Truth

7.Steven

Steven was beside me as I walked to school. It was his fifteenth birthday and he said the only reason I could walk with him was because dad said I wasn't allowed to walk on my own since the incident.

The incident consisted of one Friday night when I'd been allowed to go on a walk before dinner. I got distracted when I found a new footpath I hadn't seen before. There were few streetlights on and it was almost at winter time so it got dark quite late. Dad had said to be home within an hour, and I wasn't sure how long it had been, so I told myself I could go a little way then I had to turn back.

I found myself down a dusty track. I didn't pass much, but then again you barely ever passed anything anywhere where I lived. It was all spaced out and sparse. There was barely a soul to be seen between each town; the only things living were weeds or crops of some sort.

My shoes were getting dirty and all I could smell was cow shit. It was as though the air was made from cow shit.

Steven had once come home from science tuition and told me about something in biology, about how a substance emitted into an area and slowly moved into every inch of it, spacing itself out perfectly, until it was done. It had a fancy name that I could never remember. It made me think that the area I was in was a space, and the smell of cow shit had filled it, making it the only thing I could smell anymore.

It smelt rank.

So I ran.

I ran only slowly at first but the smell wouldn't go so I got faster. I kept going and going and going. I past an old goat house with no doors. I could almost see the smell running inside of it and swilling around to make sure it stank.

As I ran I could feel it fading. That or I was just getting used to it. But I kept running anyway, telling myself that eventually I wouldn't be able to smell it at all.

By the time I stopped, I wasn't sure where I was and I wasn't sure how long I'd been. I knew how to get back: just follow the cow shit road; but I had no idea where I'd run to.

The houses around me were tall, and most had wooden cladding on at least one part of them, while the rest was cobblestone.

I was late home now, I needed to get back before dad got mad. So I approached one of the houses and knocked on the door timidly.

A fat lady opened the door. She had a large face and more than one chin. She had really small eyes and brown hair in a ponytail. She wasn't particularly unattractive, but then nobody is when you're seven. She had a fitted green jumper on and baggy blue jeans. She leant down so she was nearer to me and gave me a big smile. I tried not to pull a face.

"Hello li'l man, what're you doin' here?" She asked. She had a stronger southern accent than my family, so I didn't really know what she said at first.

"I'm not allowed to talk to strangers." I said. She nodded at me as if to say I was right.

"Raised well kitten, well how can I help you?"

"I need to go home. Do you have a bike or somethin' I can borrow?" I asked. I tried to sound polite and convincing. "I can probably return it pretty quick; hopefully tomorrow."

"You won't be tall enough to ride my bike, but I could drive you home if you show me where it is. I promise you I will take you straight there." She offered.

"I don't know." I said.

"Why don't you know, honey?" She asked me.

"Well, I saw a programme on the TV, and a lady got in a car with a man she di'n't know an' she never went home. She got stuck in a ditch and went to the hospital and she went to sleep and never woke up." I explained, trying to sound mature and educated. "I like to sleep but I have school tomorrow so I don't think I can go to sleep for that long yet. Also Ellen made a cake and it looked really good so I kinda wanna try it before I don't wake up no more."

"How's this honey. I drive you home, and you tell me exactly where to go. And I will drive super slow for y'all. And as well as that, you can hold my phone, with 911 dialled in case you want to call them." She explained.

I thought this over for a minute, and weighed it up. I was stuck and didn't know how to get home particularly well, and I was late enough as it was. I wasn't likely to die. And she seemed nice enough. So I agreed.

We were driving slowly and I was directing her, (Lily, her name was) when I shouted for her to stop. I could see Steven on the sidewalk ahead. He was walking quickly looking around him as he did so. I wasn't sure what he was looking for exactly until I looked at the clock on Lily's car dashboard. I was two hours late home, it was getting dark. Steven would have been worried by now. Steven was like that. He cared about me a lot.

I wound down my window and called out to him: "Steven, y'all lookin' for me?" He snapped his eyes up and ran over, pulling open the door fast and hugging me. I was still belted in so couldn't hug him properly.

"You had me worried bud." He said into my shoulder before pulling away. "Let's go home now." He said.

Lily unbuckled my seatbelt and nodded goodbye to me.

"Thank you ma'am, for your troubles; it won't happen again." Steven explained.

"Its fine sweetie, I just wan'ed to help." Lily replied. "He run off a lot?"

"No ma'am, he was just on a walk. I came out lookin' as he was too late home." Steven said.

"You're awful smart, how old are you?" She asked.

"I'm fourteen ma'am, now I'm sorry but we've gotta get back. Our family might be worrying." Steven said quickly. "Thank you, again." He called, pushing me away and not waiting for her response.

I heard Lily's car drive away and as it had gone Steven stopped me and knelt in front of me suddenly.

"What in the world were you thinking, Rowan?" He asked me harshly. "You know you don't get into cars with strangers and you know not to stay out after the time we said to come home. You know we worry about you when you go missing and you know dad can't deal with that stress on top of everything else too. If you can't be trusted to do these things, then you can't go out on your own anymore." Steven said.

I didn't get a chance to respond as he stood up again and walked quickly, with my wrist in his clutch. We walked fast so my little legs could barely keep up, all the way up to our dirty driveway.

Steven let me go at the door so he could open it quietly, and inside I could hear dad softly snoring and country music playing from the radio in the kitchen.

I didn't get dinner that night.

I didn't get kissed goodnight either.