Hitman's Creed - 5

 

"I aced the exam, Mom," Joey said elatedly right after he'd raced into the living room.

She hugged him as she said, "Well I would hope so; you're smart enough when you put your mind to it."

"Yeah, yeah, I know," he replied in mock annoyance before he admitted, "Sometimes I slack off."

"As long as you're aware of it." She watched him grab his jacket, tempted to remind him to remember his hat and gloves as it was snowing lightly outside. She was a mother after all, even if at twenty-one he was more than old enough to make his own decisions about things like that. "Where are you off to?"

"I've been sitting too long so I'm going to walk, or run maybe to work it off." He checked his pockets then held up his gloves with a knowing grin that rated him a chuckle from his mother.

When he got outside, he tipped his head back to let the snow hit his face. Its cool touch felt good after being in a warm house for so long. Then he stretched, bent to touch his toes a couple of times, and took off down the short path from the house to the street. Since there were no sidewalks in their part of town he walked along the edge of the road, one ear cocked for the sound of traffic from behind him.

He didn't know exactly where he was headed, not that it mattered. He loved to walk and run just for the hell of it. It gave him the freedom to think and plan without interruption. He knew what he wanted to do with his life, he just didn't know where he wanted to do it, or how. The idea of leaving his mother to fend for herself while he moved to some large city across the state or the country worried him. Sure, her brother and his family lived and worked in town but that wasn't the same as his being there if anything should happen.

Joey sped up, his walk turning into a run as he turned off the street onto a well-worn riding trail that weaved away from the town into the lightly forested area to the north. The trees kept the worst of the thickening snow from making the path treacherous but it was still no picnic to race along. At least with the weather worsening, he figured no one would be out on a horse so he stayed in the center where it was smoother.

Twenty minutes later a quick check of the time, plus the fact that the snow had really begun to come down very hard, made him decide to turn around and head home. He wished as he did that he'd been smart enough to stick his hat in his pocket. With one gloved hand he brushed the snow out of his hair while muttering about lousy weathermen who hadn't predicted this.

The snow that accumulated on the trail made it virtually invisible now so he was glad he knew it like the back of his hand. If he hadn't he wouldn't have known which twists and turns to take. As it was there came a time when he started to wonder if he'd made a wrong one somewhere. He paused to look around while he pulled his jacket tighter around him. Not that it did much to warm him.

He tried to get his bearings and muttered, "Damn it." One thing he knew for certain once he thought about it, he had definitely gone diagonal to the town because the waning sun, as it began to drop below the horizon, sent his pale shadow out in front of him. That meant he had been heading east, not south. Making a quarter turn, he set off again.