Spring Rain Page 17

  He’s not my enemy.

  LOVE ONE ANOTHER. THEY WILL KNOW WE ARE CHRISTIANS BY OUR LOVE.

  Yeah. I get the message.

  HER TOO.

  Yeah. Her too.

  Billy dropped to his knees and began sculpting like mad. He took a bucket and climbed onto the jetty. He lowered the bucket into a trough between two rocks, filling it with swirling seawater.

  “It’s easier that way than taking my sneakers off and wading in.”

  Clay nodded. “Especially when the water’s still so cold.”

  The two worked companionably for several minutes. A castle began to take shape if one had a good imagination.

  “Why don’t you like Ted?” Billy asked as he plopped another bucket of water beside the castle.

  “What?” Clay was shocked at the question. He glared at Billy who kept his attention on the sandpile. This kid was too smart for his own good, and he had no inhibitions about going where wise men feared to tread. “He’s my brother. I love him.”

  “Yeah, I know that. But you don’t like him.” Billy looked up from his squat. “Why?”

  Clay looked out over the water. How could he explain to a kid the resentment he felt over the pain his family had suffered because of Ted’s gayness?

  “Is it because he’s gay?”

  Clay grunted noncommittally.

  “Are you embarrassed?”

  Clay shook his head. “No, I’m not embarrassed. It’s not that simple.”

  “It’s because he hurt Grandma Jule and Grandpa Will, isn’t it? It’s because he made them cry.”

  Clay looked at Billy with respect. “You’re a smart kid.”

  “Yeah. I am.” Billy took his shovel and with a slashing move made a ragged wall straight. “You’re his twin. Did you ever think gay?”

  “Come on, Bill! Where do these questions come from?”

  Billy looked up. “It’s a good question. Did you?”

  Clay used his putty knife to cut crenellations in the top of the wall and grinned in spite of himself. This kid was a keeper. “No, I never thought gay. I’ve liked girls my whole life.”

  Billy looked skeptical. “Even at ten?”

  “Well, maybe not at ten. That’s antigirl time. But even then, when I couldn’t stand to be near them, I knew they were special.”

  Billy nodded. “Me too. I mean, I don’t like them, you know? They’re yucky. But they’re very interesting in a strange sort of way.”

  “Very interesting,” Clay agreed.

  “Do you think my mom’s interesting?”

  Clay blinked. Now there was a question. “Of course. Anybody with a brain would think your mom’s interesting.”

  With a satisfied look at their glorious castle, which they could now barely see through the fast falling dusk, they collected all their implements and walked slowly back across the dunes.

  They had just come into the yard when movement caught Clay’s attention. His eyes narrowed as he watched Leigh come outside in a flowing red dress, a soft white sweater draped across her shoulders. She looked absolutely lovely, and apparently he wasn’t the only one to think so. A tall, burly man with a set of shoulders that would have done Arnold Schwartzenegger proud followed her. He had his hand on her arm as he guided her to his car. Nervy.

  “Who’s that?”

  Billy glanced up. “That’s Eric.”

  Clay eyed Eric suspiciously. “So who’s he?”

  “He’s a teacher at Mom’s and my school.” Billy took the putty knives from Clay and carefully placed them in a bucket. “He teaches fifth grade. He’s real nice.” He glanced at Clay innocently. “I think he wants to marry Mom.”

  Clay blinked. “You’re kidding.”

  Billy shook his head. “He’s not the first, you know.”

  “He’s not?”

  “Of course not.” Billy put the bucket down and pulled a sneaker off. He turned it upside down and watched the sand pour out.

  “Of course not,” Clay agreed. He had to swallow to dislodge the lump in his throat. It came right back.

  “I mean, she’s very pretty, don’t you think?” Billy turned his highly intelligent eyes to Clay.

  “Very pretty,” he mumbled. “Beautiful, in fact.”

  “Yeah,” said Billy. “Beautiful.”

  They watched Eric’s car disappear down the street and around the corner.

  “You should have seen all the guys who came around when we were in college.”

  Clay’s head snapped around, but the boy was bent over, tying his shoe. He must have imagined the verbal taunt he heard buried in that comment.

  “Uncle Ted kept telling her not to trust any of them. They all had only one thing on their minds.”

  Clay stared at Billy’s bent head, having no trouble imagining what Ted was imagining.

  Billy looked up with a sudden smile. “They all wanted to kiss her!” And he rolled his eyes.

  Clay frowned. He couldn’t decide whether he was more upset about guys wanting to kiss Leigh or Bill’s subtle suggestion that he knew they wanted a lot more than a kiss.

  “Did—” Clay swallowed and hated himself, but he couldn’t stop asking. “Did she kiss many of them?”

  Billy giggled. “Uh-uh. I was always around. Or Uncle Ted. Or Grandma Jule or Grandpa Will.” He looked proud and pleased and smug. “We all made sure of it.”

  Clay almost swallowed his tongue at the thought of that gentle conspiracy. “Don’t you want your mother to marry?”

  “Sure. Sometime.” Billy looked at him. “Don’t you?”

  “Don’t I what?”

  “Want her to get married. I mean, she’d be awful lonely if she never married anyone. I’ll leave home as soon as Mike and I get our band contract—I really think we can make it even if we’re nice—so she’ll need someone.”

  “Um.”

  Billy shrugged. “She could do worse than Mr. Wilde.”

  “Mr. Wilde?”

  “Eric.” Billy waved in the direction Leigh and Eric had disappeared. “I’m not supposed to call him Eric. I might forget and do it at school, and that would be bad.”

  “I can see that. Kids can’t call their teachers by their first names. Disrespectful.”

  “Can you call a teacher Dad?”

  Clay shuddered. “Has he actually asked her to marry him?”

  “I don’t know. She doesn’t tell me everything, you know.” He looked thoughtful. “Maybe I’ll wake up some morning and have a dad.” He raised those wide brown eyes, magnified by the glasses, to Clay. “Do you think she’d do that?”

  “Your mother’s too smart to do that.” She’d better be too smart, Lord. After all, it wouldn’t be fair. To Bill. He noticed his stomach was starting to ache just like it did that morning when he’d made her cry.

  “Of course maybe she’ll decide to marry Hank. I don’t think I like him as much as Eric. He wheezes when he breathes. Asthma. What if they gave me a brother or sister with asthma?” He shook his head. “It’d be too hard. He or she’d keep us awake all night. But asthma’s probably better than moving. That’s what Mr. Henderson says we’d need to do.”

  “Who’s Hank? And Mr. Henderson?” Clay beat down the feelings of panic that kept kicking up a fuss beneath his breastbone.

  “Hank’s the head guy at the bank on Twentieth Street. I think Uncle Ted introduced them. Mr. Henderson—he’s old. He’s got gray hair!”

  Clay could swear he felt his own hair turning gray as a result of this conversation.

  “He owns all those pizza places on the boardwalk. He’s rich. He drives a neat little black Miata. What do you think of old men driving little sports cars? Does it mean they’re unstable? I’ll tell you, though, I wouldn’t mind owning a car like that. He took me for a ride once. It wasn’t a long ride, but anything’s better than nothing in a case like that. I think he wanted to get back to Mom.”

  Clay forced himself to unclench his teeth. “How did she meet this old guy?”

  “He go
es to our church, but he wants to retire to South Carolina. And then there’s Pastor Paul. I almost forgot him. He’s single too.”

  “What does she do? Go out with every single man she meets?” The edge to his voice took him aback, but Billy didn’t seem to notice.

  “Oh no. Only those who ask her. Of course, that’s a lot. Like we said, she’s pretty.”

  Clay saw the wayward silken curl that had wrapped around his finger when he held her as she cried. He saw the warm eyes and the sweet smile she had given him when he helped clean up the apartment. “Yeah,” he managed. “She’s pretty.”

  “Very pretty.”

  “Very pretty,” he agreed. Inside and out. That cute, young girl who had entranced him eleven years ago was now a beautiful Christian woman with character and grit.

  “Well.” Billy turned back toward the beach. “What do you think?”

  “We’ve got to keep her from making a mistake and marrying some bozo.”

  Billy looked at him in disgust, fists resting on his bony hips. “I mean about the castle. How long before it washes away? Who cares about Mom?”

  “Yeah, who cares about Mom?” Clay muttered at midnight as he heard Eric’s car pull in. Finally. He clicked off the TV and went to peer out the window. He bit back a sneer as Eric opened the car door for Leigh and took her hand to help her out. He kept hold of the hand all the way to the garage.

  Clay stepped back from the window when he heard a little voice whisper, “You’re spying.”

  Clay spun. “Bill! Get back to bed. Your mom will think I’m a lousy baby-sitter.”

  He shook his head. “Mom doesn’t even know you’re my babysitter. She thinks I’m asleep at Uncle Ted’s. Besides, it’s fun to greet Mom when she comes home.” He giggled. “It’s how I keep them from kissing her.”

  A key turned in the lock, and the front door swung open. Two sets of footsteps moved up the stairs.

  “Hi, Mom,” Billy called, running forward and peering down the stairwell. “I’m so glad you’re home! I missed you.”

  Clay peeked over Bill’s shoulder, thinking the boy’s enthusiasm was only a bit over the top. It was wonderful to see the disappointment splashed across Eric’s handsome mug as he saw the faces staring down at them.

  Leigh raised an eyebrow at her son, obviously onto his game. She ignored Clay.

  “And look who baby-sat me.” Bill pointed to Clay who grinned in his most disarming manner. Bill threw his arms around Clay’s waist.

  “Don’t go too overboard,” Clay whispered through his smile.

  Bill giggled.

  Eric’s disappointment changed to a definite scowl.

  “Hi,” Clay said to Eric, all candor and goodwill. “I’m Clay Wharton, an old friend of Leigh’s.” He gave a wide smile and extended his hand.

  “Ted’s twin,” Eric said as he unenthusiastically shook Clay’s hand.

  “The same,” Clay agreed. “Would you like a cup of coffee or a soda before you go? Bill and I have been snacking on popcorn off and on all evening while we watched a couple of movies with my brother. We brought all the leftovers home and would be glad to share with you. And you too, of course, Leigh.”

  “Of course,” Leigh echoed.

  Never mind that the coffee was left over from early evening, cooked to a fine bitterness, and the popcorn had been reduced to kernels at about nine. Clay’s strategy was to smother him in friendliness, and he’d leave sooner.

  “Thanks, but nothing for me.” Eric turned and took Leigh by the shoulders. He was pulling her toward him—and she wasn’t protesting!—when Bill tripped over the coffee table.

  “My toe!” he cried. “I stubbed my toe!”

  Leigh rushed to his side, bending down beside the distressed boy, leaving Eric with his arms holding air.

  “Oh, honey,” she said, all concern. “How that must hurt.”

  “It does, Mommy.” Bill gave a quavering little sob. Clay had to admit that the kid was very good.

  “Let me carry him to his bed,” Clay offered, going down on his knees beside Leigh. “We can take care of him there.”

  “Would you, Clay?” Bill asked, gratitude oozing from every pore.

  “Hang on, old buddy.” He pulled Bill into his arms and stood. Leigh stood with him, her hand resting on his arm as she looked at Bill.

  Clay looked at Eric. “Poor kid. Stubbing your toe hurts so much.”

  “Yeah,” muttered Eric. “Poor kid.”

  Biting back a grin, Clay strode toward Bill’s room, Leigh right behind him.

  “Leigh!” Eric stood in the middle of the living room, deserted and exasperated.

  “Can you let yourself out, please?” Leigh called from Bill’s door. Clay was almost certain she was biting back a giggle. “I’m sorry, but I have to see to Billy.”

  Clay let Bill fall to the bed where he bounced a couple of times on the mattress, a huge, smug smile on his face.

  It was all the three of them could do not to laugh until Eric was safely out the door.

  Fifteen

  HE STARED AT what was left of the sand castle. Over half of it was gone, and a little more went every time a wave hit. He’d seen Billy and the brother guy building it. They’d worked hard, and now the water was washing it away. Just disappearing like the sand dissolved or something. All that was going to be left was a bump in the sand. It gave him a weird feeling, like maybe he could disappear like that too.

  Those waves were sneaky. They dribbled in with little bits of foam floating on them just like they didn’t want to hurt nothing. But they were eating the castle alive. Chomp. Chomp. He laughed at the picture in his mind of a wave with a big open mouth. Chomp. Chomp. Now there was a good joke.

  He wondered why the brother guy spent so much time playing with the kid. They’d played ball before they built that castle. He thought hard, but he didn’t think anybody’d ever played with him like that. Anybody grown-up, he meant.

  Maybe if someone had played with him, he would have been good at sports. Then he wouldn’t have been the last one to get picked for all the teams all the time. He hated being last.

  A wave rushed up the beach and washed right over his shoe. He jumped and swore as more of the castle collapsed. How he hated the ocean, just hated it! You couldn’t trust it. It ate things, and if he wasn’t careful, it’d eat him.

  Muttering, he walked up the beach to the path that led to the Whartons’ house. He skulked cautiously to the edge of the yard. He wasn’t wearing all black tonight, so he had to be careful. He glanced up at the garage. It was dark except for that one light Leigh-Leigh always left on. She had gone out for the evening, and so had the mother. Out on dates. He grinned, imagining what they were doing on those dates. Not that he knew from experience, but he’d seen lots of movies.

  He frowned. Why didn’t girls like him? Maybe he wasn’t some movie star or nothing, but then neither was anybody else. Then he smiled. Wait until he got the treasure. Then the girls would flock to him. He’d strut around in fancy clothes and drive a big fancy car, and the girls would be hanging all over him, falling out the windows of the car there were so many.

  Enchanted by the picture of his social success, he glanced up to where the AIDS guy lived. The greenish flash of a TV lit the room. The kid and the brother guy were up there with the sick guy watching something. He grinned. He knew what guys watched when they were being guys. Too bad he wasn’t invited to the party. But then when he was rich, he wouldn’t invite them to his party either.

  He decided to go get something to eat. His stomach had been growling for a long time. He wandered down the driveway and started walking toward the main part of town where the restaurants and stuff were. He hated not having a car, but he didn’t have the money to buy one or a credit card to rent one. If he didn’t get the treasure soon, he wouldn’t even have enough money to eat.

  Pizza. That’s what he wanted. They had lousy pizza in the joint, the crust dry and hard. The cheese didn’t even taste like cheese. Johnny sai
d once that he thought it was artificial. How could there be artificial cheese? It was either cheese or it wasn’t.

  He sighed as he walked. Nothing was going to happen tonight. Leigh-Leigh wasn’t home, and she’d probably be real late getting in, if she even came home before morning. She needed to be there to get the full effect of the next step in his plan. He grinned and scratched himself. He was sure going to show her. Maybe tomorrow night.

  His feet were tired and sore when he finally reached town and the pizza place, but the pizza was real good, and the cheese was definitely real. It got all stringy and gooey, and he had to pull at it with his fingers. It was a good thing Ma wasn’t here to crack him over the knuckles and scream, “Don’t eat with your hands, you little moron! And chew with your mouth shut.”

  Of course she never kept her mouth shut, chewing or not. Yadda, yadda, yadda. The lady never shut up! That’s one reason the old man whopped her so much.

  He got back to the Whartons’ about ten-thirty. It wasn’t too long until the mother came home. She and that doctor went into the house. He was giggling behind his hand about their plans for the rest of the night when the doctor came back out. He got in his car and drove away. What was going on here? Wasn’t he spending the night? Who dated and didn’t spend the night? Were they too old for stuff like that or what?

  It was after eleven when Billy and the brother guy crossed the yard to the apartment. What did Clooney say his name was? Oh yeah, Clay. Like modeling clay. What a dumb name. It wasn’t too much longer until Leigh-Leigh and her “friend” drove up. He held her hand as they walked across the yard, and they didn’t see the brother guy watching from one of the apartment windows.

  He had watched Leigh-Leigh all day today himself. He’d even gone to the Little League opening ceremonies, taking the bus. The thing that he couldn’t get over was how much everybody there seemed to like her. They smiled at her and waved to her and talked to her. Johnny thought she was a loser, but nobody else seemed to. It was very strange.

  It had been exciting when that ball almost hit her. He was standing just behind her, and all he had to do was reach out and he’d touch her. He remembered the feeling of power it gave him to be so close, yet be invisible. She didn’t know who he was, but he knew who she was. And he had power over her. Then the foul ball came, and she turned around to run. He saw her face real good, and she was scared. Real scared. It made him want to smile.