Deep Betrayal

tucking my blankets around her.
    The moon shone through my window, lighting her face in a silvery blue. “Not dumb. But you don’t trust people.”
    “What’s that supposed to mean?”
    “Remember when I fell out of the kayak?”
    How could I forget? That was the night Calder’s sisters almost succeeded in their plan to kill Dad. That was the night Calder confessed his part in their plot.
    “Why did you come after me when Dad had already got there? Why did you jump off the cliff this spring?”
    I closed my eyes tight, pushing out the memory. “Who told you about that?”
    “Why did you do it, Lily?”
    “I thought I was protecting the family.”
    “Mom’s tougher than you think,” she said.
    I chewed on my lip until the skin tore. “You’re sure he’s really out there?”
    Sophie pulled me out of bed and we tiptoed downstairs to the bedroom where Mom slept alone, her body curled around a pillow.
    I shook her shoulder gently. “Mom? Mom, wake up.”
    “What?” She pushed herself up on her elbow. “Everything okay? Is Sophie okay? What’s wrong?”
    Sophie came around my right side and sat on the bed, taking Mom’s hand. “Come with us, Mommy,” she said. “It’s about Dad.”
    Sophie and I helped Mom to her walker and out toward the porch. We eased her across the uneven front yard. She asked why we were outside, but Sophie stroked her arm and told her there was something we needed to show her. When we got to the end of the dock, I turned on the motion detectors. They’d been off since I left last spring. For now, the lake was a silent black pool. We sat in the darkness and waited for something to activate the lights.
    Mom said, “I don’t understand. What are we doing?”
    “Like Sophie said, it’s about Dad. What we’re going to tell you, you know parts already. Other parts will be a surprise. We’re hoping it’s better for you to know the truth, than to imagine the worst. And Sophie thinks it was wrong of me to keep it a secret from you.”
    “The worst?” she asked. “What have you been keeping from me?”
    I started the story. Sophie filled in parts I didn’t know how she knew, like the part about Grandpa breaking his promise and stealing Dad away. Mom barely reacted. She stared straight ahead. Only occasionally did she raise her eyebrows or frown.
    I hoped Sophie was right about Dad swimming in front of the house. We’d been out on the dock for twenty minutes and there was still no movement on the water. I got to thepart about Dad rescuing me from the lake when there was a small splash against the dock. A mechanical buzzing followed, then a loud clunk as the motion detectors activated and the spotlights snapped on, illuminating the night. A dark shape breached and Dad emerged, head above the waterline, ripples sloshing against his shoulders.
    Mom tensed and grabbed both Sophie and me by the knees. “Jason?” she called, terror in her voice.
    Dad stared at us with a cool, blank stare. We might as well have been strangers for the amount of concern he showed us. There was no panic, no apology, no explanation. His face was devoid of all warmth, and I hoped I hadn’t made the biggest mistake of my life.
    There was an intake of breath—maybe mine, maybe Mom’s—followed by a scream. “Jason! Jason! Oh my God, Jason!”
    I counted to three, and Dad dove—a rippling bull’s-eye marking his exit.

MY SCRIBBLINGS
An Unappreciative Man of Pure and Utter Suckage
Ozymandias may be dust but
he was a better man than you, who blew
away with wind and water .
So piss off .
Signed, your loving Daughter
MERMAID STATS
     
Best Swim Time:
4 minutes 32 seconds
Voices:
Tail:
Who are you kidding?

25
WORMS
    T he rest of the night I slept, or I didn’t sleep, I don’t know which. Between thinking about Jules and everyone arriving tomorrow and Mom’s hysterics, there was nothing I could do to escape the incessant worry. I know I saw my clock turn to 2:15. And I also saw 4:27. But I must have fallen asleep at some point, because the next time I looked it was 10:41 a.m.
    A caramel mocha latte sounded like the only thing that could reach me right now, and I doubted Mom would be needing the car. I rolled out of bed, threw on a Fleetwood Mac T-shirt, an embroidered skirt, and combat boots, and headed for town.
    But when I got to the café, the door was locked. I shook the doorknob and checked my phone for the time. The neon open sign was unlit, replaced by a St. Jude vigil candle on the