6. Initiation Into the Brotherhood of Rangers

Remember 6 of 9

Nov 26, 2025

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(Remember is a novella following Maria. It is the second segmens of a larger collection/novel called Milestone Road. If you interested in more of Henry Coffin’s Nantucket, the stories begin with The Boat at the End of Lover’s Lane.)

Before school, young Tommy Kelly was outside. He smelled Jack. The sweet marijuana smell came from the field house next to the football field. The smoke hung low to the ground in the September air, like a low-level fog.

He rounded the corner and there were ten of them waiting. They were all older than he was, all faced Jack and Billy, all wearing the Ranger shirts, and all had fallen silent as they eyed him.

Jack inhaled.

“Tommy was there with us.” They looked at him, now, with a difference.

“Boy’s been blooded.” Billy took the joint from his friend and inhaled, then he handed it over to young Tommy. He accepted the gift and sucked it. The other boys regarded him. “Show them the pictures.”

Tommy took out his phone and handed it over. The boys huddled over its screen and snickered. Tommy felt the weed work through him; his fingertips tingled.

Then a bell rang in the distance. They all ground their smokes into the grass, then trudged up to the school.

When Tommy settled into his first-period class and took out his history book, he realized how stoned he was. And he realized he no longer had his phone.

“Fuck me.”

Maria was looking at her phone.

Elaine was driving her to school. Maria had wanted, desired, hungered for a day in bed. But that would raise questions. So she shaved her legs, put on a dress, found the appropriate shoes, and had French toast for breakfast. Her mother was surprised.

Now, her body wanted to throw it all up.

“What does it say?”

“‘Let’s meet in first period. At the field house.’”

“Who?”

“Well, it is from Julian’s phone.”

“Fuck.”

“I said that.”

Elaine is a good friend. She would ride or die. That choice could be on the horizon.

“Oh, good. There are two of you.”

“Either one of us could kick your ass.”

“I don’t think you want to do that, little lady.”

Jack was shorter than the two of them. He had short and greasy hair, a Nantucket Rangers blue t-shirt with a five-pointed white star, jeans, and Dunham work boots. His best friend, Billy Trotter, stood behind him. Billy had spent the summer getting ready to fight in a Golden Gloves match. He wore similar clothes; the football team had won their Saturday game by forty, and they got to wear their swag on Monday. With a broken thumb, Billy didn’t play. Elvis had taken his spot.

“What do you want?”

“I thought it would be a good time for us to consider our future.”

“We don’t have a future.”

“Yes, we do.”

“Fuck you. Where’s Julian?”

“Who’s he?”

“How did you get his phone?”

“We don’t have his phone.”

“How did you text me on it?”

Billy crossed his arms. He wore a soft cast on his right hand. “Was he your lover in the surf? Was he the one that broke my thumb?”

“Glad you remembered.”

“Remember.” Jack smirked. “We remember.”