Lover's Journey Series Books 1-3

Dawn-1

DawnIT WAS HOT LIKE HELL and I was full. I’d stuffed my face in what always seemed like a race: gulp down all the food my grandma put in front of me, drink some water, take a quick piss, and run outside again. No time to waste. Every day brought me closer to the inevitable: school would start again. There was never enough time to enjoy my freedom.

I stepped through the doorway—the door itself was removed in the summer. Long strands of colorful plastic were the only thing separating the outside from the inside of the summer kitchen. They were there to keep the flies away, but failed more often than not. I jumped over the sidewalk and into the thick grass covering the yard all the way to the vines crawling up rusty iron frames. The frames and my grandma’s handiwork guided the vines up and all the way across to the roof. They gave a little shade, along with the huge plum tree, enough to make the afternoons and mornings bearable. Not enough to brave a meal outside at lunch time though. July was just too hot for that.

Burnt by the sun, the grass had lost its vibrant green color, yellow tinging the edges of the strands. It still wasn’t as hot as the concrete of the sidewalk. I walked slowly through it, enjoying the sensation of it brushing against my bare feet. Ah, this was the life! Wearing nothing but a pair of battered shorts all day. I’d only throw on a T-shirt in the late evening when it got cooler, maybe even don my flip-flops to make sure I didn’t step in any goose s**t by mistake.

I loved summers at my grandma’s. Total freedom to roam all day long, no nagging, no frowns over who I played with. So much more relaxed than my other set of grandparents! They were teachers and had an image to uphold. There, I was required to stay inside, work on never-ending homework, and not play with anyone of a lower station. Unfortunately, the only boys my age in that stupid village were some gypsy kids and the daughter of the guy who took care of the village’s cattle; not very impressive families. So it was no surprise my grandmother on my father’s side called her son in tears, fearing I’d run away with that snotty girl. Like I wanted to! I was ten for god’s sake. If the village weren’t so poor in children my age, I wouldn’t have been caught dead near a girl.

I was older now, though. I was eleven. And thanks to my parents’ divorce, I came to spend the summer here, with my mom’s mom. I didn’t even sulk for two days before coming here. Sure, it sucked we had to take the train—three long hours in an oven on wheels. When we went to the other grandparents, my dad drove us there. We’d first come here for always-too-short visits, and then they’d drop my ass at my summer-long prison. Twenty kilometers between total boredom and this heaven on earth.

As I got closer to the gate, I heard voices and the unmistakable thump and bounce of a ball being kicked around. I perked up and started walking faster. One of the voices was definitely that of Tatiana, my neighbors’ granddaughter. One of the many they had. Maybe I’d get to play with her and whoever else was there.

The gate screeched loudly when I pulled it open, announcing my approach. Not that anyone cared. Two boys where playing in the middle of the road—our favorite playground—while Tatiana was laughing at them and taunting. She was sitting on the bench next to her grandparents’ gate. It was the best bench on this side of the street. Shaded by a huge sour cherry tree, large enough to sit three or four kids, and if you stood up on it, you could reach the fruity goodness on the lower hanging branches.

Tatiana was bent forward, enthralled by the boys’ game. Her feet were dangling in the air, she was too short to reach all the way down. Like us boys, she wasn’t wearing a top. She wasn’t even wearing shorts, just a pair of bright white underpants that stood out against her dark tanned skin. She was way too young to have anything to cover anyway. Her shoulder length hair was messy and some strands kept getting into her mouth as she spoke. I probably would have had the same annoying problem if my hair hadn’t been pulled back in a tight ponytail.

“Edi!” Tatiana yelled and jumped off the bench, running all the way to me and jumping in my arms.

I caught her, barely, and managed not to fall on my ass. I wanted to scold her, but I secretly was pleased by her warm welcome. I didn’t have any siblings, and her almost worshiping me made me feel like a beloved older brother. Like the guys in the anime I sometimes watched at my best friend’s house back home.

“What you doing, squirt?” I ruffled her hair and let her slide down. She put great effort into holding on, but she still slithered all the way to the burning sidewalk.

“Nothin’, just watchin’ these two bozos play. They won’t let me play with them,” she said, shrugging dejectedly and pouting.

I laughed and put my arm around her shoulders and walked her back to the bench. “It’s too hot anyways. I’ll play with you later.”

“You will? Yay!” She started jumping around me and didn’t stop long after I’d sat down.

Once Tatiana settled, I looked at the boys playing in front of us. One of them was her cousin, Nicu. Older than her, but a couple of years younger than me. The other boy I didn’t know. He was clearly older and he looked all put together. For one, he had shoes on. His T-shirt was still on too, which seemed stupid to me. It was hot and he’d only soak it in sweat while kicking the ball.

I took him in, observing the way his muscles bulged as he strained to kick the ball back into Nicu’s court. They were playing a game we called foot tennis. I’d never gotten the name but sure as hell loved it. It was played in a sort of a simplified tennis court. No net though, nobody had that! We’d just draw it with some chalk on the road. Or even a broken brick when we ran out of chalk. Up to three people could play on one team, but most times we played one on one. It meant we didn’t need to bother to draw very large fields for it.

The older boy missed and the soccer ball went right by him, stopping in the ditch in between the road and the sidewalk. The geese it disturbed protested loudly, but they settled fast. It was too hot to chase the kids, I suppose.

“Go get it,” the boy said, propping his hands on his hips and smirking at Nicu.

“Oh, come on, Robert! It’s your fault, you go get it.” Nicu crossed his arms over his chest and stood his ground. I nodded inwardly, he was in the right.

“It’s too hot, I don’t want to run around after your stupid ball.”

“I don’t want to either,” Nicu shot back, a whiny edge to his voice.

“Fine, then I don’t wanna play anymore,” Robert said, calm and still grinning mockingly at Nicu.

“No, you said you’d play with me!”

“And you said you’ll be the one running after the ball.” Robert shrugged and made to leave the makeshift court.

“No, wait! I’ll go get it,” Nicu said, already running past Robert and heading for the ball. The geese ran out of his way, making those god-awful noises that grated on my nerves and fluttering their wings.

What a big jerk. I frowned at the new boy and he must have noticed because he tilted his head and stared at me. His smirk still in place, he winked before returning his attention to the game.

“Who’s that other kid playing with Nicu?” I asked after bumping my shoulder into Tatiana’s to get her attention.

“That’s our cousin, Robert,” she said, smiling all adoringly at him. “He’s from Bucharest.”

I rolled my eyes at that tidbit. Just great, another brat from the capital! The other Bucharest kid was staying with the neighbors on the other side of my grandma’s house. He was full of himself, he had a funny walk, and I wanted to punch him right in the face every time I saw him. What was it with these kids from the Capital, anyway? They thought they were better than the rest just because of the city they’d been born into.

Robert and Nicu played until the younger one was thoroughly defeated. Nicu begged Robert for a rematch, but he refused. Holding the ball against his right hip, he turned to face me. “What about you, kid? Wanna be the next one I beat?”

I wanted to tell him where to shove that ball of his, but I stopped myself. I probably shouldn’t get into another fight. I might be shipped to the other grandparents for the rest of the summer. Or worse, get my ass kicked by this older kid.

“Nah, too hot to play now anyways.”

“Are you a chicken?” Robert asked. His mocking tone angered me, but not as much as his stupid cousins parroting the “chicken” part and laughing at me. I glared at him and then at Tatiana. I didn’t care about Nicu, but her taking her cousin’s side stung. Well, he was family, but still. He’d refused to play with her. The snotty traitor!

“Fine, you ass. I’ll play.”

I pushed myself up and dragged my feet through the grass. I jumped over the ditch and walked to the middle of the court side Nicu had been in. The bastard Robert had the advantage, I had the sun in my eyes.

I’d watched them play, though. He’d beaten Nicu because he was stronger and a bit faster. But he had no finesse with the ball. I spent most of my time outside, running and playing. Somehow, this smug pretty boy seemed to be into different things. Probably kissing girls and going to the movies and other stupid s**t.

He acted all nice and let me serve. I took full advantage of it and showed him what I was made of. I beat him easily after that. Robert was more concerned with talking to his cousins than paying attention to the game. I took it as an offense. He wanted to blame the loss on him being distracted. Ass!

“Rematch?” he asked all bored when the game ended.

“Nah, I promised Tatiana I’d play with her. C’mon, squirt, let’s play.”

She screeched in delight and pushed her cousin out of his side of the court. “C’mon, lemme serve, Edi!”

I let her win, of course. I always did that with Tatiana. I then let her climb on my back and carried her to the bench. She lied down, her head in Robert’s lap and her feet over Nicu’s legs and giggled.

“Looks like there’s no room for you here,” Robert said, his smirk making me want to punch him.

I glared for a second, but shrugged it off. I leaned against the tree in front of the bench and sighed deeply. “I’m not an old man like you. I can stand right here.”

To my surprise, Robert laughed. “You’re just jealous I am older.”

“Nu-uh, I’m not!”

“Sure you are! I can get girls and everything. What would you do, even if one came to you? Hold her hand?”

“Ewww, no!” Okay, I was older and girls were okay now, but I surely didn’t want to hold hands with them. Or worse, kiss them! The best part about finishing primary school and taking an exam to go to gymnasium classes in the school’s advanced section was that stupid Elena, my desk mate from first to fourth grade, would no longer get to force me to hold hands with her on our way from school. She’d claimed she was scared and all, but I never believed her.

Robert shook his head and moved a little to his right, despite Tatiana’s protests. “C’mon, sit down here.”

I didn’t want to, but I felt something pulling me closer to him. When he was nice and smiled like that, Robert seemed to be a completely different person. One I wanted to get to know. I sat next to him, trying my best to keep from touching him. It was too hot for skin on skin contact.

Robert didn’t have such concerns. He hooked his arm around my shoulders and pulled me into a half hug. “So you’re Edi, huh? This one has talked my ear off about you,” he said, pointing to Tatiana with his chin.

“When did you get here?” I asked, curious about when she’d even had time to talk about me. I’d seen her this morning, before heading out to the forest with some kids from our street.