Dad got home late, surprised to see me.
“I got dinner in town,” he said and sniffed the air. “I smell soup. Ugh. I’ll have to bury that in the backyard before she comes to clean tomorrow. You want some of this?” he said, handing me a box from Keech House of Pizza. I opened it and ate the few slices that were left. Such a far cry from whatever the Tooheys were doing with Scout. Dad watched TV with me for a while. It was just like my summer nights used to be, but now sitting and watching Jeopardy! with my Dad seemed like a punishment.
“So good to have you home for a change,” he said. But he was soon asleep, snoring on the couch, and I could barely hear the contestants over him. The phone rang. It was probably for him. Everybody for me was out having a nice dinner together.
It was Scout.
“Hey.”
“Hi.”
“Finally got rid of them. Never seen kids take so long to eat a GD pizza,” he said.
I never felt so left out of anything before.
“Can I see you?” he asked.
“Now? It’s … it’s after nine.”
“So? It’s not a school night,” he whispered those words into the phone like going out tonight would be the most irresistibly scandalous thing I could possibly do.
What would I wear? What was clean? What was cute? Was it still raining?
“Okay.”
“Great. I’ll be there in ten minutes,” he said and hung up.
“Dad, Dad, I’m going out with Pepper for a little while,” I lied. I don’t know why. Maybe because I was still seventeen and Scout was already out of college. I had a feeling Dad wouldn’t approve, even if he was the shiniest Toohey of them all.
“Okay, sweetie,” he said, falling back asleep, this time, falling over, with his head landing on the couch cushion. I grabbed my purse and snuck down the steps quietly to wait outside. I didn’t want him waking back up and changing his mind or anything.
A few minutes later, I saw headlights and Scout pulled up in a Saab with Virginia plates. This must be his car. I climbed in. I felt like a million bucks.
“So,” he said and leaned over and kissed me. I felt the Rolex band brush the side of my face as he ran his fingers through my hair. And then he backed out of the driveway.
“Let’s get ice cream,” he said.
“It’s kind of cold. It’s raining pretty hard. The Dairy Dip has no indoor seating.” That was a blessing when I worked there. That job was bad enough. Imagine having to wash down tables, too! We just shut the windows, turned out the lights, and let the raccoons and seagulls clean up outside.
“You’re right. Let’s skip the ice cream,” he said. I thought that meant we’d get a coffee or something at the Sugar Shack. But instead, we drove out to Fort Point. My dad and I often drove out to Fort Point in weather like this to see the waves. But during the day, when you could actually see them. The rain was clearing out, and the waves were intense from the storm and somewhat lit from the gibbous moon.
I got out and let the wind toss my hair about. When I was little, I imagined it was possible to cast a spell on a night like this. The sea was loud—frightening, but thrilling. Scout came up behind me and put his arms around my waist, and we walked closer to the water. A huge breaker hit the rocks, slapping us with cold water. Excited cries echoed from around the parking lot.
“I wish Flipper were here!” I heard Pepper shout. Scout heard it too. His arms dropped.
My eyes followed the sound of that voice. First, I saw the tail end of that enormous blue wagon, parked near some other cars. Then, on top of a rock on the highest point, there they were. Pike, Cheddar, Pepper, and Pixie. Pixie was shouting Shakespeare at the wind:
Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire burn and caldron bubble.
Fillet of a fenny snake,
In the caldron boil and bake;
Eye of newt and toe of frog—
“Gross, Pix!” Pepper shouted. “You can’t eat a clam but you like poems like that?”
“Hey, look!” I said to Scout, but he grabbed me by the hand and pulled me back into the car.
“We gotta get out of here.”
“Why?” I waited for an answer.
“Because they’ll never let me have you all to myself,” he said, kissing me quickly, then peeling out.
“Promise me you’ll have dinner with me next week when they go home. Do you like the Dock n’ Dine?”
“Uh … ” I didn’t dare get caught in there with him.
“Captain’s Catch?”
Yes, that would be much better.