Part Two: Chapter Four
September 23, 1985
"Hey! Derek! Come on!" Todd called, rolling steadily down the sidewalk on his skateboard.
Derek and Sara stood side by side in front of the school building, Derek frantically attempting to fit his helmet on, and Sara earnestly whispering with him.
"Could you please not go?" she asked pleadingly. "You go with them every day! You don't have to give me anything for my birthday, just walk home with me!"
Derek finally buckled his helmet, sighed, and put his foot on his skateboard.
"I'm sorry Sara, but this is me time. I'm just going to go hang out for a bit and get your present."
"But you don't need to get me anything if—"
"I know. I promise I'll be home by dinner time, all right?"
Sara sighed. "Promise?"
"You bet," He winked at her then sped away after the other boarders.
Sara rolled her eyes. He always went away with his friends after school, even if it was her birthday. She quickly opened her backpack and pulled out a candy-bar one of her teachers had given her for her birthday, then began nibbling at it slowly, hoping it would make the whole trip home. Then she zipped her pack and began walking.
It was as if during the summer, weekends, and school mornings all he has is family, but after school, only his friends exist. Sara kicked an empty can out of her way as she walked. He couldn't even leave his friends for her birthday. But then again, maybe she was the one being unreasonable. Sure, it was her birthday, but Derek was 16, maybe he needed his independence more than Sara could understand.
Her house came into view through the trees and she quickened her pace. Meg and the twins would at least give her a warm happy birthday greeting.
She opened the door and entered the house to find Mike and Taylor playing a video game and Meg attempting to read quietly in a corner, making up words to fill in the blanks of ones she couldn't read. They all looked up when Sara entered and chorused "Happy Birthday Sara!"
Sara grinned.
"Now are you sure he said by dinner?" Jill asked Sara sternly as she placed the day's birthday dinner on the table.
"Yes I'm sure. He promised."
"Maybe he didn't know what time we'd be eating exactly." Frankie added, stuffing a hotdog in his mouth afterward.
"Or maybe he couldn't find you the perfect gift." Jill muttered, sitting down next to Sara. "Don't worry," she whispered in Sara's ear. "He'll get here when he gets here and then I'll have a talk with him."
Sara sat hunched over, head drooping in anger and disappointment.
Mike and Taylor seemed to sense her feelings from across the table and Taylor chimed in after swallowing some french-fries, "Sara, do you want to play hide and seek with Mike, Meg and me after cake and presents?"
Sara smiled slightly, "Sure Taylor, I'd…I'd like that."
"But wait," Jill exclaimed to the twins. "Don't you remember our little present for Sara?"
"Oh yeah," Mike muttered, shrinking back into his seat.
"We're going somewhere after eating Sara; you can play when we get back."
Sara was curious as to what Jill had planned, but she turned back to her dinner instead of questioning, something she hardly ever did.
"Where are we going?" Sara questioned as Jill drove down a long curvy road.
"You'll see." She'd been saying that the past half-hour they'd been driving alone together. Sara was sitting in the front seat of the car, holding a new book she had received from the twins and Meg. They had kept all their pennies to buy it for her, and the look on their faces when the saw Sara's face as she opened the gift was priceless.
Another fifteen minutes later, the ocean came into view in front of them. Sara's mouth opened in shock. The beach? Right about now, she was confused as to whether she should be happy or sad, One of her only happy memories, her and her parents going to the beach. The memory: happy. Her parents: sad.
Jill seemed to sense her confusion.
"Are you all right?"
Sara stuttered, "Ye—yeah, I just…wish Derek would get home."
Jill pulled the car onto the side of the road.
"Where's the parking lot?" Sara asked, opening the car door and stepping out.
"On a nice day like today the regular beaches will be full and I wanted to talk to you in private."
"Oh," Sara and Jill walked over towards the sand. When the reached it the stood quietly, staring out at the rolling and curling waves, frothing white foam and pulling sand back and forth. The sunset was leaving a rosy hue over everything and for a period of time, Sara felt relaxed, soothed, and at peace.
They stared out over the ocean together in silence for what seemed like hours even though they were just a few minutes. The only things that were important in the world was that the ocean keep curling and frothing, that the sun kept shining over the water, and that the wind kept blowing a cool breeze through their hair.
"Sara," Jill began, interrupting the peaceful silence. "There's something I brought you out here to talk about."
Sara sat down on the sand and crossed her legs, listening. Jill sat down next to her and followed her gaze towards the water. They were silent for a while longer before Jill spoke.
"Now, I don't want you to get all excited because it's not official yet," Jill continued. "Your father—I mean…Frankie and I…we've taken a long time to discuss this, we've had you for more than a year, and there haven't been any problems."
Sara could see a mirage of her father's old car pulling up alongside the road.
"We've…"
Sara could see her five-year-old form running through the sand towards the ocean.
"Decided…"
Sara saw herself gazing out at the ocean, gaping at its majesty.
"That we…"
Her father scooped her up in his arms and headed for the water, her arms spread out as though she thought she might fly.
"Would like to adopt you."
Sara's heart was in her throat and right then and there, it burst, causing Sara to cry onto her knees. She hadn't cried about anything for a long time, not since that one day a year ago and her old sessions with Clara. She hadn't even cried when the Nelson's brought her to court to testify and not when she went to her counselors once a month, but now as her emotions came to a head she cried and cried and cried.
Jill placed an arm around her and whispered lovingly, "You and Meg will be sharing the same room you are now. She'll grow looking up to you Sara, and Mike and Taylor too!"
Sara wiped her eyes forcefully, trying to clear the memories out of her sight.
"I promise Derek will be home when we get back. I told you you'd attach to him almost right away. You two are inseparable."
"During the summer," Sara muttered angrily. She was angry with Derek and she didn't feel like talking about him.
"No, Sara." Jill replied, "He cares about you and you know that."
"I know I know, but…I just…He can't even make it to my birthday on time."
Jill sighed and looked at the ocean instead of Sara.
"Do you want to go home?" she asked.
"You go to the car. I'll be there in a few minutes." Sara muttered, drying her face on her shirt quickly.
Jill stood up and did as was requested, starting the car and letting it sit and rumble while Sara walked slowly towards the water, kicking her socks and shoes off on the way. The water continued to curl and froth and twist, leaving driftwood and seaweed up on the shore. Sara walked through the sand, feeling the coolness between her toes. She just wanted to stand ankle-deep in the water, just once, to see if the happy memory was even real.
She stepped into the water and sighed slightly, a strange symbolic change taking over her, for the water…was cold.
"Ready Sara? Come on!" cried Meg, bounding up to Sara as she and Jill entered. Sara grinned slightly and allowed Meg to grab her hand and pull her up the stairs.
"Is Derek back yet?" she could hear Jill asking Frankie who shook his head, his normally laughing eyes glazed over in worry.
Sara watched them over her shoulder as she was dragged along until the were out of her sight.
Mike and Taylor were standing in the middle of the hallway, taking turns trying to climb up the walls. When the spotted Sara, they both shouted greetings.
"I call counting first." Meg declared bossily.
"You can barely count past 25!" Taylor pointed out.
"I can too! Twenty-five, elevendy-six elevendy-seven," counted Meg, clapping her hands over eyes.
Sara quickly and quietly sprung on tiptoes down the hallway. She'd just play with the little kids until Derek got home. His room was right in front of her and Meg could say '100' whenever she liked seeing as how she couldn't count past 25.
Sara opened the door to reveal a perfectly kept room with a dark blue and black theme. She had never been in here before, so she clung to the walls and scooted to her right towards the bed. She'd just hide under there. He wouldn't even know.
She could hear Meg's booming little voice shouting the wrong numbers so Sara took a nosedive under the foundation of the bed. Instantly a horrid plant-like sort of stench reached her nose and she wrinkled it. Sara squinted around in the semi-darkness, trying to find the source of the smell. What could possibly smell that bad in this room? She reached her hands around her and it met with a big black bag.
Sara tugged it out from under the bed and looked inside. Inside, it looked like a bag of dirt from outside, a mix between dry grass clippings and…well, dirt. Why the heck would Derek have dirt in his room? It disgusted Sara. He said his room was spotless. Well, having a bag of dirt under your bed certainly wasn't spotless.
"I better take this to Ji—Mom." Sara muttered under her breath.
