Return to Sullivans Island (9 page)

“Why do you always bring up the nice things about that son of a bitch?” Henry said.

“Because I spent twenty years in therapy to earn the right to forgive him. Move on, Henry. Hatred is a cancer, you know.”

“Oh, up yours, Freud. It is my childlike hatred of that masochistic bastard that springboarded me to all I am today.”

“I’m gagging over here,” Susan said.

“Me too,” Timmy said. “Anyway, Beth, in those days, the island was divided into territories. All us Catholic kids owned this end of the island. If any of the Protestant kids came down here on their bikes, we would chase them off. We had guards on every corner and our war plans were very elaborate, given our resources.”

“We would engage after supper and before dark,” Henry said.

“Did you have actual fights? Like hitting each other?”

“Uh, yeah. We kicked their bony little asses all the time,” Henry said, and flexed his muscles.

“That’s absolutely true,” Timmy said, and high-fived Henry.

Maggie said, “So why don’t one of you big muchachos tell your niece what happened when you went into their territory?”

“That? Well, basically, they kicked ours,” Henry said.

“Yep. They killed us all the time.”

“Sounds stupid to me,” Beth said. “My mother would’ve put me on restriction for a year if I did anything like that.”

“Sure would have,” Susan said.

“As well she should have,” Maggie said. “Ladies of this family do not involve themselves in street fights.”

The Christmas lights twinkled in the landscape, the last remaining evidence that something festive had taken place that evening. The dunes stood in their snowy mounds, festooned with goldenrod and clumps of beach grass that waved in the breeze. The ocean murmured as the incoming tide gently lapped against the shore. And the beams from the lighthouse washed everything before them in steady intervals of gossamer light. They rocked quietly until Simon spoke.

“What a great party, Maggie. Thanks for everything. You sure gave Susan one helluva bon voyage.”

“Amazing weekend,” Susan said.

“Yes, it was lovely,” Teensy said, drawling on
luuuvley
.

“Shucks, ’twern’t nothing,” Maggie said in her best hillbilly accent, slipping it a little to Teensy.

“Right,” Henry said, and laughed. “Just your basic royal wedding. No big deal.”

Timmy and Grant said a few things about the antics of their sons and Susan threw in, “They’re just boys.”

Exhaustion was hiding in the shadows, preparing to claim them for the night as the older members of the family fell silent again.

“Somebody’s gonna be smelling croissants and chocolate in two days,” Beth said. “You getting excited? I know I’m getting excited for you. Ooh la la!”

Everyone was keenly aware that Beth felt great distress over having her feet nailed to the floor for the forthcoming year. But when she expressed her support and indeed delight for her mother’s adventure, you could hear a collective sigh of relief. Even in the dark, Beth could feel their unanimous approval and it felt really good. She felt like an adult then. Did the converse hold true? At that moment the world came together for Beth. She had been disagreeable, even belligerent, she had been a burden at times and a renegade too many others. She had fought battles unworthy of the effort they took, and so many times had looked at the world only through her eyes. But not that night. This was what acting as a family felt like and it was a wonderful thing. Now she understood the old saying
We all rise together
. And she had a better handle on her aunts and uncles than ever before.

One by one, they left the porch, thanking Maggie and Susan for all of their hospitality, until only Susan and Beth remained.

“Great jumping jelly beans!” Susan said with a sigh. “In the blink of an eye, I’m going to be speaking really lousy French and dealing with students.”

Beth giggled at her mother’s exclamation, which was so lame it was funny. But Susan had always used juvenile expressions for as long as Beth could remember. “You’ll be brilliant, Mom. Don’t give it a second of stress.”

“I’m not so sure. Anyway, I taped my email address to the refrigerator with all the emergency contact numbers, you know, in case something happens.”

“Good thinking, after all, Sullivans Island is known for being a wild and crazy town.”

“Listen, miss, things have changed around here. This ain’t the sleepy island we knew ten years ago.”

“Yeah, sure. But I did see that Bert’s was closed and that whole scene at Poe’s is pretty insane. What happened to Bert’s? They made the best burgers.”

“They sure did. That’s the end of an era for sure. I guess it depends on who’s talking. One story is that the people who own the building were raising the rent so high that the people who ran Bert’s couldn’t afford it. The other story is that the reason they couldn’t afford the increase in rent is due to the smoking ban. The smoking ban killed their business.”

“Who smokes? Like two people? That’s ridiculous.”

“Yeah, I’m with you. As a former smoker, I’m sympathetic, but if I didn’t want to be around smoke I would just go somewhere else. So maybe they did lose some customers. But truth be told, I’ve been in there when it was rocking and rolling and I don’t remember anyone smoking at all. Mostly they went outside, at least I think so. Must be the rent hike.”

“Must be.”

“So? You okay, Doodle?”

Beth smiled all over. For all of her insistence that she was fully matured, she adored being called by the childhood nickname only her mother used. “Sure. What do you mean?”

“I mean, are you okay with me leaving and you staying here?”

“Yes ma’am, I am. And I’ll tell you why. Reason number one: I’ve been in school since I got out of diapers and this is the first real break I’ve ever had. It’s probably healthy to take a sabbatical, right? I intend to use the year to get in really great shape and to think my thoughts about everything. And the other reason is that this is something you have wanted to do since like forever. The idea that I can help my mom on something this big is, well, huge. So don’t worry about a thing. I’ll have it all under control. Me and Cecily, that is.”

“Cecily and I,” Susan said, gently correcting her grammar. “She’s a good egg. A little spooky, but then she’s got Livvie’s blood in her veins.”

“She doesn’t scare me. I already love her to pieces.”

Susan smiled at that, thinking that inside of the few days since her pseudo-Bostonian daughter had returned with blazing red hair and a blazing attitude to match, she was softened all around her urban edges and had fallen back into using expressions like
love her to pieces
.

Susan reached over to hold Beth’s hand.

“That’s good, Doodle, just watch yourself, okay?”

“Please. Don’t worry about me. I can handle this. No problemo.”

4

Alone at Last

S
UNDAY MORNING THE
grand exodus began. Moody, moaning teenagers were told to gather their belongings, dozens of pancakes and Krispy Kreme donuts were consumed, cars were packed, and the splinter tribes of the Hamilton clan slowly prepared to return to their various corners of the globe. For some annoying matriarchal reason Maggie felt compelled to give a loud and public lecture to Beth on house rules, which of course incited convulsions of snickers among the younger generation.

“Now, be sure to check the stove twice before you go to bed.”

“Twice?”

“Yes. Twice. I always do and so does your mother.”

“Um, okay.” Beth cut her eyes to Mike and Bucky, who made such faces at Beth that she had to bite the insides of her cheeks to keep from bursting out laughing.

“Keep the screen doors locked at all times, because you don’t want people just walking into the house and sticking a knife between your ribs.”

“Right,” Beth said, and gave the ceiling a sweeping glance, causing her to wonder if cobwebs were part of her job description or Cecily’s.

“Remember the sanitation engineer comes on Tuesdays and Fridays, and he comes early so it’s best to put the cans by the curb the night before. Be extra sure they are closed tightly or the raccoons will have a party.”

“Raccoons?” Sanitation engineer?

“Yes, raccoons. They’re everywhere. Speaking of parties, please don’t have any wild parties, but if you want to have a few friends over, that’s fine, but please don’t let boys stay over, if you know what I mean, because people talk on this island…”

“What boys?” Beth said with a trace of self-defense in her voice. “Mike and Bucky?”

“Oh, for the holy love of Mary!” Susan said. “Will you please stop?”

“I know, I know. It’s just that this house has been in our family—”

Grant, who was refilling his coffee mug, took Maggie by the arm and led her from the room.

“Come, my darling Maggie, we have to go, and let’s not treat Beth like an imbecile.”

“Sorry, Beth,” Maggie said. “Grant? I didn’t mean—”

“She drives me out of my blooming mind,” Susan said, shaking her head. “Have you seen my handbag? I’m so unorganized this morning.”

Before Simon made his exit with Maggie and Grant, he kissed Susan on her mouth and down her neck with such slurping noises that everyone responded with a collective “Ew!”

“Just remember who you belong to,” he said to her. “Keep your bloomers on, you hear me?”

“Oh, Simon!” Susan said, with such a gooey look in her eyes that Beth blushed.

Beth was glad then that her room had not been next to theirs as she was absolutely positively certain that some rambunctious doing of the wild thing was responsible for the glow of her mother’s complexion that morning. She tried not to dwell on it and refocused her thoughts on other things, such as you could watch the entire Macy’s parade on Thanksgiving in less time than it was taking this gang to move along.

Timmy and his family departed without much fanfare, but with much backslapping and many hugs.

“Beth, here’s my cell number and Mary Jo’s. If you need a single thing, pick up the phone and call me, okay?”

“Thanks, Uncle Timmy. Y’all have a safe trip!”

“I put all our sheets and towels in the laundry room,” Aunt Mary Jo said. “And I started the sheets—”

“Oh! I suppose I should have done that too!” Aunt Teensy squeaked with a theatrical Betty Boop sigh that was so disingenuous Beth sighed back.

Beth said, “That’s okay. I’ll take care of it.” Aunt Teensy had not shown well over the weekend and was running a close second to Allison.

Susan’s departure was teary and emotional. She gave Beth one more hug, memorizing her face as though she might be seeing her for the last time in her life. But in her next breath, Susan gave Beth a modified Maggie message with fewer instructions and a more foreboding warning.

“Just be careful, Beth. I know you think—and I do too—that Sullivans Island is the safest place there is, or ever was, and you might be right, but that doesn’t mean terrible things don’t happen here too or that they couldn’t. Or might.”

“Oh, Momma. For somebody who makes their living with words, that was about the most jumbled-up—”

“I know, I know, but you know what I mean, right? Henry? Did we pick up my red canvas tote bag? I think it’s on the floor next to my bed.”

“It’s already in the car,” Henry said. “Let’s move it, sister.”

“I’m so excited I feel like I’m gonna throw up.”

“Gross, Mom.”

Susan was a bundle of nerves and Beth knew that the sooner her mother got on her way the happier she would be. She was driving to Atlanta with Henry and his family and flying to Paris that night.

“Love you, Mom! Just go have a ball and quit worrying!” Beth was standing by the kitchen door with Lola tucked in her arms. She had been carrying her all morning because with all the people shuffling about, she worried that Lola might get stepped on and squashed like a grape.

“Love you too, sweetheart, and your precious dog. Okay, that’s it. If I forgot anything, I’ll just buy it over there. They have stores in Paris, right?”

“Um, I think so.”

Henry blew the horn of his car with two short toots. Susan hugged Beth’s neck one truly last time, ruffled her granddog’s tiny head, inhaled and exhaled with enough gusto to shift the curtains, and hurried down the back steps.

“Whew! I thought they’d never get her to leave!” Sophie said. “If I was going to Paris for a year, I’d already be there!”

“For real,” Beth said.

Only Beth and Sophie remained. Sophie was lollygagging about, unenthusiastic about getting on the road in her rental car to drive to Columbia to meet her twin.

“I could stay here for a month,” Sophie said. “The breeze on that front porch is nothing but a drug.”

“Yeah, it is. I’d better go pick up all the newspapers before they blow over to Morris Island. I wish you would stay. Hey, how come you didn’t go with Uncle Timmy?”

“And be the seventh fanny in a hot SUV? Nah. I’m way too spoiled for that. Anyway, it would take him an hour just to find Allison and I knew he was antsy to get going. That reminds me, I need to MapQuest the directions. You got a laptop?”

“Yep, in my room. I can do it for you.”

“That would be great. Come on, I’ll give you a hand with the porch.”

The front porch, which had been straightened up over and over throughout the course of the weekend, was littered with newspapers, sandy flip-flops, coffee mugs, and a half dozen or so beach towels still damp from morning swims, hung haphazardly over the rails to dry.

“Gee whiz,” Beth said, “what a bunch of pigs. Ding-dong. The maid’s here.”

“I hear you. I’ll knock the sand out of these because otherwise it ruins the washer. Or, maybe I should wait until they’re dry. What do you think?”

“Leave ’em till they’re dry. If I total the washer and dryer, Aunt Maggie will get on a plane, come back here, and kill me.”

“Yeah, with her ESP, she probably already knows.” Sophie giggled. “Listen to me, Maggie was Born to Mother. When I was a kid, Maggie was all over us, wiping our faces every two minutes like a crew from
60 Minutes
was dropping by to document what a bunch of filthy little Geechee brats we were.”

“I figure Aunt Maggie can’t help herself, that’s why I never get too upset with her. Here, Aunt Sophie, hand me those mugs and I’ll throw them in the dishwasher. And I always think it would have been more fun to be my mother’s sister than her daughter because then I wouldn’t be an only child. You know?”

Sophie was lining up the rocking chairs.

“And all I ever wanted was to be an only child! This porch could use a broom. How come we always want what we don’t have?”

“Good question. Forget the broom. Pray for a stiff wind or I’ll do it later.”

After Beth printed out the driving directions to Sophie’s destination in Columbia, Sophie brought her things to the kitchen, preparing, at last, to leave.

“Do you need anything for the road?”

Sophie opened the refrigerator and peered in at all the leftovers, wrapped in waxed paper and plastic bags.

“Maybe a bottle of water. What in the world are you going to do with all this food?”

“Dump it. When you leave I’m going on starvation. That’s the only diet that works.”

Sophie reached in her canvas tote bag and pulled out a handful of DVDs.

“Actually, it really doesn’t. Here you go! Stretch and workout with your aunties! But kiddo, you don’t need to lose any weight. You look gorgeous. However, exercise is good for your brains, you know.”

“Yeah. Metabolism. Endorphins. Tone. Fat-burning machine. I know, I know.”

“Ah! I see you’ve read the literature! And I bought this for you yesterday at Staples.”

Sophie handed her a shopping bag.

“What’s this?”

“It’s a journal, a dozen number two pencils, and a pencil sharpener.”

“Oh, that’s so sweet! Thanks, Aunt Sophie!” She hugged her aunt and gave her a kiss on the cheek. “You always think of everything!”

“I wish that was true! But you fill those up with all your thoughts and all the things that happen to you. Before you know it you’ll have enough material for a book. Anyway, sweetheart, I’d better get going. My crazy twin is probably marinating in a putrid mood.”

“Oh, I hate for you to leave! I never get to see you.”

“Are we pouting?”

“Yes. We’re pouting.”

“Tell you what. I’ve got some time at the end of September. Why don’t I fly in and take my favorite niece shopping for clothes or something, I don’t know, get our hair done? We can spend some time together and really get caught up.”

“I think your niece would love that. This hair has to go.”

“It’s a little wild. Interesting but wild.”

Sophie smiled at Beth. She wished then that she had married someone and had a girl like Beth to call her own. But that didn’t seem to be what the universe had planned for her.

“Okay, sweetheart, I’ll call you, okay?”

“Okay. Don’t worry. I’ll be fine.”

“Right now I wish there were two of you so I could take one with me.”

“Hmmm. Is that a twin thing? What if you put me in your pocket and I turned out to be like Aunt Allison?” Beth giggled and Sophie gasped in mock horror.

“Hush! You’d better keep that sharp tongue in your mouth!”

“I’m only kidding!”

“I know, baby. Keep yourself busy. Start writing that book.”

“Right! I’ll get right on that. Have a safe trip, okay?”

“And remember, if you need—”

“A thing? I’ll call you first!”

Beth stood at the top of the steps and watched until her aunt had backed out of the yard in her rental car and disappeared down the street. Earlier that day she couldn’t wait until everyone was gone and suddenly she felt herself slipping into loneliness, that awful pall of sadness that plagued her from time to time. Those feelings were sometimes so hopeless that she frightened herself. But she knew there was a kind of manic quality to her personality, and at the first signs of despair, she would do certain things to shake it off. Sometimes she would eat. For years she bit her fingernails. Later on as she learned more about the world and herself, she knew that by merely placing herself in the sun for an hour or so, she would feel a considerable improvement. And having Lola’s company had helped immensely.

She decided to take Lola for a walk to see what was going on in the neighborhood.

She hooked Lola’s leash to her collar and set out toward the western end of the island. Lola trotted along beside her, seemingly happy to finally be alone with Beth. She passed Stella Maris Church and kept to the left, continuing on Middle Street until she reached the old Hagerty property. What was this? It appeared that the five acres the Hagerty family had owned forever were being subdivided. What would become of their Fallout Shelter where she had played spin the bottle as a young girl just learning about the mysteries between the sexes, or the dilapidated train car that for some unknown reason had been sort of set up as an ersatz museum before she was born. That train car had seen a lot of beer cans and bongs in her teenage years. The stories about how they got it on the island in the first place were always a great topic of discussion among the boys she knew.

“In the middle of the night, they closed down the causeway to traffic and brought it over on a flatbed—”

“No way! It wouldn’t clear the bridge—”

“Y’all are crazy. They brought it on a barge and unloaded it right here!”

“Who cares?” the girls would say.

Beth looked around, swatting mosquitoes on her ankles and behind her knees, and on a disgruntled turn of her heel she walked toward the old house and looked over the harbor toward Fort Sumter. It was beautiful and awe-inspiring to think about the history of it, but Beth also realized she had been alone for a total of perhaps forty-five minutes and she was already bored out of her skull.

“Let’s go home, Lola, and figure out our lives.”

Later, when the washing machine was loaded with more sheets and humming away, Beth was sitting at the kitchen table putting together a résumé. There was a rap on the door. Beth looked up to see Cecily standing there in oversized sunglasses.

“Hey! I called the house but there was no answer.”

“Come on in,” Beth said. “You look like Hollywood in those glasses!”

“I know it, right? And you’d better start wearing them or you’re gonna have cataracts by Christmas with those pale eyes of yours. Humph. So? Everyone gone?”

Cecily removed her sunglasses, wiped them with a soft cloth, and put them in their case. The fact that she cleaned them and put them in a case instead of just tossing them in her handbag greatly impressed Beth, who had never used an eyeglass case in her life.

“You’re probably right. Yep, they’re all gone. Sure is quiet around here.”

“Well, I brought you some tomatoes from Johns Island and I thought you might need some help with cleaning up.”

“Thanks!” Beth put her nose in the brown paper bag and inhaled the perfume. “Man. Wow. Know what? I had forgotten about Johns Island tomatoes. How could I forget about something so powerful?”