Cherry Orphan

Chapter 19

Chapter 19

From Garrapata beach they drove to Monterey and ate lunch at an inexpensive cafe she knew, only two blocks from Robert's head office. Calley settled for Julienne salad while James valiantly tackled a banquet burger. Neither of them seemed especially talkative at first.

"I know this part of town very well," she said, a fork aimlessly poking at the dish with little interest. "We lived in Monterey for ten years."

"With your mum?" James finally gave up on the big burger that made his jaw ache.

"Yeah. Colleen kept going back to LA for small acting jobs: commercials mostly. Dad started up a Jaguar franchise: the first one on the peninsula. An absolute gold mine; sales took off immediately. His customers came in from Salinas, Santa Cruz, and even Frisco. I was only six when we moved up here, but I remember it like yesterday. I remember how cold it could be compared to LA."

James wanted to work his way around to something, so he kept prompting with questions. "When did he start the business he has now?"

She paused to recollect. "Hmm, I think he began setting up the network in 1972 or 73. He sold the Jag dealership for a fortune. Most people would have been content with that kind of money, but not Robert. I know he incorporated Coachbuilt in seventy-four because he had a ten-year anniversary celebration this year while I was in England. At first we hardly ever saw him at home. I think it bothered Mom a lot more than Dad. Between the two of them, taking off all the time, Sonia and I started to wonder who they were."

"So who looked after you?"

"We had a nanny at the Carmel house. Before that my grandparents were always coming up here—Colleen's mom and dad. They both live in LA. Since the divorce we don't see them much anymore."

"I didn't know you lived in Carmel."

"Oh yeah, Dad kept movin' on up—Two places in Monterey, one in Carmel, and now Pebble Beach. He had his sights set on Pebble Beach all along. In fact I think the pressure he put on himself and everyone around him was a big factor in the marriage break-up. Colleen couldn't have cared less about Pebble Beach. In our family Dad's the social climber, not her."

James decided to broach what he'd intended getting at all along. "Was it also a factor in your problems at school? The problems with the police?"

She put her fork down and leaned back in the plastic chair. "I wondered if you were trying to work around to that."

"Sorry if it's difficult. I don't mean to be nosy," he added in haste.

"No. I said I'd be open about personal things. I have to tread careful around Dad's friends, but you're family. My old high school isn't far from here. Most of the kids still live in the neighborhood. I say kids—they're my age now. Some are older. Monterey is anything but poor—upper middle-class and better. Local sixteen-year-olds are about as spoiled as it gets. Most can afford sportscars, designer clothes... habits."

"Habits?"

"Drug habits. Not ghetto drugs. Sometimes the real expensive stuff, like cocaine, even smack. I should know, James. Just look at me—I'm a classic product of this place."

"That's not what you said to me and Sonia at the party. 'I can stop anytime'—that's what you said."

Her finger snapped open the zip-tab on a can of Diet Sprite and she poured it slowly into a glass, looking at him through narrowed eyes. "Listen, James, don't get all preachy on me. The stuff I used yesterday was the first coke hit I've had in more than a year, okay. Neither Colleen or Robert allow me much cash, but if I want something legit they will buy it for me. They don't trust me with cash. They know I'll buy dope because I like it. In fact I like it a lot. Mom understands better than Dad—he's too straight. He's like you. I don't think he's even tried grass." She leaned over the table and spoke quietly and deliberately. "Read my lips: I'm not a junkie. Coke's just an expensive treat I get to enjoy once in a while. If you hadn't given me the money I wouldn't have had the treat. Dammit, I'll prove it to you, James. When we get home you can have the money back... less the six hundred I already spent."