A Place In This Life

Chapter 2

After a bout of panic vomiting on the restroom floor, I returned with my parents to the boat, grabbing a 7-Up from the cooler to settle my stomach. There would be little time to freshen-up and change clothes, but I made an attempt, scrubbing the sticky sun lotion from my arms in the tight quarters of the head — an awful term for the bathroom on a boat. There was just something wrong about calling it "the head" in front of your parents.

With fresh deodorant, t-shirt and shorts, I pulled my hair into a half-ponytail and actually put earrings in. I traveled with only one pair, never believing I would need to wear them. This trip was different, much to my surprise, and I wanted to look put-together even if it was on the fly.

My mom was outside reading a magazine, with my dad talking to himself while figuring out his new fishing reel, a cigarette dangling from his mouth.

"I'm going for a boat ride around the harbor," I said. My mother looked up, and her eyebrows even more.

"With the boy you met?"

"His name is Todd," I said in a quiet voice, hoping she wouldn't go into panic mode.

My father took his face away from the reel for a moment, looked across the harbor, and then back at the reel before speaking.

"You need to let us know what boat he's on before you go," he said, taking a screwdriver and trying to un-jam the mechanism.

"Sure."

It was easier than I'd thought to simply announce that I was going out... with a boy. On our family vacation. Maybe it was a teenage trust test, to see how good I behaved, because they had no problems with my afternoon plans. Even harder to believe was the sight of Todd crossing the row of boats in his dinghy, heading straight toward me. Never in a million years would I have pictured this happening.

"Am I on-time?" he asked.

"Extremely," I said, reaching over the side to grab his line and tie it to our boat. Almost instantly, my father came over and gave him a hand, pulling Todd into the back. This was the first time I was able to gauge how tall Todd was, as he towered over my dad.

"So you're Todd," said my dad, looking up at the gaunt figure of a teenage boy and reaching out to shake his hand.

"Yes sir, Todd Wilson."

"I'm Brett, and this is my wife, Emily," said my dad, looking around for Taylor. "And somewhere is Natalie's brother, Taylor."

"Hiding out with a video game?" I suggested. My father, with his extraordinary sense of selective hearing, ignored my comment.

"Nally says you're going driving around the harbor?"

"Yes, sir."

"Just watch out for crazy boaters... and I need to know which boat is yours, just in case."

"We're on A17," said Todd, pointing toward the shore. "I'm here with my mom and her boyfriend."

"Ah, I see," said my dad. The moment was becoming awkward as we stood in a circle at the back of the boat, my hands starting to itch.

"I'll have Natalie back in a few hours," said Todd, one hand in his pocket.

"Okay guys, go have fun," said my dad upon returning to his fishing reel project.

"I have my phone," I chimed-in, waving it around before putting it in my pocket. My dad nodded and looked to my mom, who also gave her cranial blessing. We were free to escape.

Todd helped me into the dinghy and no sooner had I plopped my butt down did we take off. He smiled the whole time while I white-knuckled the rope handles. We rounded a few yachts, coming close to their bows, and I felt like I was going to fall out with each turn until we reached the tidepools and cut the engine.