The Mill River Redemption

by Darcie Chan

  “Well, maybe a taste of the real world will knock some sense into her,” Ivy said. “Tough love, I tell you, that’s what she needs now …”

  Sometimes, Emily wondered how she’d managed to emerge unscathed and relatively normal from the last few years of tension between her mother and Rose. The constant conflict weighed heavily on her, and she’d tried her best to talk some sense into her sister, to convince her that sneaking out, drinking, and not caring about school would only hurt her in the long run.

  “Em, I get enough lectures from Mom,” Rose had told her just after she’d turned eighteen. “I don’t need them from you, too. God, I can’t wait until I can figure out a way to get the hell out of here for good.”

  “You know it’s just because I care about you,” Emily had said. “I still don’t understand why you hate it here so much.”

  Rose had rolled her eyes. “Don’t you ever feel like nothing happens here? You see the same old people day after day, nothing new or exciting, and it never changes. I feel … stifled. Like every day I spend here is a day of my life that’s wasted.”

  “I don’t think Mill River’s so bad,” she’d said. “I like the fact that it’s quiet and safe. Plus, Mom’s here, and Aunt Ivy, and me.”

  “Yeah, but Aunt Ivy’s got her store to keep her busy, and Mom’s never around, same as always, not that I really care about that anymore. You and I will always be close, but we’re getting older now. We won’t always be in the same place, doing the same thing.”

  “I know,” Emily had said. “I guess you could always leave after high school, if you want. I’m just worried that, at the rate you’re going, you’re going to get into a lot of trouble. If you’d just focus on your grades and finish the semester, you could probably still get into a college somewhere and bam, you could move out and be free.”

  Rose had laughed. “You can be the good girl and go to college if you want to. I’m done being stuck anywhere—in a classroom, in this house, anywhere. I’m an adult now. I’m leaving, and Mom won’t be able to stop me.”

  “Where will you go?” Emily had asked.

  “I don’t know. Boston, maybe. Or New York. Linx has family in Brooklyn. We could get jobs and then get a little place together eventually. Maybe I could even do some auditions. I’ve always wanted to be an actress. You never know unless you try, right?”

  It might have been because she was younger than Rose and not as confident, but Emily couldn’t imagine leaving her family and her hometown so easily. She was happy in Mill River. Someday, after she finished school, she could even see herself returning to live in the town, so long as she could find a job nearby. At this point, of course, she couldn’t be sure where she would end up, but at least she knew that her path would be steady, well thought out, and probably the complete opposite of Rose’s.

  ———

  SEVERAL HOURS AFTER THEIR MOST RECENT SHOUTING MATCH, Josie sat on the sofa in the living room, waiting for Rose to come home. She hoped her older daughter would return during the night at some point, but after the huge argument they’d had earlier, she didn’t know whether Rose would come home at all. The last thing she wanted was for Rose to disappear, to cease all contact with her family like her own mother had done. Her eyes were red and swollen from crying, and after her talk with Ivy, she’d realized that if she wanted to preserve any sort of relationship at all with Rose, she would have to let her go. No, she would have to encourage her to go, and hope that her daughter didn’t ruin her life with more bad choices.

  It was nearly four in the morning when Josie was startled awake by the sound of a key being inserted in the front door lock. She sat up and rubbed at one of her eyes as Rose let herself in. They made brief eye contact before Rose raised her chin and walked briskly toward the stairs.

  “Rosie, please, just give me a minute,” Josie said. She stood up and took a step toward her daughter. “I’m through yelling and lecturing. Please just listen to what I need to tell you. You don’t have to say anything.”

  Rose stopped at the foot of the stairs and, after a second or two, she turned and looked warily at her.

  “If you want to move out, to go live someplace else and do whatever it is you feel you can’t do here, in Mill River, I won’t stop you. I need you to know that I’m sorry for not being there for you when I needed to be. Maybe, if I hadn’t worked so much, or if I’d been more in tune with what was going on in your life, we wouldn’t be standing here right now.” Josie’s voice cracked as she continued. “I need you to know that I love you with everything in me. Everything I’ve ever done has been for you and Emily. You girls are my life. I’m just asking you, please, please don’t cut me out of yours. You’re an adult now, and you want your freedom … you’re entitled to it … so, that’s fine. I won’t stand in your way anymore. Just please promise me that if you leave my house, I’ll not lose you completely. I couldn’t survive it if I did.”

  Rose worked her jaw from side to side with her eyes gleaming. “All right,” she said quietly, triumphantly, before bolting up the stairs.

  For the rest of the week, the house was eerily silent. Rose came and went at will while Emily kept mostly to herself. Josie buried herself in her work. She ran sales meetings with her brokers and showed several houses each day, all while struggling to maintain a professional façade. Her smiling, cheerful demeanor belied the emotional turmoil inside her.

  When she returned home after work on Sunday afternoon, Rose was on her way downstairs carrying a suitcase and a large duffel bag. Emily, with a pale, tear-streaked face and panicked eyes, was close behind her.

  “What’s going on?” Josie asked.

  “I’m leaving,” Rose said as she reached the bottom of the stairs. “I’m going with Linx to New York. His uncle owns a restaurant and can give us both jobs, and we’ll stay with him until we can get our own apartment.”

  Josie fought hard to keep her voice under control. “Rose, I … I don’t know what to say.” She was still so shocked at the sight of Rose on her way out that she could barely speak. What if I’d come home fifteen minutes later? Would she really have left without saying goodbye?

  Rose set down her luggage. For the first time in months, the expression on her face as she spoke was serene and devoid of hostility.

  “I thought a lot about what you said, Mom. I don’t want to lose you. I never did. I only want space to live my life.” Josie remained speechless as Rose approached her and hugged her tightly. She wrapped her arms around her daughter, her first child, whose gold-encased picture she still wore next to her heart.

  Rose pulled away after a moment, and Josie was shocked to see that her older daughter was also crying. “I’ll write to you, both of you, and I’ll try to call every week so that you know I’m okay,” she said, looking from Josie to Emily. “And I will be okay, Mom. I’ll be fine.”

  Rose went to Emily and embraced her as well. “Remember what I told you,” she said quietly to her younger sister. A car horn sounded outside. Rose picked up the suitcase and duffel bag and hurried to the door. “I’ll be fine,” she said again, and then she was gone.

  CHAPTER 25

  STILL NOT QUITE BELIEVING WHAT HE HAD JUST SEEN, ALEX backed away from the window in his room. He didn’t know what had started the fight between his mother and his aunt, but by the time he’d heard their raised voices and gotten up from his desk to look outside, they were wrestling on the lawn.

  He went downstairs to the kitchen. “Mom?” he called. His mother was standing in front of the freezer, popping ice cubes out of a tray and crying. “Mom? Are you okay? I saw you and Aunt Emily—”

  “Baby, can you hand me the dish towel over there?” his mother asked. He grabbed the towel on the counter and gave it to her, then watched silently as she wrapped the ice in it and held it to her eye.

  “Mom, why were you guys fighting?”

  “I don’t want to get into it, Alex. But look, will you do me a favor? Can you wait a day or two and then talk to Aunt Emily abo
ut borrowing her metal detector, once she’s done with it? We’ve got to search our yard for your grandma’s key, but I just can’t handle dealing with your aunt anymore.”

  “Okay,” Alex said. He was thrilled that his mother wanted to get the metal detector. In fact, he secretly imagined himself operating the machine, finding the elusive safe-deposit-box key in an obscure corner of their yard, and presenting it to his mother. She would be so proud of me, and she’d be smiling then, instead of crying like she is now, he thought. With her being so upset, though, he wasn’t sure what else to say to his mother, so he simply took her hand and squeezed it.

  “Thank you, baby,” she said. Unexpectedly, she set down the towel and pulled him into a stifling embrace. “I’m so thankful you’re here,” she whispered into his hair. “I don’t know how I’d get through this without you.”

  AT LUNCHTIME ON THE SATURDAY AFTER HER ALTERCATION WITH Rose, Emily sat on her front porch, feeding bits of her sandwich to Gus and looking at a morning’s worth of metal-hunting loot lined up on the porch rail. There were objects of all kinds—more coins, someone’s 1982 high school class ring, and a fork that was bent nearly in half. Probably tore up someone’s lawn mower, she thought. She’d also found another seven keys, including two more of the “Tweety” variety. Obviously, Rose had thought using the bird-themed keys to be an especially clever touch.

  Emily glanced over at her sister’s lawn and smiled. In another day or two, Rose would find herself the recipient of an equally clever gift.

  She was ready to start sweeping the remaining section of the yard when Alex emerged from his house. Thinking quickly, she pocketed the fake keys she’d found as he walked across the grass toward her.

  “Hi,” he said, but he didn’t look her in the eye right away. “I saw you and Mom, out in the yard.”

  “Oh, Alex,” she said, and she was filled with regret at her nephew’s having witnessed the latest encounter with Rose. “I’m so sorry. That wasn’t right of us. In fact, it’s inexcusable that we came to blows, and I’m so embarrassed about it. Your mom and I are just … we’re just very different people, with very strong opinions about things. And, she’d been drinking again, before we started arguing.”

  Alex shifted his weight from foot to foot. “You’re not really going to call the police, are you? Because I’m doing okay, you know. I’m fine. Dad’s been calling every night to check on me, and Mom’s been like this a long time. I’m used to it.”

  Emily sighed. Her heart was heavy with sympathy for her nephew. “I don’t want to call anybody, Alex. I just want your mom to get her act together and do what your grandma wanted. I think everything will get better once you and she can go home to New York.”

  “Yeah, I do, too. And so does Dad.” Alex was quiet for a moment. “Did you find the key yet?”

  Lots of them, Emily thought.

  “Nope, nothing but junk so far. Come see.” She motioned him onto the porch, where he examined the objects sitting on the porch rail. “The metal detector’s working really great, though, and I’ve still got a little to finish up, so we still might get lucky. Besides, we can always check your yard if we don’t find the key over here.”

  “Mom was hoping you’d let me use the metal detector after you’re done with it.” Gus got up from his nap on the doormat to sniff at Alex, and her nephew reached out to rub the dog’s ears.

  “Sure. The machine’s not too heavy, and it’s easy to use. If we end up having to search your lawn, I’ll teach you what to do and let you have at it.”

  “Cool,” Alex said. His grin slowly faded. “I think us finding the key is the only way I’ll be able to make Mom happy again.”

  ON SUNDAY MORNING, ROSE AWOKE, BLINKED, AND TURNED toward the window. The first thing she noticed was that the soreness in her eye was finally diminishing. And, to her surprise and delight, the sky was a crisp, deep blue, a welcome change from the clouds and uncomfortable humidity that had been the summer norm so far.

  “Alex, sweetie, are you up? I think a cold front came through last night,” she said as she went into his room. Alex was still in bed, and he stretched as she came in and sat down. Two paperback books lay facedown and open at the end of his bed.

  “It feels a lot better in here,” he said. “Almost like there’s air-conditioning.” Alex sat up and reached for his glasses on the nightstand. “I think I stayed up too late reading.”

  “That’s nothing new,” Rose said. Thinking how wonderful it was to be comfortable instead of sticky and perspiring, she reached over and rumpled his hair. “I think we should put fans near the windows to air out the place.”

  “Can I sleep a little more?” Alex asked as he lay down again. “I’m still tired.”

  “Sure,” Rose said. “There’s nothing we need to do today. I’ll make some breakfast and leave it on the table for you.” She leaned over and kissed Alex on the forehead before she left his room.

  Downstairs, Rose opened all the windows as far as they would go. She also unlocked and propped open the heavy front door, reveling in the fresh breeze that blew through the screen door against her face. When she looked down at her front lawn, though, her jubilant mood vanished.

  On each side of the stairs and sidewalk leading down from her front door, large swaths of her lawn were yellow and wilted. She came down from the stoop to get a better look. As she stood facing her house, she realized with a sick feeling that the large, dead areas of grass were in fact letters that had somehow been burned into the lawn:

  LUSH

  Rose gasped and immediately looked over at Emily’s house. She started toward it, then backtracked. With a final glare at her lawn, she ran up the stairs into her house and grabbed her cell phone.

  Her hand was shaking so much that it was difficult for her to hold her cell phone as she was connected to the Mill River Police Department.

  “Mill River Police, Officer Hansen speaking.”

  “Hello, my name is Rose DiSanti Frye. My yard has been vandalized, and I’d like for someone to come out and file a report on it.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that, Ms. Frye. You’re over on Maple Street, right? Across from The Bookstop?”

  “Yes, right across from it, number 130.”

  “All right. I’ll be down in a few minutes to take a look.”

  Rose hung up the phone. She was standing at the front door, staring straight ahead and trying not to look at the grass, when Alex came up behind her.

  “Mom? Were you going to fix breakfast? I can always have cereal if you decided not to.”

  “That would be good, baby.”

  “Mom?” Alex came closer. “Mom, are you okay? Is something wrong?”

  “I’m fine, Alex. Someone messed up our front lawn, and I’m waiting for the police to come.”

  “You called the police? Really?” He stood on his tiptoes as he peered out the front storm door, trying to get a look at the lawn. “What did they do?”

  “There’s a word etched into the grass. Whoever did it must’ve poured something on it to make it die off in the shapes of the letters.”

  “Is it a dirty word?”

  Rose hesitated a moment before answering. “No.”

  “Well, can I see, then?”

  She held open the door. “Go look and then come right back.” Alex ran out the door and stood staring at the lawn for a few minutes before returning.

  “Who do you think did it? Do you think it was Aunt Emily?”

  Of course it was, Rose thought.

  “We don’t really have any way of knowing.”

  “Whoever did it, it wasn’t very nice, but at least they picked a word that describes our lawn. I mean, it is lush. Maybe whoever did it was jealous of how nice it looks? You think so, Mom?”

  Despite everything he’d read and could instantly recall, her brilliant, sweet, naïve son hadn’t yet come to understand the double meaning of the word or the insult it delivered so openly for all to see. She wasn’t about to explain that to him, either. I
t was a relief when a Jeep with the Mill River Police Department logo pulled up alongside the curb.

  “Stay inside, Alex.” She put on her sunglasses and stepped outside as an officer got out of the vehicle and waited on the sidewalk for her.

  “Hi, Ms. Frye?” he said. “Hi, I’m Officer Hansen. We spoke on the phone, and I think we actually met earlier this summer.”

  “Yes. Well, you can see what’s been done,” she said. She lowered her voice, so that Alex wouldn’t hear what she said next. “And I’m sure it was my sister, Emily, who did this, but there’s no way I can prove it.”

  “Your sister?”

  “You probably know she lives next door there.” Rose jerked her chin in the direction of Emily’s house.

  “Could I ask what makes you think it was your sister?”

  Rose rolled her eyes. “We’ve not been getting along. This is just the latest.”

  “Let me take down your contact information first,” the officer said as he held up a clipboard. Rose gave him her cell phone number and her permanent address in New York.

  “And do you own this property?”

  “No, my mother owned it, and now it’s part of her estate. Her attorney is managing the property. I’m just … staying here for a few months to tie up some loose ends.”

  The officer nodded. “You should probably inform your mother’s attorney about this,” he said. “Did you see your sister do anything to your lawn?”

  “No.”

  “Did you see anyone else around your home? Anyone you didn’t recognize?”

  “No.”

  “And, is today the first time you noticed this? Was there any other damage done to your property today or at any time recently?”

  She thought back to her bird-shit-covered car and felt a fresh wave of anger. “No, no other damage that I know of. I first noticed it right before I called you.”

  “All right.” The officer looked down at her lawn and half smiled. “Not to diminish the seriousness of this, but you got lucky in a way. It could’ve been an obscenity instead of a … compliment of sorts.”