Page 15 of Waves
“So, what do you want to do? You want me to take you somewhere safe? Buy you a bus ticket somewhere? Just tell me what your plan is.”
Kai exhaled and hung his head toward the table. When our eyes met again, he said, “I would like to return to the beach, please.”
“The beach?” I squawked. That was probably the last place I thought he would ask to go.
“My coat...” he said while his hands slipped from the table into his lap.
“Shit, Kai, if you want a coat, I will buy you one before you leave.”
“No,” he grumbled before he looked at his lap.
“It’s not a big deal, really. Don’t think of it as charity—”
“No,” Kai said louder.
I dropped the subject and really looked at his expression: his jaw set and his leg restless under the table again. He was actually getting pissed over this.
“Listen, please. You have been so helpful, Ezra. I mean, you fed me and clothed me plenty already. This is different.”
“Okay,” I said, relaxing my arms and letting them hang.
“I am trying to tell you there is something I need to retrieve at the beach. Something incredibly important to me.”
“And it’s in your coat?”
Kai nodded and sighed while he looked at me.
I wouldn’t even pretend my mind didn’t immediately jump to drugs, especially given the recent change in his demeanor. A scenario I endured with someone else once before, and I had no desire to be in the same situation again. Still, I didn’t want to believe that was what Kai meant.
“How important is this to you?”
Kai exhaled. “It’s something that is worthless to anyone but me.”
“So, sentimental value?”
“Sure,” he said with a straight face. His smile crept back on his lips, but this was not the soft grin I typically admired. Despite the curve of his mouth, his expression remained remarkably sad.
Not even fifteen minutes later, I slammed my car door behind me and stepped out onto the road. Honestly, we could have walked, but I assured Kai taking the car made more sense when I intended to drive him elsewhere right after. No need to walk all the way back to my place, or for my resolve to crumble in his presence.
Since this was not a public beach, I hoped to get away with on-street parking. If someone saw my car and called the cops, I should be able to smooth everything over by claiming I spotted a rare something-or-other in the distance. I might have given this excuse a few times already, but had honestly seen an animal I wanted to log on each of those instances. I liked to think I amused the local law enforcement with my eccentricities because I never got anything more than a chuckle and wave to hurry along.
After I opened the backseat, I unbuckled Ishmael from his safety harness. No such thing as too safe with a furry baby in the car. Ishmael wagged his tail once he jumped down to the pavement, as glad as I was to have him here. He did well in the car and I hated leaving him home alone unless I absolutely must, so I dropped a hint before we left that Ishmael really enjoyed going to the beach, too. Without missing a beat, Kai suggested we bring him along. Ishmael ran way ahead of us, leaving paw prints in pristine sand while he sniffed the strip of goodies left behind by the low tide.
“Coming?” Kai asked, standing atop the dunes.
“Yes,” I said while carefully following him, “but please be mindful of where you step. Dunes are vital to the beach’s ecosystem.” My head pointed down while watching where I placed each foot, but I could hear a low chuckle coming from Kai ahead of me. I carefully slid down the rest of the way and walked to where he waited.
“Ready now?” Kai asked again, his smile even brighter than before.
“Yes, do you want to split up?”
His grin disappeared at the question. “No,” he said, with the corners of his mouth turned down. “No, I don’t.”
“Okay, we can walk the beach together. Just give me a sec.”
I unzipped my fleece jacket and tried to shake out of the sleeves as quickly as possible. The beauty of Massachusetts was how we could have a day like yesterday, where the wind chilled my bones. Not even twenty-four hours later, the weather shifted to a summer preview. While I opted for shorts this morning, my distrust of the forecast meant I now felt far from temperate under the warm midday sun. Once rid of the extra layer, I ditched my jacket in the sand. The black lump could at least serve as a marker for where we should walk back to be near the car.
Despite what he said, Kai already went ahead of me and left a trail of footprints in the wet sand. For half a second, I forgot why we were actually here. No longer was I thinking about what would happen next or worrying about what we’d say to each other.