Chapter Six

The next afternoon, Elizabeth was just getting out of bed when I ran upstairs to get my bathing suit. I’d been sound asleep when she’d come home from the party.

“How’d it go last night?” I asked her as I rifled through my top drawer to find a hair elastic.

“Great! Where did you disappear to so early?”

“You were busy dancing, and Michelle wasn’t feeling so great, so I took her home. After that, I just came home too.”

“Too bad. You and Michelle missed a good time.” Elizabeth flipped back her hair and stretched her arms over her head. She was sitting on the side of her bed, dressed in pink baby doll pajamas. “We’re going to see a movie — Cactus Flower — in Campbellford later this afternoon … at least, Danny and I decided to go. I’m not sure about Michelle yet. Danny said he’d ask her this morning.” Elizabeth pouted and flicked a hand in the air as if she was tossing away Michelle.

“I saw that movie last year in Ottawa,” I said. “If you like Goldie Hawn, you’ll enjoy it.” My new being pleasant tactic seemed to be working. No more rising to her bait. I began to hum.

Elizabeth nodded. After a few seconds, her eyes focused on mine. “Oh, here’s something that might interest you. I spent quite a bit of time talking to your friend Tyler last night. He’s very funny and sooo interesting.” She was watching me, her Mona Lisa smile pasted on.

“I’m glad you’re getting along with my friends,” I said carefully. I picked up my hair brush and an elastic band and slammed the drawer shut. “I’m off to another babysitting job. Have fun at the movie.”

“Have fun babysitting. Danny and I will be meeting up with Tyler after the movie when he’s done work. I’ll say hello for you.”

I stopped smiling and stared at her.

Elizabeth pushed herself out of bed and pulled her top over her head with one swift motion, arching her back and flashing her naked breasts in my direction. They were perfectly round and about the size of small grapefruits with pointy brown nipples. The tan line from her bikini showed how her skin had darkened to a mocha colour in the sun. She was slender and her waist curved in just a bit over her narrow hips.

I averted my eyes as she strutted past me to the door. I looked in the mirror at my own pale skin and the freckles on my arms and spread across my forehead and cheeks.

“Just off for a shower,” Elizabeth said, swinging her pajama top across her chest as she stepped into the hall. “I’ll tell you all about my adventure when I get back.”

I waited until I heard her enter the bathroom and the door closing before I followed her out of the bedroom.

There was another car in Candy’s driveway — a black four-door Chevy with a New York licence plate, the side panels covered in dried mud and the windshield splattered with dead bugs. The car looked like it had been driven over some nasty back roads. I wondered who’d come visiting.

Loud guitar music led me down the path and around the house to the back yard. I looked toward the back of the property. Candy was sitting on a blanket under the oak tree with Sean running around in front of her. He was wearing a saggy diaper and nothing else. His mouth looked like he’d taken a bite out of a mud pie.

I didn’t see the two men facing away from me in lawn chairs at the edge of the patio until I was halfway across the grass. I lifted a hand in a quick wave. They were both watching me but neither waved back. I felt awkward knowing they were staring at me as I walked toward Candy. The smaller one started to get up until his friend said something that I couldn’t hear and motioned for him to sit down.

I focused on Candy. She looked pretty in a flowery yellow dress that reached her ankles and billowed around her in the breeze off the lake. She smiled when she saw me and patted the blanket next to her. I made it the last few steps and lowered myself down beside her. I couldn’t see her eyes behind the round oversized sunglasses that dwarfed her face and made her look like a kid playing dress-up. The two men were now facing me and they each mouthed hello as Candy pointed in their direction. I was having trouble hearing what she was saying over Hendrix’s guitar wailing from the speakers that aimed out through the open kitchen windows. Luckily, the needle scratched at the end of the record as she finished her introductions.

“… meet Bobby and Kirk, his brother. They’ve come all the way from Jersey to visit.” They each nodded at me when she said their names.

Bobby and Kirk didn’t resemble each other much. Bobby had a dirty blonde Afro and a full beard. He was the one who’d been about to stand up when he’d seen me. His eyes were close-set and he had the look of someone squinting through a fog. He was wearing a red and blue striped poncho that looked dirty around the edges. Kirk was taller and heavier with a crew cut and the bottom of an eagle tattoo showing from under his black t-shirt. His arm rippled like water as he flexed his muscles. He looked smarter than Bobby by a long shot. They were both holding brown beer bottles. Bobby took a few swallows and then rubbed the back of his hand across his mouth. A trail of the white foam dribbled down his beard.

“Hi there,” said Kirk. His smile should have been friendly, but it didn’t come across that way. He reached into his pocket and pulled out some aviator sunglasses. He slid them on his face in a quick motion. They hid something in his eyes that had made the hairs on my arms stand up.

“Are you here for a visit?” I asked. Being polite to adults was so ingrained, they could have been axe murderers and I’d have asked them if they were enjoying the sights.

“Just thought we’d hang out with our good ’ol friends for a while,” said Kirk. “What time did you say Johnny would be home?”

I felt Candy shift positions beside me. “I don’t expect him until five. If you all want to drive into town to get that tequila you were talking about, don’t let me keep you.”

Bobby was looking at Candy like she had something he wanted. He lifted a hand trying to get her attention. Candy kept her eyes on Kirk. Time skipped a few beats.

“Yeah, we could do that.” Kirk stood up. “Come on, Bobby. Let’s split for a while.”

Bobby stood too, but not in any big hurry. He kept staring at Candy until he had to turn his back to walk with Kirk away from us. They disappeared around the side of the house.

“Who are they?” I asked.

Candy shrugged. “People that Johnny knows from the States. Nobody important. They’ll probably be here a week or so.”

“Bobby seems to like you.”

“You noticed too, huh?” She grinned.

Sean was trying to catch Candy’s attention. He was spinning around the yard and squealing in a high-pitched screech. His diaper sagged so low that I thought he would lose it. I gagged when he got close to me. Candy ignored him and lay back on the blanket.

“What a glorious day. I just love it here. I could lie on the grass grooving in the sunshine forever. Such a good change from New York City. You have no idea.”

I wrapped my arms around my legs and rested a cheek against my knee. “Did Johnny go into town?” I asked.

“Johnny? Yeah. He had some things to do in Toronto, so no worry about him showing up soon.”

It wasn’t what I meant. In fact, I wanted to meet him, to find out what he had going on with my mom. “What does Johnny do?”

“Oh, this and that. I try not to get involved in his business. It bores me silly. Chasing the almighty dollar is a waste of your life. I’d rather spend my days outside, enjoying the day, communing with nature.” She smiled at me. “What do you like to do?”

“I help my mom in the store quite a bit or I read, swim, you know, the regular stuff. I like to write.”

“A writer?” She squealed. “I should have known! You have that deep, mysterious way about you. I knew some writers in my old life. Have you ever heard of J.D. Salinger?”

“The Catcher in the Rye Salinger? Of course! How did you know him? I heard he’s a recluse.”

Candy smiled. “A while back, you know, before I met up with Johnny, I made a pilgrimage to Cornish, New Hampshire, where he lives. He and his wife Claire had just separated. We spent several lovely days … and nights together.”

“He’d be a lot older than you, I guess.”

“It didn’t matter at the time. I drifted back to New York City, though. I missed the people and the action in the big city.”

“Wow. You’ve had an exciting life. I’ve never been far from Ottawa or met anyone famous.”

Candy patted my leg. “You will someday. I can tell. There’s something special about you that radiates just like sunshine. It’s part of why I like you. Say, I’d love to read something that you’ve written. I’ll bet it’s good. Better than good.”

I’d only shared my writing with Gideon and hadn’t thought about letting anyone else read it. “Maybe I could let you read a poem that Gideon likes. He’s kind of my mentor.”

“Right on. I’d like that. Tell you what,” said Candy. “Sean is ready for a nap, so you can come with me for a swim and I’ll still pay you for looking after him. It’s so nice to have someone to talk to.”

“Are you sure we should leave him alone? I don’t mind staying here and watching him.”

Her voice hardened. “Sean will be fine. Once he’s asleep, it takes a rocket to wake him up. We’ll have an hour at least.”

“If you’re sure.”

“I wouldn’t leave him if I wasn’t sure.”

The water was cold and I couldn’t stand being in it for long, but it didn’t bother Candy. I paddled around for a bit and then found a flat rock on the beach that had baked in the sun. I wrapped myself in a beach towel and watched her swim to the little rock island and back. She was a strong swimmer. I dozed off and when I opened my eyes, she was running along the sand at the edge of the water in her bright, pink-flowered bikini, arms spread wide, thick wet hair trailing down her back and calling to me, “Come on in! The water’s great.”

“Shouldn’t we be getting back? Sean might wake up,” I called.

Candy stopped and shrugged. “In a while. It’s early yet.”

“I could go check on him.”

“Really, you don’t need to. I’m not kidding when I say he sleeps for two hours every afternoon. Kid’s up most of the night.” Her mouth clamped into a straight line. She crossed her arms across her chest and glared at me.

“Okay,” I said.

She smiled at me again, as if I’d given her my blessing, then turned and splashed her way into the deeper water. My stomach tightened when I saw her heading out to the island a second time, her arms slicing through the water in steady strokes. I wondered if Sean had woken up yet and was crying for someone to come get him. The sun went behind a cloud. I shivered, wrapping the towel more tightly around my shoulders and willing Candy to come back. I waited another half hour before she got tired of swimming. She was still drying herself off with a beach towel when I told her I was late and had to get home to help my mom.

I walked through the back door and heard my father’s angry voice, rising and falling like wind in the trees. I wanted to turn and run, but he would be alone with my mother and she’d be taking the brunt of his anger. I stepped inside the kitchen. Sure enough, Mom was sitting beside him at the table, her face blank, appearing to be listening while her body language told me she’d tuned him out. When she noticed me standing in the doorway, she motioned with her eyes for me to disappear up the back stairs, but my father saw her shifting expression and turned to spot me where I stood rooted in the doorway. His forehead glistened with sweat and a streak of grease blackened his cheek.

“There you are, Darlene. It’s about time you showed up home. Your mother and I were just discussing how little help you are around here — always scribbling away in some book or nowhere to be found. It’s time you pitched in more. I’m going to clean up from fixing that bloody washing machine, which took my whole bloody afternoon, and then I’m taking your mother to town for supper before I head back to Ottawa. You’ll be in charge of the store until closing. No slouching off.”

“I didn’t know it was broken.”

“Pardon me?”

“The washing machine. I didn’t know it was broken.”

My father’s face pulsed purplish red and his voice rose a few pitches. “Of course you didn’t. That would have meant you actually did some laundry or some work around here. Your school marks are average and you can’t do anything right around the house. All I ask is that you take some of the load off your mother.” He pounded the table with his fist and the salt and pepper shakers jumped. “And enough of your smartass talking back. I didn’t know it was broken. Christ.”

“I didn’t mean …”

Mom gave him a hard look as she cut me off. “There’s a casserole I got ready for lunch tomorrow, but you can have it for supper. I’m not sure when Elizabeth will be back from town, but there’s plenty for her to heat up later.”

Dad took a deep breath, mumbled something, and stood up. He shook his head while he unhooked his suspenders and walked over to the sink, where he began washing his arms with dish detergent. Mom nodded at me and pointed to the store with a slight movement of her head. I started walking as quietly as I could to the door leading to the shop. As I passed her, she grabbed my arm and said quietly, “I don’t know what I would do without you. He’s just … had a bad afternoon. A migraine and then the washing machine.”

I didn’t say anything back, but the anxiety in my throat eased a bit. Dad might not have heard me over the running water if I responded to my mother’s comment, but I didn’t want to take the chance of getting her in trouble. I straightened my shoulders and walked a little taller into the shop.

It was nearly seven o’clock and I was making my last circuit of the store to tidy shelves before locking up for the night. A rush of cottagers had kept me busy until around six thirty, but it had been quiet for the last ten minutes, and I was ready to get outside while there was still sunshine. I reached the cereal section and picked up a box of Rice Krispies that had fallen onto the floor. I was putting it on the shelf when the bell jangled on the front door. I peeked over the jars of pickles and nearly swallowed my gum.

Johnny Lewis was standing near the counter looking around. He was dressed in a white shirt and blue jeans and his black curls were pulled back into a short ponytail. He’d begun growing a beard and it made him look even better than the first time I’d seen him. My eyes dropped to his bare feet then back up to his face. His eyes got a little less shiny when I stepped out from behind the shelves.

“Your mother not working tonight?” he asked real casual-like. He picked up a pack of gum from the carton and flipped it end on end in his hand while he looked at me with his Al Pacino eyes.

“She’s out with my dad for supper,” I said. “They do lots of things together.” I skirted around him and got behind the counter. “Dad wanted to take my mother somewhere so she wouldn’t have to cook. He says she’s been working too hard lately.” I said it all without taking a breath.

“Well, that’s nice,” Johnny said, looking at me with a half-smile on his face. His eyes looked amused. “She deserves a night away. I’ll just buy this gum for Candy and a pack of cigs for me.” He pointed to the green Export A pack on a ledge behind the counter.

I grabbed one and set it in front of him. “How do you like Cedar Lake? I’ll bet you can’t wait to get out of here and go back to Toronto for good.”

“This is a great spot. I never liked living in the city much.”

There was a hint of an accent in his voice. I looked down at his hands. They were tanned and rough-looking, and his nails were bitten down and jagged.

“Where did you live before?”

“Toronto the last while.” His eyes softened and he grinned, looking way younger and friendly. “I understand you live in Ottawa when you’re not here at the lake.”

No wonder my mother liked him. The way he looked made me jumpy inside. My hands felt awkward, like they belonged to somebody else. I wondered what he and my mother talked about when they were together.

Whether he kissed her.

“We have a big house and Dad works in the mill. Mom inherited this store.”

“When I was a kid, we used to come to Cedar Lake in the summers. It was way before your time.”

“Did you know my mother then?”

“I was younger than her by a few years, but yeah, who wouldn’t remember your mother?”

The way he said it made me feel a flush crawling up my cheeks, and I moved over to the cash register to ring in his sale. If I met Tyler Livingstone twenty years from now, would I feel something too, especially if I was married to someone like my father? I reached out to give Johnny his change. My fingers brushed against his skin and I felt a tingle that went up my wrist. What the hell is wrong with me?

Maybe Dad had sensed something between Johnny and Mom, because he never took her out for supper when we were at the lake. He preferred she cook for him. He liked to say why waste money on restaurants when you could get a perfectly good meal at home. The truth was so far from what I’d just told Johnny that I felt sad.

“So, you grew up in Toronto then?” I asked. “You don’t sound Canadian.”

The expression in his eyes disappeared like he was shutting down inside, but he answered my question without any less friendliness in his voice. “Lived in South Carolina when I was a boy. My family spent summers here with my relatives. Your mom and her sister Peg spent summers here too.” He grabbed the cigarettes and gum. “Thanks and give your mom my best.”

He was near the door. I called out, “Mom told me you grew up in New York.”

His shoulders tensed before he swung around and looked at me. “Yeah, that’s right. We lived in New York after South Carolina. Manhattan to be exact.”

“Your accent isn’t as strong as Candy’s.”

Johnny studied me. “She spent more time in the South than I did. I got out first chance I could. Well, I guess I’ll see you around.”

“Yeah, see you around.”

He pushed open the door and stepped outside, letting the screen door snap hard like a gunshot against the frame. He was gone so fast, he didn’t look back to apologize. It was almost as if something had spooked him.