*****
The next morning, Charlotte woke well before the others had stirred. She slipped out of bed and moved drowsily to the couch under her window to peek through the curtains. Everything was dark out. The Kapono’s pool was still and empty. The ocean was barely visible in the black morning.
Usually, Charlotte was a late sleeper and a deep one. Her mom always marveled that Charlotte could sleep through anything. Alarm clocks, thunderstorms, a nuclear apocalypse. One time, she had even slept through gunfire that erupted in the next-door neighbor’s apartment when a fight broke out. The ambulance siren came right up to the window, mom said, but Charlotte hadn’t even rolled over in her sleep.
So it was strange to be the only one up and about before dawn. Of course, in Philly it was 10 o’clock already.
Lonely, and feeling an odd surge of excitement with the freshness of the day, she went to the pile of shopping bags that had been left at the foot of her bed. She poked about her purchases until she found what she was looking for: the brand new cellphone that Aunt Sheena had insisted she buy “in case of emergencies.”
Charlotte pressed the familiar number into the phone’s touchpad and waited through five rings before Olivia answered.
“’lo?” came the familiar voice, throaty, gravelly, a little irreverent.
“Hey, Liv.”
There was a pause. “Chuck? Chuck!”
Only Liv referred to Charlotte as “Chuck.” It was an old, silly joke, but it made Charlotte miss her friend deeply.
“Don’t act so surprised,” Charlotte said drily.
“God, you sound like you’re calling from Saturn. Where you at, anyway?”
“Hawaii.”
“Haw--no way…For reals?”
“Yeah.”
“Your aunt lives out there, yeah? The stinkin’ rich one? Who sends all that money?”
“Uh-huh.”
She could hear Olivia whistle through her teeth. “You lucky bastard. I hate you. What’s it like?”
Charlotte loved that Olivia was so unfazed by this news. And that she didn’t seem upset that this was the first time Charlotte had called in over a year. Olivia was like that, completely coolheaded and non-judgmental. She was your friend when you wanted her to be, and she was hands-off when you needed space. She took things in stride.
“It’s good,” Charlotte said.
“Your mom’s out there, too?”
“No. She’s still in Philly.”
“Oh. Is she okay?”
Charlotte hesitated. She hadn’t told Olivia about what happened last year. She hadn’t told a soul. But if there was anyone worth telling, Liv was the one. She was ten years older than Charlotte, and felt like an older sister. Before getting kicked out of their old place, Charlotte and her mom used to live in an apartment in Old Kensington, and Liv lived in the upstairs unit. Sometimes, when mom worked late, or didn’t come home at all, Charlotte would sneak over to Liv’s place and hang with her and Big Andy, Liv’s boyfriend. Back then, she and Liv were thick as thieves. But after moving away, and everything that happened afterward, Charlotte hadn’t kept in touch.
“Mom’s being mom,” Charlotte said, trying not to sound too serious about it. “Taking a lot of crap, like always.”
“What kind of crap?” Liv asked, playing along, keeping her tone light.
“Same old crap, but more of it.”
“But you got away. That’s good,” Liv said earnestly. “That’s real good, Chuck.”
“I didn’t want to leave. Mom made me.”
“Huh. Didn’t you say she hated that sister? Why’d she send you out there?”
Charlotte drew a deep breath. Here it was. She didn’t want to go into it, but she had to tell Liv. There was a good reason for her to explain the whole story now. Secretly, she was hoping that Liv would keep an eye on mom. Not get super involved with mom’s problems, but at least check in on her every now and then. And if Charlotte was going to ask Liv to do that, she owed her the truth.
“Something kind of bad happened,” Charlotte said. “But don’t freak out.”
“Girl, do I ever?”
Charlotte summoned her courage. “You remember Dom?”
“Oh yeah,” Liv said disapprovingly. “Low-life hustler with the tricked out car. I hated that guy.”
“Yeah, well. Last year, he got real violent with my mom. I mean real bad.”
“She oughta left him,” Liv said. “She oughta left him a long time ago.”
“She wants to. But he’s got her in deep,” Charlotte said.
“What is it? Crack?”
“And heroin.”
Liv let loose a stream of expletives.
“I told you not to freak,” Charlotte said. “That’s not even the bad part. That’s been going on years now.”
“Oh yeah?” Liv said. “Don’t say he got his claws in you, too, Chuckie. Cause, God help me, I’ll kill him. I really…”
Charlotte interrupted and spoke fast, wanting to get the whole story out on the table and done with.
“I don’t know what Dom did, but mom had enough last year. She snapped. She told him she wanted out, even tried calling the police. Dom messed her up bad for it, Liv. I thought…” Charlotte felt a lump rise in her throat but she carried on. “They fought, and I thought he might really kill her. He wanted to.”
Liv’s voice got soft. “You were there, Chuck?”
“Yeah,” Charlotte said. “I saw it. And I tried stopping him. I sort of threw myself at him.”
“You what?” Liv shouted. “You could’ve got yourself killed!”
“I know,” Charlotte said. “But I was so mad.”
She couldn’t finish. She stopped talking for a long time until Liv broke the silence.
“What happened?” Liv said in that comfortable, patient voice that Charlotte knew so well.
“He had a gun,” Charlotte finally managed. “And he was pointing it right at her, a few feet away. And when I jumped him, it was from behind. He was so shocked, he – he dropped it.”
“You’re damn lucky he didn’t shoot and blow her goddamn face off.”
“I know it. I wasn’t thinking. That’s why, when I got the gun…I was so mad and scared, Liv I – I…”
She stopped again. But Liv was smart. She could finish it, and she did.
“You got that gun and you shot him down, didn’t you Chuckie?” Liv said. It was less of a question than a statement.
Charlotte fell silent.
Liv knew Dom. Knew he deserved this fate more than anyone. So why was Charlotte so scared to talk? It still felt like shame was scratching at her insides.
“Shot him dead, I hope,” Liv said.
Charlotte swallowed. “I wasn’t thinking about him dying. Honest to God. But I shot him, Liv. He died right there. It was wrong, and I hate myself…”
“Don’t say that,” Liv said firmly. “Did you catch trouble for it?”
Charlotte steadied her voice. “The prosecutor let me off easy. She said it was justifiable homicide. Didn’t even try me. Just two days in juvie hall.”
There was an audible sigh of relief on the other end. “She could’ve made your life living hell if she wanted,” Liv said. “You know that.”
“Yeah.”
Charlotte felt calm again. Like something poisonous had been leeched from her blood. She clutched at the phone desperately.
“I wish you were here so I could hug you, little sis,” Liv said. “But your mom was right to send you away, if that’s how things were with her.”
“I’m worried about her, Liv,” Charlotte said.
“Is she clean?”
“No,” Charlotte said. “No.”
“Don’t worry about that now,” Liv said soothingly. “You just worry about yourself. Okay? You’re with good people now? They care about you?”
Charlotte looked out her window at the dawning morning, with the sun glinting off the ocean horizon. “I think so.”
“Good,” Liv
said. “Don’t worry about your mom. She’s a big girl, Chuck.”
Charlotte pressed the phone closer to her ear. “Can you…could you visit her, sometimes, Liv? To make sure she’s okay?”
“Of course. You’re my jawn. I’d do that for you, Chuck, you know that,” Liv promised. “I’ll go first chance I get.”
Charlotte ended the call and fell back on her bed, weak and shivery with relief.
Chapter 2