There being no allergies or health concerns that fessed up, I had one last announcement.
“When you’re done, what are you going to do with your plate and napkins?” I pointed to the giant trash barrel to help them out with the answer.
“Put them in the garbage!” came the loud response.
Two of the other women there supervising their charges stepped in to help me.
“Hey, I’m Alice,” one of them said. “This is so nice of you. How can I help?”
“I think we need more cake in our lives,” I said. “It’s nice to meet you. Pass out cake to all these varmints?”
“Happy to! More cake in our lives sounds excellent!”
“I can give out water bottles? Hi! I’m Maureen Thomas,” the other woman said.
“That would be great,” I said.
I thought to myself then that these were two ladies I’d probably like to know. They had just stepped right up to help. I liked that. It wouldn’t kill me to have a few friends. But, as we all know, ever since Leslie married Charlie, I’d been captive. Well, enough of that. Momma was completely ambulatory. She didn’t need a nurse. What she needed was the same thing I needed—more fun. Plain and simple. We both needed more fun.
“So do you live on the island?” I asked Maureen.
“Yes. My husband and I just moved here from Nashville. He’s working for Boeing.”
“Wow, that’s a heckuva commute for him.”
“Well, we wanted Matthew to be able to attend Sullivan’s Island Elementary School,” she said. “You know, you make all sorts of unbelievable sacrifices for your kids, right?” She sort of laughed.
“Yeah. Living on the island is a terrible sacrifice.”
And she added, “And I inherited this big old house on the beach when my grandmomma went to her great reward.”
“How cool is that? Well, the school is absolutely idyllic, like something out of a dream.”
“It is. So, are Tyler and Hunter yours?” she said.
“Sadly, no. They’re my next-door neighbor’s children. Their mother was killed in a terrible car accident . . .”
I told her the story because she seemed to want to know the details.
“I heard about this. How awful. And he’s already married again? Pretty quick, huh?”
“I thought so, but it’s really none of my business,” I said.
“Well, what’s she like?”
I thought about it for a moment before I spoke because I didn’t want the story to travel. But on the other hand, why not stick it to Sharon with a total stranger? Just a little.
“The real reason I brought this cake to the park is because Tyler’s birthday is next Thursday and he’s not having a party because she doesn’t believe in them.”
“So she’s a big ol’ bitch?”
“Kind of the biggest one I ever met,” I said. “She’s having her parents and her aunt and uncle over for cake on the Sunday after his birthday.”
“And that’s it?”
“Yep.”
“Poor little guy! Oh, I just hate that story,” Maureen said.
“Me, too.”
We stood there and watched as Tyler ran around with Brian, Tommy, and her Matthew. And twenty other kids were playing tag, shooting hoops, and just generally having the time of their lives. On further inspection, I saw Hunter was hanging upside down on the jungle gym.
“Hunter!” I called out. “Get down from there!”
“He’ll break his neck,” Maureen said.
“No, he won’t. He’s part monkey. Hunter! Get down this instant!”
Hunter climbed down by grabbing the bar from which he was hanging and doing a flip, squarely hitting the ground like a junior Olympic gymnast.
“Kids,” she said.
We both grinned and shook our heads, but I hoped Hunter did not see that. He didn’t need an ounce of encouragement.
There was a magical Lowcountry mood that afternoon, as though the invisible sirens of Sullivan’s Island were poised to swoop down from the tops of all the bushy palmetto trees on the island to claim the boys of summer as their own. It made my heart swell to see all their energy and happiness. It was a snapshot I’d never forget.
Maureen said, “His birthday is next Thursday, you said?”
“Yes.”
“Then why don’t we throw him a surprise party at my house?”
What an amazing idea. Amazing.
“Maureen? I think I want to be your best friend. Brilliant idea! When Sharon finds out, she’ll kill me. But this would be the first year of his life without his mother, with no real party and no friends to celebrate with. So let