Overflow (Part Four)

Vague shouts resounded from the other side, and as if in slow motion, Charlotte sprinted over, hoping to catch a glimpse of the commotion. "What's happening?" she asked Madi, who was running next to her in equal anticipation. Her friend shrugged, and she returned her attention to the quickly forming group. Finally, they reached the back of the crowd and the two desperately bounced up and down on their tiptoes to glimpse what was happening.
Madi, the taller of the two, suddenly staggered back and covered her gaping mouth, her face draining of color. "Charlotte," she gasped.
Charlotte knelt by her friend, concern filtering through her. "What, Madi? What's wrong?"
"It's Jeff."
---
The cords holding down our tent were flapping easily with the wind, making the blue canvas shudder and sway back and forth as if ready to fly off the handle at any moment. Mom and Dad were huddled outside of it and desperately looking around, accompanied by Ms. Travis and Will. At our appearance, Mother screamed and rushed over to me, hugging me tightly before whispering urgently in my ear, "You are in the deepest trouble that you can imagine for the next month."
"But, Mom-," I protested, glancing over at Braden. "I wasn't alone. And I'm safe."
"You left over an hour ago! You're lucky I was tired enough to fall back asleep instead of waiting for you, or I might be wandering aimlessly in the dark, and in this storm too!" She heaved a sigh and then led me over to Dad, who smiled and patted my back, the smoother-over. From my position I could hear Ms. Travis scolding Braden, who was helplessly shrugging and running his hand through his hair. Slightly grinning, I ducked back into the tent and grabbed a blanket, then handed it to my parents.
"So...are we going to stand outside and become more soaked?" I asked, glancing around questioningly.
We once more entered our tent and fell asleep to the wailing of the wind and pattering of the rain.

Birds relentlessly chirping and the heat from the early sun's beams coaxed me from a dreamless, sound sleep. Groaning, I stretched my arms over my head and shuddered, trying to shake off the lingering remnants of sleep. My stomach suddenly rumbled and I grinned, hopping up from my sleeping bag and unzipping myself outside. The world was bright with activity, and my parents were sizzling bacon and eggs on a makeshift grill, their delectable scent wafting over to me.
"Honey, do you want toast with your meal too?" Mom called from the campfire, shading her eyes with her hand as she squinted over at me.
"Sure!" I cheerfully replied, grabbing my bathroom bag and slipping into sandals. "I'll just be right back after a quick shower!"
Mother tapped her watch and frowned at me. "Twenty minutes at the most, Charlotte!"
Happily I tramped off into the woods, avoiding trees and swatting the innocuous mosquitoes that swarmed around my freshly perspiring head. "Stupid flies," I muttered, grimacing at the buzzing noise and nearly slapping my own head in my frustration.
"I agree," a familiar voice sounded from beside me, and I glanced over, grinning.
"Hey, Braden."
"Hey, so I have to tell you something."
"What?"
"I talked to my dad last night."
I halted mid-step, and stared in apprehension at his placid face. "When? How? What happened?"
"Well...basically, he wants me to live with him."
"No!"
He sheepishly nodded. "Actually, you should be happy. Dad lives right by you."
I cocked my head. "Really? He lives all the way in Boston?"
Braden shrugged. "Yeah. Anyways, Mom refuses, and even Will's having a problem with him showing up like this." He gazed off into the expanse of trees, pondering over his next words. "I'm not exactly against it."
My eyes widened. "But last night...you didn't even want to see him, much less live with him."
"I know. But when I saw him this morning, it got me thinking...it wouldn't be so bad. He'd live his life, I'd lived mine, and in the summer, I could live with Mom and Will back in Denver. In fact, I'd barely see him at all, since he's a paramedic for the emergency room at the hospital he works at."
We slowly made our way towards the bathroom, my thoughts consuming my interest. Absently I flicked another mosquito away from my forehead and as the main center began to show up ahead on the trail, I cleared my throat. "And what does your mom think?"
Braden blew out his breath and ran his hand through his hair. "She hates the idea," he admitted ruefully, shoving his hands in his pockets. "She thinks it's just a ploy so he won't have to pay the check every month and as soon as I've graduated he'll stop contacting me."
"Well, I'm for whatever happens," I announced after a brief silence, smiling up at his doubtful face.
"You mean you could care less if my dad abandons me in the middle of Boston?" he lightly teased, pausing at his restroom's door.
"Feel free to visit anytime," I sarcastically replied, entering the bathroom and glancing around for the nearest open shower.
---
The crowd began to clear, and right when her eyes caught a glimpse of the red shirt her brother had carelessly thrown on that morning, she felt her stomach drop and the vision began to swirl in front of her eyes...
Then everything faded into black.
---
I scowled into the bathroom mirror as I quickly touched up my face with mascara, lip gloss, and the tiniest hint of light brown eyeshadow. How come I could remember the tiniest details from long ago-like how my favorite toy in my sandbox from my toddler years had been a blue plastic shovel-and yet when it came to Jeff's death, I went blank? True, lately the memory had begun piecing itself back together, but why couldn't I remember what Jeff had looked like-
Shuddering, I snatched my beach bag, glanced myself over in the mirror, and swept out into the still beaming sunlight. The sight of Braden in his usual position was more than expected, and he grinned as I sauntered over to him. Together we began the walk back to our campsite, and slowly my thoughts sorted into different possibilities for my memory failure. A face popped into my mind, and I gasped, smacking my head for not thinking of it earlier.
"What's wrong?" Braden asked, concern filtering in his voice.
I fumbled for my cell phone, and pulled it from my pocket. "I'll explain," I hastily promised, scanning through my contacts list. My finger abruptly halted and hovered over the "Talk" button for a split second before impulsively pushing it.
A loud ringtone echoed in my ear as my stomach twisted anxiously. The rings seemed to draw out in length until...
"Hey!"
"Madi?" I squeaked, involuntarily rising up on my tiptoes.
"You have reached Madi's cell! She's in sunny LA now, but leave a message and she'll call you back when she hears it! Beeeep."
I sighed, letting out the breath I had been involuntarily holding in. As I shifted back onto my heels, I blabbed a quick message and hit ‘End.' My eyes darted over to a curious Braden and I shrugged, sliding my cell back into my pocket. He shook his head, smirking. "Well, you're finally turning back into Lotte."
Raising an eyebrow, I shot back, "What's that supposed to mean?"
Our feet found the path again, although our pace slowed slightly. "You're back to the old Lotte who doesn't shut up," he smugly remarked.
"I do too shut up!" I hotly protested, crossing my arms over my chest, my lower lip protruding the tiniest bit.
He laughed. "Two years ago, you were on that thing-," nodding towards my pocket, "-five hours a day, and you couldn't stop talking through every single dinner. Plus, Jeff, Will, and I couldn't get away with anything. Like that frog-,"
"For you information, it was a snake," I interrupted, my hazel eyes flashing indignantly. "And I was only seven. Besides, Jeff was the only one who got punished-and he only had dish duty for the rest of the week. Your dad thought it was too funny to punish you," I scoffed.
His eyes sparkled with amusement. "How do you remember that?" he wondered aloud.
"I remember lots of things," I shot back, still irritated. Then my mouth drooped into a frown. "Just not Jeff's death."
"I thought you were getting the memory back," he casually remarked, waving at his mom, who was motioning us over to the table for breakfast.
I shrugged. "I blank out right before seeing Jeff. But I do remember everything up to that point, which is a change." Nodding back at Mom, who was getting agitated at our slow pace, I continued with, "Look, I'll talk about it after Madi calls back. I really need her point of view."
Plastering a smile on my face, I headed over to the picnic table to dig into a meal of eggs, bacon, and toast, all slightly cold from my absence.

"Braden, I just don't see how you can even entertain the idea of living with your father," Ms. Travis griped, grabbing the last of the plates from the table.
I smiled as Braden rolled his eyes, sighing. "Mom, I just...I just think it would work out. You already are having a tough time paying for everything with both me and Will, so this way you can...well, I won't be in the way."
"Honey, you are never in the way," Ms. Travis gently reprimanded him. "Your father will be away half the time and I don't trust him. What if he forgets about you and doesn't-,"
"Mom," Braden firmly interrupted. "I'm seventeen. I can take care of myself. And you always said I could choose who to live with."
She shook her head. "But I thought you always liked living with me. You never said anything about your father until he showed up last night. Seriously, Braden, he hasn't been there for you in the past six years. How can you-,"
Mom tapped me on the shoulder and whispered in my ear, "Let's give them some privacy. How about you pack a beach bag and I'll tell Braden and Will to meet you at the lake?"
Shrugging, I slowly stood and headed over to our tent. As interesting as Ms. Travis and Braden's argument was, I could tell it was going to last for a while. Shoving my purple towel...
Shoving my purple towel...


My purple towel...


The towel. Ride in the car with Jeff. Money. Swimsuit. Madi. Rain. Sunlight. Water---whistle---shouts-running-red shirt-Madi-Jeff-Jeff-Jeff...
Suddenly the face popped into my mind. The dark hair brushed across his face, his eyelids fluttering, the hand grasping his chest, and then my eyes could examine his entire face...
And it wasn't him. It wasn't Jeff! The lifeguard in the red T-shirt in the chair that Jeff had previously been sitting in, who had fainted and fallen from the chair...it wasn't my brother! The face began to fade in a swirl of black, and I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to bring back the memory into focus, but my mind was a deep abyss of black...