Chapter six
Guthrie gulped as he watched Eddie follow Alexs' brother Joey up the old oak tree. He wasn't afraid of climbing so much as he was afraid of swinging off the rope and jumping into the water.
If he thought about it though, Joey was going first and had already jumped and didn't get hurt. And Guthrie supposed it was just as easy to get hurt on the climb as it was to swinging off the rope.
He figured since he wasn't afraid to climb, he shouldn't be afraid to jump. But he'd climbed the tree before, with Ford, but he had gotten scolded for it later when Adam found out.
He remembered being a little afraid when he climbed up to that limb the first time, so he supposed it was just the unknown that was scaring him now. Nothing happened to him that time, so he figured nothing would happen to him this time.
He paused for a few more seconds, then took off his shirt and swam across to the far bank and began climbing up behind his friends.
When they all had reached the limb, Joey looked back and smiled at the younger boys.
"It's okay little McFadden. It's a piece of cake, just watch me and do what I do." Joey said, seeing fear on Guthrie's face. He leaned forward enough to reach the rope and grabbed it.
"I'm gonna dive this time, but you two just jump in feet first, got it?" Joey explained.
"Yeah. But do you think you should dive? I mean, what if you hit a shallow spot?" Guthrie asked nervously.
"That's why I want you guys to go feet first. I know just where to let go and I've already jumped and I hit the water just where I wanted." Joey explained. "Here goes nothing!" Joey leaped off the limb, grasping the rope.
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Daniel followed the path down to Guthrie's favorite fishing spot. He found the boys' fishing gear, but the boys were no where to be found.
"Guthrie!" Daniel shouted. He listened for an answer but only heard the echo of his own voice.
"Eddie!" Daniel shouted again. Listening, but hearing nothing, he began to contemplate where they may be.
He followed the creek down stream a short distance when it occurred to him that his friend Joey had been at his show the previous night and had mentioned going to the swimming hole today.
Daniel knew that Guthrie was friends with Joey's little brother and took a long shot. He walked downstream headed to the swimming hole.
He heard voices before he saw anyone. As Daniel rounded the bend of the creek, he took in the sight of his friend Joey swinging off a huge rope and diving into the water.
What the heck is that fool doing? Daniel thought to himself. He couldn't help but laugh as his friend's head pop up from the dark water.
"You're crazy, you know that?" Daniel shouted laughingly at his friend.
"Hey McFadden. If I'm crazy, what does that make your kid brother?" Joey replied, pointing up to the tree limb.
Daniel looked back up and was mortified to see Guthrie and Eddie standing on the same limb Joey had just jumped from. It must be twelve, maybe fifteen feet above the water, Daniel surmised.
" Guthrie McFadden! You get down from there! You too Eddie!" Daniel shouted.
In the tree, Guthrie groaned. "Oh great! Now I'm in for it."
"Hey, he's not the boss of us." Eddie offered. "I'm jumpin'!"
"Don't Eddie! He'll tell Adam and Adam will tell your mom." Guthrie explained.
"I'd rather ask for forgiveness than ask for permission!" Eddie stated. He reached out and grabbed the rope. With little to no hesitation, Eddie swung out over the water and let go.
"Eddie!" Daniel screamed. Everyone waited for the youngster to surface.
"Eddie Barton, you're gonna break your fool neck!" Daniel yelled. Then he looked back up at Guthrie and yelled. "Don't you dare touch that rope, Guth. I'm not playing. Get Down, now!" Daniel yelled, pointing to the ground beside him for effect.
"Just leave me alone Daniel." Guthrie shouted.
"Guthrie, I mean it. I'll go get Adam right now if you don't come down!" Daniel said.
"Come on McFadden. Let him jump. He's fine. If he were gonna break his neck, he'd have done it climbing up there." Joey laughed.
"Joey, I don't believe you! You shouldn't have let those boys get up there to start with." Daniel scolded. "If you want to get yourself killed, fine, but I would expect you to look out for my little brother. I'd sure as hell look out for yours." Daniel continued, pointing over at Alex.
"Joey let me jump earlier. It's fun Daniel. Nobody's gonna get hurt." Alex replied.
Daniel stared at Joey and Alex. He didn't know what else to say. Obviously, everyone thought he was overreacting. Maybe he was, but he'd learned some hard lessons in the last year.
Lessons that had grown him up a lot. He wasn't about to let Guthrie make a bad decision that could hurt him. But as he looked up at his little brother, he could see the desperation and fear in the boys' eyes.
Daniel figured that the kid was likely more afraid of what the other guys would think of him, rather than being afraid of getting hurt. He searched his brain trying to come up with a way to convince Guthrie not to jump, in spite of what the other boys' were going to think of him...or say about him.
"Alright Guthrie. Wait right there. I'm comin' up with you." Daniel said, shucking off his boots and t shirt. He swam over to the bank and climbed up the oak tree.
When he reached Guthrie, he could see that the boy was furious.
"Leave me alone Daniel! Why are you even here?" Daniel shouted.
"You're late. Adam got a little worried...and a lot pissed." Daniel said with a soft smile.
"I wish everybody would just leave me alone! I'm not a little kid anymore, Daniel. Adam can't tell me what to do all the time. It's not fair. I never get to do what I want!" Guthrie shouted.
"I know. He just worries. It may seem like it's just you, but he does it to all of us." Daniel tried to explain.
"Maybe Adam tells everybody else what to do, but all of you tells me what to do." Guthrie said in frustration. "And I'm not gonna let you make me look like a punk in front of my friends. You are not the boss of me."
Daniel studied his little brother for a moment. He realized talking to him wasn't gonna do any good right now. Too, he understood what Guthrie was saying.
"So, we gotta jump outta this tree to save face, huh?" Daniel said.
"You don't have to do anything. I want to jump and I'm gonna jump." Guthrie stated emphatically.
"Yeah, I do have to jump too. If I don't what's Joey gonna tell everybody about me?" Daniel asked, changing tactics.
"I don't know. Probably that you were scared to jump." Guthrie answered.
"Yeah, probably so. He'll probably say a lot more than that." Daniel replied.
"But you don't care what Joey says. You can beat the crap out of him and he knows it! Everybody down there knows it." Guthrie said.
That was just the idol worship Daniel was hoping to tap into.
"Maybe, maybe not. But I gotta do it Guth. Just like you have to do it to prove to your friends your not a wuss." Daniel said.
"I don't have to prove anything, either. I said I wanna jump. There's a difference." Guthrie replied grouchily. He reluctantly began to realize that Daniel was right. He really didn't want to jump and he really did care about what his friends thought of him.
"Well, what are you gonna do about Adam? He's not gonna like this one bit and he's the one that can ground you." Daniel replied matter of factly.
"You're not gonna tell him, are you?" Guthrie asked in surprise. Daniel wasn't a snitch.
"I guess I have to. Just like you had to tell on Evan this morning." Daniel answered. That ought to do it. Daniel thought to himself.
"Fine. What do you want? I'll do your chores for a week if you want. Just let me jump and don't say a word to Adam...or anybody else in the family. Deal?" Guthrie asked hopefully.
"Nope." Daniel replied.
"Then what?" Guthrie asked.
"I'm not making you any deals. But I do want you to let me jump first." Daniel said.
"Huh? Why? You don't even want to jump." Guthrie didn't know quite what to think now.
"Well, if I jump and don't get hurt. I'll be less afraid of you gettin' hurt. I guess I just wanna convince myself that it ain't too dangerous." Daniel replied as he reached out for the rope.
Guthrie studied his brother in disbelief. In that moment, Guthrie realized just how scared he was to jump. But he realized that he was even more afraid for Daniel to jump.
"Man, this is pretty high up. What would you say? Fifteen feet maybe?" Daniel whistled. "That ought to make a splash." He said, looking back at his little brother. Daniel was praying that Guthrie was 'getting it'.
"Daniel, don't do it. I don't want you to get hurt because of me." Guthrie begged.
"I probably won't get hurt. Whew, but if I happen to hit my head on the bottom, I hope I hit it hard enough to die instantly!" Daniel scoffed.
"Daniel! Don't say that! You don't wanna die!" Guthrie practically screamed.
"Listen Guthrie. I'm the one that's had brain damage, remember? I'm just sayin' it's not somethin' I want to live through again." Daniel said. He casually mussed the hair on top of Guthrie's head. "But here goes nothin'!" He said as he turned back toward the water.
"Daniel wait! Don't do it." Guthrie said, grabbing Daniel by the waist and gently tugging him back from the rope.
Relief washed through Daniel, but he was careful not to let his face show that to Guthrie right now.
"I won't jump if you won't." Daniel said, turning around to hug his little brother.
"I hate you Daniel! This is not fair. Now I have climb down like a little punk in front of my friends." Guthrie grumbled.
"Well, at least we'll be climbing down together. I got friends down there too, you know?" Daniel said, pointing at Joey and the two other older boys that were staring up at them.
Daniel pulled back from Guthrie and saw his eyes welling with tears. "Hey, it's alright. If you really think you have to jump off that stupid rope to save face, then we'll jump together."
"You would do that for me?" Guthrie said, wiping his eyes and staring at Daniel.
"Hey, I'd die for you. I thought I proved that to you last year, but if you need me to prove it to you again, then let's jump." Daniel replied.
Guthrie suddenly felt a million emotions at the same time. He was confused, angry, sad, but mostly he was ashamed of himself.
Daniel had risked his life to save him before and here he was, about to do it again and all Guthrie could think about was what his friends thought of him. He couldn't help it though.
Years and years of being picked on both at school and at home were welled up inside of him. He needed to talk to somebody but he didn't know how. His brothers were always so busy, they barely had time to speak to him, let alone listen to his 'silly problems.'
But he knew he couldn't let Daniel jump. He could get hurt and nothing was worse than seeing anyone in his family hurt again.
"Let's climb down, Daniel." Guthrie said, defeat clear in his voice.
"Yeah, you sure?" Daniel asked.
"I'm sure. But, could we talk on the way home?" Guthrie asked.
"I was hoping you would ask. You can talk to me anytime, buddy." Daniel answered, giving Guthrie a tap on his shoulder. "Okay, let's get out of this tree."
"Sorry guys, the show is over. The McFadden boys are going home in one peice. But if any of ya want your tail kicked, Guth and me will be more than happy to oblige!" Daniel announced, looking back at Guthrie and giggling. Thank God the kid didn't call me on my bluff! Daniel thought to himself.
Guthrie couldn't help but smile. Daniel's smile had always been infectious.
"Yeah, that's right!" Guthrie shouted down at the boys.
The boys climbed down in silence. After swimming across the creek, Guthrie noticed how non chalantly Daniel carried himself as he walked up the the group of boys. He could tell Daniel didn't give a darned what any of them thought. Guthrie wished he felt the same way.
Daniel had pleaded with Eddie to come with them, but he had refused. "Do you realize what your mother will do to me if you get hurt?" Daniel reasoned.
"I won't get hurt and if I do, it's my own fault." Eddie replied.
Daniel looked over at Joey, exasperated. "Look after the kid, will ya? And for God's sake, don't teach them any more stupid tricks...and no diving! Do you hear me Eddie?" Daniel said, exasperated.
"I won't dive. Honest." Eddie promised.
"I've got this McFadden. They'll be fine. You really need to lighten up. You used to be fun. You were the biggest daredevil of us all. What happened to you, man?" Joey asked.
"I grew up." Daniel replied simply.