Chapter 159

#Chapter 159 – On the Road Evelyn glances over at Ian as he fiddles with the car’s radio controls, trying to find a station that he likes. She can’t help but smile at him a little bit. When did he get old enough to have tastes in music? It was so strange, raising a child, watching them grow into a full person.

He is technically still too young to be sitting in the front seat of the car but…well. Desperate times, desperate measures. Or whatever. Evelyn wants him close by her is the real answer, not sitting alone in the back of the car.

They’ve been mostly quiet for the trip, but it’s not an uncomfortable silence. Ian had told her, when he first got into the car, what he and Alvin had decided.

“I’m coming with you,” Ian had said, his face pale as he stood with the car door open, his feet firmly planted on the driveway.

“What?!” Evelyn had breathed, her voice low with shock. She looked behind him, looking for Alvin as well.

“No, mama,” Ian had said, interpreting her look. “Just me. Alvin is staying with papa.”

“No,” Evelyn had said, her voice firm. “I’m not splitting you two up. You two stay together.”

Ian had just shrugged and gotten into the car. “If you’re going, I’m going. Alvin is staying.” He had looked up at her with hope in his eyes. “Unless you just want to stay…”

Evelyn had considered him for a moment and then slowly shook her head. No, she couldn’t. It was impossible, now. Not after how she had betrayed Victor. Not now that she knew he’d never be able to forgive her.

“Please, Ian,” she had whispered. “Don’t be foolish – you can’t leave your brother, you haven’t been separated from him for a single day in your life! Since you were little babies the size of jellybeans in my belly! You’ve always been together!”

He had just shrugged and reached behind him for his seatbelt, pulling it over his chest and buckling it firmly. “It’s okay. I’m getting kind of sick of him.”

Evelyn furrowed her brows at him seriously, shaking her head at the lie. But Ian had just shrugged again.

“Come on, mama,” he said, looking out the windshield. “If we’re going to go, let’s go.”

Evelyn had sighed, considering it for just a moment. “What made you decide,” she said slowly, “to split up. Because I know you didn’t make this decision alone.”

Her little boy had looked at her plainly. “You need someone to protect you, mama,” he had said, and then pointed his thumb at his chest. “And I’m the tough one. So, I go with you.”

She had laughed a little at that – god, what a foreign sound. “Ian,” she had said. “I can take care of myself, I’ve been doing it for years.”

“Yes,” he had replied, again looking out the front of the car. “So now it’s time that you had a break.”

Evelyn had shaken her head a little at that, but Ian didn’t look at her. Her little boy, six going on thirty.

Already he was becoming so, so much like Victor. And now she was taking him away…

She sighed and put the car in reverse, backing out of the driveway without another word. If he wanted to come, be her protector, then fine. She would take him, gratefully. The rest she would figure out later.

A few hours after that, the pair are still driving. Ian has been very patient, not asking for details or information about where they’re going. Just letting Evelyn take the lead, trusting her to make the plan.

What he doesn’t know, Evelyn thinks, biting her lip, is that she doesn’t really have a plan.

She had texted Delia earlier, asking about where she was, but the reply hadn’t been very helpful.

Delia: Away on vacation – why, what’s up?

Vacation, damnit. The one time Evelyn really needed her friend to be close by, and she was off on vacation.

But the more she considered it, the more of a blessing it seemed. After all, Victor would be looking for them – looking for Ian, really – and he knew where Delia lived. So if they had tried to hole up there for a few days, they would have been found almost immediately.

Starting to form a plan, Evelyn had casually texted back asking where she was vacationing. Delia had mentioned Rockport, a charming little beach town a few hours from home. Evelyn hadn’t replied, but immediately had taken the next exit, heading south on a new highway.

Headed for the beach.

When they arrived, a few hours later, Evelyn could tell that Ian was pleased.

“Woww,” he said, pressing his nose against the window. “Mama, I can see the ocean.”

“Roll down the window,” Evelyn said, “can you taste the salt on the air?”

Ian had done as he was told, letting the ocean breeze fly into the car, sticking out his tongue.

“Well?” Evelyn asked, unable to help her smile. This was the first time she had ever taken her boy to the beach. “Can you taste it?”

Ian considers a moment before answering. “Well, no,” he says. Then he wrinkles his nose. “It just smells like crabs.”

Evelyn laughs at that. “How do you know what crabs smell like?”

He rolls his eyes at her. “Mom, everyone knows that.”

“No, they don’t!” She insists, laughing. “Not everyone has had crabs. Your just lucky that your dad has a taste for seafood and –“

She stops, then, suddenly sad. Ian smiles at her a little bit, feeling the same.

“Alvin would like this,” he says quietly, nodding at the little beach town slowly rolling past them.

“Yeah,” Evelyn replies, her sadness growing. “He really, really would.”

They pull over at a gas station, paying cash and filling up the tank. As Ian munches on a bag of chips from her snack bag, Evelyn texts Delia again.

Evelyn: So, where are you in Rockport?

The reply comes a few moments later.

Delia: Just at a little motel by the beach – so cute here!

Evelyn: Which hotel? V and I planning a trip, looking for recommendations.

Delia: Sunrise Starfish. He can probably afford fancier, though!

Evelyn smiles and then goes back into the gas station to ask the attendant for directions.

A few minutes later, Evelyn and Ian park in the lot of the Sunrise Starfish, a cute little beach motel with a pool out front.

“Wowww,” Ian says, smiling at it. “Can I go swimming?!”

“Did you bring swim trunks?” Evelyn asks as they climb out of the car.

“No,” Ian says, frowning as he shuts the car door.

“Guess not, then,” she says, smiling at him and taking his hand. “That’s your first mistake, Ian. Always pack a swimsuit for a spontaneous trip.”

Ian nods sagely, storing this advice away for next time. Together, they walk into the little lobby.

Ian suddenly looks up at his mom. “Can’t I just go naked?”

She laughs at him. “No, you’ll get arrested. Save the skinny dipping for private pools.”

Ian again nods sagely, holding his mother’s hand as she speaks with the manager. The manager is very kind to her, giving her the room number for her friends.

The motel is a broad u-shaped thing, wrapping around the pool at its center, each room’s door opening out to face the pool. Evelyn and Ian walk to the second story and then down a few numbers, stopping to knock on the door of room 216.

Inside, they can hear the sound of television and conversation, the latter of which pauses at the knock.

Then, quite soon, the door opens, Delia poking her head out.

“Surprise!” Evelyn says, working hard to put a cheerful smile on her face.

“Oh!” says Delia, her eyebrows shooting up into her curly hair. Surprise indeed.

“We came for a few days,” Evelyn says, putting an arm around Ian and pulling him close.

Delia takes a moment to look them over, quickly putting the pieces together. Victor and Alvin absent, Evelyn and Ian hours from home with only a bag and a backpack.

“Oh, Evelyn,” Delia says, her face going soft with concern.

“Please, Delia,” Evelyn says softly, her face falling into the sadness she had been trying to hold back.

“Evelyn,” she says, hesitating, looking over her shoulder. “It’s not a good time –“

“Delia, please,” Evelyn says, truly surprised at her friend. How could she turn her away at a time like this?

“It’s all right, Delia,” a voice calls from inside the room. Evelyn is shocked to hear that it’s a woman’s voice. What –

Delia looks behind her. “Are you sure?”

Then, Delia turns back to Evelyn, biting her lip. “Okay,” she says, guilty and hesitating. “But you have to give me time to explain.”

Then, she pushes the door open so that Evelyn and Ian can look into the room.

On the furthest of the two double beds sits a woman, her brown hair and eyes a match for Evelyn’s own.

“Hey, sis,” Emma says, trying for a smile.