Free Return to Sullivans Island by Dorothea Benton Frank Page A

that great house party in the sky? Would it be worth the energy when the family now lived in four different states? Beth did not know the answer to any of these questions and shrugged them off thinking that in time they would see.
    Mike reached into the cooler and pulled out two bottles of beer, twisted off the caps, and handed one to her. He gave his cousin an assessment from head to toe and decided to contain his opinions, remembering she was his cousin. There were remarkable changes in Beth. Maybe it would be fun to come back to the island and hang out with her, go to the bars and see how she handled men.
    “There’s Bucky by the grill,” he said. “Hey, Bucky! You want a beer?”
    “Yeah, thanks!” he called back.
    Grabbing one more, Mike and Beth moved across the yard to where he stood. Bucky, who was twenty-four, was in constant competition with his older brother. When Mike announced he was going to business school, Bucky decided he was going to medical school. When Mike got into Carolina, Bucky began the application process to attend Duke. It was plain old sibling rivalry and one-upmanship that had been going on since Bucky came home from the hospital on day three of his life and they looked each other in the eye. Beth, as an only child, thought their jealousy was ridiculous. She would have done anything to have had a sister or a brother.
    “So,” Beth said, “what’s going on?”
    “Well,” Bucky said, “I was thinking about taking the golf cart out for a spin. Want to come?”
    “Dude, there’s the sundown law for golf carts. And a huge fine.” Mike said.
    “If we get caught. Which we won’t.”
    “Right,” Mike said.
    “Come on, what’s the big deal? If the cops stop us, we just tell them we’re from out of town and we didn’t know. I’m taking Blake and Phillip. They’re like catatonic from boredom.”
    “Yeah, and Uncle Grant will kick your ass if you get caught,” Beth said.
    “Nice mouth, Red. Just stay on the backstreets, okay?” Mike said.
    “Whatever,” Bucky said, and walked away to find his cousins.
    Beth and Mike watched him go and thought Bucky was taking a dumb risk for something that wasn’t worth it. Couldn’t they just go play Frisbee or Halo? And sure enough, barely an hour later on the edge of night, here came Sullivans Island’s finest.
    Henry and Grant heard the squad car pulling into the yard and went around the house to see what was going on. There were Bucky, Blake, and Phillip sitting in the backseat looking extremely uncomfortable, staring at their feet.
    “Evening,” Henry said, and recognized the police officer as someone he had known slightly in high school. “Wait, don’t I know you? Did you go to Bishop England? Maybe, Wando?”
    His name tag read Dan Howard, Chief of Police.
    “Yeah, Bishop England, Class of ’79,” Chief Howard said. “Wait a second, I know you. Henry Hamilton! Didn’t you grow up here in this house? Is that your boy I picked up?”
    “Yeah, that’s me. Two of them are mine. The other one is my nephew. What did they do?”
    “Well, we’ve got a golf cart curfew violation that carries a hefty fine, and the more serious charge for all of them is open container and that the two younger boys are underage.”
    “Great,” Grant said.
    As Mike and Beth came around the corner, they could tell that Uncle Grant was furious just by his posture. His feet were spread and dug in, his arms were crossed across his chest, and his jaw was tight. Their Uncle Henry, on the other hand, was standing there smiling with his hands in his pockets. Henry was a cool customer under duress.
    “Holy moly,” Beth said under her breath. “Right?”
    “What happened, Uncle Henry?” Mike said, nodding to Beth, using his most manly voice.
    Henry did not respond to Mike, who did not press the issue, knowing the facts would emerge quickly enough. Beth had the good sense to remain silent for once in her brief but opinionated life, making mental notes to