Chad Jones's Arc

Chapter 2 of 7

Chad told his friends on Tuesday. They laughed, just like he expected, but then Marcus asked if he could see it. By Friday, three of them had driven out to the property, walking through the barn and pointing at the man-shaped windows like they were something worth talking about. On Saturday morning, Chad found DeShawn setting up a tent near the barn. Not a camping tent — a clear lean-to made from tarps and PVC pipe, the kind you'd use at a tailgate. Inside was a sleeping bag with the same flexing man symbol from the family photo, stitched across the front in faded thread. DeShawn had been Chad's center sophomore year, before he transferred schools. Now he stood there holding a rolled-up piece of paper like it was supposed to explain everything. Chad read it. Some kind of will or family document about reconciliation, mostly illegible, with DeShawn's dad's name at the bottom. "He kicked me out," DeShawn said. "Figured you'd get it." Chad wanted to say no. Letting DeShawn stay meant the farm wasn't just something he bought — it became a place people lived, a thing with stakes. But DeShawn was already unpacking a cooler, pulling out eggs and a camp stove like he'd done this before. "Just a week," he said. "I'll help with whatever you're building." Chad looked at the sleeping bag, at the man symbol that matched his grandfather's barn. He thought about Marcus and the others seeing this, knowing someone was actually living here. "Two weeks," Chad said. "Then you figure something out." DeShawn nodded and started setting up the stove. Chad walked to the barn and leaned against the doorframe, watching the tent through the man-shaped window. The property wasn't his alone anymore. It was real now, with someone depending on it. He'd have to tell the others, and they'd have questions he didn't have answers for. But DeShawn was already cooking, and the smell of eggs drifted across the wet grass. Chad picked up his grandfather's axe and walked toward the tree line. If this was happening, he needed to start clearing space.