Free Red Ruby Heart in a Cold Blue Sea (9781101559833) by Morgan Callan Rogers Page B

“I didn’t see anyone. Who?”
    â€œCarlie,” I sobbed. “Carlie is down there. How could you miss her?”
    Dottie had reached us in her inner tube by then. “You mean she’s dead and she’s down there?” Dottie said.
    I nodded.
    â€œNo, she isn’t,” Bud said. “I didn’t see nothing, Florine, and I was right beside you. Nothing but seaweed and rocks. Not even a crab.”
    â€œI saw her,” I insisted. “I saw her.”
    Then Madeline was beside us.
    â€œWhat happened?”
    â€œFlorine says she saw Carlie down there,” Dottie said.
    â€œWhat?” Madeline said. “Where?”
    I pointed straight down. “There,” I blubbered.
    â€œI didn’t see nothing,” Bud said. “I was right with her.”
    Madeline said, “Show me, Bud,” and they dove while I clung to the mooring and shook. They surfaced and Madeline said, “Florine, there’s nothing. You imagined it.”
    â€œI saw her,” I insisted. “I did. She’s dead. Drowned.”
    â€œTake hold of Dottie’s inner tube and we’ll get back together,” Madeline said. “Go get Grand,” she ordered Bud, and he was off.
    Grand wrapped me in a blanket and set me on her sofa. She made tea laced with milk and sugar and she threw in a good dollop of whiskey. Someone radioed Daddy out on the water, and he burst through the door like a bear after his cub.
    â€œWhat in God’s name happened?” he asked, kneeling beside me.
    I looked at him through sleepy, whiskey-laced eyes. “Carlie drowned,” I said.
    â€œHow?” Daddy said. “Where?”
    â€œShe didn’t see anything, Leeman,” Grand said. “She imagined it.”
    Daddy moved strands of hair off my forehead. “You know it ain’t real, honey,” he said, soft. “I see things too, but it’s all in my head. Just our brains, I guess, trying to figure it all out.” He held me until the image faded and the only thing that mattered was the fishy smell of his bait-stained T-shirt.
    That night, Daddy took me to Long Reach to the last summer band concert and the movies. I hunted for Carlie as we drove down the streets of Long Reach to the square where a brass band was playing. I scanned the crowd for her as we listened to the band and ate hot dogs Daddy bought from a cart. We went to the movies and I studied each head above each seat for the one that I would know anywhere. When the lights dimmed we stared at the screen in front of us. But the main attraction in my head—Carlie mauled and jellied on the ocean floor—played over whatever was showing that night. When Daddy said, “I’ll be right back,” I followed him up the aisle past the pale faces of the audience. We walked out of the movie theater and headed for the truck. We climbed in and sat, both of us staring at the people walking by. He lit a cigarette and took a deep drag. Smoke snaked out of the driver’s window. He looked at me and said, “Florine, the only thing we can do is take it day to day. You got school and I got work. We got to get on with both of them. You with me?” I nodded, and he started the pickup.
    We almost hit a big doe near the turnoff to The Point. Daddy slammed on the brakes and threw his arm across me to stop me from jerking forward. The headlights flooded the doe’s eyes, and then she flipped her flag tail and slipped into the woods.
    Labor Day passed and the first day of school came calling. I wore a pretty, plaid, blue dress Madeline had bought for me. Grand brought me lunch.
    Even though I would be thirteen in eight months, Grand and Daddy walked me to the bus stop across from Ray’s store. Dottie, Bud, and Glen were boarding the bus. I tried not to look at schoolmates who might be looking down at me. I climbed onto the bus behind Dottie and we plunked down in a seat close to the middle. Daddy and I