Seeing Red

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Twelve Years Ago…

T
here was nothing good about running laps, except for maybe the view of the guys in nylon shorts ahead of her. Actually, she liked the ocean air in her hair and face as much as the cute butts, but today Summer Abrams’s thoughts were occupied elsewhere altogether. She was fantasizing about Kilimanjaro, Rio, the Amazon…all the places her bohemian father had taken her on his research travels over the years. Summer lived for those trips. “Only three weeks until we’re out of school,” she said with breathless glee.

Joe didn’t say anything, so Summer looked around for him. He’d lagged behind, camera swinging awkwardly off his back with each plodding step. He always had his camera, but especially now that he was working on his final project and wanted the freedom to take a picture when it suited him. He was her best friend in the whole world, and she slowed down to match his pace, inhaling deeply the tangy air from the Pacific Ocean only half a block away. She could smell day-old fish from the pier, kosher hot dogs from one of the lunch stands, and coconut-scented board wax. The last was from her own hands as she’d gone out surfing at the crack of dawn.

Much as she loved to travel, she also loved it right here. In her mind, Ocean Beach didn’t deserve the reputation of being the redheaded stepchild of the San Diego beaches. Sure it had far more leather-skinned old-timers, starving students, and unemployed transients than say La Jolla, but it also had more character. For Summer, O.B. was everything, and life was good.

Change was coming, though. As a senior, Joe would be graduating soon and then heading off to San Diego State College. Not Summer. She still had two years left in high school, which she hated to think about. She wanted to start her life too!

But no one deserved a ticket out of Dodge more than Joe Walker. At the moment he was attempting to take a picture of her and trying keep up at the same time, huffing and puffing like a locomotive in the clinging late May heat—the punishment for not taking his required regular physical education classes as a sophomore and junior. “You’ve been neglecting your cardio again,” she said. “I bet you’re not even carrying those energizing crystals I gave you.”

“I’m fine,” he panted, clearly not. He outweighed her by seventy-five pounds, none of it muscle.

“Admit it, you’d rather be eating a doughnut.”

This got her the first genuine smile from him since PE class had begun thirty minutes ago. His perpetually scruffy light-brown hair was plastered to his head, his face beet red and dripping sweat into his show-all eyes.

He had the biggest heart of anyone she’d ever met, and a fading bruise on his chunky cheek. A burst of deep worry worked through her at the thought of the things he suffered at home, things she’d never fully understand. Though her parents were so in love they often excluded her by accident, she’d never been treated with anything but kindness. “Let’s walk.”

“I’m fine, Red.” He swiped his face on the front of his T-shirt.

“Hey, look. Fat Boy’s gonna have a heart attack.”

This from one of the four football players who’d just caught up to them. Forced to run in their pads by their coach, they slowed down to pass, three of them eyeballing Summer with leering grins.

Ignoring them, Summer smiled only at the fourth boy. He was Danny, the school’s star quarterback. Tall, dark, and yummy, he was the cutest guy in the school, and she wanted him to take her to her prom so badly she could taste it. She’d been wearing her lucky charm bracelet all week in hopes that it would work its magic.

“Hi Summer,” he said in a reverent tone, taking an elbow in the ribs for doing so. He gave an elbow back. “How are you doing?”

She felt a dopey grin split her face. “Good.”

“Oh, jeez. Move.” One of the others shoved Danny out of his way.

If Danny was the cutest guy in Ocean Beach, then Mitch was their village idiot. Still jogging backward, he sent a bunch of wet disgusting kissy noises toward Summer while two of his fellow idiots hooted and hollered. “What do you say, Flower Power Girl? You and me. Tonight. Ditch Fat Boy here and let me show you what a real guy does with his hands. And trust me, it won’t be taking pics—unless you want me to.”

“Shut up, Mitch,” Joe said.

Summer glanced at him, silently begging him to let it go. But he never let anything go. Instead he wore his heart—and temper—on his sleeve for the world to stomp on. The last time he’d confronted Mitch and gang, he’d gotten a black eye and fat lip out of the deal. Little damage compared to what Joe’s father could do on a drunken rampage, but still.

“Come on, Summer.” Mitch had a nasty smile that made her skin crawl. “How about a little show ’n’ tell? I’ll show you mine, you show me yours. And I don’t mean your fancy little crystals either.” He laughed uproariously over this until Joe growled and lunged forward, hands fisted, camera banging awkwardly around his neck.

“Joe, no,” Summer cried, and hauled him back by the shirt.

“Joe, no,”
Mitch taunted, but Danny finally grabbed his friend and shoved him along, flashing a glance back at Summer with an apology in his eyes.

She smiled her thanks.

He smiled back.

It made her knees wobble, and for a moment as they kept running, she just stared after him, sending
ask-me-to-the-prom
thoughts his way. Then she turned to Joe.

He’d left the track.

“Joe? Where’re you going?”

He didn’t slow, and given the speed he’d taken on, he’d finally gotten his second wind.

“Joe, stop!” she called out to him. “We’ll lose ten points if we ditch the rest of class!” She hesitated, because the ten point loss would put her into the B range and she prized her As, but this was Joe, and the misery weighing his shoulders down tore at her. “Damn it.”

He raced down the little side street behind the school as if he’d turned into a marathon sprinter, and having never seen him move so fast, Summer followed.

If Joe realized she was following him he gave no clue, just continued to haul ass as if his life depended on it. The muggy heat seeped up through the asphalt into her running shoes as they slapped on the ground with each step. They were at the heart of O.B. now, passing the liquor store where they bought their sodas, the five-and-dime where she purchased lip gloss and magazines when she had money, and then her favorite burger joint, next to the new trendy restaurant with the neo-scripted name flashing on its front. “Joe? Wanna get a drink?”

He turned onto Newport Avenue.

“Or not,” she muttered as they passed a tattoo parlor offering custom tattooing in the “San Diego tradition,” whatever that meant, before the street ended at the beach. Joe turned onto a tiny little side street Summer knew well because her mother and aunt owned one of the old warehouses here, where they kept the stock they hadn’t yet put into Creative Interiors, their downtown beach furnishings and design store.

She and Joe often sneaked into the cool basement on a hot day just like this one. If they had any money, they’d buy a frozen yogurt first, then come here to talk for hours. More recently she’d met Danny here for more than just a frozen yogurt.

The place was a tall, old, secret haven, and she knew when Joe ran around to the back of the warehouse that he’d remembered that her father often sneaked away and came here as well.

Tim Abrams coveted his privacy, Summer thought with a fond smile. Her father loved to climb up into the open loft above, where he’d gaze out the small window overlooking the city and the Pacific Ocean as he wrote. Here, he always claimed, he could cleanse his aura and lose himself in his stories.

But right now it was Joe and
his
need to lose himself that worried Summer. She followed him through the back door, down the long, steep steps to the basement, watching as he navigated around the large wood beams and stacks upon stacks of boxes of stock.

He flung himself to the small mat they often sat on. Arm over his eyes, he lay silent except for his ragged breathing.

The only light came from a small bulb over their heads. A hazy cloud of dust hovered in the still air. “Joe?”

“I want to be alone.”

Her father’s new orange tabby kitten appeared and wound her warm body around Summer’s ankles, bumping her head against Joe’s hand. Socks had one green eye, one brown, and four white paws, hence her name. She never gave up until the human she’d targeted paid attention to her. Face still covered, Joe caved, stroking the kitten beneath her chin until a loud rumbling purr filled the room.

Summer’s wobbly legs needed a break so she sat at Joe’s hip, hugging her knees. “If you wanted to be alone, why did you come here?”

He didn’t answer and she sighed. She could feel his misery, and she ached for him. “I’m sorry, Joe.”

“For?”

For your mother being dead. For having a horrible, cruel father. For hating school. For being different.
“For whatever’s bugging you.”

He let out a rude snort. “Go away, Summer.”

That he used her real name instead of his nickname for her, Red, scared her. “Look, jogging is stupid, okay? I’m only good at it because—”

“It’s not the jogging.”

“Mitch’s a big jerk. He’s just acting that way because I wouldn’t go out with him—”

Joe dropped his arm from his face and stared at the ceiling. “This isn’t about you for once. Imagine that.”

Shocked, she shut her mouth.

“Mew.”

Summer ignored the kitten and absorbed the pain of Joe’s words. He’d never, ever, said anything hurtful to her in all their years of friendship. They lived next door to each other. They walked to and from school together. They studied, they listened to music, and late at night, when his father came looking for blood, usually Joe’s, she waited up to watch him climb out his window and into hers, where she’d pretend not to see the suffering in his eyes because he hated her pity. She’d swallow the urge to hug him tight, instead lighting a soothing incense and tossing him her extra pillow and blanket. Then he’d silently curl up on her beanbag chair to get some safe sleep.

Now she stared at her closest friend in the world, the person she trusted above all else, a ball of hurt in her chest because he was shutting her out, snapping at her when all she was doing was trying to help. “Joe—”

“I said go away.” He reached into his pocket and thrust her amber crystal back at her.

She stared down at it. She’d given it to him for its gentle and nurturing nature, but he hadn’t allowed it to work. Worse, he’d never sent her away before—never. Stunned, she stood up. “When you’re not so grumpy, you know where to find me.”

“Yeah. With Danny.”

“There’s nothing—” But she broke off, because the truth was she had a huge, gut-tightening, heart-melting crush on Danny. She did. She wanted to write his name in her notebook all day long, with little hearts circling it. She wanted to gobble him up.

But that was different from her love for Joe, so very different. “Joe—”

“Don’t deny it.”

Embarrassed, she backed away from him. “I’ll be waiting for you.”

“Uh huh.”

She had no idea why he was taking this out on her. It was cruel and unfair, but she knew he wasn’t either of those things.

“Summer?”

She whipped around at the sound of Danny’s voice. Still wearing his football gear, he stood at the bottom of the stairs, unable to see Joe lying on the floor because of the supporting wood beam and piles of boxes. Grinning, he held up a condom. “I followed you, though I lost you at the last turn. Figured you’d come here. Look what I have. We won’t have to stop this time.”

Joe jerked upright, eyed what Danny held between his fingers, and shot Summer a look filled with so much all in one glance that she nearly fell over with it. Before she could open her mouth, he’d vaulted to his feet, the camera banging against his side as he leapt at Danny, the back of his T-shirt still drenched with sweat.

Danny cried out with surprise, and both boys toppled to the floor, rolling as they fought. Terrified, Summer moved in, thinking that Danny, the leaner, tougher, and much more athletic of the two, would kill Joe. “Stop it!” The camera shattered into pieces at her feet. “Oh my God,
stop
! Danny, no—”

But Joe held his own, landing a punch to Danny’s stomach. He pulled his fist back again but Summer grabbed his arm. “No! Joe, please, stop!”

He didn’t want to, she could feel a shocking violence rolling off him in waves, and she knew she had to tell him the truth. “I like him. Okay? I like him a lot. Are you listening?” she sobbed. “
I
brought him here last time,
I
was the one who wished we’d had the condom.”

He went utterly still with shock, and because she held his arm, was helpless to the solid, powerful blow Danny dealt him, right in the jaw. Summer threw herself over Joe’s body so that Danny couldn’t hit him again, but the protective gesture was not only too little too late, but also unnecessary because Danny sagged back and clutched his stomach. “What the fuck is his problem?”

But Summer couldn’t answer, she was staring in horror at the top of the stairs.
“Oh my God.”

Both boys whipped around. Their eyes widened in shock.

From around the edges of the poorly hinged door drifted long fingers of smoke, writhing in the air like flying deadly snakes.

The warehouse above them had caught fire.