My Brother's Grave

Chapter Four

 I was completely soaked by the time I finally got to where I was going. It was the same place where I always went to hide. Black Ridge Pond. It was hidden deep inside Black Ridge Canyon; the park was gigantic and only a mile away from my apartment building. One time I brought Johnny, Cade and Lane to see it on Lane’s birthday. Johnny had planned a picnic and he said that I could choose the spot. Johnny didn’t like when I went down to the pond by myself so I told him I would only ever go if I brought a friend with me.

The thing that I never told Johnny was that I didn’t have friends anymore. The only friend I had, Jay Reynolds, ditched me when we got into middle school. He and everyone else in my school chose me to be one of the objects of their cruel name calling and teasing. Even though I was kind of a class clown at the time, and could make anyone laugh if I really tried, they all still said that I was odd. Maggie Ann’s youngest sister was one of my classmates and I swear, she was almost as bad as her older sister.

Since no one cared to be my friend any longer, I lied to Johnny and told him that Jay and I were still best friends. And whenever Johnny asked me to have Jay come over, I would make up some excuse as to why he wasn’t ever available. I don’t know if Johnny ever figured out that I was lying to him, I’m sure he probably did, but he seemed to let it go.

I dropped my dripping umbrella, and it landed on the soggy ground with a SPLAT. I brushed my wet hair out of my face and caught hold of the thick tree branch. The oak tree that leaned over the pond was my favorite tree to climb. The branches were spaced just far enough apart that I could stand up and climb onto the next arm of the tree with ease.

My favorite place to sit was on the tree branch that grew out over the pond, so I could sit and stare into the water for hours. The only downside was that the branch was a bit flimsier than some of the others and when the wind really picked up, it wasn’t so fun anymore.

I scooted myself along the tree branch until I was sitting on my favorite spot, over the pond. Black Ridge Pond was not as small as it sounds. It was a deep marshy body of water that stretched about fifty yards across. Cat tails grew tall on one end, while moss and slime dominated the other. The water itself was an inky green that sometimes didn't seem so friendly. But I liked to watch the frogs and fish and other animals. I liked how serene and secluded it was. It was almost like I was the only person to ever discover it, even though I knew that I wasn't. I thought the rain would let up by the time I got to my spot, but it kept coming down in short bursts of light sprinkling.

"Tommy!" I heard my name being shouted and knew exactly who it was. Cade. Johnny was more worried about me than I thought. Johnny usually sent Cade to come and get me if I was mad at him, which happened about once every two weeks. But this time, Johnny showed up too.

"Tommy where are you?" Something was wrong. Johnny didn't like coming to Black Ridge. He wasn't too keen on being out in the wilderness like I was. Back then, if you asked me to climb anything, I'd do it. I loved dares, I even liked daring myself to do things that I was scared to do. Dares... my one stupid weakness.

"I'm right here!" I called back as a gigantic gust of wind caused the branch that I was sitting on to move up and down viciously. I gripped the trunk of the branch so hard, I could feel my knuckles turning white. I gasped as I looked around. Why had I been so stupid? Autumn came so fast that I sometimes forgot how quickly it got dark. I shivered as the harsh wind began thrashing me around in the trees. I could feel my grip loosening.

"Johnny!" I cried. "I'm gonna fall!" My voice was carried off by the wind as a new sheet of rain knifed through the air, stinging my soaking skin. I heard heavy footsteps crashing through the trees, and suddenly Johnny and Cade were pushing their way into the clearing. "John I think I'm gonna fall," I whimpered, hugging the tree branch with all of my might. I stared helplessly at my older brother, whose face was as white as a ghost.

"Don't worry," Cade called up to me, "I'm going to come and get you!" Cade was well aware of Johnny's aversion to heights, water, and everything else outdoors-y. My eyes never left John's, but I could see Cade climbing up to me out of the corner of my eye.

"You can stay with me Tommy, I changed my mind!" Johnny called up to me. Despite trying to hug the life out of a tree, I laughed.

"You mean it?" I asked. Cade was getting closer, but the wind was becoming stronger. John nodded his head seriously and I could see him smiling through the pouring rain.

"Life would be too boring!" Johnny cupped his hands around his mouth so that I could hear him over the sound of the rain and wind. Tears were beginning to fall from my eyes, and my heart was pounding in my chest, I could feel it pulsing throughout my body.

"Tommy," Cade shouted from just below me. I was about to respond, when a gust of wind blew through the trees, stronger than before. I heard a deafening CRACK as I was tossed from side to side like a rag-doll. The branch split and I dropped forward a little. The necklace I was wearing around me neck, the one my brother bought for me when I was born, slipped off my neck and dropped into the pond.

"Johnny!" I shrieked, staring down into the water, which now resembled an inky abyss. "I didn't mean what I said!" I called out.

"I know!" John called back, but it sounded like a whisper in comparison to the howling wind.

"Tommy?" Cade called, his voice calm. He was gripping a branch below me, his hand was held out in my direction, beckoning me to come toward him. "You have to slide forward so I can grab onto your hand." I shook my head.

"I can't do it. I'm scared," I wailed, clutching onto the wood with all of my might. I could feel Johnny's eyes on me, so I looked down. My big brother was shaking, and I know it wasn't because he was cold. Even to this day I think it was because he knew what he had to do.

"I dare you!" he screamed up at me, raising his voice over the torrential rain. My eyes shifted to Cade who was nodding encouragingly, stretching his arm out to me even further. I slowly began to scoot myself toward safety. I heard the branch crack again and I froze. I couldn't move anymore. It was like I was paralyzed. I moved my hand towards Cade's and tried to grab onto the tips of his fingers. I'd just managed to touch Cade's calloused fingers when the horrible sound of splintering wood filled my ears.

Suddenly I was falling. Cade was getting further and further away. I opened my mouth to scream, but the sound was carried away by the shrieking winds. Hitting the water at first, felt like I'd fallen onto concrete, but then I was sinking, being dragged down by the branch itself. I could feel the slimy water filling my lungs and all I wanted, more than anything else, was to be able to breathe. To inhale a breath of cool, dry air.

One of the things that I remember the most, is being surrounded by pandemonium one second, and the next, being immersed in overwhelming silence. I tried to kick away from the heavy branch and swim upward, but my right leg was caught in between the branch and the bottom of the scummy pond.

I was aware of this horrendous sense of loss at the thought of never seeing Johnny's face again. I don't know how long I struggled underneath the tree branch before I decided to give up. My lungs were being starved of oxygen and I felt more tired than I ever remember feeling in my life. I was moments away from succumbing to the blackness that signaled death, when I felt a hand grab onto my drifting arm.

Someone was pulling me upward, trying to free me from my watery prison. I opened my eyes and squinted into the sludge. Johnny was staring at me desperately. I don't know how he was able to free me, but I remember him lifting the wood off my leg and pushing me up toward the surface. As soon as I felt the cold air on my face, I was lifted out of the water and dragged to shore.

Cade laid me on the sopping, sandy ground and swam back into the pond. Comprehension hit me like a bag full of potatoes and I felt a scream rise from my throat. Johnny couldn't swim. Why had Cade let him save me? I wanted to scream and cry, but I was still coughing water out of my lungs and breathing heavily. I tried to sit up, but my energy had been depleted for the day. I laid back, allowing the rain to fall freely onto my purple-ish skin. I could hardly think or feel anything as my eyelids slid shut and I fell into a deep un-dreaming sleep.