Chapter 12 - Patching Up

July 2nd, 1983



Unaware of the Hunters' incredible ordeal, the town of Gulf Haven has kept its flurry of feverish activity in preparation of the Fourth of July celebrations - and of the opening of the tourists' season for the coastal resort. Practically every street is now decked in red, white and blue, and special lights are ready on the Strip and on the Amusement Pier to liven up the night events.

The Hunters have other things on their minds to join in the festive spirit, though.

---

Alana's return at home has been welcomed by Mom's stern reprimand. The Library called, saying Alana left unauthorized in the middle of her work shift. The deal was that Alana had too much time on her hands and that the library job would keep her busy doing something useful. And now here she was, saying she had forgotten, that she needs a new skateboard, and oh- by the way, can you take me to the hospital cause I burnt my hand... Her parents are deeply unimpressed.

She is driven to the hospital and her hand is medicated - a severe burn that raises a lot of questions from the grown ups.
After that, she is taken straight to the Library to apologize. She was hoping to at least have to do so to the more friendly Yvonne, but no: it was the older, severe Librarian instead, Donna.

"We do not take these matters lightly, young lady. A commitment is a commitment..."

Meanwhile Logan is also keeping a low profile at home, having returned with a wreck of a bike, and covered in bruises practically from head to foot. This triggers a shitstorm of questions from his family, and Mom goes into cop mode, pressing him hard for the truth.

"No, Mister. You are not leaving this room until I know exactly who did this to you. You'd better start talking, Logan."

In all this, two nagging things are also in Logan's mind. The first is the interview with that journalist that Alana met. He was supposed to ask his sister Anna to come along, then call the journalist with Al.

But it is the second thing that is gnawing at the back of his mind despite his attempts to silence it. The dead man. He kept thinking at that man, victim of an accident in that basement in the middle of the woods. They didn't tell anyone, and probably nobody will find that man for weeks, out there in a little frequented place...

Johnny, recently arrived in this shithole of a coastal town, is also unimpressed with the street decorations and general buzz palpable in the streets of Gulf Haven.

His Aunts welcomed him well enough, and are treating him with kindness. But what's inside him is too big, too dark for anyone to help.
They are the breakfast table, and Aunt Mary has just placed on the table a leaflet on summer activities for the youth of Gulf Haven.

"Look what Harold gave me for you, Johnny. You should check these out, you need to get out there and make some friends, before you start Middle School after the summer..."

Aunt Charlene chips in, all interested. The two sisters definitely talked about this in his absence and are going through the agreed moves. "Let me see? Oh, cool. They are accepting volunteers at the Library... hey it says that you'd be taught to use a computer! That's far out!"

"and this one's interesting too... visiting the elderlies at Sunny Haven Retirement Home. There are lots of stories you can learn from older people, you know?" she says pointing at another entry in the leaflet.

Logan looks around and tries to figure out what to do. When his mom gets into "cop mode" there's almost no way to get away. Taking a deep breath, he starts to talk.

I was with my friends and we were on our way to meet Anna, and her friends, for a picnic lunch. Along the way, we were chased by Chet and his goon squad. We managed to turn off the road, but we had ditch our bikes and stuff in order to climb a fence.

Logan takes a moment to both let his mom digest what he said and to figure out how to proceed. Once over the fence we kept running and that's when I tripped and rolled down a hill. I got back up and that's when we heard some dogs barking and heading our way. So we got even more scared and kept running. We found a house in the woods and went inside to hide. We didn't mean to trespass, but we had no choice. It smelled weird...like something died in it. So as soon as we didn't hear the dogs anymore, we snuck back and found our bikes and stuff. That's when I saw the damage to it.

Al is sitting in the small doctor's office at the hospital, recounting for the fifth time today the story of being chased by bullies (she initially tried to avoid giving names but eventually told her mom who the bullies are when she wouldn't stop prying), of finding some weird house and hiding inside, of shrinking down to the size of a mouse (she's not very good at estimating size) and fighting swarms of hornets and mutant spiders. Of meeting a bug friend and of losing sight of him. And of using an alien laser gun to turn herself big again - and hurting herself in the process.

Eventually, her mother gives up with a huge sigh and apologizes to the doctor for Al's ridiculous fantasies and her lying. Al is mad about that, because she's not lying. But she can't get her mom to believe her.

- - -

Afterwards, Al heads to the library with her family and that's a super embarrassing experience. She explains to Mrs. Donna that she had to leave because she had an opportunity to become literally famous but apparently, that's no reason to leave library duty early. Al grumbles and complains for a bit but in the end, she apologizes over and over until Donna agrees to give her one more chance. But only one more chance.

"Thank you, ma'am," Al says in an unenthusiastic tone. This job seemed fun at first but now she hated it. As her parents lead her out to take her back home, Al promises herself that the next time, she'll be working here, she'll definitely have her fun with the titles she puts into the system.

Johnny pushed the few remaining Fruit Loops, or "fruit hoops" since Mary liked to buy store brand products, around in the bowl of milk as he listened to his Aunties. He couldn't stomach the milk but it just felt...weird...not having milk with your cereal. Most kids tended to consider the sweetened milk left behind after a bowl of cereal as the best part and would consider pouring it down the drain as an act of heretical sacrilege but most kids weren't lactose intolerant like Johnny. Most of his family had the same issue but that was just part of being Indian. At least he didn't use soda instead of milk like his Granddad...
He looked up from the hypnotic swirl of neon colored hoops circling in his bowl as Charlene's nails tapped on the brochure Mary had slid towards him on the table. He hadn't realized he'd slipped off inside his own head again. Huh? Oh. Yeah... he said distantly as he focused back on the here & now. Yeah. I've been meaning to go to the library though I'm not sure about learning to use a computer. I mean, it's not like anyone other than bankers and scientists are ever gonna need to use one. Charlene's long, polished nail tapped the brochure as she shot him that look, that sceptical look that told him she knew he was just trying to shoot down the option because he was afraid to try something new. Charlene understood him with an unsettling accuracy. Okay. Okay. I'll ask about the volunteer service.... Anything to get that look off her face. It wasn't that he didn't want to get involved with things outside his own head but it wasn't that he was eager to either.
I'll stop by the Old Folks Home on the way and see if they need any help with volunteers too.. Maybe staying busy might help improve his mood and maybe meet some people. The library had resources that he could use to help his artwork and helping out elders was ingrained into him, even if they weren't always open minded.

Al's Mom drives her back home from the Library. In the car, she keeps glaring at her in the rear view mirror.

"that's just great, Alana. You're not doing yourself any favors, you know? We already had to apologise to the Sheriff for that wallet bright idea... And now this!" she shakes her head. "People in this place will start thinking you are anti-social. That doesn't sound good, you know? Labels stick to people!"



Silent until then, her brother Benny whispers, "You'd better behave Al! Auntie Sandra is coming to visit for Independence Day! You don't wanna miss that!"

This is the first you hear of Auntie's visit. You're her favorite, and she always treats you to presents and fun days out.

" We'll see about that. For now, Al is grounded until further notice. And don't even think you'll get a new skateboard, buster!"
Your Mom shoots darts at Benny and Al with her eyes.

At Logan's, his mom insists that Anna takes him to the Hospital for a check, maybe an X Ray.

Anna protests, but knows that Mom is dead serious.

"Oh, Mom! Just because I can drive, it doesn't mean I should babysit him all the time!"

"Have you seen the state he's in? You think he can walk all the way to GH General? He'll be lucky if he has no broken bones... You take him there, and I'll have a word with the Sheriff about this Chet Paxton. He's getting out of order..."

Anna and Logan look at each other as Mom leaves the house in a storm. Then Anna sighs, tells him to get ready.

At Johnny's, his Aunts smile as he shows signs of complying with their suggestions. He can see them exchanging glances as they get ready for their day.

Johnny knows they do this to help him, but also wishes they'd let him some breathing space.

He takes the house City Directory and flicks to the map pages, trying to figure out where the Library and this Rest Home are, looking up the street addresses.
He hasn't been here long, and he is still quite confused about directions, other than having a general 'coast-inland' sense in his head.

"I didn't even do anything wrong!", Al whines. "I was being attacked by bullies. You should get them grounded, not me!" She's starting to get really frustrated because no matter how much she insists, her mom just doesn't believe her, even though what she's telling her is the truth. "And my skateboard shrunk down! How is that even my fault? You're the worst!"

She crosses her arms and looks defiantly out of the window. She decides that she'll call Auntie Sandra as soon as she gets home. Maybe she'll be able to talk some sense into Mom.

The map in the Yellow Pages wasn't extensive but covered the basics & he'd marked his Aunties' house location on the rudimentary map with a star in blue pen for reference. Gulf Haven wasn't a big town but it was bigger by far than his old hometown back in Oklahoma.
An idea struck him and he grabbed an opened envelope, leaving the junk mail once contained inside on the table, as he quickly sketched a rough approximation of the map onto the back of the envelope so he could carry it with him. Guess this American Clearinghouse Sweepstakes stuff is good for something.... he grumbled as he sketched out the map on the back of the tan colored envelope.
Convinced he had everything he needed marked out on the makeshift map, Johnny drained the milk out of his bowl down the drain and set it in the sink. Picking up his skateboard, a beaten up board with well-worn trucks and a black top, as he exited through the garage and into the muggy air of Gulf Haven's balmy July weather.

Johnny finds on the Directory map both Arcadia Boulevard, where the Sunny Haven Retirement Home is, and the Library, closer to downtown. He marks them on his envelope map, a criss-crossed schematic with some main crossings just to get there.

He makes a start in the warm summer morning towards the closest one, and soon he is skating in a quiet leafy area, where the land becomes more hilly. He stops in front of a building, and checks the address on the leaflet that he also brought with him. This is it, the Sunny Haven Retirement Home. A couple of elderly people are sitting in the sun on some benches in front of the structure.



When he rings the buzzer at the gate, a female voice tells him to wait a moment, as the gate is broken.
Shortly, a woman in a nurse outfit walks out and reaches the gate.

"Hi. You here for a visit?"

At home, Benny and Al go upstairs, happy to get some respite from Mom's foul mood.

"Mom and Dad were keeping Auntie Sandra's visit quiet, as a surprise!" he says excited. "I really hope they don't change their plans after this... did you have to run from the Library just now?!?"

As Al gets to the upstairs phone with the intention of calling Sandra, she spots a blinking light of the answering machine. She presses play, and a new message plays back:






.

Meanwhile, a reluctant Anna drives Logan to Gulf Haven General Hospital.



They are met at the Emergencies front desk, and made to fill in some forms and then they are pointed to a waiting room.
Logan sits down achingly, not in the best of shapes.

As he looks around, hoping not to meet anyone he knows while looking like this...

"Darn it, the interview!", Al says to herself. completely ignoring Benny. She quickly repeats the message and writes down the number that Chuck gave. Then she immediately dials it and calls.

The exuberant reporter picks up Al's call,

"Miss Patterson! I'm glad you called. So, can you and your friends manage to meet me today for a few questions on the Jenkins case? I would need a word with your parents, of course..."

"Well, my mom is being kind of annoying right now," Al comments. "I don't know if..." She stops herself. There's no way her mom would let her do the interview. But Auntie Sandra definitely would! Al will just have to pretend that she's her mom. "Well, I can't today. But my mom can take me tomorrow!"

One of the things Johnny had to get used to was the way the humidity of Gulf Haven made the heat feel like a wet blanket that smothered the life out of you, the only respite from it being the occasional cool breeze blowing off the Gulf. He was used to heat. Oklahoma got way hotter than Gulf Haven but you barely felt it unless it had just rained. Here, you felt it the moment you stepped outside. Made you feel like you were driving on dry land.
The heat and humidity made him keep his hair in braids until he could pry the secret out of Charlene how she kept her hair in control. At least the braids kept his neck clear for the breeze as he skated his way downtown to stop at the old folks home.
He waited in the scant shade of the gate until someone came by to answer the button. Oh, hey. I'm not here for a visit exactly. he fished around in his back pocket and pulled out the pamphlet. I was just wondering if you were still looking for volunteers for the summer?

"Well... that's cutting it a bit close, Miss. Do you mind if I ask you some questions right now? Just to cover the basics, then tomorrow we can take some pictures and fill in the gaps. How does that sound?"

"AL?! You're not getting into more trouble, are you?!?" he says in concern, hearing his sister arranging some unplanned meeting involving Mom.