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“Hi, Bren,” I greet. I instinctively move the phone away from my ear since I know what’s coming next.
“Where the fuck have you been?” she screams. “I have been texting and leaving messages all over.” She pauses a minute. “Liv, are you okay?” she asks, concern etched in her voice. This is the question I have dreaded answering because I don’t know the answer.
“I’m fine.”
“Why haven’t you taken any of my calls? I’ve been worried.”
“I haven’t been in a talkative mood,” I mutter petulantly.
“You shouldn’t be alone. You need to talk. Please, let me come out and spend a few weeks with you,” she pleads.
I have thought about having her here with me. Brenda has always been my rock. My father was diagnosed with stage four pancreatic cancer our senior year of high school and died right before we graduated. She wouldn’t leave my side that whole summer. I have no siblings, so she is the sister I never had.
“Okay, maybe you’re right. I could use a drinking partner.”
“Good, cause I’m on the ferry and will be there in ten minutes.”
“Of course you are,” I reply with as much sarcasm as I can muster. “I’m at the end of Pepperidge walk. Put your bags in the house and meet me on the beach,” I sigh.
“Liv, you know I love you right?”
“I love you too, Bren. Just hurry up. I need to catch some rays.”
Like clockwork, she appears from the end of the walk and comes running down the beach. I stand up to greet her, but the sand must have gotten to her feet too as she runs past me toward the water. She dips them in, then turns to me, and gives me a crushing hug.
“Bren, you’re killing me,” I squeak out barely able to breathe.
“Sorry,” she murmurs. “I’ve missed you.”
“I know. I missed you too.”
“You look like you lost weight.”
“Maybe a few pounds,” I confess. “I’ve been on a liquid diet.”
“You need to eat,” she scolds. “We’ll go over to the Casino tonight for dinner.”
“Okay. That’s a good idea since I haven’t been over to the general store yet, and there isn’t any food in the house. At least, nothing resembling food.”
“Olivia!” She is really mad. She only uses my full name when she wants something, or she’s pissed. “It’s a good thing I’m here. I don’t want you withering away to nothing,” she says under her breath.
“Can I please get back to my tanning?” I whine. “We’re wasting good sunlight.”
“Fine, but this discussion is not over.”
I sit back down, put in my ear buds and drift off to sleep to Zac Brown warbling on about his ass in the sand.
Back at the house, we each take a quick shower. I don’t bother to do my hair. I’m at the beach after all. The tousled look is normal here, and my curly blonde hair is that and then some. It’s long, about halfway down my back, but I can never get the curls under control. It’s not like I have anyone to impress anyway. The humidity is not helping my cause, so I decide the au natural look is not the way to go and put it in a ponytail. Brenda, on the other hand, has the blow dryer, flat iron, and any other hair accessory you can think of scattered in front of her on the bathroom vanity.
“Brenda, are you going to straighten your hair? The humidity will fluff it out like you stuck your finger in a light socket,” I giggle. She has shoulder length wavy chestnut brown hair that looks good no matter what she does to it.
“Ha ha, funny. Give me ten minutes and I’ll be finished.”
I go into the living room and hear my new neighbors partying next door through the walls, not that these walls are all that thick. I walk out onto the back deck to get a glimpse of the commotion. It sounds like thirty people out back, but it’s just the five of them. They’re dancing to a beat I’m unfamiliar with, beers in hand. This is not a good start to my vacation. I head back inside to the kitchen and reach into the fridge to grab an Amstel Light.
Brenda is behind me and looks into the refrigerator just as I’m closing it. “Jeez, you weren’t kidding. There’s nothing in there but beer and wine.”
“There are lemons and limes for the Ketel One,” I inform under my breath. I turn, and she has her perfect brows arched, a stern look on her face. I guess she heard me.
