Into the Free by Julie Cantrell Page B

room, thousands of termites were swarming through the wall. They were pouring out from the wood and spilling over Millie’s crib. I brushed layers of them from her chest. The crib was completely covered. If I hadn’t come back to check on her, she could have died. Those termites would have swarmed in through her ears and nose and mouth.”
    “Wow,” River says. “That’s unbelievable.”
    “Exactly,” I say. I’ve heard this story a million times. “Thanks for the biscuits, Mama. We’re going to town.”
    Before River or Mama can protest, I pull River out the door.
    We don’t get off the porch before he says, “What’s the rush?”
    “I just figure you have better things to do than sit around listening to Mama talk about me,” I say.
    “Wrong,” he smiles. “Got nothing to do today but be with you. Besides, I want to know everything about you.”
    I feel weak. If there’s anything I don’t want to show him, it’s the truth of my life. “You are much more interesting, I assure you.”
    He doesn’t fall for it. “You’ve already seen everything about me. Not much else to know. But you, Millie. You’re still a mystery.”
    I pull him out into the yard and try to get him away from my worn-out house and my worn-down mother. “Really nothing to say. My father’s crazy. My mother, too. Anyone can tell you that.”
    “So where does that leave you?” he asks.
    I laugh. “That’s what I’ve been trying to figure out all my life.” But then tears pool in my eyes and I want to change the subject. I don’t want to talk about my own questionable madness and the fact that I see ghosts.
    “Don’t worry,” he says. “You’re the most sane person I’ve ever met.”
    “That’s scary!” I say, looking up at him. “Because since you met me I’ve been completely out of my mind.”
    “I’ve been watching you for years, Millie. You’re on the good side.”
    I laugh and wave him away, trying to hold tight to the fact that he’s noticed me all these years too. Then, I lead him over to Sloth’s place. A cat crawls through a broken window, trying to escape her kittens who are crying inside. We step up to the door, causing a roundheaded garden snake to slither across the porch. The cat slouches, eager to pounce. “Sloth didn’t care much if there were rat snakes in his yard or mice in his bins,” I say. “He’d usually just toss some crumbs to whatever creature had come to visit and let him be on his way.”
    River smiles and leans into Sloth’s front door. It opens, and we move inside. The salty smell of Sloth covers me.
    I find a broom in the corner and start to sweep. It crosses my mind that River and I could live here. We could fix up Sloth’s cabin and start a family of our own.
    River moves to Sloth’s rocking chair, sits, and plays his harmonica, and I love that he is with me here. “I know it’s strange, but I’ve always liked to sweep,” I tell River, sweeping piles of yellow pollen into the dustpan, losing most of it right back to the wind.
    “Millie,” he says my name as if there is magic in it. “Start from the beginning. Tell me who you are.” He’s looking at me with wanting. A wanting for my lips, my hands, my stories. I’ll start with my stories. I’m not sure why I am willing to trust this boy, but suddenly I want to show him every dark corner of my soul. I want to let his light shine in.
    I swing the broom back and forth across Sloth’s dusty floor and I spill my secrets, one by one. River leans against Sloth’s chair and I bring him back in time with me, through the dog-eared pages of my tattered life.

CHAPTER 12
     
    It’s been four days since River let me sit beside him at the fire. Four days since he led me into the high grasses and gave me a kiss that changed my whole world. In those four days, we’ve hardly been apart. I haven’t even been to school, knowing River’s time in Iti Taloa is limited and not wanting to waste a single second that I could be