Butch and Dusty by Georgia Leeman

1st Place, 6-9 Grade Fiction

Bath, Maine. That’s where my brother, Comet, and I live. It feels like I live by myself a lot of the time. Comet works a lot of hours at the Galley Restaurant, leaving me home alone. I do have a friend that comes over quite often. He’s the same age as Comet, nineteen. His name is Dusty Brooks. He’s got rusty colored hair, seafoam green eyes and a nice build.

My name is Butch Marvin. I’m fifteen and in my second year of high school. I look a lot like Comet; tan skin, dark hair and brown eyes. His eyes and hair are a bit lighter than mine and he’s definitely broader. I’m average, but I’d say I’m pretty strong.

I was alone with nothing to do on a Saturday afternoon. What better thing to do than help around the house. I washed the dishes from breakfast and zoned out the window. With a plate in my right hand and the sponge in my left, I kept making circles on the plate with the sponge, not paying attention to how much soap and water I was wasting. A loud knock from the front door jumped me back to reality. I set the plate in the sink and pulled the faucet lever down. I walked only a few steps before reaching the front door. I didn’t check who it was before answering. On the other side was Dusty in his good ol’ black and red cowboy boots waiting impatiently for me to let him inside.

“What took you so long?” He asked seriously.

“I was washing the dishes-”

Dusty interrupted me by laughing. “You take everything so seriously! I promise, I was just playing with ya’,” he said while letting himself in. “Where’s your brother at?”

“Work, per usual. Why?”

“No reason.”

“So, what brings you here on a Saturday? Doesn’t your mum have you help out your old man at his family’s thrift shop or whatever?” I asked, closing the door so as to not let the cold air inside.

“He’s not my old man. He’s my step dad, if you could call him that. Anyway, yeah, she usually asks me to help, but I asked for today off. I had something else I wanted to do.”

“Like what?”

Dusty grinned. “Like hanging out with my best friend and doing something fun! I miss you now that school has started up again. Man, am I glad I graduated last year.”

I rolled my eyes. “Be glad. High school sucks.”

“Lived it before.” Dusty put an arm around my neck. “Why don’t the two of us go to the dog park and throw some stones off the dock?”

I smiled and nodded.

We took Dusty’s old gray pickup through Front Street. He had walked to my house, but his house was only a block away, so we decided to walk back to his place and get the pickup. Dusty opened the front windows and I stuck my arm out to catch the breeze.

“What’s wrong with high school?!” Dusty yelled since the breeze was loud.

“I have no friends and there is so much homework!”

“Make friends then! It ain’t that hard.”

“Easy for you to say! You’re athletic and girls drool all over you!”

He grinned. He kept his left hand on the wheel and rustled my hair with the other. “Good times!”

I turned the knob on the radio to find a song that would fit the mood. It was a little chilly and partly sunny outside. Soft rock or maybe pop rock. “Don’t Stop Believin’” by Journey was the first song that caught my attention. I left it on, but Dusty had other plans.

"Could you check the glove box for my CDs? I have a new album I wanted to show you.” He wasn’t talking about any old CDs. Dusty writes his own music and records them on discs. He’s been writing since he was nine and recording them since he was thirteen. I am currently his number one fan.

I opened the glove box and there was a new CD case labeled Four Seasons at the top of a pack of cigarettes waiting to be smoked. I took that as an opportunity. I opened the CD case and popped it into the disc player. I placed the case back into the glove compartment and took out a pack.

“I’m stealing a few of these. You want one too?” I asked, handing the pack to him.

“Give me one. And light it for me, will ya’?”

I opened the pack and pulled out two cigarettes. I put the ends in my mouth and looked in the console for Dusty’s spare lighter. I found it at the bottom of his pile of lottery tickets and mint Life Savers. I cupped my hand around the end of each cigarette to block the wind from blowing out the flame. I had to flick the lighter at least four times before even a tiny flame appeared.

“What’s taking you so long?" Dusty asked, snatching the cigarette closest to him out of my mouth.

“You know, we’re going to have to throw these out once we get there, right?” I said.

“We’re not there yet, so we have no worries. I mean, all we have to do is throw them out the window when that park is in sight.”

I rolled my eyes and slumped in the seat. “You’re going to get a fine for littering one of these days.”

He put the burning end of his cigarette against my shirt, burning a hole in the sleeve. “Don’t tell me I’m getting a fine. I do a lot of bad things, but ain’t no one giving me a fine or throwing me in jail.”

I brushed off his cigarette and went to half hanging out the window. My cigarette flew out of my mouth and landed in some dead grass on the side of the road. “Damn it,” I grumbled.

The park was almost empty. There was an old couple walking their ancient beagle, a well-exercised girl jogging with a German shepherd and a couple with three kids and two golden retrievers. I, of course, stopped all the people to pet their dogs. The German shepherd was the nicest. It was very energetic and jumped all over me, giving me a few scratches on my legs.

Dusty and I walked along the dock, looking past the wooden railing to see the water crash at the rocks. “Hey, Dusty? You think a dead body has ever been found under the dock?”

He turned around and gave me a scary look. “The only one they’ll find is yours.”

I couldn’t tell if he was joking or not. I went to ask him if he was, but then he started laughing uncontrollably. “Oh my God! Two scares in one day! That’s going to the Guinness Book of World Records.”

Anger flared inside me. I folded my arms, and with my head down, walked to the end of the dock. I stared at the land across the river. The only thing I could hear was the water thrashing against the dock and the rocks. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. Dusty came to my side and stared at the other side of the river with me. He turned around and rested his elbows on the railing.

“I’m sorry, kid.” He put his hand in his pocket and pulled something out. He poked me in the side and I glared at him. “Come on, man. Take it.”

I looked down at his hand that poked me. It was a rock. The only thing rocks are good for is throwing. I smiled a soft smile. I took it out of his hand and threw it in the river. The rock skipped two times before sinking forever in the depths of the water, never to be seen again.

“It’s been a rough week,” I sighed. I buried my head into my arms and leaned on the railing.

“I’m not so good at comforting people, so do you just want to rant to me?”

“No. You’d think my problems are stupid.”

Dusty turned around and put an arm around my shoulders. “Anything that has to do with you isn’t stupid,” Dusty soothed. He put his head against mine. “If looking at the trees in Arrowsic makes you feel better, you do that.”

I leaned my head against his. “For someone who says they aren’t good at comforting people, you really are.”

“That’s what best friends are for, Butch.”

Everything was so peaceful. The breeze, kids laughing and playing with their dogs in the distance, water flowing. It all felt so magical. I wish that moment could have lasted forever, but all good things come to an end at some point.