time,” I say. “He was bent over studying the baseboards inside the arcade. He would crawl a little too. He said, ‘It’s coming from somewhere’ and ‘Where’s it coming from?’ ”
“Did you ask about it?”
“I did. He said, ‘The toxin.’ He was looking for a toxin.”
Twenty-Four Stella
Boardwalk
June 22
“Murielle duPluie from WLEO here with the Whalehead news from the Jersey Shore. The countdown has begun, thanks to Meredith Maxwell’s number one fan, Cassandra Winterhalter. Stroll past the welcome sign in front of the Smoothie Factory to get a glimpse of the countdown to the Flying Fish concert, just five days away.”
It looked like the kind of beach day you dreamed about: bright blue sky with only a slight puff of white clouds here and there. White sand sprinkled with people, beach umbrellas, and volleyball players. Unfortunately, it felt like the kind of beach day you dread—ninety-five degrees at nine in the morning and high humidity. I was sweating through my shirt before we started working out, and I think I felt the tops of my feet getting sunburned right through my shoes and socks. It was totally possible that my sneakers might melt right on the boardwalk. And there was no breeze at all. Fish were rotting somewhere, that was for sure; I could smell the funk.
I decided that when we went to the beach later, I would put my chair in the water and not move it all day.
But Josie had other ideas. She actually wanted to run in this weather.
I agreed to jog with Josie like we’d done lots of times before. The difference is that those other times I’d been part of the track team, and I’d wanted to be good at running. I wasn’t on that team anymore, and, well, I was out of shape. I told her I’d go if she agreed we could go to the guard shack so that I could see TJ. “Timmy will probably be there,” I said to Josie.
“Probably,” she said, but no hint of noticing that he was a cute boy who’d been noticing her.
“So, I think he likes you,” I said.
When she didn’t answer, I added, “Do you like him?”
Still no answer.
“Josie?”
When she didn’t answer the third time, I realized that she was wearing earbuds and couldn’t hear me. I gave up and stuck mine in too.
We ran past the old man feeding the seagulls again, and I got a splat of bird poop on my shoe. Gross.
We exchanged waves with Rodney, Kevin (the owner of Kevin’s Fun House), Dario’s mother, and other locals trying to enjoy what would be the coolest part of the day. That’s what things are like at the shore—everyone is happy and friendly. It’s the opposite of home, but I still love New York.
I saw Mayor Lopez talking to a woman I didn’t know. I took out an earbud when I said hi.
He replied, “Hello, girls.”
Before we got more than a few feet away, I leaned down to tie my shoe, which hadn’t melted. With the earbud still out, I heard the woman say, “He’s in the way.”
Mayor Lopez said, “I can’t just have him locked up for no reason.”
“Then think of one,” she growled, and marched with purpose toward the Smoothie Factory.
Twenty-Five Stella
Police Station
June 25 (Continued)
“What was that all about?” Santoro asks.
“I wouldn’t figure that out until later. At this point I didn’t even know who this woman was, but she had great taste in shoes—spiky Jimmy Choos that looked glam with soft blue shorts and a flowy peasant top.”
“Uh-huh.”
“Do you want me to tell you more about the mayor and the lady now?”
“No. Let’s stick to the timeline and just let me know what happened next.”
Twenty-Six Stella
Beach
June 22 (Continued)
I put the earbud back in, then caught up to Josie, who was already at the top of the ramp that led to the sand. We ran down the beach to the guard shack. Immediately I regretted suggesting the shack, because running on the sand was so much harder than the boards.
We found Timmy’s legs dangling off the side of the raised hut. “If you’re not careful, someone will recruit you for our training program,” he said, more to Josie, who was ahead of me and was barely out of breath.
“Water?” I managed to choke out.
He handed me his bottle, and I gulped the water down. Then I looked at Josie’s outstretched hand. “Oops,” I said, because I’d drunk it all.
Josie let out a huff. “Oh come on, Stell.”
I said, “Sorry.”
Timmy held out another drink