A Place In This Life

Chapter 4

The next morning, I watched Todd's boat leave the harbor. Too shy and afraid of becoming emotional, I peeked through the curtains. Todd was sitting outside, smoking a cigarette as Tom guided the vessel into the foggy mist. For just a moment it felt like we'd never see each other again.

Todd and I agreed that I would call him that night, to make sure he got back okay. As for me, I was leaving for Avalon the next day, but the thought of being stuck on the boat for almost another week brought out the worst case of impatience I'd ever experienced.

My last day at Two Harbors was a wash as I moped around the boat, hid in my bunk, and seriously considered sneaking away on the next ferry out. After another lunch of pressed skins on wooden bread, my phone beeped with a text.

Natalie — Left a message in the marquee on shore. Go read it.

At least this gave me some kind of goal to salvage my lonely, strange day. I hitched a ride to shore when my dad made his daily beer and cigarette trip.

The marquee, which was in front of the general store, was kind of a trading post where travelers left messages for each other — a throwback to yesterday, but obviously loved and used in spite of technology. I didn't let on what I was going to do, and waited outside the store before the coast was clear to go in search of my message. It only took a minute to find it.

Hi Natalie –Don't forget to call me tonight at 7:30. That's the only time I'll be home. – Todd

I looked for a way to open the marquee and take the note, inhale its scent and tuck it away in my pocket. All I found was a rusty padlock and that my dad was wandering around the front of the store looking for me.

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To my surprise, my dad decided to move our boat down the coast that afternoon to Moonstone Beach, a small cove where we could drop anchor without having to pay a fee or worry about a dye tablet. As we putted away, I plotted my evening phone call — either my parents would be on the beach with my brother, or on the boat. Either way, I needed complete privacy and assurance that nobody was listening to my call.

Luckily, they chose to go to the beach for a walk, so I hid in my bunk and made the phone call at approximately 7:30.

"Hello?" said Todd, out of breath.

"It's Natalie. Are you okay?"

"I had to run to the phone. We got home and everything's a mess and I couldn't find it."

"We always have a mess after our trip, too," I said, making polite conversation.

"I didn't want to miss your call, so I'm glad I found the phone. Are you going to Avalon tomorrow?"

"Yeah, but we left Two Harbors this afternoon and dropped anchor at Moonstone."

"Never heard of it," he said, sounding like he was moving around the room. I heard a match light and then a cigarette crackle.

"It's a little cove. My dad likes it cause it doesn't cost anything to anchor there."

"I'll have to check it out next time — the trip was okay. I just wish we'd had more time to spend together."

"That would have been nice. I didn't expect to meet anyone."

"Well, you met someone — that's for sure," he said before launching into a mini-history about his past, highlighting that he recently had a "friend" named Lisa who he saw on and off, whenever he felt like it.

"Like a best friend with benefits," he said, smug about having this convenient Lisa available to him. Was it necessary to tell me about her? Shouldn't that be a turn-off? Instead, I felt jealous.