Cold Mourning. Brenda Chapman

things he’d been saying. The car started to slow and he was leaning into the windshield, looking off to the right side of the road. “You girls don’t mind a little detour, now do you?” he asked. He turned the wheel suddenly onto a dirt road that she wouldn’t have noticed. “It’ll give us a chance to get to know each other better.”

      The car jolted through potholes, blowing a billow of dust skyward. Shadows whipped in bands across the car from the trees that lined the road. Lily let go of her hand and sunk lower in the seat with her face tucked into her shirt. They drove deeper into the brush. The man opened his window a few inches and she could hear the sound of the river getting louder. She turned her face toward Lily, silently begging her to come up with a plan. Lily kept her face hidden and for a moment, Sunny thought she might be sleeping but knew this was impossible.

      The car drove around a long curve and she could see the river sparkling in patches through the trees. She’d never been on this road before but knew this was the same river that went past their reserve. The car slowed and the man eased it into a clearing carved out between the road and the river bank. He shut off the engine and flung one arm across the seat back as he turned to face them. His mouth formed a straight, hard line. His pale blue eyes were shiny.

      “Which one of you cunts wants to play first?” he asked. His eyes shifted between her and Lily. “May as well start with the big one and work my way down.” He chuckled and pointed to Sunny. “You stay in the car and wait your turn.” He got out of the van and came around to slide open Lily’s door. “Out,” he said.

      Lily shook her head.

      “I said out!” He grabbed hold of Lily’s arm and yanked her from the seat. Her feet twisted backwards like a rag doll, but he kept pulling her, dragging her from the floor of the van until she was half-lying in the dirt. He picked her up from behind, arms around her waist, and dragged her further behind the van until they were out of sight. Lily screamed and kicked at the empty air the whole way.

      The noises didn’t stop even though Sunny couldn’t see them. Scuffling and a slap that echoed back to her in the van. She jammed the knuckles of one hand into her mouth to keep from crying out. Lily was in trouble and she had to do something. She couldn’t just sit and wait like the man had told her. She had to help Lily.

      She reached across the front seat and grabbed the keys from the ignition. A little metal bottle opener hung from a silver chain with five keys on the ring. She couldn’t see anything else in the van to use as a weapon. She’d jab the man with the keys so Lily could get away.

      She slid the van door open and jumped onto the ground. Crouching low, she crept the length of it until she reached the tail light. The man had his back to her. She stood and took a few steps toward him.

      Lily was on her knees and the man was standing in front of her with his back to the van. He had his hand in Lily’s hair and was pushing her face back and forth, back and forth in front of him like a yoyo. His head was thrown back so that he faced the sky and his eyes were closed. A moan came out of his mouth as if he was in pain except he was smiling. Sunny moved closer. Lily had her mouth around the man and she was making gagging sounds as he thrust himself into her. Her eyes were wide open and the whites reminded Sunny of a wild horse.

      “Harder,” the man said and he growled in his throat like an animal. “This is the only thing you Injun girls are good for. Harder girl.”

      Sunny stepped closer, ready to lunge, the keys clutched between her fingers and her hand raised to strike. She would do it even if it made the man mad. If he hit her, Lily would have a chance of getting away. Another step and Lily’s crazed eyes found her. Her right eye, which had been partially turned from Sunny, was now visible in all its horror. The blackened socket was swelling up like a burnt marshmallow. Lily tried to shake her head but the man yanked her face forward. Sunny took another step. She scanned the ground for something to hit him with. There were only leaves and twigs. She started to run toward the man’s back, her hand with the keys stretched out in front of her.

      Without warning, the man dropped to the ground, screaming like he was on fire. He rolled himself into a ball, his back arched and his legs tucked into his chest. Lily scrambled away from him on her hands and knees. She kept her eyes on him writhing in the dirt as if he were a rattlesnake that wasn’t done striking. Her mouth was sticky with saliva and she wiped her mouth on the sleeve of her shirt, never taking her eyes off the man screeching on the ground.

      Sunny swerved past him to get to Lily, who was staring at the man, frozen in place. Sunny tugged hard on her arm, frantically pulling Lily back from the panic that filled her face. Lily shifted her eyes from the man and looked down at Sunny as if she didn’t recognize her. Sunny grabbed onto Lily’s hand and tugged. They backed away, their feet feeling for footholds in the uneven ground until it felt safe enough to turn their back on him to face the brush and trees. They ran toward the riverbank. The man’s crazed screaming chased them as they scrambled through the bushes, but his footsteps did not.

      They half tumbled down the embankment, stumbling and holding onto each other, their limbs rubbery and out of control. They slid on their bums the last way down and regained their footing just before the water. The shoreline was pitted with tree roots and large rocks that they dodged past in their frantic scramble to escape. Sunny held fast to Lily’s hand, twice falling to her knees in the muck and water.

      Lily wailed deep in her throat, a keening sound of anguish. She half dragged Sunny through the weeds and water while Sunny struggled to keep her feet from slipping from under her again. They rounded the bend in the river. A stretch of beach and open water sparkled before them. Lily moved deeper into the river. She sank to her knees and plunged her face into the cold water, spitting out a long stream when she surfaced. Her black hair hung in dripping strands across her face. She staggered to her feet, crying and panting at the same time. Her legs were wobbly and the current pushed her off balance so that she rocked back on her heels, nearly falling into the faster moving water. Somehow, she stayed upright. She turned away from the shore and wrapped her arms around her stomach before hunching forward and throwing up. The sound of retching was deadened by the water rushing over rocks deeper into the river.

      Sunny didn’t move, too frightened by this Lily she had never seen before. The Lily who never backed down from a fight. The Lily who never cried. “Come back!” Sunny wailed above the sound of rushing water. “Lily, come back!”

      Lily straightened from the waist and squared her shoulders. She wiped her face one more time with the back of her hand while looking downstream from where they’d come. Then, she turned back toward Sunny and took careful steps through the water to where she stood waiting on the sandy edge. Lily’s face had settled back into its normal flat mask and Sunny felt the fear lessening. Lily took her hand. Her mouth was set.

      “Time to go.”

      “Why did he fall like that?” Sunny asked as they crossed the little stretch of sand and stone. “I didn’t even touch him.”

      “Because I bit him,” Lily said. “I would have bitten him in two if I could have gotten my mouth open wider.” She pushed the hair from her face and stopped in front of Sunny. Her right eye was nearly swollen shut. “You still have his keys?”

      Sunny looked down at her hand. She didn’t remember clutching onto them. She nodded.

      “Give them to me.” Lily reached out her hand and tucked them into the pocket of her jeans. “Come on, let’s get out of here.”

      They started up the side of the river bank. Sunny kept looking back as they climbed, imagining the man close behind them. She was starting to tire but didn’t complain. Her cheap black shoes were cutting into her feet. Lily stopped a few times and waited for her to catch up.

      “Why’d you wear those shoes today? Your runners would have been better,” said Lily.

      “I wanted to look pretty for going into town,” said Sunny. “These are my dress up shoes.”

      “You’ve started limping. Maybe you should take them off.”

      “I think I twisted my foot on a rock,” Sunny admitted.