Dream Me(33)

“Okay.” I took a deep breath. “Okay, you’re right I was talking about me. Just listen before you say anything. Hear me out.”

And then I told her everything, and I have to say it felt pretty good.

“So that’s it? Nothing else?” Mai asked. “You’re not leaving anything out, are you?”

Was this the part where she was going to recommend a shrink?

“That’s it. Except . . . except I know the whole thing sounds crazy. And I know you’re wondering how I can be so wrapped up in someone I hardly know, not to mention someone who doesn’t technically exist. He’s gorgeous, of course—up until the last time I saw him, when he looked like a lizard. But he understands me and respects me. He just gets me. I don’t know how else to explain it.”

“Babe. I think you need a boyfriend. A real one, not a dream boy.”

“Okay, I didn’t expect you to believe me. Fair enough.”

“What about that LeGrand guy you told me about? Rich, handsome.”

“I’m not interested in someone else’s money, Nuggins. I thought you knew me better than that by now.”

“Okay, what about the guy you left behind in California? Seems like he got you.”

“It’s different. Perry’s a great guy but I don’t have feelings for him. I can’t even explain what it’s like just to touch Zat’s hand. We don’t have to say a word when we’re together. It’s like I’ve known him my whole life.”

“Sounds like a brother to me, someone you’ve known your whole life.”

“Let’s drop it, Mai. I don’t even understand it myself, so why should you? What do you want to do tonight?”

“Show me around!” Mai jumped up and down, playfully clapping her hands, mimicking a small child. “I want to see how the rich people live.”

A shiny black Mercedes sedan rolled by. The passenger, a young woman with tumbling locks of golden hair, stretched forward against her seatbelt to get a better view of something in her mirror. Mai shook her head in a gesture of mock sadness. “I hope she doesn’t have a zit or something serious like that. Really? Friends Across the Bay? How can you stand it, Babe?”

“Welcome to my life since the day I was born. It’s not so bad. You meet nice people too.”

“I guess I can see why Kiet loves camp so much. His mom was over at our house last night, all bragging about how her baby’s a big tennis stud now.”

“I think Mattie Lynn might have something to do with why he loves camp so much.”

“No doubt. So what are you going to show me first?”

“We can walk along the marina. When you’re sick of that, we can drive around and look at some of the houses. Then I guess we can get something to eat at the beach if you want.”

“Cool,” Mai said as we strolled off in the direction of the marina.

__________

I could tell Mai was impressed with the yachts. Nobody could help but be impressed even if they hated the lifestyle the way Mai did.

“And the Empire State Building up ahead? Which CEO or movie star owns that one?”

“That’s The Lucky Lady. LeGrand’s boat, or rather his parents’.”

“Oooh! Let’s go check it out.” Which of course we were going to do, since we were headed in that direction and you couldn’t exactly avoid walking by it.

It was early evening and some of the boats were coming in after a day of fishing and island hopping. A giant ice box had been lowered onto the dock by a ship’s crew. As we walked by a vibrant splash of color inside caught my eye and I stopped to examine the contents of the box—exquisite pink fish, stacked like pancakes, their bodies sliding and spilling over each other in a way that reminded me of petals on an exotic flower. Only their gaping mouths and their glassy stares were reminders of death. I felt a sudden shame for abandoning my vegetarianism. One of them twitched and gasped for air.

“Nice looking snapper,” Mai looked at them approvingly.

“I’d rather see them swimming in the ocean. They look so sad.”

“C’mon, Babe, they’re not sad, they’re dead. How do you think we get the seafood you eat? You think they all swim into the market and volunteer to be eaten?”

“Look at that one. It’s still alive.”

Mai picked up a hammer from a toolbox set near the ice chest and thumped the fish right on top of his head, extinguishing the spark that was once its life.

“Hey, what are you girls doing?” A deckhand called out from the boat.

“Just putting the fish out of its misery, sir,” Mai called back in her sweet customer service voice.

“Okay, we don’t need you to do that. Thank you just the same.”

“I guess we don’t look like Crystal Point residents to him,” she muttered as we walked away.

But I was grateful to Mai for doing what she did, even though it had shocked me at first.

As we approached The Lucky Lady I could see LeGrand on the side deck leaning over the rail with a drink in one hand. As soon as he spotted us, he walked over to the front deck, right above where we would be passing by.

“Ahoy there, mateys!” He tipped his drink toward us as though he was making a toast.

“Who’s Popeye?” Mai whispered to me.