Lie to Me (an OddRocket title) (11 page)

"He's the guy with the hat," Addie said.

"Yeah, I returned it."

"That's cool," Addie said. "We should go. Mom said if you don't bring your cell phone with you, she's not going to pay for it anymore because what's the point of having a cell phone if you never answer it. What if there was an emergency?"

RD kept his back to us while he talked. He paced back and forth, his head lowered, fingers raking through his hair.

"Here, let me take your picture," Addie said, pointing the camera at me.

I made a face. "Why did Mom send you here to find me, anyway?"

"It's Aunt Lucy. Mom says she'll be here within the hour. She wants us home."

Aunt Lucy. She was here already? So this was really happening.

"Fine. I'll go home. Just give me a second." I was stalling. I didn't want to leave while RD was on the phone. Why was I being so weird?

"Are you going to take forever?" Addie said.

RD dropped the phone from his ear and gripped the rail a moment before turning to smile. "All right," he said, climbing back into the cockpit. "Family stuff. So you two are taking off?"

"Yeah, I have to go." I wished Addie wasn't there so he would really talk to me, not act like I was just some girl. His tone was different around her. I didn't like it.

"No worries." He stood with his hands in his pocket.

"Glad you got your hat back," I said, nodding toward his head.

"Oh, yeah. Thanks." His eyes widened as if he'd just caught my hint. "Yes, thanks for the special delivery."

I felt like he'd given me a secret message, a message in a bottle. He'd slipped inside my brain and thoughts of him now mingled with everything. With a single touch, I needed him.

Aunt Lucy looked nothing like my mother. She looked exactly like me.

Her thick brown hair hit her right at the collarbone. She didn't have Mom's rounded cheeks or button nose. Her face was more angular and sharp like mine. The only feature they shared was their blue eyes.

We were all sitting around the mosaic table Mom had made the summer before out of broken china plates. The sky was painted a sharp blue, streaked with thin pink clouds high above us.

"You don't look like my mom's sister. It's weird," Addie said, staring at Aunt Lucy.

"Don't be rude," Mom said.

"It's all right," Lucy said. "We've always looked different. Kind of like you and Cassie."

But, it wasn't just their features. It was their style. Mom was all swirls and long skirts and funky jewelry and Aunt Lucy was shiny and polished. Her hot pink t-shirt looked pressed. Even her jeans had a telltale fold along the front; she clearly ironed them. In all honesty, Aunt Lucy looked a lot like the other mothers at San Sebastian High. I'd seen her clean, steel grey SUV in the drive and she had a designer handbag stashed by her feet.

"Well, Grandma Bennett brought Lucy home from the hospital when I was four years old," Mom said, brushing a strand of her wavy, red hair off her face. "The neighbors all wondered where this baby with thick, black hair had come from."

"I look like your grandpa, girls," Lucy said. "I think that's who you got your coloring from, too, Cassandra."

"I always thought I had the same hair color as Dad," I said, resenting the idea that Aunt Lucy would tie me to her instead of my father.

"Well, I remember your dad's hair as lighter, more of an ashy blond. It's been so long." Her voice trailed off. She swirled her glass, ice cubes clinking.

"His hair was lighter," Mom said. "I think Lucy's right, honey. There is no denying you two are related. Remarkable. It's just been so long since I've seen you together." Mom and Lucy hadn't spoken since Dad died, at least that's what I'd always assumed, but no one had ever really explained to me why Aunt Lucy had left the island that summer and never come back.

"We should really bring out the photo album later and look at some old family pictures," Mom said. "Wouldn't that be fun, girls?"

"I'm taking pictures this summer..." Addie said. Then she rattled on about her plan to be a world-class photographer.

I squirmed in my cushioned deck chair, growing more and more uncomfortable with the let’s-pretend-we're-a-normal-family show. It wasn't just awkward. It felt so phony, nothing like my real conversations with RD. I didn't want to spend another minute on the deck with Aunt Lucy. Every time I looked at her, I was reminded of why she was here.

"And what are you going to do this summer, Cassandra?" Aunt Lucy asked, leaning forward with her elbows on the table.

"Same old," I said. "Work at the Hideaway, that's about it. Actually..." I realized Aunt Lucy might be presenting an opportunity. If I asked Mom about RD now, she would be less likely to argue in front of company. "So, Mom, do you think it would be cool if I did some work on a boat at the marina?"

"A boat?" Mom asked, eyebrows rising.

"There’s this guy from Seattle who is here for the summer. He's restoring an old sailboat and wants my help working on it."

"You have a job, Cassandra," Mom said, eyes darting to Aunt Lucy, lips drawn tight. I read her message loud and clear. She didn't want to talk about this in front of Aunt Lucy, which just made me angry. If we were supposed to pretend Aunt Lucy was part of the family, why couldn't we have a real conversation in front of her?

"It will only be a few hours a week," I said, staring at my glass of lemonade instead of at her. Addie watched wide-eyed.

"Let’s discuss this later," Mom said.

"I want to talk now." I don't know why I was so angry and pushing but, suddenly, I wanted a fight.

"Cassandra."

"I think if I want to take a second job, you should let me. It would be good experience for me to spend some time on a sailboat."

"You don't know how to sail," Mom said, her voice tense.

"I'll learn."

"The answer is 'no,'" Mom said. I'd hit a nerve, one that I knew was an easy target.

"If you weren't so afraid of the water..."

"Cassandra. No."

We sat in awkward silence. Aunt Lucy stared at the clouds overhead and Addie kicked her legs back and forth in her chair.

I'd gambled and lost. "May I please go for a walk?" I asked, standing, my heart pounding against my chest.

"Of course," Mom said. "You go right ahead."

I pushed my metal chair back, legs scraping across the deck.

Aunt Lucy looked confused. "If you girls need some time to yourselves…"

"No," Mom said, raising her hand to stop Aunt Lucy from standing. "You go ahead, Cassandra. We'll be right here. Take your time, sweetheart." She smiled at me and I could tell she felt badly about our fight, but I was furious at her for not giving me what I wanted.

I took the deck stairs down to the yard, walked out the gate and followed the road to the beach. There's an old tear-down house on the water. Some couple in California bought the lot, but they've been working on the plans for their dream house for years, which means their house sits abandoned with a dock in front of it and an empty boathouse. It's a little like having my own private beach. I sat on a piece of driftwood and inhaled the salty air, trying to calm my racing heart. I was so angry at myself for screwing up the conversation with Mom. In a single day, our entire family had changed.

I walked back to the house the long way, not up the main road, but in the greenbelt between the houses that Addie and I called the Forgotten Woods. When we were little we’d played in there for hours building forts, and biking over the bumpy trails. It’d been a while since I’d walked beneath the canopy of trees with nothing to worry about but coming home before sunset. Those were the days before boyfriends and lies.

One week before, my only problem had been a broken heart. A beautifully uncomplicated and non-scary broken heart. I was shocked to realize I was nostalgic for that feeling.

I reached the edge of the woods and stared at our house. I needed to make a decision. I'd asked Mom for permission to see RD and she'd said "no." Which meant if I wanted to see RD, it would be in secret. Seeing RD meant I would have to lie.

RD called me a few days later after dinner. The moment I heard his voice I knew what I was going to do.

"You got some time tonight?" he asked. I could hear halyards in the background and imagined him walking up and down the dock, the sound of the waves softly lapping against the pilings.

"Yes,” I said, stepping into the dining room and walking toward the window. Mom, Aunt Lucy and Addie were in the kitchen behind me. I heard Addie's steady chatter and the sound of water running as Aunt Lucy rinsed dishes. We'd just finished clearing the table and Addie wanted to make ice cream sundaes for dessert.

"Great." I could hear the smile in his voice. "I need to head to the mainland this weekend and I thought it would be good to do some work on the back railing before I take off."

"Yeah, I can be there in, like, thirty minutes," I said, chewing on my finger.

"Awesome."

RD hung up and I stood at the window, staring outside. How was I going to get out of the house?

In the kitchen, Addie sat at the counter with a bowl of chocolate ice cream in front of her. She had a dish of strawberries, a can of whipped cream, cookies and gummy bears on the counter, as well. Aunt Lucy sat beside her, placing the gummy bears on the ice cream as if she were decorating a cake.

"We'll call it 'gummy mountain,'" Aunt Lucy said, as Mom watched, smiling. She stood with her back to the sink. The whole scene made me want to scream. Addie was never allowed to make monster desserts like that before. I felt like it was another sign that Mom wasn't Mom. I wanted to run out the front door.

"You okay, Cass?" Mom asked. "You look sick." She must have misinterpreted my expression and, suddenly, Mom herself was the one who opened my escape hatch.

"Yeah, I think I'm coming down with something."

"No dessert?" Aunt Lucy said, squirting enough whipped cream on "gummy mountain" to smother the poor bears.

"No. I think I need sleep. It's been a long week." I looked directly at Mom. I knew she couldn't push me too hard after the last few days.

"Wanna stay up and watch a movie with me?" Addie interrupted.

"I'm too tired, Addie."

"But it's a really good one, Cassie. It's that western vampire movie."

I shot a look at Mom. "I thought Mom said you couldn't watch that one because it's super violent?" Coco Puffs, chocolate ice cream, vampire westerns. I may have been plotting my escape out of the house, but I could still be annoyed by my sister's new privileges.

Mom shrugged. "It's just a movie, Cass."

"Right, just a movie," I sighed.

Mom grabbed my hand as I walked away. "Cassandra, you rest. I love you, darling."

I almost felt guilty. Almost.

I went upstairs and I waited. I lay down on my big purple quilt, the one Mom had made for me when I was in first grade, and I stared at the ceiling above my bed. I listened until I heard the sound of dishes in the kitchen stop and the hum of the television. Addie's vampire cowboy movie was good and noisy. It was much less likely anyone would hear me leave. Then I lifted the window next to my bed, and climbed outside onto the roof scooting toward the fireplace. My tennis shoes gripping the cracks in the uneven bricks, I slithered down the side of the house. I'd been doing this since I was ten, but usually I was going to meet Priya at the dock, not run to the harbor to meet a guy I barely knew. I never even stopped to consider that maybe I was making a mistake.

I hit the ground and ran. In ten minutes I'd be at the marina and, with any luck, no one would even know I was gone. I didn't want to be caught, I didn't intend to be caught but, as mom always said, the road to hell is paved with good intentions.

In the marina parking lot, I saw RD's car parked by the gate. Bill had strung colored lights through the fence making it look like Christmas in summertime. I opened the gate and headed toward Kismet. The smell of salt water and fresh cut grass filled the air. The clanking halyards and the soft lapping of the waves on the sides of the boats seemed too peaceful, a calm before a storm. Ahead of me on the dock, RD had set up a work light so he could see Kismet at night. Suddenly, I wondered how long RD wanted to work on the boat. I hadn't asked any questions and I knew the longer I was out of the house, the more likely it was I would get caught. Maybe I wasn't cut out for this. I thought about calling RD and telling him I couldn’t work when I turned and ran right into him.

"What's up, stranger?" He smiled and laughed. "You have awesome timing."

"I do?" Heart pounding and smile shaking, I managed to answer.

"Yeah, otherwise I would have to explain to myself why I just drove to Safeway and bought these all for myself." He held up a bag of marshmallows. "I'm too tired to work. I was going to call you and cancel."

"That's okay. I can go," I said, halfway between relieved and disappointed.

"Don't be stupid," he said. "Wanna roast marshmallows?"

I had an "out," a way to go back home without disappointing RD, but I already felt better just seeing him. I wanted to sit with him by a fire. I wanted to be anywhere but back in my house. "Yeah, I love marshmallows."

RD had a small red barbeque attached to the back rail of the boat. I sat on the bench, hugging my bandaged knees as he poured lighter fluid on the coals. The smell of fuel was thick in the air.

"So, when I was a kid," he said, stirring the red coals, "I loved roasting these things. My Dad was not as into it but for me, I didn't think summer started until we roasted marshmallows. So, let’s say hello to summer.” He grinned. “How was your Aunt Lucy?" He handed me a stick and placed the marshmallow bag on the bench beside me.

"She's okay."

"Is she going to live with you, help you with your mom?" We both scooted closer to the barbeque. The sky had turned dark. Stars glittered overhead as I slowly rotated my marshmallow, trying to keep it an even gold without setting it on fire.

"I guess," I said, adding under my breath, "I don't even know her. She wasn't around when I was growing up."