by Josh Karnes
Chapter 1
Isla De Vieques, Puerto Rico
“Don’t forget to tip them.”
Melissa was trying to be nice. He was really trying; she had to give him credit for that. James intended this trip to be his last ditch effort at pulling the family back together. The irony is that they wouldn’t have ever been able to afford a trip like this had it not been for the very thing that had made it necessary in the first place. But, she had to admit, this place is beautiful. And for just a few seconds, if she pretended that the last two years hadn’t happened, it felt very much like paradise to be here. Damn you, James.
“I know. I’m not an idiot,” James said mostly to himself as the cab driver hoisted their bags out of the back of the Ford Focus taxi that had shuttled them from the tiny Antonio Rivera Rodríguez Airport on Vieques. But of course, he didn’t believe it. I am an idiot, he thought. Every single day.
James knew this was, in fact, his final effort to hold his family together. More accurately, it was his best opportunity to keep himself in his family. They were slipping away, and it was one hundred percent his fault.
As the bellman exchanged a baggage claim ticket for a five-dollar tip, James led the way as the Grady family walked up to the open-air check-in desk at the Ensenada del Mar resort.
“We have a reservation. Grady.”
“Yes, Señor James. Welcome to the Ensenada del Mar. I hope you had a pleasant flight here. We have two adjoining rooms for you on the second floor overlooking the beach. Did the bellman give you a baggage ticket?” the young lady spoke with only a hint of an accent.
“Yes. Right here,” James said, handing her the claim ticket.
The clerk deftly folded two magnetic room key cards into a pamphlet for the resort and flipped it over revealing the facility map printed on the back as she laid it down on the counter.
“Here are your room keys. You are in rooms 203 and 204. Just past this counter you turn left before you reach the bar, and your room is up the next stairs,” she said while tracing the path they were to take on the map with a pen. “If you would like, after you are settled in your room we are serving dinner beginning at 7:00, which is in just a little while, in our main restaurant, just over here,” she pointed to the restaurant on the map. “Otherwise a short taxi ride will bring you to the town center where there are restaurants and dancing and music. Our concierge can help you to choose, and there is a guide in your room describing the restaurants.” She handed him the pamphlet and room keys.
“Okay. Thank you very much”
“Thank you, Señor James. Is there anything else I can help you with?”
“Not now, I don’t think.”
“Okay, then. Again, welcome to Ensenada del Mar, mister Grady.”
With that, the Grady family filed off towards their rooms.
James prompted, “So, guys, what do we want to do for dinner? Take the trip into town, or just hit the resort restaurant?”
“Mm, I dunno. In town could be cool. What’s there?” said Joey.
Melissa was not in the mood. “I’m not sure I’m up to it. We’ve been on planes and in taxis all day. I don’t think I can take getting back into another taxi right now. Maybe tomorrow. What do you think, Joey?”
“Whatever. Maybe I’ll just head down to the beach then.”
Eli took charge. “Look. Let’s just take a few minutes and wait for our bags to make it to the room, check out the view and chill for a minute. Then we can meet at the restaurant here in the hotel for dinner at 7:30. Sound good?”
They arrived at their rooms and it was settled without further discussion. Since things had started to become more difficult for the Grady family, Eli had felt increasing pressure to take over. His mom was pretty angry most of the time. Maybe not so much angry. Disappointed. A little hopeless. Kind of like the wind had been knocked out of her emotionally. Eli was halfway through college when he had to step up. Eli had been old enough to man up, but Joseph was only fifteen then. Dad was still very much his hero. Eli was not really ready to be the “man of the house”, but if things kept going the way they were going, he wouldn't have much of a choice.
All along he had been the big brother, he had to stand up for his little brothers, particularly Joseph. He wasn’t really a troublemaker, but he somehow always seemed to wind up walking into situations where he needed to be bailed out. There was this one time when Joey and Mark were walking home from middle school. As usual, Mark was just on a bit of a mission: get home. He was always like that, just driven. Focused on the task in front of him. All business, no horsing around. And he had to drag Joey along with him, and Joey was easily distracted to say the least.
While Mark was conducting his full-ahead march, Joey was taking in his surroundings and taking his time. Mark wasn’t going to wait up. Joey looked around the corner and saw none other than the Ford brothers, Charles and Randy, come busting out of A&J’s Qwik Mart, each with a 12-pack of Bud under each arm, in a full-on sprint. Now, these Ford brothers were not exactly “good kids”. They caught sight of Joey and he turned toward home and lit off in a full on sprint, flew by Mark within a block and hoofed it double time all the way home. Just some dumb kids stealing beer. Big whoop, right? But the Grady kids had that reputation for being straight-laced, upstanding citizens. Charles and Randy thought for sure Joey was going to turn them in.
Once Joey got to the sanctuary of home, he figured he was safe. He told Mark what had happened, but Eli got home from high school later and didn’t know what was up. Joey decided to hit the driveway before dinner to work on some skateboard tricks and not one minute after he went outside, old Charles and Randy showed up. Perhaps they figured they were going to put the fear into poor Joey, keep him quiet. Once Eli heard the ruckus outside he stormed out there and when the Ford kids got a look at the six-foot tall, 180 pound, seventeen-year-old varsity baseball player, well, suffice to say the fight drained out of them rather immediately.
That was hardly the only time that Eli came to Joey’s rescue. Whether it was getting lost on a hike, wandering into the locker room at NRG Arena and nearly being arrested, underestimating how much gas was needed to get him home from whatever middle of nowhere he thought it would be cool to go visit on a whim, or whatever other quasi-adventure Joey would wrap himself up in, you name it: it was Eli to save the day.
Eli loved his little brother and wouldn’t have it any other way.
