If You Told Me To

The sound of a car door slamming snapped Sarah out of the steady trance she’d fallen into while drawing her newest creation. She stood and dropped her sketchpad and pencil onto the floor of the barn, wiping the stray pieces of hay off her butt as she went, desperate to investigate. The house next door was the only one around for about a mile or so, and the frail sixty-year-old woman surely couldn’t have been the cause of the racket.

She bit her bottom lip and dragged an old, crack-riddled milk crate over to the fence that separated her small country home from the one next door and stepped on it carefully. Sarah hoped that the thing wouldn’t crumble beneath her, but the risk was something she was going to have to take for the sake of unquenchable curiosity.

Her dark eyes widened when she locked eyes on Antonia Styles’ rickety, splintery front porch. There was a boy standing there, tall with a solid build and curly brown hair. Sarah tried to figure out how old he could be: maybe sixteen, but the way he crossed his arms in front of his chest made him look younger. Like twelve.

“Oh, Harry, please,” Antonia sighed, shaking her gray head. “Wipe off that puss, would you? This summer’s going to be fun.”

Sarah couldn’t see from where she was, but when the boy spoke next, it sounded like he’d clenched his jaw. “Fun? Look around here! There’s nothing. Do you even have internet?” His accent was strange, probably from somewhere up north.

“Don’t act like this is a third-world country,” the woman scolded. “Now get your butt inside before I smack you.”

Just then, the plastic crate gave out, and Sarah’s left foot fell through the small crevice. The hard sides scraped unforgivingly against her bare foot and ankle and squeezed her calf to death. Not able to control herself, she let out a small squeak of pain, biting on the inside of her cheek to keep herself from crying out louder.

She could still half-see what was going on, but that turned out to be a negative thing for her. “You don’t even have any privacy here!” Harry complained in a whine. “Your neighbors spy on you!”

“I’m sure Sarah just wanted to see what was going on.” Antonia had always been nice to Sarah, and even more so when the young girl’s mother left three years previously. “Are you alright, dear?”

“Yeah, I’m okay!” Sarah replied loudly, hoping the old woman didn’t notice that her voice sounded fake. “I’m sorry for eavesdropping. I just heard the door slam and wondered who was with you.”

“No harm done!” Antonia called back with a wave. “You tell that daddy of yours to come over for supper tomorrow night, you hear me? I’ll make a roast chicken and everything.”

She turned to the boy next to her, trying to give him a nonverbal cue to tell Sarah that her curiosity had been completely fine, but he refused to say anything of the sort. He just stormed into the house and whipped the screen door closed mercilessly.

“I’ll sure tell him, ma’am,” Sarah replied politely, ignoring Harry’s fit. “It’s bound to make his day.”

Antonia nodded before raising her hand in a wave once more, her wrinkled face smiling kindly, and then she disappeared.

It wasn’t until she was completely alone that Sarah allowed herself to curse with pain, looking again at her leg. The scratches were bleeding a little, though it was clear the damage wasn’t irreversible. She wasn’t sure how to get her limb extracted from the crate, since the thought of yanking it back made her cringe with pain.

After a few minutes of debating with herself, Sarah just leaned down and pulled both sides of the crate apart. The plastic groaned from the strain, the sound of cracking spreading all over the box, but once the hole was big enough, Sarah removed her foot as quickly as she could and jumped away from the useless excuse for a footstool.

“Sarah?” The girl heard her father’s voice call from inside the house, deep and strong. There was something about just hearing him that made Sarah relax, like she was safe and everything was alright with the world. “Sarah, are you here?”

“Out here, Daddy!” she replied loudly. After throwing the broken crate back in the barn to hide the damage and scooping up her sketchbook, she hurried into the house, making sure to shut the sliding door so the cats couldn't wander in and out freely.

“Hi there, honey,” he greeted when he saw her, grinning widely to show off his slightly crooked teeth. “Were you spending time in the sun? Your cheeks look pink.”

Sarah instinctively reached up to touch her cheekbones, which did feel a little warm. “Yeah, I was drawing outside.” She decided to forget to mention that she spent most of her time drawing in the barn, knowing that her father wouldn’t have approved of her spying on Antonia, which would have been the only time she could have sustained the burn.

“Sunblock next time, you hear me? I don’t need my princess getting skin cancer.” He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and kissed the top of her head. “So what are we feeling tonight for dinner? Steak or chicken?”

“Steak.” Sarah dropped her drawing supplies on the granite island that separated the kitchen from the living room and hopped onto one of stools, letting her long, tanned legs dangle freely. “Oh, and Antonia wanted me to tell you that we’re going over there for dinner tomorrow night. I think she wants us to meet that boy that’s staying with her.”

“Boy?” Jake snapped up his head and turned toward his daughter. “What boy?”

“Relax, Daddy. A boy’s staying with Antonia for a while. He seems kind of sour about the whole thing.” Sarah made a twisted face when she thought about his bad attitude. “Maybe she just wants to welcome him? He doesn’t sound like he’s from anywhere around here, so that’s my best guess.”

Jake sighed and went back to getting out the supplies for dinner. “Maybe you should run over and tell her that we’ll be over at six thirty, if that’s alright with her.”

“Can’t you just call her?” Sarah suggested with a sweet smile. Sometimes, she didn’t like being the messenger between the two houses. Especially on days as hot as that one, where the air stood completely still and the sun beat down like it was trying its hardest to suck all the moisture out of her. “It’d be easier.”

Jake laughed and shook his head. “Alright, Miss Lazy. I’ll give her a call after dinner.” Once the steaks were seasoned and in the oven, he turned toward his daughter and raised his eyebrows. “So do you think you’re going to make a salad or what?”

Sarah knew the suggestion was not really a question and hopped off her stool, making sure to wash her hands thoroughly before getting the various vegetables out of the fridge and lining them up on the counter. As she chopped up lettuce and tomatoes and onions and carrots, she bantered with her father about his day at work at the local bank and relayed her uneventful day back at him. Yet, as always, he acted like her eating cereal and letting out the cats to pee was riveting. Sarah loved when he did that.

“What kind of dressing do you want me to get?” Sarah asked a little louder than her normal speaking voice, since her back was to her father and she figured he wouldn’t be able to hear her as well.

“Ranch is fine,” he replied. “Thanks, honey.”

She nodded with a small smile on her face as she brought the salad and dressing over to the table, putting it right in the center. When she finished, she set two places with plates, forks, and knives, and her father had the kitchen free to make a fast batch of rice to go with their meals.

About a half hour later, the small family sat at the table and said their prayers for being blessed with such a great meal. The Richards weren’t exactly religious, but they went through a hard time where they didn’t have much money, and they learned pretty quickly to be thankful for whatever they managed to receive.

“So, Daddy, I started a new drawing today,” Sarah said conversationally, popping a piece of lettuce into her mouth while trying to be as neat as possible. “It’s of the field out back, but I have to use my imagination a little bit because I want it to be at sunset.”

“It sounds beautiful,” her father approved with a smile. “I can’t wait to see it when it’s done.”

Sarah sat up straighter with pride and kicked her legs back and forth. “I can’t wait for you to see it, either. I think it’s going to be great. I just have a good feeling, you know?”