Chapter Seventeen

“I want you to sit down,” Rocky’s mother said. Rocky plopped down at the kitchen table with his Pop Tart and a glass of chocolate milk. Her seriousness worried him. He was waiting for her to tell him more kids had been reported missing and that summer was effectively cancelled. He thought of the most awful result– – never getting to see November again before her family up and disappeared from town forever.

She placed a hand on his shoulder as his father came singing into the room.

“Hey, buddy,” his dad greeted him before dancing to the coffee machine for a refill. “Did you tell him yet?”

“I was just about to,” his mother replied.

“What? What is it?”

His dad slipped an arm around his mother. The man’s big grin eased Rocky’s worries. Now he was sitting up, dying to know what the big secret was.

“You have your driver’s exam on July 9th,” his mom said.

“Oh my god,” Rocky said, standing up, hitting his leg on the table. “That’s awesome. You guys are awesome.” He gave his mother a huge hug; his dad patted him on the back. Rocky gave them both a kiss on the cheek.

“Thank you, guys, so much,” he said. “I’ve got to tell November.”

“Who?” his mother asked.

“Where’s Julia?” Rocky said.

His dad sipped his coffee, gave Rocky’s mom a kiss on the cheek and set his mug on the counter. “She’s heading to work, which is just where I’m heading, too.”

“What? You have to work today?”

“Not real work,” his mother answered. “He’s going over to your uncle’s to start building the new porch.”

“You want to come along?” his dad asked. “We could use an extra hand.”

Rocky was torn. Part of him did want to help. He felt he owed his uncle all the help he could give with what the man had bestowed upon him, but the thought of sharing his news with November won out.

“I can’t, I mean, I totally would, but—”

“It’s the girl, isn’t it?” his father said. “This…November?”

Rocky grinned and nodded.

“I get it.” His dad winked and headed for the door. “Bye, hon.”

His mother waved his dad off. “Don’t forget to drink some water between beers, please.”

His dad smirked and closed the door.

Rocky gave his mom another hug and rushed down to his sister’s bedroom.

“Did you hear?”

She smiled as she picked up the can of Aqua Net. “You’re going to nail it.”

“Thanks.”

He hurried to his room, unstrapped the back brace, pulled off the sweaty under shirt and tossed on his Magnum P.I.-style Hawaiian shirt and some cut-off jean shorts.

After slipping into his Nikes, he was a blur through the kitchen as his mom called out something about keeping his eyes open for strangers. In all the excitement, he’d forgotten about Andy Rice and that tourist girl, Vanessa. He grabbed his bike from the side of the house, hopped on and pedalled down the street.

He hadn’t gone far when he saw the police cars by the Royal Acres.

Boisvert Street was taped off.

Something else had happened.

He coasted slowly, trying to eavesdrop and see if he could pick up any bit of information. He considered stopping and asking, but the beach city cops were pricks, especially to teens.

He saw Officer Nelson. The man reminded him of Barney Fife from the Andy Griffith Show. It was one of Dad’s favourite shows, but Rocky liked the guy who played Barney more on Three’s Company. Peter Nelson was usually nice enough, but a little aloof. Only today, Officer Nelson looked super serious.

What if another kid had been taken? Or worse, what if they’d found them?

This was way too close to home.

Rocky pedalled by and tried not to think about the possibilities. He needed to find November and tell her the good news. He needed something positive.

He rode back and forth, passing the main corner, hitting the beach, the arcade, up Old Orchard Street and back, but she was nowhere to be found. Truthfully, he hadn’t ever seen her out this early, so it wasn’t that big of a surprise. He pulled over at the corner in front of the Good Shepherd Parrish, took his cheap Velcro wallet from his pocket and found eight bucks. Normally, he’d grab some junk food and trade the rest in for tokens for the arcade. This morning, however, he decided to swing into Moe’s Diner. He’d left his cereal half-finished at the kitchen table, and his stomach was growling. He had time to kill, and Moe’s made the best hash in town. He could eat like a king for eight dollars.

The place was busy, as usual, but he found a booth for two near the back corner. There was a perfect view of West Grand Avenue, the opposite side of Old Orchard Street. This was the direction from town November always seemed to come and go.. Hopefully, if she came around before he was finished, he’d see her.

Kelly Thompkins, in all her braces and goofy smile, came at him and said hello.

“Hey, Kelly,” Rocky said. “Can I just get the hash, scrambled eggs, and bacon?”

“Sure, Rocky.”

She stared at him dreamy-eyed. He’d known she’d had a crush on him in junior high, but he definitely did not feel the same for her.

“Oh, and some apple juice?”

“Sure,” she said, scribbling his order on her pad.

“That’s it. Thanks, Kelly.”

“Okay, sure. I’ll put that in for you, Rocky.”

He didn’t mind her braces. He had no right judging there; it was more a combination of her weirdness and the fact that she was nearly monosyllabic in every conversation they’d ever had. She’d been that way since she came to Old Orchard in the third grade.

“Rocky,” Moe said, coming over and slapping him hard on the shoulder. The old man always did this. Rocky liked Moe a lot. He wore a light-blue short-sleeved shirt with a collar and a bow tie. Dark, caterpillar eyebrows stood prominently above his beady, smiling blue eyes. He always gave you great portions, good food, told stories of the old days and the pier fires, and once in a while, he’d hand out bags of Swedish Fish. The guy was bald, had liver-spotted skin, and smelled of onions, but he was the nicest shop owner around.

“Where’s your partner in crime?”

“Axel’s in England for the summer.”

“England? The old UK, huh?” He rubbed his chin and gazed at the ceiling like he was remembering another time. “I was there, in Manchester, must have been ’42? ’43? Watching out for Nazis. Real dirty work. I liked the people, though. Food, not so much, but the girls.” Moe elbowed him and grinned like a Cheshire cat.

“Girls and Nazis,” Rocky said. “Sounds like you had a heck of a time, Moe.”

“It was something. Another time, another world.” He clapped his hands together. “So, if your buddy’s gone, what are you doing this summer?”

“I’m going for my driver’s licence soon.”

“Whoa, look at the big man,” he said.

“Yeah, and my uncle is giving me a car.”

“Your Uncle Artie?”

“Yep.”

“He’s a good one. Say, it wouldn’t happen to be that old Buick Skylark he’s been working on, would it?”

Rocky puffed his chest out and nodded.

“Woo hoo, you are gonna get all the girls.”

“There’s only one that I care about,” he said before he could stop himself.

“Oh, a girl, huh?” Moe patted him on the shoulder again. “A car and a girl. I guess you got plenty of things to keep you busy this summer.”

“I do, for sure.”

“Well, you be good, huh, Rocky?”

“I will.”

Moe moved to the next booth and said hello to the touristy folks there.

Kelly slid his plate on the table and plopped his juice cup on a napkin.

“Hey, Kelly,” he said.

“Yeah?”

“Did you happen to see all the cop cars over by Royal Acres this morning?”

“Uh-huh.”

“And?”

“What?” she asked.

“Never mind,” he said. “Thanks.”

She smiled again and headed to the kitchen.

He’d scooped half the plate of eggs into his mouth before he noticed the newspaper on the small table beside him.

Three more children reported missing.

A mouthful of eggs dropped from his mouth to his plate.

He reached for the paper and scanned the article.

Holy bat shit.

The piece was short. It mentioned that Elias Schmidt, a German gentleman renting a nearby condo, found a wallet on the sidewalk during a late-night stroll with his dog. He called the police when he discovered a substance on the wallet. The rest of the front-page story went on about the other missing teens of the last week.

Jesus, Rocky thought. Mom’s never going to let me out again.

He downed his apple juice and set the paper back on the other table.

For the first time since he’d been gone, Rocky wished Axel was here. The two of them would toss their crazy theories behind these missing kids back and forth. These kidnappings…god, he hoped it wasn’t something so sinister. Were there such things as serial kidnappers? Was it someone local? A tourist? They’d get caught, especially if they stuck around. Eventually, no matter how good they were, they always slipped up.

Well, not always, but most of the time.

He thought of the Zodiac killer, the serial killer from San Francisco who seemed to have vanished.

He had to find November. And she couldn’t be walking home alone anymore. He didn’t know what he’d do if she wound up missing next.

Of course, she would be gone in a few weeks.

He pushed the thought away. He’d cross that bridge when he had to.

He wasn’t as hungry as when he’d come into Moe’s Diner, but he wasn’t about to throw his money away. He shovelled the rest of the eggs and bacon down his throat and took a giant bite of the biscuit before leaving his cash on the table.

The clouds had rolled in. The wind had picked up and the air had an electric tang to it. A good ol’ thunderstorm was on the way. The beach was still packed as he made his way to the sand and scanned the bodies for her. He was going to ask her where she was staying. He’d either walk her home from now on or make sure she had a ride.

By the time she yelled out, “Hey, Heatstroke,” the sun was gone, and the first raindrops had arrived. He’d been without his back brace for almost two hours. His mother would kill him if she found out.

November was wearing a black skirt and her Twisted Sister shirt.

“You been waiting for me?” she asked, walking over to him.

“Me? Waiting for you? Nah, I was just kicking some rocks and watching the Canadians in their skimpy swimsuits.”

“Even the dudes?”

“Especially the dudes. Have you seen the things they wear? They’re hilarious.”

She glanced at the sky. “Looks like a pretty heavy storm. Do they get bad around here?”

“Nah, nothing dangerous. I mean, I still wouldn’t go swimming or flying a kite on the beach.”

“If it’s going to be messy out here, I was wondering if we could go to your place and maybe watch a movie or something?”

“Ah, yeah, of course.”

“Cool.”

She took his hand and they started toward his road.

“Oh shit, wait, my bike is by the diner.”

They walked over, and she climbed onto his pegs. She wrapped her arms around his chest as they shoved off down the road.

“Did you hear about that?” he asked, as they neared the police tape. Most of the cars were gone, but the tape remained, along with a couple of local cops.

“No, what happened?”

“They think it’s related to those missing kids.”

They both fell under a spell, coasting by the tape. This was supposed to be summer, the best time of the year. You only had so many as a kid, and this would surely go down as the one that always stuck. Rocky just hoped it was for something better. He glanced over his shoulder and saw November staring toward the scene. He couldn’t tell if she looked more angry or scared.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

“Yeah, it’s just…it’s just sad. I hope those kids are okay.”

Rocky thought about Andy Rice and Vanessa Winslow.

“Yeah, me, too.”