Riley Park by Diane Tullson Page B

“Anything else?”
    I glance at Rubee. She looks like she’s waiting for me to say something. Her eyes have little gold flecks. I feel my cheeks turn bright red. I hand her the pack of gum.
    She smiles. “Just the gum? No diapers?”
    I shake my head and hand her the money.
    Darius sighs. He says to me, “Are you done?”
    I look at my shoes.
    â€œI’ll take that as a yes.” He turns to Rubee. “Riley Park, tonight. I’m saving myself for you.”
    She looks at him and crosses her arms. “Unlikely,” she says, “on both counts.”
    â€œWe’ll go swimming.”
    â€œYou might, but you’ll freeze.”
    â€œI’m a wild man.” Darius smiles at her. “I’ll bring blankets.”
    It’s not like Darius is super attractive. He’s built, but he’s not that tall. He spends a fortune on his hair. Maybe that’s why the girls go for him. Darius reaches into a pailof plastic-wrapped flower bouquets by the check stand. He selects an arrangement of red and white roses. Water from the bouquet drips on the counter. He presents the flowers to Rubee. “These are for you,” he says. “A token of my love.”
    Rubee takes the flowers and smiles.
    Darius says, “Riley Park. Tonight. Nothing complicated, Rubee. You’re your own woman. No one telling you what to do—you’re in control. Come to the party if you want, bring some friends, have a few laughs, or don’t. It’s totally up to you.”
    The guy with the groceries tells us to piss off and get out of the line.
    Darius ignores him. “Later, I hope,” Darius says to Rubee, and he blows her a kiss.

Chapter Two
    The party is just getting started, and I’m half cut when Darius decides to go cliff jumping. He peels off his shirt and jeans and stands there in his boxers. Some of the girls giggle. One of the guys from my team, Jason, high-fives Darius, but I don’t see Jason or anyone else stripping down. It’s October and cold. Darius is already covered in goose bumps. He looks at me. “Come on. The water will feel warm.”
    One of the girls circles Darius’s waist with her arms, folding her hoodie around him.
    I shrug, drain my beer and toss the can in a heap by the fire. “So let’s do it.”
    The guys cheer. Riley Park is on the banks of the Riley River. On the other side of the river, across a footbridge, are sheer cliffs and then a slope up into a forest. I’m out of my clothes and jogging over the bridge before I can convince myself that we’re nuts.
    The cliffs are a rock wall. We climb to the highest outcrop. We’ve timed how long it takes a jumper to hit the water and figure that we’re at least sixty feet up. That’s twice the height of the highest Olympic diving platform. I’m not scared but my stomach does a slow turn, anticipating the rush. Below us, across the river, I can see our fire pit. People are looking up at us. I hear Jason shout, “The gap!”
    The gap is higher still, where the rock cliffs give way to forest. We won’t be able to see the water until we’re in the air. We have to take a run at it in order to clear a stand of trees growing on the side of the cliff. The gap is a commitment—once we start, we can’t change our minds. Otherwise we’llend up bouncing down the stone cliff or impaled on a tree.
    Darius says, “We’ll jump the gap together.”
    â€œTogether?”
    He laughs. “We’ve never done it before. It’ll blow them away.”
    â€œOr us.” We head up to the gap.
    Now we’re in the trees and the trail is narrow. We’ll each have to run on the edge of the path. I wish I had something on my feet, although I hate swimming with shoes. Shoes are like anchors.
    Darius says, “At the trees, we jump.”
    â€œNo, really? I was going to run right into them.”
    â€œIf we die, we