Celadon Bay - Book One

Count your blessings

"We have to celebrate in proper fashion now." It's the first thing Martin says when we all finally manage to calm down, and I stop publicly embarrassing myself. In my defense, though, it's been a pretty rough week.

"What's exactly proper fashion for you, anyway?" I ask.

But I don't really need to ask to know what Martin means: "Pizza in the basement."

"You go wash your fucking face first," he says. "You look like someone beat the crap out of you."

"Stop bullying my boyfriend, Martin." Vee says. She's sitting right next to me, and I'm touched by the way she tenderly kisses my blotchy eyes. "It's not his fault you're a heartless guy who is unable to understand normal human emotions, you know?"

"Shut up, bitch! I'm an emotional guy too," Martin shouts, leaning back on the couch. "I just don't get it when people cry tears of happiness. Tears are supposed to be reserved for sad things."

"See? You just don't get it." Vee says, making her point.

"Anyways. Aloha, it is. I'll let Alex know." And out he goes, gliding through the door as he texts on his phone.

Vee and I look at each other, unsure how to proceed from this point on. But before we can take things further, Martin shows up back in the doorway. "Are you guys coming or what?"

Inside Aloha-Aloha, the general mood is pretty similar to ours. Aunt Sugar glides across the dining room serving her customers with a big smile. Even I can tell how much she enjoys being involved in the business again. Dad's by the oven, multitasking as usual, preparing the pizzas to be cooked; taking them out, cutting and serving and packing and sending the delivery person out all at the same time.

I saunter over to him. "Need a hand there, Dad?"

"Stay away from my oven, pal," he warns, but with his ever-present smile. I swear my dad even smiles in his sleep. "I wouldn't mind if that beautiful girl of yours came over here to say hello, though." And then he turns around and winks at Vee, which of course, never fails to make her smile. She abandons me to join Dad by the counter.

"Hi, Mr. Foster."

"Foster? And MISTER?" He does a pretty good job at pretending to be offended. "I thought we were friends, Miss Holt."

"Okay, okay. I get it. Thomas."

"Tom, honey. Just Tom!"

"Would you stop harassing my girlfriend already?" I scoff as I drive Vee away from this youngster-wannabe.

"John, Champ," my dad teases. "You know I love you, but this girl of yours is wasting her potential with you."

"I'm very sorry I can't live up to your expectations, Mister Foster." I emphasize the last words to piss him off, but of course, it doesn't work. Not on him. "But you know?" I say. "Miss Holt here, loves me just the way I am. So, suck it, old man." Then I turn to "Miss Holt." "Isn't that right, sunshine?"

"John!" Vee smiles at me, pretty much horrified. "You can't talk to your dad like that!"

"Yeah. You tell him, girl." Dad wraps up one last pizza box, then places it on the counter, ready to go. "Champ, before you take off, I need a second with you."

Vee and I exchange glances. "I'll be with Martin," she says, then turns to Dad again. "A pleasure to see you, Mister Tom."

"That's halfway better!" he says with a chuckle.

When Vee is out of earshot, I look back to Dad. "What's up?"

"I understand you talked to your mother."

"Yeah," I say. "Is it that obvious?"

"Do you have to ask? You're freaking smiling, Champ." This gets me all flustered for a second and I can't say anything. "I haven't seen a smile on your face since we told you about Grandma last week."

"Well, yeah. It's been a rough week for me."

"I know it was, Johnny. Believe it or not, it's been a struggle for all of us."

That's no joke. It makes sense that Dad would miss Uncle Owen as much as I'd miss Martin. They're just as tight. "But it's over now, isn't it?"

He nods and gives me his customary smile. "Happy, buddy?"

I nod. "Definitely."

"Let it show. Don't be scared."

My dad isn't the kind of guy who likes getting all emotional or anything, so I play it safe and try my hand at a joke. "I'm too hungry to smile," I say. "Feed us some pizza. Pronto."

"You got it, Boss." And he gets right to it, knowing our usual order by heart.

"Thanks, Dad," I say earnestly, then I head straight for the kitchen, where the staircase to the basement is.

Uncle Owen is there.

"Hey, Jay!" he calls out.

Yup. Uncle Owen loves calling me Jay.

"Hey, Uncle. What's cooking?"

"Pun intended?" He leaves his giant sauce pot on the stove and gives me the usual hair ruffle. "Guess we'll still have you hanging around for a while, won't we?"

"I'm just hoping we didn't overstay our welcome."

"Naw, none of that, kid." He gets back to stirring his sauce. "Actually, your parents are a huge help around here, and I'm glad my little boy gets to hang out with you. You're a good influence on him, and you might've noticed that he ain't too skilled at making friends, if you know what I mean? That little punk sure knows better since y'all got here. You can take credit for that, I think; you and that little sweetheart of yours."

"Martin is no pushover, that's for sure, and he has some... issues. But he's not a bad guy once you give him a chance," I say in Martin's defense.

Martin's voice roars up from the basement. "Just so you know, I'm listening from down here, you little shit!"

"Then you should be damn glad I'm blowing smoke out your fucking ass!"

"I heard better compliments in a fucking prison!"

"Which is where your sorry ass is going to end up!" I bark back at him and Uncle Owen laughs with me.

"That's what I'm talking about, right there." He ruffles my hair once again. "Anyway, Jay. I'm glad y'all are staying here."

I nod at him and smile, then head downstairs, where my best friend and my girlfriend are waiting for me. I stand at the end of the staircase and watch the two of them—the most important people in my life right now. I still can't fully appreciate how lucky I actually am. Especially now that I'm staying.

"So, cousin," Martin says, waving me over. "Beach this afternoon, are we clear?"

I allow my body to sink into the leather, and all the tension I've held in my muscles finally disappears. "Definitely!" I tell Martin. "There's no place else I'd rather be."