The Silent Waters
Copyright © 2016 by Brittainy C. Cherry
All rights reserved.
Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the author of this book.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, you should return it and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the author’s work.
Published: Brittainy C. Cherry 2016
[email protected] Editing: Editing by C. Marie, Ellie at Love N. Books
Copy Editing: Librum Artis Editorial Services
Proofreading: Virginia Tesi Carey, Lawrence Editing
Interior Formatting: Elaine York, Allusion Graphics, LLC/Publishing & Book Formatting
Cover Design: Quirky Bird
Cover Model: Luke Ditella
Introduction
Prologue
Part One
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Part Two
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Part Three
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four
Chapter Thirty-Five
Chapter Thirty-Six
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Chapter Forty
Chapter Forty-One
Epilogue
A Note from the Author
About the Author
Acknowledgements
Other Books by Brittainy C. Cherry
Moments.
Humans always remember the moments.
We recall the steps that led us to where we were meant to be. The words that inspired or crushed us. The incidents that scarred us and swallowed us whole. I’ve had many moments in my lifetime, moments that changed me, challenged me, moments that scared me and engulfed me. However, the biggest ones—the most heartbreaking and breathtaking ones—all included him.
It all began with a rocket ship nightlight and a boy who didn’t know me.
July 8th, 2004 — Six Years Old
“It’s going to be different this time, Maggie, I swear. This time is forever,” Daddy promised, as he pulled up to the yellow brick house on the corner of Jacobson Street. Daddy’s soon-to-be wife, Katie, stood on her front porch watching our old station wagon pull in the driveway.
Magic.
It felt like magic, coming up to the house. I’d moved from a small place to a palace. Daddy and I had lived in a tiny two-bedroom apartment all our lives, and now we were moving into a two-story home with five bedrooms, a living room, a kitchen the size of Florida, two and a half bathrooms, and an actual dining room—not a living room where Daddy set up TV dinner trays at five in the afternoon each night for supper. Daddy told me they even had an inground pool in their backyard. A pool! In their backyard!
I went from living with one person to becoming a part of a family.
The family part was nothing new, though. Since I could remember, I’d been part of many families with Daddy. The first one I hadn’t really known, since my mama had walked out on Daddy and me before I’d even spoken my first word. She’d found someone else who made her feel more loved than Daddy, which was hard for me to believe. Daddy gave his all to love, no matter how much it cost him. After she left, he gave me a box of photographs of her so I could remember her, but I thought that was a weird thing. How could I remember a woman who was never even there? After her, he became good at falling in love with women, and oftentimes, they fell in love with him, too. They’d move into our tiny world with all their belongings, and Daddy would tell me it was forever, but forever was always shorter than he hoped it would be.
This time was different.
This time, he had met the love of his life in an AOL chat room. Daddy had his share of bad relationships after my mama left us, so he thought trying to meet someone online would’ve been better, and it worked. Katie had lost her husband years before and hadn’t dated until she signed online and met Daddy.
And unlike all the times before, this time Daddy and I were moving in with Katie and her children, not the other way around.
“This time is forever,” I whispered back to Daddy.
Katie was beautiful like all the women on TV. Daddy and I watched television when we ate our supper together, and I’d always notice how beautiful the people were. Katie looked just like them. She had long blonde hair and crystal blue eyes, kind of like me. Her nails were painted a bright red color that matched her lipstick, and her eyelashes were thick, dark, and long. When Daddy and I pulled into her—our—driveway, she was waiting there in a pretty white dress, wearing yellow high heels.
“Oh, Maggie!” she cried, rushing over to me and flinging the car door open so she could wrap her arms around me. “It’s so nice to finally meet you.”
I raised an eyebrow, wary about hugging Katie back, even though she smelled like coconuts and strawberries. I never knew coconuts and strawberries went together until I met Katie.
I looked over at Daddy, who was smiling my way, and he nodded once, giving me permission to hug the woman back.
She hugged me so tight and lifted me out of the car, squeezing the air from my lungs, but I didn’t complain. It’d been a long time since I’d been hugged that tight. The last time had probably been when Grandpa had come to visit and wrapped me up in his arms.
“Come on, now. Let me introduce you to my kids. We’ll stop by Calvin’s room first. You two are the same age, so you’ll be going to school together. He’s right inside with a friend of his.”
Katie didn’t bother putting me down, instead carrying me over to the steps as Daddy grabbed a few pieces of our luggage. As we walked through the front door, my eyes widened. Wow. It was beautiful, something straight out of Cinderella’s palace, I was sure. She took me upstairs, to the last room on the left, and opened the door. My eyes fell on two boys playing Nintendo and shouting at each other. Katie placed me down on my feet.
“Boys, pause,” Katie said.
They didn’t listen.
They kept arguing.
“Boys,” Katie repeated more sternly. “
Pause.”
Nothing.
She huffed and placed her hands on her hips.
I huffed and copied her stance.
“BOYS!” she shouted, unplugging their video game system.
“MOM!”
“MS. FRANKS!”
I giggled. The boys turned to face us, utter shock in their stare, and Katie smiled. “Now that I have your attention, I want you to say hello to Maggie. Calvin, she’s staying with us, along with her father. Remember me saying you were gonna get a sister, Calvin?”
The boys stared blankly at me. Calvin was clearly the blond one, who looked identical to Katie. The boy sitting next to him had dark messy hair and brown eyes, along with a hole in his pale yellow t-shirt and potato chip crumbs on his jeans.
“I didn’t know you had another sister, Cal,” the boy said, staring my way. The more he stared, the more my stomach hurt. I stepped behind Katie’s leg, my cheeks heating up.
“Me neither,” Calvin replied.
“And, Maggie, this is Brooks. He lives across the street from us, but tonight he’s sleeping over.”
I peeked around Katie’s kneecap at Brooks, who gave me a small smile before eating the crumbs off of his pants.
“Can we play the game again?” Brooks asked, going back to his controller and staring at the blank television screen.
Katie snickered to herself, shaking her head back and forth. “Boys will be boys,” she whispered to me as she plugged their game back in.
I shook my head and giggled, too, just like Katie. “Yeah. Boys will be boys.”
Next, we stopped by another room. It was the pinkest room I’d ever seen, and a girl was sitting on the floor, drawing, wearing bunny ears and a princess dress, and eating Doritos out of a pink plastic bowl.
“Cheryl,” Katie said, walking into the room. I hid behind her leg. “This is Maggie. She’s gonna be staying with us, along with her father. Remember I told you about this?”
Cheryl looked up, smiled, and stuffed more Doritos into her mouth. “Okay, Mom.” She went back to drawing, and her red curly hair danced back and forth as she hummed a song to herself. Then she paused and looked up again. “Hey, how old are you?”
“Six,” I said.
She smiled. “I’m five! Do you like playing with dolls?”
I nodded.
She smiled again and went back to drawing. “Okay. Bye.”
Katie laughed and walked me out of the room, whispering, “I think you two are going to be really good friends.”
She showed me to my room next, where Daddy was putting my bags. My eyes widened at how big the space was—and it was all for me. “Wow…” I took a deep breath. “This is mine?”
“This is yours.”
Wow.
“I know you two must be tired from the long drive, so I’ll let you get Maggie ready for bed.” Katie smiled at Daddy and kissed his cheek.
As Daddy pulled out my pajamas, I asked, “Can Katie maybe tuck me in?”
She didn’t argue.
As she did, I smiled at her, and she smiled at me. A lot of smiling happened and a lot of talking, too. “You know, I’ve always wanted another daughter,” she said, brushing my hair.
I didn’t say it, but I had always wanted a mama, too.
“We’re going to have so much fun together, Maggie. You, Cheryl, and me. We can get our nails done, and go sit down by the pool, and drink lemonade, and flip through magazines. We can do everything guys hate doing.”
She hugged me goodnight, then she left and shut off the light.
I didn’t sleep at all.
I tossed, turned, and whimpered for a long time, but Daddy couldn’t hear me because he was all the way on the first floor, sleeping in his bedroom with Katie. Even if I wanted to go find him, I couldn’t, because the hallway was dark, and I hated dark places more than anything. I sniffled a bit, trying my best to count sheep in my head, but nothing was working.
“What’s the matter with you?” a shadowy figure standing in my doorway said.
I gasped and sat up straight, hugging my pillow.
The shadow moved closer, and I let out a small sigh when I saw it was Brooks. His hair was wild and standing up on his head, and he had sleep wrinkles on his cheek. “You gotta stop crying. You keep waking me up.”
I sniffled. “Sorry.”
“What’s the matter, anyway? You homesick or somethin’?”
“No.”
“Then what is it?”
I lowered my head, embarrassed. “I’m scared of the dark.”
“Oh.” He narrowed his eyes for a second before leaving the room.
I kept hugging my pillow, and I was even more surprised when Brooks came back. He had something in his hand and walked over to the wall to plug it in. “Calvin doesn’t need a nightlight. His mom just put it in his room.” He arched an eyebrow. “Is that better?”
I nodded. Better.
He yawned. “Okay, well, night…er…what’s your name again?”
“Maggie.”
“Night, Maggie. You don’t really gotta worry ’bout nothing here in our town, either. It’s always safe. You’re safe here. And if that ain’t better, I’m sure you can come sleep on Calvin’s floor. He won’t mind.” He left, scratching his messy hair and still yawning.
My eyes fell to the nightlight shaped like a rocket ship just before they started to close. I felt tired. I felt safe. I felt protected by a rocket ship given to me by a boy I’d just met.
Before, I wasn’t sure, but this time I knew.
Daddy was right.
“Forever,” I whispered to myself, falling deeper and deeper into my dreams. “This time is forever.”
July 25th, 2008 — Ten Years Old
A note to the boy who’s in love with me
By: Maggie May Riley
Dear Brooks Tyler,
I spent a lot of time upset with you the other day after you called me a name and pushed me into a puddle. You ruined my favorite dress and my pink and yellow sandals. I was so made mad at you for pushing me.
Your brother Jamie told me you’re mean to me because you love me. You call me names because that’s what boys do when they are in love. You pushed me only because you wanted to be close to me. I think that’s stiupid stupid, but I also know that my mama says all men are stupid, so it’s not your fault. It’s in your DNA.
So, I accept your love, Brooks. I allow you to love me forever and ever and ever.
I started planning the wedding.
It’s in a few days, in the woods, where you boys always go fishing. I always wanted to get married by the water like my mama and daddy.
You better wear a tie and not that ugly mud-colored one you wore to church last Sunday. Get some of your dad’s cologne, too. I know you’re a boy, but you don’t have to smell like one.
I love you, Brooks Tyler Griffin.
Forever and ever and ever.
Your soon-to-be wife,
Maggie May
P.S. I accept your apology that you never gave me. Jamie said you were sorry, so you don’t have to worry about me being mad.
A note to the girl who is crazy
By: Brooks Tyler Griffin
Maggie May,
I. Don’t. Like. You! Go away forever and ever and ever.
Your NOT soon-to-be husband,
Brooks Tyler
A note to the boy who is funny
By: Maggie May Riley
My Brooks Tyler,
You make me laugh. Jamie said you’d reply like that.
What do you think about the colors purple and pink for the ceremony? We should probably move in together, but I’m too young to have a mortgage. Maybe we can stay with your parents until you get a steddy steady job to support me and our pets.
We’ll have a dog named Skippy and a cat named Jam.
-Your Maggie May
A note to the girl who is still crazy
By: Brooks Tyler Griffin
Maggie,
We are not gett
ing married. We are not having pets. We aren’t even friends. I HATE YOU, MAGGIE MAY! If your brother wasn’t my best friend, I’d never talk to you EVER! I think you’re crazy.
Skippy and Jam? That’s stupid. That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard. Besides, everyone knows Jif is the best peanut butter.
NOT YOURS,
Brooks
A note to the boy who has bad taste
By: Maggie May Riley
Brooks Tyler,
Mama always says that a great relationship is about two main things: loving the similariaties simliariates silimiaiities, stuff the couple has in common and then also respecting the different things.
I love that we both like peanut butter, and I respect your opinion about Jif.
Even if your opinion is wrong.
Always,
Maggie May
P.S. Did you find a tie?
A note to the girl who is still, STILL crazy
By: Brooks Tyler Griffin
Maggie May,
I don’t need a tie, because we’re never getting married.
And it’s spelled ‘similarities’, you idiot.
-Brooks
A note to the boy who made me cry
By: Maggie May Riley
Brooks,
That was mean.
-Maggie
A note to the girl who is still, STILL crazy, but shouldn’t ever cry
By: Brooks Tyler Griffin
Maggie May,
I’m sorry. I can be a real jerk.
-Brooks
A note to the boy who made me smile
By: Maggie May Riley
Brooks Tyler Griffin,
I forgive you.
Go with the mud-colored tie if you want to. No matter how bad you dress, I’ll still love becoming your wife.