Someone told me Nemo was cool.
She was lying.
What are we still doing out here? My dads probably gone by now.
Blaze turned. Why? Do you want to go back to the carnival? Maybe go to the haunted house?
No. But theres got to be something else going on.
Not yet. Later there will be. But for now, lets just wait.
For what?
Blaze didnt answer. Instead, she stood and turned around, facing the blackened water. Her hair moved in the breeze, and she seemed to stare at the moon. I saw you earlier, you know.
When?
When you were at the volleyball game. She motioned down the pier. I was standing over there.
And?
You seemed out of place.
So do you.
Which is why I was standing on the pier. She hopped up onto the railing and took a seat, facing Ronnie. I know you dont want to be here, but what did your dad do to make you so mad?
Ronnie wiped her palms on her pants. Its a long story.
Does he live with his girlfriend?
I dont think he has a girlfriend. Why?
Consider yourself lucky.
What are you talking about?
My dad lives with his girlfriend. This is his third one since the divorce, by the way, and shes the worst by far. Shes only a few years older than I am and she dresses like a stripper. For all I know, she was a stripper. It makes me sick every time I have to go there. Its like she doesnt know how to act around me. One minute she tries to give me advice like shes my mom, and the next minute shes trying to be my best friend. I hate her.
And you live with your mom?
Yeah. But now she has a boyfriend, and hes at the house all the time. And hes a loser, too. He wears this ridiculous toupee because he went bald when he was like twenty or something, and hes always telling me that I want to think about giving college a try. Like I care what he thinks. Its just all screwed up, you know?
Before Ronnie could answer, Blaze jumped back down. Cmon. I think theyre getting ready to start. Youve got to see this.
Ronnie followed Blaze back up the pier, toward a crowd surrounding what seemed to be a street show. Startled, she realized that the performers were the three thuggish guys shed spotted earlier. Two of them were break-dancing to music blaring from the boom box, while the one with long black hair stood in the center juggling what seemed to be flaming golf balls. Every now and then he would stop juggling and simply hold the ball, rotating it between his fingers or rolling it across the back of his hand or up one arm and down the other. Twice, he closed his fist over the fireball, nearly extinguishing it, only to move his hand, allowing the flames to escape out the tiny opening near his thumb.
Do you know him? Ronnie said.
Blaze nodded. Thats Marcus.
Is he wearing some sort of protective coating on his hands?
No.
Doesnt it hurt?
Not if you hold the fireball right. Its awesome, though, isnt it?
Ronnie had to agree. Marcus extinguished two of the balls and then relit them again by touching them to the third. On the ground lay an upturned magicians hat, and Ronnie watched as people began tossing money into it.
Where does he get the fireballs?
He makes them. I can show you how. Its not hard. All you need is a cotton T-shirt, needle and thread, and some lighter fluid.
As the music continued to blare, Marcus tossed the three fireballs to the guy with the Mohawk and lit two more. They juggled them back and forth between each other like circus clowns using bowling pins, faster and faster, until one throw went awry.
Except that it didnt. The guy with the pierced eyebrow caught it soccer-ball style and began bouncing it from foot to foot as though it were nothing more than a Hacky Sack. After extinguishing three of the fireballs, the other two followed suit, the entire troupe kicking the two fireballs back and forth between them. The crowd started to clap, and money rained into the hat as the music built to a crescendo. Then all at once, the remaining fireballs were caught and extinguished simultaneously as the song thundered to a close.
Ronnie had to admit shed never seen anything like it. Marcus walked over to Blaze and folded her into a long, lingering kiss that seemed wildly inappropriate in public. He opened his eyes slowly, staring right at Ronnie before he pushed Blaze away.
Whos that? he asked, motioning in Ronnies direction.
Thats Ronnie, Blaze said. Shes from New York. I just met her.
Mohawk and Pierced Eyebrow joined Marcus and Blaze in their scrutiny, making Ronnie feel distinctly uncomfortable.
New York, huh? Marcus asked, pulling a lighter from his pocket and igniting one of the fireballs. He held the flaming orb motionless between his thumb and forefinger, making Ronnie wonder again how he could do that without getting burned.
Do you like fire? he called out.
Without waiting for an answer, he threw the fireball in her direction. Ronnie jumped out of the way, too startled to respond. The ball landed behind her just as a police officer rushed forward, stamping out the flame.
You three, he called out, pointing. Out. Now. Ive told you before that you cant do your little show on the pier, and next time, I swear Im gonna bring you in.
Marcus held up his hands and took a step backward. We were just leaving.
The boys grabbed their coats and began moving up the pier, toward the carnival rides. Blaze followed, leaving Ronnie alone. Ronnie felt the officers gaze on her, but she ignored him.
Instead, she hesitated only briefly before going after them.
4Marcus
Hed known she would follow them. They always did. Especially the new girls in town. That was the thing with girls: The worse he treated them, the more they wanted him. They were stupid like that. Predictable, but stupid.
He leaned against the planter that fronted the hotel, Blaze wrapping her arms around him.
Ronnie was sitting across from them on one of the benches; off to the side, Teddy and Lance were slurring their words as they tried to get the attention of the girls who walked past them.
They were already tankedhell, they were a little tanked even before the showand as usual, all but the ugliest of girls ignored them. Half the time, even he ignored them.
Blaze, meanwhile, was nibbling on his neck, but he ignored that, too. He was sick of the way she always hung on him whenever they were out in public. Sick of her in general. If she werent so good in bed, if she didnt know the things that really turned him on, he would have dumped her a month ago for one of the three or four or five other girls he regularly slept with.
But right now he wasnt interested in them, either. Instead, he stared at Ronnie, liking the purple streak in her hair and her tight little body, the glittery effect of her eye shadow. It was sort of an upscale, trampy style, despite the stupid shirt she was wearing. He liked that. He liked that a lot.
He pushed against Blazes hips, wishing she werent here. Go get me some fries, he said.
Im kind of hungry.
Blaze pulled back. I only have a couple of dollars left.
He could hear the whine in her voice. So? That should cover it. And make sure you dont eat any of them, either.
He meant it. Blaze was getting a little soft in the belly, a little puffy in the face. No surprise considering that lately shed been drinking almost as much as Teddy and Lance.
Blaze made a show of pouting, but Marcus gave her a little shove and she headed to one of the food booths. The line was at least six or seven deep, and as she reached the end of it, Marcus sauntered toward Ronnie and took a seat beside her. Close, but not too close. Blaze was the jealous type, and he didnt want her running Ronnie off before he had a chance to get to know her.
What did you think? he asked.
About what?
The show. Have you ever seen anything like it in New York?
No, she admitted, I havent.
Where are you staying?
Just down the beach a little way. He could tell by her answer that she was uncomfortable, probably because Blaze wasnt there.
Blaze said you ditched your dad.
In response, she simply shrugged.
What? You dont want to talk about it?
Theres nothing to say.
He leaned back. Maybe you just dont trust me.
What are you talking about?
Youll talk to Blaze, but not me.
I dont even know you.
You dont know Blaze, either. You just met her.
Ronnie didnt seem to appreciate his snappy comebacks. I just didnt want to talk to him, okay? And I dont want to have to spend my summer here, either.
He pushed the hair out of his eyes. So leave.
Yeah, right. Where am I supposed to go?
Lets go to Florida.
She blinked. What?
I know a guy whos got a place down there just outside of Tampa. If you want, Ill bring you. We can stay there as long as you want. My cars over there.
She stared at him as if in shock. I cant go to Florida with you. I I just met you. And what about Blaze?
What about her?
Youre with her.
So? He kept his face neutral.
This is too weird. She shook her head and stood. I think Ill go see how Blaze is doing.
Marcus reached into his pocket for a fireball. You know I was kidding, right?
Actually, he hadnt been kidding. Hed said it for the same reason hed thrown the fireball at her. To see how far he could push her.
Yeah, okay. Fine. Im still going over there to talk to her.
Marcus watched her stalk off. As much as he admired that dynamite little body, he wasnt sure what to make of her. She dressed the part, but unlike Blaze, she didnt smoke or show any
interest in partying, and he got the sense that there was more to her than she was letting on. He wondered if she came from money. Made sense, right? Apartment in New York, house at the beach? Family had to have money to afford things like that. But then again, there wasnt a chance shed fit in with people around here who had money, at least the ones he knew. So which one was it? And why did it matter?
Because he didnt like people with money, didnt like the way they flaunted it, and didnt like the way they thought they were better than other people because of it. Once, before hed dropped out, hed heard a rich kid at school talking about the new boat he got for his birthday. It wasnt a piece-of-crap skiff; this was a twenty-one-foot Boston Whaler with GPS and sonar, and the kid kept bragging about how he was going to use it all summer and dock it at the slips at the country club.
Three days later, Marcus set the boat on fire and watched it burn from behind the magnolia tree on the sixteenth green.
Hed told no one what hed done, of course. Tell one person, and you might as well have confessed to the cops. Teddy and Lance were cases in point: Put them in a holding cell and theyd crumple as soon as the door clanged shut. Which was why he insisted they do all the dirty work these days. Best way to keep them from talking was to make sure they were even more guilty than he was. Nowadays, they were the ones who stole the booze, the ones who beat the bald guy unconscious at the airport before taking his wallet, the ones who painted the swastikas on the synagogue. He didnt necessarily trust them, didnt even particularly like them, but they always went along with his plans. They served a purpose.
Behind him, Teddy and Lance continued to act like the idiots they were, and with Ronnie gone, Marcus was antsy. He didnt intend to sit here all night, doing nothing. After Blaze got back, after he ate his fries, he figured theyd go wandering. See what came up. Never knew what might happen in a place like this, on a night like this, in a crowd like this. One thing was certain: After a show, he always needed something more. Whatever that meant.
Glancing over to the food booth, he saw Blaze paying for the fries, Ronnie right behind her.
He stared at Ronnie, again willing her to turn his way, and eventually, she did. Nothing much, just a quick peek, but that was enough to make him wonder again what shed be like in bed.
Probably wild, he thought. Most of them were, with the right kind of encouragement.
5Will
No matter what he was doing, Will could always feel the weight of the secret pressing down on him. On the surface, everything seemed normal: In the last six months, hed gone to his classes, played basketball, attended the prom, and graduated from high school, college-bound. It hadnt been all perfect, of course. Six weeks ago, hed broken up with Ashley, but it had nothing to do with what had happened that night, the night he could never forget. Most of the time, he was able to keep the memory locked away, but every now and then, at odd times, it all came back to him with visceral force. The images never changed or faded, the images never blurred around the edges. As though viewing it through someone elses eyes, he would see himself running up the beach and grabbing Scott as he stared at the raging fire.
What the hell did you do? he remembered screaming.
Its not my fault! Scott had screamed back.
It was only then, however, that Will realized they werent alone. In the distance, he noticed Marcus, Blaze, Teddy, and Lance, watching them, and he knew at once theyd seen everything that happened.
They knew
As soon as Will grabbed for his cell phone, Scott stopped him.
Dont call the police! I told you it was an accident! His expression was pleading. Come on, man! You owe me!
News coverage had been extensive the first couple of days, and Will had watched the segments and read the articles in the paper, his stomach in knots. It was one thing to cover for an accidental fire. Maybe he could have done that. But someone had been injured that night, and he felt a sickening surge of guilt whenever he drove by the site. It didnt matter that the church was being rebuilt or that the pastor had long since been released from the hospital; what mattered was that he knew what had happened and hadnt done anything about it.