I always tiptoe carefully over the patches of clover that KC doesn’t even look at. I breathe in the smell of fresh pine from the construction site down the road while KC curses about the heavy fumes put out by the local traffic. I skip. KC drags foot. KC knows how to be cool. Where ever KC goes, I go too.

“It ain’t good for the environment.”

“Right,” I agree. “Not good.”

“Or humans. That’s why there’re so many people with cancer these days.”

“Right.” I take in another breath of the air and wonder if pine also gave people cancer.

“This whole place is a shithole. I can’t wait to leave.”

“Can we get ice cream?”

“Why do you always want ice cream?”

“Because it tastes nice”

“Maybe later.”

“I’m going to get Tamarillo, it’s the best”

“You always get Tamarillo.”

“That’s because it’s the best.”

KC sighs. “I’m bored, there’s nothing to do in this place.” KC stops, thinks for a moment and then looks at me as if daring me to ask if we can get ice cream again. It’s one of KC’s tests. I know the best way to pass is to not reply at all, so I just shrug. KC seems satisfied.

“Let’s go to the river.”

“Okay.”

We’re half way through the forest when something catches KC’s eye. “What’s that?”

“What’s what?”

“That.”

KC reaches down and picks up a dark object from beneath the dried leaves. It’s a handgun.

“Cool.” KC points it at me.

I freeze.

KC grins. “Wanna play Russian Roulette?”

“No.”

KC shrugs as if not caring either way, points the gun at a nearby tree, and pulls the trigger. The gun clicks. Nothing else happens.

“Huh?” KC turns the gun and peers down the barrel.

“Where did it come from?” I ask.

KC shrugs. “I dunno. Probably someone threw it away.”

“Why would someone throw it away?”

“Maybe they committed a crime and it’s evidence.”

“Shouldn’t we take it to the police?”

“What would they do with it?”

Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

“I dunno.”

KC sits down on a nearby log and studies me.

I don’t like the way KC is looking me. That look always means KC is thinking of some new game. I don’t always like the games.

“You’re gonna be a real looker when you’re older, you know that?” KC says.

I shake my head. I don’t understand what that means.

“Come over here.” KC motions to the empty space on the log.

I sit down next to KC.

“Hold out your hands.”

I do what I’m told.

KC wraps my fingers around the handgun. “You know how to use one of these?”

I shake my head.

“You peer down the barrel and you line the sights up like this.” KC shows me how to do it. “Then you pull the trigger, and bang.”

“But it’s broken.”

“Doesn’t matter. Now you know what it feels like. Everything’s different once you’ve held a gun.”

I nod vigorously even though I’m not sure what is supposed to be different.

KC takes the gun back, sighs, and stands up. “Let’s go and get ice cream.“ KC waves the gun in the air. “Maybe we can get it for free.”

“Isn’t that stealing? Besides, I don’t want to scare them. Mr Millar’s always nice to us, and they know where we live.” My words fall over one another in their rush to get out.

“Relax, I was just playing.” KC pockets the gun and starts walking.

I get Tamarillo, like I always do. It’s the most beautiful red colour and it’s unique to our town, nowhere else makes it. KC gets vanilla and pays for both of us. I smile as we walk down the street. I can hear the seagulls squawking an afternoon chorus overhead even though we’re not even close to the sea. KC calls them the rats of the sky.

We’re a third of the way across the road and almost home. There’s an unfilled pothole and I’m too focused on making sure my ice cream doesn’t drip. I catch my foot on the edge and stumble. A car horn blares. The tarmac turns red.

KC helps me to my feet as someone shouts at us. There’s another car horn, a little more distant, as I stare in dismay at my dropped ice cream.

“It’s okay. Here have mine.” KC hands me a vanilla ice cream.

The driver presses his horn again. KC gives them the fingers.

Traffic’s piling up, all two cars of it. It’s gotta be the most cars main street has ever seen at once.

I start on with getting across the rest of the road.

The driver revs his engine.

I panic and nearly lose this ice cream too and next thing you know KC is at the driver’s door, wrenching it open.

There’s a short altercation but the driver apologises and then we flee before the town cop shows up. He knows us and would be disappointed to find KC in “yet another altercation.” It’s his favorite catchphrase. Everyone knows everyone around here but he won’t bother chasing us up if he doesn’t see us now.

I find a marble in the grass on the way home.

“Look!” I show it to KC.

“That’s nice.” But the enthusiasm isn’t there.

I stare at it while we walk. It’s a green-aqua sort of colour. A catseye. Not rare but I stare at it fascinated anyway. How do they get the swirls in there? The shape reminds me of ice cream.

“Come on. You’ll fall over again if you keep looking at that thing.”

I put it in my pocket. It has a special kind of weight there, like I have a secret no one knows about. Even though KC sees me do it.

When I catch up KC sticks a dandelion behind my ear and flashes me a quick smile.

Our toes aim kicks at tiny rough rocks sending them twisting through the air, then skittering over loose pavement, and finally down into the drain. Onward we stroll.

Mum is back early and she’s yelling at lazy cousin Jay again. Jay’s been sleeping on our couch for almost a month now. Apparently these are hard times or so cousin Jay says.

KC and I wait outside until mum has cooled off so she doesn’t turn her anger on us too. We’re late home and she can always smell the ice cream on us somehow. It spoils our appetites for dinner she says.

When we hear her head out back to get the laundry down we sneak in to join Cousin Jay on the couch. Cousin Jay takes up a lot of space. That’s one downside to us all being such good hosts but at least we get to watch the good shows. Cousin Jay knows the best ones.

“Shh, don’t tell yer mam.” Jay turns the volume down so as not to arouse too much suspicion.

She’s back in sooner than expected but she stays busy in the kitchen for awhile and we get to keep watching the movie. Cousin Jay offers us a bit of brownie half way through but just as we’re about to take it Dad gets home. We retreat to our rooms. There’s some more yelling, most of it directed at Cousin Jay, and then mum calls dinner. The ending remains unknown to us.

“Maybe we could go fishing tomorrow,” KC suggests at bedtime.

“With what?”

“We could try shooting the fish, see if that works.”

“But the gun’s broken remember?”

“Oh yeah.” A sigh and then, “Well, maybe it just needs bullets.”

“Where are we going to get bullets from?”

“I dunno. But anyway, we should go fishing tomorrow. And maybe for a swim too. Gotta make the most of summer while we still can.”

I nod. “Do you think we can get ice cream again tomorrow?”

“Nah,” KC teases, then “Yeah, why not?”