Chapter 22

Reclining on her bed, Alexandra glanced up from the book she was reading and looked over at her sister, Katie.

“What in the hell are you doing?” Alexandra asked. Katie stood by the dresser, her blouse pulled up, as she shoved a sock in her bra.

“I’m going to the bathroom,” Katie told her.

“Umm… you have to do that with a sock in your bra?” Alex asked.

Katie grabbed a second sock from her dresser drawer and shoved it in the other side of her bra. Pulling her blouse down, she looked in the mirror. Using her hands to rearrange and shape the sock-breasts, she ignored her sister’s inquiry.

“Oh, now I get it,” Alexandra said with a chuckle. She closed the book and set it on her lap. “Don’t tell me, Tommy is home and he has some of his friends with him.”

“So?” Katie leaned closer to the mirror and began applying makeup.

“You know Mom doesn’t like you to wear makeup. And thanks for asking me if you can use mine, by the way.”

“Well, it’s not like I’m going anywhere. And why do you get to wear it and I can’t? We’re only a year apart.”

“I don’t know why Mom makes the rules she does. But please Katie, don’t go out there like that, you look silly.”

“I do not!” Katie protested.

“You’ve obviously stuffed your bra. Please. Tommy’s friends aren’t worth it.”

Katie paused for a moment and looked at her sister. Letting out a sigh, she slipped her hand under her blouse and removed the socks. Any illusion of breasts vanished.

“Don’t you think Russell Coulson is cute?” Katie asked.

“He’s too old for you.”

“But don’t you think he’s cute?”

“I guess he’s okay.” Alexandra shrugged and started reading her book again.

“Gosh, Alex, what’s the point of putting up with Tommy if we can’t check out his cute friends?”

“Well, check out all you want. But don’t parade yourself in front of them. Boys can be jerks. And trust me, when you start high school next year, you don’t want to be known as Socks.”

“Socks is kinda a cute name.” Katie said brightly.

Alexandra lowered her book and glared at Katie. “Really?”

“Well,” Katie said with a shrug. “I guess not if they’re talking about my boobs.” Walking to the bedroom door, she opened it slightly and peeked out. After a moment, she closed it and faced her sister.

“I wonder why they’re home so early. It isn’t past Tommy’s curfew yet.”

“Who knows? Who cares?” Alex asked, again focusing on her book.

“Hey, Chamberlain, I saw your sister at school today.” Ryan Keller lounged on Tommy’s bed, looking up at the ceiling as he bounced a football in his hands.

“So?” Tommy sat at his desk sharing a pizza with Russell.

“Just sayin’. You guys check out the new crop of freshman? Some real dogs. Looks like Alex might be the pick of the litter this year.”

“Don’t be an ass.” Tommy wadded up a soiled napkin and tossed it in Ryan’s direction. It fell to the floor.

“Hey it’s true. If she wasn’t your sister, I’d be tempted. Of course she doesn’t have boobs yet.”

“Fuck, Keller.” Tommy glared at Ryan. “Shut up already.”

Ryan laughed, then tossed the ball at Tommy who knocked it to the floor.

“I saw Alex at school today too,” Russell commented. “And Jimmy. How did he do this week as a freshman? Any hazing?”

“Shit no. I told the guys if they touched my brother, I’d kick their ass,” Ryan told him.

“Well, you touch my sister, and I’ll kick yours,” Tommy warned.

“No problem. I’d rather wait for her to get tits.”

Tommy reached to the floor, grabbed the football and threw it at Ryan, who managed to grab it before it hit him.

Russell took his slice of pizza and sat on the floor, leaning against the side of the bed.

“Those guys were getting crazy tonight,” Russell said. No longer a blond, Russell’s hair had darkened like his older brothers’.

“Yeah, it was getting wild at the lake. I sure as hell didn’t want to get busted. My dad would kill me,” Ryan said.

“It was a good thing we left when we did,” Tommy said.

“Yeah, I have to work tomorrow anyway.” Ryan tossed the football to the floor.

“What shift? Can you go out tomorrow night?” Tommy asked.

“Morning shift. Flipping eggs. Let me crash for a couple hours after I get off, then I’ll be ready to go.” Ryan had been working at restaurants since he was twelve years old, beginning as a busboy.

“Cool. I have to work for a few hours at my dad’s office but should be off by two. How about you, Coulson?” Tommy asked.

“Are you kidding, Russell doesn’t have to work.” Ryan laughed.

“Shut up, Chamberlain.” Russell stood up and tossed his paper plate in the trashcan.

“Sorry,” Ryan said, still chuckling. “But it’s true.”

Before Russell could respond, the phone began to ring. Tommy answered it the same time as Alex, and after a brief exchange she hung up, because the call was for Tommy.

“Fuck, no. You’re kidding?” Tommy said into the phone. “So what happened?” Tommy was now sitting on the edge of his chair. “Who else was there? What are they going to do?”

Ryan and Russell listened attentively to Tommy’s end of the conversation. It went on for several more minutes, and finally he hung up.

“Fuck,” Tommy said when he hung up the phone. There were tears in his eyes.

“What happened?” Ryan asked, now sitting on the edge of the bed.

“The cops showed up at the lake to bust the party. Mike jumped in the water, not wanting to get busted. He never came up.”

“What do you mean he never came up?” Russell asked.

“They think he drowned,” Tommy said.

“No. He’s just fucking with them. Mike’s a great swimmer. He probably swam over to the other side of the lake and got out. I bet he’s home now laughing his ass off,” Ryan insisted.

“He didn’t come home.”

“Well shit, he probably had to walk there. He’ll show up. You’ll see.” Ryan said.

By Saturday morning, news around Coulson was that 16-year-old Mike Murphy had drowned in Sutter’s Lake. They were sending divers to look for his body. Tommy’s dad told him he didn’t need to go in the office that day. Before noon, Russell picked up Tommy and the two teenagers drove down to Sutter’s Lake to see what was going on.

Katie wanted to go with them, but her mother wouldn’t let her. Alexandra had no desire to go to the lake. The last thing she wanted to witness was the lifeless body of one of her classmates being dragged from the icy water.

When Tommy and Russell got to the lake, the parking lot was full. Many of their classmates had the same idea. The officials didn’t send the teenagers away but told them they had to keep to the north shore. Tommy and Russell found a dry place to sit and watch as the divers looked for their friend’s body.

“This just totally sucks,” Tommy said.

“I hope they don’t find him. I hope he’s just being an ass and fucking with us.” Russell didn’t take his eyes off the divers.

“I heard this lake is really deep. If he did drown, I hope they find him.”

“Yeah, you’re right. My dad said it’s one of the deepest lakes in the state.”

“I wish Mike would’ve listened and come home with us last night.” Tommy wiped tears from his eyes.

“I know, but he was pretty wasted.”

They heard someone shout, “I found something!” They were too far away to hear what was being said, and by the commotion, something was going on. They could see one of the police officers on his radio. In spite of the burst of activity, nothing was being pulled from the lake. After about fifteen minutes, a tow truck pulled up. They watched as it backed up to the lake, guided by two police officers.

“Why do they need a tow truck?” Tommy asked.

“Hell if I know.”

While the tow truck backed up to the water, Russell pointed to the other side of the lake. “Look, they’re still diving over there. What’s going on?”

They looked back to the tow truck. It was slowly dragging something from the lake. They watched in fascination as a waterlogged 1958 Lincoln Continental Mark III gradually emerged from the water. Just as the car was removed from the lake, there was another shout from the other direction. They found Mike’s body.

Tommy and Russell watch as their friend’s lifeless body was removed from the lake. In the distance, they could see Mike’s parents and hear their cries of anguish. After members from the fire department loaded the body into a van, Mr. Murphy helped his wife to their car, and the two drove away, following the van from the parking lot.

“Fuck.” Tommy wiped away more tears.

The two teenagers sat there for a few moments before finally standing up. Walking back to the parking lot, they noticed the small crowd around the car that had been pulled from the lake.

Silently, they approached the Lincoln Continental and listened to the chatter of the police officers, who were inspecting the vehicle.

“I’ve seen that car before,” Tommy whispered.

“Well, now we know what happened to Anthony Marino’s car,” Wally said as he read the Sunday paper. “Now the question I have, what happened to him?”

“Who was that again?” Jimmy asked. He poured syrup on his pancakes.

“The one who used to put candy in the mailbox,” Ryan reminded his brother. The three sat around the Keller breakfast table.

“I liked that guy,” Jimmy said.

“Yeah, you were like six. Wasn’t he a hitman, Dad?” Ryan asked.

“That’s what I heard.” Wally folded the newspaper and tossed it aside, then added, “I’m really sorry about Mike. He was a good kid.”

“Yeah, I remember when I used to watch you guys play over-the-line.” Jimmy told his brother, recalling the games at the park with Russell, Tommy and Mike.

“When is the funeral?” Wally asked.

“I haven’t heard. But this really sucks,” Ryan said glumly.

A week after Mike’s death, Russell, Ryan and Tommy downed a case of beer. In their drunken state, they solemnly vowed to be friends forever, and when the time came for one of them to join Mike, the two remaining friends would help carry the deceased’s casket to it final resting place.

News of Marino’s car being hauled from the lake, after it first went missing almost eight years earlier, might have received more press had the town not been grieving for one of its own. However, the discovery did attract the attention of Agents Carmichael and Stephens, who had always assumed Marino had left Coulson on his own volition.

The two agents now wondered, was Marino still alive, and if not, where was his body and who killed him? With Marino’s sister gone and no known associates of Marino in Coulson—aside from a very casual and brief acquaintance with the town’s founding family and the Kellers—they had no other leads.