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26
The next morning I slept in. There didn’t seem to be any reason to get out of bed. About ten o’clock Mom came into my room carrying the handset to the cordless phone.
“Sam, the Middletons’ housekeeper called. She wanted to know if Grover was here. She says she hasn’t seen him since early this morning. Have you heard from him at all?”
I sat up in bed and rubbed my eyes.
“No, ma’am,” I said.
“He hasn’t messaged you on the Xbox?”
I shook my head. “I haven’t been playing it.”
“She says his boat is gone.”
“His boat?”
“That’s right,” she said.
“He doesn’t even know how to drive it.”
A concerned look came over Mom’s face. She lifted the handset and began dialing. “Let me call her back,” she said.
“Where’s his dad?” I said.
Mom held up her hand for me to be quiet. I got out of bed and pulled on my shorts and slipped on a T-shirt.
“Hello, Natalia,” Mom said over the phone. “Sam hasn’t seen him … Okay … Okay … Yes, try to contact Dr. Middleton at the hospital, and I’ll call Roger and get some help … I’m sure it will all be okay … Yes, I’ll let you know.”
Mom hung up the phone and looked at me. “Get your father’s boat ready. I’ll call and tell him to come home.”
I untied the mooring lines on Dad’s boat, walked it out of the slip, and secured it to the end of the dock. I was in the stern priming the fuel bulb when I saw him hurrying around the side of the house carrying his handheld radio.
Dad stepped into the boat without a word, took off his cap, and hung it on the throttle stick. Then he started the engine as I cast us off.
“So you don’t know anything about this?” he said.
“No, sir,” I said. “He’s never even talked about his boat before.”
“The housekeeper said he was upset about something last night. When she checked on him this morning he was gone.”
“It doesn’t make any sense that he would take the boat,” I said.
“I called Jim Stockton. He’s coming up from the south end of the river, and we should be able to search this end.”
Dad shoved down on the throttle. The flats boat surged forward and leveled out, and we were soon racing down the bayou. I kept my eyes trained ahead of us, searching for any sign of Grover’s Boston Whaler. It wasn’t long before we passed his dock and I saw the cables to his lift dangling empty.
“He must have gone out on the river,” I said back to Dad.
Dad nodded and swung the boat into Bluff Creek and pointed it toward the Pascagoula. When we got to the river he slowed the boat again and studied the waterway in both directions.
“I don’t think he would have gone north,” I said.
Dad frowned. “I hope not. If he did, it’s not going to be easy to find him if he’s lost.”
Just then a voice came across Dad’s radio.
“Roger, you read me?”
Dad unclipped the handheld from his waist and brought it to his mouth. “Yeah, Jim. Go ahead.”
“I’ve been trying you for ten minutes,” Officer Stockton said.
“Sorry. I’ve been running. Couldn’t hear anything.”
“Well, listen. I’ve got him. He’s down here by the old lumberyard. He ran up into the dock.”
“Is he okay?”
“Well, he’s alive, but pretty banged up. A few broken bones, I imagine. There’s an ambulance on the way.”
“All right,” Dad said. “We’ll be there in a minute.”
“Ten-four. See you shortly.”
Dad clipped the radio back to his hip and gunned us downriver. In a few minutes we rounded a bend and I saw what must have been the abandoned lumberyard Officer Stockton was talking about. His patrol boat was tied to the riverbank with its blue lights strobing. Before it was Grover’s Boston Whaler, smashed into a collapsed dock. The hull of the boat was cracked down the center, and the outboard motor was twisted and nearly torn off the stern.
“Good Lord,” Dad said.
I didn’t see Grover. As we drew closer I saw an ambulance parked behind a deserted warehouse, its red and white lights flashing and two medics carrying a stretcher toward it.
Dad cut the motor to an idle as we glided toward the patrol boat. Officer Stockton came out of the cabin, lowering his radio.
“Anything we can do?” Dad called out.
Officer Stockton shook his head. He gestured toward Grover’s wrecked boat. “Lucky he’s alive,” he said.
I went to the bow and grabbed hold of the patrol boat as we came up next to it.
“What happened?” Dad asked.
Officer Stockton frowned. “Looks like he lost control. Wasn’t even wearing a flotation vest.”
“He’s never driven it before,” I said.
“Obviously,” Officer Stockton said. “Fortunately, his dad’s an orthopedic surgeon. He’s going to meet the ambulance at the hospital.”
Dad nodded and took a deep breath of relief through his nose. “Thanks, Jim,” he said. “We’ll check in on him later.”
“Just glad he didn’t kill himself,” Officer Stockton said.
Dad backed the boat off and turned us toward home. He didn’t speed up for a moment, and I figured he was trying to make sense of it all, just like me.
“How are things with Grover at home?”
“Fine, I guess.”
Dad glanced at me.
“I mean, as far as I know,” I said.
“His parents aren’t around much, are they?”
“No, sir. Dr. Middleton works a lot, and Mrs. Middleton’s always out of town.”
“Who’s usually there at the house with you guys?”
I sensed Dad was getting real close to discovering I hadn’t been with Grover as much as I’d said I was.
“Their housekeeper, Natalia, most of the time,” I said, “if his parents are gone.”
“I don’t like to get into other people’s business, but that doesn’t sound like much of a family.”
I didn’t respond. I just wanted to stop talking about it. To my relief, Dad pushed the throttle down and we sped back toward the house. It was too hard to talk over the engine noise.
As we rode along I couldn’t help but think that Grover’s accident had something to do with me. Something to do with the arguments we’d had and his strange behavior ever since. But I didn’t know what him trying to drive his boat could have been meant to prove.
27
Dad went back to the office after lunch and I got out the birdseed and walked about the yard loading Mom’s three feeders. This wasn’t something I usually did, but that day it was nice to have a mindless activity to smother my thoughts.
I heard Dad come in the front door about five o’clock as I was lying in bed catching up on my summer reading. A moment later he knocked on the bedroom door and I told him to come in.
“I talked to Dr. Middleton,” he said from the doorway. “Grover’s got a broken arm and two broken ribs, but he’ll recover.”
I set my book on the bedside table and sat up. “That’s good,” I said.
“Why don’t you go over and check on him? He’s back at his house now.”
“It’s kind of late,” I said.
Dad glanced at the window. “You’ve got about three and a half hours of daylight left.”
I didn’t answer him.
“What’s the problem?”
“I don’t think Grover wants to see me,” I said.
“Why not?”
I shook my head. “I don’t really want to talk about it.”
Dad hesitated, then came the rest of the way into my room and shut the door behind him. “Does this have anything to do with what happened today?”
“I don’t know,” I said. “Maybe.”
He walked over and sat down on the bed beside me. He put his hand on my shoulder. “Son, tell m
e what’s wrong.”
I felt like I was about to cry, and the last thing I wanted to do was cry in front of him. I shook my head and swallowed against the words welling up inside me.
“I know something’s been wrong,” he said. “I should have asked you about it before now.”
I shook my head again. I felt like if I said a single word I was going to lose control.
“I understand a man likes to work out his problems alone, but sometimes he needs some help.”
I slid down onto the bed again and stared at the ceiling. I felt tears burning at the edges of my eyes. “It’s just all messed up, Dad. Ever since the fight. I can’t get it out of my head. I’ve just been doing stupid things trying to forget about it. I told Grover some mean things, and he said some mean things back, and now it’s even more messed up than it ever was. I just wish it all hadn’t happened.”
“I told you that the fight didn’t have anything to do with you. You have to believe that.”
“But I don’t believe it. I don’t even want to talk to anybody at school, because I feel like they look at me and they can’t stop thinking about it. Everybody saw it, Dad. Everybody. You think I don’t think about girls? I used to all the time. Now all I think about is Julia’s face watching me get beat up.”
“Who’s Julia?”
I shook my head at the thought.
“Just some girl,” I said. “Like the prettiest girl in the class.”
Dad breathed deep through his nose. “Those boys are criminals. They had no reason to do what they did, and everybody understands that. They’re no different from muggers on the street. You think a mugger picks out who he’s gonna rob?”
“He wouldn’t pick you.”
“No, probably not. I’m a cop.”
“I know. And I’m nobody.”
“Lord, you’re a kid, Sam.”
“Dad, they—Leroy and Gooch—waited for us. It was like they talked about it before we came out of the lunchroom.”
I heard Dad take another deep breath.
“And I can’t look at Grover without thinking about it. And I told him that, and I don’t think we can ever be friends again.”
“Sam, there’s nothing wrong with you.”
I wiped my face and nodded. “I just want to stop feeling like a loser.”
“Let me tell you something. A loser is somebody who doesn’t even try in life. That’s not a word that should come into your head.”
“I am trying, Dad. But I think I’m doing the wrong things.”
“Like what?”
I couldn’t tell him. I wanted to, but I couldn’t. “I don’t have any friends, Dad.”
“We haven’t even lived here a year. You’re level-headed, trustworthy, honest, and loyal. You’ll have no trouble making friends.”
“Maybe I used to be all that.”
“You’re just a little confused right now. Grover’s not your problem. And you can go over to his house right now and get everything back on track.”
“I want to stop thinking about the fight. I just want it to go away.”
“It will. It may take some time, but it will. You and Grover probably should have talked about it a while back.”
I nodded.
“He might need you more than ever now. Just because a person won’t ask for help doesn’t mean you shouldn’t give it to him. Being a man isn’t about winning fights and carrying guns. It’s about helping people however you can, no matter what. That’s why I do what I do. And I can tell you, I didn’t figure it out until I was much older than you.”
“Okay,” I said. And somehow I felt like I’d been forgiven of a lot of things, even the things I hadn’t told him about.
“Sit up,” he said.
I sat up and rubbed at my eyes again with my shirtsleeve.
Dad patted me on the back. “Life’s hard sometimes. You can’t always figure it all out by yourself. That’s why I married your mother.”
I smiled.
“Feeling better?”
“A little. I really don’t want to go over there. But I guess I have to.”
“No, you don’t have to—and I won’t make you. But my guess is that you will, because you know it’s the right thing to do.”
I wasn’t sure I believed what Dad was telling me, but I didn’t even believe myself anymore.
28
Going to see Grover sounded easy when I was talking to Dad about it. Once I was in my boat headed for his house, though, I got a sick feeling like I was about to walk into a party where I wasn’t welcome. But I told myself that it was something I had to get through no matter how it came out. And then I would have at least tried, and there was nothing more to be done after that.
I entered through the empty sitting room as I normally did, thinking maybe Grover had moved back into his lair. But when I walked into the basement it was still neat and tidy like he hadn’t been there. I started up the stairs and suddenly felt like a stranger in his house. I stopped and listened.
“Hello?” I called.
I heard footsteps approaching, and in a moment Natalia was looking down the staircase at me.
“Hi, Sam,” she said. “Grover’s up here in his room.”
“Is it okay if I visit him?”
I wanted her to say no. I wanted more than anything to put all this off for later.
“Of course it is,” she said. “I think he’d really appreciate it.”
I started up again. “Thanks,” I said.
When I got to the top of the stairs she stepped aside for me to pass. Then she reached out and grabbed my arm.
“Sam,” she said.
I turned back to her. She studied me like she was trying to read my mind.
“He’s having a hard time,” she said.
“I know,” I said.
“I’m worried about him.”
“I’m just here to be his friend,” I said.
She let go of my arm and smiled sadly. “Good,” she said. “He needs that right now.”
I continued down the hall and knocked on Grover’s door. He didn’t answer, so I pushed it open and saw him sitting up in bed watching me. His right arm lay in his lap, sealed up to his shoulder in a cast. He had his shirt off and his torso was wrapped in gauze. His face was bandaged in several places.
“Man,” I said. “Does it hurt pretty bad?”
“Yeah,” he said dryly. “It hurts pretty bad.”
I walked over to a chair beside his bed and sat down. Grover’s eyes followed and stayed on me.
“Guess I can’t do anything right,” he said.
“Why didn’t you just ask me to show you how to drive your boat?”
“Maybe because you said you didn’t ever want to see me again.”
I looked at the floor. “I shouldn’t have said that.”
“Well, you did.”
“Yeah, I know.”
“You think I don’t know how you feel about the fight? You think I’m that dense?”
I looked up at him. “You never talked about it.”
“Neither did you. Maybe I’m embarrassed, too. Maybe I’m a lot more embarrassed than you, because everything you said is true. I got nothing going for me, Sam. And the last thing I want is to think about that too much.”
“You’ve got everything, Grover. You’ve got more stuff than anybody I know.”
“Yeah, and I don’t know how to use any of it except the Xbox. And even if I did, what fun would it be? Nobody cares what I do. How much fun do you think it is getting to level seven in Demon Quest when nobody’s there to see it? How much fun is it to catch a fish when your mom’s not around to cook it and your dad doesn’t give a crap about it?”
“It’s not that bad, Grover.”
“Really? Where’s my dad now? I almost die in a boat wreck, and he sends another doctor in to fix me up and calls Natalia to bring me home because he’s still working.”
“He probably just can’t leave. He’s probably got operations to do.”
I didn’t know what to say.
“Actually,” Grover continued, “I know why they’re still married. I heard them yelling at each other a few months ago, and he told her the only reason he didn’t divorce her was because it would cost too much.”
“You never told me any of that, Grover.”
“Of course I didn’t. You were the only shot I had at a friend, and I didn’t want to ruin it. I couldn’t tell you anything.”
“I’m still your friend,” I said.
“But you’ve got new friends now. I’m sure they’re a lot more fun. And they probably know how to do more than play video games.”
“I didn’t think you’d take your boat out by yourself.”
“Yeah, I’m scared to death of it. I hardly even know how to swim. You think I want anybody to know that?”
“I’m a good driver,” I said. “We can take my boat. We’ll be fine.”
“Well, why’d you start all this? You really think I can just change all of a sudden? Learn all this stuff?”
“It’s the fight, Grover. Ever since the fight I’ve been messed up in the head. I thought I wanted to change myself. I thought I had to go off and do my own thing and that you wouldn’t understand.”
“Well, no, I wouldn’t understand, not when you don’t tell me anything.”
“So I went looking for that dead guy they were talking about on the news. I thought if I did something really scary and brave it would help. And then I met this kid named Davey in the swamp. He was living out there by himself. I started taking things to him and helping him. And it felt good to hang out with somebody who didn’t know about what happened.”
“That’s who needed your help? How is there a kid living in the swamp?”
“There used to be camps out there, you know? And this camp used to be his family’s a long time ago, and he went out there this summer and started fixing it up. He told me his brother and his dad were coming, but they never did. And this past weekend I told my parents that I was spending the night with you, and I went out there and stayed with him. And then his brother finally showed up with some friends, and I think they’re all a bunch of outlaws. I think it’s their hideout.”