I woke up to the sound of thunder. It was the coast: sometimes the days were sunny with blue skies and other times it was a low level storm. The light through my window was grey and moody.
Unlike how I felt. I got up from the bed, grabbed my robe and went into the bathroom to take a shower. I would try my best to look as good as I could with the limited summer wardrobe I brought with me. Since it was early, I could get a good shower before all the hot water was taken by my sisters.
The thunder persisted and got progressively louder that I wondered if a tropical storm had just popped-up without warning. I would have to take the SUV to Skylar’s condo or get soaked in the attempt. That had a romance storyline vibe to it but then we would hav to ride on top of the car as the seats were leather.
“Wouldn’t be too bad, the wind in our faces,” I thought aloud. “We’ll have to pick up some bungee cords and gloves to hold on. I’m sure the police wouldn’t mind too much.”
It was just after seven when I stepped out of my room, not looking like the dashing male main character on my own books, but just me, wearing the same thing I had worn two days prior. Casual, but I felt comfortable.
My parents were in the living room reading the paper and watching TV. We drove 445 miles from home and it looked like were still at home as they took the same positions as they did there: Mom on the right side of the couch, Dad on the left.
“Can I take the car down the road to pick up Skylar?”
“This early?” Dad asked as Mom closed her newspaper.
“Yeah, I’m assuming she’s not up yet and may take some time to get ready I know you want to leave early enough to there so we’re not waiting in a long line.”
Mom gave me a blank look and then flipped the paper back up. I didn’t respond.
“The keys are on the nightstand,” Dad replied as he picked up a section of the paper.
“Thank you.”
I left the room and heard mom say something, but I couldn’t make it out.
If I really wanted everyone to have a bad day then I could have stopped in my tracks, turned back, and asked what the problem was. Mom would look at me with an angry, yet calm, glare and say the words that no man or boy wants to ever hear: “nothing”.
And it would nothing for the rest of the day.
Nothing but tension.
Nothing but disdain.
Nothing but almost-silent scoffing.
It wasn’t worth it.
I grabbed the keys and left the condo.
The rain came down in torrents onto the windshield as soon as I left the parking garage and drove the very short distance to the Palms condo but at the last second I drove past the entrance and down the road to the store. I would arrive with a large bouquet of coastal flowers, or maybe a small one, with a vase, to place on the table.
Fifteen minutes later, with the multi-color, Jimmy-Buffet-would-approve, display of flowers in a bowl-like vase, I drove back in the direction of the palms. The rain had slowed by then but the clouds were still low, fog-like, so it would probably stay that way until some time past ten o’clock.
I turned the SUV into the parking lot of the twin tower condominium and saw there were several Orange Beach Police cars parked in front of the first tower.
“So much for the bungee cord idea.”
I parked on the other side and walked through the drizzle carrying the vase as carefully as I could. Once inside the lobby, I walked into the elevator and pressed the button for the ninth floor.
“What if I’d this way overkill?” I thought aloud. “No, and if it is, then the whole family, except Katie, can enjoy it. Yeah, I’ll just say that it’s present for everyone: a plethora of color for what the Alabama coastline is usually like except for today.”
The elevator ‘dinged’, the doors opened and I my eyes immediately latched onto the presence of three police officers standing in the area in front of the elevators.
I must have looked guilty as one of them approached me. “Are you an owner or a guest here?”
“No, my, my girlfriend is.”
“What room?”
“Nine, nine-thirteen.”
I looked down the the way and saw the door to the room was wide open and a siren wailed in the distance.
“What happened?” I thought maybe her grandfather or grandmother had an accident or something. “Can you tell me?”
The officer didn’t respond.
I slowly shifted a few feet away and shouted out: “Skylar!”
I placed the flowers down and then went into a quasi panic mode when I saw her grandfather appear in the doorway.
“Spencer?”
The officer looked at them and then at me. “Is he with you?”
“Yes, yes he is.”
I walked past the officer and over to the door. I feared for his wife as the siren grew louder. It was obvious it was coming to our location.
“What happened, Paul?”
“We don’t really know.”
We walked into the condo to see two other police officers talking to Sheryl. Sheryl’s face was red and crest-fallen. I looked at the living room and wanted to look down the hall at the other rooms but the presence of the police on the balcony caught my attention even more.
Where were Skylar and Katie?
Paul put his hands on my shoulders as Sheryl’s laid her head down on the table.
We then saw Katie walk in from the hallway, her hands behind her back, accompanied by a police officer.