Cry Me a River PG-13 Edition (11 page)

Damn, I don’t mean that…actually, I like going.  River and the people
from the meetings have shown me that there are people everywhere dealing with heavy shit.  Last night, the group noticed River and I arriving together.  They were like high school kids wanting the scoop on our relationship and about the fire. 

I grab my shorts out of the dryer and throw them on
, being careful not to burn my fingers on the metal zipper.  I leave on the green Polo I’ve worn all day and trade my Tom’s for a pair of Rainbows flip-flops.  My mom brought over a box of steaks and a bottle of cologne she bought for my dad but he hated it.  I don’t remember him ever wearing cologne.  I splash some on before I walk out the door.

Garrett’s outside on the phone, I signal for him that I’m walking over to the beach.  I don’t want everyone to know who he is, so he’s dressed similar to how I am.  I’d be called a
wimp for sure, if they knew he’s my bodyguard. 

He hangs up and rushes over to help with the cooler.

“Do you do this every weekend?”  Garrett asks as he takes one of the handles.

“Pretty much.”

“You live the life Caide, I envy you.  You’re pretty cool though, you’re not an ass like so many rich kids are.  I guessed you to be in your mid to late twenties by how mature you are compared to some of our clients.”  His phone buzzes but he doesn’t answer it.  “Some people might recognize me as a cop, I hope that doesn’t cause you any trouble.”

I shake my head back and forth. “
A couple of cops party with us, so it won’t be conspicuous for you to be with me.  The guys that party with us are drug free, but I can’t say the same for the tourists.  You never know who you’re really dealing with when it comes to people headed to the beach for vacation.”

“Don’t worry, I won’t bust anyone for weed or anything like that, but I wouldn’t suggest handing drinks to under
-aged kids.  You don’t want that kind of trouble.” 

“We run off the under-aged kids when we spot them.  Some of the people are hard to tell though.  Chicks can be especially hard to
figure out if they’re legal.  Nothing like going to bed with someone who tells you they’re twenty-one and wake up with their confession of being seventeen.”

“No shit!” 
Garrett laughs to himself. 

It isn’t long before the party gets lively and the parents usher their kids off the beach.  I introduce
Garrett to Stewart and the regular crowd.  Stew gives me a hard time about being whipped and not coming out to play since I started playing with River. 

The beach DJ this weeke
nd is known for his beach music and getting the party started.  A few girls are twirling around and drinking beers.  The DJ is talking to the crowd in a Jamaican accent, which I’m not sure if it’s real or not.

“Where’s Double D, Stew?”  I ask.

“She’s back in Texas, she left on Wednesday.  Turns out she has three kids and a not so ex-husband,” he holds his beer out for me to clink with mine.

“Dude, that’s
horrible.”  It’s obvious he’s more upset about the husband thing than usual.  He’s been trying to go a summer without doing another man’s wife.  I don’t believe he’s ever done it intentionally, but he’s lied to about husbands on a regular basis.  It’s one of those problems that goes along with tourists…they don’t like to tell you about their real life.  If we believed everyone who came around, we’d have had sex with Kate Middleton’s cousin, Oprah’s maid, and Bret Michael’s sister.

My flask is cool in my hand as I raise it to my lips.  The whiskey
lends the familiar burn down my throat, reminding me of the night of Heather’s funeral.  I close my eyes and take another swig, only a longer one.

“Caide Palmer
, the sexiest chef on the island,” says a cute little red-headed vixen.  “Where have you been hiding?  My friends told me if I came out here often enough, I’d find you here.  And guess what!  You’re here!”

Garrett looks at me with a puzzled look, and I shrug my shoulders in reply.

“Oh honey, you are so hot in person.  Everyone back home will shit their pants when I tell them I partied with you on the beach.  Can I get a selfie with you?”  The red-head asks.

“Selfie?”  Garrett and I say in unison.

Red-head has a pair of cut-offs, cut off right under her ass cheeks and a blue and silver top tied in a bow between her boobs.  She reminds me of a Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader with her outfit and perky personality.  “Geez, you don’t know about selfies?  You know, when you hold the phone and take a self portrait?  Well sweetie, that’s a selfie.  So, can I get one with you, Caide?”

“I have a rule though.”

“You do?  What?”  She asks.

“No selfies with people that I don’t know their name,” I tease.

“Oh ha ha!  You’re so funny.  I’m Mira Libby, you know like Libby’s corn.  Remember those commercials?  Libby, Libby, Libby, on the label, label, label?  That’s my family.”

Wow, she should get off caffeine.  I have no idea what she’s talking about, but I don’t want her to explain it to me.  I’ll look it up on
YouTube if I remember.  “Nice to meet you Mira Libby…it is safe to do a selfie now,” I say sarcastically, but it’s wasted on her.

Mira
takes our picture about ten different ways.  She wanted us to do a silly face, a duck lip face… I didn’t even know ducks had lips.  Five of the pictures were deemed
not good enough.
  Thankfully, one of her friends came over and escorted her away.  All the while, Mira was crying out my name and saying how happy she was that she finally met me.

“Is everyone you come in contact with a psycho?”  Garrett asks as he finishes off his beer.  “You want one?”  He reaches in the ice-chest and pulls out two beers. 

“Pretty much.  Some weeks have more psychos than others.  This week is quickly becoming the all-star psycho week.”

An hour later, I’ve finished off the whiskey in my flask and replaced it with trashcan punch.  The beers running low in the ice-chest, but I’m done with beer for the night.  I’ll be up pissing all night if I have any more.

Everyone’s hooking up with someone or too drunk to care.  I’m pretty close to being too drunk to care, when a sassy blonde I met earlier this summer comes walking over to me.  She’s trash talking about some girl and drinking punch from a red Dixie cup.  She stumbles a little and I steady her by putting my arm around her to stop her from falling over, but I lose my own balance.  We crash to the ground, me on top and she’s on her back.  I look down to ask if she’s okay and she puts her arms around my head and pulls my mouth to hers. I pull back, rejecting her advance in time to look up to River watching me with shock across her face.

I scramble to my feet.  “River!  Stop!”  I race after her. 

She turns around, coming to a complete halt, glaring at me with venom.  “I knew you were a man-whore!  I can’t believe I’m gone less than 24 hours and you’re already figuring out who you’re going to bed tonight.  I’m so glad I didn’t have sex with you!”

“It isn’t like that River, I swear!”  I try to take her hand but she pulls it away.

“Don’t touch me,” she growls.  “I’m finished with you!  I’m packing my stuff and I’m leaving.  Tell your little groupie that your bed is empty and you can finish where you left off.”

“River, stop…please,” I plead.

“I’m so stupid!  I was falling for you!  You asshole!  Ughh!”

Garrett comes up from behind me.

“Caide, let her go…. You should talk to her when you’re sober.  Jed will make sure she’s okay.”  Garrett says as we both stand and watch River storm away with Jed close at her heels.

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Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there,

Wondering, fearing,

Doubtin, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dreamed before.

Edgar Allan Poe

SATURDAY MORNING - CAIDE

My parents live in Pine Knoll Shores, in a pretentious neighborhood with a gated entrance and homeowner association dues.  Mom has been sick for a week, but insists she’s feeling better.  She invited River and I over for dinner, I haven’t had the balls to tell her River hasn’t talked to me in a week.  Wednesday, I expected to see her and her friend Ryan at the taping but I didn’t.  I don’t know if Ryan was there or not, I’ve never met him so I don’t know.  She hasn’t replied to the messages I’ve left for her.  To avoid any tension in the meetings, I’ve been going to earlier sessions. This girl has weaseled into all of my thoughts. 

Instead of her sexy body and sexy voice, I have
Garrett. 

“Hey mom, this is Garrett, the guy who’s
babysitting me until an arrest is made.”

Mom is fifty-one and an avid tennis player.  She tells me it is the best aggression therapy towards rude customers.  I’ve always been close to both of my parents.
  “Hi Garrett, I’m Lucinda and my husband Tim will be in here in a moment.”

“Nice to meet you ma’am,” Garrett
says and holds his hand out to her.

Her tan hand grasps his
with both of hers and shakes.  “Where’s River this evening, I was looking forward to meeting her.”

“Long story and one I’m not ready to
tell just yet.  Does dad need any help in the kitchen?”  We walk through the magazine-ready house to the family room.  The high-tech sunroom was added on after I bought the beach house.  The room overlooks the landscaped backyard.  There’s a manmade river around the garden, with a waterfall and beautiful Koi Fish pond.  Mom’s proud of the gorgeous yard.  Recently, she’s opened it to a photographer who does bridal portraits in the yard. 

“Caide, you know your dad, he can handle the kitchen alone.  Would you like a cocktail, Garrett?”

“No ma’am, but I could go for a glass of sweet tea.”

“Perfect, but if you change your mind, I’m a pretty good bartender,” Mom smiles at him.  “Caide, are you drinking today?”

“I’ll have a glass of tea too.  Garrett doesn’t drink much while on duty; he wants to be in control if something happens.”

Garrett’s a quiet guy, but I bet he has a wild side to him.  He smiles a lot, as though he has an inside joke about everything in life.  He never talks about his personal life but he will talk about things that have happened on the police force. 
His brother is more outgoing, but I like Garrett’s demeanor.

Garrett’s tone for a text message suddenly chimes.  He looks at the text and turns the phone to me to read.

TURN ON CHANNEL TWELVE - A PRESS CONFERENCE IS ABOUT TO START. THERE IS AN INDICTMENT OF A SUSPECT.

He shrugs his shoulders as I look up from his phone.

“Mom, can you turn the TV to channel twelve?”

Police Chief
Davis is standing at a podium outside the police department and the camera pans out to show the reporters with their pens and paper in hand. 

Good afternoon, thank you for coming.  I have a statement prepared and will not be taking any questions since this is an open case.  Earlier this morning
, there was an arrest made in the Apple Sacks fire.  We’ve arrested Jacob Stringer for the harassment of local business owner River Murphy.  We do have Mr. Stringer in our custody and will be questioning him regarding the charges.  It is believed he was not acting alone and there are at least two more people involved.  That is all we’re going to say, thank you. If you have any information regarding the arson to Apple Sacks, please contact Crime Stoppers. Media, remember, this is an open case under investigation.  No further information.  Thank you.

Who the hell is Jacob?  Her date was
Lance; we gave the police the pills I got from Lance.  I take my phone out and call River, on the fourth ring I almost hang up when I hear her voice on the other end.

“River, are you okay?”

“I’m fine; I guess you just saw the news conference.  Of course you did, you have Garrett with you,” her sarcasm is foreign to my ears.

“I didn’t mean to piss you off by calling, I care about you River.”  And there it is….my inner-
wimp has surfaced.  “Do you know this Jacob guy?”

“You know, that’s the hard part for me…you told me it was Lance who drugged me but this is someone totally different.  Explain
it to me….for all I know you know this Jacob character.  I’m just a girl you decided was a challenge to get into your bed so you pulled this big charade.”

I go to one of the guest bedrooms.  “What?  You think I tricked you to get you in bed?  Do I need to remind you that I’m the one who put a halt to us
having sex?  I can’t believe you suspect I’d do something like that.  I know you don’t believe it, because if you did, you’d have the cops all over me.  Sorry little lady, but I don’t have time to be involved in someone’s else’s drama.  Why would I decide I needed the drama that surrounds you?  Get a grip on yourself.”  Pissed off doesn’t begin to describe how I feel. 

“Caide,
I don’t mean to be angry, but I barely knew you when I saw you at the club.  Don’t you think it would be foolish of me to just accept your story without questioning the details?  My life was normal until you walked into my session, now everything is lost…” A sob escapes her and her voice cracks.  “I’m sorry… that was wrong for me to say….this is all too much.”

I want nothing more than to pull her in and wrap my arms around her.
  “River, I wasn’t with that girl on the beach…not even close to being with her.  I know how it must have looked, but I don’t cheat when I’m in a relationship.”  We hadn’t talked about being in a relationship, but I think it was implied.

“You thought we were in a relationship?”  Her voice goes up an octave as she talks.

“Yeah, I want a relationship with you.  I don’t want you mad at me River.”

“Caide Palmer, I know about the girl and the beach…Garrett called me this morning and told me what happened.  That’s why I answered your call.”

“I have to go to my office tonight to make sure I have everything I need for my segment…you want to come up there and help me?”

“Do you forgive me for my outburst?”  Her voice sounds so small, it grips my heart and squeezes.

“River, don’t worry about it, you’ve had your world flipped upside down.  Come over to my office at six.”

“I’ll see you at six.”

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