By the Creek Read online

  “But Samuel was the one who broke the rules,” David protested.

  “But Mama and Papa are held responsible by the community. It was viewed that Mama and Papa didn’t raise Samuel correctly. Yes, Samuel was punished by Mama and Papa, but in the community, everyone is responsible for everyone else.”

  “Sounds sort of like Big Brother,” David said, and Benjamin looked completely lost. “Sorry, it was from a book I read once. It means that it feels like everyone is watching everyone else.” David thought that sounded really creepy, but he didn’t want to say anything in case it hurt Benjamin.

  Benjamin stood up and walked toward the edge of the trees, looking up at the sky before hurrying back to where David sat watching him. David loved the way Benjamin’s underthings clung to his body. He’d expected Benjamin to be much shyer, given their earlier encounter, but that seemed to have disappeared. Maybe it demonstrated Benjamin’s comfort around him.

  “I need to go,” Benjamin said as he sort of pranced back in bare feet. “Papa will be angry if I overstay the time he gave me.” Benjamin crossed where the creek was shallow and rushed to where he’d put his clothes. David watched as Benjamin pulled on his shirt and pants and then sat on a log to brush off his feet before stuffing them hastily into his socks and shoes. The last thing he did was grab his hat from the fallen log. “Thank you for the talk and the food. I have to rush or Papa won’t let me come swimming again.”

  “I understand,” David said as Benjamin hurried away down the path on the opposite side of the creek. He watched him go, and instantly the clearing felt a little darker and he felt a little lonelier than just a few minutes earlier. Once he could no longer see Benjamin, David dressed and packed everything up before heading back.

  By the time he reached the house, the sky was darkening, storm clouds blowing in from off the lake to the west. Inside, David hung up his bathing suit and towel to dry in the laundry room. Then he opened the back door and shook out the blanket before he decided it was too dirty to reuse and placed it in the washing machine. The first crack of thunder sounded in the distance as David pulled on dry clothes. Then he sat in the living room and watched through the large window as darker and darker clouds rolled overhead. The wind came up, whipping around the house, and David wondered if Benjamin had made it home okay.

  David quickly lost interest in the storm as his thoughts turned to Benjamin. He couldn’t stop a smile as he saw in his mind’s eye the way Benjamin looked in just his underwear, clinging wetly to his skin. David had tried not to look like he was looking, but it had been nearly impossible. His mother had said that men were handsome and women beautiful, but after seeing Benjamin swimming and then lying on his blanket, David knew his mother was completely wrong—Benjamin was beautiful. His skin was white except for where the sun touched it, and there were freckles on his face that David wanted to touch. So, in his mind, he reached out and did touch them. David smiled as he remembered the feel of Benjamin’s smooth skin on his own, and he could almost feel Benjamin’s skin on his hand. At the time, he hadn’t wanted to let himself think about it, but now, alone, watching the sky, he let himself remember every second of it.

  “Where are you?” his mother asked from behind him, and David jumped, nearly falling out of the chair. He’d been so engrossed in his own imaginings he hadn’t heard her come in. “You looked a million miles away,” she added as she set her purse down and then collapsed into the other chair near the window. “It rained like crazy the entire drive here,” David’s mother went on.

  “It came up really fast,” David said as lightning flashed, followed almost immediately by thunder.

  “What did you do today?” she asked as she lifted her purse onto her lap.

  “I finished the list of chores you left and went swimming in the creek,” David answered. “Benjamin was there and we had a good time. I hope it’s okay—I took a couple of Cokes and granola bars. He said he’d never had either one before.” David’s mother shook her head and sighed. “He’s really nice, Mom, and we talked about all kinds of stuff. He told me what it’s like where he lives, and I told him about us,” David explained. “He’s really pretty cool.”

  His mother looked doubtful but she didn’t say anything. “I’m glad you didn’t have to spend the entire day alone.” His mother stood up and patted him on the shoulder before leaving the room. “I’m going to start dinner. I called the satellite television people today. They’ll be here tomorrow to install the dish and set up the system.”

  “Thanks, Mom,” David said with a smile before turning his attention back outside to the storm and the small group of buildings across the street. He could barely see any lights from their windows through the driving rain, but his mind kept going back to Benjamin.

  “You know, David,” his mother said, her voice trailing in from the kitchen, accentuated by the occasional bang of a pan on the stove. “I’m really pleased you’ve made friends with this other boy. You spend too much time alone.”

  David nodded without thinking as he continued looking out the window. The storm continued raging, and a few times he saw limbs off trees being carried by the wind across the street or blowing onto the road. He hoped everything was okay at Benjamin’s.

  “I’ve been thinking, now that you’ve gotten your driver’s license, if you find a job and can pay for car insurance and gas, we could look into getting you a car in a few months.” His mother stepped back into the living room. “You’ve been a big help around the house. I know it’s lonely here and all this has been hard on you, but once school starts, you’ll make a lot of friends.”

  “I hope so, Mom,” he said. She went on to explain all the things they were going to need to do to enroll him in school, and he half listened, his mind once again shifting to thoughts of Benjamin, the only friend he had here.

  Chapter 5

  THE rest of the summer advanced in fits and starts. Except for when David and his mother went on vacation for a week to the Upper Peninsula, he continued to meet Benjamin at least one afternoon a week at the swimming hole. David went more often than that, but Benjamin wasn’t always there, and sometimes he heard a lot of voices as he approached and knew that other members of Benjamin’s community were taking advantage of the chance to cool off. David left them alone. One time he’d approached and seen half a dozen boys of various ages swimming and playing, but as soon as they saw him, they quietly got out of the water, dressed, and left without a word. After that, David turned around when he heard them at the swimming hole. They weren’t there that often, and mostly he had the place to himself. The best times, of course, were when Benjamin came. They’d swim, splash, and then lie on David’s beach blanket and talk.

  “I’m supposed to be baptized before I get much older,” Benjamin told him one afternoon in late August. Labor Day was just around the corner, and they’d been swimming like they usually did.

  “I was baptized when I was a baby,” David said. “My mother has pictures of it.” He thought it strange that Benjamin wasn’t baptized yet given how central to his life his religion seemed to be.

  Benjamin looked at David like he was from outer space. “Being baptized means I become an adult in the eyes of the community and the church,” he explained. “I’ll be expected to start courting, get married, and eventually start my own farm and family.”

  David had been staring up at the canopy of leaves overhead, but he sat up and looked at Benjamin. “Would that mean you can’t be my friend any longer?”

  Benjamin shrugged. “I don’t know what it means other than I suspect this will be the last summer I’ll have time for things like swimming in the creek. By next summer I’ll probably be baptized and have greater responsibilities to my family.”

  David nodded, trying to act like he understood, but he really didn’t. The loss that gripped David’s heart must have shown on his face because Benjamin continued.

  “I’d like to think we’ll always be friends, but I know everything will change. But before that
happens, I have Rumspringa; it’s sort of a period where I can explore the world outside of the Amish village. Before I commit to a life in the community and the church, I need to make sure I’m ready for what’s ahead for me.”

  “Do you have to leave or something?” David’s stomach clenched as he asked the question.

  Benjamin shook his head. “Mostly it means that I’ll be given more freedom to explore your world.”

  David’s heart leaped. “So we’ll get to spend more time together before you get baptized?”

  “Possibly,” Benjamin answered, and David smiled as some of the ache that had gripped him slipped away. “But you should know that while you will always be my friend, we will probably be apart and see each other very seldom, especially after I commit to the church. I will live apart, and I will miss my friend.” Benjamin was visibly sad, and the glow that always shone in his eyes dimmed.

  David didn’t know what to say. He’d had friends before, many of them, but Benjamin was special. David knew Benjamin was, in a way, defying his father by coming to the creek to swim and spend time with David. No one had ever gone out of their way to be friends with him like that. Benjamin’s friendship meant a great deal to David, but David began to realize how much his friendship meant to Benjamin. He stood up, extended his hand, and helped Benjamin to his feet before swinging him toward the pool. He fell in with a splash and came up grinning. David ran toward the water and jumped in. When he surfaced, Benjamin laughed and jumped on his back, and the usual roughhousing began. They played and laughed until they both began to chill, and then they climbed out of the water. As usual, Benjamin checked the sun and came back. “I better be going home. I have a lot of chores to do, and they need to be done before supper.” Benjamin crossed the creek as he usually did and picked up his clothes from where he’d left them. Once he was dressed, Benjamin said good-bye and walked down the path.

  David got dressed and gathered his things. Instead of going right back to the house, he followed the path on his side of the creek back along the field until the path petered out and the vegetation got too thick. Leaving the wooded area, he headed across the open hayfield toward home. He needed some time to think about his feelings for his friend, which seemed to be getting stronger no matter how much he tried to control them, but he had to do something about them. Benjamin was his friend, and while he wasn’t sure what these feelings meant, especially the ones that took over when he was alone in bed, and in his mind, Benjamin came to him and kissed him….

  David reached the back of the house and walked around to the front, intending to enter through the garage. The sight of a black buggy there with a horse in front of it surprised him. Watching as the animal tossed its head but made no move, David entered through the garage door. He heard his mother talking softly, as well as a man with a deep voice. He couldn’t make out what they were saying. After he put his wet things in the laundry room, he walked through the house, following the sound of the voices to the living room. He saw a large, bearded man with a hat like Benjamin’s on his lap.

  “So you’ll speak to him,” the man said, and David heard his mother agree.

  David walked to where his mother sat stiffly on the edge of her seat. “Who is this?” David asked, looking at the man. When he looked up at David, he knew instantly that it was Benjamin’s father. He had the same eyes and features, although not nearly as pleasant as Benjamin’s.

  “Benjamin is my son,” he said stiffly. “And I stopped by with the intention of speaking with the man of the family.”

  “That would be me,” David replied with equal stiffness. “What can I do for you?”

  Benjamin’s father stood up, towering over David in his black clothes. “I’ll thank you to stay away from my son.”

  David was shocked. “He’s my friend, and we were just swimming. We didn’t do anything wrong,” David protested a bit weakly and looked to his mother for support. “All we did was go swimming and talk.”

  “Benjamin is about to become a man and he needs to spend his time with his family and on proper pursuits,” Benjamin’s father said. “I don’t cotton to him spending time with the English, especially not after the way he’s behaved since he’s been spending time with you.”

  “All we did was go swimming,” David repeated.

  “That isn’t all you did. You caused my son to lie and sin in the eyes of the Lord. He never told us he was going swimming with you, and if he had, we would have forbade it. So by not telling us where he was going and who he was seeing, Benjamin was lying by omission, and I will not have that. You caused my son to sin, and that cannot be condoned. So I’ll ask you again, stay away from my son and don’t go talking to him. He shan’t be cutting through the field any longer.” Benjamin’s father placed his hat on his head. “Good day to you, ma’am,” he said, and David watched as he let himself out.

  The door closed quietly and David could hardly believe what had just happened. He’d lost the one friend he had here. But there was more to it than that. He’d left many friends when they’d moved, but losing Benjamin felt worse than all of them combined.

  “I’m sorry, David,” his mother said, and he nodded, feeling a bit shell-shocked. He sat in the chair by the window and watched as the buggy slowly turned around in the driveway and headed out onto the road. He couldn’t watch any longer and turned to look at his mother.

  “I know you liked him, but you’ll make more friends.”

  He knew she was trying to put the best face on things that she could. At least she wasn’t saying “I told you so.” David nodded and went to his room without saying anything more. He felt like his heart was breaking, but that couldn’t be. He and Benjamin were just friends. There were so many things he didn’t understand, and they all seemed to be happening to him at the same time. He flopped down on his bed, bunched up his pillow, and buried his face in it. He told himself he wasn’t going to cry, but that didn’t mean he had to be happy about what had happened, either. Life sucked—it really and truly sucked. Just when he’d made a friend, something had to happen to take him away. It wasn’t fair.

  “I’ll have dinner ready in about an hour,” David’s mother said, and he nodded but didn’t look up at her. “It will be okay.”

  “I know, Mom,” David lied. How could he explain that he’d told Benjamin most of his deepest thoughts and Benjamin hadn’t laughed at him or said he was ridiculous? Granted, he hadn’t told him the big one, but that was okay. Benjamin had listened, and he’d told David things, stuff that seemed important. Benjamin had even told David he’d thought of leaving the community so he could see the world. He knew that was a huge secret for Benjamin, and David had treasured that admission for what it was—a declaration of trust. And now he was gone from his life. David knew Benjamin would never openly defy his father. He was too sweet and way too good to do that. No, Benjamin was gone for good, and David knew he needed to accept it.

  He told himself that twice before he started punching his pillow in complete frustration. This was ridiculous. He and Benjamin hadn’t done anything wrong, and he was going to find a way to see Benjamin, somehow. Not that he had any ideas, but still he ruminated on it until his mother called him for dinner. He joined her at the table, and they ate in near silence. Afterward, David cleaned up the dishes and joined his mother in front of the television until it was time to go to bed.

  THE following morning, David kept an eye on the house across the street, desperate to see if he could see Benjamin, but he never did. Finally, in the afternoon, he walked across the field and down the path to the swimming hole, where he sat on a log and waited. This was his only chance to see Benjamin, the only place where his friend knew he would be. David waited for the rest of the afternoon. The sun danced on the water the way it usually did. Creatures moved around the forest floor, and at each sound, David jumped and looked across the water, hoping to see Benjamin, but he didn’t come. David knew Benjamin’s father was probably keeping a close eye on him, but he’d hoped Benjamin w
ould somehow be able to come to see him, probably for the last time. He had so many things he wanted to tell his friend, but Benjamin never stepped into the clearing, and David eventually walked back home.

  Chapter 6

  DAVID pulled his car into the driveway and parked as best he could. The wind had picked up again and snow was drifting across the driveway. Everyone at school had been talking about how this was the worst January for snow that any of them had ever seen. They were also talking about how great it was to have so many snow days. School had been let out early, and it had still taken David a long time to get home. He’d called his mother, and she had asked him to stop at the store on his way home. David had had just enough money to get what she wanted. He set the grocery bag on the counter, then began putting things away, thankful to be home, off the roads, and out of the weather.

  Once he was done, he called his mother. “Mom, I made it home okay,” he said when she answered her phone.

  “Good.” The relief in her voice was palpable. “They’re going to let us out in the next few hours, and I’m going to come right home. I’ll call when I leave.”

  “Okay,” David said as he looked out the kitchen window. The field behind the house was a blanket of white, and the trees on the far edge were visible only as shadows.

  “Get your homework done,” she reminded him, and David grunted, rolling his eyes. He always did his homework, and he wasn’t sure why she felt the need to remind him.

  “I will, Mom,” he said in his ever-suffering teenage voice. The high school here was easier and much less competitive than the one he’d left. David had always been a good student, but here he was easily sitting at the top of his class.