After Hunting
Ron was utterly furious. That was made abundantly clear when he continued to throw a tirade of insults at Leslie as they packed the car.
And she put up with it, for some reason. Tom, who actually shot Ron, hadn’t come forward, and if Leslie learned anything in Girl Scouts, it was don’t be a snitch. She had learned that the hard way when she had caught Milly Miller (her real name) sneaking lollipops and, when she told the Camp Counsellor, Milly Miller dunked her head down the toilet for the next week.
It wasn’t that Tom was capable of dunking her. That was genuinely laughable. But she had a feeling she knew why he hadn’t come forward. He had done something stupid- not getting a hunting license was a huge offense, and she knew what her co-workers were like. Rightly or not, he would never hear the end of it. At least this way, he could owe her big time for the remainder of their working relationship. Was that mean?
Oh, who cares, because since she wouldn’t tell on him, that meant that she wasn’t hearing the end of Ron’s hurtful comments. And they were really quite hurtful for someone who was wrongfully accused.
“I don’t know why I ever trusted you to be deputy of my department,” Ron said loudly, prompting an eye roll from Donna as she went past. “Someone that bad of a shot isn’t worth having.”
“Are you done now?” Leslie heard Donna say. She was too busy shoving her bag into the boot of the car, ignoring how her eyes stung.
“Not hardly!” Ron barked back.
Leslie peeked around from the car and saw Ann talking avidly with Tom by the entrance to the cabin. Tom was shying away from her, and then Ann poked him in the chest. Leslie’s spirits lifted slightly. Beautiful Ann was looking out for her- hopefully this terrible day would finally turn around.
Leslie came around from the car, just in time for Ron to keep berating her.
“It’s utterly disgraceful, Knope! Next time we go on a group activity, I don’t think you’ll be invited.”
“What?” Leslie asked.
“You might shoot another person in the head and this time they won’t be as lucky as I was!”
“Ron-” Tom started, hurrying over. Ann ran after, looking dismayed.
“You’re the most irresponsible person I’ve ever met! I don’t think I can even call you my friend after this!”
Silence. Leslie swallowed a lump in her throat and looked down. Ron continued to stare daggers.
“Ron, I know you’re in pain-” Tom said slowly. “And I don’t want to add to that…”
Ann slapped him on the back of the head.
“Ow! Okay, well… technically it wasn’t Leslie who shot you. It was me.”
Ron stood up and looked at him. From behind Tom, Ann could see that there were probably a million different thoughts running through his head.
“I didn’t have a license,” Tom continued slowly. “And I didn’t want to get in trouble. I know it’d probably be jail time, so…”
“Are you kidding me?” Ron practically roared. “That’s insane!”
Ann stepped in. “It really was. And Leslie took the fall for him. So, can you stop being a dick to her and be a dick to the person who actually shot you?”
Ron patted Ann’s shoulder. “I’m sorry.” He turned around. “Leslie, I’m so-”
Leslie wasn’t stood next to them anymore. The three of them glanced around, but she wasn’t nearby. Donna got out the car and walked over to them.
“If you’re looking for Leslie, I think she went into the woods after he shouted at her.”
“Why didn’t you stop her?” Ann asked, throwing up her hands.
“Y’all left me to pack the car! I don’t know where Mark and Jerry are, but they’re not here. Maybe they’ve gone to take a whizz or something, I don’t know.”
Ron buried his face in his hands. “That isn’t good.”
“You were being really harsh,” Ann spat as she moved around the car to scan the trees.
“I thought she shot me, woman!” Ron retorted as he moved to stand next to her.
“Still! She’s my best friend who didn’t rat out Tom and actually saved his ass!”
“She has a point,” Tom cut in as he slunk over to them. “But Ron, please don’t murder me.”
Ron looked for a second like he was extremely tempted, but instead he shook himself.
“It’s fine,” Ron said curtly. “I’ll go and find her- it’s my fault this happened.”
“That’s fair,” Tom said with a grin. Everybody turned to give him a dirty look.
“Scratch that, it’s your fault, but I’m going to fix it anyway because I’m a responsible adult.”
“Okay, that’s fair,” Tom whined slightly. He went to go sit in the car and Donna joined him.
Ann turned to Ron. “Do you want me to come with you?”
“No, you should stay here in case she comes back.”
Ann bit her lip. “Okay.”
***
Leslie sat on a tree stump and cried. Then she berated herself for crying. She was a strong and powerful woman, and she was crying because Ron said he didn’t want to be her friend?
It was so unfair. Why couldn’t Tom have just got a license in the first place, so she didn’t have people thinking she shot somebody?! It was utterly humiliating. And she didn’t think she had ever seen Ron that angry before- and she hated the fact that it was at her.
She was broken out of her thoughts when she heard footsteps approaching. She looked up and, sure enough, Ron was moving through the woods towards her. Leslie silently cursed how bright her outfit was. All she had wanted to do was cry for two hours and then move on with her life. Was that too much to ask?
He stopped just shy of a metre away from her.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know that you were taking the fall for Tom.”
Leslie wiped her eyes furiously. “Well, yeah.”
Ron moved to stand awkwardly next to her. “You did the right thing. You saved Tom’s ass.”
Leslie didn’t reply, she just put her head in her hands. Ron rubbed his face, stressed.
“I didn’t mean it when I said you were irresponsible. Or that you couldn’t be my- be my friend. I don’t think that would be true even if you did shoot me.”
Leslie laughed shakily before looking up at him. “I know. It’s because you’re in pain. Because Tom shot you.”
She stood up and Ron patted her shoulder. She went in for a full hug, and he hesitated for a second. Leslie thought he wouldn’t, but then he was squeezing her back. When she pulled away, she gave him a teary smile.
“I’m sorry,” he repeated.
“I know. Now let’s go home so someone can fix the back of your head.”
Ron harrumphed. “Agreed. I love the back of my head.”
Leslie laughed loudly. “I know!”