Lie to Me (an OddRocket title) (5 page)

"Cool." RD stared out at the marina as if he were searching for something he'd lost. He'd taken off his hat. His sandy blond hair was wavier and thicker than I'd expected. I knew why I was sad and wanted to ask RD why he felt lost at sea, but I didn't feel like it was my right.

"'Night, Cassie," RD said.

“Night.”

He stood and then walked across the grass and down the steps toward the marina.

Mom opened the screen door a crack. "You want to come in, sweetheart?" she said. "Nick's gone home. We're just closing up."

"Sure."

Inside, Mom walked from table to table blowing out the red candles. Addie was asleep in the front booth. Walter sat in a large salad bowl eating torn pieces of lettuce. If turtles can look happy, Walter looked over the moon.

"Cassie, the sign." Mom smiled and pointed to the neon "Open" sign in the window. "Will you turn it off, honey? You want to talk?"

"No."

"Later then."

If by "later" she meant never, we were on the same page.

I crawled into RD's booth so I could reach the sign's light switch. Folded up by the window was a piece of heavy sketch paper. If I hadn't seen his notepad, I would have thought it was just trash. I slid the paper in my pocket and, as I crawled out of the booth, felt something on the bench under my knee. His baseball hat. He'd left it.

"You find something?" Mom said softly. She had Addie over her shoulder, which isn't that easy considering Mom's not that big. Addie's legs dangled like a puppet.

"Nothing, just a hat," I said and ran my fingers across the sketch paper in my pocket.

"Want to put it in the lost and found?"

"No, I know who it belongs to. I can bring it by the marina tomorrow sometime."

"Who were you talking to on the dock?" Addie said, half mumbling and whining.

"No one. Go back to sleep," I said, pulling on my pink sweater. I don't know why I lied right then but, in that moment, RD was the only part of my life that wasn't horrible and I didn't want to start explaining him to Mom or to Addie. Besides, I didn't know what I would say about him anyway. He was a guy with a boat who had talked to me. Nothing more.

"Okay, then. Let's go." Mom stood in the entryway holding the door open. Stepping outside into the darkness, the cold rain hit my face. The moon was invisible and the red lights of a ferry crossing the water looked ghostly.

As Mom got Addie buckled up, I sat in the driver's seat of the old station wagon and held RD's sketch near the dashboard so I could see. The picture didn't look complete. It was a pencil drawing of a girl in profile standing at the end of a dock. She looked sad, her chin slightly down, eyes soft as if she were thinking about something painful from long ago. The girl in the sketch also looked just like me.

I looked up at the harbor, my heart pounding. The masts swayed in unison with the wind. The boats seemed to be waving at me through the dark.

My mother acted strangely at breakfast. So did Addie, but that's normal, being that she's strange in general.

"I have to go to the mainland today," Mom said as she stirred her coffee. She sat at the kitchen table by the French doors. Her red hair pulled back into a looped ponytail, she wore a light blue sweat suit that matched her eyes.

"Why?" Addie asked with her mouth full of Cocoa Puffs. Mom never bought us sugar cereal. It was a grocery store ritual. Addie begged, Mom refused and we ended up with Frosted Shredded Wheat. It was the ultimate breakfast compromise. I poured myself a bowl, wondering if sugar cereal was another perk of running away from baby camp. First, hot fudge sundaes and salad bowls for turtles. Nothing my mother did made sense these days.

"I have to do work stuff, honey." Mom stood up and gave Addie a hug from behind. "New restaurant supplier wants a meeting."

"But you're wearing sweats," I said. Mom always dressed up for business. "I thought you said if you act 'small town,' you're treated 'small town.'"

"It's a casual meeting," Mom said.

"More Coco Puffs, please." Addie reached for the cereal box on the other side of the counter.

"And what's with the sugar cereal?" I asked.

"I thought we all deserved a treat." Mom kissed Addie on the cheek. She walked around and kissed me, too. "Oh, Cassie, I need you to pick Addie up from camp today. If you bring her to the restaurant, Mariah will keep an eye on her until I get back."

"I don't have the car."

"It's a nice day, ride your bike and you two can walk to the restaurant."

"Whatever," I shrugged, spinning my spoon in the chocolate milk. "I don't have anything else to do today."

"You want to talk about yesterday?"

"Nope," I said. "Not one bit."

Mom bit her lip and looked at me. "You know, honey, it's better if you don't keep your feelings bottled up."

"I tell her that all the time," Addie said.

"Shut it," I said.

"Cassie."

"Sorry," I mumbled. "Sorry, I don't want to talk about it, okay?" I knew I was being mean and I felt bad about snapping at Addie. It wasn't her fault; she was just in my crosshairs. I dumped my half-eaten cereal in the sink. "Nick's a cheat, Priya's a liar, everyone in school probably knows what they did to me and you still won't fire him. So what's there to talk about?"

"Honey," Mom sighed. "I can't fire him because your relationship didn't work out. You have to understand..."

"See," I said. "There is nothing to say." I rolled over the back of the small couch that faced the deck and the living room. I stretched out and pulled a crocheted blanket up to my chin, closing my eyes. My plans today included hiding at the house, ignoring Priya's calls, picking up Addie and then going to work. Perfect summer.

"I told you I would change your shifts," Mom said, walking around the couch and sitting beside me. "He won't be there tonight and I can make sure you two don't see each other."

"Not all the time," I said. "You can't afford to do that."

"I can make it better."

"Yippee," I said.

"Honey, you should do something today," Mom said. "Maybe you should talk to Priya."

"No," I sat up. "I don't want to talk to her. I'm going to stay home." Except what I didn't mention was RD's hat. Maybe I would leave the house after all. Not telling Mom wasn’t an outright lie. It was an omission. She thought I was mature enough to handle my ex-boyfriend on a regular basis. I could follow up on a lost-and-found item with one of our guests.

"I could stay home and keep you company," Addie offered. "I don't have to go to camp."

"Yes, you do," Mom and I said together.

"Fine," Addie said. "But I hold you both responsible for my damaged young mind."

Later, I road my bike to the marina, stashing it near the dumpster. I didn't want Mariah to walk onto the porch and wonder why I wasn't at work. Walking down the metal ramp that led to the dock, my footsteps sounded too loud, even though I'd walked the dock a million times before. I reminded myself that I knew every inch of this harbor. The boats looked so safe tucked away in their snug slips, everything rocking in motion with the tides. A blue heron flew overhead, long legs unfurling as he landed at the end of the dock. He looked like a statue, standing on one leg watching the water for the glimmer of silver fish.

RD's boat rocked quietly. The blue tarps were gone. I stood there debating whether I should just leave the hat on-board or knock when the back hatch slid open. RD lifted the door off of its track and stood on the steps that led below deck. He yawned and climbed upstairs. His blond hair rumpled, he wore black shorts and the same gray t-shirt from the night before.

"Hey," he said, as if he saw me all the time when he first woke up. "What time is it?"

"It's after one," I said. "I'm sorry. Is this too early for you?"

"Seriously, one?” He looked at the sky and then glanced back at the boat. I could see a six-pack on the counter below deck. "Man, I need coffee. Hey, remember I am not a role model, kid."

Kid. Right. I held his hat out so he could see I had a reason for being there. "You left this. Last night. I wanted to bring it by. No big deal."

"I don't suppose Cassandra the psychic brought me coffee?"

"Nope. Just a hat."

"It's cool. I need to learn to take care of myself, believe me." He walked over and held out his hand and, for a second, I didn't know why.

"Sorry." I handed him the hat and watched as he pulled it snugly on his head. I stood rooted in place. The gap between RD and me changed with each surging wave. The boat pressed up against the bumpers, protecting her polished sides from the unforgiving edge of the dock.

"Well, I'm going to have to make myself some coffee, learn to be a self-sufficient boy and then take this girl out for a sail.” He pointed to the mast. "I reworked the rigging a few weeks ago, but I've been driving her single-handed this whole time."

"I'd love to help you," I blurted.

"I don't know." He looked at me as if he'd tasted something sour. "Might not be a good idea."

"Yeah, maybe not."

"But I would love to have someone on board with me to run the jib and make sure everything's working."

No sailing. It was one of Mom's ultimate rules, but right then, I cared very little for Mom's rules. Being good got me nowhere with Mom and being nice had gotten me walked all over by people I trusted. I tapped my foot, thinking that if I could just disappear on the water with RD for a few hours, things would feel better in my world. A cool breeze had kicked up on the water. It was a blue-sky, perfect day for a sail.

"You know how to sail?" he asked me.

"Kind of," I said. "My Dad was a big sailor, but I haven't been out on the water in a long time." Meaning, I'd never truly sailed, but I'd watched other people on the water for years. How hard could it be? "I couldn't be out there very long, anyway," I said. Mom usually called to check in with me and I had to pick up Addie and be back for work.

"One hour?" he said.

"Two at the most."

"What the hell. Done."

I felt like I'd just closed on a lucrative deal. "Great," I said, wobbling on my feet as the wake from a passing ferry reached the dock. My phone buzzed. It was Priya. I sent her straight to voicemail.

"All right then." RD smiled and stretched his long, lean arms in the air, his t-shirt rising and revealing his stomach. "Come on over here and help me raise the sail."

I jumped aboard.

"Now, this is the mainsail," he said, placing my hands on a line. "Hold it like this and use your whole body when you pull. Bend your knees, otherwise you'll hurt your hands." I took a deep breath and raised the sail. With every pull, I blotted out more of the blue sky and tried to forget my lying best friend.

Sails raised, RD motored out of the slip and toward the jetty. He told me to sit in the front of the cockpit. I held the jib sheet in my hand. He explained that the jib sheet is the line that controls the jib on the boat. I think he kind of suspected I wasn't exactly an expert on the water yet. I learned that there are usually two sails on a boat, the mainsail attached to the mast and controlled by RD. The jib is the smaller sail and it was my job to pull the jib across the boat every time we tacked. I was so nervous, my palms sweated and my legs broke out in goose bumps even though it was a hot, sunny day.

As soon as we rounded the jetty and reached the open water, the wind pulled us forward and the whole boat heeled sharply. We leaned over so far I had to scramble to the high side. I could have trailed my fingers in the water without trying if I'd sat on the lower side. RD sat beside me hiking out to the edge of the rail. He was using a tiller to steer the boat so he could sit beside me and help with the jib if I needed.

"Hook your legs here," he shouted. The roar of the wind made it impossible to talk in normal voices. He pointed to padded straps attached just below the bench.

I had on a yellow life vest that RD had given me. He hadn't put one on himself even though he had a whole bunch of them on the boat. I slipped my ankles under the padded strap so I could lean out over the water with all of my weight. One hand clutched the rail and, with the other, I held the jib sheet praying I wouldn't fall overboard. The boat screamed across the water; I'd never sailed this fast in my life.

"Now, when I say tack, you change hands and jump across the boat," RD shouted.

I nodded, too scared to talk. I was so afraid I'd make a mistake out there.

"Ready?" he asked.

I did not feel ready, but nodded.

"Ready. Set. Tacking."

The boat moved. I switched hands and jumped across the cockpit, my shins smashing into the wooden bench on the other side. I was definitely going to be bruised. The boom whipped over our heads and the jib snapped as it filled with air on the other side.

"Yes!" RD yelled. "Feel that wind? All right!" His eyes lit up and he howled and yelled as if he didn't care who heard him. His enthusiasm contagious, I started grinning, adrenaline pumping through my body. My heart pounded and I laughed from nerves. I felt stronger with every turn. Soon, I felt as though I owned the wind on the water. I knew how to catch it with a sail and help guide this boat across the white-tipped waves. Maybe I'd learned more sailing with Dad than I remembered. The wind roared over us, the spray kicked up and doused us. I could taste the salt water in my mouth and all I wanted was to sail faster.

We tacked back and forth until I no longer banged my shins on the deck. RD didn't have to shout as much. Once he nodded at me and began to tack, I knew what I was supposed to do. I felt this focus on the wind, this feeling that I was truly important and that, without me, RD wouldn't be able to sail.

"This is the life, right?" He tipped his head back and howled again and I realized that I hadn't thought about Nick or Priya once since we'd started.

We drove the boat toward Jekyll Island. It's not really an island. It's basically a bunch of rocks with stubborn-looking trees surrounded by a big, rocky beach. Jekyll's only about a couple of miles from San Sebastian, but we were taking our time, playing with the wind instead of heading straight there.