"Get out of here!" Adam whined. "She wanted
it," he said pointing at me. "She came here, didn't
she?"
Cary gazed at the bottle of vodka on the
blanket.
"You got her drunk, you bastard. You took
advantage of her."
Cary lunged at him and Adam jumped back. "You're crazy!" he cried. "Your whole family's
crazy, including her!" He backed away. "I'm not going
t
o fight over her." He continued to back toward his
boat. Cary stood glaring at him. Then he turned, reached down for the bottle of vodka, and heaved it in Adam's direction. The bottle smashed against the side
of the boat and splattered.
"You're out of your mind! You'll be sorry,"
Adam threatened, but he pushed his boat away from
the shore and quickly jumped into it when Cary
threatened to come after him. "This isn't the end of
this. You'll hear from me!" he screamed.
"Sue me!" Cary retorted, his hands on his hips. Adam started his engine and turned the boat
away. A moment later he was bouncing over the
water, fleeing.
I turned over on my left side and buried my
face in the blanket. I felt Cary kneel down and touch
my shoulder.
"You all right, Melody?" he asked softly. "No," I said. I felt sick and embarrassed and
suddenly very, very tired.
"Come on. I'll help you home," he said. "I don't want to go home. That's not my home!"
I cried. "I don't have a home!"
"Sure you do. You're with us until your mother
comes back."