Chapter 6 - Your Hand Is Small

"Brad, I hit it!"

Bradley, his heart beating a thousand miles per hour for the sudden sound, raised his hand, giving the younger boy a thumbs up from the car.

"Bradley! Carson! Come on out here!" Elliot called.

The two teens hesitantly walked out of the car, heading towards Elliot and Caleb.

Carson watched as Elliot threw a can of beer in the air and Caleb shot, hitting the object, and a pang of jealousy went through her. That was something only she and Elliot did.

"Hey, can we go? I gotta use the bathroom," Bradley called, looking for ran excuse to leave.

Elliot looked at him for a second before answering. "Go write your name in the snow. The whole world's a toilet."

Bradley shook his head, but headed towards the woods to go do his business.

Carson stayed where she was, leaning onto the car.

"Want a sip?"

She snapped her head up and saw Elliot offering Caleb the can of beer. "Are you out of your wits?" She said, looking at Elliot with wide eyes. "He's a kid."

Elliot just shrugged and looked back at Caleb, who had already answered with a "yeah."

The boy slowly took a sip and gave the can back to Elliot. He made a disgusted face but tried not to show it, hoping he seemed tough. To Carson, he just looked ridiculous.

"You like it?" Elliot asked, chuckling.

"It's not that bad..." Caleb answered, still trying to cover up his inner gagging.

Carson zoned out and started thinking about the moment Bradley and her had had in the car. When he kissed her she'd felt as if an electrical wire had just circuited in her body... but in a good way.

"Hey."

Carson jumped, turning around and nearly slapping Bradley, but he caught her wrist just before it made contact with his face.

"Woah, startled you much?" He said, bringing her hand down.

"Startled me? I just jumped three feet in the air! You gave me a heart attack!"

The boy just shrugged, bringing her hand he hadn't let go of back up to where they could both see it. After examining it, he came up with something to say.

"You have small hands."

Carson let out a warm laugh, taking his hand in hers, switching their position. She examined it like he had examined hers, and came to a conclusion.

"You have average hands."

Now it was Bradley's turn to laugh. He placed his hand over hers to compare their size. His towered over hers, making her hand seem smaller than it already was.

After a few seconds, he started lowering his fingers and started wrapping them around hers. She did the same, and soon their fingers were intertwined with one another.

The two smiled, but Caleb interrupted once again. "Dad let me have a sip of his beer."

Bradley let their hands drop to the side, but didn't let go. "Great," he said, sounding annoyed.

"You just gonna rat me out like that?" Elliot said to his son.

Carson reluctantly pulled her hand away from Bradley's, leaving the spot cold.

"Hey," Elliot said to Bradley once the two teens walked over. "Just hit the target once and then we'll go, ok?"

"Ok," Bradley answered, watching as Elliot put the bullet in. He handed the gun to Caleb. "Caleb, show him how it's done."

Caleb took the gun and started talking. "Ok, so, basically you wanna widen your stance, and just mash it into, like, the squishy part of your shoulder. And you just line it..."

"Hey, look," Elliot said, getting the teens's attention. He pointed towards the snow, and, at first, Carson didn't see anything. But then, a slight movement caught her eye. A rabbit was making its way towards the can that Elliot had placed on a log as a target. Carson caught onto what he wanted to do and her eyes widened.

"Elliot, n–"

"Shh," he quieted her, but the girl's frustration grew.

Without even thinking about it she grabbed Bradley's hand and gave it a squeeze.

The boy looked down at their hands and then at the girl's face, and his eyes widened when he saw her nearly terrified expression.

He turned to Caleb, who was aiming the rifle at the animal.

"Caleb, don–"

And then he shot.

Carson closed her eyes and pressed her forehead to Bradley's shoulder. He squeezed her hand and watched as Elliot took the gun from Caleb.

"Nice shot!" He said, nearing the suffering animal. He turned the rifle and hit the rabbit with the butt of the gun, ending the animal with a sickening crunch.

Carson squeezed Bradley's hand again at the sound, and the boy couldn't help but feel bad for her. She really was tough, but everyone had their weaknesses.

Elliot held the rabbit up so the boys could see. "Look at that!"

Both boys looked at him without saying a word, Carson kept her eyes shut and her head on Bradley's shoulder.

"What? Was I supposed to just let him suffer?" Elliot asked, weirded out by his son's reactions. But what surprised him the most was Carson's. He'd seen that girl hunt before, but he'd never noticed the pain in her eyes whenever she killed a bird. And he didn't see it now either. "What did you think was gonna happen?"

Neither of the boys said anything, so he looked at Carson. "Come on, Carson. You've killed animals before. You should be used to this." To her, it sounded almost as if he were disappointed.

"I didn't think I'd hit it..." Caleb said.

Elliot looked at the boys before taking in a breath. "Jesus, you boys are soft. Come on, Carson, open your eyes."

And she did. The usual fire burning in her eyes had turned into and nuclear explosion as she sent Elliot a death glare. "Go to hell," she spit at him before slipping her hand from Bradley's and climbing into the car.

"Fine, let's just go. Let's go," Elliot said, throwing the rabbit and walking to the car.

"You ok?" Bradley asked his brother, slightly concerned.

Caleb didn't answer, just walked to the car.

Bradley stopped his dad before he could get in the car. "You've been drinking," he said, looking at his dad up and down.

"So?" Elliot asked, confused as to what the problem was.

Not finding a way to put it, Bradley simply let out a breath and turned towards the car, then back to his dad.

Elliot paused a moment before digging into his pocket and taking out the car keys. "You drive."

Bradley looked at his dad, a ghost of a smile starting to appear on his lips.

"He doesn't have a license," Caleb said, hoping it would be enough to not let his brother drive.

Bradley sent his brother a look that clearly said 'shut the hell up'.

"He's gotta learn sometime," Elliot replied.

Bradley let the smile appear on his face and he took the keys. "Alright," he said, and headed towards the car.

"So Ted never taught you?" Elliot asked as he sat down in the passenger's seat.

Caleb let out a dry laugh. "Like Ted would ever let him drive the car."

"You just go slow, and keep it steady. You got this," Elliot told his son.

Bradley turned the keys and the car roared to life.

"Ok, and this..."

"Release the hand break," Elliot told him.

"Ok..."

"Slowly pull out..."

"There you go. Now you're driving."

Carson was sitting behind Elliot. She started to smile at how nervous the boy sitting in the driver's seat was. It was almost adorable.

"You're doing good. If you need to step on the brake, just press slowly on the brake. Don't step on it 'cause it's ice it'll just skid." Elliot said, telling his son what to do. "You're doing good."

"Thanks," Bradley said, slightly annoyed by his father's continuous comments.

"You alright?"

"Yeah, yeah."

"Sure you don't want me to take over?"

"Give him some space, Jesus." Elliot turned and gave the girl who hadn't spoken since they'd left a look.

"He drives like a grandmother. Let me try," Caleb said, insulting his brother.

"You couldn't see over the steering wheel," Bradley shot back.

Carson visibly tensed. Oh god...

Caleb hit Bradley's arm, and Carson gripped onto her seat.

"Hey, cut it out!" Bradley yelled, slapping his brother back.

"Stop it. Cut it out," Elliot said, tensing up.

Caleb stopped for a moment before he started kicking Bradley's seat.

"Caleb, stop..." Carson said in a warning tone.

"Just quit it!" Bradley yelled, turning around.

"Quit playin' around!" Elliot yelled, trying to take hold of the steering wheel.

Bradley yanked on the wheel, making the car turn sharply.

"Look out!" Carson yelled as she shielded her head with her arms.

The car went off the road, smashing into a pile of snow, sending everyone in the vehicle flying forwards. Carson felt a pang of pain in her skull, and soon started tasting the metallic taste of blood filling her mouth. She brought her hand up to her head, and when she brought it back to her lap, a small spot of blood dotted her finger.

"Holy shit, are you ok?" Elliot asked, his voice laced with panic as he turned to the two kids in the back.

"Y- yeah," Caleb said, his voice shaking.

The man turned two Carson, who simply nodded, hoping her hair would cover up her wound.

It hid it from Elliot.

"Sorry, I didn't– I just– I don– Carson, you're bleeding."

But not from Bradley.

"What? You're bleeding? Come on, let me see," Elliot said, reaching towards her, but she waved his hand away.

"I'm fine, it doesn't hurt," the girl said, trying to get the boys to calm down. She tried looking out the car window, but all she could see was snow.

Well then...