Dark Waters

by Susan Rogers Cooper

  The volume of his mother’s was entitled Early Childhood Development, and the boys eagerly took it into their part of the ‘suite’ where they sat on the bottom bunk with the flashlight on and quickly turned pages looking for boobs. It was with great regret that they returned the book to his mother’s side of the bedside table, pictures of the developing boobs never found.

  It was then that they heard a sound. Knocking on doors – not theirs, but other doors on the corridor – first one, then another, coming closer. Then, their own door! The boys looked at each other then ran to it. The knocking had moved on so they opened the door and leaned out. Three kids – two girls and a boy – were running down the corridor, the boy on the left, the two girls sharing the right, knocking on doors and laughing.

  ‘Hey!’ Johnny Mac called out. ‘What are y’all doing?’

  All three turned around in shock. Seeing that it was just two other kids, the boy said, ‘We’re knocking on doors randomly, dumbshit.’

  ‘Why?’ Johnny Mac asked.

  ‘Why not?’ the boy shot back.

  ‘You guys want to join us?’ one of the girls asked.

  Johnny Mac and Early looked at each other, then at their pajamas. ‘Let us get dressed.’

  ‘Meet you on C deck,’ the boy said and they were off, knocking on doors again and laughing.

  Meanwhile, Back In Prophesy County

  Dalton couldn’t keep his eyes off Holly. He loved the way she dressed, all crazy-like. And her hair – he liked running his fingers through the funky colors when they kissed. Most of all, he loved kissing her. And that time when she stuck her tongue in his mouth, he loved the feel of that little ball in the center of her tongue where it was pierced. He never thought he’d like that kind of thing – he always thought he’d go more for the Trisha Nixon type. He’d had a mad crush on Trisha when he was a boy. He’d fallen for that type the weekend he’d met Holly, but it turned out this Trisha lookalike was a guy. Very disappointing.

  But there was a problem. Holly wanted to meet his mother. His mama didn’t know he was dating. Whenever he went out with Holly, he told his mama he had to work overtime, and he wasn’t wearing his uniform because it was undercover work. The problem was, his mama wouldn’t approve of Holly, not one little bit. She kept trying to fix him up with women from his church, and they were nothing like Holly. They dressed more like his mama, and they talked about recipes and quilting and other women. Fact is, most of them were pretty old. Older than him, anyway. Maybe in their late thirties, early forties.

  Dalton was thirty-five, and he knew Holly was only twenty-seven, but she fit him in almost every other way. Like sitting on her couch in her living room, watching TV, he’d put his arm around her and she’d snuggle up and she fit just perfect. Or walking hand in hand; he was pretty tall, but so was she for a girl, so their hands fit. And in the important places, like in his heart, she fit just perfect. He’d seen a little house, near downtown, for sale the other day. And he thought that would be a perfect place for him and Holly, after they got married, to live and raise a family in. But he wasn’t sure how to ask her. Surely, before they started having kids, she’d have to meet his mother.

  Milt – Day One

  We were headed down the promenade when my phone rang. I’d just got an iPhone and didn’t know exactly how it worked, so Jean had to turn it on for me. My old phone had been just fine – a fliptop I’d had for about fifteen years – but peer pressure had forced me into it. I took the phone from Jean and said, ‘Hello?’

  ‘Hey, Milt, it’s Emmett,’ came a faraway voice.

  ‘Hey, miss me already?’

  ‘Well, you took a hell of a time to leave,’ he said.

  I stopped walking and motioned to Jean, then moved to as quiet a spot as I could find on the promenade. ‘What’s up?’ I asked, falling easily back into sheriff-mode.

  ‘You remember a fella by the name of Darby Hunt?’ he asked.

  ‘Oh, shit, yeah. He’s not getting out!’

  ‘Already did – yesterday,’ Emmett said. ‘Bill Williams just called, mentioned how Darby threatened everybody in his wife’s family, and we’ve got like six of ’em here in the county, and all of his relatives.’

  ‘Man-o-man,’ I said. He was right – I took a hell of a time for a vacation.

  ‘Just wanted to give you a heads up. I know you can’t do anything about it from where you are, but just wanted to see if you had any insights for me.’

  ‘Let me call you back later tonight, ’k? I’m in the middle of this damn boat’s playground and can’t hear a damn thing. I’ll call you from the cabin.’

  ‘Are you having a good time?’ he asked.

  ‘The food’s damn good,’ I said.

  We hung up and I made it back to my wife. First we tried a cabaret-type show, but the singer couldn’t sing, and one of the dancers fell on her ass, so Jean and I decided to leave. We found a quiet little bar not far from the theater, parked the wheelchair outside, and Jean used her crutches to go in. We took a table at the back. The place was not crowded – two guys at the bar, a couple at a table near the front, and us. Jean ordered a cocktail and I got a beer. And we sat there and talked like we never had the time to do at home. So this was vacation, I thought. Not bad. We needed this. We didn’t talk about who did what to who in my job, or who thought what about what in her job. We talked about us, our son, and our past and our future. And a little bit about our now.

  That’s when she said, ‘You think the boys are still up?’

  I looked at my watch. It was almost midnight. ‘I wouldn’t be surprised.’

  ‘Should we call them?’

  I pulled out my phone. ‘You want to do the honors?’

  Jean took my phone and dialed her own cell phone number. After about three rings, Johnny Mac picked up. Jean put it on speaker. ‘Hey, big guy,’ she said. ‘Did I wake you up?’

  ‘Mom?’ he said in an exaggerated sleepy voice. ‘Yeah. I was asleep.’

  ‘Just wanted to let you know we’re headed back. Didn’t want to scare you when the door suddenly opened.’

  ‘No problem,’ our son said. ‘’Night, Mom.’

  Jean hung up the phone and I said, ‘They’re still awake.’

  ‘Oh, definitely,’ Jean said.

  We smiled that secret smile parents share when they know their kids are trying to pull a fast one. Boy, did we have his number.

  Johnny Mac – Day One

  ‘Oh, crap,’ Johnny Mac said. ‘That was my mom. They’re on their way back to the room.’

  ‘Cabin,’ said the other boy, now known as Ryan, who was eleven.

  ‘Whatever,’ Johnny Mac said in an attempt to impress the girls – now known as Janna – nine, with curly blonde hair and big blue eyes – and Lyssa, ten, with long, straight black hair and big brown eyes. Mature for his age (or possibly just his father’s son), the attractiveness of the two girls had not gone unnoticed.

  ‘I guess we should get back then, huh?’ Early said.

  ‘Have I mentioned that’s a dumb name?’ said Ryan.

  ‘What’s a dumb name?’ asked Johnny Mac, with just a touch of heat.

  ‘Early. Who names a kid Early, for gawd’s sake?’ Ryan said and sneered.

  ‘My name is Earnest Eugene Rollins the fourth, if you must know!’ Early shot back. ‘But I was a month and a half early, and my mom didn’t want me being a fourth of anything, so she called me Early and it stuck.’

  ‘Sweet story,’ Lyssa said, smiling at Early.

  ‘Oh, yeah, real sweet!’ Ryan said, still sneering.

  ‘Jeez, Ryan, leave him alone!’ said Janna and swatted Ryan on the arm. ‘Y’all go on. You don’t want to get in trouble.’

  The two boys waved goodbye, mostly to the girls, and headed back to their suite. They got turned around and couldn’t find their way back, but luckily, as they found out later, Johnny Mac’s mom had lost her wheelchair and had to use her crutches to get back to the suite. The boys got back in plenty of time.<
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  Unfortunately they never thought about the fact that the door to the suite might have locked behind them. Panicked, Johnny Mac and Early looked all around, trying to find something with which to break down the door. Nothing. Then they saw Louisa, their steward, walking toward them down the long, long corridor.

  Johnny Mac jumped up and down, waving his arms. Louisa hurried to their sides. ‘Are you OK?’ she asked, slightly breathless.

  ‘Miss Louisa, please don’t tell my parents!’ Johnny Mac knew that a lady as young as Louisa would really like the ‘miss’ he added. The southern gentleman stuff worked like a charm. His dad had taught him that. ‘We went out for just a minute to get a milkshake at the soda fountain, but we locked ourselves out!’ he said, letting a little water fill his eyes.

  ‘Oh, honey, don’t worry! I won’t say a word.’ She pulled out a card key and opened the door.

  ‘Wow!’ Early said. ‘You had the right key card for our room?’

  Louisa looked down at the card. ‘Oh, no. This is like a skeleton key, but a card. It opens all the rooms.’ She smiled and shooed them inside. ‘Better get changed and in bed quick, you guys!’ She giggled and shut the door behind them.

  Milt – Day One

  When we left the bar the wheelchair was not where I’d parked it. ‘What the hell?’ I said, looking around.

  ‘That’s OK,’ Jean said. ‘I don’t need it.’

  Like I said, she does this kind of shit. Wants to be totally independent. I guess that comes from having been single for so long. She was in her early forties when we married. But it had been eleven years now. Time for her to realize she didn’t have to be so goddam strong all the time. She had me. I could do that part every once in a while.

  We took our time getting back to the cabin. I found a bench in the foyer by the elevators and asked Jean if we could sit for a minute. ‘I need to call Emmett back. It won’t take a minute,’ I told her. I’m a good liar.

  It was pretty late, but Emmett picked up on the first ring. ‘’Bout damn time,’ he said.

  ‘What a way to greet your boss,’ I said.

  ‘Boss? Didn’t you hear? I’m the new sheriff-in-charge.’

  ‘That’s acting sheriff, in charge of not much!’ I said. Sobering, I said, ‘Now, about that asshole Darby Hunt. And I do mean asshole. When they lived together in Prophesy he used to beat Cheryl something awful. And I hate to say it, but I’m the one who encouraged her to finally leave him.’ I shook my head, remembering. ‘Didn’t think he’d do that. Bad as he was, I didn’t think he’d do that.’

  ‘Man, we never know, Milt. Don’t beat yourself up over it.’

  ‘Yeah, I stopped doing that at least ten years ago, but now? I can’t believe they let him out. Can’t be for good behavior.’

  ‘He did twenty-five. What was his sentence?’

  ‘Huh. Twenty-five. Didn’t realize it had been that long. No parole for that asshole, happy to note. But they coulda kept him longer, just for the hell of it.’

  Jean was getting fidgety. ‘Go on to the cabin, honey,’ I said, my hand over the phone. ‘I won’t be much longer.’

  ‘OK, but, Milton, we’re on vacation! Do you know the definition of that word?’

  ‘Yes, ma’am,’ I said.

  She gave me a look and headed for the cabin.

  ‘She gone?’ Emmett asked. ‘Now we can talk.’

  ‘I am on vacation,’ I reminded him.

  ‘Yeah, but you’re not dead. So tell me about this asshole Hunt.’

  ‘Bad to the bone,’ I said. ‘Him and two of his cousins, same age as him, used to terrorize Longbranch High, so much so that we got called in a couple of times, mostly when they were doing athletics outside of town.’

  ‘Yeah, I was about to say. The high school’s in city police jurisdiction and I don’t remember getting any calls on them.’ Emmett used to be police chief of Longbranch until politics got him booted out and I was lucky enough to talk him into joining the sheriff’s department.

  ‘Yeah, they turned over a car at a game against Bishop.’

  He snorted. ‘A Volkswagen?’

  ‘No,’ I said. ‘A Chevy Impala. All three were big boys. Anyway, at the school rodeo at the arena out by Jasper, they got in a fight and put a kid in the hospital. Then one of ’em, never found out which, punched out a bull.’

  This time he downright laughed. ‘You’re shitting me!’

  ‘No, and it might have been funny if it hadn’t been for the kid in hospital with a punctured eardrum and a caved-in sinus cavity. Doctors said he’d never ride a bull again.’

  ‘Shit. Sorry I laughed.’

  ‘Well, punching out a bull is kinda funny,’ I admitted.

  ‘Did the bull go down?’

  ‘Like two tons of brisket,’ I said.

  ‘I got a list here of his cousins. Which ones were his wingmen?’

  ‘Billy and Shorty Hunt.’

  ‘I thought you said they were big?’ Emmett said.

  ‘Yeah, Shorty was the runt of the litter. Only six-two, two hundred and ten pounds of pure mean.’

  ‘Ouch.’

  ‘Yeah, no shit, ouch. He went after Dalton once, and big as Dalton is, it took two deputies to pull Shorty off him.’

  ‘Yeah, well, Dalton may be big but he’s not mean.’

  ‘That’s the truth,’ I said. ‘There were more cousins – boys – both older and younger than those three.’

  ‘Yeah, I got a shitpot of names here, mostly male.’

  ‘One girl in the bunch – Vivica. She was as big as the boys and a little bit meaner.’

  ‘I’m not looking forward to this,’ Emmett said.

  ‘Look, keep me posted, but if I don’t get back to my cabin pronto I’m in for a world of hurt.’

  ‘I hear ya,’ Emmett said. ‘But you know I’m gonna be calling?’

  ‘Without a doubt.’ I hung up and headed toward the cabin.

  When I opened the door, the one small light between the beds was still burning but the rest of the suite was dark. Jean was in the bathroom, and when she heard me come in she opened the door. Her face was clean of makeup – the way I liked it best – and by the taste of her kiss, her teeth were brushed.

  She whispered, ‘I thought I’d wait for you to check on them.’

  We tiptoed into the boys’ part of the suite. Early was snoring like he meant it. Johnny Mac was totally still, almost rigid. Oh, they were both awake all right!

  We went ahead with our nightly rituals, careful not to discuss anything we didn’t want the kids to hear. But then I decided to get creative.

  ‘So what did you think of that show tonight?’ I asked my wife.

  ‘The show?’

  ‘Yeah. Did you believe that was a real vampire?’

  ‘Well,’ she said, picking it up quickly, ‘I wasn’t quite sure about the vampire, but that thing with two heads was definitely real!’

  ‘I want to go back tomorrow night after the kids are down and see the mummy,’ I said.

  ‘Do you believe it really walks?’ she asked.

  ‘More than I believe there are real-life zombies,’ I said.

  I caught movement out of the corner of my eye in the boys’ area.

  ‘I’m not so sure,’ Jean said. ‘There is some medical evidence regarding the existence of zombie-like creatures, at least in nature. And if it’s true in nature, why not with humans, too?’

  ‘Gosh, I didn’t know that!’ I said. ‘Tell me all, but keep it quiet. We don’t want to wake up the boys.’

  ‘OK,’ Jean whispered, and it wasn’t two seconds before both boys were in the room with us.

  ‘Mom, really? What part of nature? What do they look like? Have you seen one? Are we talking reptiles, insects, or mammals?’

  ‘We’re talking you should go to bed when we tell you to, instead of staying up all night talking!’ I said.

  ‘There are no zombies. Or vampires,’ Jean said.

  ‘Or mummies, or two-headed things—
’ I started, but Jean cut me off.

  ‘Well, there are two-headed calves, occasionally.’

  I laughed. ‘Honey, you’ve been to too many carnival sideshows.’

  ‘No, they’re real!’ she insisted.

  I laughed indulgently. That pissed her off. She grabbed her laptop, pulled up Google and downloaded a video of a two-headed calf somewhere where the one-headed people didn’t speak English. So we had to watch the video and discuss the phenomenon. That took us to almost two a.m.

  We finally got the boys down and ourselves in bed. No reading for either of us tonight. Tomorrow would be our first full day aboard ship.

  Milt – Day Two

  Having seen the menu for breakfast posted in the main dining room the night before, I knew where I was going, but the boys were having none of that. So I took them down to the buffet line where they got all the crap they wanted to eat, got them seated at a table, gave Johnny Mac his mother’s cell phone and told him to call me when they were ready to leave the buffet area.

  I got lost on my way back to the cabin and ended up on the first deck, where they rented jet skis, water skis and other watercraft fun. They also rented scooter chairs – those things they advertise on TV for old people. I went in, rented one and drove it up the elevator to the right deck and to our room. I honked at our door. Jean opened it, looking lovely in pink and turquoise plaid Bermuda shorts and a pink golf-type shirt.

  ‘What the hell?’ she said, staring at the scooter.