“What’s it to you?”
She shrugged as if my answer didn’t bother her at all. She looked around the trail we were on.
“We’re by ourselves,” I told her.
“I’m looking for my grandaddy.”
“He brought you out to the woods at night? That’s stupid.” I puffed up my chest, feeling superior.
“He’s not stupid,” she defended with a wrinkle in her brow. “We were camping. Our first overnight trip, and I had to go pee.”
I snorted, curling my top lip. “You got lost peeing?”
She nodded and shrugged, staring up at me. “I had to pee and didn’t want to have an accident. My grandaddy wouldn’t let me come camping with him again if I did.” She sniffled and began looking around the empty woods again. From staring at the side of her face, I could see her blinking.
“Aw, man, don’t start crying,” I warned.
“I-I’m lost.” Her shoulders began bouncing up and down, and she sniffled some more. “Grandaddy,” she yelled.
“Hey, hey, calm down.” I moved closer but didn’t touch her.
“I’m sc-scared, and I’m a-alone.”
“Hey.” I moved closer, patting her shoulder. “It’ll be fine. My kid brother is like your age, he’s eight, and he got lost in the woods, and we found him.”
“But I’m only six,” she told me while rubbing her eye.
I lifted and dropped my shoulders. “That’s only two years apart. Ace was fine when we found him. You’ll be okay when your grandaddy finds you.”
“Ace?”
“That’s my kid brother. But my mama’s pregnant with another one. Joel says it’s going to be a boy.”
“Who’s Joel?”
“My daddy.”
Her forehead wrinkled. “You call your daddy Joel?”
“Yeah.”
“Why?”
I shrugged again. “I don’t know. It’s just what we do.”
Her hand dropped from her face, and she looked at me inquisitively. “What’s your name?”
“Micah. What’s yours?”
“Jodi.”
“Why’re you out here by yourself at night, Micah? Are you lost, too?”
“Nah.” I shook my head. “I came out here after Joel and I got into a fight.”
She gasped. “You got into a fight with your daddy?”
I nodded, folding my arms over my chest, pissed all over again thinking about it.
