Spoiler! :
“Have any fours?”
I scanned my eyes across the cards fanned out in front of me. “Nope. Go fish.”
Danny pursed his lips, pulling a card from the deck. A smirk spread across his face. “Look at that. A four.” He slapped the two matches on the coffee table.
I smiled, shaking my head. “Sevens?”
The smirk faded. Danny picked a card out of his hand and threw it at me. It fluttered into my lap. A seven.
Some people might say that it’s kind of odd for a couple of teenagers, especially siblings, to be playing Go Fish on a Friday night. We’ve been playing since we were little. Why should we stop?
A pair of headlights flashed through the living room as a car pulled into the driveway. “Dad’s home.” I muttered.
Dan sighed. This couldn’t be good. Dinner was ready an hour ago. Dad insisted that we wait for him to eat. We didn’t. I heard the screen door creak open first, then the handle to the storm door. It shut a bit too loudly.
“Hey, Dad.” I greeted when he passed the entrance to the living room.
“Did you eat dinner yet?” He asked. I didn’t want to answer that.
“There’s chicken breast in the oven, Craig.” My mom yelled from the kitchen. She shouldn’t have yelled.
Dad marched down the rest of the hallway into the kitchen. “I asked you to wait for me.” He was talking through his teeth.
“The kids were hungry. And so was I.” Mom sounded like she was keeping her cool. For now, anyway.
“I told you I would only be 30 minutes.”
“That was an hour ago, Craig.”
“You should learn to listen to me.”
Oh no.
“I told you dinner would be ready by six.”
“I said I would try to get home by then.”
“Well what took you the extra half hour to get home?”
Dad hesitated. “I got caught up at work.”
Mom laughed in an odd way. “You got caught up at work.” She repeated. I heard the faucet in the sink start to run.
“What, do you need to know where I am? Should I call every five minutes?” He was close to shouting.
“As your wife, yes, that would be helpful!” Mom was already shouting.
“I don’t need you on my back, Lisa! I have enough to deal with right now, and you know that!”
Danny and I looked at each other.
He cleared his throat. “Do you have any eights?”
An eight of hearts was burning through my fingertips. I shook my head. Danny drew a card.
“Well I’m sorry I care about you, Craig. I really am.”
“There's no reason to get all worked up, so knock it off.” Dad threatened.
“Have any ones?”
“Go fish.”
A plate crashed when it hit the kitchen floor. I jumped.
Mom was close to crying. “I’m done.”
The floor in the hallway was creaking. She was coming.
Dan snapped out of it first. “Go fish.” He repeated.
I took a card without really looking at it.
I predicted that Mom would stomp up the stairs and hide in her bedroom, but instead she strode into the living room. She snatched the picture frame over the fireplace, ripping the picture from the frame. She held it out to me.
“Do me a favor and tear that up and throw it away.” She said unemotionally. Then she continued up the staircase. The door slammed.
I glanced at Danny before looking at the picture. A lump gathered in my throat.
I showed the picture to Danny, my hands shaking. “Their wedding picture.” I whispered.
He swallowed hard, his eyes on the hallway when it started creaking again. Dad was coming.
Dan took the picture out of my hand, sliding it under the sofa. “Your turn.” He said, loud enough for Dad to hear.
I couldn’t. “I don’t want to play anymore.”
Dan started putting the cards away. Dad was leaving.
“Where are you going?” I asked, unable to shake the fear in my voice.
“I’ll be back.” he snorted. His words sounded more like they were directed toward my Mom, rather than me.
. . . . . . . .
The little picture of our family vacation to Disney was outdated. I was only nine, Danny was almost eleven. Dad had that silly mustache that he’d never be able to wear right again. It was the last family vacation we’d been on in years.
I tore my eyes from the photo, to the mirror in front of me. My eyes were red and watery.
I noticed Danny leaning on my doorframe through the mirror. I wiped my eyes quickly with the back of my hand. “Is Dad home yet?”
“No.”
It was ten-thirty.
“He’s not coming home tonight, is he?”
Dan didn’t answer.
I sighed, shaky and uneven. I could barely think the word, let alone ask Danny if he was wondering the same thing.
“Do you think they’re getting divorced?”
No answer.
The tears blurred my vision again. I blinked, allowing them to roll down my cheeks.
Dan appeared next to me, his arms open for a hug. I broke down, collapsing in his arms, quiet sobs breaking in my throat.
What happened to them? Mom and Dad seemed like they loved each other. All the sudden my world was crumbling to pieces, and I couldn’t do anything to stop it. Not even Danny, the greatest big brother anyone could ask for, could fix this one.
What was I going to do?
. . . . . . . .
“Maybe they just…grew apart. Why does there have to be a reason?”
“Because, Leslie, nobody just grows apart. There has to be a reason behind it.”
We laid on my giant beach towel in the sand, watching the early summer clouds swim across the sky. Brigantine Beach has been my home since I was three years old. It's a quiet little community on the coast of southern New Jersey, right next to Atlantic City. I'm certain that it's my favorite place in the whole world.
“Well what reasons are you thinking of?”
I groaned, covering my face with my hands. “I don’t know.” I mumbled.
Of course I knew. There were endless reasons. Maybe Dad really was struggling with work, and just not able to get home in time. Or Mom is just way too stressed out with Dan going to college in the fall that she and Dad just don’t have time together. Or there’s the unspeakable.
I didn’t want to think about it. “I’m going swimming.” The June sun was making me sweat more than necessary. I peeled off my tank top and shorts to sport my new floral print bikini.
“The waves are huge, Dyl. You’ll die.”
I actually laughed. Leslie was my best friend, and sometimes she cared way too much about me.
“I’ll be fine.” I promised. "Does that mean you aren't coming?"
“No way. I have a tan to work on.” Leslie pulled her shades off the top of her head and tapped them over her eyes. She's white as a ghost, so I chuckled at her sarcasm. The strawberry blonde hair prevents any sort of color to live happily on her skin. She wears SPF eight billion even when it's raining.
I hugged the coastline as I made my way down to the orange flags. I passed the lifeguard stand and dipped my toes in the water when a big wave crashed, diminishing as it got closer to shore. It was kind of chilly, considering summer was just beginning. But the waves were the real issue.
A few brave souls had made it out past where the waves were crashing, some of the walls of water at least seven feet tall. I looked back at the lifeguards, propping their feet up on the posts of the stand. They didn't seem so concerned about the bobbing heads in the surf. Regardless, I set out on my mission to calmer water. I hoped it would distract me.
No, it couldn’t be. Neither Mom or Dad would ever even consider it. Not when they had Danny and I. Right?
Of course not. I was jumping to conclusions. Dad wasn’t cheating on Mom. It was just a fight - one that ended with Mom asking for her wedding picture to be torn to pieces. Is that where he’s been those extra 30 minutes? With another woman? No. No! I refused to believe it.
I popped back into reality when I heard screams and squeals. An impossibly large wave was approaching quickly. The lucky people ahead of me made it over, but the rest of us were done for.
I braced myself, barely getting time to hold my breath. I tumbled under water, my stomach and shoulders scraping against the shells and hard sand. It would have looked funny if it were above water, like I was rolling spastically down a hill.
I ended up almost completely on the shore, along with a few other kids choking on seawater. But I couldn’t stand up.
Someone was on top of me.
His skin was warm from the sun, his hair golden blonde and tickling my neck. I huffed, his body squeezing the air out of me.
He grunted, leaping away from me like I was toxic. "I'm sorry." He spluttered, falling back on his rear end. His face was bright red, indicating he was either sunburned or very embarrassed. Then he said it: "Dylanne Harper?"
I didn't like how he used my full first name, but I squinted my eyes, observing his face. Then it clicked. “Eric Matthews!”
A joyful grin spread across his face. “You got clobbered too, huh?”
I stared at him. “Yeah…Wow, Eric! You look…great!”
His cheeks reddened again. Eric and I used to be good friends in middle school, but drifted apart freshman year. Eric was the kid with glasses and braces and pimples. Now…
“Thanks, you too.” He flashed a brace-free smile. My heart jumped a little, and it startled me. “So how’ve you been?”
“Alright.” I said honestly. “How about you?”
He shrugged. “Me too.”
A couple of Eric’s friends called him over the roar of the waves. They were still in the ocean, probably timing the call to Eric so that it was loud enough for him to hear. He waved to them.
“Go ahead.” I insisted.
Eric shot to his feet. “Are you sure you’re okay? I’m sorry I landed on top of you.”
His hand grabbed onto mine, helping me up. “I’m perfect, I swear.”
Eric smiled again. I never realized his eyes were so blue behind the thick frames of his glasses. Contacts, maybe.
“See you around.”
“Wait,” Eric caught my arm. “We should get together sometime. You know, catch up and stuff.”
I grinned. “Okay.”
I caught another glimpse of his perfect smile. “Cool. See ya, Pickles!” Eric skipped off into the ocean, diving gracefully into a wave. It made me smile the way he used the pet name he gave me in sixth grade.
“Did you die?” Leslie asked without as much care as I expected.
“Yes, I did, actually.”
Leslie laughed. “I know. I saw you.” She sat up, pushing her glasses onto her forehead. “Who was the cutie you were talking to?”
“You’ll never believe it if I told you.”
She grew more curious. “I know him?”
I nodded. “Picture him with glasses and braces.”
She stared blankly at me. “I don’t know. Who?”
I smirked. “Eric Matthews.” I pronounced each name slowly.
Gasp. “No! Are you kidding me?” She tilted her body to get a view of him from behind me.
I sat next to her, squeezing the water out of my long, dark hair. “I know.”
She was still gaping. “Eric sure did grow up, didn’t he?”
“We all did.” I laid back on the towel, sighing. The sun beat down on my skin, but I still had goosebumps.
Leslie was quiet for a minute. “Maybe I should go re-introduce myself.”
I shot up, my hair flying into my mouth. “No!”
She raised her eyebrow at me.
“I mean, he’s all the way out there. Wait until he crashes into the beach again.”
She rolled her eyes. “I get it. He’s yours. I’ll keep away.”
I didn’t argue.
. . . . . . . .
I dropped my flip flops outside before going into the house. I was surprised to see Dad on his laptop in the kitchen.
“Hi.” I said, after recovering.
“Hey, Princess.” He smiled. “How was the water?”
“Rough. But it wasn't that cold.” I said, grabbing an apple from the center of the kitchen table. I sat across from him, flicking the cushion off the chair so I didn’t get it wet. “Doing work stuff?”
He took an extra second to answer, peering over his glasses. “Yeah…it’s been tough. Harry's father just passed away, so he's taking a couple days off to organize everything.” He shut the laptop, leaning back in his chair and removing his glasses. He looked sleepy. That got me wondering where he had been the last two nights.
I took a bite of the apple. “Where’s Dan?”
“In the den. He has a friend over. And believe it or not, it’s a girl.” He lowered his voice to a teasing whisper.
That caught me off guard. “Really? Huh.” Dan has a girl over. I never thought those words would ever fit together in a sentence. Not that Danny isn't an attractive guy, because he is. He's just shy, and only family and really close friends know his wild and crazy side. Once you see it, you love him to death. “Who is she?”
He wasn’t paying attention to me.
“Dad.”
“Hmm?”
I changed my question. “Where’s Mom?”
He didn’t have time to answer because Danny came up from the den with the girl. She was a bleach blonde with ringlet curls that fell to her shoulders. Really pretty.
Danny seemed surprised to see me. “Hey.”
I took a bite of my apple with a smile. The girl grinned in a reserved way.
“This is Kate.” Dan introduced. He turned his cheek to Kate. “That’s my sister Dylanne.”
"Dyl." I insisted.
“Nice to meet you.” Kate said.
“You too.” I answered mechanically.
“Did you go to the beach today?” Dan asked.
“Yeah I went with Leslie.” Again, I was reminded of the tumbling through the waves and the sunny blonde hair that had found me. I noticed they were both wearing bathing suits. “Are you going?”
He nodded. “Dad, did Mom come home from Nana’s yet?”
Dad just shook his head, occupied with his laptop again.
Danny and I shared our glance. I didn't know that Mom went to Nana's. She lives a good hour away.
Without saying much else, he left with Kate to the beach and Dad claimed he had to make a phone call for work. So I decided to make a phone call myself.
“Hi, Mom.”
“Hi baby. Is everything okay?”
“Yeah, I just wanted to make sure everything is okay with you.”
She was hesitant, but sighed. “Oh, yes, I’m just here with Nana and Aunt Suzy.”
That caught my attention. “Can I talk to Aunt Suzy?”
I waited for the answer on the other end. “Hello gorgeous.”
“Hey. Just answer with yes or no, okay?” I wanted to know what was going on and I knew I wouldn’t get the whole truth out of my mother.
“Alright.” Suzy was curious.
I checked to make sure Dad was upstairs. I lowered my voice anyway. “Is Mom upset?”
A long sigh. “Yes.”
“Is she mad at Daddy?”
“Yes.”
I expected that much. “Does it sound like she’s coming home soon?”
“I don’t know, Dyl.”
I dropped my head on my arm on the table. I didn’t know what else to say. I heard Dad coming down the stairs.
I straightened up. “I have to go.”
I threw my phone onto the table and picked up my apple again, leaning back in the chair and trying to look casual.
He interrogated me instantly. “Was that your mother?”
I considered lying. “Yes, it was. She doesn’t know when she’s coming home.”
I expected him to feel guilty, feel bad for making her leave the house. But instead his lips held a strange smirk and he shrugged one shoulder, as if she were being immature about everything.
Was she?
What the hell.
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