Page 15 of In a Perfect World

“Well, don’t pee on any little woodland creatures, either.”I turned to look at Leyden.“Hey, Bambi might be out there.”

I flipped them all off before going to handle my business, and for the record, I’d never pee in the water or on an animal, and they were all just stupefied with drink.How Winston managed to get along with minimal hours of sleep, I’d never know, but God bless the man.

Making my way down the creek, I found enough privacy to take care of business, and because I wasn’t an asshole, I made sure that no creatures or flowers were around first.Unlike a lot of people, I had a healthy respect for nature, and Marigold Springs was one of our favorite fishing spots.

Finished with zipping myself up, I was about to head back when I heard a voice that did not belong to any of the drunken idiots that were back at our fishing spot.This voice was very distinctly female, and it was asking where Bambi and Thumper were when you needed them.

Now, normally, I liked to mind my own business, but if someone was asking for Bambi and Thumper, then I could only conclude that they might be lost out here, and I wasn’t the type of man to ignore that possibility.Yeah, with cellphones being what they were nowadays, it was almost impossible to get lost anywhere, but if you’re phone’s battery died, then you could easily find yourself fucked.

So, making my way towards where I believed that the voice was coming from, I did my best to be loud as to not get accidentally shot for sneaking up on someone.While there’d be no reason to be hunting out here, crazy things happened all the damn time, and I wasn’t trying to become a cautionary news article.

After making it another twenty feet or so, I finally saw a female sitting in the middle of a patch of posies, leaning up against a tree, and my back immediately straightened, my eyes searching around for anyone else.The girl did not belong here and shouldn’t be here, and this was one of those delicate situations that I’d hope to never be a part of.

“Uhm...you lost?”

Her head immediately snapped upward, and as soon as she saw me, she stood up, but she still remained against the tree.Her eyes widened, and mimicking my earlier movements, she began looking around, either searching for whoever was with her or deciding to make a run for it; I wasn’t sure.

“What...what are you doing here?”she asked, and she sounded bewildered enough that I felt the need to put her at ease immediately.

“I’m not going to hurt you,” I told her, doing my best to keep my voice even.“I promise.”

She shook her head a bit, still looking a bit confused.“I...I didn’t say that you were.I just...what are you doing here?You can’t be here.”

Okay, that was a problem.

“Uhm...no,” I said carefully.“It’s the other way around.You’renot supposed to be here.”

“What...I’m in Rancher Hills,” she said, clearly lost.“I’m on Rancher Hills land.”

“No, you’re not,” I informed her, still doing my best to sound calm.“You’re on Sterling Acres land.”

She immediately began shaking her head.“That’s impossible.I...I saw the Marigold Springs sign, and I...I made sure to stay on my side.”

I looked up and down the creek, wondering where she could have gotten turned around, and when I looked back at her, she was doing the same thing.This was a very precarious situation, and I’d hate for her to get arrested simply because she’d gotten turned around on her way down here.

“The creek isn’t a direct line down the border perimeter,” I explained.“It stops being Rancher Hills about a quarter mile back.”

She shook her head again.“No, that’s impossible.There’s no sign or anything that tells you that.”

“There is,” I insisted.“You might have just missed it.It’s nailed to the cherry blossom tree that’s at the largest width of the creek.”

“So...so, I’m...”

“Baby, you’re on the wrong side of the border,” I told her, the endearment just flying out of my mouth for no reason.“You need to get back to your side before someone sees you.”

Her dark eyes widened.“You’re not alone out here?”

I shook my head.“No.I’m here with my best friend and brothers, and if they see you, this could get...it could get complicated.”

“Because they’re dangerous?”she asked, and it was hard not to tack on some racial undertones to her question.In a perfect world, she’d just be a woman who was concerned about being around strange men that she didn’t know, but we didn’t live in a perfect world, and racism still existed, despite our best efforts to eradicate it twenty-five years ago.

“No,” I answered.“Because my father is Alvin Booker, and one of my brothers is Dallas Booker.”

Her lips parted, and that beautiful face of hers paled visibly.“So, you’re...you’re...”

“I’m Kairo Booker,” I said, finally introducing myself.

She started frantically looking around.“I need to get back...I...I need to get out of here.”