The Dragon Tree by AC Kavich Page B

Billy.
                  Billy glanced down the slope one last time to see if his father would intervene on his behalf. He scanned the felled timber and stumps for a few moments, but he could not pick out William’s hardhat from the others.
                  “Right now, kid,” said the furious foreman.
     
    ***
     
                  Billy hitched a ride with one of the truck drivers hauling loads of timber down the mountain. At the bottom, they parted ways and Billy walked the last five miles into Hudson and the RV park.
                  He groaned when he saw Eva and Hiroki waiting for him.
                  “Look, it’s been a hell of a day. I almost killed about ten guys. Whatever you want, the answer is no,” said Billy with a yawn. He strode past his two visitors and inside the trailer.
                  “I knew it!” Hiroki threw his hands in the air, already fed up.
                  Eva glared at Hiroki and barreled through the trailer door on Billy’s heels. He spun to yell at her and kick her out, but she was inexplicably grinning.
                  Eva handed him Hiroki’s folder.
                  “You’re a terrible photographer,” she said. “I have to see it for myself.”

CHAPTER SEVEN
     
                  The trio stood beside Hiroki’s Buick on the plateau overlooking the mighty Pacific. Hiroki was untangling the pile of nylon rope from his mother’s stash, and Billy was watching with his mouth hanging open.
                  “My mother had a mini-midlife crisis when she hit forty,” said Hiroki by way of explanation. “She tried spelunking, hang gliding and rock climbing.”
                  “You’re crazier than I thought,” said Billy. “You think you can just watch a few Youtube clips and learn how to use all that crap?”
                  Hiroki held up a carabineer in the dim late afternoon light. “You’re the one who’s climbing back down.”
                  Billy looked across the car at Eva, who was shaking her head nervously. Her ponytail was looser than usual, a few strands of her hair whipping in the breeze. She was listening to their conversation, but she was doing her best not to look at either of them.
                  “Um, Eva?” asked Billy. “You freaked out last time I did this, but now you’re cool with it? This guy shows up with a couple of neon green ropes and you’re completely at ease?”
                  Eva slowly turned to face him. “You don’t have to do the climb. I’ll go.”
                  The boys flinched and shared a wide-eyed glance. They turned back to Eva in slow motion and with synchronization so perfect it was comical.
                  “Not a chance,” said Hiroki.
                  “Uh-uh,” Billy echoed. His skin was suddenly itchy from wrist to elbow. He covertly rubbed his arms with his palms.
                  Eva noticed him rubbing his skin. She squinted in the dim light and leaned over the car to get a better look, but Billy quickly pulled down his sleeves and jammed his hands in his pockets. If the bizarre scales were coming back to his skin, Billy welcomed the setting of the sun and the darkness that came with it.
                  “I appreciate the chauvinism guys,” said Eva with a frown. “But Hiro is afraid of heights and you, Billy – you’re acting weird.”
                  “I’m just tired. Didn’t get any sleep last night,” said Billy defensively.
                  “Then you’re definitely not doing the climb,” said Eva.
                  Billy was too busy itching his arms through the sleeves of his shirt to argue. “Yeah, maybe you’re right. I don’t feel that great.”
                  Billy turned his back to Hiroki and