He pulled into the old doctor’s office on the outskirts of Portwood. A small place, the staff included one local doctor that was older than dirt, and the usual summer staff, various doctors who would lend a hand while on their vacation. Dr. Moore wasn’t in the best health, so it was always much needed.

Henri killed the engine of his beat-up pickup. He let out a long sigh, staring at the old sign on the side of the office. His fingers twitched—nerves. He hated going, usually found something to make him miss his appointments altogether. Unless his aunt had anything to do with it, then he had no other choice but to go.

And there she was. Aunt Janet. She jogged to his truck, holding her hair in place against the wind. “Henri, out of this car now, you’re almost late.” She rapped on the window.

Getting out of his truck, Henri kissed her cheek and slammed his door shut. “Nice scrubs.”

She ignored his compliment, looking him over with deep concern. “They have a new doctor in today. She wanted to go over your charts.”

Henri ran a hand along his face. “Great. More people to tell me the same thing.”

His aunt opened the office door for him, acting as if he was even incapable of doing that for himself. “Where were you this morning? Uncle Ray made French toast.”

Henri allowed her to open the next door. “I paid John five dollars to let me deliver the newspapers.” He smiled at her shocked sigh.

“Sign in, I have to get back to my sandwich before my break is over.” She kissed his cheek, giving his arm an extra squeeze before she took off.

Henri did as she asked. He gave each of the old men waiting their turn a smile, snagged a magazine, and took a seat nearest the door.

The first old man, wearing cotton shorts and a blue polo, let out a dry cough. He pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose, and looked Henri over. “Nice day.”

Henri looked up from his magazine. “Yeah. Love the sun.” He dropped his gaze.

The old man cleared his throat again. “I see you in here damn near every week.”

He nodded. It had been awhile since he had had to explain. Silently he counted to ten. Hoping this would be enough to end the conversation.

“Henri Levitt,” The nurse said from the doorway. She smiled sweetly at the sight of Henri. And Henri silently thanked her for getting him out of an uncomfortable situation.

“How you feeling, Henri?”

“Great.”

She smiled again. It seemed that’s all anyone did anymore when they were around him. He missed the days he pissed people off and they let him have it. Because now there was nothing he could do to evoke any emotion in anyone. They were all walking zombies.

“There is a new doctor today. I’m sure your aunt told you this already. Dr. Wilder.”

Henri nodded, and took his place on the scale. He closed his eyes, concentrating on the rattling. When it ended he listened to the familiar scratching of her pen.

“You gained five pounds. What’s your secret?” She pushed the marker back to the beginning.

“My aunt and uncle’s cooking.” Down the hall they went. Room four. She let him in first. He took a seat on the crinkly paper.

“Anything new to report?” she asked, strapping the blood pressure cuff to his arm.

“Nope. Feel fine.” He stared past her auburn hair to the tacky wallpaper at the top of the ceiling.

“The doctor will be with you shortly, Henri.” She closed the door ever so gently, leaving him to a welcomed silence, the only sound coming from the black wall clock.

There were two short knocks before Vanessa Wilder entered the room. Dressed in a white blouse and gray slacks, she was young-looking, with shoulder length strawberry blonde hair.

“Hi, you must be Henri.” She shook his hand, staring down at his chart. “I hope you don’t mind I am doing your check-up today. Dr. Moore has been ill.” She smiled, taking out a pair of reading glasses to get a better look at his chart.

“No, I don’t mind.” Henri sanded his hands together. He hated that every detail about his health was documented for the world to see. “I’m sure you’re a lot less cranky than Dr. Moore.”

Her head shot up. She studied him closely before she smiled and let out a laugh.

“It says here you’re nineteen.” She took a seat at her desk. Henri noticed a photograph. As he looked closer he recognized the girl in the photo.

“Is that your daughter?” Henri asked, staring at the image of Maven on her desk.

She turned the frame. “Yeah, this is my oldest daughter. She’s been miserable lately. But this has always been my favorite picture of her. Back before her boyfriend dumped her.” She looked up, suddenly realizing she was rambling. “I’m sorry. You’re not here to discuss my teenage daughter’s issues.”

Henri shook his head. “It is a nice picture. She’s beautiful.”

She smiled at his compliment. “Her name is Maven. And I agree she is beautiful.”

“So let’s get a look at Dr. Moore’s recent work.” She quickly washed her hands. Henri pulled his shirt over his head, revealing a pinkish scar. He touched his chest, his fingers tracing his battle wound. To him that was what it was.

 

SPARKS

MAVEN FOLLOWED NICK onto the beach. Doing her best to lug the giant cooler with both hands, she thought he would have offered to help, but no, there she was, doing most of the work herself. She finally dropped it in the sand.

“Nick could you…?” she asked, letting out a sigh. Nick was too busy talking to the girl from the yogurt hut.

He ignored Maven’s plea. Instead he started an introduction. “Maven this is April, Sandra’s sister.”

Maven pushed her sunglasses to the top of her head. She extended a hand. “Nice to meet you.”

“Same to you, you go to school with my sister Sandra right?” April kept a smile pinned to her lips. She had probably heard a lot about her just like everyone else in town, Maven thought. But Maven tried to forget about that and be polite for her brother’s sake.

“I think we are in the same history class.”

April nodded, giving Nick a secret glance. She wasn’t interested in socializing with Nick’s kid sister as much as she wanted to spend time with Nick. Maven got the hint.

“Well, I think I’ll get to sunbathing.” Maven started unbuttoning her sundress.

April frowned, furrowing her brow as she gave her one more look, a bit sad for the girl with the horrible social life. She bit her lip, wondering if it were worth it. “My cousin is down by the lifeguard stand, maybe you could convince him to relax rather than work in this heat.” She suggested.

Nick looked at Maven, wondering if she would take the bait. He wasn’t even sure who April’s cousin was.

Maven dropped her dress on the towel. She swiped some sand from her hands. “I don’t even know who he is. That’s nice of you though.”

“Henri,” she said offering a cheap introduction. “He was at the yogurt hut when you guys stopped by the other day. He doesn’t know many people around here. My mom is forever trying to get him to meet people.”

Nick scratched his head. “Yeah, what’s up with that guy? Why haven’t we seen him before?”

Maven was busy searching for Henri along the sandy shore, the high temperature beating down on her.

“Oh, well, Henri hasn’t been with us long. He’s a good guy.” April took Nick’s hand. “Let’s take a swim, that’s what we’re here for isn’t it?” She giggled, taking off for the water, Nick in tow.

Maven slid her glasses back down. She started walking toward the first lifeguard station. Her feet slipped through the dry sand, but as she got closer to the water it became more dense and gritty. Her eyes secretly darted back and forth searching out Henri.

She wondered if she and Henri were more alike than she knew. He wasn’t a bad looking guy. So why would he have a hard time socializing?