Alabaster Island

Chapter 17

Standing outside Ben's house, a concrete building with a freshly painted green door, I hesitated. It could go one of two ways. Ben might rat me out in the hope that I'd be punished so severely that he wouldn't have to deal with me anymore. But the only time I'd seen someone locked away was when Eleanor had a nervous breakdown and Mayor Marlow felt she was a threat to herself.

I'd likely face severe punishment, but if Ben wanted a permanent solution, his best bet was to help me leave. Now I needed to convince him. First, I took a deep breath, then knocked. Ben's mom, Amelia, answered. She held a giant knife in her left hand. Grey and brown hair poked out from a faded blue and white striped bandana. The odor of fish guts wafted from the house and I swallowed hard.

"Marei! Come in, come in." 

"I can't stay, I was just looking for Ben—"

"Nonsense, I've been wanting to talk."

She put the knife down and wiped her pudgy hands on her apron as she ushered me inside. Most of the houses were similar but Ben's house was an exception. It had a larger kitchen and a giant covered area in the back where hundreds of fish hung smoking above a fire that never got extinguished.

 "Do you have your dress for Honeymoon Island yet?"

"No. We don't have our date yet."

"Still, your mom must have something picked out?"

It had been the farthest thing from my mind. But I hadn't even answered before she rushed me into her bedroom. She took me by the shoulders and stood me in front of an old mirror leaning in the corner. From the looks of it, they'd found it floating in the ocean after a storm. The wood had warped and cracked and the mirror as well. Thirty or forty large fissures ran along the sides. But the center was smooth and flat. I'd lost weight in the last week and had circles beneath my eyes from lack of sleep. 

I jumped when Amelia reappeared holding a long, frilly dress sagging on an old wooden hangar. She placed it against me. It smelled of twenty years worth of must and tropical mildew.

"Yes! It will fit." She turned me to the mirror. The yellowing frills matched my yellowing skin. Hideous.

"I wasn't always this plump. As thin as a reed when I was your age. Enjoy it while you can m'dear. Nothing lasts forever!"

I sneezed. Yes, and the dress proved that.

"I'll air it out in the sun," she apologized. 

"Have you seen Ben?" I asked. "It's important. I need to talk to him."

"He's not at the dock?"

I shook my head.

"Well maybe—"

There was a bang and footsteps of people entering followed by the sound of his father's voice. He lectured Ben on some aspect of fishing.

"I'm glad you two are finally hitting it off," Amelia whispered as she pulled me out into the kitchen. Ben's large nostrils flared when he saw me. As if the only thing worse to smell than a bucket of fish guts was me.

"What's she doing here?" Ben said.

Ben's Dad cuffed him hard on the back of his head. "That's no way to talk to your betrothed. Get sense into you boy!"

"We need to talk," I said to Ben. "Alone." Ben folded his thick arms while Amelia scurried to her husband and whispered something in his ear. We weren't supposed to spend time alone until our trip to Honey Moon Island. Hopefully we'd be the last couple scheduled which might push it back at least three weeks, maybe longer. But everyone knew all was not well in this couple's paradise so I figured they'd make an exception. And I was right.