Castles on the Sand

Nine

I touch my nose gingerly and stare at the shattered glass in the road. “And does being a selective mute make you insane? Like, take on a cop car with a rock kind of insane?”

“I suspect that had to do with his mother. He's very protective of her and Officer Li is not always very understanding about her condition.”

“Still.”

“I wonder if Grace is being involuntarily committed.”

“What, you mean like carted off to an asylum?”

“It'd be the psychiatric hospital, but yes.”

“So that was what? Alex finding out he has to go into foster care?”

“I believe he's over eighteen, so he won't. After what he just did though, he may have to go to jail.”

“Good riddance.”

“I won't argue with you there. It's a very sad situation.”

Kailie calls right before it's time for me to leave and I text her back that I'll call in a few minutes.

She texts: Come2theInn?

My reply: OK

So after Siraj and I close the library, I walk across Wilkstone, and motion in the gutter catches my eye. It's Alex's army jacket, still lying where he threw it before Officer Li took him away. I debate whether or not to leave it, but an image of Alex wearing it back when he was in fifth grade flashes in my mind. I can't just leave it there.

When I pick it up, though, the first thing I notice is that it reeks of cigarette smoke. Gross. In the pockets are a pack of cigarettes, that stupid lighter of his, and a cellphone. Clearly he talks to someone, or maybe he just types texts.

On the front of the jacket is the name “Katsumoto” on one side and “U.S. Army” on the other. It seems extra sick to me that he had his own name put on the jacket. I wad the thing up and stuff it in my backpack.

When I get to the Inn, Kailie's father is standing by the back door, talking to someone I assume is a guest. The guy throws his head back, laughing hard at whatever Mr. Beale just said. That's the thing about him. When he wants to be charming, Mr. Beale can be the life of the party.

Inside the Beales' house, things are more somber. Kailie answers the door and the lights in the front room are off. The furniture isn't stacked against the wall anymore, but part of the flooring's been ripped up.

“Hey,” she says. “Exciting afternoon?”

I follow her in and up the stairs. “You have no idea.”

We cross the landing to her room, where I stop as if I've hit a wall of glass. All of her furniture is gone. There's just a little pile of blankets in the corner and the area rug.

“Yeah,” she says. “My dad says that if I want to behave like a delinquent, he'll treat me like one.”

“What did you do?”

“I yelled back at him last night. He was all threatening me.” She mimes someone standing over her with a fist raised. “He was sure the guests heard me shout, so he and Mom took my furniture and stacked it in the guest room.” She steps into her room, does a slow pirouette with her shoulders shrugged as if to say, “whatever”. “So you're okay? Alex didn't charge the library?”

“No, Officer Li subdued him with his gun before that happened.”

“No way. I-” The sound of a car going past on the street outside catches her attention and she goes over to the open window. “Come look,” she says.

I wonder why her window is open in the middle of winter, but don't ask. Instead, I go to join her. A white van heads along Ridge Road, past all the little restaurants and shops, and turns the corner. For a moment we lose sight of it, but then it reappears along the bluffs.

“Wow, I was kind of kidding. Maybe it really is them,” says Kailie.

“Really is who?”

“The psychiatric hospital people. Alex's mom is gonna be committed.”

“So that is why he trashed Officer Li's car?”

“Guess so.”

“How did you know about his mother?”

“My dad heard it, I dunno from whom.” She shrugs. “How much do you wanna bet Alex comes to school armed?”

“Do not joke about that. It's not funny.”

“Is it a joke? The guy's got a mentally unstable mother and attacked a police car.”

I shake my head. “Yeah, maybe we shouldn't go to school Monday.”

“Maybe we should all ditch,” says Kailie. “But my father would, I dunno... confiscate my clothes? Send me to school in my underwear? Never goes real well when I dream of that happening.”

“Do you really think Alex would do something drastic?” As soon as the words are out, though, I hear how dumb they sound. Of course he would. This is Alex.

Kailie leans against the wall and stares at the white van, which is now making its way back. “He's the perfect stereotype, you know? Alone all the time, never talks, plays with his lighter, no sense of humor.”

I disagree with that last part. He does have a sense of humor, albeit a warped one. It's not worth voicing my disagreement aloud, because it's only over a technicality.

“And the military jacket,” she says. “It's classic. You know, I get how these situations happen. We can all see this coming a mile away, but what is anyone doing about it? They could expel him, but that might just push him over the edge.” She shudders. “They need to lock him up.”

The door downstairs slams. “Hang on,” Kailie says, “I gotta put my phone back in my parents' room before they find I have it.”

I wince. Her parents look in her logs and they're going to see that she texted me, unless she deleted it. She's smart enough to remember to delete it, I reason. I watch the white van drive past the house. It's impossible to know whether it really is from the psychiatric hospital. I glance at my backpack, where I've stuffed Alex's jacket.

Kailie slips back into her room. “Okay, so, anyway,” she says, “want to... uh... sit on my floor?”

I smile and plop down in the middle of the room. “So, other than our schoolmate having a psychotic break, what's new in your world?”

“I want to know what happened with Jean-Pierre.” She sits down across from me.

“That's kind of embarrassing. My brother showed up and tried to defend my honor.”

“Spill.”

“It was bad.”

“Well, so what now?”

“I don't know. I think I may want to go back to being the dateless nobody.”

“I'm with you on that. Let's both be nobodies.”

“You aren't qualified.”

Kailie flips her hair back over her shoulder and rolls her eyes. “I can try, all right? No judging here.”

“Kailie Lynn!” shouts her mother. “Dinner in fifteen.”

“That's my cue to leave.”

“I'll see you tomorrow.”

That night there's a tap on my window. I hesitate, the note in my locker today means I know it's JP. Do I want to let him in? I'm fully dressed. The truth is, I've waited up, changed into my skinny jeans, and reapplied my makeup. I remember Kailie's advice, that if I want to make out with him, I should just do it. If being in a relationship is not an option, it's not. Would I prefer to not make out with him?

The tap comes again and I reach up to flip the latch open.