Page 16 of Long Way Down

At the same time, Ivy lifted her chin and said, primly, “Yes.”

Melissa frowned.

Pastor Keith smiled – a slow, creeping sort of smile that spread his lips over small, ivory teeth. “Well, which is it? Yes, or no? Keep our Sunday School lessons in mind, Miss Ivy. The lord doesn’t like lying.”

Ivy took a deep breath and let it out forcefully through her nose. Her posture shifted, one hip cocking to the side and hand coming to settle on it. A pose that reminded Melissa of the mannequins at J.C. Penney. “You’re not gonna tell on us, are you? That’d be a real buzzkill thing to do.”

The corners of Pastor Keith’s smile tipped more sharply upright. His eyes sparkled behind the lenses of his glasses. “I’m not in the business of hiding things from mamas, Miss Ivy. And I think yours would like to know you’ve been out here in the swamp with just your little cousin for company. There’s lots of ways a couple of little girls like y’all could get hurt out here.”

Ivy’s face flushed dark with anger, and she stomped her foot, jelly shoe kicking up a puff of dust. “I’mnotalittle girl. Just ‘cause Pissy Missy is doesn’t mean I am.”

Melissa wanted to stomp, too – wanted to stomp right over her cousin’s foot.

Pastor Keith clucked his tongue. “None of the young ladies I know use language like that, Miss Ivy. It’s unkind and it’s unchristian.”

To Melissa’s surprise, Ivy tucked her chin and bit at her lip, chagrined.

“How about this,” Pastor Keith said. “How about you girls go on back home, and I’ll promise not to tell your mamas if you both promise not to come back in here on your own anymore, okay? I’m just lookin’ out for ya. Does that sound fair?”

It did, so Melissa nodded. If Mama knew about this, she wouldn’t be able to sit down comfortably for a week after a few good cracks with the belt.

“Ivy,” Pastor Keith prompted. “What about you? Does that sound fair?”

Ivy hesitated a long moment, the cicadas droning all around them. Then she sighed, and tossed her hair, and nodded. “Yeah.”

“Yes,” he corrected.

“Yes.”

His smile became small, toothless but pleased. “That’s a good girl. Now why don’t you come over here” – he pointed to the dirt in front of him – “and we’ll seal the deal, huh? Come on. That’s it.”

Ivy went with reluctance, dragging her toes, looked up at him through her lashes with her head ducked. She glanced back over her shoulder, once, and made eye contact with Melissa; Melissa had the sense she was trying to communicate something with the wriggle of her brows and the jut of her lip, but wasn’t sure what.

Pastor Keith watched her approach, light glinting off his glasses as his head tilted down and up, slowly, his gaze traveling to Ivy’s toes and back up to her face. When she reached him, he bent forward at the waist and offered his cheek; pointed to it. “We’ll seal it with a kiss. That way it’s binding.”

It was very hot, even with the breeze. Sweat trickled down Melissa’s back so her shirt clung to her skin. Her vision swam a moment, ground seeming to tilt beneath her. Her chest was heavy on her next inhale, and the sky seemed to press down on her.

She wanted something cool to drink. A popsicle.

Wanted Ivy away from Pastor Keith for reasons she didn’t understand and couldn’t have explained if pressed.

“Ivy,” she called.

Ivy’s expression darkened. “Shut up, crybaby,” she snapped. She took a big breath, shoulders shoving back, stood up on her tiptoes, and kissed Pastor Keith on the cheek.

Only, he turned his head at the last second, so her lips landed at the corner of his mouth.

Ivy’s eyes widened.

Pastor Keith murmured something too low for Melissa to hear. He reached out and patted Ivy once on the bottom, and then Ivy spun around and marched back toward Melissa – Melissa, whose heart was pounding faster than Ivy’s jelly shoes clomped across the hard-packed dirt.

“What? What did he say?”

Ivy didn’t slow. She snatched Melissa’s hand as she passed and yanked her around, all but dragging her along behind.

Melissa struggled to get her feet under her and keep hold of her butterfly net. “Ivy – Ivy, that hurts! Stop! What did he say?”

But Ivy didn’t respond, clomp-clomp-clomping forward, shoulders set in a high, tense line.