Page 2 of Always There Bayou (The BR Bayou #3)

Today is Denny’s birthday, and I wanted to surprise her with a gift, but no matter how hard I tried, the painting didn’t look right.

I knew that I didn’t have skills when it came to art, but I wanted to try at least. She was my best friend, and she deserved to receive something pretty… But I couldn’t even give her that.

“This is stupid!” I exclaimed, standing from the table. My sister, Imani, jumped. She’d been sitting beside me, working on her craft. “Sorry, Mani.”

“What’s wrong, Cory?” she asked. “You need some help?”

“No, I want to do this on my own,” I reply, staring down at the mess of art before me. “It’s supposed to be a gift for Denny, but it looks so ugly.”

“It does look ugly,” My brother, Ian, laughs as he comes over to where we are. “Oooh, Denny is gonna hate that for sure! ”

“Shut up!” I yell at him, frustrated. My siblings were so annoying at times. “Ugh, whatever! I’m going to play basketball!”

I storm away from the table and push my way through the back door right as someone pulls it.

I stumble into them and we tumble to the ground.

I was two seconds away from screaming when my eyes landed on Denny wearing a yellow birthday sash.

I quickly stood, helping her up and brushing the dirt off her clothes.

I noticed that she was wearing cargo shorts and a flannel shirt, and smiled.

Last year, she started to dress more comfortably instead of wearing dresses every other day.

“I’m sorry, Denny! Are you okay?”

“Oh, I’m fine, Corduroy,” she replies, a bright smile on her face. “My parents dropped me off to spend the day with you because I told them that’s all I wanted to do. They talked to your parents and are gonna bring a cake back. Chocolate! Our favorite!”

“Nice!” I cheered, pumping my fist up and down.

“Denny, look what Cory made you!” I hear Ian say from behind me. My heart skips a beat, and I turn to see him running up with my painting. I try to snatch it from him, but he ducks and hands the painting over to Denny. “Isn’t it ugly?”

“Fuck you, Ian!” I yell, and within seconds, my Dad is outside and scolding me for cussing my brother out. He stands off to the side and smirks. I wanted to punch him so badly.

After making me apologize, he made sure Ian went to do something else so he wouldn’t bother us. I took Denny’s hand and led her outside and up into the treehouse that my dad had built us last year. We get comfy on some beanbag chairs, and she places the painting down carefully.

“I’m sorry it’s so ugly,” I sigh.

“No, it’s perfect!” She assures me, and my eyes snap up to meet hers.

She smiles softly before getting up to join me on the beanbag chair.

It was a tight squeeze, but I didn’t mind.

She wrapped her arms around me and hugged me tightly.

“Nobody has ever made me anything for my birthday before, and I love that it’s from you. I’m going to keep it forever.”

I could feel my heart melt at her words, and I felt so accomplished. It may not have been the best painting in the world, but at least she loved it. That’s all that mattered.