“Eva,” he mutters. “That’s my dad.”
chapter fifteen
Bodhi
W hat in the hell is a picture of your dad doing in Eva’s house?” Coop exclaims, waving it in the air as he paces around in a slow circle. “Are you sure this is even your dad?”
“I’m absolutely sure,” I confirm.
We’re at my house, in my front yard. I’m lying in my hammock that hangs under the balcony of our second story, with Eva at my side. She has her eyes closed as if she wants to shut the entire world out. I don’t blame her.
Beck takes the picture from Coop’s hand and brings it up close to his eyes. “Dude,” he says to me. “You look so much like your dad, it’s scary. And Calvin, all three of you. No denying you’re all related.”
“I know,” I reply. “I actually have another picture of my dad that I found five years ago. This isn’t the first time I’ve seen what he looks like.”
“For real, Bodhi?” Coop looks at me.
“It’s in my dresser,” I point towards my room. I feel Eva’s lips on my neck, hidden from the view of the guys. She knows she was the only other person who knew about that picture.
“When was this picture taken?” Beck continues, flipping it over and over as if a date will magically appear.
“A long time ago,” Eva chimes in. “I can tell by how my dad looks. It had to of been around the time I was baby, or a couple years after.”
“My dad looks the same in both pictures,” I tell them. “And I’m in the picture that I have. I was probably two? My dad is wearing the same goddamn shirt in both pictures. Eva’s right. It was around the time we were toddlers.”
“You think your dad knew this was Bodhi’s dad?” Coop questions Eva.
“I have no idea,” she shrugs her shoulders. “I didn’t know Bodhi when we were little. I guess anything’s possible? Maybe he knew of Bodhi. Maybe he didn’t. Maybe he didn’t realize until the accident,” she says, and then she turns to me. “Maybe he didn’t know who you were until he came to the hospital that day, and by that time your dad had been gone for over a decade, right?”
“Yeah, and if he and my dad have some sort of history … it could explain why he hated me from the moment he saw me.”
Eva buries her head in my neck and groans a little.
“I didn’t mean it like that,” I reassure her. “It’s just your dad, Eva … he judged me from the moment he saw me sitting next to you when we were fourteen. I was a kid, and it was pretty obvious he didn’t like me.”
Coop throws himself down in the grass. “You think Eva’s dad knows something about your dad? Like why he left?”
I go to answer, but Eva beats me to it. “Yes. I’m sure he does. I think Mr. Channing does too. I want to know,” she declares. “I want to know what my dad knows, and all the secrets he’s been keeping.” She turns to me again. “Bodhi, what if my dad and Mr. Channing did something to your dad? What if they took care of him? Like they took care of Owen Edwards?”
I can’t stand seeing her so upset. I kiss her forehead and bring her back down to my side. “We’ll figure it out,” I promise her. “And if they did have something to do with my dad leaving Flagler, whatever it is, it has nothing to do with you and me, understand?”
She nods into my neck.
“You guys just gonna put your top hats and spectacles on and skip around town with your pads of paper and Nancy Drew the shit out of this?” Coop asks us.
Beck rolls his eyes. “You read Nancy Drew?”
“I don’t know who the hell Nancy Drew is!” Coop exclaims. “Just saying, you two aren’t going to go off and figure this out in a day and meet back up with us tonight and toast to a mystery solved with juice boxes and animal crackers.”
“But I like juice boxes and animal crackers,” I say with a straight face.
“Scooby Doo,” Beck chimes in. “You couldn’t use Scooby Doo as an example?”
“Screw you two,” Coop says to Beck and I, kicking his feet in the grass and picking up a stray twig, pointing it at me and Eva. “You’re both in over your goddamn heads. Someone is going to end up hurt. Again.”
“You’re right, Coop,” Eva agrees. “If there’s anything I’ve learned from growing up in my house, it’s that my dad and Mr. Channing hide a lot of secrets. I’m worried about what I might find out as we unravel them all. But I’m so tired of letting them control everything. And now, this isn’t about me anymore. It’s about Bodhi too. His dad. I know my dad knows something about him, I mean he has a goddamn picture of him hidden in his office. I’m going to find out what he knows, whether or not you two decide to help us.”
“Damn, Eva,” Beck sighs. “You had to make this personal.”
“She’s right,” I say to Coop and Beck. “We can try to figure this out on our own, and maybe it will take all summer, or maybe we’re in way over our heads and we won’t figure out shit. But we’re going to at least try. So, you two can help or you don’t help. Totally up to you.”
Beck looks at Coop and shrugs his shoulders. Coop shakes his head and throws himself back into the grass. “You two sons of bitches,” is all he says.
“Is that a yes?” I question.
“Hell yeah, it’s a yes!” he cries out. “But if you two sons of bitches get me killed, or worse, if I end up in jail because of you two, I’m going to beat the shit out of you both. After Ma and Pop beat the shit out of you both. Not you, Eva,” he says as he points to her. “You’re too pretty. But definitely you, Bodhi. I’m going to beat your ass if you get me in trouble going down this rabbit hole of yours.”
I laugh and nod at Coop. “Deal.”
“So where do we start?” Beck asks. “We’ve got a picture, and a bunch of crazy shit that doesn’t add up from Calvin and Eva’s mom. Where do we go from here?”
“My house,” Eva says. “We start at my house. My dad’s office.”
“We were just there,” I remind her.
“I know,” she replies. “But everything in his office is out to see right now. We’ll never have that chance again. What if we missed something? With four of us, we can go through everything in that room. Make sure there isn’t something we didn’t see before.”
I give her hand a squeeze. “You’re okay with going back in there?”
“Yes,” she says. “I want to figure this out. I want to find out anything we can about your dad. I don’t care how pissed my dad gets when he realizes what I’m doing. I’m done tiptoeing around the fact my dad has some serious issues. I’m one of his serious issues.”
I lean in and kiss her on the lips, not giving a damn about the guys sitting there watching.
Coop groans. “You guys make me hurl.”
I flip him off as Eva laughs underneath me. She gives me a small shove and says, “Let’s go, while no one is home.”
Before we leave for Eva’s, I run inside first and shower, washing out the dried blood that was still caked in my hair from last night. I search through my dresser drawers for a t-shirt or shorts. I need to get out of these swim trunks I’ve been in since we left to go fishing yesterday, and Calvin’s shirt that smells like old sweat and bacon, but I already know I emptied my drawers a few days ago and took everything to Coop’s. My mom’s clothes aren’t even in the house anymore. I donated them to the local women’s shelter after she died exactly like she asked me to do.
I end up finding a lone pair of swim trunks under my bed that I’m not even sure belong to me, but nothing to cover the bruise on my chest that’s dark purple in color now. Eva’s already seen it, but not the guys. They’re going to comment on it the moment I walk out of my house.
“Goddamn Porter!” Coop shakes his head. They’re waiting outside of the jeep.
“Porter Channing did that?” Beck points to my chest. “And are those my swim trunks?”
Eva looks down at the ground. I glare at the guys as we pile into the jeep. I grab her hand and give it a kiss. “It’s not a big deal.”
“Yeah, it is, Bodhi,” she says in return. “He’s called me. Three times since late this morning.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” I ask her.
“I just looked at my phone while you were in the shower,” she lifts her phone up. “Three missed calls since we left Calvin’s.”
“He’s not coming near you again.”
“Dickhead’s not coming near either of you again,” Coop exclaims from the backseat, beating my headrest with his fist. “The three years spent wasted in karate lessons with Master Kim are finally going to come in handy. I can feel it.”
The drive to Eva’s is silent, and when we get to her house, it still looks to be empty. We go in through her garage door and she leads us straight to her dad’s office. The guys and I follow behind her, but she hesitates outside of the room.
“What’s wrong?” I ask, but then I peer inside and see exactly what has caused her to pause. Everything looks textbook perfect. Quite the opposite of how we left it earlier. Her dad’s office looks untouched.
“What the hell?” she cries out.
Books are put back on the bookcase. Papers are no longer scattered everywhere. Artwork is back on the wall. Pictures that weren’t broken are back on the shelves. Frames that were shattered are missing from the floor. There’s not even one little knickknack out of place that I can tell.
“We in the right room?” Beck questions, looking inside.
I’m shaking my head. “This was not like this earlier. Someone’s been here. Someone’s cleaned this up.”
Eva backs out of the room and leans up against the foyer wall. She looks like she’s on the verge of a panic attack. Her breathing is heavy and her face is ghost white. There’s no color to her lips at all. I saw her like this a couple nights ago, I will not let her fall apart again today.
“Hey,” I say to her, putting my face right in front of hers and resting my hands on her shoulders. “Let’s get out of here. Let’s go to the beach and not think about any of this a minute longer, okay?”
She tearfully nods her head and grabs my hand, just as a door opens down the hall and we hear loud, tiny footsteps running towards us. She pushes me to the side so she can see who’s coming. Two small, identical boys appear. I can only assume these are Eva’s twin brothers.
“Who are you people?” one of them says to me and the guys. The other one is hiding behind his twin. “And where’s your clothes?” he asks me.
“Miles, these are my friends,” Eva tells him. “Where’s Mom?”
“She’s crying in the garage,” Miles points behind him.
“Crying? She’s crying? Why is she crying?”
He shrugs his shoulders.
“Were you guys home at all today?” she asks them.
The other boy shakes his head. “Mommy picked us up and took us to see the race cars,” he whispers.
“Rowan,” Miles pushes him. “It’s called Nascar.”
“Mom took you to Daytona?” she asks them. “To see the race cars?”
“Nascar,” Miles says again. “We went to see Nascar. We took a big bus around the racetrack and got to stop for pictures and snacks.”
“Got it,” she nods and ruffles both their heads of hair. “Go upstairs and play,” she tells them. “I’m going to check on Mom.”
The boys run upstairs, leaving the four of us standing there.
“Should we wait outside?” Beck points to the front door, looking extremely uncomfortable.
“Go,” I tell him and Coop. “I’ll stay with Eva.”
They don’t hesitate and make it out the front door just as we hear footsteps coming down the hall again. Eva and I freeze as Mrs. Calloway comes into our sight. She pauses when she sees us. She’s definitely been crying. She wipes her eyes and tries to pretend everything’s normal the closer she gets.
“Mom?” Eva questions. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing honey. Everything’s fine. Oh, Bodhi,” she sighs, pointing to my side. “Are you sure you don’t want me to take you to get that checked out? That looks awful.”
“Thanks,” I say to her. “But I’m okay.”
“Mom?” Eva questions again. “What’s going on?”
“Nothing. Everything’s fine.”
I can sense Eva’s outburst before it even happens. “Goddamnit, Mom! Why are you lying to me? Stop lying to me! I’m not a little kid anymore! Why can’t you tell me what’s going on?”
Mrs. Calloway looks between Eva and I and shakes her head. “Where are your brothers?”
“Upstairs,” Eva answers. “You took them to Daytona?”
Her mom nods. “Your dad was supposed to come by today to pack up some of his stuff.”
“Come by?” Eva exclaims. “Pack up some stuff? Where is he?”
She lets out a loud sigh. “After last night, I told him to leave for a while. I need to clear my head … I need to figure things out. I can’t let what he did, just be forgotten. He left last night, said he had a business trip this week anyway and that he’d stop by around noon for a few things he would need. I took your brothers out so they wouldn’t be here to see that.”
I’m not sure how I should feel hearing that Mrs. Calloway has kicked Mr. Calloway out of the house after everything Eva said to them yesterday. Happy? Relieved? Impressed? This is the guy that kept Eva and I apart for three years. This is the guy that forced her to date someone like Porter Channing. I don’t want to admit that knowing his own wife asked him to leave, makes me smile a little.
“Mom,” Eva says. “I’m so sorry.”
“No, Eva. I’m sorry. I’m sorry I didn’t realize what was going on between you and your dad.”
Eva gives her mom a hug. “Dad came home around noon?” she asks her, looking over at me at the same time. I know exactly what she’s thinking. Her dad came home and cleaned up the mess in his office before leaving again.
“Yes,” Mrs. Calloway replies. “Or at least he should have.”
“Pretty sure he did,” Eva nods in agreement. “His office isn’t trashed anymore.”
Mrs. Calloway’s face looks confused. “Trashed?” she questions, peering into his clean office. “His office was never trashed. I went in there this morning to grab our checkbook and everything looked normal.”
“It was,” I nod my head. “Someone trashed it.”
“We were over after breakfast this morning and his office was a complete mess,” Eva tells her.
“That’s not possible,” she mutters. “It wasn’t like that last night, and it wasn’t like that this morning—”
Suddenly the front door flings open and Coop and Beck rush in.
“We’ve got company!” Beck points behind him.
I look through the door to see Porter walking up the driveway. “Son of a bitch,” I exclaim, putting myself in front of Eva.
Mrs. Calloway brings herself next to me, and as Porter gets right outside the open front door, she stops him. “Porter Channing, don’t you dare step foot in my house. Turn around and go back home. I don’t think you want to see what I can do to your other cheek.”
Damn. I’m really starting to like Mrs. Calloway.
Porter’s face turns bright red and he raises his hands up and stays right outside. “I’m not here to start any trouble.” He looks over at me. “Sorry about all of that,” he points to my bruised chest and my black eye. He almost sounds sincere until he follows with, “God, don’t you people own clothing?”
“Fuck off, Porter!” Coop shouts from behind me. He turns to Eva’s mom. “Sorry about the mouth, ma’am.”
She nods and starts to walk towards the door. “We’re done here, Porter.”
“Wait!” he cries out. Porter puts his hands on the doorframe and looks over at Eva. “I tried calling you today.”
“I’m not answering your calls anymore,” she states. “I thought I made that clear yesterday.”
He rolls his eyes. “Got it. You want to lower your—”
“Porter!” Mrs. Calloway shouts. “I
f you don’t have a reason for being here, it’s time you head back home. I believe I told you never to come near my daughter or Bodhi again. I wasn’t kidding. You’re lucky I’m not pressing charges.”
He nods and crosses his arms over his chest. You can tell he’s biting his tongue. “I have a reason. Your dad,” he looks at Eva. “Your dad stayed at our house last night. My dad was supposed to come here with him today to get a few things for work, but that never happened. When we woke up, your dad was gone. My dad’s been trying to call him all day, and he’s not answering. Tried calling you,” he points to Eva. “But you wouldn’t pick up. So here we are.”
“I don’t know where my dad is,” Eva tells him. “Why would I know where he is?”
“I didn’t think you did,” he replies. “But no one else does either. I just stopped by to let you all know that he’s been missing since sometime last night, and we just got a call that so is our boat we keep down at Ponce Inlet. Coincidence? I don’t think so.”
chapter sixteen
Eva
I move to the front door. “What do you mean my dad is missing, Porter? Missing how? Like Bodhi’s dad went missing? Like Owen Edwards went missing?” My mom pulls me back, but I yank my arm away from her grasp. “I know what games your dad plays over there, Porter. And I swear to god if he did anything to my dad—”
“Calm the hell down, Eva,” Porter demands. “I just came over here to see if you knew where your dad was, or if you think he took our boat.”
“She doesn’t,” Bodhi speaks up, waving his hand at Porter. “So, thanks for stopping by, but you can leave now.”
“Oh,” Porter chuckles. “You answer for her now, is that how it is?”
Confession Page 17