June 28, 1975

JUNE 28, 1975

The next day dawned overcast and brooding. I sat by my bedroom window watching the endless crashing of the waves. Sometimes, when I thought about the never-ending cycle of the tides and how long they’d been doing their dance, it overwhelmed me. The sea looked gray and foreboding under the tumultuous skies. Even the gulls’ cries sounded frightened, unsure of what the gloomy day might bring.

I hadn’t slept well after our family meeting at the kitchen table. Disquieting dreams plagued my night, though I couldn’t remember a single one. Instead of going down to scavenge breakfast, I grabbed the next issue of “They Come Out at Night” and flopped back onto my bed. The back cover was missing, leaving torn-off, jagged edges and exposing the advertisements on the last page of the comic.

There were the usual ads for x-ray glasses and onion gum and joy buzzers and Charles Atlas, but one at the bottom caught my eye.

SEA MONSTER PETS! HATCH THESE CREATURES IF YOU DARE!

I’d seen ads for Sea Monkeys before, and Matt had told me they were a species of shrimp. But sea monsters? I read the fine print but the ad gave no details other than a legal-sounding paragraph about the company not being responsible for escaped creatures or any harm they inflicted. I looked at the cost, then jumped off the bed and grabbed my piggy bank from the bureau. I emptied the contents onto the bed and counted. I had enough money.

I cut the ad out and carefully printed my name and address, then counted out the exact amount, including shipping. I’d have to find an envelope and bug Mom for a stamp to mail it. Matt would tease me and call me a baby, so I decided this would be my secret. I slipped the form and the money under the socks in my bureau and put the rest of the money back in the piggy bank. Then I went down to get breakfast, happy with my little private adventure.

My brother was in the process of pleading with Mom to “show mercy on the error of his ways” and let him hang out with Kelly. I chuckled as I grabbed a box of cereal from the cabinet, drawing an angry look from Matt and a curious one from Mom. The quote was from issue two. I debated mentioning it, or at maybe quoting what came next, but the memory of his comforting me made me hold my tongue.

I crunched my cereal and read the back of the box while Matt negotiated his daytime beach privileges. He gave Mom a hug and bolted upstairs to get dressed.

“Hey, Mom, I want to write to Timmy and Rickie. Do you have envelopes and stamps?”

Mom smiled. “That’s a great idea, Ryan. I’m sure they’d love to hear from you.” She began rummaging through the kitchen drawers and pulled out a stack of envelopes. Then she grabbed her purse where a book of stamps magically appeared in her hand. How does she know where everything is? She put them on the table next to me and tousled my hair. “There’s a mailbox on the corner on the way to town.” Her face darkened. “Just for now, don’t put a return address, okay? No sense in making it too easy for him.”

I hadn’t even thought of that, and my respect for my mother’s cunning went up a few notches. “Thanks, Mom,” I said, knowing I would have to write to my friends so I wouldn’t be lying. But first, I needed to get my sea monsters. I slurped down the sugary milk and put my bowl in the sink. I passed Matt on the stairs. He was in a bathing suit and carrying a beach towel. He gave me a friendly punch on the shoulder as he went by. Then he turned back.

“Hey, some of the kids have younger brothers and sisters that hang out. You wanna come with me?”

I turned, waiting for the punchline. In his eyes, I had become the annoying little brother that wanted to tag along anywhere he went. He never let that happen unless Mom forced him to take me. I searched his face for a sign of malice but he looked sincere. He’d never asked me to go anywhere with him. “I have something to do first but I’ll come in a while. Where are you guys gonna be?”

He glanced at the envelopes in my hand then pointed down the beach. “Not far, there’s a volleyball net set up, you can’t miss it.”

I glanced toward the kitchen. “They’re not going to be . . . you know?”

Matt looked down, shaking his head. “No, that was stupid. Some of the parents will probably be there, anyway. You should come.”

I nodded. “I will. I just need to do something.” I waited for him to give me a hard time and try to wheedle out of me what it was I had to do. But he just smiled, gave me a thumbs-up, and ran out the door. I paused at the top of the stairs waiting for the nasty gurgling noise from the bathroom but it didn’t come. I fished the money and the sea monster order form out of my drawer, then carefully wrote the address on the envelope. I licked a stamp and fixed it firmly to the corner of the envelope.

I threw on a bathing suit, even though the day was still cloudy, grabbed a towel, and ran downstairs. “Mom, I’m going to meet Matt at the beach,” I called.

“Okay, I have to go out to pick up a few things for work tomorrow. You stay with your brother until I get back.”

“I will,” I yelled back, already out the door. I held the envelope tight, as if it might try to get away. The blue mailbox on the corner called to me. I reached the it just as a girl was peeking down the slot after mailing her letters. She smiled and gave me a half-wave, then headed across the street or the beach. I opened the slot and slipped the envelope in, closing it and reopening it to make sure the letter had gone down. Satisfied that my order was on the way, I crossed the street and walked down the beach toward the sound of laughing kids, the tense scene in the kitchen the night before all but forgotten.

***

“Thanks for inviting me to the beach,” I said on my way past Matt’s room.

“Wait,” he called, sitting up and waving me in. “Did you have fun?”

“Are you kidding? It was great. The kids were all cool.” I realized right then that we had the whole summer stretching endlessly in front of us. We could do that every day. Matt was looking at me weird. “What?”

“I saw the way you were looking at Kelly’s cousin. What was her name?”

“Leah,” I answered, way too fast. Matt laughed, knowing he’d tricked me. Heat rose in my face.

“Did you talk to her?” Matt wasn’t laughing. He looked . . . interested.

I shrugged, wondering if it was possible for my face to spontaneously combust. “A little, toward the end of the day.” I couldn’t help but grin. “She asked me if I’d be back tomorrow.”

“Way to go, that’s my little brother,” he said with pride, holding his hand up for a high five.

I slapped his palm, still grinning, face burning. We talked for a few minutes and then I headed to my own room. I wanted to get the letters written to Timmy and Rickie. It felt important, not just because I’d told Mom I’d already done it, but because I wanted to. The kids on the beach had seemed nice, but they weren’t Timmy and Rickie.

I sat at my little desk and pulled out one of my notebooks from the year before. Finding some blank pages, I began to write. I didn’t stop until my hand was cramped and my fingers had blisters. I told my friends everything, starting with what my dad did to us and ending that very day at the beach. I even hinted that there was a girl I liked. The only thing I left out was the sea monsters, and I still have no idea why, but it was probably best that I did.