Chapter 9 - Since When Do You Have a Boat?

Thirty minutes or so later, Drew pulls into my dad’s Lake House drive. Josh hops out of the car before Drew even comes to a proper stop, running up to the front door and banging on it. My poor little brother, so very eager. Not that I’m not happy to see my father, ‘cause I am, but I wouldn’t have really been affected if I’d haven’t seen him for another month or so. Poncho hops out of the front seat, into Drew’s lap, licking his arms. I look over at Drew who is looking at Poncho with a glare on his face.

“Stop looking at him like that, Drew!”

"Well get him off of me, I don’t like dogs.”

I roll my eyes, scooping Poncho up into my arms. “You’re just scared of them.”

"I am not scared of dogs,” He defends.

I nod, “Yeah, you are. I know it, and you know it.” I reason.

Like I said, Drew and I became friends in eighth grade. In ninth grade, he got bit by a vicious pit bull dog on his way home from the bus stop one day after school. Since then he’s not liked dogs, at all. I personally think he’s got like a pathological fear of them, but he’s too scared to admit it. My weird, weird friends. I mean, he’s not afraid to be around them, unless they’re either, a.) a pit bull, or b.) really, really big. Like the horse looking dog? The Great Dane? He’s terrified of them, and it’s so obvious to everyone, well to me anyway, but that’s ‘cause I know him really well.

"Yeah, okay,” He mumbles.

I look down at his gear stick, seeing that it’s still in ‘drive’, but he’s got his foot down on the brake. “Aren’t you coming in?”

“I hadn’t planned on it.”

“But my dad loves you guys, come on.” I plead.

Drew shifts the car into park, turns the ignition off, taking the key out. “Yay!” I exclaim, getting out of the car and closing the door behind me.

Drew and I walk up towards the front door, which is wide open since Josh ran in. I carry Poncho in my left arm while Drew walks on my right side so that he doesn’t like freak out or anything. When we reach the front door, I walk in followed by Drew, who pulls the door closed.

“Dad?” I call through the house, setting Poncho down on the floor.

“In the kitchen!” He shouts back.

“Come on, Drew,” I say, pulling him with me.

Drew and I walk into the kitchen where my dad is sitting as Josh stands in a chair, trying to get into the freezer. My brother’s extremely weird, and he’s got this thing for ice cream. Like, he really, really loves it. Eats it every other day. It’s ridiculous if you ask me, but no one ever asks me, so yeah. My dad looks up, smiling warmly. He rises from his chair, and walks over to me, hugging me.

“Sydney, it’s been about a month since I’ve seen you, hasn’t it?” He says, pulling away from me.

I nod, “Yup, I was gonna come and visit, but I’ve been kinda busy.” That’s a lie; I’ve just been too lazy to find a way here.

He nods in understanding, shaking Drew’s hand, “How’ve you been Drew?”

Drew smiles, “I’ve been good Mr. Barker, and you?” He asks, politely.

“Good. Syd-“ He breaks off of his sentence abruptly when Poncho tramples into the room, barking at my dad. “Well who is this?” My dad asks, smiling.

My dad loves dogs, which is why I really think that if I asked him could I get one and have it live here, he’d go for it, but then I’d, you know, never get to see it. 

“That’s Poncho.” I inform him. “Bradley’s puppy.”

“Oh, how is Bradley? Is he with you guys?”

“Bradley’s in Texas for a family reunion,” Drew tells my dad as I walk over to my little brother who’s still standing on the chair.

“Josh, get down.” I demand, pointing at the ground.

“But I want some ice cream!” He pouts.

“I will get you some ice cream, you little aficionado.” I murmur.

He cocks his head to the side, looking at me curiously. “What’s an aficionado?”

“I’ll tell you some other time.” I retort as he climbs down out of the chair.

I pull the freezer open, taking out a carton of ice cream. Or whatever the thing that holds ice cream is called. Josh sits down at the table, while Drew and my dad talk animatedly about some recent football game. I take a bowl from the cabinet along with the ice cream scooper and a spoon. I put some ice cream into the bowl, setting it in front of my brother who excitedly digs into it.

“So what made you decide to come up today? On a school night at that.” My dad asks.

“Well, Josh wanted to see you. I mean, so did I. So we just decided to come up and visit.”

“Well that’s nice.” My dad notes. “And your mom and sister? How are they?”

“Mom’s really busy with her cases and stuff and Arianna’s okay, I guess. Did she tell you the news?”

“That she’s pregnant? She did.” He says frowning.

“Your sister is pregnant?” Drew asks me in disbelief.

I nod, “Gross, right? Like, have you seen Jared? He’s a train wreck waiting to happen.”

“Sydney,” My dad scowls.

"Well he is,” I defend shrugging.

Drew checks his phone under the table, and then says, “Well I think I’m gonna get going. So I’ll see you guys later, okay?”

My dad nods, bidding Drew adieu and I stand up following him out to the living room. “Drew!” I whisper-shout.

“Yeah?”

“Why are you leaving?”

“I’ve got homework to do, and stuff.”

“Do not leave me here with my forty-five year old father and my seven year old brother, just don’t do it.”

“I-“

“We can stay the night and then miss school tomorrow,” I bribe.

Drew stops short, “Can we really?”

I nod, shrugging, “Yeah, I guess. My dad works from here, so I’m sure he wouldn’t mind if we spent the night here and went home tomorrow.”

“Okay then, anything to miss a day of school.” He says, changing his course, and going back into the kitchen.

“Daddy, can Drew, Josh and I spend the night tonight?” I ask, bluntly.

He raises his eyes from the newspaper he’s reading, looking from me to Drew. “Today?”

I nod, “Today, yes.”

“Tomorrow is a Tuesday.” He states. “A school day.”

“Yeah, but…oh come on dad, please?”

He studies us for a second before saying, “Okay, fine. But only if it’s okay with your parents Drew.”

Drew shrugs, “I’m sure they won’t care.”

“Are we spending the night?” Josh asks from his ice cream bowl.

I nod, “Yeah, we sure are. Unless you wanna go home.”

“No! Arianna’s there and she’s mean now, because she’s got a baby in her belly.” He groans, sticking his face back into his ice cream.

-------

Later that night at around 8:30, my brother is in one of the guest rooms asleep, and Drew is up in the other. It’s got two singles in there, so we’re sharing the room. I’m walking down the stairs, about to ask my father about the thing I’ve been thinking about for quite some time. When I reach the living room, I see my dad sitting on the couch, drinking a beer slowly. Sometimes I feel bad for my dad, I wonder if he ever gets lonely all the way up here all alone in the woods. I think the divorce was harder on him than it was on my mom, that’s for sure.

“Hey, dad?” I ask, going around the couch and sitting on it with him.

I look at the TV, trying to identify the program he’s watching, but I’ve never seen it. I think it’s like Animal Planet or something though. He takes another sip of his beer and sits it down on the table, looking over at me.

“What’s up?”

“I wanted to ask you something.”

“What is it?” He wonders.

“Well, I was gonna ask mom, but you know how she is. So I thought I’d ask you instead.”

He shrugs, “Okay, just ask me.”

“Can I get a tattoo?”

Looking back at the TV, he picks up his beer again, sipping a long sip. I’m about to ask again just as he clears his throat and says, “Sure, if that’s what you want.”

“Really?” I ask. That was easy.

“Sure, I mean, you’re seventeen now. You can make your own decisions.”

I nod, “See, if only mom could think like you.”

“Did you ask her first?”

“No way, she’d say no as soon as the word ‘tattoo’ left my mouth.”

My dad chuckles at that, “I don’t think so. So what are you planning to get?”

“I think I want C’est la vie.” I tell him, randomly.

“C’est la vie?”

I nod, “Yeah, you know, that’s life.”

“I didn’t know that you knew French.” My dad says, raising his eyebrows.

“I don’t. Just that phrase and a few more.”

Cracking a small smile, he says, “Well, that’s great, baby girl. How is school going?”

I shrug, “School is school. My grades are okay, and I’m running track this year.”      

“You? Sydney Madison Barker? Running track?”

I roll my eyes, bumping my shoulder into his, “It’s not that hard to believe.”

“You know, when you were a baby, all you would do is sit. When you learned to walk, you still didn’t want to. You wanted everyone to carry you everywhere.”

I laugh at that, “Really? So I’ve been lazy since birth and it isn’t my fault.” I defend. “I’d try to get people to carry me around now if I wasn’t heavier now.”

My dad chuckles, “I wish you’d come out more, I miss you kids. Arianna came to see me the other day though.”

“I’ll try to come more often, I promise.” I say, truthfully. “So have you talked to Grandma lately?”

“Yesterday I did. She said you’d been to see her that Saturday.”

I nod, “I did. So, why don’t you move her out here with you? So she doesn’t have to be at the home.”

“She doesn’t wanna live out here, I don’t think. It’s too far in the woods, too secluded for her.” He explains.

I yawn, realizing how tired I am even though it’s only barely nine. I think Drew is still up though, so we’ll probably watch a movie or something. “I don’t think I’d wanna live here either, not alone. It’s scary.”

“Well,” My dad says, chortling to himself,  “You get used to being alone after five years.”

“Why’d you never remarry or anything?”

He shrugs, “I don’t know. I don’t think I would like to be married again. It’s a hassle.” I wrinkle my forehead, cocking my head to the side, but before I say anything he says, “Not that I didn’t like being married to your mom, we just, you know drifted.”

“I know, and I think both of you seem much happier now.”

“I agree,” He says, turning the television channel to a football game or something.

“Well, I’m gonna go back upstairs and probably watch a movie with Drew. I’ll see you in the morning.” I tell him, rising to my feet.

“Goodnight, Sydney.”

“Goodnight, Daddy.” I reply, going up the stairs.

I go back into the room me and Drew are sharing and plop down on the comfy bed which lies adjacent to the one he’s lying on, reading something on his phone. “What’d you ask him about?” He wonders, sitting up and looking over at me.

“I asked him if I could get a tattoo.” I tell him.

“A tattoo?” He repeats. “Why do you want a tattoo?”

“Because, they’re cool.” I defend.

“And he said you could?”

I nod, “Yeah, I’m glad I asked him and not my mother.”

“She would definitely freak out if you asked her,” He agrees, chuckling. “So what are you gonna get?”

“For my tattoo? C’est la vie.”

“That’s life?” He translates.

I nod, “That’s life.” I clarify. “Isn’t that adorable?”

“That’s pretty darn cute,” He says, nodding.

“How’d you even know what that means?” I wonder.

“I took French. Only half a semester, and I flunked out, but still took it and learned a few phrases.”

“Oh right, I remember that. That summer when you left us to go to summer school.” 

He nods, “Yeah, but it was either that or repeat tenth grade. And that was the worst year, ever. Seriously.”

“Hell yes.” I say, chuckling at the memory of how terrifyingly terrible sophomore year was.

Until we got our licenses that is, well except poor little inept Tanner. I actually believe that he went and took his driver’s test again and hopefully for the last time today. I know that he was supposed to, but I’m not sure if he did or not. I’ll have to ask him when I go back home tomorrow.

“Let’s watch a movie,” I say to Drew, yawning tiredly.  

“Okay,” He says, “What do you wanna watch?”

“It doesn’t matter to me, just whatever’s on.” I say, snuggling up underneath my warm cover.

Drew grabs the remote, going to the guide channel. For my dad to live alone, he sure has a lot of channels. No way has he watched them all. He exits the guide, and stops on some channel. My eyes widen when I recognize what the movie is; Poltergeist. I don’t have any problems with watching scary movies - I actually get a thrill out of it - but I cannot watch Poltergeist, not again. Never, never, never again. Seriously.

“Umm, this is Poltergeist, isn’t it?” I ask nervously.

Drew nods, “Yeah, and it just came on. Yes!”

“No! We can’t watch this.”

“Why not?”

“Don’t you remember freshman year?”

He wrinkles his forehead in confusion, before a flash of recognition comes over it. “Oh, right. I remember now.”

“Okay, good, turn!” I demand.

“Sydney,” He says, rolling his eyes, “We were fourteen, we’re seventeen now. I think you can handle watching a horror movie.”

“Well let’s watch something that’s not quite so horror-ey.” I suggest, averting my eyes from the television.

"Come on, stop being a baby. Let’s watch it.” Drew replies. “You can even come over here with me if that’ll make you feel better.”

I jump up out of my bed, going over to Drew’s and plopping down on it. I crawl over him, much to his amusement, pressing my back against the wall and pulling his cover over me. See in freshman year, I watched Poltergeist with the boys at Mikey’s house. I mean, sure I’d heard of it, but hell, I didn’t think it’d be that bad! I ran out of the room screaming at the top of my lungs, and locked myself in the downstairs bathroom at Mikey’s house. I stayed in there for about an hour before they got me to come out and then I had nightmares about it for three straight weeks.

“Why are you sitting like that?”

“Like what?”

“Your back, it’s against the wall. Why?”

“Because,” I say, rolling my eyes at his dumb boy-ness. “I know that nothing’s gonna attack me from behind.”

“You’re aware it’s just a movie, right? A fictional horror movie.”

I mimic his voice, and smile, “So, still.”

“Whatever floats your boat,” Drew replies, turning his attention to the movie.

-------

"Since when do you have a boat?” I ask my dad, placing my hands on my hips, looking at him.

"Since I bought one two weeks ago.” He answers.

Drew, Josh, my dad, Poncho and I are standing at the bay of the lake, and in the water is a boat. Not like a huge cruise ship boat thing, just a regular boat. A pontoon boat, I think that’s the technical name for them.

“Are we getting on it?” Drew wonders.

My dad shakes his head, “No, Josh and I are getting on it. You two are riding those.” He says, gesturing his head to the left out in the lake.

Drew and I follow his gaze and my jaw drops when I see two jet skis idly resting in the water. “Are you secretly rich?” I wonder.

“Not rich, just save my money.” He corrects me. “Come on, I’ll give you guys a lift over there.”

We all get onto the pontoon boat, and my dad sits down in the seat behind the steering wheel as I get Josh into his life vest. Regardless of the fact that he can swim, you can never be too safe, besides he’s my little brother. If something happened to him while I’m supposed to be watching him, my mother would murder me. My dad turns the boat on, and does something, which makes the boat go forward, turning towards the jet skis.

“Drew, put this one.” I say, handing him one of the fluorescent orange life vest.

He shakes his head, “I’m not putting that on.”

“Yes, you are. Do you want to die?”

“I won’t die by not wearing a life vest, smart one.” He replies, running his hand through his blonde hair.

“Well what if there’s an accident?”

“In all the years of being friends with you, I never realized how paranoid you are.” Drew says, smiling but taking the vest. He slides it on over his naked chest, strapping it up. “Now you’ve gotta put yours on.”

“I was going to anyways,” I say, pulling my pink vest on and tightening it all up and secure and what not.

My dad slows the boat as we reach the jet skis, and says, “Don’t be stupid, and don’t hurt yourselves.” He tells us.

“Got it,” Drew and I say in unison.

I climb over the edge of the boat, jumping onto the Jet Ski. I nearly fall as the Jet Ski is obviously in water, but I manage to stay on by gripping onto the sleek handle bars. Drew makes a smarter decision, getting off of the boat, and then into the water, swimming over to the Jet Ski before climbing onto it. Drew’s navy blue, not the whole boat, there’s like a huge strip of the color across the side, and mine is the exact same, except the color is a pink, fuchsia color. I’m not exactly sure how to drive a Jet Ski, but it can’t be much different from driving a car, right? And I’ve got a license, so I mean, it should be easy. Just as I insert the key into the ignition, my phone rings and I look to the boat which is where it is.

“I’ll get it!” Josh shouts, standing up and grabbing my phone. “Want me to toss it to you?” He wonders.

I shake my head quickly, “No, no giv-“

He doesn’t wait until I finish my sentence and instead chucks my phone into the air, trying to aim it towards me. Mind you, the kid is seven years old, his aim isn’t on point. At all. I yelp, hopping off of the Jet Ski, and catching my poor cell phone from it’s near brush with a very watery death.

“Bradley, hi.” I say, pulling the phone to my ear.

“Hey,” He replies, “Are you playing hooky?”

“Pardon?”

“Tanner called and said you weren’t at school.”

“I’m not at school.” I confirm, pulling my phone away from my ear and seeing that the time is 11:52. “I’m at my dad’s house.”

“Oh you finally went to visit him?”

“Yup,” I reply, climbing on top of my Jet Ski. “When are you coming back?” I groan.

“Sydney,” He says, chuckling. “I just left Sunday. It’s only Tuesday.”

“Well yeah, but I want you to come back right now! And guess what stupid Drew made me do last night.” I say, glaring at Drew who’s speeding around the lake on his Jet Ski.

“I’m sure it wasn’t that bad, but what’d he make you do?”

“He made me watch Poltergeist!” I shriek.

Bradley laughs at that and says, “You are seventeen years old, don’t you think you can handle watching a horror movie?”

“Has everyone forgot freshman year?” I defend, helplessly.

“It wasn’t that bad.”

“It was that bad.” I retort.

“Sure, anyway, what do you want for your birthday?”

“A car, you can get me a car.” I say, half serious.

“I was thinking more of something I could maybe wrap.”

I chuckle, “Don’t do that, you’re a terrible gift-wrapper.”

“I am not,” He argues, then says, “Well I kinda am, but I could get it gift wrap.”

“Aw, you’re so considerate,” I tell him.

“Right? No, but seriously, what do you want?”

"You don’t have to get me anything, Bradley.” I tell him truthfully.

“Yeah, I do, so tell me what you want or I’ll get you a bad present. Well you’ll think it’s bad. But actually, it’d be amazing.”

“What would that bad present be?”       

“You really wanna know?”

“I really wanna know.”

“Too bad, ‘cause I’m not telling you because then you’ll scold me or something. Anyway, so tell me what you want.”

“Since you insist on getting me something, you can get me anything you think I’ll like. I mean, you’ve known me since we were children, after all.”

“That’s true,” he agrees, and in the background I hear a female voice calling for him. It sounds like his mother, but I’m not sure.

“Is that your mom?” I wonder.

He groans, “Yes, that is my terrible mother. We’re going to my great aunt’s house.”

“What’s so bad about that?” I wonder.

“She’s eighty-five years old, and senile.”

“You’re over-exaggerating.”

“I wish,” He replies, just as his mom calls for him again. He groans heavily then says, “I gotta go, I’ll call you later.”

“Bye-bye,” I reply, hanging up the phone.

I undo my life jacket a bit, stuffing my phone in my bikini top. Hopefully I don’t like fall of this Jet Ski, because then my phone will be totally and completely waterlogged. I strap it back up, so that my phone is tucked in safely. Drew whips past me, purposely splashing water on me. I sit there, surprise by the sudden water eruption before I turn the key in the ignition, starting up my Jet Ski. I rev it up, placing my hands on the handle bars.

“Oh it’s on Drew,” I warn, thrusting the bars to the left and making a sharp turn, speeding after him on my Jet Ski. 

Author's Note: Comment, fan, vote, all that jazz. Hope you liked this chapter. (: