” he simply stated.
We heard the rustling of a sleeping bag. Our heads simultaneously turned to where Alex was lying. She must have rolled over; she was still sound asleep. Once she was out, there was no waking her up.
“Which is more than I say can for you,” Dylan challenged, whispering to Lucas.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Lucas answered, taken aback.
“What do you want out of life, Bo?” Dylan baited.
“Fuck off,” he sneered.
All the boys laughed, except for me. Lucas didn’t think anyone was watching as he longingly gazed down at Alex. Knowing that all he ever wanted was her. I bowed my head, silently praying they didn’t ask me what I wanted out of life.
There was no way in hell I could give them an honest answer.
<>Briggs<>
Two years had gone by since I killed my parents.
They say that when you experience trauma, a drastic, life-alternating change, you’re suddenly forced to grow up. Become wiser beyond your years. Mature in ways that didn't make sense except to the people who may have experienced similar events.
I knew that was the case with me.
I was eight-years-old and living with my Uncle Alejandro in New York. I had been taken away from everything I had ever known and was brought there, in a city full of buildings and no one to talk to.
Home.
He moved me across the country to start a new life, a life much different than the one back home in Washington.
No warmth.
No happiness.
No love.
I had a life back there. I had everything I could ever ask for. I lived in a home full of love and laughter. Pictures lined the walls of my home. The fridge was covered with my drawings. Daisies were always on our table.
My family.
I had none of those things there.
No friends.
No family.