Anyway, we went out, like usual, except this time, Bess got to come.
And Pfeff was acting funny, like maybe he was drunk.
He was zigzagging the boat and being wild,
and it’s
true,
it seems impossible for someone to be drunk at six in the morning, but we are pretty sure he was, because he was like, singing and being weird.
We tried to get him to eat some breakfast, but he said no, and when he stopped the boat, we all went swimming, like we usually do.
We should probably have tried to make sure Pfeff didn’t swim, because of course you shouldn’t swim when you’re drunk,
and we really are very careful, usually, but we weren’t thinking. Well, it’s true
Carrie did say “Don’t go in, Pfeff,” but he just laughed and jumped in anyway.
Then we were swimming and he went kinda far away from the boat, really far, but he was laughing and everything was fine and then Penny got out of the water.
She was leaning over the edge talking to Bess when something went funny with the anchor. The yellow nylon thing, the rope that goes down to the chain part of the anchor, that was like, all frayed, and Penny heard a flop sound and she was like, “Oh my god, I think the rope just broke.”
Carrie and Bess got out of the water to look and we pulled up the anchor and it wasn’t even there anymore. The rope had broken.
We were all busy with that and we were worried you’d be mad at us for losing the anchor, Daddy, even though it wasn’t our fault, but it’s true
that we hadn’t checked the cord was strong and we do know you’re supposed to check the cord is strong every time you weigh anchor, but anyway, it’s true
we were totally distracted and when we looked up, we couldn’t see Pfeff.
We called him and called him, and we looked all around, and he just wasn’t there.
He went under.
We couldn’t find him.
We started the boat and we went around, looking for him and looking, and calling, but he wasn’t there.
It could have been a shark, because you know how people talk about sharks in the water, even though we’ve never seen one, or it could have been just that he was drunk
and he choked on some water, or breathed it in, and we don’t know, he went under.
We called and called and looked and looked, and finally, we came home, to you,
Mother and Daddy.
We’re so scared.
63.
TIPPER WANTS TO ring the police, but Harris isn’t sure. He says he doesn’t want them involved. He says it is a family matter.
Tipper counters that with an accidental death you have to call the police. And they could search for Pfeff. Maybe he’s still alive.
“He’s not alive,” I say.
“He could be,” says Tipper. “Clinging to a buoy or trying to swim ashore.”
“He was nowhere,” I say. “We looked.”
“I don’t want police on the island,” says Harris.
“Darling, please,” says Tipper. “We have to do right by that boy.”
In the end, my father agrees and Tipper rings the police—but it is three hours before their boat arrives, and even Tipper has to admit that Pfeff would have swum to shore by now if he had any hope of doing so.
She is somber as we meet the police boat at the staff dock. It unloads two Martha’s Vineyard officers in uniform. Both are ruddy white guys. One is burly and young, a buffalo of a man. The other is wiry, weathered, and quite a bit older, more of a python.
They assure us that a team is looking for Pfeff at sea. They ask us questions about where we were anchored when he died.
We lie.
They accept coffee from my mother. They say they do not need to talk to Major and George, Luda or Gerrard, but they speak briefly to my parents and interview me, Penny, and Bess separately.
My sisters and I all know our story.
I sit down with the officers in the dining room. My skin feels sore from fatigue but I force myself to look them in the eyes.
What time did you take the boat out?
“Five-thirty.” I know my mother’s alarm rings at 5:45.
That’s awfully early.
“We wanted to catch the sunrise.” I looked the time up in the morning paper.
Still, that’s early for teenagers, yeah?
“It’s a thing we’ve done before,” I say. “You can ask George and Major. But the truth is, sir, we planned this particular morning extra early, thinking my little sister Bess would sleep through and not come with us. She’s always wanting to do things with the older kids, you know? A tagalong.”
The early start time was supposed to be a deterrent.