by Josh Karnes
* * *
Melissa didn’t bother going back to the room. She had not brought her phone with her because she really didn’t want James checking up on her or knowing where precisely she had gone. But she realized she could also not call her boys, and more importantly, they couldn’t call her if they needed her. How could I have been so selfish?
She assumed that James would be responsible enough to go and wait for the boys. Again, she thought, why would she assume that she should be able to go off and giggle like a schoolgirl with some stranger on the beach and her husband, the one she just castigated for being untrustworthy, would take care of the family? She was becoming aware that there was some deep flaw in her judgment on this matter. Of course James would be there for the kids. She should also be there for them. And she should be there for James. Dear God, what am I doing?
As she walked down the wood plank walkway toward the marina she caught sight of James sitting at a bar with a Blue Moon in front of him. Well, maybe she couldn’t trust James after all. Maybe the boys have zero good parents. At least Eli probably took care of the younger boys.
“James!” she called as she came up behind him. James turned and then suddenly realized the time.
“Hey babe. I was just hanging out here near the marina and lost track of time.”
“Let’s go. They will be back any minute,” Melissa commanded. This was no big deal, James hanging out in sight of the marina. Why had she snapped at him like that? Why am I being so nasty? Guilt. That, and she didn’t want him to ask where she had been. She didn’t want to tell him the answer. She didn’t even want to think about it. And she wanted it to be his fault. She needed everything to be his fault.
The marina was only a few steps away and as James and Melissa approached they could see the dive boats pulling in to their dock. Right about the moment they got to the right slip, Eli and Mark were hopping across the gangway, making brief goodbyes with a couple of pretty girls. Boys! Melissa thought. Then, “Where’s Joey?”
“He’s on the other boat,” Eli said nodding his head towards the other dive boat, pulled just behind the one they came from.
“The other boat? I thought you were going to keep him close at all times! Eli, Mark, you promised.”
“Mom, it’s alright. We just got split up at the last minute. Everything went great. We followed Joey all over that sinkhole, all the way until we had to come up. But then it was like a mass exodus from the water with all of the divers returning to the boats all at once and we got separated, that’s all. By the time we saw that he was not with us, we were already underway and couldn’t change boats.” Eli was trying to be diplomatic and keep his mother from ripping him, even though he deserved it. Mark was trying to keep his mouth shut. Once Joey was back on dry ground, she’d forget about their little oversight.
Melissa began moving quickly to the other boat to wait for Joey, but as she got there she could see that all of the tourists had been unloaded. She hailed one of the tour guides, “Excuse me, sir. Do you speak English?”
“Yes, ma’am. How can I help you?”
“Is everyone off the boat?”
“Yes ma’am. They get off just now.”
“Are you sure? Maybe someone is in the bathroom?”
“No ma’am. I check, just now. The boat is clear.” The guide began to turn to go back to collecting the dive equipment when Melissa stopped him again.
“Señor, I am sorry, but please, did you see a boy, 17 years old, almost six feet tall, light brown hair?” she said, holding her hand up to indicate Joey’s height.
“Si, ma’am. Some boys like that diving, look like brothers, but they did not ride back on this boat.”
“Not this boat? Is there another boat?”
“Si ma’am. In front,” he pointed to the boat Eli and Mark were on.
“No, I mean another one, besides that one?”
“No, ma’am. Just these boats. Everyone come back on these boats.”
Melissa’s family had joined her at the second boat’s gangway by then. “You find Joey?” Mark asked.
“No. The guy said all three of you were on the other boat. Everybody has already unloaded from this one.”
“That’s got to be a mistake. How’s this guy going to keep track of every single person that was on both boats? Joey had to be on this boat, he just didn’t notice,” Eli said.
“Alright, so maybe we missed him while you guys were getting off over there,” James said as he tilted his head toward the first boat’s gangway, “and maybe he just turned that way,” he continued, indicating the opposite direction from where they had all come, “and he’s strolling through the marina checking out the boats or something, or reading some of these signs for other tours,” James suggested, in a tone of reasonableness. “Heck, maybe he found an Australian girl of his own on the second boat.”
Mark blushed. “You saw that?”
James just raised one eyebrow.
“Let’s just call his cell and see where he is,” James suggested.
“I have his phone right here,” Mark said, holding up Joey’s bag with his shoes and shirt from the boat. “Joey left his bag on the boat with ours before we started diving, and then got on the other boat while his stuff was on our boat.”
Now, this was really starting to look worrisome, Melissa thought. Joey wouldn’t have gotten that mixed up and left his bag with all of his stuff on the wrong boat.
“Well, we need to just fan out and look for him. He’s got to be right here at the marina somewhere. Does everyone else have their phone?” James said.
“I think mine is back in our room,” Melissa said.
“Well then you take Joey’s phone with you. Let’s all head out and look for him and meet back here in…” James looked at his watch, “at six o’clock sharp. Keep an eye on the time, we don’t need to get back here with Joey then have to go looking for you. Whoever finds Joey, send a text to the group or call my phone, then we can call off the search party and go get ready for dinner. Sound like a plan?” Nods all around. Melissa took Joey’s bag, certain she would find him and he’d need his shoes and clothes too, and marched off into the marina. Mark shrugged at Eli with kind of a, ‘what’s up with her?’ look, which Eli returned with a knowing tilt of the head. “I’ll head towards town, you guys know what kind of bunny trails Joey would follow, so follow your instincts. Six o’clock.”
“Roger that,” Mark said with a mock salute, and they all left their spots in search of Joey.