Page 34 of Widow Mayker

“Nah, but it’s already out now,” he quipped. “So, since it is, I’ll say this. When I get a taste of the peach cobbler, you never gon’ be able to get rid of me.”

I laughed so loudly I just knew they heard me all the way back at the camp.

A few hours later, Von’s family geared up for a game of paintball. Up for grabs was another custom blanket. The rifle style guns were just my style.

“I got us, baby,” Von stated. “Just don’t get hit.”

Grinning, I replied, “Sure.”

There were ten of us—two to a team. We were spread out over the wooded area, and if it weren’t for the area being roped off, it would have been easy to get lost.

“Amaré is a good shot, so watch that nigga,” Von informed me.

Amaré glanced over at us and smirked. He was still salty about me beating him, so I smirked back.

“Everyone has two minutes to take your positions,” Mr. Gunner announced. “The last team standing wins. Go!”

I don’t know. Adrenaline shot through me as Von and I darted through the woods to take our positions. Either this was so fucking romantic, or I was delusional as hell. Maybe it was a little of both. Whichever way, I stifled a giggle when Von and I perched behind a large tree to wait for Mr. Gunner to give us the go-head.

Von glanced at me and licked his lips. “I’on know, shawty,” he whispered. “I kind of like how we look right now.”

I covered my mouth to keep from laughing.

“Go!” Mr. Gunner shouted, signaling the start of the game.

Von darted out and I was right behind him. A few of his cousins weren’t savvy with stealth movements, so it was easy to pick them off. Von narrowly dodged another one of his cousins, who caught a round from me.

“Fuck!” Dillian swore. He was Amaré’s partner, which made it even funnier.

Chuckling under my breath, I followed close behind Von to find our last target. Amaré. We came to a thicket of brush that was complicated to move through without being detected. Von put his finger to his lips, signaling for me to be quiet. Truthfully, I wanted to turn my nose up at him because I wasn’t his real-life partner, and I knew what the hell I was doing. Then I remembered, he didn’t know who the hell I was.

We stood still, listening to the brush of the leaves and breaking of tree limbs that laid along the ground. Coupled with the wind, it was difficult to tell which direction the noise stemmed from. The sounds grew closer, so Von knelt and aimed his gun to the left. Checking through the scope of my paint gun rifle, I caught the movement of brush being moved. Seconds later, a person appeared. I pulled the trigger just as Von did.

“Fuck!”

“Ah!”

Amaré pivoted on his foot, aiming his paintball gun at the man behind him. Simultaneously, Von stood and aimed his real gun at the man. The man wore a shocked face, raised hands, and white paintball splatter covered his face and chest. Otherwise, he looked like a regular old hiker.

Frantic, he said, “I’m sorry! I got lost. I’m tryin’ to find my way back to Greene Lake.”

Amaré approached him, skeptically looking him up and down.

“My family’s havin’ a ‘union over there,” the man said.

“You related to the Gussetts?” Von questioned.

The man nodded. “I’m Will Gussett. My mama is Danine.”

“Oh, I know you,” Amaré spoke. “You the lil’ nigga that play college ball.”

Again, Will nodded. “I’m sorry, man. I thought I was goin’ the right way, but I got lost.”

Von lowered his gun. “It’s all good. We’ll walk you back.”

“Thank you,” Will said.

As the four of us returned to join the Gunners, Von and Amaré kept side-eyeing me. I deduced that they were wondering how the hell I spotted Will. And why the hell my shot was on point.