Page 2 of River Wild

“Now,” he barks.

I take a breath. Open my eyes.

I pick my ball up, hugging it to my chest. I slowly walk inside, into the kitchen.

He’s standing against the kitchen counter.

“Shut the door,” he tells me.

I obey, turning and closing the back door.

“Come here.”

I don’t want to. Please don’t make me.

“Don’t make me tell you twice. You know what will happen if you do.”

I turn and walk over to him. My stomach starts to hurt.

I hold the ball tighter to my chest.

I stop a few feet away from him.

I don’t look at him. But I know he’s looking at me.

He reaches out and takes the ball from me, placing it on the counter behind him. There are the usual empty bottles of beer on there.

I see his gun belt lying on the counter, too.

His gun is still in it.

He never leaves it out like that. It’s always in his safe.

Why is it there?

My heart starts to beat faster.

“We’re going to play a new game today, River.”

My new daddy came and sat beside me on the floor in my room. “Do you want to play a game, River?”

“A game?” I asked excitedly. “I love games! What kind of game?”

He leaned closer to me. He smelled like stinky beer and sweat. I didn’t like the way he smelled.

“Well, this is a secret game,” he whispered. “Only good boys can play it.”

“I am a good boy! Miss Clarke says I’m the best behaved boy in her class.”

Miss Clarke was my teacher in first grade. I liked her. She smelled nice. She was pretty, too, but not as pretty as my mama. No one was as pretty as my mama.

“Okay, but if we play this game, you have to promise not to tell your mama that we played.”

“Why not?”

“Because it’s a secret game. One that mommies aren’t allowed to know about.”

“Okay.”