Mason (4 page)

“Not if she's slumming around with Hunter. I am so not hanging with him. There isn't enough antibacterial soap in the world.”

Rene laughed. “I'll talk to her. We'll take her to the mall and have an intervention.”

Cassie rolled her eyes. “What she needs is an exorcism.”

The Autumn Carnival was a two-night celebration, held at Marchand's Riverfront Park. The park was, of course, bordered on one side by the river. On the opposite edge, a steep slope of grass rolled up to Main Street. In between were vast lawns and concrete walks lit by ornate iron lamps, running the five blocks between the Main Street Bridge and Hyacinth Street. Strings of lights lined the walks like necklaces against the sky. During the carnival, the place became a sea of people, all laughing and chatting and jostling their way from the plywood shack where they bought boiled shrimp and corn on the cob to the air gun game beneath the bridge.

The night was warm without the slightest hint of a breeze. Sweat clung to the necks of running children, strolling adults, and even the lazy folks who did
nothing more than occupy the park's benches, draining giant plastic cups of lemonade.

Rene and Cassie stood next to the Crawdaddy Shack, waiting for Lara. Rene tried to keep her mind occupied. She played with the name of the booth, mixed up the letters, and decided with some amusement that
Shawdaddy Crack
was just gross. Lara had promised to meet them at eight thirty, but it was nearing nine and there was no sign of her. Rene had already left two cell messages. When she tried to text, she got an “away” prompt. Cassie was getting restless, fidgeting with the hem of her skirt and checking her nails.

A cloud of steam from the shack rolled over them and Cassie threw her hands up. “That's it. It's bad enough Lara doesn't have the common decency to call us, but I refuse to smell like a boiled mud bug for the rest of the night.”

“You're right,” Rene agreed. “Let's make a lap or two.”

They left the shadow of the booth and stepped into the parade of people on the walk. Though it was only Friday night, the carnival was packed, and moving through the crowds was difficult. A big man with a beard running halfway down his chest bumped into Rene, nearly sending her to the concrete. He called
“'Scuse me” over his shoulder and vanished in the tide of people.

“Charming,” Cassie called after the guy. She grabbed Rene by the shoulder and stabilized her. “Lame-ass ox.”

“Do you see anyone from school?” Rene asked.

“Nah,” Cassie said. “Eric told me everyone's down by the bridge. A bunch of seniors are hanging by the haunted house until nine, and then they're doing the carnival until it gets dusty. After that, everyone's red carpeting Frank's.”

“Maybe Lara's there,” Rene said.

“And maybe she's out doing crystal with Hunter Wallace.”

“Lara's not that stupid.”

“Of course she is,” Cassie said with a laugh. “Honey, Lara's about as stupid as they come these days. And I'm over it.”

“She's our friend.”

“Check your definition. Friends don't blow you off. They don't lie to you.”

“Lie?”

“What time did she tell you she got in the other night? You know, when her parents grounded her?”

“Midnight.”

“That's crap,” Cassie said angrily. She looked around the crowd. No one seemed to care what she was saying,
so she kept saying it. “Little miss boy crazy didn't get in until after three.”

“Three?” Rene exclaimed.

“Mm-hmm.”

Rene didn't know what to say.

“And,” Cassie said, “she made a scene with her mama when she came in.”

“How do you know all of this?”

“Her mama called mine. Now I'm not supposed to hang with Lara anymore. And quite frankly, I see no reason to get myself in trouble if she's going to be acting all trailer trash. We have enough girls in school like that. They aren't on my A-list, so I see no reason for Lara to be on it either.”

“God, I don't believe this. We have to do something.”

“Well, here's your chance.”

Rene followed Cassie's gaze and found Lara across the lawn, leaning against a light pole, laughing hysterically. Hunter Wallace stood next to her, smirking through his thin beard. His tattooed forearms were crossed over a Shadows Fall concert T-shirt, and a cigarette burned between two fingers. Lump Hawthorne was at Hunter's side with his arm around Tara Mae Holloway, who was six months pregnant with Lump's baby. Lump screwed the cap onto a large metal flask and handed it to Tara Mae, who lunged for the container.
And Ricky Langham, looking like a yuppie who'd gotten lost and ended up at a redneck party, completed the group. He was almost handsome, except his features were too sharp and his eyes were too cold. The Bluetooth earpiece for his cell phone rested against his head as always, making him look even more mechanical, like an android created to impersonate a teenager. The five stood in the bath of light from the tall lamp, looking like a Department of Education poster warning teens away from just about everything.

“What does she think she's doing?” Rene whispered, watching Lara grasp the lamppost tightly and spin low like a stripper about to kick her show into overdrive.

“She thinks she's having fun,” Cassie replied. “And I think we'd best leave her to it.”

“She's trashed.”

“Fully loaded,” Cassie agreed. “Which is an excellent reason to be very far away from here.”

“Cassie. God, she's our friend. We can't just leave her.”

“Can and will,” Cassie said. “If you want to answer her cry for help, be my guest, but I highly suggest you leave it alone until she's de-iced and can think straight.”

Hunter noticed Rene staring and took a drag from his cigarette. He released the smoke and let it ooze from his lips in a thick cloud that hung over his mouth and nose. A moment later his tongue shot out and
flicked up and down to disperse the smoke. He chuckled and put the cigarette between his lips before grabbing Lara around the waist and pulling her close.

Disgusting
, Rene thought.

“Charming,” Cassie said, grasping Rene's arm. “Come on. Let's go see what the civilized people are doing. We'll leave these lovely folks to their monster truck pulls and some romantic inbreeding.”

Rene took Cassie's hand off of her arm gently and pulled away. “I'll catch up in a minute.”

“Do not go over there,” Cassie warned.

“I'm just going to make sure Lara's okay.”

“Rene, honey. You cannot fix this. Not tonight.”

Rene smiled to put Cassie at ease and stepped onto the grass. “I wouldn't even try. I'm just going to talk to her for a second. You go ahead. I'll meet you at the bridge.”

Despite the happy face she gave Cassie, Rene was terrified of walking up to Hunter's gang. The grass squashed under her feet, but instead of feeling soft and comforting, it felt as if it might give way any second and suck her deep into the ground. The noise at her back no longer filled her with excitement, but rather seemed like the perfect cover for her screams. Hunter saw her coming first, and he slapped Lump Hawthorne's shoulder. Lump looked up, seeming a bit dazed, but once he saw Rene coming, his eyes
cleared and grew soft.

Lump had had a crush on Rene in the eighth grade. At the time, she had thought the thick-necked boy was sweet, if a little rough around the edges. He'd tried so hard to impress her back then, she'd almost felt bad for him. He'd even asked her to a movie once but was so nervous, he mumbled, “Never mind,” and ran away before Rene could answer.

As for Lara, she swung on the pole again and whipped herself back into Hunter's grasp. She saw Rene on the grass and her eyes grew wide.

“Girrrrrl…FRIEND!” she shouted.

Rene's cheeks burned red with embarrassment for Lara. Hunter just laughed and Lump scratched his head with one hand while drawing Tara Mae to his chest with the other. Tara Mae eyed Rene suspiciously, perhaps knowing about Lump's long-ago crush, perhaps just jealous of a girl who wasn't going to spend the next two decades raising a child.

Lara let go of the lamp and raced forward in a stumbling, lopsided run, reminding Rene of the Scarecrow from
The Wizard of Oz
. She had to admit, Lara could use a brain about now.

“Rene,” Lara said too loudly. “Oh God. Oh God. I'm, like, so glad you're here.”

Rene held Lara by the shoulders to keep her from collapsing on the grass. She tried to keep the smile
pasted on her face so Lara wouldn't freak.

“How's it going?” Rene asked.

“Oh God. So much fun. So fun.” Lara cackled crazily and swung out her arms. “Isn't the carnival great?”

“Yeah,” Rene lied. “Let's take a walk. We'll find Cassie and get some drinks.”

She had to get Lara away from Hunter.

“Totally!” Lara shouted. “Totally. Let's get Cassie.” She stumbled forward, pulling Rene off balance. When she righted herself, she gripped Rene's shoulder with both hands and spluttered laughter in her ear. “Oh. Oh wait. We have to wait for Hunter and the guys.”

“We'll be back,” Rene said, urging Lara forward. “We'll just get Cassie.”

“No,” her friend said, stopping dead in her tracks. “We have to get Hunter.” Lara started laughing again. “He's my man.” Then, thinking she was whispering but still talking way too loud, she said, “He's huge. My God. So huge. Come on. I'll show you.”

That was all Rene could take. Her cool snapped and she spun on Lara, grabbing her shoulders and shaking her. “Stop it,” she said. “Just stop! Do you have any idea how much of an ass you're being?”

“What?” Lara was totally surprised. “I'm just having fun.”

“You call this fun?”

Lara's eyes sparkled as if her thoughts were bits of light passing over them. Then, in a split second, the lights went out. Her jaw clenched tightly, and her brow furrowed. She yanked herself out of Rene's grasp. “I should have known you'd start this crap. God. Hunter was so right about you.”

“I don't care what that loser thinks,” Rene said. “You're hurting yourself and I'm not going to just sit back and watch it.”

“Sure you are,” Hunter said. He stepped between the two girls and glared down at Rene like she was an insect he wanted to crush. Behind his beard, Hunter's mouth was fixed in a threatening sneer. “I'm the ringmaster of this
loser
circus. Your friend here is the main attraction, so kick back and enjoy the show. Or move your ass on. Otherwise you might just get fed to the lions.”

“Leave her alone,” Rene said, trying to step around Hunter to reach Lara. But Hunter moved quickly, sliding to the side and blocking Rene's progress.

“Seems to me you're the one in trouble here. Not her.”

Rene felt a sting of panic. She faltered and stepped back.

“You call me a loser?” Hunter asked, shoving a hand deep in the pocket of his jeans. “I don't think you have a clue exactly how much there is to lose in this world.
Maybe your mama and daddy would like me to stop by for supper one night.”

As he spoke, Hunter withdrew the handle of a gun. The sight of the weapon unnerved Rene further.

“Now, why don't you be a good little thing and haul your ass back to the kiddie park? Because if you stay here, you are in for some serious hurt.”

“Yeah,” Lara barked. She sounded like her mouth was full of rocks when she spoke. “You belong at the kiddie park. Everything is nice and safe and boring. Go play on the merry-go-round, little girl. You can't handle the real world. You can't handle anything. You just want everything to stay the same. You don't want anyone to grow up because you're so damn scared to grow up yourself.”

Needles of fear worked in her chest. Rene stepped back out of Hunter's shadow. She looked at Ricky Langham, who watched the scene with a blank face, one hand on his earpiece as if he were trying to hear an important call. Tara Mae Holloway grinned as she pushed into Lump's side and wrapped an arm around his body. Lump dropped his eyes, looked at the lawn as if ashamed. Lara glared at her. It was the most hateful look Rene had ever seen, and it drove the needles deeper into her body.

We were friends
, she thought.

Turning away, Rene tried to keep her cool. Tried to
keep from crying. She wouldn't run. No. Hunter would like that. He'd groove on the idea she was fleeing in terror. She felt him behind her. Hatred rolled off him in waves; it crashed over her shoulders and pushed her across the lawn, toward the carnival—toward all of the noisy people having so much fun.

 

Cassie and the other kids weren't under the bridge when Rene arrived. She stepped beneath its shadow and looked around. A long line had formed in front of the House of Dread. Children and teens, tickets in hand, queued up between ragged white ropes ready to enter the giant mouth of a devil painted on the front of the building. Miranda Bocage was there, giggling and leaning on the shoulder of a tall, blond-haired man who looked ten years older than she was. He leaned in and kissed her, and once their lips parted, Miranda quickly searched the crowd with her gaze, probably hoping Eric Crawford was around to see her. But Eric wasn't there and Cassie wasn't there. Besides Miranda and her date, Rene saw families and couples, smiling and eating funnel cakes from a cart. No sign of the kids from school.

It didn't really matter, though. Her night was already ruined. She didn't even bother using her cell to call Cassie. She'd rather just go home.

Did Lara really think that Rene was afraid to grow
up? Or was she just pissed off that Rene wasn't as eager to do it?

It was the drugs
, Rene told herself as she wandered back into the lights of the carnival. She felt so bad that she kept her head down. The laughter from the people seemed muffled as if coming from under water. The bells and music of the booths, even the alarms that sounded when somebody won a cheap stuffed animal, rang flat and dull. Occasionally she looked up, hoping to see Cassie or some other friendly face. But all of the people looked the same to her. Just smears of features hovering above shambling bodies, like extras in a zombie movie.