A Summer to Remember

Chapter Two

It was just after noon when Austin and I made it to Lobster Cove. The walk from my house was a little over a mile, but almost everyone walked or rode their bicycle on the island. Austin and I were used to it. We sat on a ledge which overlooked the cove. As it was summer, tourists wandered aimlessly about, snapping pictures to take home. Austin and I leaned against a rock and I opened my backpack to take out the sandwiches I had packed. "What'd ya pack Mare?" Austin asked, looking at the sandwiches.

"Your favorite, A," I responded, handing him a peanut butter and banana sandwich.

"What about for yourself?" he asked, knowing full well that I couldn't care less for peanut butter and banana sandwiches.

"Ham and cheese with mayo and Cape Cod chips," I answered, unwrapping my sandwich. We sat in silence for a few minutes. Only the crunching of the kettle cooked chips and the sound of waves crashing on rocks was heard.

"Excuse me dear," an older woman wearing a fanny pack said to Austin, "do you mind taking a picture of my husband and I?"

"Oh, not at all!" Austin exclaimed and stood up, taking their camera. The couple moved together in front of the camera. "Now, say cheese!" Austin said, clicking the camera several times. The couple continued to smile. "Let's do a silly one now," he said, clicking the camera more times as the couple did as he said and attempted to screw up their faces in a funny way. "Lovely!" Austin shouted as he looked at the pictures as they showed up on the camera's tiny screen. The couple was laughing as they walked away with their camera, and so was I. 

"So, do you think I can do it?" Austin asked as he plopped down beside me.

"Do what?" I questioned.

"Be a professional modeling photographer, obviously!" he exclaimed, sinking back into his sandwich.

"You can be whatever you want, A, " I responded, rolling my eyes.

***

Austin and I were on our way back into town after our lunchtime picnic. We were just about to go into the Fish Market when Austin's father came staggering down the road. I hated Austin's father. He was a mean man who drank too much and often took out his anger on Austin. Several years ago Austin's mother had left his father as well as Austin and moved to Europe. His father had only gotten meaner when she left.

"We're all out of food!" Austin's father yelled at his son as he approached the two of us.

"I'm sorry, I'll go buy some more today," Austin replied, trying to keep his cool. 

"Why'd you eat all my food you freeloader!?" his father shouted, shoving Austin in the shoulder. 

"You ate some of it too," Austin said. 

"Don't talk back to me! I'm your father dammit! You have to respect me!" his father yelled, taking Austin by the shirt with his fists.

"Maybe if you acted like one, I'd respect you," Austin responded through gritted teeth.

"That's it you son of a bitch!" his father yelled before knocking his son on the ground and beating him repeatedly.  

At this point, their scene had drawn quite a crowd, locals and tourists alike. I ran over to a man who worked at the fish market named Gary. Gary had been a good friend of my father's. I thought of one of the only government owned buildings on the island, the post office, and had him run to get help. By the time I returned to the scene, a tourist had tied rope around Austin's father's hands and another woman was on the ground beside Austin, who had become unconscious. 

"I'm a cop back in Massachusetts," the man who had tied Austin's father's hands with rope explained.

"And, I'm a nurse in Indiana," the woman on the ground beside Austin explained. 

"Is he going to be alright?" I asked, my eyes fixed on the blood that stained the dirt road. 

"He needs to go to a hospital, but it shouldn't be more than a minor concussion," she answered. Several minutes later Gary came down the road, the head of the post office on the island following closely behind him. 

"I've contacted the Coast Guard," said the head of the post office, his name was Mr. Martin, "they'll be here shortly to take Mr. Harper into custody and bring his son to St. Andrews in Boothbay." Once the announcement was made, most of the tourists dispersed except for the police officer and the nurse. I stayed beside Austin as the nurse did as much as she could with the first aid kit Mr. Martin had brought her. Austin had woken up a little after Mr. Martin had arrived and I sat beside him.

"You can come live with us, A," I said to him.

"We'll talk about it later Mare," he responded.

"I mean it. You practically live there already," I told him. He shut up after that and we just waited in silence until the Coast Guard arrived. 

When it did arrive, they wheeled Austin off in a stretcher, even though he insisted to walk. "Everything will be alright," the nurse said to me as the boat pulled away from the wharf. 

"I know," I responded, even though everything had just changed.