Lumen Cove

by Dianne Frost

  “But no more big purchases this year,” he said shaking his finger at her and Kelsey sobered, nodding gravely. “We want to make sure you have everything you need for tuition, should it come to that,” he smiled at her. “How many full rides have you been offered?”

  Kelsey shifted in her seat and looked down at her hands. “Six,” she muttered and Mr. Ludlin laughed.

  “Why are you so embarrassed?” He asked and Kelsey looked up at the ceiling exasperated.

  “Because!” she exclaimed. “Everyone else in my class is worried about getting in to college, period. Or how they’re going to pay for it. Here I am with admittance to eight of the top universities in my intended major, six of which offered me a full ride.” She sighed and then gestured to his desk. “And even if I hadn’t gotten them, I have enough money socked back to pay for it all.”

  Mr. Ludlin pursed his lips, steepling his hands over his chest in thought. “But you lost your grandmother. Your caregiver and guardian,” he said after a moment and Kelsey’s neck jerked back as if he’d slapped her. “You are responsible for five rental properties and as a member of the HOA you’re responsible for the well-being of the entire complex,” he went on gesturing and Kelsey felt her chest tightening in panic, swallowing hard, “and you’re only eighteen years old.” Kelsey looked up at him again and he was looking at her pointedly, “Everyone has their stresses, Kelsey.”

  She nodded, swallowing the lump in her throat.

  “Now, I’m going to call over to the bank and authorize them to give you a certified check for eleven thousand,” Mr. Ludlin said, marking it down on a notepad.

  “But they said…”

  “I know what they said over the phone but used car dealers are notorious for pulling shenanigans,” Mr. Ludlin said removing his glasses as he looked up at her again. “When were you planning on going?”

  “Tomorrow,” Kelsey said, “After school… well after my tutoring session. The dealership closes at eight so that should be more than enough time to get there and get everything squared away.” She waved a hand as if unconcerned.

  “Alright, well…” Mr. Ludlin said planting his hands on his desk and standing. Kelsey stood as well. “The bank should have your check ready to pick up in a few hours.” He reached over the desk to shake her hand and Kelsey felt him give it a gentle squeeze. “You be careful up in Mobile now. It’s not Lambency. No telling what type of characters you might run into.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  Kelsey stood on the gravel next to County Road 17, her Uber driver having pulled away with some haste. He’d asked her repeatedly in a thick Spanish accent if she was sure it was the correct address and she had assured him it was. The Showbar was a long, low slung building on a lonely stretch of desolate highway. She could hear the noise from where she stood on the edge of the parking lot which was dotted with a few cars and trucks, a long line of motorcycles lined up in front of the entrance.

  It hadn’t been easy getting here. She took an Uber from Lambency to Fairhope then a Greyhound from Fairhope to Mobile. She walked to a bank where she cashed the check Mr. Ludlin had given her, the teller referring her to an account specialist who asked her at least three times if she was sure she wanted all eleven thousand in cash. She said she did and he reluctantly handed over two stacks of cash banded in brown and yellow. She was embarrassed to have the guard walk her to the edge of the bank parking lot but they insisted it was an insurance liability if she were to be mugged on their property.

  She went back to the bus station and closed herself into a stall in the bathroom, adding her stacks to Alex’s, organizing them by color then by denomination. She put them in the breast pocket of her coat, then zipped it, feeling the money pressing uncomfortably into her breast. She stepped out of the stall and checked her reflection carefully, making sure she wasn’t bulging anywhere she shouldn’t be.

  She felt silly in Gram’s leather military jacket with up turned collar and sleeves that were too long. She looked like she just stepped out of the Thriller video. She wore dark denim jeans tucked into her Uggs, the only boots she owned, a leather sling satchel on her back. She looked like a little girl playing tough, which, in a way, she was. Kelsey called the number Google had spit out for The Showbar but got no answer. She suddenly realized she had no idea what time bars usually opened. The Sand Bar opened at 4 in the off-season but 11 during the summer. It was 6 pm, the sun rapidly descending, its golden glow dimming by the minute. She felt uncomfortable and exposed in the bus terminal, strangers coming and going most of which looked down on their luck and worn. She called the number again and this time got an answer, she could hear laughter in the background. She asked if Clint was there or Bobby and the man on the phone laughed asking her who wanted to know. She was quiet for a moment before she told him that she was a client. Laughter boomed through the phone again and once the man got ahold of himself he told her that “her party” usually arrived by 9pm.

  There was a rundown motel just down the road from the bus station that conveniently rented by the hour. She told the man behind the counter that she would need two and a half hours, which he laughed at, his yellowed teeth looking like they might fall out, saying that they rented by the hour not the half hour, so Kelsey paid for three. She took her key and let herself in to a room where she sat on the end of the bed, watching a snowy rerun of some show about a small town lawman and his goofy deputy where there was always a moral for the lawman’s young son at the end. She had called for the Uber at 8:15 and it had arrived by 8:25. She had watched out the window as dilapidated streets turned to a desolate highway dotted with warehouses, truck stops and fast food places. The old highway had been near empty, other folks seeming to have more sense than to be out in this part of town at night. She had wondered then if she was making a very very stupid mistake.

  Kelsey took a deep breath and let it out in a cloud of warm air that hovered in front of her face for a moment before disappearing again. She squared her shoulders, jutted out her chin and strode forward with a confidence she neither had nor felt and marched to the metal door at the entrance.

  She half expected to hear a record scratch as she stepped inside, the smell of old beer and stale cigarettes assailing her nose as she exited the long hallway from the front door. It was low-lit and surprisingly crowded for a Wednesday, grizzled men lining the bar, dotted with a few women who had seen better days. A group hovered around the pool tables at the back. The juke box was predictably playing an old Johnny Cash song.

  Kelsey swallowed hard and walked up to an empty space at the bar, the old guy next to her pausing in his conversation to give her a double take which she vehemently ignored, her eyes trained on the bartender. He was speaking to a couple of old timers in trucker hats, a cloud of cigarette smoke circling their heads like an aura. When she finally caught his eye he held her gaze for a long moment, his ear still turned towards the two men telling a yarn. The bartender patted the bar and muttered an aside as he stepped away and began walking toward her.

  “What can I get for you sweetie,” he said with no warmth whatsoever and Kelsey fought the very strong urge to reply “information” like in all procedural dramas.

  “Um… I’m looking for Clint?” It came out more as a question and Kelsey bit the inside of her cheek wishing she’d sounded more confident. The bartender narrowed his eyes and looked her up and down, running his tongue along his teeth. “Or… or Bobby.”

  The bartender stood back from the bar and crossed his arms over his chest. He waited a beat before tilting his head to the right and said. “Last pool table over there.”

  Kelsey almost said thank you but just nodded instead. She bumped into someone when she turned to walk away and a large beefy man in black leather gave her an equally black-toothed grin. She felt her heart skip a beat as she side stepped him and nudged her way around the bar to hurry over to the pool tables. Her heart was pounding so hard her vision was vibrating with it and she could feel her breath rattling in and out of her l
ungs. What had she been thinking? She expected to just come up here, hand them the money and she and Alex were off the hook? A hundred scenarios, each more grizzly than the last flashed through her mind as she approached the pool table.

  Kenny was standing in the back corner his hands wrapped around his cue that was resting on the floor, he looked like a palace guard, silent as a sentinel. Clint was bent over the table, lining up a shot, tongue peeking out the corner of his mouth. Bobby was in the opposite corner, nose still set at an odd angle with two black eyes, talking with a younger man, each with a beer in their hand. Bobby caught sight of her first, a slow grin pulling across his rat-like face.

  “Whoa!” he exclaimed pushing away from the wall and Clint missed his shot, standing angrily as he turned to Bobby but then he followed the other man’s gaze. “Well if it isn’t Pretty Panties.”

  Kelsey felt her cheeks burn but kept her head held high as the men’s laughter echoed around her. Bobby took a few steps towards her and she had to resist the urge to step back, gritting her teeth as he invaded her personal space.

  “I think she missed me,” he said, grinning at his friends as he slung an arm around her shoulder and she elbowed him in the ribs on instinct, not hard but he still oomphed in surprise.

  She squealed as he grabbed her by the jaw nearly lifting her off the floor. Her hand went to his wrist to ease some of the tension on her neck as her feet scrabbled for the floor.

  “I have your money,” she choked out, her eyes rolling to Clint who was standing with his arms crossed, pool stick discarded on the table. His eyebrows raised.

  “You have our money?” he asked, bending towards her at the waist, an amused expression on his face as he looked right to Kenny and then left at the younger guy who still stood in the corner watching the scene with wary interest. “Bobby put her down,” he said after a moment and sighed shaking his head as he rounded the pool table.

  Bobby gave her a small shove that sent her off balance and she pinnwheeled her arms to keep upright. Clint’s hand on her shoulder steadied her. She pulled away from him immediately and he held both hands up in front of him in surrender. Kelsey tugged at the hem of her jacket and then adjusted her pony tail.

  “You got the entire twenty Gs?” he asked her, tipping his head down in conference. “I don’t take half payments, sweetheart.” He looked her up and down. “And forgive me but you’re a little young to work things out on your back.”

  “Not for me,” Bobby said and Kelsey looked over her shoulder at him repulsed. He ran his tongue lewdly over his teeth.

  “I have all of it,” Kelsey said, whipping her head around and the crack of her ponytail would have lashed Bobby in the face had he been dumb enough to step closer. “And then some.”

  There was a boom of laughter again from Bobby but Clint merely chuckled and Kenny didn’t make a sound. Kelsey focused her eyes on him.

  “If I give you this twenty grand, Alex is off the hook right?” she asked and looked from Kenny to Clint and back again. “His brother’s debt is paid and you’ll leave us alone?”

  “That’s right,” Clint said, crossing his arms over his chest but Kelsey was still looking at Kenny. He nodded.

  Kelsey unzipped her jacket and dipped her hand into the left breast pocket, pulling out the two stacks with brown bands. She held it up and Clint reach for it but she pulled it away. Kenny stepped away from the wall and patted Clint on the shoulder so that the large man moved out of the way. Kenny towered over Kelsey, his face hard and dumb looking but she could see intelligence in his eyes. She offered the money to him and he took it from her gently, holding it up to his face and thumbing through it, she suspected making sure it was all hundreds in the bundle.

  “You said there was more?” Kenny asked, handing the cash over his shoulder to Clint who took it and shoved it in his inner vest pocket.

  Kelsey swallowed hard. “I want your word that you won’t come back to Lambency. The Sheriff was sniffing around and he and I don’t need any trouble.”

  Kenny smiled and it changed his entire face, a low chuckle rumbling in his chest. “I bet you don’t.”

  Kelsey blushed. “That’s not what I-”

  “Yes it was.” Kenny said firmly his smile fading as he crossed his arms over his chest. “You have my word, Pretty Panties. What’s the proposition? I assume you have one?”

  “I need a favor,” Kelsey said reaching into her jacket pulled the rest of the money from her right breast pocket, holding it up to him. “This is three thousand dollars. Is that enough to get a favor?”

  “What kind of favor?” Kenny asked with narrowed eyes and Kelsey looked around at them gulping.

  “I need one of your guys to give me a ride,” she said and Kenny’s eyebrows raised. She heard Bobby snort a disbelieving laugh behind her. “To Mobile. This gas station down Dauphine Road. About fifteen miles east of downtown.” Kelsey looked back over her shoulder at Bobby, feeling her stomach turn over before she looked back up at Kenny. “And I need him not to have any problems with hitting a girl.”

  Chapter Eighteen

  Alex was bone tired as he entered Ezio’s Pizzeria a blast of wind blowing him inside. It was an hour from closing, the only customers a teenage couple in a back booth wiling away their final moments before curfew. He was absolutely famished, having spent the tail end of the afternoon and well after dark out on the water. Normally he wouldn’t have gone out when it was this cold, 45 in town, 38 on the beach and around freezing out on the water but today was his last day with the Echo Delta. He’d finally made the call to Samson Grath accepting his offer and would be turning over the slip to him tomorrow afternoon.

  While he was out on the water, the moon a giant silver dollar in the sky, he had a fleeting moment of insanity where he considered hoisting her sails and running west out to Corpus. He had some old Marine buddies still stationed there. He knew they’d help him out if he was down on his luck. He could rebuild somewhere far away from bikers and his brother and…

  Kelsey’s face had surfaced in his mind and it was like a tether had snapped tight and he was brought back to everything he had in Lambency. A home, a job and rental income. And her, something quietly whispered in the back of his mind but he ignored it. He wasn’t his brother. He couldn’t just up and run.

  Reva was sitting behind the counter and the utterly bored look slid off her face as he stepped inside, her back straightening as she tossed her glossy black pony tail over her shoulder. She beamed at him as he stepped up to the counter and he gave her a tight smile in return.

  “Usual?” Reva asked, her finger poised over the ancient register and Alex nodded. “One large pepperoni and mushroom coming up.” She turned her head back to the kitchen and Alex jumped as she began to shout. “Papa! Grandi funghi e peperoni per andare! That’ll be twenty even,” she said turning back to him and grinning widely.

  Alex reached behind him to fish his wallet out of his back pocket when the restaurant phone began to ring. Reva reached for it but it stopped halfway through the second ring and Alex could hear Ezio’s muffled voice from the back announcing the restaurant name and asking how he could help them. Reva rolled her eyes and gave Alex an exhausted expression.

  “He tells me he needs my help tonight but what has he let me do?” Reva complained, throwing a hand in the air as the other took Alex’s money. Alex slipped a couple dollar bills in the near empty tip jar next to the register and Reva smiled sweetly at him. “Thank you Mr. Danvers. You should be up in un attimo.”

  “Grazi,” Alex replied and Reva giggled.

  “Prego.”

  Just then Ezio emerged from the kitchen his white chef’s apron splattered with tomato sauce, his coal black hair dusted with flour. He spoke in stutters into the phone in an attempt to halt the shrill voice on the line, not even able to finish a single word. Reva looked at him with brows drawn and he heaved a perturbed sigh throwing his free hand in the air.

  “Lavali, Madonna, I cannot…” He pulled the phone
away from his ear, the shrill screeching still emitting from the earpiece and he stared at it pensively. “Your mother. She switched to Hindi I can’t…” He held the phone out to Reva who rolled her eyes and pressed it to her ear.

  “Ami,” she said and winced. “Ami. Slow do-“ She pursed her lips together “gati kam karo!” Reva was looking down at the counter her brows drawn as she listened intently to her mother. “Wait, kya?” Another pause and Ezio reached for her arm as the blood drained from her face, her coppery skin going jaundiced. Alex looked at Ezio concerned and the older man just stared back wide eyed, still keeping a comforting hand on his daughter as she let fly a rapid string of Hindi, her tone becoming shrill.

  “What is it? Reva, che cosa è principessa?”

  She ignored him still speaking into the phone. “Ami mil gaya hai maan, main abhee ja raha hoon.” She had a hard time clicking the phone off her hand was shaking so hard. Ezio and Alex shared a worried look. “It’s Kelsey,” Reva said her eyes filling with tears. “She’s hurt. She’s in the hospital. In Mobile.”

  Alex’s vision tunneled and he had to reach for the counter to keep himself upright, his knees buckling. There was a roaring in his ears that blotted out the conversation that Reva and her father were having, not that he would have understood it anyway since it was in Italian. He swallowed hard, his tongue feeling as if it were three sizes too big for his mouth and he felt his jaw working, trying to form words but all that came out was a stuttering consonant, a clacking K sound as his swollen tongue rutted against the roof of his mouth. He changed tactics.

  “Wh-wh-what happened to Kelsey?” He managed after a moment, his voice rising over Reva and Ezio’s panicked conversation and the looked over at him as if they’d forgotten he was there.

  “Did you know she was going to Mobile today?” Reva accused, her eyes still brimming with tears but none had yet fallen.