clear into the other world. Dad says it was meant to
be."
"How can something so terrible be meant to
be?"
"It's what my father believes," he said. "Is that why he doesn't seem one bit sad about
my father's death, even though my father was his
brother? It was meant to be?"
Cary was silent. He kept his head down and
kicked some sand. A particularly loud tern cried at the
approaching storm.
"And your sister's death," I pursued. "Was that
also meant to be?"
He looked at me, his eyes glistening with tears. "I don't like talking about Laura's. . Laura's
disappearance."
"If you keep sadness and pain bottled up, it
swells and swells inside you until you burst," I said.
"Mama Arlene told me that."
"Yeah, well I never had the pleasure of meeting
Mama Arlene," he replied. "I'm going back to the
house. Do what you want."
"Why did your father stop talking to my
father?" I demanded, my hands on my hips. He
hesitated and then turned. "He told me my daddy
defied his parents. What did he mean by that? What
did my daddy do to them?"
"I don't know."
"But Aunt Sara and Uncle Jacob must have
talked about it often."
"I don't listen in on their private talks," he said.
"Besides, it's over and done, why talk about it now?" "I know. You've got to go with the tide." He widened his eyes and lifted his eyebrows. "Well," I continued, "sometimes you have to