The Carolyn Chronicles, Volume 1

by Derek Ciccone

  “You wanna see? I’ll show ya,” Carolyn said and hopped off her seat.

  Lindsey reached out to grab her, but she was too late. Carolyn had already jumped into the fire. Dana screamed.

  Lindsey tried to go in after her, but Chuck pushed her away. He then dove at Carolyn and toppled to the ground, rolling away from the fire, onto the wet grass. He wrapped around her, smothering the fire.

  Dana screamed again. This time, because in her attempt to save Carolyn, the sleeve of Lindsey’s sweatshirt had caught on fire, and was now ablaze. Once she realized it, Lindsey screamed as well. She ripped it off as fast as she could and tossed it on the fire like a piece of kindling. Billy grabbed the water pitcher from their dinner table and poured the remaining ice water on her arm.

  Once Chuck was sure that Carolyn and Lindsey were fire-free, the yelling began. Billy had never seen or heard Chuck this mad; his pulsating voice echoing off the dark lake.

  Carolyn refused to listen, and placed her hands over her ears to make her point. He grabbed her arm, but Carolyn wiggled away. Then she started running toward the water.

  Her running style was as it always was, awkward, but fearless, and full of determination. And even more so in flippers. But in the past year, her legs had grown longer, adding speed, and making her harder to catch. When Chuck tried to reach out and grab her, he slipped on the wet grass and fell. He wasn’t going to be able to stop her.

  “Carolyn get back here!” he called out in desperation, but she wasn’t listening.

  Once she reached the water she began to swim. Like her running, she wasn’t the fastest swimmer in the world, but the flippers were to her advantage. Within seconds, she had disappeared from view.

  Chuck ran into the water, splashing and thrashing. “Carolyn!” he shouted out again.

  It didn’t take long for him to be waist-deep, despite his height, which meant Carolyn would be under water if she stopped swimming. “Carolyn!” they were all calling out now.

  Billy thought to dive in to help, but there was nothing he could do at this point. It was up to Chuck to get to her before she went under the dark water. His stomach clenched, knowing there would be no way to locate her if she did. Not until it was too late.

  All of a sudden they heard Carolyn screech, “Leave me alone!” More splashing, followed by crying. Loud, primal crying, filled with pain. But it was soothing to Billy’s ears. He had gotten to her. Relief.

  Next thing he saw was Chuck emerge from the water, Carolyn slung over his shoulder like a wailing sack of potatoes.

  Chuck walked her directly into the cottage, slamming the door behind them.

  Chapter 25

  Chuck set Carolyn down on the bed and he slumped to the floor. Both of them were emotionally spent.

  After a long silence, Chuck said, “I’m sorry.”

  “You’re sorry?” Carolyn asked, a hint of suspicion in her voice, thinking she was getting set-up.

  “I let you down. You see, your mom and I used to do this good cop/bad cop thing when it came to disciplining you. We didn’t plan it, or anything like that, it’s just the way it worked out. When you did something wrong, she would be the one to …”

  “Get really mad and tell me I couldn’t do stuff?”

  “Pretty much. But the problem is, now all you have in your life are good cops.”

  “That’s a bad thing?”

  He nodded. “We mean well. We know you’ve been through a lot this past year, and we just want you to be happy, but there’s a lot of wrong paths that get paved with good intentions.”

  “Does this mean you’re going to be a bad cop now?”

  “I think I’m going to be her deputy.”

  “What’s a dep-oo-ty?”

  “A helper. To make sure the discipline she hands down gets carried out.”

  “The bad cop is going to be a girl?”

  “It’s going to be your mom.”

  Her face mixed with joy and confusion. “Mom’s coming back?”

  He shook his head. “I would do anything to bring her back, but that’s just not happening.”

  “So Ryan was right. But then how can she be the bad cop?” Now she looked really confused.

  “You see, in the time you and your mom spent together, she put things inside you. She taught you the difference between right and wrong. And that turned into what’s called instincts.”

  “Mom gave me instincts?”

  “It was her gift to you. Like when you’re doing something bad, and you know it’s wrong. That’s how you know. Instincts.”

  She nodded her head as she thought about it. “But sometimes I still do the wrong thing anyway.”

  “That’s when you need to listen to your mom. She’s that voice inside of you telling you that you shouldn’t be doing it, and making you feel bad when you do. And if you’re unsure, just ask yourself—what would Mom say?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Tonight, for example, what would Mom say about how you acted?”

  She tilted her head. “She’d say not very nice things. She’d be real mad and be all—Carolyn, go to your room and don’t come out until I say so!”

  “And what would she say about the way you’ve been treating Lindsey?”

  “She would say—Carolyn, treat others the way you want them to treat you.”

  “Would you want Lindsey to treat you like that?”

  She tilted her head again. “No.”

  “Sometimes I ask what Mom would say about me being close friends with Lindsey.”

  “What does she say?”

  “I’m still trying to figure out the right answers.” He sucked in a deep breath and slowly blew it out. “Listen—I get that you don’t like her, but she’s trying real hard. This isn’t easy for any of us.”

  Her face scrunched. “I like Miss Stevens.”

  “I know you like Miss Stevens, your teacher. But I’m talking about Lindsey, my friend.”

  She thought for a second. “I like Lindsey.”

  “Your actions are telling a different story.”

  “The instincts Mom put in me are telling me that I should be nicer.”

  “That’s a start,” he said, and wrapped her with a hug. “Now go change into some dry clothes. You don’t want to be late for your own party.”

  It took a moment to set in, and then she turned excited. “I’m getting a party for being nicer?”

  “You’re supposed to be nice—you don’t get a party for doing what you’re supposed to do. It’s for your graduation.”

  Her smile had finally returned, and she kissed Chuck on the cheek. “You really are a good cop, Daddy.”

  Chapter 26

  They returned, taking seats around the fire-pit. Carolyn didn’t apologize, but she let her actions speak for her. She sat next to Lindsey and smiled pleasantly at her.

  “So where did we leave off?” Dana asked. “Oh, yeah, we were discussing my wedding.”

  “Our wedding,” Billy reminded her.

  She thought it over and said with a smile, “I’ll have to get back to you on that.”

  “Actually, I believe Lindsey was speaking on behalf of smaller weddings when we left off,” Chuck took up Billy’s cause.

  “I never said the wedding had to be big,” Dana said, “In fact, the best wedding I ever attended was at halftime of a hockey game, in a dingy arena, with barely anyone there.”

  “Who got married at a hockey game? That’s cuh-razy,” Carolyn said.

  Dana smiled. “Your mom and dad did.”

  Chuck corrected, “Hockey has two intermissions, not a halftime. And there were at least fifty fans there that night.”

  Dana took out her phone, and scrolled until she found the photo she was looking for. She then handed the phone to Billy. “I keep it on there because it reminds me what true love is all about.”

  Chuck was in his hockey uniform, while Beth wore a white wedding dress that looked like she found it at the thrift shop. She also looked to be
about five months pregnant. Dana stood beside them, as her Maid of Honor, somehow not falling on the ice in her four-inch heels.

  Billy handed the phone to Carolyn and she lit up. And one specific detail caught her eye. “Holy moly! Mom has purple hair!”

  “Your mom was Katy Perry before Katy Perry was Katy Perry,” Dana said with a smile. “And don’t forget the nose ring.”

  Carolyn looked closer. “My mom had a nose ring! That’s so cool! Can I …”

  Before she could even get it out, they all said, “No!”

  She shrugged. “I was just asking.”

  Chuck continued the story, “I was playing in Albany, and one night went out to this hole-in-the-wall bar with some of my teammates. And there just happened to be these two gorgeous women in there that night.”

  “I couldn’t believe Beth dragged me to that cockroach infested place. But she was attending Siena College, and I was up for a visit. So I didn’t really know what I was getting into.”

  “The minute your Aunt Dana walked in, heads turned, and conversations stopped.”

  “Oh please—they were just glad I wasn’t the health inspector. Although I must say, it was the only time I ever had a guy tell me he wanted to put his biscuit in my basket.”

  “That means to score a goal in hockey,” Carolyn said.

  “He wanted to score all right,” Dana said with a smile.

  Chuck got the story back on track, “While my teammates were busy offering Aunt Dana fresh biscuits, I noticed the girl with her. The standoffish one with the funny hair. It was like she didn’t want anyone to know how beautiful she was, or how amazing, but I was onto her game. I had figured out her secret.”

  “So it was love at first sight?” Billy asked.

  Chuck laughed. “For me it was. Let’s just say it took her a bit to warm up to me.”

  Carolyn was enjoying this. “I think we should all tell stories about my mom—you go first, Aunt Dana.”

  Dana smiled—how could she say no to that? “I can think back to when your mom was about the age you are now, and I know this is hard to believe, but I’m about ten years older than her.”

  A chorus of a disbelieving “Nooo!” came from the others.

  Dana rolled her eyes, and continued, “I remember her first day of kindergarten, and she was scared to take the bus. I skipped school that morning so I could hold her hand. She was trembling—it was a reminder of when her parents had to put her on that train to save her.”

  “You mean Grandma Carol Ann.”

  Dana nodded. “Your mom associated getting on that train with never seeing her loved ones again, and she thought of the bus as the same way. So I had to convince her that Mrs. B and I would be there for her when she got home. We finally got her to take that scary leap of faith and get on the bus. I think me and my mom balled for like an hour after it drove away.”

  Dana started getting emotional, and Billy placed his arm around her. “Then when we were at her funeral, I was scared and shaking. This time I was the one who felt abandoned. And just when I felt like I wasn’t going to make it through the service, someone grabbed my hand, just as I had Beth’s that first day of school, and made me feel like everything was going to be alright.”

  “Who grabbed your hand?” Carolyn asked, mesmerized by the story.

  She smiled at her, holding back tears. “You did, silly.”

  The moment was in need of some levity, so Billy said, “I don’t believe that story.”

  Dana looked shocked. “You think I’d make up something like that?”

  “No Boulanger would ever take the bus. If you were waiting for the helicopter, then maybe I’d believe it.”

  Dana found laughter. “Beth was always a little bit different.”

  Everyone nodded in agreement.

  Carolyn turned to Billy. “Your turn.”

  “I didn’t know her as long as the others, but I would have to say it was the first day I met you, when I was looking to rent the cottage. You took me up to that airport-hanger you call a bedroom, and wanted me to watch you ride your tricycle. You raced all the way to the end, and then turned around and headed back in my direction. As you did, you waved at me, and shouted out, ‘Hi, Billy’ with this big toothless grin. That’s when the bike started to wobble, and before I could help, down you went.”

  “I crashed pretty hard,” she conceded, recalling the encounter.

  “When I got to you, you showed no signs of pain, which was hard to believe since you had this gigantic splinter lodged in your hand, that must have been six-inches long—obviously this makes more sense now—and you were desperate for me to remove it. Not because it hurt, but before …”

  “My mom found out.”

  “We worked at it feverishly, but we were too late. She arrived like an angry hurricane and she let us both have it. She called me an irresponsible jackass, and told me I should go have another drink, since that seemed to be the only thing I was good at. Her words stung, but I could tell that she’d do anything to keep her little girl safe—I respected that. At that point, I needed a miracle for her to rent me that cottage … and then I got one.”

  “You mean me, don’t you?” Carolyn said with a satisfied smile.

  Dana interrupted, “I hate to get in the way of a future Disney movie, but the real miracle was Beth’s big sister going to bat for you behind the scenes, and apologizing for your irresponsible jackassery.”

  “I like Billy’s story better,” Chuck said with a grin.

  Carolyn then turned to Lindsey, who looked surprised by the request, yet happy to be included. “I’d met your mom a few times, like most parents of my students. Then came that moment of infamy, which has come to be known throughout the New Canaan school system as the Countess Dracula Incident.”

  Carolyn looked more proud than apologetic, and showed off the tongue that she’d partially bitten off, in an attempt to prove to her classmates that she was a vampire—the scars had grown faint where it had been sewn back on, now two years removed, but were still visible. She added with a shrug, “I was just having fun.”

  As only a painless kid could.

  “So we found ourselves in a meeting with the head of the school and the principal, and all the big wigs—you would have thought this was Harvard, not nursery school—and I made the case for you. Smartest girl I’ve ever taught, a positive leader, not a mean bone in her body. And I pointed out how you treated Teddy, a child with Down’s Syndrome, who you were protective of, and always made sure he was included. But in the end, common sense lost out to lawyers.”

  “They gave me the boot,” Carolyn said.

  “They sure did, but it looked like your mother took the brunt of the kick. I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone so down. It was like she was at her wit’s end. She didn’t know what was wrong with you, but something clearly was, and she was scared. And that made it all the better the next time I saw her, after you’d been diagnosed and allowed to return to school. She had this big, relieved smile on her face. I’ll never forget it.

  “I met with her a few times so that she could help oversee the system we put in place for you, such as meeting with the nurse after recess, and having someone heat-test your food in the cafeteria. We provided a bottle of water at your desk to keep you hydrated to combat your anhidrosis, but your mom made sure that all the students had one so that you didn’t feel different from them.

  “The last time I ever saw her, she informed me that she was pleased with the system, and that she wouldn’t need to come back. I still remember her final words, ‘I trust you with my daughter. You fought for her when nobody would. I believe she’s in good hands with you guiding her future.’”

  Billy and Dana traded glances. He was probably reading too much into it, after the last sixteen months he’d often mistaken coincidence for signs, but it sure sounded to him like Beth was preparing her daughter for when she was gone. And her choice was Lindsey Stevens. It was amazing the things he was willing to believe were possible t
hese days.

  Story-time was interrupted by the sounds of a vehicle kicking up gravel. Everyone jumped out of their chairs. It was hard not to after what happened the last time they were here.

  The Jeep belonged to Jay and Tilly, who had come in peace. They had also brought with them a friend who scampered out of the vehicle.

  Carolyn noticed the dog and her eyes lit up. “Go say hello,” Chuck urged.

  She ran to them. As she did, the dog headed in her direction. It looked like they were going to have a head-on collision, but they both stopped a foot apart, and stared at each other.

  “Go ahead and pet him … he loves that,” Jay said.

  She was hesitant at first, but then started with long, hard strokes.

  “A little softer,” Tilly advised in a reassuring voice.

  Carolyn softened her strokes, and she and her new friend found their groove. He started barking. Carolyn again looked hesitant, but Jay urged, “He wants you to pick him up, it’s all right.”

  Carolyn took him into her arms and held him. They both looked as content as could be. “I love him!” she exclaimed.

  Jay then told the story of how the dog had gotten nails in his feet and continued to soldier on like he didn’t even feel it.

  “Like me,” Carolyn observed.

  “I think you two make a great pair,” Tilly added.

  “What’s his name?” Carolyn asked.

  “I think you should be the one to name him, since he’s your dog,” Jay said.

  It didn’t connect at first, but when it did, she practically exploded … in a good way this time. She looked to Chuck, who smiled his approval.

  “Seriously, bro?” she asked, just to make sure—a line she’d picked up from Ryan and Owen in the hospital.

  “Unless you don’t want him?” Chuck said, enjoying the moment. Dana and Lindsey were catching the moment on video with their phones.

  “I do! I do!”

  “Then you better name him.”

  She thought for a long moment, before announcing, “I’m Wall, because I’m as tough as a wall. And Ryan is Piano Wire, because he’s as tough as piano wire. And Owen …”