Brother Willy's Traveling Salvation Show (27 page)

Scott
took only a moment to consider her suggestion. “If you stop and think about it, we really should have been going to bed with each other years ago. Isn’t that what friends are for?”

After a long and passionate embrace,
Michelle stood up and pulled on Scott’s hand. “Your friend wants you to take her to the bedroom and make love to her.”

Scott
followed her upstairs. “You must really be a psychic because you are definitely reading my mind.”

CHAPTER XX

Driving across the Atlantic beach bridge, Scott and Michelle knew they had to make some difficult decisions about their future direction. There was no real path forward until Michelle could sort out her life and until Scott came to terms with issues Michelle didn’t even know about or understand. 

When
Scott arrived at home, his parents were in the kitchen seated at the table. Sandy greeted him as he came through the door. “So how was your trip?”

Scott
smiled as he replied. “It was very educational.”

His dad glanced up from
the newspaper. “If I was in court when a witness gave me that answer, I would have to wonder what he was hiding. In other words, that is not what I expected to hear.”

Scott
decided he needed to put the matter to rest without saying much. He went to the refrigerator and took out a Coke before he replied. “We had a great time, we talked about a lot of things, we went out to dinner a few times, and we went swimming. William has a great place there.”

Sandy
reached out and very lightly smacked the back of his head as he walked by. “This is your mother you’re talking to and I know what you are thinking before you do. Let’s have the rest of the story.”

Scott
was expressing some of his anger at the world when he gave his mother something to consider. “William Broughton is a very smart man, but he missed something when he arranged this trip. You can’t engineer human behavior. Sometimes, things have to run their natural course without interference.”

Mark
was apparently surprised by Scott’s comment. “That doesn’t sound good.”

Scott
had said all he intended to and chose to steer the conversation in a new direction. “Well, I do have some good news. Before I came home from school, I interviewed with a company in Asheville. They sent me an email late Friday saying they want me to come up on Friday afternoon for a second interview. It could be a great job and I like Asheville, so I am going to head up there late Thursday afternoon.”

Sandy
wasted no time in raising her next question. “Is Michelle going with you?”

Scott
tried to downplay his answer. “This is a job interview, not recreation. Besides, I am going to stay with some friends and Michelle doesn’t need to put up with them.”

Mark
was not going to let Scott off the hook. “I was under the impression you were going to work with William on a project starting on Tuesday.”

Scott
again tried to answer his dad without providing any real information. “I need a real job and working part time is not getting me anywhere. I should have had a real job weeks ago. I am going to send Mr. Broughton an email in just a few minutes and let him know my change of plans.”

Mark
stood up to get more coffee. As he walked past Scott, he gave him a pat on the back. “I’m glad you are not in court because I would have to ask the judge to declare you a hostile witness. You have said a lot of things without saying anything.”

Scott
started out of the kitchen as he responded to Mark’s observations. “Being an attorney, you always taught me to never volunteer information.”

It was late in the afternoon when
Scott finished cleaning his car. Mark came outside and stood beside the open car door where Scott was seated. “I don’t have to be a great attorney to see things didn’t go well this weekend and I’m not going to get into that issue unless you want to.”

Scott
looked at his dad and smiled. “Why do I get the feeling the other shoe is about to drop?”

Mark
placed his hand on Scott’s shoulder. “There is always another shoe to drop, even in the best of times. The project you told William you would help with is very important to our state politics. He’s counting on you to help with it and you told him you would help.”

Scott
knew what was coming next from his dad and tried to head off a discussion on personal responsibility. “I don’t even know what we’re doing. Can’t he find anyone with my same lack of knowledge to do the job?”

“It’s not your technical skills he’s looking for. He needs someone he can trust. This is a very complex and sensitive matter and he can’t just grab someone off the street. This project has been in the works for months.”
Mark replied.

Scott
looked at the dashboard as he replied. “In other words, I need to do what I said I would do, even if I don’t want to.”

“Let’s face the facts. You can use the money and it will pay well for three days work. I also think you will be amazed with what you see
, which could be more valuable than the money.”

Mark
turned to walk away. “East Kings Ridge is not far from Asheville so you can take care of both things at once.”

Scott
went to bed early on Sunday night being more than ready for a good night's sleep. He had talked to Amie and agreed to meet her at ten-thirty in Swansboro. As he was now in virtual silence, he had to consider the way he had handled things with Beth and Michelle and knew he could have done a better job. After a few minutes of self-recrimination, he sent each of them a text message that simply said “good night”

He and
Amie had agreed to meet at a parking lot beside the White Oak River in Swansboro. Scott arrived a few minutes early but Amie was already there. She was neatly dressed in white shorts with a baby blue tee shirt and sandals. Her hair was neatly brushed and she wore just a hint of perfume.

They were leaning against
Scott’s car when she raised questions about their plans. “I have to be back to meet with a counselor at three o’clock. What were you thinking we should do?”

“I thought I would take you somewhere before we go to lunch.”
Scott replied.

Amie
’s expression was suspicious, but playful. “Most guys at least take me to dinner before they take me somewhere.”

He opened the door for her as he replied, “This is going to be somewhere I doubt you have ever been before. We can have lunch afterwards and then figure out where to go from there.”

She smiled as he got behind the wheel. “This sounds very mysterious.”

He drove for about fifteen minutes before they reached their destination.
Amie read the sign as she spoke the words aloud, “Costal Rehabilitation Center. I already have a place to go for treatment. I’m not even sure this is what I need to be looking at.”

Scott
continued his drive into the parking lot before stopping. “Trust me. This is not somewhere you would want to be.”

As they walked in the building together, the receptionist recognized
Scott. After a casual greeting, she glanced at a computer screen. “Ashley is in the courtyard, so just go on back. She’ll be happy to see you.”

Scott
took Amie down a long hall before going to an enclosed courtyard. He immediately saw Ashley sitting in a wheelchair beside a small brick flower planter. Scott approached her and gave her a quick kiss before putting his arms around her.

As
Amie stood watching, Scott pointed to Amie. “Ashley, this is my cousin Amie. I wanted to bring her by to meet you.”

Ashley
’s stare was distant, but she seemed to recognize Scott. She was able to move her hand enough to grasp his hand, but had difficulty turning her head to see Amie. Recognizing her problem, Amie stepped in front of the wheelchair and leaned down to hug her. Ashley then tried to mouth the word. “Amie”.

Scott
reached in his pocket and pulled out a gold bracelet before putting it on her wrist. “I got your bracelet fixed and you shouldn’t have any more problems.”

As
Ashley watched Scott fasten the clasp, her eyes were sparkling, but she was only able to attempt to say thank you and her words were hard to understand. They stayed with Ashley for forty-five minutes before they got up to leave. Seeing a tear in her eye, Scott hugged her again and promised he would be back on Friday. Amie also hugged her and gave Ashley a kiss on the cheek.

As they reached the door to the courtyard,
Amie stopped Scott by putting her hand on his arm. “Why did you bring me here?”

He and
Amie turned around to look at Ashley, who could not see them. Scott’s reply started innocently enough but became far more explicit as he went along. “I had to come by to see her and to bring her bracelet back. I brought you so that I could paraphrase an idea from Charles Dickens. I wanted to show you the ghost of Amie’s future.”

Scott
and Amie left the facility and drove the short distance to Captain Charley’s seafood restaurant without speaking. Once seated and with their orders placed, Amie sat with her hands folded in her lap. “Who is she?”

Scott
replied after some thought. “She is a girl whose friends are all gone, who goes to no more parties, and who lives a miserable existence. For all practical purposes, if you don’t change your life, then she is you.”

Amie
was more insistent. “Who else is she?”

“She was my date for the senior prom.”

“What happened to her?” Amie asked.

Scott
looked out of the plate glass window at the White Oak River before he spoke. “I bought her a pink corsage to match her dress and I thought she was the most beautiful girl at the dance. She was the first person I got serious about after I realized Michelle and I were just going to be friends for life. We had been dating all year and were getting very serious with each other.”

Scott
took a sip of water before he continued. “The guys had planned to go camping by the river after we took our girlfriends home. Ashley and her friends were going to stay at her house. They started drinking and decided to come find us, only they didn’t make it. One of her friends was killed and Ashley probably wishes she had been killed too.”

Amie
had a tear running down her cheek. “Will she ever get any better?”

“
She will never be a well functioning person again, but she is doing better. She get’s therapy every day and they give her a lot of attention. But no, she will at best be a shadow of her former self. I think she still knows me, but I’m not really sure anymore.”

Amie
smiled. “I can promise she knows you. I could see it in her eyes. Why did you tell her I was your cousin?”

Scott
looked slightly embarrassed. “I didn’t want her to think you were a new girlfriend in case she thinks I am waiting for her to get better.”

Amie
picked up her iced tea before she spoke. “For what it’s worth, I both hate and love you for letting me meet her. I needed to see that and I wish I never had to see her go through that. She’s going to haunt me, but I guess you were planning on that being the outcome.”

“You call it a haunting and I
will call it inspiration. I promise the rest of our time together will be better.” Scott replied.

She looked away. “It would have been easier for me if you had taken me to some sleazy hotel.”

Scott started laughing. “I’m sure it would have been easier, but then what would we have done for the rest of the day?”

Amie
understood his joke, but then made her request. “I would like for us to go sit by the river and talk for a while. I enjoyed our time at Fort Macon even though we didn’t finish our conversation.”

After lunch,
they went to a small park near the river and sat in the shade. It was a hot day, but there was enough of a breeze to keep them comfortable. After sitting in the grass, Amie expressed her curiosity. “Did you give Ashley the bracelet?”

“I gave it to her for her birthday about two months before the accident. We were still in high school and
even though it wasn’t very expensive, I think it meant something to her. She broke it last week so I got it fixed for her.”

Amie
looked at the distant bridge as she spoke. “It was almost spooky looking at Ashley. She looks so much like Beth that it was really weird.”

Never having realized the resemblance,
Scott was stunned by the accuracy of Amie’s observation.

Amie
then put her hand on Scott’s arm. “If she changed her hairstyle and had on a little makeup she could be Beth’s twin sister. Anyway, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know you feel guilty over what happed to Ashley.”

Scott
made a decision to avoid talking about Ashley and brought the conversation back to Amie. “We can’t change what happened to Ashley, but we can make sure it doesn’t happen to you. How have things gone for you since we were together on Saturday?”

Amie
felt a sense of contentment as she related her story. “My dad and I have been fighting for the last two years, but once I asked for help, things changed. Saturday night he and I rented a movie. I snuggled up to him and we watched the movie and ate popcorn. It was probably the best Saturday night I have spent in years.”

“Are you ready to go into rehab tomorrow?”

Amie
was excited with the news she planned to share. “I am starting tomorrow, but I wanted to tell you something important. I thought about our conversation most of the way home after we were discussing the dark night of the soul and purification of the senses. My mind has been so clear today. It really feels good.”