He gestured toward the book I held.“What book is that?”
“It’s calledAre you There God?It’s Me, Margaret.It seems interesting.I like how it’s a question.I feel like that all the time.Where have you been?”
“Hey, my father’s the preacher, and I still don’t know what to believe.It doesn’t make sense how God always lets horrible stuff happen.Music is my only God.At least it answers when I call.Sorry I’m late.My dad wanted me to do some chores before I left,” Darren said with a frail shrug.
“It’s all right.Music is a God I worship, too.Let’s find you some sheet music.”Music made me feel like I belonged.It gave my life a purpose, just like religion does for others.We went shelf by shelf until we found the music section.Moose Creek’s limited library had three wooden shelves of sheet music.I picked one out from the second shelf and handed it to Darren.“This one seems like something you would play.”
Darren skimmed through the folder.The song’s name was “Pitiful Peaches.”He held onto the file and said, “I will try it, but only because you chose it for me.”
“We better check out then!”
“Uh, Penny, I don’t have a library card.”
I pretended to hit him with the book.“You live here.I only visit in the summer.If anyone should have a library card, it’s you.”Besides getting your driver’s license, a library card was the most essential rite of passage to me.
He flinched.“I only go to the library when I am withyou.”
“Fine.I will use my card to check out the song,” I said, disappointed in Darren’s choices.
I proceeded toward the desk and asked the librarian if I could check out the book and sheet music.Her glasses were perched on the edge of her nose.Librarians liked to wear their glasses like they were looking into a microscope.Despite making it more challenging to see, it was a part of the aesthetic.If I had to guess I would say it was a requirement for the job to have bad eyesight.They probably strained their eyes from reading so much.
She looked over the top of her glasses and said, “Of course!Summer reading is important for a young girl like you.”
She wrote the date and my name in the checkout log and returned the book and file to me.
“Thank you!I will be back.”The only time I didn’t return a library book was when Fawn was a puppy and chewed up a picture book I borrowed.I was too embarrassed to admit my fault for leaving the book on my bed, so I avoided the situation altogether by switching libraries for several months.
I found Darren sitting in a nook of the library.He was air drumming something on a shelf next to him.
I peeked around the shelf and said, “Woah!Are silent concerts the new thing?”
He stuck his tongue out at me.“Shut up.You owe me ice cream.”Darren popped up and pulled my arm out the door.We walked around the corner to the Peach Pot.
When we got close, I handed Darren the money from my pocket.“You are the man.Get it for us.I want a double-scoop peach ice cream waffle cone.Get whatever you want.I will save us an outside table.”Darren didn’t treat me differently because I was a girl.I knew he liked doing things for people, so I let him do small unmeaningful things for me.
“All right, you need anything else, Princess Peach?”
I laughed.“No, that will be all.Thank you.Tell Tammy hi for me.”
I planted myself at my favorite table.It was round, had a lovely tablecloth with peaches printed on it, and two white-painted metal chairs.A ledge over the building protected us from the direct sun or if it happened to rain.I tapped my fingers impatiently on the metal wires on the table for Darren to bring me the ice cream.Without our other friends, it looked like we were on a date.
Vacationers walked on the deck around the store.One family was stationed at the built-in fake jail cell.It was a wooden wall with a window protected by bars and a carved sign above it labeled it, “Jail.”The spot captivated out of towners to stop and take ridiculous photos.A little girl and her brother were boosted up to the opening as their father took a picture of them pretending to be captive.The kids made silly faces at their mother who was observing them.I missed that sort of connection to my parents.When I was younger, I wanted to do everything with my momma and James.They were my idols.I smiled at the family as they got off the deck and walked into the store.
Darren pushed the door open with his shoulder while he carried two gigantic peach ice cream cones.He let the family go past him.I waved him over.He handed me my cone with his free hand and licked his cone in his other as he sat down.
“Sitting at a table for two makes it look like we’re on a date,” he said.
Dang it, he thought the same thing.“I guess it could, but who cares what people think.”
“It’s not a bad thing for people to think.”
We couldn’t be on a date; we had been friends for so long that I never thought about him in that way.I changed the subject as fast as possible.“Are your parents back in town?The Peach Play Games are next week, and I wanted to know if you wanted to be on a team with my family and me.We have been missing one person since my grandma left.”
The Peach Play Games were a bunch of competitive games that Moose Creek held each June to celebrate and raise funds for the community.He continued licking his ice cream cone.“My family is back and has more than enough people.I’m sure they won’t mind if I join your team for one year.”
“Really?Thanks!It might be the year my family could finally win, especially if you join us.”
He flexed his arms.“I am the best at peach baskets.”He was great at basketball.He planned to try out for the high school team next school year since last year his dad didn’t let him.
