48 Wood

As I'm about to enter the back seat, Brigit runs ahead of mom and says, "I want to drive." I pause with my hand on the door handle.

Mom hands over the keys and states, "it's good that you want to practice."

Brigit glances at me. "Hedone doesn't believe I can still drive."

"You haven't driven in years. Of course, I don't think you can still drive," I respond.

Brigit turns up her nose. "I will show you," she says while opening the driver's door.

I swallow my spit and get in. As mom gets into the front passenger seat, I quickly buckle my seat belt. Brigit turns the key and starts the engine. FRUUMMM. I jump in shock from the noise.

"Oops, that's the gas pedal," Brigit says.

"Mom!" I yell.

"It's fine. Brigit, take your time," mom says patiently.

Brigit backs up slowly and manages to get on the road. Once we get on the main road, things go pretty well until I notice the trees going by. "Brigit, how fast are we going?"

"I don't know," Brigit says. She looks down at the speedometer and informs me, "I think it says 100."

As she takes her eyes off the road, we drift into the opposite lane. "Brigit, watch the road!" I yell.

Brigit jerks up and twists the wheel sharply. We fishtail as we screech sideways down the center of the road. Brigit screams and covers her eyes. "Brigit!" I scream.

Mom grabs the steering wheel, and with a few quick movements, we are traveling down the road normally again. "Brigit, you shouldn't take your hands off the wheel. Hedone, you don't have to overreact," Mom lectures us.

I don't think I'm overreacting, but I keep my mouth shut while Brigit slowly gets more control. We arrive at Angelique's house. I sigh in relief as we park.

We get out and go up to the house, ringing the doorbell. Angelique opens the door. She's wearing tight short jeans and a tank top. She gently smiles and says, "Dad should be home soon. He's bringing some fresh wood."

After waiting a while, Franklin backs up with a truckload of lumber. 4x4x8 lumber is stacked up. I walk over and look at the heavy-looking wood. "Wow, look at it all! Thanks, Franklin," I shout while waving at Franklin as he leaves the truck.

Brigit leans on the truck and asks. "What do we need to do?"

Franklin nods to mom, "nice seeing you again."

Mom smiles brightly, "thanks for helping out my daughter all the time."

Franklin shakes his head, "it's nothing. I'm glad Angelique and Hedone are hitting it off well." He walks towards the back and answers Brigit, "we'll use some dovetails, and then you can just slot them together."

Mom places her hand on Brigit's head and laughs. "First, we need to get them off the truck."

I move to help pull the wood off the truck. But everyone starts lecturing me immediately. I pout and stomp over and sit on the steps. Mom and Franklin end up doing most of the lifting. Brigit helps by holding up the middle. Angelique is not interested in working and joins me on the front step.

I look over her shoulder and see her posting on her social media. There is a selfie she took with us in the background with the title "see I have friends!"

Below I see people saying things like, "paid actors!; Sus!; x to doubt; etc." I hug Angelique from behind. "We are your friends. Don't listen to them."

"What? Oh, this well, it's true. I haven't had IRL friends for a while. This is just audience participation. No one takes it seriously," Angelique explains.

I lean on her and say, "it must be hard to have people pay attention to you all the time. Have you had any weirdos?"

Angelique begins to sink and then shoves back at me. "Are you trying to squish me?"

"Sorry," I say, backing off.

Angelique turns towards me, her bouncy twin tails flipping energetically. "Honestly, the bigger problem is the men across the street. One time a worker broke into the house. I blew him away with the shotgun. He lost his penis, apparently. Since then, no one else has been that bold."

"That must have been scary," I say while gripping her hand supportively.

"It was, but that's what the shotgun is for. There also was a girl who camped out front of the house. She was a stalker, but she was found in one of the workers' rooms. It caused a lot of trouble and shut down the yard for a month. Luckily this is the only business that brings in outside money to this small community."

I look back at the dorm with disgust. I then look back at Angelique. "Man, they sound like a big pain."

Angelique nods but then shrugs. "Well, the woman in town can be just as problematic. On the weekends, dad often has to round up the men. Women from all the small towns try to pick them up. Some are here to rob them, some for sex, and some to pick up a husband with a job. It's not unusual to find them drugged and naked along the side of the road," Angelique says. She then looks at me with pursed lips. "I mean, after what you've done. You might be the scariest woman."

I tighten my ponytail awkwardly. "Sorry. But you're still hanging out with us," I say hopefully.

Angelique smiles with bright teeth. "Well, it's interesting. If only you weren't all about sex, though," She says while biting her bottom lip.

I raise my eyebrow. "You'd prefer a murder cave?"

Angelique flinches. "No, that's not what I mean. I wouldn't be friends with someone like that."

"So, in the end, I made the right choice!" I snuggle and rub my cheek against Angelique's.

"Uhg, fine! Your right," Angelique says, shoving my face away. I could have fought her with her tiny muscles, but I let her push me away playfully.

Franklin calls out, "do you want to help cut the lumber? It won't be too hard."

I jump to my feet and speed walk over. They measure and place the wood, and I pull down the saw. We cut the side wood into four-foot planks. Franklin then did the more complex work creating the dovetails.

The work goes well into the evening. I didn't think it'd take this long. Angelique had to do her stream, and we weren't much help over all. We unload the wood after the sun has already dropped.