Ocean- Part 4

            “Shh, quiet or my mom will hear you.” Tracy Westbrook whispered to the throng of teens waiting for her in the alley.  “And quit shining your flashlight at the windows or I’m gonna get caught.”

She tiptoed out of her house and crept through the yard.  A mere foot away from the alley, the flood lights clicked on and Mrs. Westbrook poked her head out the back door.

            “Tracy Ann!  You get your butt back in this house right now!”

A collective groan rose from the alley as the herd shuffled away.  Tracy’s boyfriend, Kurt, mouthed, “See ya tomorrow at school” before disappearing.  With angry tears brimming in her eyes, Tracy stomped back into the house and slammed the door.

            “I hope you’re happy, Mother.  I’m the only one who won’t be there tonight. You completely humiliated me!”

            “Tracy, I told you before…there was an incident at the beach and it is too dangerous. I made it very clear that you were not allowed to go out tonight but you tried to go anyway. Now you can be humiliated and grounded. Go to your room!”

     The battle raged on for several hours until, finally, drained and cried out; Tracy fell asleep.  The next morning, after hitting the snooze button several times, she stood under the steamy shower and tried to pry her puffy eyes open.  She spent a few extra minutes applying makeup to conceal the damage before storming downstairs to make a cup of coffee.  Just to spite her mother, she poured the entire pot into her travel mug then stomped out to the front porch to wait for Kurt to pick her up.  Ever since they became a couple, he always picked her up for school.  She checked the time and realized he was running later than normal.  She sent Kurt a text asking where he was but did not get an immediate reply.  What if he hooked up with Tiffany Maxwell at the beach party last night, Tracy wondered; that slut has had her eye on him for weeks, now.  As her mind churned out one horrible scenario after another, she grew increasingly anxious.  Her phone call to Kurt went unanswered so she left a frantic message begging him not to dump her for Tiffany or “any of the other skanks” at the beach.  Paranoid and furious, she raced back inside the house to scream at her mother, yet again. 

            “Thanks to you, Mother, now I’m going to be late for school and I probably lost my boyfriend to one of those hoes at the beach last night!” Tracy angrily screamed up the stairs.

            “Tracy, enough of the dramatics….honestly, I am at my limit with you.” Her weary mother replied. “If Kurt thinks so little of you that he would cheat on you, just because you weren’t allowed to go to that party, then you’re better off without him.”

            “That’s such a stupid mom thing to say! Why can’t you just….”

Tracy’s sentence was cut off by the sound of someone pounding loudly on the front door.  Believing it to be Kurt, she raced to the door only to be stunned by an angry tirade.

            “Where is he?  I know you two were together last night so don’t bother with the innocent act, girly.  He is in BIG TROUBLE.  Kurt? Kurt!”  His mom screamed at the top of her lungs.  “Get out here…now!” 

Startled by the screaming, Tracy remained silent.  Mrs. Westbrook raced downstairs to find out who was shouting.  Though she’d never met the woman face-to-face, she recognized Kurt’s mom, who continued to lash out at Tracy, screaming insults and curses.  The haggard woman looked like she’d been partying all night, just like her son, and it was common knowledge that she worked at the Gentlemen’s Club just off the highway. 

            “Excuse me,” Mrs. Westbrook interrupted. “How dare you burst into my home and scream at my daughter!  For your information, Tracy was home last night with me. I would not let her go out with your son…and those other delinquents he calls friends.  Maybe if you spent more time at home with your son instead of swinging from a pole, you’d know where Kurt is but that is not my problem, nor is it Tracy’s.  Now get out before I call the police!”

            “He’s really not here?  Please, do you know where he is? I’m worried sick.”

Kurt’s mother, typically hardened by alcohol and narcotics, broke down into pitiful sobs.  She confessed to working late the previous night but insisted that Kurt had never stayed out all night without calling.   

            “I know what you think… but Kurt really is a good kid,” she bawled.  “He’s not like me.  He wouldn’t just…Look, this morning I saw something on the news about dead bodies found on the beach.  Kurt was at the beach last night.  My boy…my baby boy…”

Wiping away the mascara streaks and tears; she straightened up, smoothed her micro-miniskirt and left without another word. 

     Mrs. Westbrook drove Tracy to school but the news vans and swarms of reporters buzzing around the parking lot told them everything they’d suspected.  There had been more deaths on the beach and, most likely, Kurt was one of them.  Without stopping, Tracy’s mother turned around and drove straight home. 

            “C’mon, baby girl, we’re both playing hooky today.”  

**Please come back Monday, March 31st for the next installment of Ocean**