02 The Moon And The Tide - Marina's Tales (35 page)

“Go away!” I called out.

“Marina...” it was Ethan, and my shaking hand
reached for the knob of its own accord. The phone in my purse rang,
distracting me.

“
Please
just leave,” I begged, lunging
for my purse.

I picked up the phone, “Hello?”

“Marina!” it was Evie. “Someone posted
footage of you on the internet! You must get to Boris immediately.
I want you in our building! It’s the only place I can keep you out
of the public eye if you’re exposed–”

“Exposed? I think it’s a little late for
that! I don’t want to go to San Francisco.” I was seized with the
sudden realization of how invested I was in Aptos. I couldn’t leave
Abby and the baby, Cruz, Megan or Lorelei... and Ethan. I looked at
the door, “I’m staying here.”

“There’s more at stake than just a few
tabloids.”

“Like what?”

“This phone is not secure.”

“What?”

“I need to speak to you in person. I’ll be
there as soon as possible.”

“I have to go,” I said.

I hung up and opened the door. Ethan was
gone.

I slumped down onto my bed, thinking it was
probably just as well. I remembered how horrified he was when he
finally saw Lorelei in total. The mermaids I saw as majestic and
powerful creatures repulsed him, and he had just seen me as one of
them. He himself had said that knowing it and seeing it were two
different things. Now he had seen it and now he was gone.

Nausea gave way to a hollow and empty
feeling. I sat on my bed, hugging my knees into my chest. Tears
started rolling down my cheeks. There was another knock on my door,
and I tried to wipe my eyes.

“Marina,” I heard Megan’s voice, “Can me and
Cruz come in?”

“OK,” I croaked.

Megan came in followed by Cruz. They sat down
on either side of me, patting my back.

“So that’s what happened the night you saved
Dutch...” Megan said, figuring it out.

I just nodded, hiccupping.

“Do you... change... when you go out surfing
with her?” asked Megan.

“God No!” I said vehemently, “I’ve only done
it twice, and it hurts like hell! I was forced to because my dad
was drowning! I had no choice.”

“So you can do it whenever you want?” Cruz
asked incredulously.

“I have to inhale saltwater... I found
that
out the hard way.”

“Why didn’t you tell us?” Megan asked.

“Ethan and I thought it would be best to keep
it quiet...” my voice trailed off.

“He’s really freaking out,” Cruz said.

“Where is he?” I asked.

“He gave Shayla a ride home. He made her
swear not to talk to anyone about the stuff on the internet. I
don’t think she really gets it.”

“Oh God! How am I gonna go back to school?” I
felt sick again.

“Nobody will know… We only found it because
we were searching for news about the helicopter crash,” Megan
said.

“Why?” I asked.

“You haven’t been talking to anyone for a
week! You’ve been sleeping all day long… We thought you had
post-traumatic stress or something!” replied Megan.

“Is it true you’re being followed?” asked
Cruz.

“I think it’s reporters,” I said
morosely.

“What?” cried Megan.

“I just noticed today... there’s a black car
showing up everywhere I go.”

“You should call the police!” cried Cruz.

“And say what?” I asked.

Nobody answered.

“Evie wants me to move back to the city,” I
said.

“And leave us?” Cruz looked crestfallen.

“I’m not ready to leave,” I said, giving him
a hug.

Megan looked around at my newest paintings,
“You’ve been surfing at night!” she gasped in horror.

“It’s better that way,” I said, “No one can
see.” Her eyes opened wide.

“Marina,” Cruz asked solemnly, “What’s it
like... you know, being one?”

I paused for a minute, trying to find the
right words, and then told them in a quiet calm voice, “It’s like a
dream... like a dream of flying, of being free of all worries and
problems. You feel strong, like nothing can harm you and you don’t
need to fear anything that’s down there. And it’s peaceful…
probably what being a wild animal is like. I spent almost a week
underwater after the crash until I could... remember... and come
back.”

“Whoa,” he whispered.

Megan just looked at me solemnly.

“You know what?” I asked.

“What,” she responded, clearly spooked.

“I think I found Atlantis.”

CHAPTER TWENTY

Catharsis

I woke up early Sunday morning and found
myself staring at the ceiling, unable to muster the will to rise
from bed. Ethan had finally seen me– seen me for the freak of
nature I really was. Maybe I should jump in the Rover, drive back
to the city and pretend that I’d never lived here. What if I
hadn’t? I’d have never known the truth and I would still be living
in blissful ignorance.

The intense urge to surf overcame me; I
wanted to be there, the place at the edge of disaster with all
other thoughts obliterated. I was reminded of what Shayla had said.
Did I really want to hurt myself? When I got in the water all sense
of self-preservation vanished. Mermaids probably always felt like
that because they were immortal.

I was certainly mortal... and weak. I would
have fallen back into Ethan’s arms if I was alone with him one
second longer. I remembered my broken surfboard and winced,
realizing that I needed to get another one immediately. It was the
only way I could feel better. It was a foregone conclusion, I had
to surf regardless of any risk.

Sighing with resignation, I felt freed once
the decision was made, sitting up to formulate my plans. I’d
promised to check in with Bill at the coffeehouse. I could swing by
the surf shop, pick up a board and then find Lorelei. I got out of
bed and dressed purposefully, spurred into action by the prospect
of my imminent relief. Scrutinizing the dark paintings, I picked
out a few for Bill and loaded them in the Rover. I went to the
kitchen to find Abby reading the paper.

She sprang up, “Good morning Sweetie! Sit
down and let me pour you some coffee.”

“That’s okay, I can get–” she had already
fixed me a cup and was patting the chair next to her. Abby had
something to say.

She drew a deep breath when I sat down, her
brows knitting together, “First off, I’m so sorry about reporters
hounding you… Martin warned me that there were tabloids trying to
blow this whole thing out of proportion. He assured me that there’s
no way they could know anything about your mother. I’m just
surprised they’d come all the way to Aptos!”

“Me too,” I said, relieved that she didn’t
know the whole truth. I really didn’t want to talk about it, and
she didn’t need anything more to worry about where I was
concerned.

“Everything’s gonna be alright,” she
said.

I thought about going surfing, “Yeah,” I
said, my mind wandering from our conversation.

“I talked to Ethan,” she said, her eyes
searching mine. “He really feels terrible about what happened.”

“I know,” I said, shutting down. She sounded
just like Shayla.

“It’s been a week, and I think you’re being
unfair not talking to him.”

“Unfair,” I repeated.

“Marina, he swears that there’s nothing going
on. The girl you saw, she asked him to meet her. He was telling her
about you.”

I looked at her with hard eyes, “It didn’t
look that way.”

She persisted, “You know, I never had the
chance to really... finish it... with Cruz’s father. I think that’s
why it took me so long to fall in love again.” She rubbed her belly
thoughtfully, “The same for Dutch. I think it’s really important
spiritually for people to get closure. I think that’s what he was
doing.” She reached over and patted my hand.

“He lied to me,” I said.

“We all make mistakes,” she countered.

“That’s for sure,” I replied, gulping down my
coffee.

“Will you go to the farmer’s market with me?”
she asked hopefully.

“Sorry,” I said, “I need to bring some more
paintings to the coffeehouse... and run some errands.” I wanted to
surf so badly I could taste it.

“Will you have dinner with us tonight?”

“I guess,” I said as I got up to go, visions
of breaking waves in my mind.

“Marina?”

I stopped in my tracks, not looking back,
“Yes?”

“We all love you.”

I took a different route to the coffeehouse,
carefully watching in my rear view for the black sedan. Satisfied I
wasn’t being followed, I parked in front and went inside.

“Hi Bill,” I said when he looked up from
behind the counter.

“Hey Marina, check it out!” he gestured to
several bare spots on the walls.

I smiled, “Great! I brought more.”

“Can I get you some coffee?” he asked.

“No thanks, I’m good,” I said.

We hung up some of my new paintings and Bill
stood back in awe, “Whoa, cool. Nighttime surf– these are
bitchin’!”

I managed to muster up a smile, “Thanks... I
think. I have some errands to run, see you later.”

“Wait,” he said, rushing to his office. He
returned with yet another envelope of cash, putting it in my
hand.

“Minus commission?” I asked with raised
eyebrows.

“Minus commission,” he said with a laugh.

I hustled over to the surf shop like a moth
to a flame, focusing on the board in the window and the posters
pasted on the door. There were a few guys hanging around the front
of the shop, and I overheard them predicting high surf for the day.
I was buoyed by the good news, feeling a rush of anticipation when
I looked up and straight into the face of Joe’s buddy from the day
at the point. Our eyes locked and my stomach dropped as the whole
awful experience came flooding back to me.

I could still hear his laugh as Joe
terrorized me and I remembered watching him flee in fear, leaving
me to my fate. My face hardened as I saw the recognition dawning in
his eyes. If he hadn’t been such a coward Joe might have been
stopped, and he would still be alive. But if Joe was alive he would
no doubt continue to brutalize women, a menace to anyone who dared
cross him.

Now
there
was a conundrum.

I glared at him, my lip curling in disgust.
In my mind, he was every bit as guilty as Joe. He paled in shock,
like he was seeing a ghost, and staggered back a few steps. The
guys with him all looked at me curiously. I realized that he
thought I had killed Joe. I bared my teeth, smiling a vicious
warning at him, inordinately pleased to see abject terror spring
into his eyes.

“Boo,” I said coldly.

Brushing past him, I made my way into the
shop and over to look at the surfboards. I could see the same two
employees that had sold me the board last week check me out. They
elbowed each other with idiotic grins on their faces. This time the
tall dark haired one came around the counter to assist me.

“What can I help you with today?” he looked
down at me with an air of amused superiority.

“I need a new board,” I said, inspecting the
ones in a row against the wall. I had it narrowed down to two that
were the most like my last board.

“Aww,” he said patronizingly, “Did you lose
the last one?”

“I broke it on some rocks,” I said, and he
laughed like I just told a hilarious joke.

He smiled down at me condescendingly, “Do you
need a few lessons on using the leash?”

“She don’ need no kina’ lessons from you!” a
booming voice sounded from behind me. I turned to see Kimo’s broad
smile, “Marina, howzit goin’ girl?”

I smiled back into his intense black eyes,
happy to see a friendly face, “Hi Kimo, I’m fine... I’m here for a
new board.” I was surprised at how nice it was to see him again,
for he had an easy way about him. He made me feel protected, and I
relaxed inside for the first time in a while.

“Dis one be good for you,” he said, picking
up one of the two I was looking at.

The surf shop guy just looked at him in
awe.

“You ever tried quad fins?” asked Kimo.

I shook my head no. He started showing me the
differences between the various numbers and sizes of fins mounted
on the bottom of the boards. He held one up to check the
length.

“Be good da way you surf da big kine waves!”
he said with sparkling eyes.

I smiled, “If you say so.”

In just a few short minutes Kimo had
explained more to me about surfboards than the guys who worked
there ever did. He sized me up and picked out two boards.

“She’ll take both of dese brah,” Kimo said to
the clerk, “Put them on my tab.”

“That’s very nice of you Kimo,” I smiled at
him gratefully, “but I can’t let you do that.”

“I want to,” he said, taking both boards
under his massive arms, “Where’s your ride?” I followed him out the
door, looking back to see the slack jaws of the two clerks. Joe’s
friend was nowhere to be seen and the sun was breaking out in the
bright blue sky. I was feeling better and better.

I opened up the back of the Range Rover and
Kimo loaded the boards in with a smile.

“’Nother nice ride,” he said with a friendly
grin.

“Uh, thanks,” I said shyly, “And thanks for
the boards, that was really very nice of you.”

“Hey,” he said putting his hands up, “It’s on
my sponsor... but coffee’s on me?” He looked over at the
coffeehouse with an incline of his head.

I couldn’t help but smile, “OK.”

We went into the shop and took a table. Kimo
didn’t take his eyes off of me. His direct gaze didn’t bother me or
make me nervous like Ethan’s always did.

“This one’s on me,” I said firmly, “What can
I get you?”

Bill came up to us, “Hey Marina, what can I
get you?” he did a double take when he saw Kimo. “Whoa man! You’re
Kimo Wakita!”