Chapter 2
Richy sat on the beach facing the ocean. Willow spotted him the minute her feet touched the sand. He was in his own world, looking out over the waves, deep in thought about whatever it was that troubled him that day.
Willow had troubles of her own she wanted to vent about, but she realized that was all she had been doing lately. She was sure the people around her were growing tired of hearing about her gripe about Charlie. So, she wanted to be the listening ear for a change.
“Hey stranger.”
She sat down next to him on the sand and slid her cooler between them.
“How long have you been out here?”
“About an hour,” he said. “Where have you been? I haven’t seen you in days.”
Richy had grown used to running into her. Before Willow knew what kind of home he lived in, she might have thought it was weird of him. But, after he told her his story, she understood why he liked to spend so much time away. And with someone who took the time to listen to him.
“Yeah,” she said. “I needed a breather from everything. There’s a lot going on right now and my mind is everywhere.”
“Same here.”
She watched as he picked up a lone shell from the ground and chucked it toward the water. He seemed down. Like there was something so heavy on his mind he could barely hold his neck straight.
“You ever think about running away?” he asked. “Like, just packing everything up and never looking back?”
Richy kept his gaze far out into the ocean and didn’t shift his focus from that vision.
“Yeah,” Willow nodded, thinking how ironic it was that she’d unintentionally ran away from her life in Tallahassee. Though it was obvious he meant when she was his age, back in high school. “I thought about it a lot of times.”
“What made you stay?”
She admired his question before she answered. It wasn’t only his question that made her realize how smart he was, but the way he asked, too.
“I don’t know, to be honest,” she said. “Family? Love? Honestly though, I had it pretty easy compared to most people and I was comfortable where I was. I’m not telling you to stay or to leave… You’re still young and still need help from your parents, or some other adult. But once you’re older, sure. Do whatever your heart desires.”
She thought he would at least chuckle at her cheesy line, but he didn’t. He was so serious that Willow didn’t feel like she was talking to the same kid. His demeanor was different. There was anger in his eyes. Even his energy didn’t feel the same.
“Do you want to talk about it?” Willow asked. “I know we’re always talking about me, but I can listen to you sometimes too, you know?”
His mood lightened a little after her words. It made Willow feel good to be able to cheer him up, even if it was only a little bit. She knew how hard life got. Though she couldn”t imagine going through what Richy did at her age, she had a lot of empathy for him.
“It’s stupid,” he said. “I just need to get out of this place. Go somewhere my parents can’t find me and make my own life.”
She wondered if that was the way Charlie felt about her. If he had to get away and make his own life. The thought of it hurt her to the core.
“What would you do?” she asked. “How would you survive and make money? Where are you going stay and are you going to go to school?”
With each question she asked, she watched the boy”s eyes grow wider and wider. He seemed to have it all figured out before she asked how he would survive in the world on his own. Willow felt bad for scaring him away from what he truly wanted, but she wanted him to be sure.
“Exactly,” she chuckled. “Being out in the world on your own isn’t something so simple to do. You have to have a place to stay… you have to have money for food, and bills. Most importantly, you have to continue growing in the world. You can’t just get out there and expect things to be picture perfect because it won’t be.”
“I know it won’t be easy,” Richy said. “Nothing has been easy for me. I know I can get out there and do much better than I”m doing here.”
She needed to tell herself the exact same things she was telling Richy. She needed to push herself the same way she pushed him. Willow wanted to go back to school. She wanted to reclaim her life and follow her heart back into her own life”s journey. But, like him, she was stuck.
“I’m just saying…” She patted his shoulder. “Make sure you’re ready. Don’t rush into things just because you feel emotional about them. I did that once upon a time, and look where it’s got me?”
Look where it’s got me. A married woman who can’t find her husband. A married woman who gave up her dreams for nothing. A married woman. I never thought I would be this kind of woman. An unhappy woman who has completely lost her way.
“Oh, hey. I have something for you.”
Richy went into his pocket to grab something.
“Here’s a picture of Greg.”
She took the folded picture and held it in her hands. Nervousness filled her and she wasn’t sure what to do.
“Are you gonna look at it?” Richy asked.
She slowly unfolded the picture and stared at it. It took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the face that stared back at her…
But when they did, Willow froze.
“Well?” Richy nudged her for a response. “Is it him? Is it Charlie?”
Tears filled her eyes faster than the waves rolled onto the shore. Her heart sank to her knees and she felt a sickness in her gut. It was Charlie. Right there in plain sight. Granted his hair was different in the ten year old mugshot, but it was him.
“Where did you get this?” she asked. “Is this some kind of sick joke between you and your friends? Because I don”t find it funny.”
The frown that took over Richy’s face told her he wasn’t joking at all. That was Charlie, her husband, in that mugshot. And he was insulted by her disbelief.
“Wow,” he scoffed as he stood to his feet. “He has you so brainwashed you don”t even know when someone’s telling you the truth.”
Richy dusted off his jeans and started to walk away. Willow was in such a huge shock that it didn’t register to her the moment he had left, but when she realized she had questions, she took off after him.
“Hey! Richy! Hey, wait up!”
He ignored her pleas for him to slow down. It was bad enough he’d already had a bad day at home, and Willow really didn’t want to make it worse. But she was desperate. She needed to know what he knew about Charlie, or Greg… or whatever his name was.
“Richy…” She gently tugged his arm. “I’m sorry I questioned you. I”m just in shock about this. Can you understand that? Please.”
He stared at her for a moment as if he wasn’t sure. His eyes seemed to soften when he saw her tears though.
“If that’s your husband and you know where he is, you might wanna go to the police.”
“I will,” she nodded. “Of course. I don’t know where he is, though. I haven”t heard from him since I arrived in Sanibel.”
Richy looked down at his feet and then back to Willow. She had no idea where Charlie was. She hadn’t even known his real name wasn’t Charlie until Richy had told her.
“Can you tell me what happened?” she asked. “Why are the police after him?”
“Wow,” Richy looked stunned. “You really don’t know anything, huh?”
“I guess not,” she scoffed. “Can you tell me?”
He stared at her again in silence. When Willow caught his eyes glancing at her cooler like he wanted everything inside, she quickly handed it to him as barter. There wasn’t anything there she couldn’t replace and besides, she planned to share it with him anyway.
“Let’s go back to the sand. I’ll tell you everything I”ve been able to dig up so far.”