BeautifulyBlue: Note: This takes place over the summer, a little while after the film festival and a month before school. It's a prequel to "Shark in the Water" but it will be awesome! : )
Cary was shoving some spare fireworks left over from the fourth of July from a year ago…or two…or even ten under his bed. His 16 year old brother Nathan was in his own room stuffing some old sweat shirts and socks into a drawer in an un-orderly fashion. Their uncle and aunt from West Virginia would be coming and so would their cousin Caleb, who had just turned 22. Cary hadn't seen him since he was four…so ten years ago. His father was at the airport waiting to pick them up.
Damn…All Cary could remember from his last summer visit was the three chasing around some neighborhood girls with frogs in their hands. Nathan walked into Cary's room as he started covering up some sparklers and un-opened packs of yet more fire crackers with jackets and folded jeans on the shelves of his closet, he struggled to reach to top shelf as he hopped to throw a pair up there,
He crossed his arms leaning against the door frame, "You need help?"
Cary wasn't the tallest of kids, unlike his brother who was about to hit 5'11", but his big personality definitely made up for it, "Nope." he finally threw the pants to the top albeit it looked like it would fall.
"Boys you done?" their mother was in the kitchen throwing pots and pans into the cabinets, "They've just entered the city limits!"
"What city?" Nathan called, mocking the towns size, Cary laughed.
"They're in Lillian! They'll be outside our door any second!"
"You got all your fire works?"
Cary walked over to his bed, lifting up the bottom of the sheet, "All right here!"
"Awesome! This is going to be the best guys night of our lives!"
Cary and Nathan were pretty close, they both shared a love of fire (as Nathan was the one to show Cary how to use a lighter) and were more of friends than brothers. Of course they argued every so often usually over the dumbest of things, mainly when Cary bugged him to death about driving him somewhere.
Their mother rain in, she was tall, blond and slim. She was currently soaked with sweat from vacuuming, scrubbing and dusting all morning, panting from all the exhaustion, she scanned Cary's room, "All done?"
"Yup."
She walked in, she seemed to hug him but she could hear her inhaling, she looked at him shocked,
"You don't smell like smoke for once." she moved his bangs feeling his forehead, "You running a fever?" she played around, her usual attempts of being a 'funny mom' "Where is my son?"
He laughed, "Been to busy helping you clean all morning. Besides I'm saving some for when Caleb gets here!" The phone rang, their mother jumped up with a yelp making them jump as well.
"Oh…the phone." she ran out, she was always obsessed with the house being 'perfect' when family arrived, which Cary found pointless since it would be a mess within the first five minutes they were there. Nathan and Cary exchanged looks at her excitement. Nathan stepped in,
"Listen, little bro," he knelt down, "I need to tell you something."
Cary raised a frightened brow, "Last time you said tha-"
"No! No!" he laughed, last time he told Cary that, it was when he almost got his girlfriend pregnant, "You can't be…hyper or…spastic when they get here. Ok?"
Cary's smile faded.
"We're not little kids anymore, we've got to show them we've grown up to-"
Cary stepped back, "Dude, you're telling me not to be me. If he's our cousin, he'll get used to it trust me."
They heard the front door open and heard their mother slam the phone onto the receiver, their dad's voice,
"Boys, look who's here!"
Nathan trotted out of the room as Cary wasn't far behind until he stopped, he saw his backpack, not for school, but for all things flammable (some he made himself)! He quickly kicked it into the corner of his closet and ran out into the living room. Behind his father were their aunt and uncle with loads of luggage, hopefully enough for the two weeks they were staying. Nathan had his arms around their aunt's neck,
"Oh it's so good to see you Nathan, I knew you'd tower over me someday!" She patted his back, she was pretty short, even Cary would be looking down at her one day. Cary walked over,
"Hey Sherri." he always referred to her by her first name. He hugged her with all the energy he had, rocking her side to side,
"Cary oh! You were the size of a pint when I last saw you and…now your older!" she joked, Cary rolled his eyes and patted her back,
"Good seeing you to."
"Hey Cary!"
His uncle had already set down his suit cases, "Hey Will!"
He hugged him, on his toes. He was tall, he knelt down, "Ahem…Uncle Will." Cary pulled back,
"Nah…"
The two laughed. His mom ran in hugging her big brother and sister-in-law. Nathan grabbed the luggage taking it to the guest bedroom,
"Where's Caleb?" Cary asked.
"He should be walking in any min-" Right on cue the front door shut, Caleb was almost as tall as Nathan, which only made Cary feel short-er.
"This place is exactly as we left it-"
"Caleb!" Cary interrupted, running over to him. It took Caleb a second but he recognized him, expecting it to be his four year old cousin. He picked him up, dangling him over his shoulder,
"Well well, my baby cousin…"
Cary playfully squirmed to get off, "Not any more!" He grabbed his hand that was holding him down, throwing it off and after landing on his feet, going for a tackle. He was too fast for Caleb and after a mini karate war, pinned him to the wall,
"Ha!"
"You really haven't changed baby cousin." He smirked, Cary forced a smile…somewhat disappointed. He'd hoped for more praise from him. Before Caleb left last time, he told him he'd get stronger.
Then again he was four…
"Nathan!" He greeted exaggerating the 'an' at the end. Cary watched as they shared a small hug. Well at least he knew someone grew up. He watched as they began sharing stories then looked into the living room to see his parents talking gleefully with Will and Sherri. Cary, not really sure what to do, folded his arms and stood behind Caleb listening to their conversation. He was about to join in with their film festival but then he heard his mother,
"Cary? Why don't you take these," she picked up two heavy suit cases, "Into the guest room? Some more of their luggage."
Cary grabbed them, but suddenly as if he had just been handed two cement blocks, they fell to the ground taking his arms with them, "Sure…" He dragged them into the room as he felt a definite knot form in his back.
After the greetings were done Cary bolted into his room with Caleb not to far behind, lifting the sheets to show what was under his bed, "So you, plus me, plus Nathan, plus fireworks equals…?"
"The best night of our lives."
Cary pointed to him, showing he got the answer right. "And all we have to do is wait until our parents get out of the house." Cary and Nathan's parents didn't mind all the fireworks (it was Caleb's) and they would hopefully sweep some ash off of the back porch before they got back. Caleb reached something out of his pocket, a coupon to a diner/bar downtown,
"Found it and it doesn't expire until tomorrow so…what why don't you get the logs ready?" he winked as he exited the room. Cary grew excited as he started dragging the tons of unopened cans and roll ups from underneath the bed,
"Cary?" His mom. Crap!
He quickly positioned himself in front of them, not knowing who's voice it was. But stood up upon seeing her, "Yeah?"
"We're gonna go out in a little while do you mind staying here with the boys?"
He scoffed delightfully, "Nope."
"Well, can we talk really quick, I just told Nathan."
His excitement went from the roof back into the pit of his stomach, he hated it when she said 'can we talk'. He was either in trouble, or someone died. Usually the first one. They sat on his bed,
"Um…Caleb's had some problems over…the past ten years…"
He tried to stay casual, many times he's tried to show his mom he can stay calm and mature. He's use any small opportunity he got, "Ok…"
"Over the past few years his…girlfriend…died."
Cary suddenly got serious, "What?" that was literally out of the blue, he'd never heard a phone call conversation or gotten a letter saying anything like so,
"Yeah." she said quietly, she clicked her tongue, "And…he didn't take it very well…he got addicted to drugs he…smoked, behind his parents back he was literally destroying himself."
Cary looked at the floor, slowly processing everything, "Oh my god…"
"He's been better. He stopped on the drugs he's taken some medication for his…mood swings and…it's like nothing ever happened."
"That's horrible…but he's ok?"
She nodded in reassurance, "Oh yes. Much much much better but…I wouldn't mention any of it…"
Cary widened his eyes "Hell no…" he cursed in front of his mom, she made a face, "Sorry."
Sherri rushed into the room, "Amy! We have to go now! They're having a dance hour from 5-8!"
Amy checked her wrist watch, "Sherri, it's 4:02."
"The earlier we get there the less seats will be taken!" She rushed back into the living room. She kissed Cary's cheek,
"Have fun with the others."
"Bye. Love you." he was still tranced by all he had just heard. His life was so much different than Cary's…then again, this was happening while Cary was still in elementary and middle school. He'd be in high school in 35 days…would his world change?
Would something like that happen to him? Would he make the same choices? No! No he would not! He knew better than that! In fucking middle school he'd seen people make the dumbest decisions on earth. He heard the front door slam and not even 3 seconds after Nathan was at his door,
"You ready?"
"Hell yes."
-X-
About three more fireworks shot in the sky, popping one by one, all golden. Cary loved the loud high pitched whistling sounds they made as they took off. The three boys obnoxiously cheered and howled like dogs as they ran for more in the (what was once large) pile. Cary, feeling like a daredevil set up four in a row and quickly lit them all at the same time.
"Holy shit!" Nathan yelled as Cary rushed back over to them, they all fired, the cracks loud enough to burst out their eardrums. They clapped and wooed the beautiful work of art. There parents had been out for about an hour and a half and the sun had finally finished setting. Caleb looked at his watch, able to see them from the light that was coming from the inside of the house,
"Ok guys it's pretty late, why don't we pack up and save it for tomorrow?"
Cary had already ran to the pile, "Dude, we haven't even gotten to the bug ones yet!"
"Exactly! We should save them for tomorrow."
Cary bunched them all into a pile into his arms and carried them inside. Nathan went to sort of kick the ashes out of the concrete and into the grass,
"Cary's got some energy huh?"
Nathan snorted, "Try living with him. Would you believe he's actually pretty smart?"
Caleb sat at the small table, "Yeah…he's still my baby cousin…and you're still-"
"Don't say it…" The dreaded nickname,
"INFERNO!"
As cool as it sounded, Nathan has had that nickname since the 1st grade. Every knew the Scott family for their love of fire, therefore came up with many nicknames for him, inferno, pyro, fire boy, flame, even ghost rider. Nathan hated nicknames to start with, thinking of them as a little more than an insult, rather it judged someone by one little trait instead of their whole personality. These nicknames soon passed onto Cary. Unlike Nathan, he loved them. He was especially fond of ghost rider. And now, Nathan did not want to be brought back some memories,
"Hey, not anymore, that's Cary's thing." he chuckled.
"Maybe." He stood up, walking over to him,
"Hey listen…I heard you and aunt Amy talking…"
Shit…
"O-Oh…" what the hell was he supposed to say? "I-I'm so sorry-"
"Dear god I don't want to hear those words again!"
"Ok I'm sor-Damn!" he caught himself (barley).
"I just wanted to let you know everything's ok…I heard what you said."
"What do you…oh."
"That…you didn't want me around Cary."
Nathan had gotten…much more information on Caleb's breakdown than Cary. He'd handle it better. He almost considered asking for them to leave Ohio earlier so he wouldn't have to worry as much.
"Well…I take that back," he sort of lied, "I trust you but…I wont exactly let Cary be…alone with you anywhere."
"Dude…I love the little brace mouth."
Cary 'coughed' loudly from right behind him, getting their attention, "For the record, I get them off in two months." he smiled wide and clear showing them off for a second before getting a pissed off look and walking back inside.
Nathan laughed as Caleb stood there embarrassed.
