The Boat (17 page)

“Yeah, he was always joking. Everyone loved him for it.”

“Especially you.”

“Especially me, yes.”

Bonnie patted Maggie’s hand. “I lucked out. Got to keep my Randy. If I hadn’t, well…I don’t know what I’d have done. None of the kids showed up, you see, and…” Bonnie smiled, but her eyes shone with unshed tears. “I think I may have lost them all. I told you that already, didn’t I?”

Maggie nodded but then reached for Bonnie’s hand. “You can tell me again, I don’t mind.”

“No. It only does me so much good to cry…then it just gives me a headache.” She sipped from her water. “Who was it on the walkie-talkie? No trouble at
Flyboy
or
Big Daddy
, I hope.”

“No, nothing like that. Not as far as I could tell, anyway. Seems someone from
Flyboy
wants to come bunk with us on ThreeBees.”

“You’re kidding me. Why would someone want that?”

Maggie laughed. “Gosh, Bonnie…you got something against us?”

“No, honey, you know what I mean.” Bonnie smiled warmly. “I wouldn’t trade it for any of the others, you know that!”

“I feel the same,” Maggie said. “I think someone from
Flyboy
has…uh…hooked up and needs a little private space and we have that spare room, now, especially if Brian stays where he is.”

Maggie and Bonnie both glanced at Brian asleep on the far side of the salon.

“Word traveled kind of fast about the room, didn’t it? And what if Jade is okay? Where are we going to put her?”

Maggie nodded. “Yes, I know…I told them it was complicated. I didn’t want to say too much over the walkie-talkie, though. We still haven’t told Adam about Singer and Jade.”

“Oh, he’s not the boss of us, anyway. That prick.” Bonnie clapped a hand over her mouth, her eyes round with shocked surprise at her own words. “Goodness!” she said through her fingers.

Maggie laughed. “You’re right, though! He is a–”

“Maggie!” Steve’s voice filtered in through the salon, past the still sleeping Brian and into the galley. “Come quick!”

Maggie scooted past Bonnie and ran out the glass doors.

Steve was standing at the very back, the shotgun raised to his shoulder.

“Steve?” Maggie said.

He glanced back at her.

“It’s Jade. She’s up. I’m not sure if…”

Maggie looked out across the water and Jade was standing in the small rowboat, her hands on her hips. She was just a dark silhouette.

“I saw what you were doing!” Her voice rang across the water, thin but accusatory, verging on hysteria. “You’re disgusting!”

Steve lowered the shotgun and Maggie’s face suffused with blood. She stepped away from Steve.

“You can’t leave me out here!” Jade’s voice was growing thinner, weaker.

“Jade, eat something!” Maggie’s voice was a harsh and carrying whisper. “We put food out there with you! You have to eat or–”

“Fuck your food! Fuck you for putting me out here while you–” Jade had raised her arm, no doubt giving them the finger, and the boat wobbled alarmingly. She dropped quickly to her knees, hissing out a breathy scream.

When they heard her again, her voice was choked with tears. It was too dark to see her face. “I’m going to jump in and swim over there. I’m going to…you can’t…can’t make me…stay out here by myself…I’m scared…please…” Her voice trailed away and they could hear her faint sobs. Then she disappeared entirely. She must have curled back up in the bottom of the rowboat. “Please…please…I want…” Her voice carried weakly over the water, barely audible.

Maggie’s face fell. Those were the very words she’d used with Steve when they’d made love. To hear them again, filled with so much pain…she was suddenly furious with herself. For not being careful, for not caring who…Christ, what if Babygirl had come out, and…she was an idiot! So thoughtless! She’d never forgive herself for what she had done.

“Jade?” Maggie called across the water. “Please eat. And drink your water, all right? We’re right here. We’re not going anywhere and
nothing
has changed.” In her peripheral vision, Steve’s face turned to hers, but she didn’t look at him. Didn’t acknowledge him. “As soon as we’re sure, we’ll bring you back. Jade? Do you hear me?”

Jade’s thin arm, almost invisible, ascended from the rowboat and waved tiredly. “Okay,” she said, and the two syllables rode plaintively across the waves.

Maggie dropped her head into her hands and stood motionless. Steve reached to put an arm around her and she stepped away. “No,” she said and seeing the startled vulnerability in his face, she said, “I’m sorry. But it’s not…it isn’t right. There’s too much at stake.”

“Maggie, there’s nothing at stake. You’re just using this as an excuse! We don’t have anything to lose by–”

She held up her hand, palm out. “No…I can’t. I can’t do this. I have to…”

“You have to what? What? You don’t have to do anything! You don’t–”

“I have responsibilities! I can’t just take up with you!”

“Nothing you need to be responsible for means that we can’t be together, too.” He grabbed her arms. “We’ll be responsible together. We’ll work together. Me and you.”

Maggie shook her head, eyes closed. She wouldn’t say anything more.

Eventually, Steve dropped his hands from her arms, turning her loose.

~ ~ ~

Early on the morning of August 10
, Sami stood on the back deck of ThreeBees, looking out to the rowboat.

“How long?”

“We put here out there yesterday morning. We didn’t know what else to do.” Maggie’s voice was flat and worn.

Sami turned to glance at her. “It is difficult, but I am thinking you did the right thing. Did she have any symptoms?”

“No, Doctor, but Singer, her brother…he was symptomatic. He’d been bitten on the leg…a five-inch laceration, at least. Teeth marks, signs of bruising trauma.” It was easy for Maggie to fall back into a doctor/nurse relationship. It helped straighten out her disjointed feelings.

“And they were on the rowboat together?”

“Not at first. She swam out to him later that day.”

Sami shrugged. “We can’t judge it, can we?” His voice was sad but resigned.

“No, we can’t,” she said. She liked Dr. Rafiq. He was calm and courteous, if slightly too mild-mannered, too meek in his demeanor. The other doctors must have ridden all over him.

“I wanted to ask Steve something…is he here?”

Maggie dropped her eyes. “No. He left early this morning, before dawn. He needed to get back to
Big Daddy
.”

“You don’t have enough people here to stand watch?” It was both a question and a statement and Maggie didn’t know how to respond, so she shrugged. “Would it help if Candy and I came to ThreeBees?” Dr. Rafiq said. “We need a place where we can…be together. We’d like very much to join you here.”

“I’m not sure what to do with Jade if she is okay; if she doesn’t have the sickness. There’s a good chance that she doesn’t. This is really only a precaution.”

“Might it not be better for her, and for you, if she moved to
Flyboy
after all this is over?”

“No! That wouldn’t be for the better!” She tried to swallow the defensiveness she felt, but it came out in her tone, anyway.

Sami looked at her. “There might be some…resentment? When you bring her back in?” he suggested delicately. He could see that Maggie took it personally; most likely she had put this girl’s welfare on herself; good nurses did that. “And she might want a change of scenery. A wider selection of people might be a good thing for a young woman.”

Maggie had opened her mouth to protest but she closed it with a snap. There was more to Dr. Rafiq than met the eye, it seemed.

“Maggie!” Babygirl’s voice peeped from behind them and Maggie turned, expecting to see Babygirl running to her, arms wide to be swung into the air. But she rode astride Candy’s hip and seeing them together, Maggie’s heart stuttered in her chest. They could be mother and daughter. “Maggie, I love Candy!” Babygirl said and laughed delightedly at her own joke, hugging Candy around the neck. Their blonde heads looked like a matched set.

“Well, I love you, too, Babygirl,” Candy said and hugged her tighter.

Babygirl leaned back and ran her hand over Candy’s hair. “Like mommy…just like mommy,” she said, her voice tiny but filled nevertheless with awe. Her hand shook.

“Your mommy had blonde hair, sweetheart?” Candy asked, her voice gentle.

“Before she did. But then it wasn’t anymore.” Babygirl’s eyes had gone round, almost dazed. She started to slide from Candy’s arms, but Candy held her tighter.

“Sami! Help me!” Candy called, alarmed by the girl’s relaxing weight.

“I can’t help you, mommy,” Babygirl said, her eyelids fluttering alarmingly.

“Babygirl! Sweetheart, what is it?” Candy shook her gently, but Babygirl’s eyes began to roll back into her head. Candy lowered her to the deck. “Babygirl? Babygirl?”

“That’s not…not my name…” Babygirl said, her eyes closing.

“What is your name? Stay awake, honey, and tell me your name!” All three adults huddled over the little girl. Sami lifted her eyelid to check her pupils and Maggie felt for her pulse.

Babygirl felt them and didn’t feel them, both at the same time. It seemed as though she’d floated up and away from her own body. On the deck, the lying down Babygirl’s lips pursed and she sighed. “Samantha…”

Standing to the side, Samantha looked at herself under the grownups and then she leaned in, looking at Sami but whispering in Candy’s ear…
my mommy calls me Sammy
…

~ ~ ~

“Sammy! It’s time to go, sweetheart!”

Samantha appeared at her bedroom doorway and jittered in an excited circle, her party dress ruffling out. “Time to go! Time to go!” she said, singing the words, peeping like a little sparrow.

Her mom laughed. “Come on, Sammy, you don’t want to be late, do you?”

“No! No! No!” Samantha sang and hopped foot to foot down the hall.

Her last hop brought her to her mother and she stopped and looked up, grinning.

“What day is today, Sammy?” her mommy asked, smiling.

“June SEVEN! June SEVEN!” Samantha hopped up each time, raising her arms excitedly.

“Aaaaaand…what happens on June seven, Sammygirl?”

“BIRTHday! BIRTHday! TODAY is my BIRTHday! Yay! Yay! Yay!” Samantha collapsed in a fit of giggles as Mommy reached down to tickle her.

“That’s right my ladybug, my ladyfair…and we are going to party like it’s–”

All at once, her mom wasn’t tickling her anymore. She looked up. Mommy was leaning against the hallway wall, her hand to her head.

“Mommy!” Sammy cried with alarm, scrambling to her feet. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, Sammy, just a headache. I think I’m getting a cold, can you believe it? In the summer? Who
does
that?” She smiled, but a wince stayed in her eyes.

“Silly mommies do that,” Sammy said, but her heart wasn’t in it. She’d seen the look on Mommy’s face and it had not been a funny face look at all.

“Silly mommies, that’s right, ladybug,” she said and took Samantha’s hand in hers. “Ready to hit it?”

“Ready, Mommy,” Samantha said and her mom smiled at her. Then she coughed. A lot of coughing. Then she was bent over with it and still she kept coughing. Samantha patted her mommy on the back, first very gentle and then harder, smacking Mommy’s back.

“Ow, Sammy, ow, okay, thank you, but I’m okay now.” She grabbed Samantha’s hand again. “Oh boy, now we’re really late. Daddy will be maddy.”

Samantha snorted out a laugh at the rhyme, following Mommy to the car. Their car was beat the hell up…that’s what Daddy said. Mommy said that wasn’t nice to say and they’d have a better car someday. When she was done school. Samantha thought it was funny that her mommy went to school. Just like a kid. But Mommy’s school was different, it was to do x-rays and see inside people for cancer or babies.

They drove away and Samantha waved to the trailer. “Bye-bye house, see you when I see you. Windows down, Mommy?”

It was hot and humid. Samantha could smell the ocean. Low tide. Daddy said you could always smell low tide.

“Windows down, Sammy,” Mommy said and hit the buttons for all the windows except for Samantha’s. Sammy liked to do her own button. They drove past their sign–Tuckerton Family Trailer Park–and bumped onto the highway to town.

“Where is everybody, Mommy?”

Normally, there would be a least a few people out on a nice day like today. The Kellermans liked to sit outside and watch birds and the Lehman sisters were always in their little kitchen garden, puttering around, as they called it. The park seemed empty.

But her mommy was distracted, looking from the road to the little flip cell-phone in her hand. “I don’t know, sweets. Eating lunch, I guess. Now why can’t I make a call? I have a signal.” She mashed a few more buttons and then tossed the phone into the open purse at Samantha’s feet. “Grab that if it rings, Sammy; it’ll be your daddy.” She glanced at Samantha and smiled. “You excited for your party?”

Samantha smiled and nodded, and she
had
been excited, back at the house she had been…but she wasn’t as much, now. Something was wrong and not just Mommy’s cold. Something was wrong with the trailer park, the highway, maybe everything…her tummy was clenching up like it did sometimes right before her parents had a fight or Mrs. Rafern came out and yelled at her for no reason (Mommy said Mrs. Rafern had old times disease and that made her ‘difficult to deal with’, but Samantha just knew she was a terrifying old lady).

They pulled into the parking lot of a strip mall five stores wide. Heads Up Hairstyling, Tuckerton Five and Dime, Tuckerton’s Pizza, Dollar (S)Mart, and The Pet Palace. They were meeting Daddy and three friends from her class and their mommies. She was lucky that school was closed for teacher in-service day on her birthday. Otherwise, they would have had to wait until the weekend. Four was too many days to wait.

Samantha flew from the car as soon as it came to a stop. She danced around to her mother’s side, excited to get into Tuckerton’s Pizza and claim her gifts.

Mommy had leaned forward, her head against the steering wheel. Samantha opened the door. “Mommy?”