The Cove (33 page)

“How ’bout I take out a loan, then?” Ben said, “enough to pay off the boat and throw some against the nursing home bills.”

Wally didn’t consider the suggestion for even a second before he started shaking his head.

“It ain’t your goddamned responsibility.” His voice was a low growl. It was obvious he was getting drunker by the minute, and the drunker he got, the nastier he got. “I don’t want you getting involved. It’s bad enough that I am.”

Ben chuckled darkly and, staring his father straight in the eyes, said, “This is
family
we’re talking here. I’m involved whether you like it or not, and if someone’s putting the screws to you, I’m
definitely
involved. We’re
all
involved. Right, Pete?”

Ben glanced at his brother who, throughout the conversation, had been hanging back, barely watching or listening to them. He was staring out over the water at the far side of The Cove, looking like he had something else entirely on his mind. When Ben addressed him directly, Pete shook his head as though he was just waking up and said, “Huh? … Oh, yeah. Sure.”

“For fuck’s sake, Pete!” Ben said, and then he turned his attention back to his father. “You want me to talk to Richie?”

Wally snorted with laughter and then took a bigger slug of rum. His Adam’s apple bobbed up and down as he swallowed with loud gulping sounds.

“What
good’ll
that do?” he said, his words slurred now.

“I
dunno
.” Ben took a step forward and was going to put his hand reassuringly on his father’s shoulder, but he held back. “
What’d’yah
say we find out.”

Wally exhaled with a blubbering sigh and shook his head. His gaze was cast down at the deck like he had lost something and was looking for it. His eyes kept darting from side to side as he kept shaking his head, his shoulders hunched. Ben had never seen his father look so defeated, so hopeless, and it pained him deeply.

“So Pops … How ’bout you forget about
drinkin
’ … least for the time being?” Ben said. “Lou and I were planning on going out to Grave’s Edge to visit Mom. Why don’t you come along, too? She’d love to see you.”

Wally winced as though his rum had left a bad aftertaste in his mouth. He shook his head in firm denial.

“She won’t be
happy
to see shit,” he said, as much to himself as to Ben. As his gaze drifted out over the water, he took another long gulp of rum. “In case you hadn’t noticed, she ain’t there no more. The lights are on, but no one’s home.”

Ben wasn’t sure, but he thought he saw tears welling up in his father’s eyes. Whatever they were — tears or raindrops or spray from the ocean — Wally quickly wiped them away on his sleeve.

“I gotta meet up with the trawler as soon as it clears,” he said. “So when the rain lets up, I’m going.”

“Where are you meeting the trawler?” Ben asked. He cast another quick glance at Pete and could tell that he was still not really paying attention to what was going on.

“The Nephews … as usual,” Wally said. “’
Spozed
to be there ’round midnight.”

“For one thing, you’re in no condition to pilot a goddamned boat … especially in rough seas. It’s gonna be heavy seas, especially out beyond the headlands.”

“You think I don’t know how to skipper a goddamned boat?” Wally shook his head in disgust and spat over the rail. “I can take this boat to Boston and back again in a
Christless
hurricane. Blindfolded.”

But even as he said that, he lost his balance and had to grab onto the wheel to keep from falling down. Ben lunged forward and grabbed him by the arm to support him, but his father quickly shook him off with a snarl.

“Don’t fuck with the
capt’n
on his own goddamned boat.” Wally slurred the words so badly Ben almost couldn’t make them out above the heavy patter of rain on the wheelhouse roof. His father’s breath was nearly toxic with alcohol fumes.

“You’re in no shape to do anything but go home and sleep it off,” Ben said as he grabbed the bottle of rum and all but tore it from his father’s grip.

Wally lunged at him to retrieve it, but Ben backed out from underneath the roof and stood in the pouring rain, dangling the bottle over the side of the boat.

“I’ll drop it overboard if you come any closer,” he said, staring at Wally.

“’N I’ll toss you overboard with it ’n make you fetch it back,” Wally said.

He looked angry enough to rip Ben’s head off, but Ben noticed that his father never let go of his grip on the wheel. It was the only thing keeping Wally on his feet.

“Pete and I’ll take you home
so’s
you can sleep it off.”

“Sleep what off? Christ on a crutch!” Wally bellowed, but the unfocused look in his eyes told the true tale.

“If this run’s so goddamned important to you — then let Pete and me go meet the trawler. Can you live with that?”

Pete snapped to and said, “No goddamned way. I ain’t taking this boat out … not at night and with the electronics all frigged up.”

“Well I sure as hell can’t go alone,” Ben said.

Wally’s face flushed with rising anger. His cheeks blossomed with red splotches, and his eyes bulged. When he started to sputter, no intelligible words came out. Ben jumped when a woman’s voice called his name out behind him. He turned and looked up at the wharf, expecting to see Julia, but Louise was walking quickly down the gangplank to the dock. She was almost lost inside an old, black rubber raincoat with the hood pulled down all but covering her eyes. The rain popped as it hit the rubber.

“What the hell are you doing here?” Ben asked.

Louise climbed over the gunwales and, once under the shelter of the wheelhouse roof, slid the hood back.

“Whoa,” Ben said.

Louise’s hair was now chin length and hung in coppery, bouncy waves around her face. Long bangs brought out the green flecks in her hazel eyes, which were artfully made up. Ben couldn’t see a trace of the bruise on her cheeks, which were softly flushed. She wore a reddish lip-gloss that made her lips look full and plump.

Even Pete was moved to say, “Wow, Sis.”

Louise grinned, satisfied with the effect, but then she was all business.

“You had a couple of calls,” she said to Ben, and he knew instantly who at least one of them was from. A cold feeling twisted in his gut.

“Julia’s been trying to get you all day, but your phone’s not working.”

Ben fished his cell phone from his pocket, opened it, and looked at the display. The battery strength was at zero.

“
Fuckin
’ thing,” he muttered. He pressed several buttons, but nothing worked. Without thinking, he cocked back his arm and threw the cell phone far out over the water. It hit with a dull plunk and sank out of sight, leaving behind a widening ripple that was quickly erased by the falling rain.

“
Can you hear me now?
” Ben shouted, and then he slammed his clenched fist against the pile of traps leaning against the gunwales.

Pete stared at Ben, incredulous. Then he started laughing.

“Oh, that’s good,” he said. “That’ll help.”

“Shut up and gimme your goddamned phone,” Ben said as he held his hand out to his brother, shaking it with impatience.

Pete hesitated, but only for a moment. Then he reached into his jeans pocket, pulled out his cell phone, and handed it to his brother. Ben flipped it open and, without thinking, hit the button to go to the directory. He was startled when the menu came up, and he saw the third listing on the screen.

It read “Julia M” and was followed by her home phone number.

“What the fuck?” he said, turning slowly and glaring at Pete.

“What?” Pete looked bemused as he glanced back and forth between Ben, his sister, and his father.

“Why do you have Julia’s number on your speed dial?”

Pete’s face turned as pale as chalk.

“M
rs. Brown?” Kathy said, her voice hushed as she opened the door and stuck her head inside the room.

The air was thick with the smell of disinfectant, but that didn’t mask another, worse smell lingering below it. Kathy wrinkled her nose and on reflex leaned down and covered Amanda’s nose with her hand as she wheeled the stroller into the room. Amanda was dozing and faintly stirred.

“I’ll leave you alone,” Mrs. Appleby said, taking a few steps back.

Lilly Brown, wearing a tattered pink nightgown and brown slippers, was sitting by the window. Her hair was unwashed and hanging down to her shoulders in thin, greasy strands. Kathy barely recognized the woman who had been so warm and welcoming to her back when she had dated Ben.

The window blinds were open, and Lilly was staring out at the falling rain. A short distance across the parking lot was a gentle slope, covered with short pine trees. Tangles of mist flowed and twisted between them, low to the ground.

“Hello, Mrs. Brown.”

Feeling a little braver, Kathy pushed the stroller into the room and approached the woman. She jumped, feeling trapped when Mrs. Appleby closed the door behind her, shutting her inside.

“I thought I’d stop by and see how you were doing,” Kathy said smiling.

Still no response from the woman. She sat there, her eyes glazed as she stared outside. Kathy might have thought Lilly was dead except, every now and then, she blinked. When she did, her eyelids made faint clicking sounds.

“How are you doing?” Kathy asked.

She was getting used to getting no response, so she jumped again and pulled back when Lilly rotated her head slowly and looked at her. As soon as she saw the baby in the stroller, a thin smile spread across her face, and her eyes lit up. Then she lifted her eyes to Kathy’s face, and a cold anger spread across her features.

“What the devil are you doing here?” she said, her voice cracked as if from disuse.

“I was — umm …” She considered telling the truth, that Ben had asked her to visit, but she decided not to confuse things and finished, “I wanted to stop in and say ‘Hi.’”

“Why do you have Louise out on a day like this?” Lilly raised her right hand and hooked her thumb in the direction of the window.

“Louise?” Kathy said, confused. She wondered what Lilly was talking about. Had Louise been by earlier, and she was mixed up? Did Lilly even know what day it was? Perhaps she was remembering another time Louise when had visited.

“I — umm … We were out doing errands, and I thought I’d stop in and … and —”

“I want you to take her home. Take her home this minute, and get her into some dry clothes,” Lilly said.

The edge in her voice genuinely frightened Kathy, and she suddenly feared for her daughter’s safety as Lilly stared at her. The old woman looked like she was about to get up out of her chair and rush them, so Kathy backed the stroller up, thankful that Amanda was still sleeping.

“She’ll catch her death, being out on a day like this,” Lilly said.

“Do you mean Amanda?”

No matter what she had heard before about Alzheimer’s, Kathy wasn’t at all prepared for this. She was annoyed at Ben for even suggesting she come and visit, and now, all she wanted to do was make a graceful exit.

“I — ah — I’m sorry,” Kathy said. “Maybe … maybe we’ll come back some other time.”

“That’s right,” Lilly said, her voice barely above a whisper. “I’m paying you damned good money to baby-sit my little girl, and if you think … if you think …”

Her voice trailed away, leaving the emptiness in the room broken only by the faint sound of wind-blown rain hitting against the window.

“I … I’ll do better,” Kathy said. “I’m sorry I upset you.”

She wheeled the stroller around so fast Amanda’s head lolled to one side, and her eyes snapped open.

“It’s okay, baby,” Kathy whispered as she pushed the door open, blinking as she stepped out into the harsh, glaring light of the hallway.

“Done already?” Mrs. Appleby said from behind the front desk as Kathy wheeled the stroller toward the front entrance.

“Yes,” Kathy said, her voice pitched high like it was trapped in her throat. “I — she wasn’t in the mood for a visit, I guess.”

“Thanks for stopping by,” Mrs. Appleby said with a friendly wave. “I’m sure she appreciated it.”

But Kathy barely acknowledged her. She was out the door and heading to the car, unmindful of the downpour as she belted Amanda into her car seat as quickly as possible. She was drenched to the skin and shivering by the time she got the driver’s door open and dropped onto the seat behind the steering wheel. She was panting hard.

Her tires chirped on the wet pavement as she stepped a little too hard on the accelerator. She couldn’t stop thinking about Lilly Brown, imagining her staring out the window of her dark room and watching with a cold, empty stare as she drove away. It was only after she got home, carried Amanda inside, and got her settled with a bottle that Kathy finally realized why Lilly had gotten so agitated.

Kathy had always thought Amanda favored Ben more than her side of the family. Lilly must have seen the family resemblance.