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I wanted to talk to dad, but not with mom around, and she was always around. Which meant that we couldn't have any real conversations in front of her at all. My dad was the strong, silent type, bending to my mom’s will when needed. When we were away though, just the two of us, he had the best advice. That was the man I needed right now. Hopefully, when mom was off doing errands tomorrow, I could talk to him for real and then I would have an answer to such a question.
After telling everyone goodnight, I went back up to my room. It was haunting to be back here, the place I tried so hard to get away from. I'd never wanted to come back, yet here I was.
I laid down in my bed, and it seemed smaller than before, and I looked around. When had I found time to put things on the ceiling? Looking at my stuff still waiting to be unpacked, I sighed and got back up. I couldn't do this right now. I was still trying to come to grips with the fact that I was back here in Jericho to begin with. I didn't know if I was ready to unpack, because that was going to mean that I was really going to stay.
After putting on a jacket, I opened the second story window all the way and dangled my feet over. Everything was a little different since I'd been back, and the jump down was a little bit longer. I was twenty-two years old; I could walk out the front door.
Instead, I jumped down, feeling a little jarred and got into my car, popping it into neutral and backing it out of the driveway before I started the engine on the road. I couldn't help but smile to myself. That felt good. That was a blast from the past that I could get used to.
2
Jeff
Igrabbed a burger from my favorite place. I’m convinced that O’Henry’s has magical properties. They made the best burgers and I needed some of that magic right now. I hadn’t had one in forever and it felt familiar. I needed that.
I looked down at the crashing waves underneath me, my legs dangling down, and I was kicking them back and forth like when I was a child. This had always been my spot. The spot. It still was, still felt like mine. Nobody came out here this late. It was a good spot for the surfers in the daytime, but in the dark, there were too many treacheries in the water. It was just as well for me because it left me a little solitude to think, to wonder how in the world I was back in Jericho.
I heard footsteps coming up behind me and since this was my spot, I got immediately defensive. Was it someone else’s spot now? I didn’t feel a wave of danger that someone was approaching me in the middle of the night; I felt like they should leave. This was my pier.
The wooden pier was long, and the fog had rolled in where I still couldn't see the person coming up. It was the only pier on the beach for five miles in either direction that wasn't lit up like Christmas. For whatever reason, light pollution was the number one complaint from residents, so this pier, pier 717, was dark. It was the only time that I wanted that to be different, an uneasy feeling starting to wash over me.
The person walking up materialized into someone that I had not seen in a very long time, years even. I stood corrected. This wasn't my spot, it had always been our spot. Why did a rush of emotions wash over me so thoroughly?
“You look different.” That was all I could think to say. No, hey how are you doing, missed you. No, none of that.
“Have I changed that much?”
I looked at her long brown hair that she refused to cut, falling over her face, dark-brown eyes with the same color and shape. Quick answers, nice, curved figure. Yeah, this was the same girl. There were a few changes that I noted, but none of them were ones that I would say out loud.
“No, you really haven't. Have I?”
“It's dark, but you look like the same jerk I always knew. What are you doing out here?”
She saw the cheeseburger in my hand and she just kind of giggled, taking a seat next to me on the edge. The pier was quite high to deal with the incoming tides that storms sent through, the water surging high. The pier was 25-to-30-feet above it, depending on where the water was. The fall was survivable. I had jumped off it purposefully more times than I could count. I was comfortable up here for some reason, probably the knowledge that I knew it wasn’t as dangerous as it appeared, but other people didn't see it that way. They would never sit on the edge, but Beatrice was not like other people I knew.
She pulled out her own cheeseburger and I didn't know why that settled something inside of me, that there was no real change with her. If she had pulled a salad out of her bag, the whole world would have upended itself right then and there.
“Why didn’t I know you were coming back?” I asked her, honestly wondering why no one had said anything. Jericho was a small mountain town, and everyone knew everything.
“Why do you think I would tell you?” She shot back, always quick-witted and jibing me like nothing had changed. I had forgotten how sharp her barbs were that she sent out. Beatrice was truthful to a fault. Brutally truthful was an accurate way to describe her. That hadn’t changed either apparently.
“Well, maybe you wouldn't tell me, but your brother would have told me.”
She smiled and shrugged. “Why do you think I would tell him? You know that we’ve never been close.”
I shook my head. It was already hurting. “What are you doing back here?” I asked her with a smile. It was obvious that I needed to change my tactic. I had had too much to drink to keep up with her, and I would surely give away information I didn't want to in my current state.
Beatrice didn’t seem to notice me having a hard time of it and I was thankful for that. “Just taking a break.”
“From what?”
“From life. It never turns out the way you want it to,” she answered cryptically.
There was more meaning in her words, but I had no idea what she was talking about. Beatrice was like a hurricane, running through me with emotions I hadn’t felt in years. I was overwhelmed by waves of it crashing over my head, threatening to drown me. She’d come out of the blue, and I didn’t know what I was supposed to do.
“No, it does not,” I agreed.
“What are you doing here in Jericho? I thought that you would be some big shot NFL guy by now. You had a good shot when I left. Shouldn’t you be there?” she asked.
