by Alex Tully
He leaned forward and handed it to her, his face suddenly serious, “If you have any concerns or questions—anything at all—you call me.”
She gave him a tight-lipped smile, “Okay, thank you.” She just wanted to get the hell out of there.
“I only ask one thing in return,” he said.
Oh no. She could feel her heart drop into her stomach.
“After you put that number in your phone, if you wouldn’t mind texting me so I have yours…just in case.”
Just in case of what? “Uh, yeah…okay.”
The giant, white smile returned. Did he even realize how fake it looked? How fake he looked? “Keep up the good work Zoe. I think you’ve got a great future here.”
Finally, she could leave. But just as she was about to stand, she saw Mr. Crawford’s face fall. Zoe could feel someone standing behind her.
“Now please don’t leave on my account,” a woman’s voice, one she didn’t recognize.
Zoe turned to see a woman, who she immediately realized must be Mrs. Crawford. She was tall and thin and dressed casually in a white gauzy blouse and capris. Her blonde hair was pulled away from her face underneath a straw hat, and she wore little make-up.
“Aren’t you going to introduce me, Martin?” Her voice was cool and steady.
Mr. Crawford shifted uncomfortably on the couch, “This is one of the cabana girls, Zoe,” he nodded, “and I was just telling her what a great job she’s been doing.”
“I bet you were Martin,” Mrs. Crawford leaned over and offered her hand, “It’s nice to meet you, Zoe, I’m Gayle Crawford.”
Zoe shook her hand awkwardly, “Nice to meet you.”
“Are you enjoying working here?” she seemed genuine enough, as if her bitterness was only directed at her husband.
“Uh, yes…now that I’m getting the hang of it.”
“That’s good to hear,” Mrs. Crawford smiled, “I know it can be tough having to work during the summer. I always had to work when I was a teenager. How old are you—sixteen, seventeen?” And then she gave a glare toward Mr. Crawford.
“Sixteen,” she just wanted to get the hell out of there—like yesterday.
“Well, I’m sure you’re busy. We won’t keep you.”
At that, Zoe almost vaulted out of her chair and walked away as fast as she could without breaking into a full-on run. She headed straight toward Heather who was loading dirty towels into one of the laundry carts.
Heather must’ve seen the look on her face because she immediately put her hand up, “We’ll talk after the shift.”
“Wait, just tell me, is he like that with everyone—is this like some rite of passage or something?” she said it louder than she should have.
“Come with me,” Heather grabbed her arm and led her into the Galley bathroom. Once they were inside, she immediately checked all of the stalls, “To answer your question, yes he is a total creep, but only if he likes you. He’s a dick to everyone else.”
“Great. Well, he wanted my cell number.”
“Shit,” Heather winced, “What did he say exactly?”
“He handed me a card with his number and told me to text him. Oh, and he said, ‘just in case.’ What the hell does that even mean?”
“Unfortunately for you, it means he really likes you. He’s done this with a couple of other girls in the past.”
“Well does he have your number?” Zoe had to know.
“Yep, but he doesn’t call me anymore.”
“He used to?”
Heather looked around again, “Okay, it was three summers ago—I was only seventeen. He did the same thing to me, got my number ‘just in case.’ He started calling, I wouldn’t answer, and he started leaving voicemails. They were always about how great of a job I was doing, and how he wanted to thank me by taking me out to lunch, or to get a bite to eat for dinner. I think one time he even said he wanted to get some ice cream.”
She paused and lowered her voice to almost a whisper, “Well, Crawfish likes to drink—a lot. He also loves his pills.”
“Pills?”
“I heard painkillers, like OxyContin,” Heather said, “And then the calls got worse. He started calling when he was drunk, or high, or both. Sometimes I couldn’t understand a word he said. So, I finally blocked his number, and he goes and calls me from another number.”
Heather sighed, “I was seriously ready to quit but it was in the middle of the season, and I knew it was going to be really hard to find another job. I was making good money—and I had college coming up. Well, you know how it is.”
Zoe nodded. Oh yeah, she knew.
“So the next time he called, I took a big chance and I answered it,” Heather smiled, “and I told him I’d play the voicemails for his wife if he didn’t stop calling. And guess what? The asshole never called again.”
“Seriously?”
“Yep, I thought for sure he’d fire me, but he didn’t.”
Zoe looked at Heather—smart, beautiful, down-to-earth. She seemed too good for Crystal Waters, “But why are you still working here? There’s got to be better summer jobs for someone with your experience.”
Heather hesitated, “Okay this is seriously between us—okay?”
“Okay…”
“At the end of that first summer Crawfish gave me a big bonus—in cash. I don’t know why. Maybe he was still worried I would say something to his wife. Maybe he just liked watching me work—at that point, I didn’t care. He said if I came back the next summer I’d get the bonus again,” she paused, “and I did.”
“Seriously?”
“Yep,” she nodded, “The next summer, same thing.”
“For no reason?!”
“Yes. No phone calls, no voicemails—nothing. I mean we still communicated about work, but none of the other crap. I swear I wasn’t even looking at him funny.”
“How much?” Zoe asked.
“It’s a lot. Well, for him, it’s probably nothing. But it’s definitely more then I’d make at any other summer job.”
“For nothing?”
“Swear to god.” Heather checked her face in the mirror, “And he said I’d get it again at the end of this summer.”
“Come on, you’ve got to tell me. How much?” Zoe was dying to know.
“Not telling, sorry,” she looked Zoe in the face, “Look, please don’t worry about him. Just remember—if he calls, don’t answer. And save the voicemails.”
“Okay, but hopefully I won’t get any.”
The whole situation was getting way too weird. Maybe she should just go work at the Outrigger. How bad could it be working with her mom?
Then Zoe immediately had a vision of Debbie working behind the bar, loading drinks onto a tray, “C’mon Zoe, do a shot with me before you take this order to table five!”
“It’ll be fine,” Heather tried to reassure her one last time, “But, we’ve got to get back out there.” Then she winked, “Crawfish is watching.”
CHAPTER 18
ETHAN
Ethan wanted to go straight to the pool, but since he’d spent the night on the Sea-quester, he’d have to check in at home first. Before he even got to the front door he could hear Dad yelling from inside, “Jesus Beth, when are you coming back?”
He was on a call with mom, “Do you think your absence is helping anything?”
Silence. “All I know is that he’s never here, and I have no fucking clue what he’s doing. Emma’s worried too—she said she never sees him. He’s never at the pool, or the beach…”
Silence. “I really don’t give a shit what you do, but I think our son’s health is more important than—.”
Ethan tried to enter as quietly as possible, but his dad must’ve heard the door because he quickly changed his tone, “Okay, sounds good. Okay, see you then, bye.”
Sham marriage.
Ethan gave a quick wave, “Sorry, I fell asleep on the Sea-quester.”
“Your sister told me,” Dad said, “but you need to s
end us a text next time, okay?”
“Yeah okay.”
Awkward silence, “Hey, are you hungry? I can whip us up some breakfast.”
“No thanks, I ate,” and with that, he quickly escaped to his room.
He wasn’t in his room thirty seconds when he got a visit from Emma, “Hey, you told me you were coming back last night.”
He hated lying to his sister, but he wasn’t ready to tell her the truth, at least not right then, “I know, I’m sorry…I must’ve been really tired because after the text I just crashed again.”
“That’s what I figured.” And then she was all smiles, “Hey, a bunch of us are going to the sand bar on Connor’s boat. You wanna come?”
No chance in hell. “I don’t think so, maybe next time.”
“Okay...,” her smile never faded, but he knew his sister too well. He could see the disappointment in her eyes, “Well, text me later, okay?”
He nodded, “sure.”
She turned to go, and he suddenly blurted out, “Hey Emma, I am doing a lot better.”
“Really?” She whipped back around, “That’s great Ethan!”
She sat down on the bed next to him, unable to contain herself, “I figured you were spending a lot of time on the Sea-quester, but I didn’t want to bother you…and I wanted to ask you to hang out, but I didn’t want to put pressure on you…of course I missed you, but I wanted to give you your space…” she never took a breath between sentences, “but I’m just so happy you’re feeling better!”
“Yeah,” he smiled, “me too.”
“Hey do you want to do something else today—I don’t have to go out on Connor’s boat.”
“No, it’s fine really. I might stop by the pool later.”
“Hey!” Emma’s eyes got wide, “What about that girl? You should totally introduce yourself, Ethan!”
At that, he could feel his face starting to burn. If only his sister knew he was with that girl just hours before, “Maybe.”
“Come here,” Emma put her arms out, “give me a hug.”
So they hugged, and Emma went on her way. And soon after, Ethan went on his way and headed to the pool.
The first thing he wanted to do was find Zoe and say “hi.” But when he actually got there and saw her running around the kiddie pool, he lost his nerve. Maybe he would wait until her break when they could actually talk a little bit.
He found a lounge chair in the main pool area, which happened to be directly across from Marty Crawford’s cabana. The douchebag was in there, as always, his head moving ever so slightly from side to side. A casual observer, innocently watching the residents of Crystal Waters enjoy a hot summer day at the pool.
But Ethan knew better. Marty wasn’t watching casually, he was watching with purpose. Specifically, he was watching someone—Zoe.
She would go from the tables behind the kiddie pool, all the way over to the Galley bar and Marty’s head would follow the whole way. It was like he couldn’t take his eyes off of her.
The more Ethan watched Marty—watch Zoe, the more pissed off he got. By the time Zoe was halfway through her shift, Ethan’s fists were balled up so tightly, the tips of his fingers were turning numb.
Then he saw Zoe with her head down, walking over to Marty’s cabana. What the hell?
Marty was smiling from ear to ear as she sat across from him. Ethan couldn’t read lips but he already had a good idea of what the asshole was saying, “You’ve been doing such a great job, Zoe…You let me know if you need anything, Zoe…I really like watching you run around in that skirt, Zoe…”
The anger inside of Ethan was growing by the second. He forced himself to take a couple of deep breaths—he didn’t want to do anything stupid.
Wait—now Marty was giving her something. What the hell was that?
It was taking every ounce of Ethan’s restraint to keep from walking over there and punching the asshole’s smiling face. And then, just as it looked like Zoe was about to leave, Mrs. Crawford entered the picture. He could only imagine the conversation now—Zoe must’ve been dying to get out of there.
Everyone at Crystal Waters knew Mrs. Crawford and Marty couldn’t stand each other, and it wasn’t a big mystery why. Mrs. Crawford was a decent person, and Marty was a pig. Their marriage was obviously a marriage of convenience, just like good old Mom and Dad.
Zoe was walking away now. He watched her, almost running, toward Heather. And then they disappeared inside the Galley. He wanted to go follow them and see if she was okay, but he was pretty sure that would be the last thing Zoe would want.
“Pierce!” Suddenly, a shout came from behind him, “My man!”
Shit.
Hunter Altman appeared in front of his chair, “Pierce! What’s up, bro?”
“Hunter, hey,” a fist bump.
“Dude, I’ve been looking for you.”
Hunter was one of the few guys at Crystal Waters that Ethan could tolerate. But tolerate was the key word. He was pretty down-to-earth, which was a rare trait in a place where money seemed to define everyone. But he was also a talker, and always trying so hard. Sometimes it could be annoying as hell.
He sat down on the chair next to Ethan, “Hey man, I heard about what happened last year, just want to say sorry you had to go through that—that’s some rough shit.”
“Yeah thanks.” Now at least that was out in the open.
“Dude, did you see Connor’s new Sea-ray? It’s sick.”
“No,” Ethan said, “But Emma told me they’re taking it out to the sand bar today.”
“Yeah, my mom wouldn’t let me go,” Hunter sighed, “Can you believe that shit? I mean, what does she think is gonna happen?”
Ethan felt a twinge in his chest. He hadn’t even thought about that—which was probably a good thing. But now he was thinking about it.
Because what if Connor was screwing off with his new boat?
And what if he didn’t judge the depth of the water correctly?
And what if he hit the sand bar—.
But Zoe suddenly emerged from the Galley, and just the mere sight of her broke up his chain of catastrophic thoughts. He watched her grab a tray from the bar, and head back to the kiddie pool area.
“You saw her too?”
Ethan looked at Hunter, “What?”
“The new hot chic,” Hunter nodded toward Zoe, “working over in the baby pool. All of the guys wanna bang her. ”
The anger inside of him, quietly simmering beneath the surface, reemerged and began to boil, “I actually know her.”
“Seriously?” Hunter sat up in his chair, “Dude!” He shoved Ethan on the shoulder, “Do tell Pierce!”
“There’s not much to tell,” he shrugged, “Her name is Zoe, we’ve talked a few times.”
“Is that all?” Hunter laughed, “Just talked?”
“She’s cool, just leave her alone okay?”
Hunter put his hands up, “No worries man. I hear ya. Finders keepers.”
They sat in silence for no more than thirty seconds, when Hunter was back at it, “So how’d you meet her?”
“Just seen her around.”
Hunter wasn’t going to let it rest, “I mean, did you just go up to her? Or did you ask her to bring you some fresh towels?” Another elbow nudge.
Hunter was clearly amused with himself, he thought it was all a joke. But Ethan didn’t think it was funny. In fact, he thought it was the opposite of funny, which was weird because he used to talk that way all the time.
In previous summers, he and his friends used to sit at the pool and pick out girls, rate them, dissect them…it’s just what they did. But the thought of them doing that to Zoe made him—well, it was like the time last summer when the new guy said he wanted to, “get a piece of that sweet ass,” not knowing it was Ethan’s sister—that’s what it felt like.
“C’mon Ethan,” Hunter whined, “Give me something.”
The anger was making his head hurt, and the words just came out, “I was on
the Sea-quester and I saw her over on the docks,” he stopped.
“Over there?” Hunter pointed toward the Sea-quester, toward Sunny Shores, “Oh Dude, does she live right there? At the trailer park?”
Don’t say it, Hunter, don’t say it.
“Pierce! Getting some of that trailer trash!”
And before Ethan knew what he was doing he leaned over and grabbed Hunter around the collar like a rag doll, “Shut the fuck up Hunter!” His right fist was cocked high in the air, and ready to unload straight into Hunter’s terrified face. It took every ounce of strength he had to hold it back.
“Dude, I’m sorry—I’m sorry!” Hunter’s eyes were wide, pleading, “I didn’t mean anything by it!”
Ethan was shaking all over. As he slowly lowered his fist, he glanced around. People were staring at them.
What was he doing? “Sorry,” he mumbled, as he let Hunter go. He quickly stood up and got the hell out of there.
CHAPTER 19
ZOE
“Zoe! Hey Zoe!”
She hadn’t even made it to the trailer door. She turned around to see Parker running after her. She just wanted to get inside and take a shower, “Hey.”
His eyes were twinkling, looking like he’d been waiting all day to talk to her, “Guess who I hung out with this morning?”
She was pretty sure she already knew, but she asked anyway, “Who?”
“Ethan,” he said excitedly, “And oh my gosh, he has the most amazing flat-screen...and the surround sound is epic…and we played Xbox…I picked COD…and I’m actually better than him, I mean it’s close but—.”
“Okay, okay,” she cut him off. His rambling was making her head hurt, “Slow down Parker, please.”
“Oh, sorry,” the kid was out of breath, “Anyway, he can get like any game you could ever imagine, and he said we could play anytime!”
“Wow, that’s awesome,” she tried to sound enthused.
“At first I thought he might be a jerk, you know, cause he’s so rich. But he’s actually really cool,” Parker smiled, “you like him, don’t you?”
