by Renée Riva
That does it, right there. I start poundin’ on that door like there’s no tomorrow. There is no way I’m gettin’ trapped in this dark hole again. “Get me out, GET ME OUT OF HERE!” I scream. Suddenly the door flies open, and here I am facin’ an entire line of people, all starin’ at me like I’m the crazy one here. Then I see Sister Abigail holdin’ the doorstop that someone must’ve slid under the door when I was inside.
“I’ll kill you, Rodney Gizmode,” I yell and charge after him. He flies out of the sanctuary and down the hall. I chase him until his daddy’s car pulls up, and he jumps in. I leave church with only one thing on my mind: Revenge. There is always next year’s Big Island Bash, Rodney Gizmode.
Mama and Mrs. Morgan have become soul sisters. Sophia and Stella. They sit out on our dock together every afternoon with their iced tea and potato chips, chitchattin’ and laughin’ themselves silly. Mama says laughter is the best medicine and will not put up with someone bein’ a sourpuss. “Life is much too precious to waste it looking like you’re sucking on a dill pickle,” she says, whenever one of us is bein’ grumpy. She’s makin’ sure that Mrs. Morgan has plenty to laugh about.
Mama took Mrs. Morgan shoppin’ in town yesterday and made her play the Sophia Loren game. Mrs. Morgan said she’s had more fun since she came to this island than she’s had in years. She must not get off that farm much back in Oklahoma.
They are both gabbin’ away on the dock, and I’m sittin’ here pretendin’ not be listenin’, but of course I am. A good journalist knows how to get the scoop without anyone suspectin’ it. I’m playin’ with a stick in the water just to look busy.
Mama asks Mrs. Morgan what Mr. Morgan’s first name is. When she says, “Jack,” Mama just about has a cow right here on this dock. “Jack? Jack. How apropos. I was just tellin’ A. J. that he reminds me of Balaam’s donkey in the King James.”
They’re both laughin’ so hard, they’re spillin’ their iced tea all over the place. I’m still tryin’ to get the joke. Grown-ups laugh at the weirdest things.
I think Mama is givin’ Mrs. Morgan lessons on how to be a strong, happy woman. Then she won’t go runnin’ back to Jack the minute he calls her up on the phone. That’s what everyone is worried about, especially Danny. Mrs. Morgan told Mama it will take more than a phone call to get her to go back.
“You’re darn tootin’ it will,” Mama says. “He’ll have to drag you back to Oklahoma over my dead body. Stella, there are some things a woman should never have to tolerate, and that little slumber party that went on in your home was a splendid example. A man like that should be given two options in life after a stunt like that: to be tarred and feathered, or fed to the lions for sport. Take your pick, buddy.…”
Mama keeps on talkin’, when suddenly I notice a shadow across the dock. I turn around, and there is this man standin’ right behind us just listenin’ to everything Mama’s sayin’. He’s a big man, real rugged like.
“Mama,” I rasp, tryin’ to get her attention.
When she finally turns to see what I want, Mrs. Morgan lets out a gasp: “Jack.”
Everything turns to dead silence. He must’ve heard everything Mama was sayin’ about him. He just stands there with his hands in his pockets, then in a low voice says, “Danny said I’d find you here, Stella. Can I talk to you, alone?”
Stella looks at Mama, then slowly gets up, and walks away with him. I’m sittin’ here waitin’ for my mama to attack him, and she just sits there. What is goin’ on here? Isn’t this the man we were just gonna feed to the lions?
“Mama,” I yell, “aren’t you gonna stop him?”
Mama is rearranging herself on her lounge chair, still pretty ruffled that Mr. Morgan surprised us like that. “A. J., as much as I’d like to help Mrs. Morgan, I can’t fight this battle for her. I’ve told Mrs. Morgan what I think, but when it comes down to it, she’s the one who has to live with her decisions. I’ll tell you one thing …” Mama looks around to make sure no one is listenin’ to her this time … “it’s a whole lot easier for a woman to keep a good man good than it is to try and turn a jerk into a prince.”
“You mean ‘turn a frog into a prince,’ don’t you, Mama—like in the fairy tales?”
“You’re right, excuse my French. Let’s just say, the best you can shoot for, kiddo, is to find yourself a prince from the get-go.”
“Was Daddy a prince from the get-go, Mama?”
“Indeed he was.”
“How did you know that he was a prince?”
Mama chomps on few potato chips while she’s thinkin’. “Well … for one thing, he had the example of his own father, who taught him to be respectful of women. And for another, your father was the only man alive whose head didn’t snap out of joint whenever Christelle Clarion strutted by. When he was with me, he never gave another woman the time of day. Those are a few good signs of a prince.”
“Who’s Christelle Clarion?” I could tell by the way Mama said her name, she was somethin’, but what kind of somethin’?
“Christelle,” Mama said, as she thrust her nose in the air, like she was acting her out, “was a little French doll who had all the boys tripping over themselves every time she walked by. She also had her eye on the hunk of Squawkomish High, namely, Sonny Degulio, but don’t you ever tell him I admitted that to you. Anyway, Miss Clarion’s only goal in life was to snatch him away from me.”
“But Daddy always says you were the most beautiful girl in high school.”
“Well, let’s just say Christelle gave me a run for the money when she decided she wanted my man.”
“So why didn’t Daddy look at her when she was all dolled up?”
Mama lifts her sun hat off her head like she’s lifting off the years since her high school days. “I asked him that once.” She looks out over the water like she’s hearin’ him say it all again. “‘Why would I want to look at a ruby, when I’m already holding a diamond?’ That’s what he said. Then he told me I was the one he wanted to marry someday.”
“Really? Did he say he’d rather marry an Italian glamour queen, instead of a French doll? Is that what he said?”
“Well, not exactly. This part I remember word for word. He said, ‘The day I laid eyes on you, Sophia Gulliano, I knew these eyes would never be satisfied looking at any woman but you for the rest of my life. So marry me, or leave me a ruined man.’”
“Wow. That is so romantic. What’d you say back, Mama?”
“Oh, something eloquent, like, ‘Is that so?’”
“That’s all you said, after he said all that?”
Mama chomps on a few more chips, tryin’ to remember. “Oh, yep, I did say something more. I said, ‘May the good Lord strike you blind if you don’t live up to those fancy words of yours, Sonny Degulio.’ That’s why he always looks nervous and throws his hands over his eyes whenever a pretty woman walks by.”
“Oh, that’s why he does that. But he’s not blind yet, is he, Mama?”
“No, he is not.” Mama smiles.
“But, how will I know when I find my prince?”
Mama looks at me real good. “A. J., if there is one thing you got from your mama, it’s a strong head to go after what you want in life. I don’t expect you’ll settle for anything less than a prince.”
That reminds me that Danny’s havin’ to see his daddy again, and I have a strong hunch where I can find him. Me and Sailor show up on Juniper Beach and, sure enough, there’s Danny standin’ at the shore, right where we found him last time he was thinkin’ about his daddy.
“Hey,” he says when he sees us.
“So, your daddy’s here, huh?”
“Yeah. He’s here.”
“Talked to him yet?” I ask.
“Nope. Just enough to tell him where to find my mama.”
“You think he’ll talk her into goin’ home?”
“Can’t say. But she’ll be crazy if she goes.” Danny starts throwin’ rocks into the water, just like last time.
�
�Maybe he came to say he’s sorry.” I’m tryin’ to think of something good here to say.
“Well, if he is, it’s only because he’s gettin’ hungry and there’s no one around to cook for him. Won’t be any different once he gets her back. Just like before.”
I can tell I’m just makin’ him madder, because the more I talk, the harder he’s throwin’ those rocks.
“Well, we’re gonna go now.” We start to walk away, but I just have to tell him one more thing. “Maybe God will help your daddy to change.”
Danny looks up and shrugs. “Maybe.”
He doesn’t look like he believes me, but I don’t tell him that I lit a candle at church for his daddy. Whenever you do that, I think God knows you mean business.
Me and Sailor are on our way back through the woods and stop by the cemetery to visit my dead animals. I’m startin’ to wonder what they look like by now, after they’ve been buried for so long, but I don’t really want to know. So I try and picture what they will look like if God brings them back to life in heaven. I’m just gettin’ this heavenly scene of me in my little white robe, leading all my animals around the garden of Eden, when I hear someone comin’ through the woods. Sailor’s hair stands up, and he starts barkin’. That makes me scared, ’cause Sailor hardly ever barks at people. I stand up and get ready to run for home, when I realize it’s Jack. For some reason I can’t think of him as Mr. Morgan, only Jack. I think it’s because when I say Mr. or Mrs., I think of nice family people.
He sees us standin’ there and comes over to us. “Hey,” he says. “You’re the Degulio girl, aren’t you?”
“Yes, sir,” I answer. He looks like the kind of man I should be scared of, but I don’t feel scared anymore for some reason.
“I’m lookin’ for my son Danny. Have you seen him?” he asks.
“Just seen him at the beach,“ I say.
“The beach down this way?” he says, pointin’ down the trail toward Juniper Beach.
“Yes, sir, but … I’m not sure you want to go there right now.”
“Why’s that?” he asks, lookin’ at me funny.
“Well, if you’re askin’ me, I don’t think Danny feels much like talkin’ right now, sir. If you try and talk to him, he’ll probably just start throwin’ a bunch of rocks into the water.”
“Throwin’ rocks? What are you talkin’ about, throwin’ rocks?” He’s lookin’ awfully confused.
“Well … that’s what he does every time I start to talk about you, throws rocks into the water.”
“Tell you what,” he says to me. “How ’bout you call me Jack instead of sir, and tell me what your name is, and maybe we can talk like friends about why Danny doesn’t want to talk to me.”
“Umm, okay … Jack.” Now I feel funny callin’ him that out loud. He’s the only grown-up I know tellin’ me to call them by their first name—well, besides Buzz, but that’s different; he’s always been just Buzz. “My name is A. J., and this is Sailor, and it might take awhile to tell you why Danny doesn’t want to talk to you.”
“Well, A. J., I have all the time in the world, if you would be kind enough to fill me in.” Then he sits right down on a log and waits for me to start talkin’.
I figure I may as well sit down too or my legs might wear out just standin’ in one place. “Well, you see, si—uh, Jack, when you had that sleepover at your house with that other lady … well, that just broke Mrs. Morgan’s heart. My mama said that would be like tearin’ a woman’s heart in so many pieces it would take forever to put it back together. And I thought of it more like when my Grandma Angelina had her pet cow shot. See, Elsie trusted them with all her heart, and then one day, pow. They shot her dead. Broke the trust, big-time.
“Danny loves his mama, and when you do somethin’ like that to his mama, well, he’s not goin’ to be very happy with you. Besides, he says it’s happened before, and he thinks it will happen again if his mama goes back to you. That’s why he throws rocks whenever I talk about you.… Know what I mean?”
Jack sits there real still for a long time, then says, “Well, A. J., thank you for lettin’ me in on that.” He looks pretty sad, and I feel kind of bad for him.
I look over at him and say, “I lit a candle for you at church Sunday and asked God to help you change. He can help you if you ask Him.”
“A. J.,” he says, “you are probably the only person in the whole world who isn’t afraid to tell me to my face what a fool I am.” Then he gets up and walks down the pitchy pine trail that leads neither to the beach nor to Big Chief. I walk back to the cabin wondering, When did I ever call him a fool?
When I get home, I open the back door and find Mrs. Morgan sittin’ with my mama. Mrs. Morgan is cryin’. There sure is a lot of hurt goin’ ’round on this island right now. Mama looks at me like I’d better go back outside. I see Adriana’s shadow through the front curtain. She’s sittin’ on the porch swing, so I go out the front door to see her, but then I see she isn’t alone. Jason is sittin’ next to her. I didn’t realize until now that he’d returned with his dad. Now I’m just standin’ here feelin’ stupid.
Nothin’ feels quite right anymore around here. I wish these Morgans would just all go away so we could have our island back. They have been nothin’ but trouble since they got here. Except for Danny. He saved my life, so he can stay if he wants to.
After everyone has gone home, Mama comes to say good night to me. She tells me that Mrs. Morgan has decided to stay on the island and will not be going back with Mr. Morgan for now. That makes me feel a little relieved for Danny. I don’t tell my mama about my talk with Jack. I don’t know if I would be in trouble for that or not, but I don’t want to find out. After she turns out my light, I lie here in the dark thinkin’ about everything. In a weird way, I feel kinda sorry for Jack. I don’t know why I would ever feel sorry for a man like that, but I’ve never seen a grown man look so sad.
Danny hung around on our dock after him and J. R. got back from their morning fishin’ trip. I don’t think he wants to spend much time at Big Chief anymore. Adriana’s happier than I’ve seen her all month and is walkin’ down the beach with Jason when Danny sees them. I can tell it bothers Danny to see them together.
“Does Jason still have his other girlfriend?” I ask him.
“’Fraid so,” he says. “Matter of fact, Jason told me last night that he gave his girl back home a St. Christopher, and they’re supposedly going steady now.”
J. R. cuts in and says, “Can anyone talk about anything around this place besides heartbreakin’ men and cryin’ women? For Pete’s sake, I feel like I’m living in a soap opera.”
“You’re right, let’s go dive for bottles,” Danny says.
For once they let me come along. They must figure we can all use a break from the whole mess.
After dinner, we all start up a game of cards—everyone but Adriana, who’s obviously on another “walk.” Danny’s still here and doesn’t seem like he’s plannin’ to leave anytime soon.
Mama and Daddy quit playin’ after one round of rummy, and they are readin’ their books on the couch next to us. For once things feel back to normal, the way it felt before the Morgans came.
Halfway through the next game, Adriana comes through the door glowing from ear to ear, lookin’ like she’s just won the Miss America contest. We all look at her waitin’ for the reason behind her moment of glory. “Guess what?” she says and holds up some shiny thing hangin’ around her neck. “Jason just gave me a St. Christopher. We’re going steady.”
18
Crosswinds
It has been three days since Adriana gave us the “bad news.” Danny asked Jason what in the world he thought he was doin’ when he was already goin’ steady with a girl back home. Jason told him there was nothing wrong with havin’ two girlfriends; after all, he wasn’t married.
This just makes me so sad for Adriana. In her mind she is married, no matter what Jason says. I know if I tell her about the other girlfriend, she
won’t believe me and will just tell me to stay out of her business. Then if Jason lies about it, she’ll really want to kill me. But someone has to tell her—someone she’ll listen to.
I feel like Mama and Daddy need to know about this, and maybe she’ll listen to them. Daddy won’t let anyone hurt her like that if he knows about it. He might even tell Island Boy to take back his St. Christopher and get lost. But then Adriana will hate me even more. Maybe she doesn’t have to know I’m the one that told them.
It’s pourin’ down rain outside, and the wind is blowin’ like crazy. I can’t sleep anyway thinkin’ about Adriana, so I go to Mama and Daddy’s room and knock on the door. They’re still up readin’ with their light on, so I go in and sit on the end of their bed.
“What’s up?” Daddy says.
“It’s about Adriana, Daddy. I’m worried about her.”
“You, worried about your sister? This must be pretty serious,” he jokes.
“Yeah. It is. Danny told me that Jason already has another girlfriend back in Oklahoma and is going steady with her, too. Danny told him that was wrong, and he said he could have two girlfriends at the same time if he wanted to because he isn’t married. But Adriana would feel really bad if she knew, and it just isn’t right.”
Mama and Daddy look at each other, and they aren’t smilin’ anymore. “That family just doesn’t learn, do they?” Mama says to Daddy.
Just then the door opens wide, and Adriana steps inside. “Talking about me, are you, A. J? I know you were talking about me and Jason, I heard our names, so don’t try and deny it.”
“It’s not what you think, Adriana; it’s somethin’ else. I was worried about you. I’m tryin’ to help you.…”
Adriana looks at me like she doesn’t believe a word I’m sayin’. I know she thinks I’m telling on her and Jason for kissin’ in my critter cemetery.
“Well, A. J., I’m worried about you, too,” she says in a mean voice. “I’m worried that you’re going to grow up with a stupid animal obsession if I don’t help you. I can ruin your little secret just like you had to ruin my birthday by crying your head off over that bonehead dog of yours.