Chapter 9 Ghosts of Home
ghosts of home
As Lana strolled down the Dania Beach pier, a popular spot that tourists and townies enjoyed on the weekends, she wrapped her sweater around her frame as the wind blew through her tired bones.
It was packed tonight, the beautiful lights on the pier lit the sky as the waves of the ocean crashed below.
Couples picked this spot a lot, and they were out in mass force tonight.
Holding hands, kissing, downright making out, not caring who watched.
She sighed as she thought about whether or not she and Kayden would get back to that care-free point again.
Her future seemed so unclear now, when only six months ago she was surer of it than anything else.
As she squeezed past a couple, a woman sitting at a table erected against the railing emerged in view. A huge sign above her head read,
“Pick Your Own Pearl.”
People were gathered around her, and Lana pushed in for a closer view.
The woman shucked oysters at the table, and beautiful pearls would be pulled out, followed by the “oohs and ahs” of the crowd.
A girl with the most flawless mocha-toned skin had just picked herself an oyster and was elated when the beautiful black pearl popped out of the flesh.
She squealed, clasping her hands together as her husband or boyfriend pulled out his credit card.
It was interesting and also rare that almost every oyster they shucked produced a pearl, but she had to admit, she kind of wanted one herself after seeing how gorgeous they were.
“Would you like to pick your own pearl?” The blonde girl asked her.
She looked to be around thirty, her heart-shaped face even more prominent with a widow’s peak, her flowing hair cascading down her shoulders, making her look more like a pinup model than a pearl shucker.
“No thanks,” Lana replied, and kept moving down the pier toward her car.
She was already late for dinner with her parents and didn’t look forward to the complaining she’d get when she arrived.
Lana spent the first night in her stuffy townhouse after months and missed it a little.
The last time she was there, Paula had dragged her back to Hamby and back to Kayden.
Two at a time, she hopped down the steps, and her sandals hit the sand, the cold stabbing at her toes as her feet dug into it.
She missed him already, but really needed some time to think about what was next.
Kim was still a threat in her eyes, as long as she had Maureen by her lady-balls, and that meant she still had some control over Kayden to a degree.
Lana jumped into her trusty Ford and cranked the engine, pulling into the road headed to Hollywood.
Her parents’ house was only about fifteen minutes away, so she didn’t need to break any traffic laws in her haste.
As she weaved her truck in and out of traffic, Lana wondered how Kayden was doing up in New York with only Maureen for his company.
She pressed the wireless Bluetooth talk button and waited for the beep before saying, “Call Kayden.”
The robotic voice in her ear said, “Calling Kayden,” and then the line rang. Her heart caught in her chest as she waited for his deep baritone voice to come over the speaker. The line rang four times before she heard the voicemail chime, then hit “end” on the Bluetooth button on the steering wheel.
Maybe he’s asleep, she thought as she pulled onto Palmdale Avenue down her mother’s block.
It was after eight, and he probably was tired from the flight, or worse yet, going through it with Maureen about Kim and whatever the rest of her secret entailed.
Something about the way Maureen spoke told her the suicide wasn’t the end of the story.
With her, there seemed always to be multiple hidden chapters in her book of drama.
She sighed a heavy sigh and hoped he’d call her back by the time she was finished with dinner.
It would be a long night, and she wanted desperately to hear his voice at the end of the day.
When she pulled up to her parents’ house, her heart stopped.
She knew who the black Mercedes and the Yellow Camaro belonged to and dropped her head to the steering wheel.
She rolled her head against it and squeezed her eyes closed, hoping that when she opened them, she would just be seeing things.
Snapping her head back up revealed her vision was fine.
I am not in the mood for this, she thought.
She wanted a small, quiet meal with her parents, but knew it would be anything but, as she turned off the engine.
I should just cancel, she thought for a second.
Picturing her mother cooking all day, only to be disappointed she didn’t show, felt worse, so she pushed open the vehicle door.
Lana launched herself out of the truck and didn’t bother going to the front door.
From the lights and music, she heard, she knew everyone was in the backyard under the gazebo for an outdoor dinner, and walked through the icy blades of grass towards them.
Florida weather was fickle. It could be ninety degrees during the day, but sometimes at night the weather could dip into the fifties, and most Floridians took advantage of that whenever they could.
It explained her reason for being at the pier herself.
As she turned the corner of the house, Chinese lanterns in pinks, blues, and whites were strung from the main house and connected to the gazebo.
The white linen fabric that draped around the posts was tied to each of the four corners, and a beautiful spread was displayed under it.
Her father had the stereo system playing, and she swore he thought he was a DJ of some sort, but appreciated the effort he put into it.
“Lana!” Veronica called from the patio door of the house, carrying a tray of barbecued ribs in her hand.
“Hey, Mom,” Lana replied, walking over to her and taking the food from her.
No one was outside just yet, and from the windows in the den, she could see that the house wasn’t packed, but it was still full of people having drinks and talking.
Lana set the ribs down on the table next to the chicken and potato salad, collard greens, peas, and rice, and her stomach growled.
When she turned from the table, her mother gave her a big, warm hug and held her for a long while.
A reluctant tear sprang in Lana’s eye as the love and comfort emanating from her mother touched her everywhere she needed.
As they pulled away, Lana wiped the escaped tear from her face, and her mother placed a hand on her cheek.
“Are you ok, baby?” she asked.
Lana knew the answer to that was a resounding no, but nodded anyway.
When she looked up, everyone in the house was pouring outside and headed in their direction, so she plastered the best smile she could muster on her face and walked towards Carmen.
Carmen held onto her signature glass of wine and threw her arms around her, without spilling a drop—a real pro.
She squeezed so hard that Lana’s ribs hurt.
“I missed you so much,” Carmen whispered to her as she let go.
“I missed you too,” Lana replied, but truthfully, she had been so preoccupied with what was happening in Hamby she hadn’t even called or texted Carmen back.
It was awful behavior, and Lana hadn’t been a good friend as of late.
As Carmen made her way to the gazebo, Lana’s cousins all greeted her next, followed by her Aunt, who said a quick prayer with her, and finally, Sam, who must’ve been waiting very patiently, walked towards her as everyone sat down to eat.
“How you doin’?” he asked, looking at her with concern.
She shook her head as she spoke, “I’m good. And you?”
“I’m great. How’s Kayden?” he asked.
The question made her pause a moment, but she mustered out the best response she could.
“He’s OK, but he’s actually in New York seeing a specialist for his arm.”
“I see,” Sam replied, not moving his gaze from her face.
She felt uncomfortable and looked over her shoulder to find the entire dinner party watching them. They all pretended to start talking once they were caught, and she rolled her eyes.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” she asked, annoyed.
“You’re here and he’s not. That says a lot,” he said, then winked and walked towards the group as Lana’s blood turned to molten lava.
How dare he? she thought. What part of specialist didn’t he understand?
She marched towards the table, ready to chew him out, but stopped herself when her father reached for and grabbed her hand.
She hadn’t realized they were all joined in hands, ready to pray over their meal.
Sam was indeed saved by faith at that moment, and she took a seat next to her mother.
After her Aunt said a prayer that was about ten minutes too long, everyone began to dig in.
The last thing she wanted to do was eat after her little chat with Sam. It felt wrong sitting around enjoying dinner with him and her family. As if he hadn’t done the things he did to her in the past, and they were suddenly friends.
“What’s the matter, baby? Aren’t you hungry?” Rupert asked as he ripped into a rib bone.
“It’s amazing, you should have some. You’re getting too skinny,” Sam injected, as he dared to reach over and add a scoop of potato salad to her plate.
He smiled at her and gave another wink, and she could see her mother blush. Carmen lit up when he did it.
“Why are you here, Sam?” she asked as he returned to his own plate of food.
Everyone stopped mid-chew, mid-drink, and mid-sentence. You could hear the mosquitoes being zapped by the lamps and tiki torch flames that lit up the backyard; it was so quiet.
“Lana!” Veronica bellowed. “That’s not very hospitable of you.”
“It’s OK, Mrs. McKenzie,” he replied, wiping the sauce from his fingertips.
“It’s actually not OK,” Lana replied.