What Passes For Normal

Chapter 18

On the front porch, Neea struggles with the key in the lock for a moment and then, door open, we're both just staring into the house in disbelief.

It's like a tornado went through. Stuff is scattered across the floor of the front hall and beyond that, in the kitchen, we can see broken dishes, shattered glass, a chair lying on its side, jars and bottles from the fridge smashed, their contents splattered across the floor. The back door is wide open.

• • • •

The morning after the big Thanksgiving dinner, Teddy wondered why he'd been so bothered about the fact that his dad was some kind of connoisseur of weed. He knew that weed was a hell of a long way from crystal meth, or coke, heroin or any of those. Not that big a deal really. Maybe he overreacted.

The ferry was packed. It was a holiday Monday and it seemed like all of British Columbia was making the crossing with him. He found a seat at the end of a long row toward the rear of the ship.

There was a family in the row in front of him with two little kids, a boy who was quietly playing a game on his phone and a younger girl, maybe six years old, who was starting to get worked up about the position of a glittery sticker on her weird little troll doll. The father tried and failed to correctly reposition the sticker while the girl watched him with a worried expression. Her mother beside her just looked at her phone, pretending not to know them. Then, on the third or fourth reposition attempt, the sticker tore in half and the father seemed to freeze in terror. Teddy watched as both parents flew into action to try and avert a full meltdown.

Teddy ignored the drama and looked out the wide back windows at the churning wake of the ferry and the distant, faint buildings of the city he'd just left as they ploughed across the dark water of the Strait of Georgia toward the big island to the west. It was one of those sunny days in October that feel like a last gasp of summer before the rain sets in, so people were going out onto the deck to soak up the sun. He thought about parting ways with the family of four and joining the sun worshippers outside.

It had just been so weird. You spend your life looking up to your dad, thinking he's so mature and normal, only to find that in the right circumstances he could be as much of an idiot as any teenager. That morning at breakfast Cassie had complained to Alan about how much he'd tipped the caterers.

"That was way too extravagant!" she said.

Artists were supposed to be a little crazy, right? Teddy guessed it went with the territory and he should just get over it. At least he wouldn't have to go back again until Christmas break. He got up and went out onto the deck.

Leaning against the rail, wind whipping his hair, he looked out over the waves toward the islands to the north, indistinct grey-blue shapes stretched wide and sitting on the water, layers fading paler into the distance. It occurred to him that even though he'd lived his entire life on this coast he didn't know the names of any of them. He should look at Google Maps and learn their names, or maybe get one of those nautical charts and hang it on his wall so he could get more familiar with the coast. Better yet, he could actually go to some of those islands instead of just hopping back and forth between Victoria and Vancouver! Someday he should just take a whole summer and explore. There was so much of the province that he'd never even seen. He stared out at the dark water. Maybe he'd get lucky and spot some orcas.

• • • •

The police were here for at least half an hour, attacks on the property of upstanding citizens being taken very seriously compared to, for example, the troubles of homeless kids.

They suggested screwing a piece of plywood over the broken window on the back door until we have a chance to fix it. Neea casually mentioned that she probably had everything she needed downstairs due to the reno in progress, and then, to our total surprise, the cops just went ahead and did it for us so the house would be a bit more secure overnight. Full service, this VicPD. It was pretty clear that Constable Duguay, or Matt, as he insisted we call him, had taken a non-professional interest in Neea, and his partner Amir seemed fine with it. I'm sure Neea hadn't told them she had the supplies because she wanted them do it. Who would have expected that? Plus, she isn't the type to use her looks that way.