The Education of Sebastian & the Education of Caroline(303)

“He wasn’t fighting!” I said, quickly. “Ask his fucking father how he got those bruises!”

“Ches, no!”

Seb looked furious as he clipped out the words, but Miss Perez was shocked.

“Commander Hunter … your father did this to you?”

“It was an accident,” said Seb, refusing to meet her worried gaze, instead staring over her left shoulder.

“Just tell her, man!”

“Stay out of it, Ches.”

She sighed. “I’m sorry, Sebastian, very sorry, but I can’t let you work looking that. I need someone here I can rely on. This is third time I’ve had to send you home. I’m making it official—I’m letting you go.”

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing, but Seb just nodded curtly and turned on his heel.

I glared at her. “You can’t fire him like that!”

“Watch your tone, Mr. Peters,” she said, her voice a warning. “I can’t get the Club involved in this—Sebastian needs to tell the police if there’s a problem at home.”

“You know he won’t,” I said, bitterly.

“Take him home,” she said, “but if you want to keep your job, be back here by 4PM.”

Then she walked away.

Seb was already halfway down the long driveway when I caught up with him.

“Get in, I’m giving you a ride.”

He shrugged, but didn’t speak. I didn’t know what else to do, so I drove him home. To my home.

Dad’s car was there and Mom was standing out front on her way to the grocery store.

“Chester why are you home so … oh, Sebastian! Oh sweetheart!”

She bustled him into the kitchen and got an ice pack from the freezer.

“Here, this will help with the swelling.”

He took it wordlessly and pressed it against his cheek, wincing slightly.

Then Dad walked in from the backyard and took in the scene with a single glance. When he looked at me, he nodded once.

“Seb, buddy, you need to stay here for a few days,” he said.

Seb shook his head. “Can’t. Dad says we have to … keep up appearances.”

“You leave Commander Hunter to me.” My father’s voice allowed no argument. “Ches, give me a hand, son.”

Outside, Dad grabbed a hold of my shoulder. “We’ll get this figured out, I promise. Seb can stay here as long as he likes. I’m going to the Hunters’ place now. You might want to clear some space in that pigsty you call a room.” He gave me a thin smile. “I’ll bring back as much of Seb’s things as I can.”

“Thanks, Dad.”

He nodded, but didn’t reply.

I watched as he drove off in the van, his face tight with anger. I wondered what he was going to do. No, that’s not right. I knew what he was going to do; I just wondered how he was going to do it.

Mom was talking to Seb quietly in the kitchen, so I headed up the stairs to my room. Dad was so damn military: what he called a ‘pigsty’ was a pair of old jeans and two pairs of boardshorts that I hadn’t put away. And some t-shirts, and a bunch of CDs, old copies of Surfer magazine, a few used coffee mugs. It wasn’t that untidy. I mean, there wasn’t any green moldy food…

I cleared some space in my closet and shoved the magazines and CDs under my bed.

Then I pulled out a cot and put a sheet on it and a couple of blankets. Seb had slept on it a load of times; he’d been overnighting here since we’d met as freshmen at high school. Seemed like a million years ago right now.

A few minutes later, I heard Seb coming up the stairs. His face still looked puffy and the bruise around his eye was coming out, but he seemed calmer now, less jittery.

“You wanna talk?”

He shook his head. “Mind if I crash out here? I didn’t sleep much last night.”

“Sure. I’ve gotta get back to work. Look, I’ll talk to Perez. Maybe I can…”

“Nah, that’s okay. I was sick of working there anyway. It’s not the same since Caro…”

His words trailed off.

“What are you going to do?”

He shrugged painfully. “There’s a help wanted sign posted at Stone’s Reef Surf Shack. I’ll drop by there later.”

He stretched out across the bed and closed his eyes, so I left him to sleep off whatever demons were haunting him.

Mom gave me a ride back to the Club, saying she’d text me when Dad got back.

I was on lifeguard duty by the outdoor pool when I groaned to see who had just arrived. This day wasn’t getting any better.

“Hi Ches!” Brenda said in an irritating sing-song voice. “Is Seb around?”

She stood there smiling, her hand on her hip, with no fucking clue of the carnage she’d created in my friend’s life.