CHAPTER 3

      VERSUS

      People understand me so poorly that they don’t even understand my complaint about them not understanding me.

      —Søren Kierkegaard, The Journals of Kierkegaard

      The next day, Mason comes down for breakfast in his favorite H&M sweatshirt and jeans. Hannah is scrambling eggs, frying bacon, and cutting up some cantaloupe. Mason always looks forward to these big breakfasts. He has a sip of his mom’s coffee and internally debates telling her about Wesley but decides he doesn’t want to get into it. He figures Hannah would want to summon Wesley’s spirit back, and Mason really didn’t care to see him again.

      “Good morning, Mason.” His mom hugs him tight, and he squeezes her back. She smiles widely. “I’m so proud of you, Mason.” She holds a letter in her hand. “This $25,000 academic scholarship to Boston University is such a tremendous accomplishment.”

      Mason looks down and then lifts his gaze to meet Hannah’s. He pauses a few moments before replying, “Mom, you know I don’t want to go to Boston University. I want something else, something different.”

      Frustrated, Hannah answers her son sternly, “Mason, you don’t know what you’re talking about. Life isn’t a game. You can’t turn down a scholarship because you want to do something else but don’t know what that something else is. You can’t just throw it away! You’re not making any sense!”

      Mason rises from his chair, pushing it backward that it almost falls, and storms out of the kitchen. Sitting alone in his room, he recalls how sad and defeated his mother always appeared when she had to pick up Mason from the school for fighting with other kids. Mason put his mother through a lot, but this is his life, and he can’t let his guilt get in the way of his goals. He can’t just do what Hannah wants to appease her for the burden of raising him as a single mom.

      When Mason was a little boy, his days were filled with days at the beach, nights catching fireflies, and finger painting with his grandparents who lived with him in the house on Peaks Island. But when they died, Mason was suddenly alone with his mom in a town where many people considered Hannah an outcast because of her work as a medium. When his grandparents were alive, Mason always felt he had their support and protection. They were well respected with the neighbors and would never allow anyone to speak negatively of Mason or Hannah. In particular, Mason’s grandmother was known to have a sharp tongue and never hesitated to tell someone to mind their own business when they inquired in a negative way about Hannah being a medium, and her quiet, oddly serious son.

      One day, when Mason was about nine years old, their neighbor, Ms. Langely, was trimming her boxwood bushes. When she saw Mason’s grandmother sitting in the backyard with her usual afternoon iced tea, she walked over still wearing her wide brimmed hat and gardening gloves and asked, “Honey, what is going on with all those people coming and going from your place lately?”

      Knowing that Ms. Langely had a penchant for gossip, Mason’s grandmother replied, “Ms. Langely, such a hot day today, isn’t it? Come here and have a glass of iced tea with me. Rumor has it that you are no longer interested in being the town gossip.”

      Ms. Langely’s jaw dropped, and she walked away in a huff. But now, Mason’s grandparents were gone, and Mason felt the town’s eyes and talk around him everywhere he went.

      Then there was also Anthony Villas, James’s father. The friendship between Anthony and Hannah began to develop when Mason and James were only four years old. Their relationship slowly grew over afternoons watching the kids play hockey. Anthony would always bring Hannah a hot coffee and sit beside her as they cheered their kids on. He was warm and understanding toward Hannah because he could relate to being a single parent. Anthony became a father in his midtwenties when his girlfriend unexpectedly became pregnant with James. They knew the relationship was not meant to last and decided to share custody of their son.

      Mason always cringed when he saw how Hannah smiled in Anthony’s presence. He could tell his mother was attracted to Anthony’s rugged appearance. His hair was dark and wavy, and he always had a bit of facial hair. Anthony always smiled when he looked at Hannah, and it was genuine and bright. His eyes were a light brown but looked hazel in the sunlight. A regular at the gym, Anthony had a muscular physique. He was intelligent, giving, and not arrogant in the least. He seemed perfect…a perfect threat to Mason. The idea of his mother with his best friend’s father was unnerving. More than once, Mason missed a shot on the ice because he was too distracted trying to catch a glimpse of how Hannah was behaving with Anthony.

      Mason didn’t discuss his agitation about Anthony with James. He and Mason played hockey together since they were toddlers and were more like brothers than friends. Oddly, the two boys always looked like brothers too. They had the same hair and eye color, but James was just an inch or so taller than Mason. Unlike Mason, James was always popular with the kids at his school.

      One evening when Mason was about twelve years old, Hannah came to pick up Mason from the Villas’ home. He heard Anthony invite Hannah in for a cup of tea. Mason listened in while James finished playing a video game. Anthony talked about how he moved to New York after college, but when his father fell ill, he returned home to Maine to help his parents.

      “I have an idea I’d like to share with you. I see plastic cups all over the beach, and as you know, I grew up beside the beach in Maine and have loved the ocean my entire life. Every time I go to the grocery store and see all the plastic bags being used to pack food, all I could think about is how much of it will end up in the ocean. I can’t pick up a plastic fork at a fast food restaurant anymore without thinking that I am holding a meaningless and wasteful object that never disintegrates. I have been saving money for years but need more to accomplish what I want. Do you think you’d be interested in organizing and hosting fundraisers for me? I think you’d be great at it, and I would be forever in your debt.”

      Over the next two years, Hannah helped coordinate many of those fundraising events. Eventually, Anthony opened a small grocery store concept where absolutely no plastic or waste is created. Together with a friend of a friend who owned a farm, they produced all their own produce, meat, and dairy and sold it at the store. There was no plastic used. Everything was transported with reusable crates. The store sold canvas tote bags and glass containers that customers were urged to bring back and reuse. The first store was a huge success, and Anthony opened several more stores in the East Coast.

      One year ago, Anthony was approached by a representative of a chain grocery store who offered him a massive sum of money to use the store’s name, “Tony’s,” and turn his concept into a nationwide chain. Anthony agreed and since then has slowly amassed a small fortune.

      Mason