by Sarah Bates
He looked up as soon as I stepped into the kitchen. “Morning, Coco,” he said, smiling brightly.
“Good morning, Uncle Jimmy.” I hesitated, unsure how I was supposed to go about getting myself some coffee. Did I wait until he offered it, or simply help myself?
After a slightly awkward moment, he seemed to realize my predicament, and sighed as he lowered the paper to the table. “Sweetie, this is your home,” he said, his voice gentle. “You can help yourself to whatever you want.”
“Except for what’s in the liquor cabinet,” Jamie added as he shuffled into the kitchen. He grinned when his father gave him a bland look, and simply went to the cabinet where the mugs were kept.
“I’m sure Chloe already knew that, James,” Uncle Jim muttered. “It’s not her I’m worried about.”
“To be fair,” Jamie said, pouring himself a huge mug of coffee, “you had never made that distinction to me, so how was I supposed to know?” He held the carafe up as he glanced at me and lifted his eyebrows in silent query. I nodded, and he poured a mug for me as well.
“I suppose the fact that it had a lock on it didn’t make you stop and think – especially given the fact that you were, and still are, considerably underage – that maybe you shouldn’t get into it?” my uncle asked in a bland tone.
“It gave me some pause, I’ll admit,” Jamie said, leaning against the counter as he drank his coffee. “But it was so easy to pick, I figured that if he really hadn’t wanted me to get into it, he’d have made it harder to do so,” he added to me.
I hummed and took a sip from my mug, deciding an actual response was probably unnecessary.
He shrugged, ignoring the look his father was giving him, and finished his coffee. “I’m going for a run with Leo. Be back in a bit.” He waved to both of us, then wandered out.
While he had changed into shorts and a t-shirt, apparently combing his hair hadn’t ranked high on his list of things to do before he left.
After the front door opened and closed, I turned to look at Uncle Jim again. “I suppose one of these days I’ll probably hear the actual story behind that,” I said.
“That’s highly probable,” he agreed, and shook his head as he lifted his fork for a bite of pulled pork.
I was more of a green smoothie or oatmeal for breakfast kind of girl, but to each their own, I suppose.
“So, as I was saying, before Jamie’s interruption,” he said as I crossed over to sit at the table with him. “I meant it. This is your home.” He reached out and placed one of his hands on mine. “You don’t have to wonder about things like getting yourself something to eat or drink, or anything like that. Okay?” When I nodded, he did as well, and for a long moment he ate in silence.
After taking a drink of his coffee, he took a deep breath. “So, I know it’s not a question you’re probably keen on having people ask you right now, but how are you holding up, kiddo?” he asked as he sat back in his chair.
He was right, I wasn’t particularly fond of that question.
Sighing, I took a sip of my coffee, then set my mug down. “I would say that I’m fine, which is what I’ve said every time someone has asked me that lately,” I said, twisting my mug around in my hands.
“But,” he prompted.
“But,” I said, resting against the back of my chair, “as my hysterical breakdown last night showed, clearly that’s not true.”
He hummed and studied me patiently.
I sighed. “I’ve been telling myself that I’m okay,” I told him after a moment. “That what was going on wasn’t about me, but my parents. And when you think about it, that’s true. None of it was about me. It was about the way my dad treated my mom. He was her husband. She was the one he betrayed when he cheated on her with his girlfriend. She was the one he was so mean to during the divorce. As far as I was concerned, he totally ignored me.” I reached up and wiped away some moisture at the corner of my eye. “I was supposed to be leaving home soon anyway, after I graduate next June. So, like I said, I wasn’t a factor into his thinking at all. I simply stopped existing as far as he was concerned.”
“Oh, Coco,”
“It’s okay,” I said, my voice catching as tears slipped down my cheeks. “Really. I mean, to be fair, he’s hardly ever really acknowledged me anyway, so I’m used to him ignoring me. But what he did to my mom…I hate him for that.” And in that moment, I realized it was true. I hated my father. Not because of the way he had treated me – though to be fair, there was some resentment in me toward him for that, too – but after the way he’d totally devastated my mom…yeah, I hated him for that. And there was even a part of me that wasn’t sorry he was no longer a part of our lives. It wasn’t him I missed, or even our family dynamic. It was the home that my mom and I had shared around him that I missed, so badly that at times it made my chest hurt.
“Baby girl, I know you’re angry with him, and rightly so, but hate is such a strong word, especially when you use it in regard to your dad,” he said.
“I know. But it’s true. He made my mom cry, Uncle Jimmy,” I said, pushing my coffee mug away. “He cheated, he lied, and he took our home away from us, and made my mom cry. So yes, it’s harsh, but I hate him.” I folded my arms at my chest and blinked back the tears as best as I could. “His girlfriend is only five years older than me. Did you know that?” I nodded when his eyes widened in surprise. “Five. It makes me sick, Uncle Jimmy. Just so sick, to think of it all.”
He blew out a gusty breath, then stood and came around the table to hug me. “I know. Me, too.” He kissed the top of my head, then gently tipped my chin up so that I had to look him in the eye. “It breaks my heart that he has hurt you and your mom so badly. But I’m not going to lie, I’m glad you and she are here now. I wish it were under better circumstances for both of you, but I’m glad you’re here. I love you, baby girl.”
I nodded and stood up. “I love you, too,” I said as I hugged him.
“Are you going to be okay?” he asked when I pulled back a moment later.
I hesitated as I considered his question, then nodded. “Yeah, I’ll be okay.” Eventually, I thought, but didn’t add.
He studied me for a moment, then nodded. “Okay. I’ve got to get to the station, but if you need anything, call or text me, okay?”
“Okay.”
We studied each other for another moment, then he nodded and pressed a kiss to the top of my head again, and headed for the front door.
I watched him go, then, since I was alone, carried his breakfast dishes to the sink and rinsed them off before adding them to the dishwasher.
Then, when my stomach rumbled, decided to look for something to eat. When I opened the refrigerator and saw the container of pulled pork, I thought, why not, and took it out as I turned to grab a plate.
☼
As it turned out, pulled pork did make for a very tasty breakfast. With that discovery filed away for future reference, I tidied up the kitchen, then snuck back into Kat’s room for my weekender bag and took it to the bathroom with me. Knowing I couldn’t avoid the mirror forever, I grimaced when I finally got a look at myself, then turned the shower on full blast.
It was amazing what a shower and a little bit of makeup could do to help improve a haggard appearance. Feeling better for it, I dried my hair and then pulled it back in a ponytail, and dressed in a pair of khaki shorts and a white cotton, short sleeved blouse.
I was just contemplating what earrings I would wear when there was a soft knock on the door.
“Coco?”
Though the voice was muffled, I recognized it as Zach’s. “Yes?” I asked, settling on a simple pair of pink topaz studs.
“Are you almost finished?”
I paused and glanced at the door. “Yeah. Why?” It was kind of strange having a conversation through a door.
“I have to pee.”
“Oh. Oh!” I grimaced and quickly gathered my things, then opened the door. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t,”
That was as far as I got before he reached out, caught my arm, and tugged me out into the hall, while at the same time he stepped around me into the bathroom. A second later he closed the door in my face.
I stared at the door for a moment, then shook my head and headed back to Kat’s room.
“Finally!” Margo said as soon as I stepped into the room. “What were you doing in there?”
“I was,”
“Don’t answer that,” Kat called out from the inside of her closet.
“I mean, seriously, the Magna Carta took less time to write,” Margo continued, undeterred by Kat’s command and my lack of an answer. “And some of us have very strict beauty regimens that must be adhered to on specific schedules.”
“Um…sorry?”
“Do you even know what the Magna Carta is?” Maddie asked her sister, popping up on the other side of the bed, startling me.
Where’d she come from?
Margo, her hands on her slender hips, turned a narrow-eyed look at her younger sister. Maddie merely smiled sweetly back at her, already dressed for the day in a pair of linen shorts and a pretty, sleeveless, floral print blouse.
“Now, now, no fighting,” Kat said as she stepped out of her closet in a pretty, blue sundress that made the color of her eyes brighter, and her strawberry blonde hair appear more red. “At least not until after we get some shopping done and have lunch. I’m voting for Zorbas for that, by the way.”
“Gee, I wonder why,” Margo muttered, and she rolled her bright blue eyes dramatically, which told me that there was, apparently, some kind of inside story behind this choice.
“Ah,” I frowned and looked between them, admittedly feeling a bit confused, and seriously out of the loop.
“Because they have good food,” Kat said, adding bronze-toned hoops to her ears, and a collection of matching bangles to her slender wrist.
I was beginning to feel underdressed.
“And it has nothing to do with Leo?” Margo asked, clearly not buying this as she folded her arms at her chest and cocked her hip.
“Who’s Leo?” I asked, looking between the two of them. Then, when neither of them answered, simply continuing to give each other looks – you know the kind; stony, a little scary, and, frankly, bitchy – I looked at Maddie and lifted my eyebrows. “Who’s Leo?”
She smiled and reached up to pull her pale blonde hair into a quick ponytail. “He’s Jamie’s best friend,” she replied.
“Ah,” I said again, and remembered just then that earlier in the kitchen, Jamie had said something about going for a run with someone by that name. “So,” I glanced at Kat, then back at Maddie.
“Kat’s in love with him,” Margo said in a teasing tone before I could say anything else.
“Margo!” Kat huffed out a breath and shook her head as she turned away from her to touch up her pale pink lipstick in the mirror above her dresser. “I am not.”
The blush on her cheeks said otherwise, but I refrained from commenting, as it was clearly not something she wanted to admit to, and frankly, it wasn’t any of my business.
“Keep telling yourself that, cousin,” Margo said, then she simply gathered her overnight bag and sauntered out the door, shouting, “Zachary, you better not be using all of the hot water!” as she did.
“Sorry about that,” Maddie said as she came to stand beside me. “My darling sister tends to forget she’s not the center of the universe sometimes, and she basically doesn’t have a filter.” She shook her head over it, then smiled as she shifted to look at me. “You look pretty. I like your earrings.”
“Oh. Thanks.” I finally put my bag aside, and then, since I didn’t know what else to do with my hands, slid them into my pockets. “My mom gave them to me when I won regionals last year.” I did my absolute best to ignore the painful feeling in my belly, knowing that I would probably never compete again.
It made me wonder what all those years of training had been for, if I was just going to end up, for all intents and purposes, walking away from it. Even if walking away hadn’t been my choice.
“Regionals?” Maddie asked, frowning softly.
Out of the corner of my eye I saw Kat look over to me, and grimace. Out of all my cousins, she was the one I’d had the most contact with on social media, and so she’d clearly seen the photos and videos I’d posted over the years. Which meant she knew the fuller extent of what I’d lost when my mom had decided to move us here.
I hadn’t just lost my home, my school, and my friends, though those were hard enough. I’d lost my dream, and any chances of the future I had been planning for myself.
All because my dad had decided he didn’t want my mom and me anymore.
When Maddie’s frown deepened, I cleared my throat and reached up to tuck a loose lock of hair behind my ear. “It’s a skating competition,” I told her.
“You mean like figure skating?” she asked. When I nodded her eyes widened. “Wow. You can really do that?” I nodded again and she shook her head, looking impressed. “That’s so cool. I’ve only gone skating once, and I spent more time on my butt than on the actual skates.”
“When I first started out, I spent a fair amount of time on my butt, too,” I told her.
She nodded, but before she could say anything, Zach stuck his head through the doorway. His golden hair was damp, and he had a greatly harassed look on his face. “Are you guys almost ready?” he asked.
“The only one we’re waiting on is Margo,” Kat replied. “Why?” she asked when he huffed out an exaggerated breath and whined.
“I’m supposed to meet up with Alec and Donovan at the Surf Shop, but Mom says I have to wait for all of you so we can all ride into town together. How long will she be?” he asked, straightening up in the doorway.
“I’m sorry, have you ever met my sister?” Maddie asked, and she chuckled as she patted his chest as she walked by him.
“Great. So basically, we’re not going anywhere until hell freezes over.” He heaved another dramatic sigh and turned to follow her, pulling his phone from one of his back pockets on the way.
Kat snorted out a laugh and hooked an arm around my shoulders and pulled me along with them.
As it turned out, though, we didn’t have to wait for the deep freeze. Perhaps there might have been a light layer of frost, but at least Margo managed to join us before the flying pigs started slinging snowballs at each other. Even then, she somehow managed to make it seem like the rest of us had been the ones slacking while she’d been patiently waiting, for about a million years.
It was sort of fascinating to witness.
By the time we arrived downtown, the streets were busy, and Jamie, who had decided to join our shopping excursion, swore heartedly as he tried his best to finagle a parking space in the packed parking lot adjacent to what they all called the Courtyard – which turned out to be some kind of artsy, upscale outdoor pedestrian mall.
“Next time, if you’re not ready in fifteen minutes, you get left behind,” he said as he finally managed to squeeze his mom’s minivan into a space between two high-end convertibles. Though he didn’t name names, he did look into the rearview mirror at Margo.
Very pointedly ignoring him, she simply climbed out of the van and rubbed her hands together, the gleam in her eyes telling me that this was going to turn out to be an all-day affair.
Being a wise man, Zach bailed on our group as soon as he was out of the van and went in the opposite direction we were going in, toward a massive two-story building painted a bright coral pink with lots of windows that stood on the other side of the large lot. On the upper level there was a massive mural of a giant wave and surfer painted on the stucco, clearly denoting what the place was.
Admittedly, I was a little awed by the sheer size of the place, especially since I had envisioned a much smaller, kind of ramshackle shop.
Humming to myself over that, I shook my head and turned to face the others, and that was when I got my first real look at the beach. My eyes widened
in surprise.
It was beautiful.
A wooden boardwalk separated the parking lot and the sand, but beyond the weather-worn planks, the white sand stretched out in its own vast sea before it finally gave way to the crashing waves and jewel-toned expanse of the tropical ocean.
The pungent scent of salt hung heavy in the air, along with the spicy-sweet scent of flowers, and the unmistakable coconut sweetness of sunblock. Seagulls and pelicans alike could be seen soaring out over the sand and water, occasionally swooping with dizzying speed down toward the surf for a meal.
“Wow.” It really was an inadequate word, but it seemed to be the only one I could utter at that moment.
“Gorgeous, right?” Margo said as she draped an arm over my shoulders, much in the same way Kat had earlier. When I nodded, she grinned, and her whole face lit up beautifully.
Wow, again.
She really was stunning. And now that we were out in the sun, I realized she had a very pretty, golden tan.
“Like I said. Paradise.” She turned me away from the stunning view of the water, bringing me about face with the entrance of the mall. “Welcome to my Graceland. Come on.” She dropped her arm from around me and took my hand, tugging me forward to catch up with the others, who were almost to the entrance. “You’re going to love this place.”
I wasn’t a huge fan of shopping, but to my surprise, she wasn’t wrong.
What they called a mall was really a series of three long, exceptionally large Spanish style buildings built around a beautiful courtyard (hence the name of the place, I suppose) at its center, that had a garden-like park quality to it, with its pretty flower beds and pots and baskets overflowing with bright, tropical flowers, and mini palm trees, along with its many park benches and wrought-iron bistro tables and chairs outside each of the restaurants.
All of this was amazing on its own, but the focal point of it all was the huge stone fountain in the center, crowned with its life-sized bronze statue of a pirate and his overflowing treasure chest. Sculpted into the red brick pavers surrounding it was a giant mariner’s compass.
It was amazing, and I would have been more than happy to spend some more time studying the park-like aspect of the Courtyard, but Margo had other plans; before we finally took a break for lunch, we’d scoured our way through the discount racks at two boutiques, a rather fancy gift shop, and had stopped off at an up-scale salon and day spa to make appointments for manicures and pedicures for later.