1970
Mavis used her key to let herself in the back door of The Red Crab. She managed to get her keys put away while she juggled her armful of paperwork and a large Styrofoam cup of sweet tea. She loved her sweet tea and it was one drink that wasn’t on the bar’s menu. She made her way down the short hallway to her office. It was still early, but she could hear some regulars out in the bar. She opened her office door, which she never kept locked, and stopped short.
“Excuse me! I didn’t realize my office was being used as a brothel!” Mavis exclaimed in disgust as she surveyed the scene before her. The couple scrambled to adjust their clothes. “I’m going to have to disinfect my desk before I can use it again. And you should know better, Pauline.” Mavis eyed her watch. “You’re already on the clock!”
“You shouldn’t walk into a room without knocking, Mavis!” Pauline huffed from where she’d been leaning over the desk, Grizz behind her. They’d been enjoying a quickie before the bar got busy. Grizz was hung like a horse and Pauline was more than a little miffed that Mavis had to go and interrupt it. Damn her. “And a brothel? When were you born, Mavis? The 1800s?”
“It’s my office! Get out!” Mavis looked away in embarrassment and pointed to the hallway that led to the bar.
Grizz had removed himself and was zipping up his jeans. “I was finished anyway,” he added nonchalantly.
“Oh, well then, as long as you were finished,” Mavis retorted.
“I wasn’t finished.” Pauline whined as she pulled up her panties and skimpy shorts.
“Yeah, like I give a shit,” Grizz shrugged.
Pauline walked past Mavis, and Grizz started to follow. He needed to get back to the motel for a meeting.
But Mavis stepped in front of him and shut her office door, yelling after Pauline, “And for your information, Miss Bitchy Britches, I was born in the 1800s!” Mavis looked at Grizz. “You stay. I want to talk to you.”
He gestured toward her chair behind the desk. He took the one in front of it. “The 1800s? Really, Mavis?”
“I’m seventy-five. It’s 1970. Do the math.”
He smiled at her. “So, what’s up?”
She made a face as she sat down. She laid her paperwork and sweet tea on the corner of the desk and stowed her purse in one of the drawers. She started to rest her arms on the desktop, when she made a face and stopped herself.
“How often do you use my office?” she asked, squinting at him.
“All the time.”
“I hope you’re careful.” She frowned. “I know these waitresses aren’t your working girls, but they get around. You better hope your private parts don’t fall off!”
“Not that it’s any of your business, but I always wear a raincoat, Mavis.”
“A raincoat? Who gives a crap about the weather? I’m talking about protection!”
Grizz rolled his eyes. “You really were born in the 1800s. I can’t believe I was actually trying to be polite for your sake. A rubber, Mavis. It’s another term for a rubber. A condom! Have you ever taken a peek at your wastebasket?”
This stunned Mavis. Actually, no, she never paid any attention to her trash can. It was neatly stowed beneath her desk so she rarely looked inside. Why would she? It was emptied every morning by the cleaning girl. Now, she reached beneath the desk and pulled it out. Her eyes widened when she saw the discarded condom.
“I’m going to throw up!” she cried.
“Yeah, yeah. Just make sure you do it in there,” he said as he nodded at the wastebasket she was holding. “What else do you need to talk to me about?”
Mavis carried the basket outside her office and set it in the hallway. She quietly closed the door and headed back to her desk. She sat back down, gave Grizz a level look and said, “Grunt.”
“Talk to Blue,” he said as he started to get up.
“I did and he told me to talk to you. So sit back down.”
He sat back down. “I’m listening.”
“The fifth grade is going on a field trip to the local Seaquarium. I’m a chaperone. I want to bring him along.”
“No.”
“That’s it? Just no?”
“Of course the answer is no. He can’t go along with you on a school field trip. How would you even explain him being there, anyway?”
“I already did. I told them that my friend’s grandson was in town and was bored to tears. I asked if I could have permission to bring him when I chaperone the fifth grade trip. They said yes. It’ll be good for him. Get him around some other kids.”
“You and your imaginary friends and their imaginary grandchildren.” He blew out a long breath and looked hard at her. “You know Blue kidnapped him, right? You know he might be recognized? No way, Mavis.”
“I think you’re being paranoid. I don’t see any reason why he can’t come along!”
“Mavis. How can you say that? There is no way you can bring him on a school field trip. It’s not going to happen!”
“Look. He won’t be recognized. You told me he was from somewhere in North Lauderdale up toward Pompano, right? It’s not the same school district and even if it was, he would be in sixth grade, right? Not fifth?
“It doesn’t matter. He was in and out of foster care and was placed in different districts. It would be too risky. No.”
“Grizz, he needs to have some interaction with other kids. He’s cooped up at that motel with no friends. He’s a smart child and I know he loves his books, but kids need to have some kind of activity. It’s just an afternoon at the Seaquarium. It’ll be good for him.” Before Grizz could say anything, she continued, “And he doesn’t even look like the same child. He’s filled out. He’s getting big. He doesn’t have that long, scraggly, lice-infested head of hair. That would be the child that someone would remember. Not the child he is now.”
He didn’t answer her right away, and she knew she’d won him over. She also knew that if anyone else spoke to Grizz the way she did, they wouldn’t have any teeth left in their mouth. Mavis didn’t know why he let her get away with what she did, but she was glad. She actually liked Grizz very much. She didn’t know if she would go so far as to say he was the son she never had, but she cared for him. And she was pretty certain he had a soft spot for her, too.
“I guess you’re chaperoning Gwinny’s class?” he asked finally.
“Ginny’s class.”
“Who?” Grizz asked.
“She’s calling herself Ginny now. She told me she thought Gwinny sounded too babyish. I love this girl’s spirit, and to answer your question, yes. I’m chaperoning her class. And I will keep him away from her. I know you don’t want them to interact. The whole fifth grade is going. There will be parents and teachers escorting them. We’ll each get a group of about seven children. They’ll be divided up by boys and girls. I’ll have him in my boy group. Chances are he won’t even come into contact with her.”
“No, Mavis, you make sure he doesn’t come into contact with her. It’ll make it harder for us to keep an eye on her family if Grunt is ever noticed. She might remember him from the field trip, then make the connection to you. Aw, hell. No! What am I thinking? He can’t go.”
“Grizz, I’ll make sure they don’t come into contact. I promise. You can trust me. You know you can.”
He didn’t say anything, just looked at her and nodded okay.
She smiled at him. “So, how is the new neighbor working out?”
“Guido? Yeah, he’s an asshole, but he’s okay.”
Guido was one of Grizz’s guys. Mavis thought he had something to do with drugs, but she never asked. She remembered how concerned Grizz had been last year when she told him Gwinny hadn’t made her way down to the convenience store to buy her mom’s cigarettes for three days in a row. Grizz went ballistic and was on the verge of hiring someone to find them when they showed back up. Apparently, the family had made a trip to Woodstock.
“How do you know she didn’t go three days in a row? Thought you only worked on Mondays and Thursdays?” he’d asked her.
“The owners have been giving me more hours. They can’t keep anyone full time so I’ve been going in. But your accounting work hasn’t suffered. I’ve been taking a lot of it home with me at night.”
“Is that why you always look so damned tired? You’re working full time at Mindy’s?” he’d yelled.
“Yes. They really need me,” she’d said sheepishly.
“Of course they need you, Mavis. You’re reliable. They’re taking advantage. You’re going to quit anyway, right? School is starting up and you’ll get your cafeteria job back?”
“Yes, it’s just another week or two. I’ll put my notice in.”
Grizz had never concerned himself with how someone was feeling. But Mavis was different. The old woman was growing on him. Maybe he put too much pressure on her to watch out for the little girl.
So right after that conversation last summer, he bought the next house that came up for sale near Gwinny’s. It happened to be right next door. He planted Guido there and told him that in addition to his other duties, he would be keeping an eye on his next-door neighbors. He didn’t let on that he was concerned about the child’s welfare. He just told Guido to watch them all and report anything unusual to him.
He hoped Guido would have enough common sense to notice if the little girl, who was often overlooked, was suddenly being abused, malnourished, or further neglected. She had looked okay that day he’d taken Grunt to check out the lawn service, but he was still concerned about her. Her parents were alcoholic, drug-using hippies. He was actually impressed they both had jobs. But he was certain Gwinny was essentially taking care of herself.
He just wanted to make sure she wasn’t being abused. He knew from experience how easy it was for families to hide the abuse they inflicted on their children. He shook off the memory and told himself that planting Guido next door last year was the right thing to do.
**********
“Okay, Grunt, we need a new name for you today. Remember, you’re my friend’s grandson. You’re visiting from Akron, Ohio.”
“I know, Mavis. I’ve been working on my story ever since you told me this last week. I know everything there is to know about Akron. I even made up my grandmother’s name and everything!”
“Oh! I guess that’s a good thing. Maybe you should tell me what her name is,” Mavis replied with amusement.
“It’s Ethel. That sounds like a good name for a grandmother, don’t you think? Simple and easy to remember.”
She looked over at him. “Grunt, honey, you know I want to bring you along so you can be around some kids your own age, but you’re older and smarter than these fifth graders. I don’t need to tell you why you can just be friendly, but you can’t actually make friends, right?”
“No, I get it,” he answered sadly. “Especially Ginny. Grizz told me already, and I know why. And he told me I’m supposed to tell you if I recognize anybody. If I do, we’ll need to leave.”
“That’s right. And don’t be sad. We’ll have some fun. Oh, what’s your name going to be?”
He then sat up straight in the passenger seat of her car and with his head held high, he announced, “Bartholomew. It’s Bartholomew Edward Kensington!”
“Bartholomew Edward Kensington?”
“The sixth,” he replied. “Bartholomew Edward Kensington the Sixth.”
“Who do you think you are? A member of British Parliament?” Mavis shook with laughter.
“What?” he asked. “What’s so funny, Mavis? I think it makes me sound important.”
“It’s not funny. It’s just a really big name. Can we shorten it to Bart?”
“Yeah, I can be Bart.”
They arrived at the Seaquarium and parked as they watched the buses unloading. The school knew Mavis would be driving herself. She’d found someone to cover her cafeteria shift and told the other chaperones she would be meeting them with her friend’s grandson. It wasn’t an issue. There were plenty of adults to supervise on the buses.
Grunt put on the baseball cap Grizz had insisted he wear today. He leaned up to look over the dashboard. Mavis knew who he was looking for. They spotted her immediately. Ginny. She was walking with another girl toward a larger group of kids. She was wearing a pink shirt, a long flowery skirt with sandals, and a big floppy hat. It wasn’t just the outfit that caused her to stand out among the other girls. It was the way she carried herself. She’s had to grow up awfully fast and it shows. Mavis recognized the outfit as one she’d passed on to Ginny from her fictional neighbor’s granddaughter. Poor kid. I haven’t seen her wearing anything except the clothes I’ve been giving her. And yes, Mavis had to agree. She looked more like a Ginny now than a Gwinny.
Mavis looked over at Grunt, then back at the kids who were now pouring out of the buses. He’d had a growth spurt and was much bigger than them. She hoped he didn’t stand out too much. Dear Heaven, please don’t let this be a huge mistake.
Thirty minutes later, they were divided into groups and following their chaperones as they headed into the venue. Mavis made sure she stayed as far back from Ginny’s group as possible.
The visit proceeded without incident. She had a total of six boys in her brood: Grunt, who was introduced as Bart from Ohio, plus five boys from school. She was glad she didn’t get stuck with troublemakers. This was a nice group and they tried to include Grunt. He remained friendly and polite, but distant. He was following Grizz’s orders. Smart kid.
They were about an hour into their visit, had just finished watching the trained porpoise act, and were walking down the steps when Mavis felt her first stab of panic. Before, they’d been sitting up high in the grandstand and could see Ginny way down in the front with her group. She was easily recognizable with her big, floppy hat. But as Mavis and her troop now made their way down the cement stairs, she noticed Ginny had stopped at the end of her row and was engaging one of the teachers in conversation. She was standing right next to the steps they would be passing. Mavis gave a quick look in Grunt’s direction and saw he’d noticed, too.
Okay, no big deal—they would simply walk past her, Mavis determined. Grunt knew not to make eye contact. Ginny was so involved in her discussion that Mavis doubted she would even see Grunt. As they got closer they could hear her talking.
“Miss Hammer, I just think someone really does need to do something. The little pool pens they’re kept in are not good for them. God made porpoises to swim in the ocean. I just don’t think He would like what’s going on here.”
Mavis smiled to herself. That was Ginny. Championing the little guy. Before anyone realized what was happening, a hand had reached out and swiped the girl’s hat right off of her head. A voice could be heard above the chattering of the other students. Curtis Armstrong.
“Yeah, Gwinny or Ginny or whatever your name is now, and God made your hippie-whore mother to suck wieners all day long.”
Instinct told Mavis to grab Grunt. He may have seemed a little naïve, like when he didn’t know that Bartholomew wasn’t the coolest name he could’ve made up. But he was tough. He had been living at the motel for over a year. If that wasn’t going to make a man out of him, nothing would. She knew he’d want to pounce on Curtis without hesitation.
She was right.
She gripped him tightly and could feel the muscles in his upper arm tightening. “Ignore it,” she whispered. “Let the teachers take care of it. You have to ignore it.”
Before Curtis could run off with the hat, another teacher, Mr. Rayburn, grabbed Curtis by the scruff of his neck and yanked Ginny’s hat from his hand. He handed it back to her and told Mrs. Davis, “I’ll handle this.”
He roughly shoved Curtis toward Ginny and told him, “Apologize. Apologize now, son, or you will spend the rest of this trip on the bus with me. I’ll sit there with you the entire time.”
“Sorry,” Curtis sneered.
It was clear he didn’t mean it. It was just a way to get out of being stuck on a hot bus with Mr. Rayburn.
“And you will spend one hour every day after school for two weeks cleaning blackboards and emptying garbage cans,” Mr. Rayburn added. “Now get back to your group.”
Grunt wouldn’t let himself look at her. He knew if she looked hurt, he would lose it. The group was heading toward another exhibit now, and then there would be a lunch break.
“Mavis, I need to use the bathroom, Grunt said quickly. “I can meet you at the seal tank.”
Mavis looked around and spotted Curtis. He was on the opposite side of where she knew the bathrooms were. Grunt was watching her and knew what she was thinking.
“Really, Mavis.” He gave her a look. “I just need to go to the bathroom.”
She nodded. “Okay, use the bathroom and then come straight over to meet up with me.”
Grunt made his way through the crowd and went into the restroom. Surprisingly enough, it was empty. He walked over to one of the sinks and splashed cold water on his face. What had Ginny ever done to that Curtis Armstrong to make him hate her so much? He didn’t know when or how, but he knew that one day he would make Curtis pay. He went over to the paper towel dispenser and dried his face. He then entered a stall. He was just about to flush the toilet when he heard them.
“Wow, Curtis. Two weeks staying after school. Maybe you should just leave Ginny alone.”
“Yeah, Curtis. Why do you hate her so much anyway? I ain’t ever seen her do anything to you. Except the lemonade thing, but that was only because you dumped dirt in it.”
There was a round of laughter.
“I’m gonna get that little bitch,” Curtis snarled.
Grunt stayed where he was. The rest of the conversation was hard to hear over the sound of urine streams and flushing toilets. Grunt peeked through the crack of his stall. Curtis’s two friends had finished their business and left the bathroom. Good. He and Curtis were there alone.
Grunt sprinted out of the stall and toward the bathroom door. He kicked the door stop away and the door swung shut. No inside lock. He would have to work fast and hope nobody else came in. He could hear the crowd in the distance clapping at the seal tank.
Just then, Curtis came out of his stall. Before Curtis knew what was happening, Grunt grabbed him by the shoulders, flung him around to face the stall he had just come out of, and kicked the back of his legs. Curtis was on his knees before he could do anything. Grunt had him by the back of his hair.
“You—” He thrust Curtis’ head into the toilet and then yanked it back.
“Will never—” Another dunk. “Bother—” Dunk. “Ginny—” Dunk. “Ever, ever again!”
With that he yanked Curtis to his feet and shoved him against the door of the stall. Reaching into his back pocket, he pulled out a switchblade. This wasn’t the little pocket knife he’d used a year ago to puncture Curtis’s bicycle tires. This was the real deal and he’d seen more than enough at the motel to know how it was used. He held the knife to Curtis’s throat.
“You listen to me, you little dick sucker. You will stay away from Ginny forever. Do you understand?” Curtis was still trying to catch his breath.
Grunt pressed his knee up against Curtis’s groin. “Do you understand?”
“Yes, yes!” Curtis shrieked.
“I know who you are and I know where you live. You think about telling anybody about our talk and I’ll come get you. I swear I’ll come for you.”
“I won’t tell. I swear!”
“And you’ll stay away from Ginny.” It was an order, not a question.
“Yes, I promise I’ll leave Gwinny, uh, Ginny, alone,” he managed to say while sucking in large gulps of air.
With that, Grunt closed his switchblade and kneed Curtis between the legs. As he was walking out of the bathroom a couple of boys were approaching.
“You might not want to go in there,” he offered. “Some kid is barfing all over the place.”