Night Drifters: The Knight

Chapter 18: Robbery

Chapter 18

It might have taken me until now to accept the fact that my best friend is gone, I thought as the cold ocean water licked at my bare feet. The sand feeling like numbing snow in a way this time of year.

I remember when Carson and I were little we had such big dreams. He always wanted to take the high road. Live a life of luxury driving sports cars and drinking the rarest of wines.

My life.

The low road was more to my liking. More middle class. I wanted to have a big family, because I never had siblings. I wanted all my children to look up to someone other then constantly being spoiled. I loved the idea of a cramped broken down truck flying down the high way for a road trip. It seemed realistic at the time. Yet, more like a fantasy everyday.

I watched as seniors did yoga with Glenda. The strongest instructor in Clementine. She looked over at my wondering gaze and waved and then all the seniors were waving too.

The beach is like home to everyone. There’s a little something for each genre of person. Whether you like surfing, jogging, gossiping, reading, tanning, kissing. Even yoga. The possibilities are endless.

I found myself standing beside the lifeguard station. No lifeguard was on duty just yet so I climbed inside. I use to sit in here with Carson on his summer days. He rarely had a sinker, but when he did some how he remained calm. He’d never let anybody drown on his time.

Ever.

I saw the bulletin board where pictures of lifeguards with girls on the beach and little kids with their floaties would hang. The topic of the board was All Summer Long. Now, all the pictures were covered up with flyers of missing children and even some adults.

I grabbed a photo of Carson by himself. He was standing in his red lifeguard swimming trunks and buoy strapped over his shoulder. He was tanner then sin and his hair had blonde highlights poking out from the sun. He was smiling and looked more like himself then I had ever seen him. I put it in my Capri pocket.

An ocean breeze entered the small room and I zipped my jacket up all the way to my chin. And that’s when I saw it.

A picture of Kevin Perez on a flyer suggesting that he is missing. I shivered not, because of the wind, but, because I could have saved him.

He was in that vision I had. The one with the radio telling me about Misty and Robert. He was on there too.

The night he went missing just so happened to be the night of the Thanksgiving fundraiser.

“First, I had to bring her home without her parents or siblings noticing. Then I had to rev up my car and drive all the way back to the country club where my coach scolded me into the ground. And last, I had to drive back to the club again today to get Alex’s car and bring it back to her house and jog back to my house to get my car to drive down here.” Wendy finished breathing heavy.

“Sorry, Wendy. I didn’t mean to make you do all the work.” I said sympathetically, even though I was so glad I didn’t have to do any of it.

“I know it’s not your fault. You were just trying to be a caring friend, but I wish Alex could consider her consequences. She can be so irrational sometimes.” She said crossing her feet on my booth.

I laughed. Quite an understatement.

We sat in Little Lady’s Bakery eating breakfast. Wendy took a big bite of a blueberry muffin while I just ordered hot chocolate.

“How was your walk on the beach?” She asked staring out a window in front of us getting a great view of the ocean.

“It was nice. Relaxing.” I said quietly.