Townies

Chapter 2

Chapter 2Lea Carpenter Sloan took the leisurely drive around the harbor before she reached the small two-lane bridge built to resemble the Bridge of Lions in St. Augustine. The fronds on the palm trees on both sides of the bridge moved slightly in the late morning Florida breeze.

She cranked up the air conditioner in her Volkswagen Beetle, but couldn’t resist opening her window and sticking her arm out to confirm if the humidity was getting worse. It was Florida.

Once she left Carpenter Island, as she headed east, she arrived at the next barrier island. She turned left on Harbor Drive, past the construction scaffolding on her right. The abandoned warehouses and buildings in Baytowne that faced the Gulf of Mexico were getting remodeled for condos and townhouses with the first-floor units earmarked for restaurants and shops. Carpenter Real Estate signs, and Carpenter Construction signs were practically everywhere. There was a large coming soon sign advertising the development as Harbor Pointe.

Her anger and disappointment with her mother’s family welled up and she instinctively gripped the steering wheel. She tried to relax as a Taylor Swift song came up on her CarPlay.

It didn’t take her long to reach Baytowne Mobile Home Park. Unlike the other mobile homes on this side of the barrier island, which were owned by snowbirds or retirees, this one had families. Some of them were second generation dwellers in the park. She slowed her speed down to almost five miles an hour, watching to make sure that kids weren’t on the road playing, or running, ready to dart in front of her.

When she pulled up to the Cunninghams’ mobile home, she parked, then texted Brendan she’d arrived. The mobile home was white with green trim. Sharon, the twins’, and Brendan’s mother had different flowerpots in front. Milkweed and bromeliads were nestled between flowering lantana plants.

Brendan had told her he would break the news to the twins, so she waited. She didn’t want to just pop in.

She didn’t wait long. Brendan stepped outside, an overnight bag slung over his shoulder as he took the steps, and Colton and Johnny, the name Connor insisted everyone call him now, followed. Colton dragged Brendan’s rollaway.

She hesitated. She wasn’t sure if she should wave, not sure how the twins would react, but Colton was the first to wave, then Johnny.

They seem to be taking the news well, she thought. Still, she resisted. She didn’t leave the car.

The Cunninghams weren’t rich, but they sure won the lottery when it came to looks. Colton had his hair on the sides shaved but long in the back. Johnny had his hair trimmed so short that it almost looked like a buzz cut.

She wondered if she and Brendan had kids if they’d turn out as beautiful as the Cunningham boys with their wavy light brown hair that turned blond in the sun, blue eyes, and broad shoulders.

Brendan stood in contrast to his younger brothers. Lifting weights since ninth grade made him look more like a running back.

Colton carried off the surfer man-bun look with the dirty blond curly hair. Like his twin, he was lean. But unlike his twin, he always seemed confident.

Johnny was the complete opposite. Shyer, and more sensitive than either Brendan or Colton, Johnny was more comfortable reading books than playing sports or hanging out in social groups.

No one could blame anyone wanting any of the Cunningham boys, she thought.

Until Johnny cut his hair, it was hard to differentiate between the identical twins unless you got closer. Colton’s voice was slightly huskier, Johnny’s voice a little softer. Colton’s nose was slightly wider; Johnny’s nose was slenderer, long and pointed downward.

Colton approached the car, shirtless and barefoot, ending Lea’s daydreaming. Colton’s dark strawberry colored birthmark under his rib set him apart from Johnny, who had none.

She marveled how both twins had a lovely light overall bronze tan. She always freckled when she was out in the sun and burned easily. Definitely not a good trait for a Florida-born girl.

“Wanna pop the trunk?” Colton asked.

“It’s open,” Lea said, after she pulled the internal trunk release. She sensed no judgment or snarkiness for taking their older brother away from them.

Colton pushed the VW emblem, pulled up the trunk, and slid the rollaway into the cozy trunk area. “You guys only gone two weeks? Lot of stuff here.”

Lea caught Brendan’s look. Brendan’s eyes had widened as his back stiffened.

Johnny took Brendan’s overnight bag from Brendan’s shoulder and brought it to where Colton stood. When Brendan quickly and slyly shook his head, she didn’t say anything.

“After the bar exam, we might take off for a long weekend.” Brendan crossed his arms. “You think you guys can be okay for a while?”

Lea caught the tentative tone Brendan had and wondered if the twins caught it too.

“Yeah,” Colton answered. “I’ll take care of dopey here. Make sure he’s not reading books without eating and sleeping. Or watching porn at all hours.”

“I think you’re talking about yourself.” Johnny moved closer to where Brendan stood, near Lea. “Besides, we don’t have internet.”

“I like your short hair, sweetie.”

“Thanks, Lea.” Johnny smiled. “See you in a few weeks.” Johnny then fist bumped his brother; Colton did the same.

The twins stood off the by the side as Brendan opened the car door, sat in the passenger’s seat, and Lea backed out into the small cul-de-sac. The twins waved at Brendan and Lea as the car left the immediate area.

As soon as they got a few hundred feet, Lea faced Brendan. “I gather you didn’t tell them you were moving out?”

“I was trying to find the right way and right time to do it, and I just couldn’t. But I will. I have to come back and get my other stuff anyway.” Brendan paused. “Colton I’m not so worried about.”

“You’re more worried about Johnny?”

“Yeah. You know why.”

“Okay.” Lea smiled. “I totally get it. You’re seven years older than them. You practically raised them, along with your mom. You’re more like their dad than their brother.”

Brendan exhaled. “You’re not mad?”

“More worried.” Lea shook her head. “No.” She reached out with her hand and squeezed his. “They’re family. I wish mine was like that.” She drove out to the main road that would take them over the bridge east, leaving the barrier island and Baytowne, onto Gulfside, then on to the interstate and then Tampa, where the bar exam was going to be held. “But you can’t shelter or hide things from them forever. They may resent you for it.”

More construction signs lined the road. On one side of the boulevard, a large swatch of trees had been cut.

“More development.” Brendan said.

Lea sighed. “Yeah. I guess Uncle Abel has his fingers in the pies everywhere.”

“Did you tell your mom about us leaving and living in Jacksonville after the bar exam?”

“I did. But I’m not sure if she really understood what that meant.”

“You feel guilty leaving her behind?” Brendan asked.

Lea shook her head. “My mother is tough. She’ll be fine. When my dad accepted a federal plea deal for the Ponzi scheme, stealing millions from investors all over the country, including my family, she didn’t let any of the press, or media attention faze her.”

“I remember that. She came out on national TV and said your dad was guilty and he needs to own up to it.”

“Yeah, and when her family…my cousins, grandfather…whatever…cut off ties, she just said whatever to the rest of the Carpenter family. She got a job as a teacher. Kept the 1960s ranch house on the island she inherited from Mee-maw and washed her hands of the family.”

“It still bothers you, doesn’t it? That the rest of the Carpenters don’t want anything to do with your mom? Or you, really?”

“It is what it is. There’s some good that came out of it.” Lea squeezed Brendan’s hand. “If I hadn’t been forced to drop out of Carpenter Island Prep, I wouldn’t have gone to Baytowne High School and developed this crush on a certain football player.”

Brandon took Lea’s hand, which was still on top of his, and kissed it. “I remember it wasn’t the greatest adjustment for you.”

“Well, I wasn’t a Townie. Everyone in high school made sure to remind me that my great grandparents were racist, that they were part of the KKK, that they were evil cattle farmers who swindled a lot of people of their land, who had a bridge built to Carpenter Island using local tax money and then made Carpenter Island which was then just full of saw palmetto, mosquitoes, and armadillos, now full of McMansions and million-dollar condos.”

“You forgot the environmental damage the Carpenters caused by dredging part of the waterway so every time there’s a hurricane or major storm, there’s flooding in Baytowne.”

Lea sighed. They said nothing for a moment as Baytowne now appeared in their rear-view mirror. The blue waters of the bay that separated Baytowne from Gulfside glittered. Small boats and large yachts made their home on piers on both sides. On the east side of Baytowne new gated subdivisions including high-rise condos rose, facing Gulfside, all built by Carpenter Homes for second home residents taking advantage of Florida weather.

“Moving to Jacksonville will be good for us. I get to work for a law firm, and you get to work as a judicial clerk. I don’t have to worry about the Carpenter black sheep label when we’re up in Jax.”

Brendan laughed. “We just have to pass the bar, or we’ll lose those jobs in Jacksonville.”

“You’ll pass the bar.”

“You will too, babe.” Brendan’s hand now moved to her knee. He pushed her sundress up a little, moving it up from where it was mid-thigh.

“What are you doing?”

“It’s stressful studying for the bar.”

“Uh huh.” When Brendan’s hands moved up to her inner thigh, she didn’t protest. She pulled over to a shoulder near the harbor close to Gulfside pier.

“You should probably move over to the parking lot over there. We might be a while.”

“This isn’t safe, Brendan.” She tried to protest as he removed her bikini panties. But her voice was weak. She drove a few yards and parked near the pier. Brendan grabbed the sunshades and covered the windshield. He slightly kissed her neck, as she loosened her bra, his one thumb found her n****e and gently rubbed circles. She moaned in his ear.

When his other thumb found the right spot, she oohed in ecstasy. Yes, studying for the bar was stressful. And this was a great way to relieve stress.