Summer of Seventeen (30 page)

He snorted with disgust. “They didn’t. But I got tired of being grounded, so I just took my keys out of dad’s desk and got my car. They’ve probably sent out a fucking search party by now. First stop, your house.”

He sighed.

“They’ll figure out I came to the beach sooner or later. Mom and Dad won’t come—but don’t be surprised if they send Patrick.” He chewed on his thumbnail. “He wasn’t too bad. Maybe it’s because he’s always gotten a lot of tail. Maybe he’s been there.”

He shook his head.

“I don’t want it,” he said tiredly. “I don’t even like Lacey. It was just sex. That’s all it was supposed to be.” He tried to smile, but it wasn’t working. “I get now why Marcus likes single moms—they’re not going to forget their birth control pills. They’ve already fucked up once, so they’re not going to do it again.”

I felt kind of sick when he said that. Was that what he thought of Mom? That she fucked up twice?

But he hadn’t finished.

“And now because of one fuck-up … my life is over.”

I thought of Mom, and Julia, and me.

“You fucked up, but your life isn’t over, bro. It’s…”

“Yeah, it is. I’ll have to drop out of school, get a job. I won’t be going away to college now, that’s for fucking sure.”

“Your parents will want you to graduate?” I said, my voice uncertain. I knew his dad was kind of hard core.

“Dad’s saying I have to take responsibility. He was pretty mad—well, that’s a massive fuckin’ understatement.”

I tried to think of something useful to say. I mean, Sean’s dad drove a Benz, they weren’t exactly poor. I couldn’t believe he’d let Sean drop out just to prove a freakin’ point. But then again, what did I know about what dads did and didn’t do?

“Yeah, but people have babies and still go to school,” I argued. “It’ll just be … harder for you. But there are subsidies and stuff, money you can look for. I’ll help you, man.”

His smile was strained when he glanced up at me.

“Thanks, Nick. Can I stay at your place for a few nights? It’s pretty crazy at home.”

“Yeah, of course you can—as long as you need. But I thought you were going to your grandparents?”

He shook his head. “I was, but that’s kind of on hold for now.”

“Will they let you stay at my house?”

He shook his head again. “I don’t care. I’m done playing by their rules. They’d have to fuckin’ lock me in my room or something. I’m not going back there. Ever.” Then he looked up. “You need to clear it with Julia?”

“No, she’ll be fine.”
I hoped.
“I’ll talk to her.”

“Cool.” He nodded slowly. “You got any weed? I need to get wasted.”

“Um, no. But I think Ben left some beers in the fridge, so later we could…”

“Nah, I need something more than that, and I need it fuckin’ right now.” He poked at the hole in his shorts, absently making it larger. “I gotta go home, pick up some shit before Mom and Dad realize that I left. I’ll be at your place in a couple of hours. ’Kay?”

“Yeah, sure. Whatever you need.”

His head dropped into his hands, and his voice cracked as he spoke.

“What the fuck am I gonna do?”

I shook my head slowly.

“I have no idea.”

“Come on, man! You’re my best friend. Help me out here!”

His voice was desperate, his eyes wide and panicked.

“It’s not like they’re saying you’ve got to marry her or anything,” I reasoned.

He shook his head.

“No, but … her parents are Catholic. It’s what they’re pushing for … Mom and Dad say I have to take responsibility. I told you that.”

“Yeah, you kinda do. I mean, it’s a kid and everything, but…”

“You think I don’t know that!” he shouted.

“Yeah, but…”

He squeezed his eyes shut and I was shocked to see tears leaking down his face. He scrubbed them away furiously.

“I don’t want to marry Lacey. I don’t even like her. We hook up. That’s it.”

“So don’t marry her,” I said decisively. “They can’t force you.”

He looked up, a shadow of hope on his face.

“You think?”

“No way, man. But you are going to have to help provide for the kid. Pay money, I guess.”

The fleeting look of hope vanished.

“How the fuck am I going to do that?”

I shrugged. “Get a job.”

“Like you,” he sneered. “Shoveling shit for $7 an hour.

My face flushed red. “It’s lawn maintenance, and it’s $10 an hour. What’s wrong with that?”

“Because I want to get out of this fucking town!” he yelled. “I’m not like you! I want more than just to earn minimum wage for the rest of my life!”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I bit out, ice shooting through my body.

He shrugged, but wouldn’t meet my eyes. “You’re small-town, Nick. You always have been. You don’t want to go anywhere else…”

“That’s not true!”

“Yeah, it is. But I want to go away to college. I want to surf Pipelines and Hanalei and see the sunset on Oahu. Anything! You just want to stay here.”

“It’s all I can afford!” I yelled at him, my hands clenching into fists. “I don’t have rich parents who’ll pay for me to sit on my ass all summer and get girls pregnant!”

His mouth dropped open in surprise, then his eyes narrowed.

“Fuck you, Nick.”

And he scrambled to his feet and strode away.

My whole body was vibrating with anger, and I badly wanted to hit something. Instead I flung myself back on the sand and threw my arm over my eyes.

I couldn’t believe Sean had been such a prick, but at the same time I was stunned. Having a fight with Sean was like seeing the sky turn green: it wasn’t supposed to happen. We never fought. Well, not since he broke my Beast Hunter Transformer back in third grade.

I knew it wasn’t really me he was mad at. He was scared and pissed, but hell! We were friends, weren’t we? And all this time he was looking down on me like I was some sort of loser?

“Nick?” Yansi’s voice was tentative. “Are you okay?”

I sat up reluctantly.

“Not really.”

“You guys were shouting,” she said softly.

“Yeah.”

“Anything I can help with?”

I gave her a small smile. “You always help.”

And wasn’t that the damn truth
.

“Is … is Sean okay?”

I shook my head. “He’s really fucked.”

She threaded her fingers through mine. “Do you want to tell me about it?”

I huffed out a breath. “Sean’s in a whole shitload of trouble. I don’t think he’ll talk his way out of this one.”

“Okay,” she said quietly, ignoring my evasion.

It wasn’t that I didn’t want to tell her. Hell, there was no one else I’d rather talk to about it, but I didn’t know if that was cool with Sean.

“We kind of had a fight,” I added lamely.

Her face twisted in a grimace.

“Yeah, so I saw. I think everyone saw.” Then she looked up. “Is Lacey pregnant?”

My eyes widened. “How did you know?”

She shrugged. “You’re fighting with your best friend. She’s upset, he’s upset—everyone knows those guys only hook up for sex. It made sense.”

She was right, but that was my girl—real smart.

“What’s he going to do?”

“I don’t know. His parents are telling him to drop out and get a job.”

“Wow! I can’t believe that!”

“I know. They think he needs to learn some kind of lesson, but shit—you’d think they’d at least want him to graduate high school.”

Yansi shook her head. “I don’t think they’ll go through with the threat. I mean, I’ve never met his parents, but I’ve seen the car Sean drives—they won’t want a minimum wage kid.”

I winced, her words hitting home.

“They’ll probably just let him think that for a few days to shake him up.”

“Really?”

“Probably, at least I hope so.”

I hoped she was right too, and now she’d said it, it seemed the most likely thing to happen. But then again, she hadn’t met his parents.

I didn’t tell her what he’d said about me being small-town, because a part of me that I didn’t want to admit to thought he might be right.

Yansi stroked my arm and leaned against me.

“So, what were you guys fighting about? I get that he’d be upset, but why was he yelling at you?”

“It just kind of blew up…”

She looked at me shrewdly. “Because…?”

“I said he needed to be responsible for the kid.” I looked down. “Because, ya know, I know what it’s like if your dad isn’t a dad, just a sperm donor.”

“Oh,” she said softly, then wrapped her arms around me.

“I didn’t mean give up school or anything, but it wouldn’t kill him to get a freakin’ job, would it?”

She was quiet for a moment.

“It’s not your fault that he got himself into this mess, Nick.”

“I know … but I feel like I was kicking him while he’s down.”

“Give him some time to cool off. He’ll be fine.”

I shook my head. “I don’t know. I’ve never seen him like this—not in all the time I’ve known him. I’m going to see if I can find him.”

“I’ll come with you.”

I called Sean’s cell about twenty times, but it kept going to voicemail. I sent him texts, too, but he didn’t get back to me, and nobody had seen him since we’d had our fight.

Eventually, we went back to my place in case he’d gone there. But Julia hadn’t seen him either. She believed, like Yansi, that he’d calm down in his own time, but she agreed to let me borrow her car. So me and Yansi drove around: north on Ridgeway, south on Atlantic Avenue, looking for his car. Finally, we drove over to Sean’s house. I didn’t think he’d go there, but we’d tried everywhere else.

“You’d better let me knock on the door,” Yansi said. “They’re more likely to talk to me. I’ll just say I’m a friend from school.”

She was only gone a few minutes while I sat in the car sending yet another text to Sean. But when she came back, she looked really pissed.

“Oh my God! I just met his mother. What a bitch! No wonder Sean is such a screw up!”

“Why, what did she say to you?”

“Well, first off, she thought I was Mexican and looking for a job cleaning. She even asked if I had a Green Card! Then when I told her I was a friend of Sean’s from school. She said, and I quote, ‘I find that highly unlikely’. And then she closed the door in my face!”

I was really angry and ready to go and tell Mrs. Wallis what I thought of her.

“Leave it,” Yansi sniffed. “She’s not worth it. And it’s more important that we find Sean.”

In the end I had to agree.

We drove around to all the usual places for a second time, but again no one had seen him. By then it was late afternoon and I had to give up because I was due at work in half an hour. So I drove Yansi back to her house first, then went home to change.

But when I got there, Sean was sitting on my doorstep.

“Fuck, man! I’ve been looking for you all over!”

“Yeah, I saw your messages. I just needed some space, you know?”

I sat down next to him. “Yeah, I guess. Um, I even went to see your mom. Well, Yansi did, but she wouldn’t tell us anything.”

He gave a small smile. “Yeah, I heard that, too. Mom left a message on my phone. Another one.”

We sat in silence for several minutes.

I was relieved he was okay, but was kind of annoyed that I’d spent the afternoon driving all over the place looking for him. Gas wasn’t cheap, and I’d done a lot of miles today. But he had enough people pissed at him already, so I kept my mouth shut.

“Look, I’ve got to get ready for work, but you can stay here. Julia’s cool.”

He shook his head. “Nah, that’s okay. I’m gonna go hang at the beach for a while.” His breath came out in a gust. “I thought I could hide from my parents, from my life, but I can’t.

“I’ll come with you. I’ll call in sick to work.”

“Appreciate it, bro, but I know you need the money. And … about before … that was out of line. I was being a dick. I’m sorry.”

I shook my head. “No worries. We’re good. Are you going to stay here now, or do you think they’ll still send you to North Carolina?”

His gazed dropped to the ground and he toed a weed growing out of the cracked concrete.

“No, I made a decision about that. I was dreaming if I thought they’d let me stay with you. Hell, you know my old man—he’d cut off the money and force me back. And I can’t ignore this—gotta fuckin’ face it. Right? I won’t be leaving Cocoa Beach now,” he stated.

I was confused by his tone. “Did your mom say that? That’s a good thing though, right? I mean, you’ll be here. I’ll help you with stuff. Yansi, too. I know you guys don’t get along so well, but she’s really great with kids…”

He frowned. “I can’t believe there’s going to be a kid out there with my name on it. Who the fuck would want me for a father? Another life I can screw up.”

“Come on, man, it won’t be that bad. You can teach the little dude to surf. You’ll be a great dad.”

His eyes were watery and he held out his hand before pulling me into a guy hug. “I love you, bro. You always got my back. Now get the fuck out of here before you turn me into a freakin’ chick!”

I laughed and shook my head. “Whatever, asshole!”

He smiled. “Dawn surf tomorrow? My last moment of freedom?”

“I’ll be there.”

“Promise me, man,” he said, suddenly serious.

“I said so, didn’t I?”

He smiled. “Okay.” And he turned to leave. Then he stopped as he was getting into his car. “Julia let me in earlier, so I’ve left you something on your bed. Call it a goodbye present.”

“I thought you said you weren’t leaving?” I yelled after him.

He didn’t answer, just waved and was gone.

I ran upstairs to see what he’d left me.

Lying on my bed was his Z-Racer Cruiser. Hand-crafted from a 10-layer veneer construction, laser etched logos, sanded wheels wells, 60mm 97A wheels, five sandblasted trucks, Z-Flex Abec 7 Bearings. Also known as two-hundred-and-fifty dollars worth of skateboard.

A note was taped to the deck.