What Follows After: A Novel (17 page)

Scott wasn’t too sure about this walk on the beach idea.

If anything, the thought of him and Mike, alone, doing nothing but walking and talking on the beach for thirty minutes, made him feel more tense. What was relaxing about that? If Mike wanted to help him unwind, they should head down to one of the arcades at the boardwalk and play pinball. He and Mike hadn’t talked about anything, other than the necessary chitchat when planning family visits . . . well, ever.

They were on the beach now, after crossing A1A and heading down the approach. It was a beautiful day, nice and sunny, very uncrowded. Pretty much just them, the seagulls, and after a few blocks, some sand dunes, at least on this stretch of the beach.

“How about here?” Mike said.

“Good a place as any,” Scott said.

Mike turned left, pulled the car into a spot just before the line where the sand became soft. Both men got out.

“I’m guessing you weren’t thinking about the two of us building a sand castle,” Scott said.

“Not exactly.”

“You want to talk about me and Gina?”

“Ouch . . . am I that predictable?” Mike said.

“Well,” Scott said, as they made their way across the flat sand toward the waterline, “how long have we known each other, Mike?”

“A little over five years, I guess.”

“Two things we’ve never done in that time . . . talk about anything meaningful and take a walk on the beach. Put that together with the fact that I screwed up my marriage in a major way and that I’ve been expecting God to appoint someone to take me out to the woodshed for quite some time, I guess it might as well be you.”

Mike smiled. “I forgot I’m talking to an engineer. You’re close, but you’re wrong on one thing.”

“What’s that?”

“I have no plans to take you out to the woodshed. Seriously, that’s not what this is about.”

Scott looked out to the water. “Well, somebody better do it.”

“Maybe somebody will. But it’s not gonna be me.”

They walked a few steps in silence.

“I just figured with all you’re going through, you might need a friend. I know guys don’t typically have friendships like that, unless they’ve been fighting in a foxhole together for a while. I thought I’d take a chance and just jump in, see what happens.”

Scott took a deep breath, like he was bracing for something. “Guess you better just jump in then. What’s on your mind?”

“Well, not sure exactly where to start,” Mike said. “Obviously, it came as a bit of a shock that you and Gina were separated. We could kind of tell, for at least the last year or two, that you guys were having problems. We just didn’t know things had gotten this bad.”

“If you knew that,” Scott said, “you knew more than I did. Until that Christmas party last December, I thought Gina and I were doing fine. At least as good as we’ve been doing all along.”

A slightly bigger wave than the rest rolled in, forcing the two men to scamper out of its way like a pair of sandpipers. “Rose told me about the party, what happened with you and that secretary.”

“Then you haven’t heard the full story, just Gina’s version.” Scott stopped walking and turned to face Mike.

“Fair enough. What’s your version? She says she walked in on you making out with a young redhead. And that this redhead said the two of you were in love.”

Scott felt so frustrated he could scream. “That’s not what happened, Mike. Not even close.”

“She didn’t see you kissing another woman at that party?”

“She did see that, but what she saw wasn’t what she saw.”

“Okay . . . care to elaborate?” Mike began to walk again.

Scott did too. “She kissed me, this secretary. I didn’t see it coming, and she caught me off guard. I could tell she liked me. She had been trying to flirt with me for months. But I never did anything to encourage her.” Scott stopped walking again. “Look at me, Mike. Look me straight in the eye. I’m telling you, I wasn’t cheating on Gina. This girl and I were
not
in a relationship, on any level.”

“What were you doing with her then, alone in that office during a company Christmas party?”

“She told me my boss had some papers I was supposed to take home with me, and she’d forgotten to give them to me. She asked me to come back to his office and she’d get them. It’ll only take a moment, she said. I looked around for Gina, to tell her where I was going, but I couldn’t find her. I guess she was in the bathroom or something. So like an idiot, I followed this secretary back to my boss’s office, and that’s when it happened. But it was just one kiss, Mike, we weren’t making out. And I instantly tried to push her away. That’s what I was doing when Gina walked in.”

They started walking again. “Does Gina know all this?”

“Does she know? I’ve tried to tell her, a dozen times. She won’t believe me. Of course, it didn’t help that Marla lied to her. Right there, that night. She said we’re in love. I said, we are not, as loud as I could. This woman’s delusional, Mike. But Gina believed her,
and she wouldn’t listen to me. That’s the reason we’re separated right now. And I haven’t been able to get her to reconsider, no matter what I’ve tried.”

“Where are things at between you and this girl?”

“There’s nothing going on between us. There never has been. She doesn’t even work in our office anymore. I told my boss what she did when we got back from the Christmas holiday and he had her transferred to another building.”

Scott had to calm down. He hadn’t talked about this with anyone for so long, he didn’t realize how upset it made him that Gina refused to believe him. “Do you believe me, Mike?”

Mike didn’t answer right away. “I do, Scott.”

“You do?”

“Yeah, I do. I can see how something like that could happen.”

“Then will you talk to Gina? She won’t even talk about it with me anymore.”

“I can try to, Scott. But have you asked yourself why?”

“Why what?”

“Why she doesn’t believe you?”

“I don’t know. I guess for starters she saw that kiss, and she’s always been the jealous type. Ever since we got married, she’s been that way.”

“Have you ever given her any reason to be jealous?”

“I don’t think so. Gina’s the only woman I’ve ever loved. I’ve never even been with anyone else. Even when I was in Korea. Lots of guys, even some of the married ones, were playing around. But I never cheated on her. So you tell me, Mike, why she’s having such a hard time believing me.”

Mike looked at his watch. “Maybe we should turn around now.” They did, and started walking back toward the car. “I want to say something to you, Scott. But I don’t want to hurt you.”

“Just say it, Mike. Whatever it is.”

“I’m almost positive, if Rose walked in on me being kissed by a young secretary at a party and I told her it wasn’t what it looked like, that she’d believe me.”

“Even if that secretary lied and said you were having an affair.”

“I believe so,” Mike said. “She’d believe me over the girl. It’d be a rough night, but yeah, I know she’d believe me.”

Scott had a hard time believing that. But only for a few moments. As they walked together in silence a little while and he thought about what he knew of Mike and Rose’s relationship, he had to admit . . . he really could see Rose believing Mike on something like that.

And that really started to bother him.

They didn’t say too much until they got a little closer to Mike’s car. Scott broke the ice. “Thanks, Mike.”

“You mean it?”

“Yeah, I do. And I might regret this later, but right now I’m thinking I’d really like to hear what’s going on with you and Rose. What’s different about your relationship, why would she believe you if you got in the kind of jam I’m in.”

“I don’t know, Scott.”

“What do you mean, you don’t know?”

“I don’t know if I want to get into that right now. That would be a hard conversation.”

“Why?”

“Because it would . . . I’ve had this same talk before with a few guys in my church back in Savannah. I definitely would like to talk with you sometime about it. But I don’t know if now’s the right—”

“Mike . . .” They had reached Mike’s car. Scott sighed. “I really want to hear it. If it’ll help me close this mile-wide gap between Gina and me . . . then I want to hear it.” And maybe, Scott thought, it’ll finally give them the kind of home life Colt and Timmy would never want to run away from.

“What in the world is she doing?” August let the living room curtain slide back into place. He thought he’d heard a strange noise. Wasn’t the boy; it came from outside. One look out the window confirmed it. It was his nosy neighbor trespassing on his property, heading right this way. He had to deal with this. Wouldn’t do following his old plan of just ignoring her till she went away. Not with the boy in the house.

Bobby was back in his room after spending two hours in the dark place for running off like he’d done. He promised he’d never do it again and begged August not to put him in there. Pitched quite a fit talking about how afraid he was of the dark. But the boy had to be taught a lesson, for his own good.

Now August was gonna have to put him back in there again. And quick.

He rushed back to Bobby’s room, found him sleeping, laying right across his bed. He thought about leaving him there, see if maybe he’d sleep right through this upcoming intrusion. But it wouldn’t do any good to have him wake up while she was here. Might come right out of his room and surprise them before August had a chance to send her on her way.

For a moment, he entertained the notion of chasing her off with his shotgun. It was sitting right there in the corner, all loaded and ready to go. That would certainly get her moving, but he couldn’t take the chance that she’d complain about it to the police. They might come out here to give him a lecture and accidentally see the boy.

He walked over to the bed and shook Bobby awake. Bobby didn’t respond. “Bobby, wake up.”

“What? What is it?”

“Shhh,” August said, holding his index finger up to his lips. “Sit up, right now.”

“What’s the matter?”

“You need to get out of bed, that’s what’s the matter. Do it now.”

Bobby rubbed his eyes and sat up. “Why? What’s going on?”

“Somebody’s coming. Stop asking so many questions and do as you’re told.”

Bobby slid out of bed and stood by it.

August reached out his hand. “C’mon, follow me.”

“Where we going?”

“I said stop asking so many questions. Do I need to give you a swat?”

“No.” Bobby stepped closer and took hold of August’s hand.

August pulled him through the hallway, then the kitchen, toward the back porch.

“Where we going? Where are you taking me?”

As they got to the back door, August said, “You know where.”

“No!” Bobby shouted. “Not the closet! Please. I’ll be good. I promise.”

“Hush!” August pulled harder and squeezed his wrist harder. “It’ll just be a few minutes this time, till I get rid of this busybody. But I’ll leave you in there another two hours if you make a fuss
about it.” The boy was still pulling away, trying to dig his heels in, but he found no purchase on the wooden floor. And he didn’t weigh nothing, so it was a fairly easy chore getting him across the porch.

“Please don’t make me go in there. I promise I won’t say anything.”

“I can’t take that chance.” August opened the padlock and flipped open the latch. He swung the door back and pushed the boy inside.

“But it’s too dark in here. I’m afraid.”

“Well, that’s just something you’re gonna have to get over. There’s nothing in there gonna hurt you. But if you don’t hush, I’ll put a hurt on you. You keep quiet, I’ll be back to get you as soon as she leaves. I might even give you one of those comic books. But you make a racket, and I’ll leave you in here all night. You’ll get no supper.”

As August closed the door, he could hear the boy starting to cry. “You remember what I told you last time. Nobody can hear you crying in there. You’re just wasting your time.” He locked the door back up and headed toward the living room to intercept his neighbor.

What he had told the boy wasn’t exactly the truth. Nobody could hear if they were on their own property. But he had little doubt that if Bobby cried as loud as he had earlier that day and that neighbor was on his front porch, she very well could hear it. That happened, and he might just have to use his shotgun after all. So see, locking the boy up was best for everyone.

By the time August got to the front door, he could already hear that woman’s heavy steps across the porch. She was a big woman, probably on account of all them pies she made. He smiled at that thought. He opened the door just as she raised her hand to knock.

“Oh, excuse me,” she said.

“Excuse you for what?”

“Guess I was just about to knock on your chest.”

“Well, what do you want?”

“Me? I don’t really want anything, I just—”

“Then why’d you come over?”

“Now, August, is that any way to talk to your neighbor?”

She lived on the property next door, he thought, but did that really make them neighbors? He decided not to answer. Figured she’d keep talking without his help. He looked at her hair; it seemed a little different from the last time he saw her. More curly and more gray. She had to be what, close to sixty now.

“I just came over to find out if you heard the news. You know, what the president said on television about the Russians and Cuba? I know you don’t watch television all that much, but this news is kind of important. World War III could start any day now. That’s what everyone’s saying.”

“You don’t say.”

“My daughter and her husband live in Cocoa Beach. She’s been telling me that all kinds of Army trucks and tanks have been driving down US-1, all heading south toward Cuba. For days now. The president didn’t say anything about that, but her husband said they’re preparing for an invasion. He said it could happen any day. And if it does, he said you could count on the Russians firing off atom bombs at us. You know, like Hiroshima. And then we’d be firing off our bombs at them.”

She stood there looking at him a moment, like all this should matter to him somehow. “Well, I guess if it’s the end, then it’s the end,” he said.

A confused look came over her face. “That’s all you have to say?”

“Well, what else am I supposed to say? Not like I can do anything about it, one way or the other.” Now she looked frustrated, or was it disgusted? He didn’t care either way. He just wanted her gone.

“I just thought I should tell you,” she said. “Thought maybe you should be watching the TV a little more over the next few days, or at least turn on your radio. That way if those missiles start firing off, you’ll be ready.”

Was she serious? How did one get ready for atom bombs going off? Besides, he didn’t think they were called atom bombs anymore either. Weren’t they made of hydrogen or helium? Either way, none of this was really his concern. If the world was gonna end, it was gonna end.

He was gonna say thanks for coming over, but he didn’t want her to think he was glad to see her. “If that’s it then, you have a nice day.”

She stared at him a moment. He was about to close the door. “Oh, by the way, didn’t I see you with your little boy down by the water’s edge awhile ago?”

“What?”

“Your little boy, hadn’t seen him around for months. But thought I saw him this afternoon with you down by the water. Has he been living with his mother for a while?”

August felt anger rising up inside him. Nosy old biddy. That was probably the real reason she wobbled over here. Not to warn him about World War III. She wanted to get the inside scoop on his personal business. Well, he wouldn’t give her the satisfaction. “I’m sorry, but I don’t see how that’s any of your business. You have a nice day.”

With that, he closed the door. Gave it a little shove those last few inches. He stepped away, closed the little set of curtains hanging over the living room door window. Made sure there weren’t any gaps.

He waited there a minute, a full minute. Could still see her big shape outlined through the curtains. Get a move on it now, he thought. He walked over toward his shotgun in the corner. Just as he picked it up, he heard her heavy footsteps exiting the porch.

That a girl.