“I think the problem, Dad,” she said, with an unexpected warmth in her voice, “is that your love doesn’t mean very much.”
Mick closed his eyes. And he nodded. And he said, “I know, honey. I know. And I’m sorry.”
Sergeant Purdy put handcuffs on Tarine as she screamed at him.
“Are you kidding me?” she shouted.
“You accosted a police officer,” he said, and then he pulled her hands behind her back. The movement turned her elbows out and threw her off balance. Tarine tripped on the step in front of her and fell down. He unceremoniously pulled her up, and as he did, he dragged her body toward him, tight against his torso. He smiled.
Vanessa snapped. Without thinking, she pushed him. “Don’t touch her again!” she said.
The cop behind Purdy grabbed Vanessa by both of her arms and cuffed her, pulling her arms tight behind her.
Greg came back around the corner at the same time Ricky came into the living room, wondering what all of the commotion was about.
“What the hell is going on?” Greg yelled. “Let her go!”
Instinctually, Ricky lunged forward and pushed both cops off the women. Purdy fell back, the other cop barely moved. “You get off of them!” Ricky said. “I don’t care what badge you’re wearing!”
Purdy looked at Ricky, and Ricky instantly understood this was going to cost him. But he stood tall as both cops moved toward him, and remained stoic as they pulled his arms behind his back and cuffed him.
He winced at the tightness of the restraints themselves, but as he did, Tarine caught his eye and mouthed Thank you. Vanessa smiled at him. Greg gave Ricky a nod, and the remaining crowd cheered.
Tarine, Vanessa, and Ricky were all going to jail. But at least they’d put up a fight.
Then the police raided the house.
They got the two actors hallucinating from LSD on the tennis courts (Tuesday Hendricks and Rafael Lopez, possession), the one supplying coke (Bobby Housman, possession with intent to distribute), the two throwing serving trays like oversized ninja stars (Vaughn Donovan and Bridger Miller, vandalism), the naked woman blowing a drummer in the middle of the lawn (Wendy Palmer, indecent exposure, lewd conduct), the ones with pockets full of what were clearly Nina’s and Brandon’s belongings (Ted Travis and Vickie Brooks, grand larceny), and the one holding a gun (Seth Whittles, possession of a loaded firearm without a license).
There were so many of them that the cops had to call in a police van. They loaded each of them in as they cleared out the rest of the house. Bridger stared daggers at Tuesday the second he saw her. Tuesday refused to look at him, focused entirely on Rafael. Ted and Vickie tried to hold hands in handcuffs. Bobby nodded at Wendy. Wendy smiled kindly at Seth. Vaughn was trying not to vomit.
Ricky was seated next to Vanessa, pushed together tight, almost no room between them.
“Weird night,” he said to her.
“Yeah,” she said. “Weird night. But thank you, for, you know, standing up to that cop for me.”
“Oh, yeah,” Ricky said. “Sure. I mean, anytime.”
Vanessa smiled and leaned over and kissed Ricky on the lips. “Maybe we could hang out sometime,” she said.
Ricky nodded. “How about tomorrow night, assuming we’re not both in jail?”
“Excellent,” Vanessa said.
The two of them sat there, handcuffed next to each other, smiles creeping across their faces. And in this way, the very end of the night contained its own kind of beginnings.
Tarine was the last one escorted to the van.
“I’m going to come get you,” Greg called to her. “I’ll be right behind the van.”
“Please!” she yelled, as the doors were shut. “These people are crazy.”
On the way to the precinct, the cops came across a crashed black Jaguar on the side of the road. The hood was crunched around a tree, the engine smoking.
They arrested the very drunk but completely unscathed Brandon Randall (driving while intoxicated).
Thirteen arrests, hundreds of people kicked out of the house, and the Rivas nowhere to be found.
By the time the clock struck 5:00 A.M., the party of the decade was over.
5:00 A.M.
The six of them sat on the beach in silence for a while, no one quite ready to move.
They had the answers to the questions Nina, Jay, Hud, Kit, and even Mick had held in the backs of their minds for the past two decades. Would he ever come back? Could he belong to them once more?
Yes. But no.
And so they all sat quietly as the world shifted and settled within each of them.
After what felt like hours, Nina stood up and wiped the sand off her legs. The Santa Ana winds were gearing up, she could feel it against her shoulders. “It’s getting cold,” she said.
The six of them put the surfboards back in the shed and started climbing back up the cliff.
• • •
Jay was reeling from almost everything that had happened over the past twelve hours. He was having trouble processing what had taken place, and he knew it would be some time until he truly understood it all. But there was one thing that felt clear to him now: He did not want to be anything like his father.
There had been so many times over the past years that Jay had hoped his father’s glory or prestige might have rubbed off on him. But now he could see plainly, he did not want to indulge that about himself the way his father had.
In fact, despite everything, he had to admit if there was a man in his life to look up to, it had always been Hud. As difficult as that felt to swallow at that given moment, it was still undeniably true.
As Hud struggled up the stairs, Jay came up behind. He put his arm out to help and said,
