I lifted the Ray-Bans from my eyes, placing them on my head. “I don’t like the sound of your voice.”
She sighed. “I lied.”
“About?”
“Your dress.”
“My dress?” I looked down and then back up. “What about my dress?” My voice rose in panic.
“It looks fine—more than fine, actually. That’s the problem. Mitch tells me things, about offshore, you know. And he told me that after you and Brando were married, the crew ribbed him about you. Since some of the guys went to the wedding, it was just natural, I guess. They do that to one another. A few of them took it too far about your, er, flexible nature. A new guy, not part of his regular crew, said some things that Brando didn’t appreciate. He would have thrown him off the rig if Mitch hadn’t intervened.”
“Go back!” I hit the back of her seat, and her head bounced forward.
“Don’t be a chicken shit, Scarlett!”
“I’m not being a chicken shit, Violet! I don’t want to make his life miserable.”
“Well past too late for that, Sandy.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I scrunched up my face.
“His wife poses for magazines in leotards that leave little to the imagination, is one of the most notable ballerinas in the world, has a billboard up in Los Angeles to sell her jewelry. He works offshore with a bunch of guys who live on their own metal island twenty-four weeks out of the year.And…you can do a split standing up. Guys like that freaky shit.”
I groaned, throwing my head against the seat.
“Don’t worry,” Paul said, voice nasally, blocked from the finger up his nose. “BRANDPOW will give you a sucka if you cry. But yougottacry.”
Violet laughed, but when she caught sight of my face, her humor melted into a smile.
“It’s going to be worth it, Scarlett. You’ve never been waiting for him when he got off. All of the other guys—well, most of them—once in a while they have women or family that do. You’ll make it memorable.”
“I could’ve done that in jeans and a t-shirt, Violet.”
“No.” She shook her head. “It’s a rare occurrence to see Brando Fausti truly surprised—like magical unicorn rare. You’re going to knock him over. And don’t worry about what I said—about you making his life miserable. It comes with the job description. That’s why times like these, the pleasurable times, need to be worth it.”
I mumbled something about Maggie Beautiful and sparkles and ostentatious and stupid, stupid, stupid, the entire way, until finally we pulled into the parking lot to wait. I couldn’t stand the claustrophobic feel of the station wagon anymore, so I let myself out, slamming the door.
Violet followed, letting Paul out to play.
I refused to look at her. Instead, I spotted the helicopter pad in the distance, knowing that in less than thirty minutes he’d be landing there, himandhis crew seeing me in this dress—too much to contemplate. I turned my face up to the hot sun, absorbing it like I had a Vitamin D deficiency and every bit of my energy depended upon it. The humidity was high. Beads of sweat bubbled over my upper lip and trickled down between my breasts.
“Stop staring,” I said, feeling her eyes on me.
“Come on, don’t be mad. You know I love you.”
“I do,” I said, a twitching smile coming to my face. “But I’m still mad.”
“Fair enough,” she said. Then she told Paul not to throw rocks. “But there’s something else I want to tell you.”
“It better not be about this effing dress.”
She said no, and then her attitude became serious. I turned to her, giving her my full attention.
“I told you that Mitch talks to me about things. That’s why these trips are so special to me.” She looked at Paul, and the underlying intent of her comment was clear—he gets to see Peter and Paul, I get to see him, and he talks to me about his life.
“The life they chose to live isn’t an easy one,” she said, picking up the root. “They work hard, and it’s fulfilling to them. What Brando does is even harder, more dangerous. Some say you have to be out of your damn mind to even attempt it. Mitch tried it, and he said he’d rather spend the rest of his life as a roustabout cleaning crappy toilets. He told me it makes you feel likeyou’rethe one in a fish tank, and these big fish, or eels, or sharks, or whatever the hell that’s scary enough to bite, come gliding by, sniffing you out, and you see shadows that seem to come straight from your own nightmares. Your life can depend on your brother’s watch. That’s what they are out there, a band of brothers. Or it can come down to the bosses who make the decisions, even if it’s not in the best interest of the diver.
“Brando is one of the best, Scarlett. He took to it like he has gills for lungs. It’s probably because he’s crazy too, but that’s a story for another day. You have to be crazy to go under with those monsters. Being up top is scary enough, in my opinion. Mitch told me that divers are known to have big egos—‘It’s hard to get past those fuckers because their heads are so big,’” she said, mocking Mitch’s voice.
