Safe.
At dawn a cop woke her by squeezing her shoulder. “Oi! Oi!” The officer ordered her to move along.
Nowhere was perfect.
Dawn at the beach—pale pink, pearlescent. Ocean spray on her face a mist like horizontal rain, cold as her dream of flying. Mikey sat on the back of her camper van, smoking. Ronnie walked over and joined her in looking out at the waves. Mikey passed her the joint.
Low drone of waves crashing on the shore, eternal white noise machine inhuman, older than life. Ronnie envied people who lived near the beach.
She relaxed. She had pushed herself yesterday, so her lower back hurt, but that was part of the healing process. She hadn’t done any permanent damage.
Mikey took the joint back, gesturing to Ronnie’s longboard. “Want to go for a surf?”
She studied the ocean. Glassy offshore. Two-foot-tall, short-period waves breaking softly and slowly. “Mush burgers?” Kiddie stuff. It wasn’t stinger season yet, so she could get by without shoving herself into a damp wetsuit.
Mikey killed the joint, slid heavily down from the van and stretched with a loud groan. “Rock and roll.” Ronnie’s mom friend who worked as a mechanic hadn’t been athletic ten years ago, but had joined a gym and had been working out. Mikey appeared to have more energy this spring than she had last summer.
Mikey was kicking so much butt in life, showing what a badass a single mom could be.
When Ronnie returned wet to her dented F-150 later that morning after surfing and rinsing off in the public showers, the side doors of her friend’s van were open and her friends were inside smoking. As she walked closer, she smelled pot.
Reg stood chatting with her friends from juvie, his hairy arms crossed. His truck sat parked nearby.
She pulled the hood of her sleeveless hoodie up against the midday sun. “What’s up?”
Reg’s face brightened when he saw her. They hugged.
“Everything all right?” she asked.
“You didn’t answer your phone, kiddo.”
She pointed over her shoulder towards her truck.
Reg had shadows under his eyes. “Big day for the family tomorrow; everyone’s on edge, mum reglazing windows, Blaise blasting ABBA…”
The man drove ten hours round-trip to check on her. He thought she would do something stupid.
“You worry too much,” she said.
“I know. It’s a problem.”
“I’ll be there. Trust me.”
Reg deflected. “You’re my baby girl. It’s hardwired into me. Don’t forget you have that suit fitting in Cairns at four. It was big of your brother to set that up. He doesn’t like to throw his weight around like that, so show him that you appreciate it by not being late, eh?”
Godlike Mattie, the perfect son.
“I’ll be there. I have another thing at two.” Tattoo removal appointment. What time was it now? She needed to jet.
“Better leave now, or you’ll be late.” Reg looked guilty, rubbed his nose. “Listen. I brought Nev.”
“What?” Ronnie walked over to the passenger side of her dad’s truck. Nev looked up from her phone and waved. Darksunglasses made it difficult to tell if she was there voluntarily or if she had been kidnapped.
Reg was in full papa-bear mode. She didn’t know why she was surprised.
“Thought you might want company on the drive,” he said. Not quite an apology, but almost. Reg glanced out at the ocean. He thought she was going to stuff this up between now and tomorrow. That hurt.
She stared at him in disbelief. “You brought a babysitter?”
