Puzzle Pieces: An Outer Banks Story

One: Off to Kildare

Julissa sat at her mother's gravestone on a rainy August afternoon. Her mother had been sick and died a few weeks earlier, and now Julissa was trying to figure out what her next steps would be. She wiped her eyes and stood up. As she was heading out of the cemetery her phone rang.
"Hey girl, how are you holding up?" A familiar voice came through the phone.
"Hey Sarah. I'm doing okay I guess. I'm just trying to figure out what to do next," Julissa answered. Sarah Cameron was her best friend. They'd been friends forever. They met at a summer camp in California when they were about five years old, and had stayed friends ever since. They'd go to camp every year until they were too old, around fourteen. The last time they went to camp was three years ago, but they still talked regularly despite the time difference between them. Julissa lived in Portland, Oregon, and Sarah lived on Kildare Island in the Outer Banks in North Carolina.
"I still think you should move to Kildare," Sarah said.
"Yeah, I guess I do need a change of scenery. Between my mom's death and Theo dumping me, I really have no reason to stay in Portland," Julissa said as she got into her car and headed home.
"Exactly! You have to meet John B! He's the best!" Sarah squealed.
"We get it Sar. You have the worlds greatest boyfriend," Julissa laughed.
"No seriously though, I think you'd get along with the group," Sarah said.
"Well my mom did make it a point to tell me that my dad lives in the Outer Banks," Julissa said.
"Exactly, we can look for him and you can start fresh!" Sarah said.
"Okay okay! I guess I'm moving to Kildare," Julissa said as she got inside her small apartment.
"Yay!" Sarah squealed. Julissa hung up the phone and started packing her things into boxes. She glanced over to a picture of her and Theo. Theo was her boyfriend since freshman year. He was a junior then. Now he was in veterinary school. He'd broken up with her because he felt she was holding him back, although Julissa never did anything to suggest that she wasn't supportive of him, nor did she ever tell him he had to choose between his dream and her. She was obviously pissed off as they'd been together two years. She threw the picture in the trash and carried on.

—

A week later, Julissa was sitting on a pile of boxes in her empty apartment. She'd finished up putting her mother's affairs in order and was ready to leave Portland for good. She'd lived there her whole life, and she'd lived with her mother in that tiny apartment that whole time. Her mother got sick when Julissa was only thirteen. It was breast cancer then.
"We've caught it early. The chances of survival are very high," the doctor had told them. He was wrong. A year later, the cancer spread to her cervix, and then to her bones.
"It was more aggressive than we thought," was all the oncologist had to say for himself. Julissa's mother had been in hospice for most of her sophomore year of high school and she had to drop out to take care of her. She finally died over the summer before junior year. Julissa had planned ahead and gotten emancipated by the time she was sixteen. She remembered one of the last conversations she had with her mom.
"I think I had better tell you about your father," she said.
"What about him? You said he was a deadbeat and and didn't care about me. What more is there to know?" Julissa asked
"He wasn't all bad Dear. His name is Luke, and he lives in the Outer Banks," her mom had told her. Now she was heading to Kildare Island in the Outer Banks, and she was determined to find him. She knew her mother told her about him for a reason.
"I just don't want you to be all alone," her mother told her. It had just been Julissa and her mom for as long as she could remember. Her mom didn't have any family. Her parents had died before Julissa was born, and she was an only child. Julissa lit a joint and stared at the empty room in front of her. She smoked partially for anxiety, and partially because it helped her forget her problems for a while. She was to move in with Sarah and John B at John B's house. Julissa had never met John B, but Sarah was always gushing about how wonderful he was. She finished the joint and put it out with her foot. She picked up the ashes and threw them outside. She took one last look at her childhood home, and loaded up the last of her stuff into her mom's blue pickup truck. She looked at the apartment one more time before returning the keys to the housing office and setting off for Kildare Island.