Hurricane Heat

by Steven Barwin

  “I need to know if she’s here.” The backyard was sloped and looked over a scattering of homes. I could see a parking lot by the beach. I knocked repeatedly on a sliding glass door.

  “This is trespassing. They could call the cops!” Jessie said.

  “Jess, I don’t have time for this. I need to know if my sister lives here.” I pulled on the door handle. It was locked.

  Jessie yanked my hand off it. “With a criminal record, you can say goodbye to any scholarship. Scouts won’t touch you.”

  Her logic had no effect on me. “There’s something going on here. That guy, Bob Miller—when I called and asked for Amanda, he hung up on me. I think Bob sensed who I was on the phone and is keeping Amanda from me.”

  “What’re you talking about?”

  “It makes sense.”

  “You’re scaring me.” Jessie started to walk away.

  I banged on the back door. “Damn!”

  She stopped at the edge of the house. “What time is your game tomorrow?”

  “Late afternoon. Why?”

  “Forget the team meeting, and forget the dinner. How about we come back later?”

  I looked at her. My back and face were sweaty. “Okay.” We killed time and drove around the neighborhood. After burning through an hour of fuel, I tried the house again. No answer.

  “It’s late, Travis. We need to decide what to do,” said Jessie.

  “I need to stay, but you should go home. I can get a bus in the morning.”

  “I can’t leave you. Plus, you wouldn’t get back in time for your game.”

  “I’ll be fine. This is more important.”

  “And what about Ethan?”

  “He’ll have to understand.”

  “You should at least call him.”

  I looked out the window.

  Jessie snatched my phone and flipped it open.

  “Give it back.”

  “Ethan’s been calling you!”

  “Jess, he’s only calling to get me back to the tournament. He’s set on winning. I’m set on finding Amanda.”

  She returned my phone. “I told you I’d help you find her, so that’s what I’m going to do. This is your search, so we’ll do it your way. What’s your call?”

  “Spend the night here. Go back to the house first thing in the morning.”

  “Okay, where are we sleeping?” she asked.

  “You’re looking at it. You can have the backseat if you want.”

  In a beachside parking lot that had a perfect view of the Pacific Ocean, we ate take-out burritos as surfers rode out the remaining minutes of shimmering sun.

  “Wish I had my board. Those look like some toxic waves,” said Jessie.

  “It looks peaceful out there.”

  “Yeah. When I’m on my board, the world disappears. Especially when I hit a breaker.”

  I turned to her.

  “It’s hard to explain exactly,” she continued. “It’s sort of like I’m in another time—riding the last wave of the day, as it cuts in and out of the last bit of light, seems to last forever. You would like surfing.”

  We watched as the surfers retreated to a beach bonfire. In the darkness of the car, we settled in for the night. I tried to get comfortable in the passenger seat while Jessie sprawled along the backseat. My phone vibrated, and I held it up so Jessie could see Ethan’s name on the caller id. I let it go to voice mail. I started to dial the Millers’ number.

  Jessie shifted in the backseat. “It’s late, and you’re just going to scare them away.”

  I powered down my phone. “Goodnight.”

  chapter fifteen

  I woke to the sound of a car door opening.

  “Sorry. I was trying to be quiet,” said Jessie.

  It took me a second to figure out where I was. The bonfire was out, and the sun was rising. “We have to go,” I said.

  “It’s not even seven on a Monday morning. I think we’re okay.”

  But I rushed Jessie into the driver’s seat, and we tore away from the beach, screeching to a stop in front of the house. I ran up and rang the front doorbell.

  The door opened, and a man with a perfectly trimmed black beard with grey flecks in it appeared.

  “Bob Miller?”

  He studied me before replying. “We give to a local charity.”

  The door started to close, and I realized I looked like I had slept in a car. “No, Mr. Miller. I’m looking for Amanda. She lives here, right?”

  He looked over my shoulder. I hadn’t realized that Jessie was behind me.

  She nudged me. “Tell him who you are.”

  “I’m Travis, Amanda’s brother from Phoenix.”

  “Amanda doesn’t live here. You’ve got the wrong house.” He stepped back and closed the door.

  I didn’t know what to say. If Amanda didn’t live here, where was she? I rang the bell a few more times before the door opened slightly and Bob told me to get off his property or he would call the police. The door closed again, and this time I heard him bolt it.

  Cops or no cops, I didn’t want to leave. He clearly knew Amanda, and without his help, there was no way for me to find her. I yelled, asking for a number, address, anything, but he didn’t respond. I felt Jessie’s hand on my arm. She gently pulled me away from the door. I wanted to collapse on Bob’s lawn and not move until he helped me. Let the police arrest me for trespassing and take me to jail. I didn’t care. Maybe a judge would see everything I’d done to find Amanda and understand my situation. Maybe a judge could go right to family services, find my file, find Amanda’s, and let her decide for herself if she wanted to reconnect.

  Jessie snapped me back to reality when she asked me if I was going to be okay.

  I hadn’t realized we were back in her car. I shook my head.

  “I understand if you’re not okay. It makes sense to not be okay. I don’t know what to say to you or how to help you right now.”

  “Mr. Miller could have helped, if he wanted to.” I wanted to punch a hole through Jessie’s car door. Instead, I pushed my head back against the headrest. “You heard how he said she doesn’t live there. That was before he said we had the wrong house.”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Trust me, Jess. I do. This is the right house.”

  Jessie rested her hands on the steering wheel. “I don’t want to ask this, but now what?”

  I shrugged.

  “If Amanda lives somewhere else in San Diego, that means she has a life, friends, maybe a part-time job. I’ll drive you down every weekend, and we can find her that way.”

  I looked back at the house and saw the garage door slide open. A shiny red Jetta pulled out, a surfboard on the roof rack. And it was definitely not Bob behind the wheel.

  “Is that Amanda?” Jessie started the car.

  “I told you Bob was lying.” We pulled away from the house in pursuit of the Jetta.

  “I have no idea what’s going on,” Jessie said. “And look how fast she’s going. She definitely doesn’t want us to catch up to her.”

  We struggled to follow each zig and zag Amanda made through the winding maze of neighborhood streets. With each jarring turn, my mind raced to find reasons why Amanda didn’t want to see me. Didn’t she miss me as much as I missed her?

  “Dude, your sister can drive,” said Jessie.

  Amanda already had a lead on us when she gunned it through a yellow light and made a sharp left turn on the other side of the intersection. Horns honked, and my stomach dropped as Jessie hit the brakes, stopping just before the pedestrian line.

  “Jess, I don’t want to cause an accident. Maybe we should back off. She clearly wants nothing to do with me. Who am I to force her into seeing me?”

  Jessie turned right and then swerved into a U-turn. “We didn’t come all this way to not get any answers.”

  She was right. I deserved at least that. “You look out on the left side—I’ve got the right,” I said. We passed through two intersections, and t
here was no sign of her. Only ritzy-looking shops and restaurants. Then I spotted the Jetta with the surfboard, parked in a metered spot. “There she is. Pull into that spot.”

  Jessie cut the engine. “What’s she doing in her car?”

  “Probably making sure she lost us.”

  Jessie reached for her door handle.

  “Well, what are we waiting for?”

  “If we go now, she’ll drive off. I don’t want to lose her again. Let’s wait for her to make the next move.”

  “Good idea. I have to say—no offense to you—your sister seems kind of crazy.”

  “She was always the kind of kid that never backed down.”

  Jessie laughed. “My brother ignores me. He bumped into me on the beach with his friends the other day and walked right past me. It was as if I didn’t exist.”

  “What’s his problem?”

  “I think I embarrass him.”

  The Jetta’s door swung open. Amanda got out. Jessie and I followed her. She looked back, but we kept a safe distance away.

  “Where do you think she’s going?” Jessie asked.

  “I don’t know, but I’m getting a little tired of hiding from her.” I knew I had to make my move. I just wasn’t sure when or how.

  “Yeah, I feel like we’re doing something wrong—illegal.”

  “That’s exactly how I feel.” I slowed down when Amanda stopped to look in a store window. Go up to her, I told myself, and don’t scare her. “Jess, hang back a bit. I’m going to go and talk to her.” I moved around a row of parked cars so that I could get behind Amanda. I moved slowly. This was the moment I had been waiting for— our reunion. In the reflection in the store window, I saw her look at me. “Amanda, it’s me. Travis.”

  She turned around and lowered her sunglasses. She wasn’t Amanda.

  chapter sixteen

  She stepped toward me. “Why are you still following me?”

  Confused, I put up my hands and backed away. “I’m sorry—I thought you were someone else.”

  “Just leave me alone.”

  She started to walk away, and I followed her. “But you came out of that house. Do you know Amanda?”

  She wouldn’t look at me.

  I fired questions at her, hoping one would get a reaction. “Why did your dad not want to talk to me? I’m trying to find my sister. Do you know where she is? Is she in that house?”

  Finally she paused. “I heard who you are, and my dad can’t see me talking to you. I can’t help you. I can’t even talk to you.”

  Jessie stepped up beside me. “If you help Travis, answer some questions for him, we’ll leave you alone.”

  “Trust me, I can’t help you.”

  Jessie pressed her hands on her hips. “If you don’t, we’re going to find out everything about you. We’ll start online, then we’re going to move down here for the rest of the summer and follow you, talk to your friends, do whatever we have to do, even—”

  She cut Jessie off. “Okay, okay.”

  Jessie nodded toward me. “Just answer some of his questions.”

  “You can save your questions,” she said.

  “Then just hear him out,” said Jessie.

  To my surprise, Jessie actually got the girl to listen. I told her the same thing I had told everyone else. I may have sounded like a charity case or a nut case, but I hoped to get my point across. I ended by explaining that we had thought she was Amanda.

  “Here’s all I can give you. My name’s Claire. Amanda’s my stepsister. You should know that Amanda used to talk about you all the time.”

  It felt good to hear that. Although it didn’t matter, I asked, “In a good way or a bad way?”

  “Both.” Claire smirked. Her iPhone beeped, and she glanced at it. “Dad left Arizona and brought us to California so he could open his own business and all of us could have a fresh start. It wasn’t exactly the easiest thing, moving. It was a rough change, for everybody. And as much as I detested my dad for it, I have made some great friends. I love San Diego. Amanda has let go of everything, including you. She’s gone for the summer. I didn’t get to say goodbye to her before she left because we were bickering about a guy I was dating. I haven’t spoken to her lately. Travis, my dad’s not a bad person. And right now, he’s probably surprised more than anything. You represent Arizona and troubled times for his adopted daughter.”

  “I need to see Amanda,” I said.

  “I can’t help you with that.”

  “But don’t you think Amanda should be the one to decide if she wants to see me or not?”

  Claire’s iPhone beeped again. As she checked it, I thought for a split second about snatching it from her hands, knowing Amanda’s number was probably in it.

  “I’m late. I have to go. See that coffee shop across the street?” Claire said.

  I nodded. The café was on the corner, behind a row of very tall palm trees. It had a purple canopy and a wraparound patio.

  “Meet me in one hour over there,” Claire said.

  “You’re going to speak to Amanda?”

  She smiled. “See you in an hour. Oh yeah—please don’t follow me.” Then she walked away.

  “Do you trust her?” Jessie asked.

  “I have no choice.”

  “So what now?” she asked.

  “We wait.”

  It was the kind of café that has a hostess. I asked for a table on the patio. Despite the scenic view, I kept my eyes on Claire’s Jetta. I’d said I wouldn’t follow her, but I wasn’t going to let her slip away either. A waiter stopped by to distribute menus and take our drink order. He stopped by a few minutes later and seemed peeved when I told him we still hadn’t decided.

  Jessie’s face was half covered by the large menu. “I don’t think he’s going to let us sit here for free.”

  “I’m really not in the mood for eating.”

  “That’s a good thing. Have you seen the prices?”

  I took a peek as the waiter circled around us like a shark.

  “Two iced teas?” I asked.

  “Sounds great,” Jessie said.

  “And what about something to eat?” the waiter asked.

  Jessie pressed her elbows onto the table and looked up at the waiter. “You know, my friend is getting over a nasty stomach flu. So I think we’re good with only drinks.”

  I could barely hold in my laughter as the waiter looked at me, pursed his lips and walked away.

  “That should buy us some time,” Jessie said. “If there’s one thing I hate, it’s a pushy waiter. If I acted like that, I’d never get tips.” Jessie’s cell rang.

  While she was taking the call, our drinks arrived. I checked my watch. A small part of me dared to hope Claire would return with Amanda.

  Jessie put her phone down on the table. “You’re never going to believe who that was. Ethan.”

  “You gave him your number?”

  “He’s in San Diego.”

  “What?”

  “And he’s on his way over here.”

  “What?”

  She cut me off before I could say anything more. “I couldn’t lie to him.”

  “As long as he gets here before Claire,” I said.

  We were drinking iced-tea refills when we spotted Ethan speed-walking toward the café. He bypassed the hostess and stopped at our table.

  “Who the hell abandons their team like that?” he asked.

  I didn’t have an answer for him.

  “Sit,” Jessie said.

  Ethan ignored her. He was gunning for me. “I don’t hear anything from you? You just disappear?”

  He was making a scene, disrupting the other customers. “Ethan, I told you I needed to go to San Diego.”

  “And I told you it could wait.”

  “Well, obviously, it couldn’t.” I knew I shouldn’t have skipped out on the team, but Ethan had no right to act like a jerk. “Why did you come all the way down here?”

  “You’re not answering your phone.”
>
  “So you track down Jessie to get to me?”

  “It wasn’t difficult. I called your work and found out Jessie had to cancel her shift at the last minute for a family emergency in San Diego.”

  “And my number?” Jessie asked.

  “I called the restaurant on the way down and told them I was your San Diego cousin. By the way, your fake uncle’s going to be okay.” Ethan turned to me and demanded that I return to Riverside with him. When I said I wasn’t ready, he told me I was throwing away my life for another one of my chance leads. He didn’t understand that the baseball me wasn’t the real me. Baseball was the reason I had lost my family in the first place. I wasn’t going to let it do that again.

  Jessie told Ethan to back off.

  “Yeah, Ethan. You keep saying I’m throwing away my future. I’ve only been playing for a few weeks. Somehow I get the feeling it’s your future you’re trying to protect.”

  Ethan didn’t respond.

  “Are you my friend or the coach’s watchdog? Because right now, it seems your only interest is in protecting your chance for a win—” I stopped. Claire had entered the patio. Her dad was behind her.

  Claire’s eyes were hidden behind large-rimmed sunglasses. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I had to let my dad know. He would have found out anyway, and you’re not the one who has to live with him.”

  Claire stepped aside, and Mr. Miller pulled up a chair. He cleared his throat, waved off the waiter and folded his hands on the table. “Amanda would like you to leave her and her family alone.”

  “If that’s what she wants, I’ll respect that. But I’m going to need to hear it directly from her,” I said.

  He looked at me, staring me down. Clearly, he wanted me to back off. But I had every right to want to speak to Amanda.

  Claire bent over and whispered in her father’s ear. He shook his head, and she stepped back.

  “Mr. Miller, does Amanda know I’m in town?” I asked.

  “Amanda’s got a good life now, and I think you should be happy for her.” He reached into his pocket, pulled out a check and placed it on the table in front of me. Jessie, Ethan and I all saw that it was for a thousand dollars. “It’s for you. Please— leave my family alone.” He stood up and marched away. Claire followed him.