It’s like they have no control over where they’re going. Do you know what I mean? It’s whatever the guidebook says, or their travel agent, or their friends who came to Miami last year. Sometimes…that’s how I feel…like a dumb tourist in my own life.”
“Why do you think that is?”
“Because I hold so much back, and I keep so much inside. It’s, like, all this time is going by, and there’s a life going on, but I’m just a visitor. It’s the strangest thing.”
Dr. Parker gave her a curious look.
“How does that make you feel?” Dr. Parker asked.
Vanity considered the question. “It makes me sad.”
“What kind of sadness? Describe it for me.”
Vanity tried to isolate the emotion. “It’s a feeling of loss, I guess. Sort of like I’m mourning a person that I used to be.”
Dr. Parker’s attention was total. “Go on.”
“When I was younger, I remember having such a strong sense of myself. Oh, God, I was fearless. I had no problem saying whatever I thought or felt. If something was fake, I called it on the spot. I danced. I played soccer. I did gymnastics. I didn’t care anything about boys. I laughed until I cried with my girlfriends. I felt secure in the fact that my father loved me, and I thought that connection would last forever.”
“What happened to that little girl?” Dr. Parker asked gently.
“She died a long time ago,” Vanity said.
From: Max
Pool party at the shore club. Can u roll or do u have 2 mow a lawn? lmao.
1:51 pm 6/23/05
Chapter Eight
F our-year-old Jovi Kelley was screaming blue murder…and so far he only had two feet ankle deep in the water. It was going to be a long summer with this kid.
But being stuck in a pool all day beat the shit out of bussing tables at Tony Roma’s, which is what Dante had been doing before landing the SafeSplash job.
“It’s okay, little man, it’s okay,” Dante assured him, his voice soothing but not too coddling. He lifted Jovi back onto the dry land of the coquina deck, a whitish-gray coral stone with natural fissures and fossilized shells.
Just as Jovi’s terror began to subside, his father came rushing out of the main house in a panic. “I heard him crying!” Rob Kelley exclaimed, his tone equal parts concern and accusation.
“Everything’s cool,” Dante said. “He’s just nervous. Isn’t that right, little man?”
At first, Jovi managed an affirmative nod, but then he rushed into his father’s arms, clung to him like a koala bear, and proceeded to bawl louder than a colicky baby.
Rob Kelley smothered the boy with kisses and stroked his back tenderly, cooing, “You don’t have to go in the scary water if you don’t want to, Jovi. Do you want to go inside for a snack? Do you want to watch a show? You know what? For being such a big boy today, I’m going to take you to the toy store and let you pick out anything you want.”
“Okay,” Jovi mumbled. And then he started sucking his thumb.
“Last summer we went through four swimming coaches,” Rob explained. “He can’t get past the fear. We just have to let him ease into this on his own time.”
Dante merely nodded. Jesus Christ, this kid didn’t stand a chance in life with Mr. Mommy at the controls.
Rob Kelley was the do-nothing husband of Naomi Kelley, the new It girl in Hollywood, thanks to her breakout star turn in Pink Hard Hat, a fluffy comedy about a pampered wife who starts a rival construction business to get back at a cheating ex. It was pretty much Legally Blonde on a building site. But the Monday after the movie’s first big weekend at the box office, Naomi’s price skyrocketed to fifteen million a picture.
Ka-ching. That explained Naomi and Rob’s megabucks lifestyle. They lived in a mansion inside a gated community on Hibiscus Island, an oasis crammed with prime real estate and only accessible by car via the MacArthur Causeway. Dante figured that the pool installation alone must’ve run at least half a mil. He’d never seen
“Why do you think that is?”
“Because I hold so much back, and I keep so much inside. It’s, like, all this time is going by, and there’s a life going on, but I’m just a visitor. It’s the strangest thing.”
Dr. Parker gave her a curious look.
“How does that make you feel?” Dr. Parker asked.
Vanity considered the question. “It makes me sad.”
“What kind of sadness? Describe it for me.”
Vanity tried to isolate the emotion. “It’s a feeling of loss, I guess. Sort of like I’m mourning a person that I used to be.”
Dr. Parker’s attention was total. “Go on.”
“When I was younger, I remember having such a strong sense of myself. Oh, God, I was fearless. I had no problem saying whatever I thought or felt. If something was fake, I called it on the spot. I danced. I played soccer. I did gymnastics. I didn’t care anything about boys. I laughed until I cried with my girlfriends. I felt secure in the fact that my father loved me, and I thought that connection would last forever.”
“What happened to that little girl?” Dr. Parker asked gently.
“She died a long time ago,” Vanity said.
From: Max
Pool party at the shore club. Can u roll or do u have 2 mow a lawn? lmao.
1:51 pm 6/23/05
Chapter Eight
F our-year-old Jovi Kelley was screaming blue murder…and so far he only had two feet ankle deep in the water. It was going to be a long summer with this kid.
But being stuck in a pool all day beat the shit out of bussing tables at Tony Roma’s, which is what Dante had been doing before landing the SafeSplash job.
“It’s okay, little man, it’s okay,” Dante assured him, his voice soothing but not too coddling. He lifted Jovi back onto the dry land of the coquina deck, a whitish-gray coral stone with natural fissures and fossilized shells.
Just as Jovi’s terror began to subside, his father came rushing out of the main house in a panic. “I heard him crying!” Rob Kelley exclaimed, his tone equal parts concern and accusation.
“Everything’s cool,” Dante said. “He’s just nervous. Isn’t that right, little man?”
At first, Jovi managed an affirmative nod, but then he rushed into his father’s arms, clung to him like a koala bear, and proceeded to bawl louder than a colicky baby.
Rob Kelley smothered the boy with kisses and stroked his back tenderly, cooing, “You don’t have to go in the scary water if you don’t want to, Jovi. Do you want to go inside for a snack? Do you want to watch a show? You know what? For being such a big boy today, I’m going to take you to the toy store and let you pick out anything you want.”
“Okay,” Jovi mumbled. And then he started sucking his thumb.
“Last summer we went through four swimming coaches,” Rob explained. “He can’t get past the fear. We just have to let him ease into this on his own time.”
Dante merely nodded. Jesus Christ, this kid didn’t stand a chance in life with Mr. Mommy at the controls.
Rob Kelley was the do-nothing husband of Naomi Kelley, the new It girl in Hollywood, thanks to her breakout star turn in Pink Hard Hat, a fluffy comedy about a pampered wife who starts a rival construction business to get back at a cheating ex. It was pretty much Legally Blonde on a building site. But the Monday after the movie’s first big weekend at the box office, Naomi’s price skyrocketed to fifteen million a picture.
Ka-ching. That explained Naomi and Rob’s megabucks lifestyle. They lived in a mansion inside a gated community on Hibiscus Island, an oasis crammed with prime real estate and only accessible by car via the MacArthur Causeway. Dante figured that the pool installation alone must’ve run at least half a mil. He’d never seen
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