Charleigh is chopping up the last lemon when the back door bangs open, causing her to jump. She’s not expecting either oneof them home for another couple of hours, but when she twists around, Nellie is standing there, her hair damp from the river, water droplets pinging the Spanish tiles.
But that’s not the only thing that’s dripping onto the iced-tea-colored floor.
Nellie’s face is contorted with tears; she holds her hands out in front of her. Charleigh races over to inspect what she’s trying to show her, and as she gets closer, droplets of red mix with the river water on the floor. Her white tee is spackled with blood, her cuticles stained red.
“What happened to you?” Charleigh nearly shouts.
Surprising her mother, Nellie wraps her arms around her waist, gives her a hard squeeze. She’s shaking. And sobbing.
“Oh, baby, what is it? What happened? Are you all right?”
More sobbing. Then, finally, she speaks. “There was an accident out at the swimming hole—Blair…”
“Blair did this to you?” Charleigh’s voice flares like a lit match.
Nellie unlatches herself from her torso. “No, Mom, I’m fine. I’m not hurt at all. This is Blair’s blood—”
Alarm bells begin ringing in Charleigh’s ears; her throat constricts with dread. “What are you talking about? What happened? What happened to Blair?”
What she really wants to say, to scream isWhat have you done now?
60
Nellie
Blood. There was so much blood and that horrible smacking sound when Blair hit the tip of the canoe.
I was sitting on the shore, in the grass, chain-smoking, on the far side of the old boathouse when it happened. I wanted to be away from everyone else.
I got there first, like an hour before the others.
I couldn’t stand to be at home one second longer, couldn’t stand Mom’s prying, her eyes smeared with black liner from the night before, drilling into me. The endless questions. Then Dad at the breakfast table. The sight of him disgusted me. I had to get the fuck out of there.
A little while before it happened, Luke pulled up, then came down and sat with me for a sec. I couldn’t help it; I was still hurt, so I gave him the cold shoulder, would barely look at him.
Then, when Jane came down the hill, he gave up, walked away from me.
Next thing I knew, Blair was climbing the ladder, mounting the roof, ass shimmying before she dove.
And then her hideous scream and that god-awful sound that I can’t stop hearing.
I didn’t actually see it happen; I couldn’t from where I was sitting, but I think the canoe drifted out from the boathouse justas she was diving, and she dove right into the metal tip.
The force of her diving must’ve pushed the canoe out because after her scream, that’s what I saw: the canoe wading out into the middle of the river with Blair left behind to sink in the water.
And the blood.
So much blood clouding the water.
I immediately got up from the shore, dove in. I’m a serious swimmer, so I moved as fast and as hard as I could to get to her. Tommy was frozen but screaming for someone to run to the club and call 911.
By the time I reached Blair, others were behind me, then surrounding us.
She wasn’t moving, and the blood was oozing out of her; we dragged her gently to the shore so she wouldn’t drown.
We were all scared to move her. They say in the moviesnotto do that, and her chest was rising and falling, so she was at least breathing.
Next thing I knew, the ambulance was there, covering her in blankets, taking her vitals. Asking questions. That’s how I heard that her head had cracked against the tip of the canoe, causing thegash that bled through their bandages.
