Merriton

“I need you to go see Sierra.” That little Chinese ranger was standing on A.S.’s doorstep. He didn’t say hi. He didn’t introduce himself. He was like a little version of Elvis just sticking his nose into her life. “Who’s Sierra?” The tiny guy exploded. “Sierra McCain! You’ve been running with her in the Sno-Parks all summer!” A.S. did her best to figure out what she should say. Sierra had said that they had to keep the running a secret, or keep the fact that they were running together a secret. She hadn’t been quite sure of the details, but A.S. only had one friend in Merriton and she was going to do her best to keep this one.

“What makes you think that?” The short ranger pushed himself into her house. He slammed the front door behind him and A.S. worried about him waking the baby. “Be quiet! The baby is taking a nap!” He jumped up and down like a little Chinese elf. “NO! I won’t be quiet! I KNOW you and Sierra have been running all summer together. You need to go to her house and visit her!”

A.S. began to worry about her safety and eyed the baseball bat in the umbrella rack by the door. “Okay, okay. Quiet down. I’ll go visit her… I just thought…” The little guy calmed down. “I just thought that I wasn’t supposed to let anyone know I was her friend… you know… since Angie hates me and all…” He was visibly taken aback. The question in his eyes made her continue. “She told me I couldn’t tell anyone that we were friends.” He shook his head. “That doesn’t sound like Sierra.”

She could tell that the little guy was trying to decide what to say. She stood still and tried to listen for the baby while he deliberated. She could smell the snow on his ranger uniform. It had been one of those winters where there was more snow than two rangers could handle. There would probably be an avalanche this year and she hoped that both he and Roscoe would escape it or contain it or do whatever rangers do on the mountain this time of year.

“I don’t like you.” His speech wasn’t sounding promising. “I worked with John for a few months last summer and I don’t like that you just up and left him.” A.S. clenched her jaw and tried to reply civilly, “You’ve known John a few months. I’ve known him since we were six.” The Chinese guy just shook his head. “No, he’s an upstanding guy. He takes his kids every weekend. He’s a little on the religious side…” A.S. interrupted him with a snort and a chuckle. “There are two sides to every breakup. Just because Mira broke up with you for no reason doesn’t mean that I didn’t have a damn good reason to leave John.”

The little guy was devastated. A.S. could instantly tell how injured he was at her words. He leaned against the door as if she had hit him with the baseball bat. It took him a full minute to shake off his pain and recover. He put his hand on the doorknob and kept his eye focused on his hand. His words slipped from his teeth in anger. “I don’t care how much of a bitch you are. I want you to go over to Sierra’s house and visit her. Bring the kid that you’re always pushing in your stroller. I want you to go over at least twice a week. Do you hear me?” A.S. nodded and sputtered out an answer, “Sure, I’ll go over this afternoon.” The little guy opened the door and stomped back to the ranger truck.

She glanced at the baseball bat as she closed the door and considered how much damage her razor sharp tongue could do.