“What are you doing here?” Van asks. “Everything okay?”
“Just taking in a new day, bro,” I say.
“You’re never around this early,” Clay says.
“Does it matter to you?” I ask.
They shake their heads.
“Do your thing,” Van says. “We always like to hit the first waves. Sets the tone for the day, you know?”
“Don’t let me stop you,” I say. I jump off the railing and toss my cigarette away. “Hey, everything okay around here?”
“Fucking beautiful,” Clay says.
“Good,” I say.
Van and Clay walk back down to the shore.
I walk around to the halfpipe.
There’s a few losers sleeping down at the bottom.
The burnouts who took too much last night and just crashed.
They’ll wake up soon enough and hurry away to another dark hole and wait to emerge again when night falls.
Something about it is kind of romantic.
Like everyone has their place.
That hits me hard in the heart.
Everyone has their place.
Good, bad, and in between.
I walk to my motorcycle and take a ride.
I need to find Taz and have him do me a favor.
The morning rushes through my head and I turn the doorknob and step into the kitchen.
The counter has a shit ton of boxes on it.
Mama appears from the other side of the counter, a gun in her hand.
“Don’t shoot,” I say.
“You never know, Mac,” she says. “I’m losing it here.”
“So is this going to be the joke now?” I ask.
“Of course it is,” she says. “How else am I going to survive it?”
You’re not going to survive it, Mama. That’s the problem.
We stare at each other.
Things have been quiet.
It’s been a hectic couple days.
Without Jolie at my side, I just don’t feel complete.
Mama hasn’t talked about what happened when she thought I was Declan.
But she has made some big decisions in her life.
Which is why I called Taz this morning to help me out.
She moves toward me and pushes a box out of the way.
There’s a piece of paper on the counter.
“Got this today,” she says. “It’s going to be put everywhere. Just so you know.”
I look at the paper and I swallow hard.
MISSING
That word hits home hard.
There’s a picture of Ado on the paper.
Along with where he was last seen.
All of it bullshit. All of it a lie.
I put my hand to the paper and take a deep breath.
Mama puts her hand to mine. “You did the right thing, Mac.”
“I know I did.”
“This is how it goes, though. You know that.”
“I know,” I say.
I pull my hand away from Mama and walk toward the door.
I open it and go outside.
Ado is gone. For good.
Mama is packing up the house. For good.
I have to face Jolie one more time.
And then that’s it… for good.
When I see Jolie, it’s like someone punches me in the chest and rips out my fucking heart. I look at her and I don’t even want my cigarette anymore. I just drop the thing and step on it.
She’s walking forward and looks down. Then she tucks her hair behind her ears and slowly looks forward again. Right at me.
I’ve never seen anything so beautiful in my life.
Taz stops walking and he lets Jolie keep coming toward me.
Our eyes lock and she touches her hair again. Then she touches her shirt.
She’s fumbling around.
Nervous to see me.
Her heart’s probably racing as fast as mine.
I move toward the door and nod at her. “Ready?”
“Mac, what’s happening?” she asks. “Taz wouldn’t tell me anything. Is she okay?”
“That’s what you’re worried about?” I ask.
“Of course I am.”
“What about yourself, sweetie?” I ask. “What she did to you…”
“She’s getting hers now,” Jolie says in a cold voice. “But it doesn’t mean I don’t care.”
I look at the door and grit my teeth.
God, I fucking love her.
I open the door and step into the house again.
Jolie follows me and lets out a gasp when she sees the boxes.
“Mac…?”
“She’s moving,” I say.
“Jolie,” Mama’s voice says before Jolie can ask me anything else.
Jolie looks at Mama.
Mama starts to close in on Jolie.
Jolie puts her hand out. “No. You’re not going to hug me and act confused.”
Shit.
Mama freezes. “I have a gun in my pocket, Jolie.”
“Then shoot me,” Jolie challenges.
“I’ll get away with it if I do.”
“I don’t care,” Jolie says.
Mama takes out the gun.
I see Jolie tense up.
I move forward to step into the middle of them.
But Mama puts the gun on the counter.
“Let’s talk,” she says. “I think it’s time.”
“I think so too,” Jolie says.
Mama waves her hand and we walk to the table.
When I sit down next to Jolie, she gets up and goes around the table to the other side.
“This, I don’t like it,” Mama says.
“I don’t care,” Jolie says.
“You’re vicious, Jolie,” Mama says.
“It’s called protecting myself.”
“Which you should do, sweetie,” I say.
Jolie lifts the middle finger on her left hand and that’s all for me.
“I said something,” Mama says. “When my mind was slipping. I said something really dangerous.”
“The truth?” Jolie asks.
Mama nods. “Yes. The truth. The truth is dangerous in life. In this life. That’s why I’m leaving. I have to leave. It’s time. Sticking around and doing what I’ve been doing is only going to get someone killed.”
Jolie and I look at each other.
I owe her a lot for saving me from what I wanted to do to Declan. If I had actually done it…
Jolie was right when it came to Declan.
And, honestly, having him alive and in my back pocket is a good thing.
“I know I’ve made some mistakes,” Mama says. “Some small. Some big. But all it takes is one to really fuck up the whole thing. And that mistake I made with a clear mind. I’m going to tell you exactly what happened with Declan.”
I stand up and walk around the table.
I stand behind Jolie and put my hand to her shoulder.
Mama stares forward at the table.
Jolie reaches up and touches my hand.
She doesn’t swat it away though.
She grips it tight.
“There’s a level of… I don’t even know.” Mama laughs. “You can’t just let someone in that easily. There’s so much risk to it. And especially with you, Jolie. You know you’re a risk. There’s no denying that. A beautiful woman like yourself. So innocent though. That’s the thing. But you did learn to shoot a gun. You understood when it was time to hide and wait. And from what I hear, you have had no problem making hard decisions for yourself.”