Summerland: A Novel Read Online Free

had—for no good or explicable reason—stopped breathing. Ava either watched episodes of
Home and Away
or reread passages of her favorite book, which was, shockingly, not an Australian classic but rather that most American of novels,
Moby-Dick,
because her father had read it to her when she was a child. Ernie’s grave, the soap opera,
Moby-Dick:
these comprised 90 percent of the life of Ava Randolph. It was the other 10 percent, her interactions with the outside world, that glinted like shards of broken glass on the side of the road. There was her anger, which could take anyone’s eye out like an errant arrow. And there was her venom, which she seemed to save solely for Jake’s father.
    Ava was present for the important stuff at school, such as Jake’s induction into the National Honor Society and the final night of the musical. This past year, the musical had been
Grease,
with Jake playing Danny and Penny playing Sandy. His mother hadtaken a shower and brushed out her hair. She had put on makeup and perfume. She had entered the auditorium with her head held high and her eyes defiant, his father trailing three steps behind her like a loyal servant. Jake had peered at them from behind the heavy stage curtain. He could hear the audience murmuring: Ava Randolph was out. Sightings of her were as rare as comets, and everyone knew why, so everyone kept a respectful distance—except Lynne Castle, his mother’s only stalwart friend. Lynne plopped herself down next to Ava and kissed the side of her face as though nothing were amiss, as though Ava weren’t capable of lashing out even at her, or of standing up and walking out of the auditorium for no reason at all.
    Ava had seemed to enjoy the musical. She had clapped at the end, and when Jake and Penny took their final bows, she had joined in the standing ovation.
    The only person who sought out Ava Randolph’s company was Penny. Some afternoons, after Jake had stayed late at school working on
Veritas,
the student newspaper, or at a Student Council meeting, he would come home to find Penny in his mother’s room, lying across the foot of her bed, the two of them watching
Home and Away,
Ava dutifully explaining the intricacies of the plot lines. Jake would be lying if he said this hadn’t worried him.
    He’d said to Penny, “You don’t have to hang out with my mother, you know.”
    And Penny had said, “Oh, I know. But I like her.”
    Like
her? Jake loved his mother—she was his
mother,
after all—but even he didn’t
like
her. He was afraid of her. On her best days, she was like a ghost that lived in the house with his father and him, occasionally haunting the dinner table and eating a few bites of whatever they were having. (They ate a lot of pizza and Thai takeout.) Ava floated around the house—mostly in the predawn hours—dealing with the cut flowers for Ernie’s grave. She slept alone in Ernie’s nursery.
    Jake didn’t think his parents ever had sex. They didn’t touch; they barely even spoke, though there were nights when Jake would be awakened by the sound of the two of them screaming at each other.
    HIS MOTHER :   I want out of here, Jordan!
    HIS FATHER :   You’re free to go, Ava, you know that.
    HIS MOTHER :   I want to go for good, and I’m not going without Jake. Or you.
    HIS FATHER :   My family has owned and run the paper since 1870, Ava. Six generations of Randolphs. It’s my birthright, and guess what else? I love it. You knew this when you married me. You knew my life had to be here.
    HIS MOTHER :   My life doesn’t matter. My life has never mattered.
    HIS FATHER :   If you want to go, go. For God’s sake, just go. Go by yourself, stay as long as you want! You used to have no problem doing that.
    HIS MOTHER :   But everything is different now. Isn’t it?
    HIS FATHER :   [No response.]
    HIS MOTHER :   Isn’t it?
    HIS FATHER :    Yes.
    HIS MOTHER :   Ernie is dead! Say it! I want to hear you say it,