Background
Eleven-year-old Heddy can communicate with her deceased grandmother, Nonni.
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So far, Heddy meets a new friend, Lester. She also finds a German who is hiding on the island. Both are her friends but both have secrets.
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Lester shows up just after three-thirty, with the basket we had left at the post office and a handful of mail stuffed in amongst the dirty plates. He watches as my mother empties the basket, placing the dirty plates in the sink. " I can wash those for you, ma'am," he says. "My momma always said never return a plate empty or dirty. Don't guess my aunt knows about that."
Momma runs her hand across the top of his head. "Thank you, Lester, but that's not necessary. Why don't you and Heddy run to the beach. Dinner won't be ready until about five-thirty. You two go on and have fun."
She didn't have to repeat herself because both Lester and I turn and run for the screen door. After we had raced down to the water's edge, I turn to look at Lester. He looked dirty again. His hair was sticking up like he had just climbed out of bed and hadn't taken time to comb it. But it wasn't just that. It was greasy and his skin was dull. Maybe that was because he was spending all his time working in the post office instead of getting outside. "How come you didn't want anyone to see the letter you gave me?" I ask.
"If my aunt knew I found her hiding spot, she'd twist my ears off."
I wince thinking how painful it would be to have your ears twisted round and round until they just broke off. "She hid my brother's letter?"
Lester nods slowly. "She hides all kinds of stuff. Especially if somebody comes in asking for something. The preacher came in a week ago and was asking if a letter had come for him from his brother in New York. She had the letter under the counter, but she looked him right in the eye and told him no. That letter had cash in it. She held it over a pan of boiling water and steamed it open."
"She did?"
"You better believe it. She counted out the money. Told me there was only six dollars in it, but I was watching. I know there was eight. When I asked her what happened to the other two dollars," he pauses and looks real serious for a minute. "Lets just say, she doesn't like being called a liar." Carefully he rolls his shirt sleeves up and reveals a bruise that encircles his arm just above his wrist.
"She did that? Does it hurt?"
He shakes his head. "Just wasn't expecting it. She told me to mind the post office while she ran across the field to the house. I'm guessing she was hiding the two dollars there. But, while she was gone I started snooping around. I found a corner of the counter that she keeps peoples letters and mail. She gives it to them eventually, but not until she's good and ready. That's where I found the letter from your brother. If she had seen me give it to you, then she would know I had found her hiding spot."
We plop our behinds down in the sand and stare out at the ocean. There isn't a wave or ripple visible. The surface looks like glass.
"Sure is different than the other day," he says.
"My Nonni said that the ocean is like a woman. Sometimes she's nice and polite, then other times she teases you. Then there are times when she's dangerous, like a woman scorned."
"What's scorned mean?"
I shrug. "I guess it means angry."
Lester reaches down and tugs his shoes and socks off. He wriggles his feet in the sand. "Well, she sure is acting all polite today."
I like Lester. He is a nice person and I think he can keep a secret. But should I tell him about Artie? Would sharing what I know about Artie be wrong? I'm sure if he talked to Artie, he'd understand why Artie is hiding here on the island. Then I wonder, suppose Lester tells someone else. Maybe whoever he tells would rat Artie out. I can't take that chance. I owe it to Artie.
"Heddy, did you hear what I was telling you?"
"Sorry. I was looking at the water." I lie. I don't like to lie but sometimes there really is no other choice.
"I said Uncle Wayne let me sip his liquor. He told me not to tell anybody, but heck, you're not just anybody."
"Did you throw up?"
"No. It wasn't good but it made my belly all warm." He looks over at me and his cheeks are pink. "It made me feel like I was older. Like Uncle Wayne thinks of me as a man."
I laugh out loud. "You aren't a man, Lester. Men are tall and have scratchy faces. They talk with deep voices and hold doors for ladies, and they sweat...lots."
He looks down. "I sweat and I'm tall. Well, I'm taller than you."
"Trust me, Lester, you do not want to be a man."
"Yes, I do want to be one. Being a kid is awful. You get sent away from home, I wasn't even given a choice. My mom just packed a bag and put me on a bus. I didn't want to come down here."
"I'm sorry you had to leave your home. I wouldn't like that much either. But men have to leave their homes too. Willis didn't want to go fight, but nobody gave him a choice either. And my friend, he has to hide because they expect him to fight."
"He's hiding? You're friend is a coward? They'd put him in the brig for that. That's jail for soldiers. He shouldn't be hiding. That's unpatriotic."
"He's not American," I blurt.
Lester squints his eyes. "If he ain't American, what is he?"
I bite my lip. I'm backed into a corner and Lester has no intention of letting this go. I won't tell him where my friend is.
"I'm just teasing," I say weakly.
"No you aren't Heddy. It's that guy we saw on the beach last week, isn't it?"
My stomach knots up. "Please, Lester, don't say anything. He's a nice guy. Even Nonni trusts him."
"Nonni?"
"She's my grandmother. She said he needed a friend."
"Your grandmother is dead, Heddy. Are you going coo-coo?"
I wipe my burning eyes with the back of my hand. "If you're really my friend, you'll keep this secret."
He turns and looks down the beach. "Okay, I will for now. But, I'm going to tell on him if I think I need to."
I'm guessing this is as good a promise as I'm going to get.
