by Katie George
Chapter Four
Joel
BRIE WAS FAR from Joel Sealet’s mind when he parked in the lot of the only Methodist church in town. Baptists were the prominent denomination here, and Joel called himself one of these. But he did not come to pray. He came to smoke a joint in a parking lot where no one lurked, especially not on a bright, clear Saturday afternoon.
The green leafy plant was intoxicating, Joel gave it that. It was the only real drug he frequently used, and somehow, his parents had never found out. He bought from the same dealer Brie used, up in the outskirts of Savannah. He’d started smoking weed around his last few months as a senior, and now he smoked whenever some block of his brain was about to collapse.
In this scenario, it was just the fact that Brie existed in his life.
After he finished the joint, he drove in the direction of the clear blue sea, that vacuum of space with its venomous snakes, massive whales, and killer sharks. He had never liked the ocean much, especially during hurricane season.
After passing the coastal road, he headed back into town to the small mini-mart. It was almost five by then, and having some weird desire for fast food, he changed paths and went to grab some dinner. He was not sure if his mom was cooking or not; he simply wanted to clear his head with a burger or something like it.
He chose one of the local hangouts, where a long line waited for the drive-thru. If he had been lucid, he would have taken the initiative to actually head inside, but in a hazy, blanked out mindset, he chose to wait, and found himself thinking for the first time in a long time. He watched as a few pretty teenage girls left the restaurant, before noting an elderly couple—probably married for fifty years—walk in. A young woman leaned on the shoulder of her boyfriend. The two seemed in love, and Joel wondered if he and Brie looked anything like that. He highly doubted it.
The sun began to sink lower in the sky. When he finally reached the window to pay for his meal, a young man swiped his card. In the background, Joel recognized Alex McFarland, an old friend of his. They occasionally hung out on weekends with the group, but Alex was usually too mild-mannered for partying. Joel saw a sheen of sweat cover his friend’s dark eyebrow as he hurriedly worked on a cheeseburger. Joel wanted to call out to him, but something in him decided against it, and he went to the next window to collect his food.
Joel thought about Alex on the way to the store. Alex was a good guy, and he was also a churched guy. He did not smoke or drink, and he never seemed to enjoy hanging out with girls. Joel knew it made him nervous, which was why teasing him had been somewhat enjoyable. Alex attended the University of Georgia now, but he came back quite a bit and did frequent some of the same places Joel did. He did not know that Alex was working in Breezewater, however, which spooked him. Breezewater had become unique to his interests, because most of his friends lived back in Savannah. And luckily his exes did too.
Joel drove the five minutes to the grocery store where he planned to buy the items his mother needed. As soon as he stepped out of his old Jeep, a voice greeted him. A familiar voice, one he knew intimately, and one he wished to avoid. Joel turned, watching as a beautiful girl approached him. She had light brown hair, sun-kissed skin, bright brown eyes, and a killer smile. She had a perfect body, in Joel’s opinion, yet he wondered if something was wrong with him for already wanting to break it off with her.
“Hey,” he whispered as he wrapped an arm around her waist.
She kissed him quickly. “I saw you at the drive-thru, and I waved like a madwoman, but you were distracted. So I followed you here.”
“Brie, why’re you in town?” If it had been another girl, he might have reacted differently. Yet Brie was kindhearted and always thought the best of everyone.
She leafed a hand through her long, straight hair. “I was visiting my aunt. I was going to stop by your place before I took off, but I noticed you at the drive-thru.” She laid her head on his shoulder. It was hard to mistake the sweetness that oozed from bubbly Brie’s lips. She never said a bad thing about anyone, and took it upon herself to refrain from overdoing it on booze, sex, and drugs, although she did partake.
“Brie, I’ve missed you,” Joel said, breathing in her scent. “You’re so beautiful.”
She blinked up at him, her eyes like stars. “Joel, why don’t you and I get away this weekend? Why don’t we just take off, spend the weekend at a little motel on the beach? It’s been a while since we’ve done something sporadic like that.”
He nodded, kissing her, the weightlessness addicting. He knew some people were beginning to stare, but he liked the attention. “Anything you say sounds ideal.”
“Joel, I see Mrs. Trantridge.”
He turned around, seeing the old lady, cursing underneath his breath. Mrs. Trantridge was as vocal as a bird, always speaking her mind, and sometimes in the rudest way possible. She had been alive for the majority of the twentieth century, and she made it her mission to drag the townspeople along the straight and narrow path. She was not a religious kook, but rather an utmost traditionalist, and some of her favorite experiments included Joel Sealet and Brie Fraser.
“Hello, Mr. Sealet, Miss Fraser,” Mrs. Trantridge began, clutching her purse closer to her small frame. She had a head full of snow-white hair, and her physical strength had been diminishing over the past few years, but her mind was as sharp as a whip. She took pride in that, along with her impeccable driving record, even at the age of eighty-four.
“Hi, Mrs. Trantridge,” nervously said Brie. She was scared of the old woman’s influence, but Joel was more sarcastic in that department. Brie was a nice girl and hated to disappoint anyone.
The old woman scowled at Joel. “What were you doing in that church parking lot, young man?”
“Excuse me?” Joel asked, innocent-like. Leave it to Mrs. Trantridge, a longtime Baptist, to have seen him at the Methodist church parking lot. Mrs. Trantridge had been a Baptist longer than she had been married to her husband of sixty-six years. Unfortunately, he had passed in the previous January, but it had been a long time coming. In all reality, the old woman had been somewhat pleased. Her whole life, she’d only wanted one thing: a house full of cats. Her husband had been uber allergic to all pets with fur—horses, dogs, cats, even guinea pigs—and there was no room for a pet. So as soon as he was buried in the ground, Mrs. Trantridge went to his grave and placed a photo of her new cat on the freshly dug earth.
Mrs. Trantridge wished she had a cane in this moment, so she could hit Joel upside the head. In these days, however, that act would be illegal. She had a reminiscent moment, dreaming back to her youth in the fifties. “Ah,” she moaned, before looking back up at her victim. “Your car—that unmistakable hunk of Jeep metal—was sitting in the parking lot of the Methodist church. I want to know why.”
Joel’s face flared. “Well, I needed a moment out of the house, Mrs. T.”
“So you went to the house of the Methodists? If you need God, seek your Bible anywhere. But the Methodist church?”
“I am sorry,” Joel lied, feeling Brie squeeze his hand, away from the vantage point of Mrs. Trantridge’s good eyesight.
“I’ve been meaning to talk to the two of you, to hear about what’s going on in your relationship.” Mrs. Trantridge leaned against the SUV behind her, though it wasn’t hers. She had achy knees.
“We’ve been dating for five months now,” Brie happily declared. She looked up at Joel with energetic and pleased eyes.
“Yup,” he halfheartedly seconded.
“Well,” Mrs. Trantridge said, “that’s long enough for me. Why don’t you pop the question, Mr. Sealet?”
Joel’s jaw dropped open. “I’m only nineteen, Mrs. T. That’s far too young to get hitched.”
The old wise sensei shook her head. “I got married at eighteen, and let me tell you, that was too old.”
“Too old? That cannot possibly be too old,” argued Joel.
Mrs. Trantridge shook her head. “I’m telling you, it is the perf
ect age. You two make quite the charming couple, and if you want to do the deed, it is best within the confines of marriage.”
Brie turned pink with embarrassment and dropped Joel’s hand. “You know, I’ve got to make it back to Savannah soon to meet with my parents. It’s nice seeing you, Mrs. Trantridge. Bye Joel,” she said, without even kissing him.
Joel had been distracted until he watched a Mercedes whip into a parking spot a few seconds before. He pretended to be deep in conversation with Mrs. Trantridge, Brie remaining a few moments longer. The young woman exited the car. He recognized her as the one he’d seen in the sports car only moments before. California, he realized. She was the girl who’d gone to California.
Shocked, he looked at Mrs. Trantridge and muttered, “Would you like to accompany me into the store? See you, Brie!”
