grass was greener. The mood was sunnier. Sophie was only fifteen. She wondered how many people ran away at her age. She’d read a lot about kids running away and ending up in bad situations but she thought those books were written purposely to keep kids from running away, even if their home life was worse.
When she arrived at The Hamptons stop, she stood up and grabbed her bag and a feeling of independence took over and woke her up a bit. She could do anything she wanted – she didn’t have to spend the next two months at Leslie’s. She could go off somewhere if she wanted to.
Sophie saw Leslie’s mom, Vanessa, standing by her red convertible. She was blonde with very curly hair. She was a bit chunky. She was an older, fat version of Leslie. She wore a silk blue tank top with brown cargo shorts and croc wedges. She acted like this ensemble was a good idea.
“Sophie!” Vanessa waved her hand around frantically and the sun glared against her tennis bracelet. Sophie forced a smile as she walked over to her.
“Hey Vanessa,” Sophie said. She wondered what all her mother had told her.
“Hey dear.” Vanessa threw her arm around Sophie and kissed her on the cheek. The fat of her underarm jiggled. She smelled like deodorant and cheap lotion.
“Well we’re glad to have you,” Vanessa said. Sophie looked inside Vanessa’s red Toyota Solara convertible. It looked like a Barbie car. It was so shiny it reflected the trees around it.
“Leslie didn’t come?” Sophie asked.
“No, no, couldn’t get her away from the pool. Did you know we had a pool?” Vanessa liked to brag.
“Yup.” Sophie tugged on the door handle but it was flaming hot and stung her hand.
“Okay hon,” Leslie said as she got in the car and reached over and opened Sophie’s door from the inside.
“Thank you,” Sophie said, feeling extremely awkward.
Vanessa was quiet for a minute as she drove away from the station and down one woodsy road then another.
“Listen, I don’t want you to feel like you’re putting us out,” Vanessa suddenly spoke. “Your mom called and said she thought this would be a good experience for you.”
“That’s all she said?” Sophie asked, frank. She didn’t want any secrets suddenly coming out over the dinner table. How embarrassing.
“Hon, you’re fifteen. I gave my mother plenty of trouble when I was fifteen. Lord knows that probably more than anything.” Sophie hoped Vanessa would further explain but she didn’t give anymore details.
“What all did you pack?” she changed the subject. “You know we have a pool right?” Vanessa bragged.
“Yes,” Sophie just said. “I just packed, you know, stuff.”
Vanessa gave out a laugh that sounded insulting. Sophie looked at her, trying to refrain from giving one of her mean looks her mom always chastised her for.
“What?”
“You’re just so vague, Sophie. Okay…” she sounded like she was about to make a dark confession. “Your mother and I did discuss that this morning. She said you were keeping…” Vanessa moved her cigarette around, trying to find the proper words. “Some kind of project in the shed?”
“A house for the fireflies.”
“Uh huh,” Vanessa said like she was about to draw some conclusion – like the house was the problem. This angered Sophie to an unimaginable level. There must be someone out there who would understand why she wanted to keep them in their own house. They looked so lost out there, they lit up because they were constantly searching for something – a home to be with other fireflies.
“I was doing something amazing and mother destroyed it.”
“Sophie, you were keeping a box of insects in the shed. That’s just…I mean I’m not going to classify it as insane but…its definitely odd.”
Sophie was very quiet, like she’d swallowed her tongue.
“So,” Vanessa took a deep breath. “Let’s move on shall we? I mean what do I have to worry about? I don’t have a shed. Now I have to pick up some things for the boys, so we will be stopping at Tanger.”
“At where?” All hope for life to get better had dissolved from Sophie’s tone.
“Tanger Shopping Center. I’m surprised you’ve never heard about it, its Leslie’s favorite place on earth.”
Apparently Vanessa thought Sophie and Leslie talked all the time. They’d barely spoken at all this year. Once Leslie’s father got a new job and they moved into a rich house and went to different schools, their friendship had come to an abrupt end.
“What boys?” Sophie asked.
“Oh Vanessa didn’t tell you? Her cousins are down. Well you know their dad had a heart attack, Uncle Charles? So they’re all down.” Vanessa’s hand left the wheel to wave around for a minute before slapping back down on it. “All six.”
“Six boys?” Sophie asked, terrified. She didn’t like boys. They were loud and messy and never cared what they said or who it effected. Detective Travis was the one exception, though he was more a man.
“Yup,” Vanessa had an irritating cackle. “Good thing we have a house big enough for everyone. And tonight I think we’re just gonna have a cookout or something. I have to hit the grocery store tomorrow. I can only imagine the grocery bill for all these…oh never mind,” she sighed. “What is life without a lot of people around, right?”
Sophie had nothing to say. She sat there and went numb with fear. What had she gotten herself into? Or, what did her mother force her into?
6
Sophie spotted a Barnes N Noble.
“I wanna go buy a book,” she alerted Vanessa. She had no interest in these fuddy duddy boutiques Vanessa wanted to go to. And a new book could keep her occupied for the next few weeks. All she needed was a quiet corner and a great story to lose herself in.
“Oh, well fine. That reminds me, I’m supposed to get a magazine called Trasher for the boys – some skate mess.”
“I think you mean Thrasher,” Sophie said.
“Yes, here’s some money,” Vanessa placed a twenty dollar bill in Sophie’s hand. “Keep the change and meet me in there.” She pointed to a shop for animal clothing. Did they have a dog? Sophie couldn’t remember.
She walked into the cold, silence of Barnes N Noble. It was sad how empty it was. No one liked to read much anymore. There was a grumpy looking woman over by the gifts at the checkout line and a few men at the magazine stand but that was about it.
You need a good mystery. Sophie ventured over to the fiction section. The silence in this corner was even more enrapturing. She picked a book about a mysterious drowning at a lake and went over to the checkout line. She felt a sudden, sharp pain spread through her vagina, followed by another. Oh man, her period. She hadn’t been keeping track with everything that was going on. That explained her refusal to leave the shed the other night, the madness that had swept over her.
“Next!” The cashier hollered. Sophie approached the register and put the book down. Her back ached and her stomach felt bloated. She paid for the book and rushed off to the bathroom. That was when she saw him. She would remember this always. The way he came out of the mens room, the way he walked, the way he tried so hard to look nonchalant that his expression came off as cute and puppy-doggish. His blonde hair was a bit unruly, and long, just passed his ears. He had a mustache. He was tall and very thin. He hurriedly rushed passed her. He’d wiped his hands on a paper towel and placed it in the trash bin on his way out. That was her first sighting of Phillipe Turner. She felt a good amount of blood rush out of her before she could get to the stall and pull her panties down.
Once she cleaned up and was ready to go she couldn’t find Vanessa. But she saw him again over by a tree. He looked right at her before climbing up into his truck and driving off. Who was he? She couldn’t help noting how much he looked like Detective Travis Warren.
“Sophie!” Vanessa called out. Her frizzy blonde hair was collapsing from the bun she kept it in and she was sweaty.
“There you are. Did you get the magazine?”
Sophie shook her head. “I forgot.”
“Well I don’t have time, I need to get to the wine store before it closes. Come along,” she called as she went over to her sports car.
7
Sophie was quiet in the car. She didn’t feel well and only wanted to reach their destination and climb into bed. It had been a long day, and last night still caused Sophie a lot of grief. She wouldn’t be going swimming like she’d planned, but perhaps that was for the best. It sounded like there would be a ton of people in the pool anyway.
“Where’s the house again?” Sophie asked, trying not to sound impatient but they’d been driving so long that she felt like she’d gotten off at the wrong train station.
“Oh, bout five more minutes or so. We moved, you know that right? Into a much bigger house.”
“Yes.” Sophie was tired of Vanessa’s bragging. Vanessa glanced down at Sophie’s Barnes N Noble bag.
“I think its so cute you still read,” Vanessa said. “I can’t get Leslie to read a thing except for those silly teenager magazines. Ha, Justin Bieber. If he’s on the cover of anything she goes insane – mama you have to go the store right away and pick this up! I need to let you know that you will be hearing a lot of his music this summer.”
When Sophie fed back nothing but dead silence Vanessa glanced at her worriedly.
“You like Justin Bieber?”
“No.”
“Well what kind of music do you like?” Vanessa asked, making