by Alex Tully
“Really?” he looked up at her, with his big watery eyes.
“Absolutely,” she smiled. But as she said it, she didn’t truly believe it.
CHAPTER 43
ETHAN
For the next three days, things were quiet.
Ethan was still spending his mornings at the pool, and his afternoons mostly with Parker. They fished every day, but it was so hot, and they were getting so few bites, they usually only lasted an hour. Shirley had agreed to let Parker play Xbox with Ethan on the Sea-quester.
One of the reasons she was giving him more freedom was because she had bought him the phone she promised. And, after Parker showed her how texting worked, she had gotten herself one too. She admitted that she finally understood what all the hoopla was about.
And when Ethan and Parker took a selfie on the docks, with the only fish they’d caught in three days, she actually came out of her trailer, to the top of the gravel drive, waved her phone in the air and yelled, “I got your picture, I got your picture!”
The heat and humidity were especially bad that afternoon and they were on the yacht, in the middle of an intense game of Call of Duty. Out of the blue, Parker said something that caught Ethan off-guard.
“Are your mom and dad still alive Ethan?” he asked.
Whoa…
“Yeah,” he waited, he was afraid to say anything else.
“Why don’t you ever talk about them?”
“Um,” he thought for a minute and felt a pang of guilt. Parker didn’t have any parents and he had two. The kid had a point, “Well, they’re pretty boring. They’re lawyers.” Ethan would keep it simple.
“What about your grandma and grandpa, are they alive?”
Jesus...
“Well,” Ethan paused the game, “My Grandpa Pierce died thirteen years ago, I think? But I was pretty young so I don’t remember him too much.”
“Yeah,” Parker’s head was down and he was fidgeting with his controller, “I was pretty young when my mom died, so I don’t remember too much of her either…” he trailed off.
Okay…
Ethan wanted to keep the conversation going, “Well from everything you’ve said about her, it seems like she was really nice.”
“I remember she was sick a lot…” he said quietly, “I remember that.”
Ethan waited.
“Sometimes when Grams does nice things for me,” Parker looked up at him, “I like to pretend it’s my mom.”
So he knows he’s pretending…that’s a relief.
“Really?” Ethan asked as casually as possible.
“Yeah, Grams really taught me how to fish—I told you my mom did, but she didn’t. Grams did.”
“Oh…”
“And Grams was the one who used to play Xbox with me, not my mom.”
“Oh…”
“Sorry I lied to you.”
“It’s okay.”
“Do you think that’s weird Ethan—that I pretend sometimes?”
Careful…
“Hmm…,” Ethan paused, trying to give his best poker face, “Well, what do you think?”
Answer a question, with a question—learned that one from Dr. Malone.
“Well,” Parker shrugged, “I only talk about mom to you guys really, because you guys are my friends…because I know you’ll get it…you know?”
“For sure,” Ethan nodded, “and I don’t think that’s weird at all.”
“Good,” Parker smiled, “now can you put the game back on, please?”
Ethan un-paused the Xbox and they went back to their game. The next order of business would be assuring Meredith and Zoe that Parker wasn’t destined to turn into a psycho.
He glanced at his phone. It was almost two o’clock which meant Zoe would be getting off work soon—his favorite part of the day.
“Can’t wait to see Zoe, huh?” Parker smiled, “Are you two gonna get like—married?”
“Um, no Parker, I’m like—seventeen.”
“But you would, if you were older?”
Ethan held up his hand, “Stop.”
“Whoa…sorry, so sensitive!”
“No, shhh…” Ethan paused, “I hear something.”
Outside the yacht, he could hear yelling in the distance. It sounded like Zoe, “Parker! Ethan!”
What the?
Ethan jumped up and went to the side windows to see Zoe, running full speed up the pier. She was smiling and waving her arms back and forth, “Woohoo!”
She busted through the door, red-faced and out of breath. She went straight to Ethan and hugged him.
“What is it? What happened?”
She walked over to Parker, “What did I say to you, Parker?” She bent down on her knees in front of him, “There’s always hope!”
“What happened?” Parker asked cautiously.
“Guess who I just saw over at Crystal Waters? Coming out of the office with Gayle Crawford, all smiling and happy?”
They looked at each other confused, “Who?”
“Mrs. Hart!” Zoe shouted, “And then she saw me and came over to me, and she had tears in her eyes and she said, ‘Zoe, no need to pack your bags anymore.’”
Holy shit…
“So…” Parker still hadn’t cracked a smile, “that means?”
“It means,” Zoe grabbed his face between both of her hands, “we don’t have to move!”
Then Parker smiled, “We don’t have to move?”
“We don’t have to move!” Zoe screamed and then hugged Parker.
Wow. Maybe Gayle Crawford wasn’t a heartless bitch after all. Zoe and Parker could finally stop worrying about the whole thing.
“But,” Zoe said quickly, “We have to go to the park because Mrs. Hart is gonna tell everybody soon!”
“Let’s go!” Parker was the first out the door, sprinting back to the trailer park.
As soon as Ethan and Zoe got there, they saw Mrs. Hart coming out of her trailer, “I just told George the good news! Can you kids go door to door and get as many people out here as you can, but please don’t say anything,” she smiled, “I’d really like to make the announcement myself, if you don’t mind.”
Zoe went up to Mrs. Hart and gave her a hug, “No worries, we’re on it!”
So they split up and began knocking on trailer doors—most people seemed to be inside with their window air conditioners running loudly.
Frankie was sitting out on his picnic table, “Hey! What’s going on?” he yelled.
“I don’t know!” Ethan lied.
The cat lady, with a couple of cats in tow, began making her way to the middle of the gravel drive, where a small crowd was gathering, “Oh, please tell me it’s good news!”
“I’m not sure,” Ethan lied again.
Zoe went into her own trailer for a minute and came right back out, “Of course my mom’s in the shower.”
Parker came running back to the group with Shirley, who was looking excited.
After they’d knocked on all the doors, Mrs. Hart waited for everyone to gather before she began. “Okay everyone!” she tried to give an authoritative yell, but it came out in a creak.
“Everybody!” Frankie’s voice boomed so loudly, people jumped, “Listen up!”
“Thank you, Frankie,” Mrs. Hart paused, “I realize not everyone is here, but you’ll all be getting something more formal soon. I met with Gayle Crawford today…and she has informed me that she is not going to tear down Sunny Shores. You don’t have to move!”
Everyone started high-fiving and hugging each other. Zoe and Parker were jumping up and down with happiness.
A familiar feeling of guilt hit Ethan once again—it seemed to be a regular occurrence now.
These people were going crazy, celebrating like they had won the lottery—because they were able to stay in a trailer park. A trailer park!
Ethan needed to get his shit together and stop living in fear. And, he needed to start appreciating all of the good things around him, and that inc
luded his parents. Zoe was right, mom and dad made some mistakes, but they always had good intentions, and they always cared about him. Not everyone was so lucky.
“Hey!” Frankie shouted over the crowd, “Mrs. Hart has more to say!”
“Thank you Frankie,” Mrs. Hart again made a feeble attempt to get loud, “This Saturday, George and I want to have a big celebration cookout, so get your grills ready!”
Which prompted another round of cheers and high-fives, until people finally started breaking up and heading back to their trailers.
That’s when Meredith pulled into the Sunny Shores driveway, her car sputtering loudly.
Shirley shook her head, “Zoe, will you please tell your friend to get her car fixed?”
“I will, again.”
“Parker you hungry yet?” Shirley asked.
“No, can I just hang out a little longer,” Parker put his hands together in prayer, “Please Grams?”
“Okay,” she held up her new phone, “I’ll text you when you need to come home.”
Meredith parked her car next to Zoe’s trailer, and came out running, “So is it legit?”
“Yes!” Zoe yelled, “We don’t have to move!”
Meredith and Zoe hugged, “That’s awesome!”
“I know!”
Ethan couldn’t resist, “I guess Gayle Crawford is pretty cool after all.”
“Or,” Meredith retorted, “maybe she’s so riddled with guilt, she’s trying to repent by doing a good deed.”
Just then Zoe’s mom came out of the trailer, “Yeah, I vote for that one.”
Debbie lit a cigarette and took a drag. She looked like she’d had a rough night, and the afternoon shower didn’t quite do the trick to wash it all way. It truly baffled Ethan how something so perfect could come from something so—not.
“Mom! Guess what?” Zoe, in her giddiness, forgot who she was talking to for a second, “We don’t have to move! Mrs. Crawford isn’t going to tear down Sunny Shores!”
Debbie smirked, “I know. And you can thank me for that.”
They all looked at each other.
“What do you mean?” Zoe asked.
“I mean, Gayle Crawford is letting us live here, because of me,” she waved her cigarette through the air, “none of us have to move, because of me.”
They all stared at her, waiting for more.
“Jesus, I need a drink,” she turned, and then said over her shoulder, “come in the trailer, and I’ll tell you all about it.”
CHAPTER 44
ZOE
The four of them sat around the little wood table on the porch, while Debbie went inside to slam a glass of vodka, and then pour herself a vodka special—which was adding ice.
“She must know something—something about Gayle,” Meredith squealed, her eyes twinkling.
All Zoe felt was worry. When it came to Debbie, she couldn’t feel comfortable with anything that was about to come out of her mouth. Maybe Ethan sensed it because he gave her hand a squeeze under the table.
Debbie came on to the porch, “Well I’m sure as hell not standing.”
And as quickly as she said it, Ethan was offering his seat. But he was sitting in the seat with the hole in the ass, so Zoe quickly moved into that seat and gave Debbie hers.
“First things first, you guys need to keep your mouths shut,” she pointed straight into Parker’s face, “You understand little man?”
Parker looked terrified, “Yes.”
“Okay, because if you repeat any of this,” she warned, “this whole deal could go up in smoke.”
Deal???
“So…the night of the Fourth of July party, I stayed until a little after one, cleaning up and stuff.”
More like, finishing off the leftover booze…
“And I was heading home, walking along the water, when I heard yelling—it was coming from the marina. It was really dark, but at the end of one of the docks, I could see these two shadows. I got a little closer, and crouched down by the end of the pier. Then I could see—it was the Crawfords.”
Debbie took a sip of her drink, “Man, Gayle was hot, saying ‘Look at you, you’re pathetic, blah, blah, blah’ and Marty was pretty shit-faced, but he came right back at her, slurring his words, ‘Well, why are you here Gayle? You obviously still care about me.’ Oh and that’s when she really lost it.”
They all waited on every word. They already knew from Zeller’s notes that everything Debbie was saying, fit.
“So Gayle says, ‘I saw your text messages while you were in the shower. I knew you had a hot date with your favorite cabana girl. Did you bring the oxy for her?’ I told you Marty liked his drugs…”
Another sip of vodka.
“And old Marty was at a loss for words, he knew he was in trouble now. She says, ‘I was hoping to get some good pictures of you two—I figured they’d serve me well in divorce court.’
“And then all of a sudden it was like Marty sobered up, he says as clear as day, ‘I’m not giving you a divorce Gayle,’” Debbie did her best Crawford impression. Oh, her mom loved the dramatics, and she loved being the center of attention.
“And Gayle says her lawyers have already started the paperwork, and Marty’s voice changed, like that,” Debbie snapped her fingers in the air. “He starts practically begging her—‘Please Gayle, no…I promise I’ll change…’ it was pretty pathetic, really. And then he grabs her, and she was yelling, ‘Let go of me!’ and now they were struggling—really struggling.
“And I hear a big splash, and one of the shadows starts running down the pier right toward me, and I was busted,” Debbie put both her hands up, “I mean, there was nowhere to go, so I just stood there.
“We looked at each other, and you know Gayle was crying—I think she actually loved that son-of-a-bitch. But there were no words between us—she just took off, and so did I.”
Debbie paused and lit a cigarette, “Anyway, I thought Crawford would’ve just swam to shore. I mean, yeah he was drunk, but he was a good swimmer—I knew that. The next day when I found out Crawford actually went belly-up—literally—I thought, oh shit.”
Debbie pointed at the little clay pot with MOM on the side, “Zoe, give me that ashtray.”
As she handed it to her mom, Zoe saw the look on Ethan’s face. Yep, mother-of-the-year.
“But then I really thought about it. Gayle wasn’t going to want that fight to be made public—even if the whole thing was an accident, she would have to explain it all to the police and people would doubt her, even if she was completely innocent—people like to find the worst in other people.”
Zoe and Ethan both shot a look at Meredith, who rolled her eyes.
“So, the next day, I just walked over to Crystal Waters and asked for a meeting with Gayle. And even as busy as she was, with the police and everything else—surprise, surprise, she saw me right away.”
Debbie took a drag of her cigarette, “Oh, she was playing it cool. She just stood there looking at me—not a word. So I said, ‘Look, I’m sure you don’t want this whole thing to get out,’ and I held my cell phone up so she’d think I recorded everything. So I would suggest you keep Sunny Shores just like it is. No need for all of us good people to have to go find new places to live.’”
Debbie laughed, “I swear to god, she didn’t even bat an eyelash. Nothing. We just looked at each other and I thought, ‘Shit! She wants me to play the recording.’”
“Wait,” Meredith jumped in, “Did you actually record it?”
“Hell no,” Debbie shook her head, “I was totally bluffing, but thank god she just said, ‘You don’t have to worry about your park anymore. Is there anything else?”
“And I just felt this huge sigh of relief, but I tried to act casual. I said, ‘Oh, one more thing—I want my daughter to get a nice raise.’”
Debbie pointed at Zoe, “So you can thank me for that, too.” She smiled, so proud of herself, “And it looks like Gayle Crawford has kept her word.”
Zoe h
ad to ask, “Did the police ever interview you?”
“Oh yeah, that was the other thing, later that same day I had to go down to the police station—met with the bald guy. He said they had me on camera leaving Crystal Waters through the gate by the beach, and I told him, ‘Uh, yeah, I live over at Sunny Shores, and I was walking home.’ He asked me if I saw or heard anyone on my way, and I said, ‘No sir.’ And that was that.”
Debbie pushed her chair back and stood up, “Look I’ve got to get ready for work, but like I said,” she waved her finger at all of them, “not a word.”
As soon as she was out of sight, Meredith went off, “See! I told you guys! It was Gayle all along!”
“Yeah but…” Ethan said, “It was an accident.”
“You could even say self-defense really,” Zoe added, “since he was grabbing her.”
“Whatever,” Meredith sighed and slouched back in her chair.
“But!” Zoe leaned over and smacked her hand loudly on the table, “I do know one thing!” Zoe got up and began dancing around the porch, twirling in circles, waving her arms in the air, “We don’t have to move! We don’t have to move!”
Parker jumped up and started dancing with her, “We don’t have to move! We don’t have to move!”
Zoe grabbed Meredith up out of her chair and Parker grabbed Ethan, pulling them into the fray, “Come on!”
The four of them danced around the small porch, on a hot and humid afternoon in July, “We don’t have to move! We don’t have to move!”
Debbie came out onto the porch as she left for work. She looked at them and shook her head, “Jumping around like a bunch of jackrabbits!”
But as she turned to leave, Zoe could see, she was cracking a smile.
CHAPTER 45
ETHAN
They spent the rest of the day at Zoe’s trailer since her mom wasn’t around. They ordered pizza and watched a movie on basic cable—with commercials. Ethan couldn’t remember a time ever doing that. They could’ve gone to the yacht and watched any movie in the world, on a sixty-inch OLED screen—but in a weird way, the old-school way was a lot of fun.