Fourth of July

When Kaitlynn Westergart steps outside, she takes out her cell phone and calls Vincent Rousseau to let him know that she’s out of the house. Within five minutes, he shows up to escort her to his Honda. “You look nice,” he says, as friendly as he can be while holding her hand.

“Thanks.” She gives him a small smile.

When they head over to his Honda, he holds the door open for her and shuts it after her, then he comes in on the driver’s side. He starts the car and begins heading off to the road to wherever he has his birthday surprise for Kaitlynn.

There is a moment of awkward silence before Kaitlynn asks, “Where exactly are we going, Vincent?”

He smirks. “If I told you that, Katie babe, it would ruin the surprise. That’s the whole point, you know.”

She sighs. She hates it when he calls her “Katie” or “babe”, especially since they’re no longer together. She only did the courteous thing by showing up for him. Other than that, she owed him absolutely nothing.

“Well, can I at least have some kind of clue?” she asks. She is persistent; she’s not a fan of surprises.

For some reason, it annoys him. “Jesus, what the fuck’s your problem? Don’t you understand the whole point of  a surprise?” he snaps.

“Okay… I’m sorry.” Kaitlynn mutters as she rolls her eyes.

“You better be sorry.” Vincent glares at her as he continues driving until they reach the boardwalk of another local beach, Silent River Beach. Apparently, Vincent had made a dinner reservation for two at Riverside Seafood, a fancy seafood restaurant. This is the best surprise for Kaitlynn; there’s nothing that she loves more than a nice walk across the boardwalk and getting a feel of the gentle breeze blowing through her hair. Before they can go inside the restaurant for their dinner date, Vincent suggests that they stand along the boardwalk and just take in the nice, fresh breeze of the evening.

“Do you like this?” he asks her softly.

“Like this?” A tear falls down her eye. “I… I love it. Is this my surprise?”

“Yes, it is, Kate. Happy birthday.” He gives her a kiss on the cheek. A kiss that clearly means nothing if they’re not together in that sense of the word.

Kaitlynn does her best to fight back tears, unable to break the news to him that she’s carrying his child. There’s no telling how he will react, but if he reacts negatively, she must be prepared.

“Well, aren’t you the overly emotional type?” He smirks.

“Vince, I… I have to tell you something.”

“Okay. Let’s go inside the restaurant, and we can talk.”

“No, I…” She wants to have a private conversation with him. “It’s really important, and I’d rather we have some privacy.”

“Okay.” He glances at her with suspicion, and they go to a more private area of the beach. There’s not a large crowd of people out at this time of the night. “So, what is it? Are you feeling sick or something?”

“Ah… Not really.” She gives him a nervous smile.

“What do you mean, not really? You’re starting to scare me.”

Kaitlynn takes a deep breath before she spills out the three words that have been holding her back for the past few weeks. “Vincent, I’m pregnant.”

For a moment, he is speechless. He stares at her with disbelief, then glances around as if he’s looking for an answer somewhere out there, then turns to face her. “What?”

“Didn’t you hear what I just…”

“I heard you loud and clear. Is this… What, is this a joke or something? How can this possibly be real?”

She’s anticipated that reaction. “Vince, I… I’m so sorry. Five weeks ago after we broke up, I discovered that I hadn’t had my period in a few days or so, and I just…”

He puts his hand up. “Hold on, hold on… You knew all along about this for five weeks since we broke up, and you didn’t even bother to mention a single word to me until now?” He shakes his head in disbelief. “Five damn weeks. That’s how long it took for you to figure that out. What the hell, Kaitlynn? Who have you been screwing? How are you so sure that it’s mine?”

She is indignant by his level of questioning. “Hey, now that’s a very stupid question. Who have I been screwing? No one else but you! Who else could this baby possibly belong to, Vincent?”

He scoffs. “What, so you think I’m dad-material? You think you’re gonna keep this baby and we’ll live happily ever after and get married and all that fairytale shit? Is that what you want, Kaitlynn? You just turned 20! Is this how you want to enter your twenties, a married mom, or a single mom? I’m 24, and I’ve been in the Army and I’m broke as hell… Where does this leave us? We’re not together anymore. Damn, how the hell can you be so self-centered? What the hell is wrong with you?”

“Self-centered?” Kaitlynn snaps. “You think me choosing to keep a baby is ‘self-centered’? You don’t get to decide what goes on in my body, Vincent. It’s my body, my choice. Though if it makes you feel any better, I’ll probably give it up for adoption once it’s born.”

He scoffs as he shakes his head. “No way in hell you’re giving my child away to foster care or some strangers.”

“Well, a few seconds ago, you didn’t think you were dad-material. So, now you don’t want me to give it up? Which one is it, Vincent?”

“You’re on your own, or you can get rid of it. That’s all I can say.”

Kaitlynn shakes her head in disgust. “You’re so unbelievable, Rousseau.”

“Why, just because I’m being honest about how I feel about having a kid at 24?” Vincent snaps. “We’re practically kids ourselves, Katie. We don’t even know shit about taking care of another human being, yet alone a small, defenseless one. And with my reputation around town as a ‘woman beater’, I couldn’t possibly have my kid grow up resenting me.”

Kaitlynn sighs in frustration. “Unbelievable. So, your reputation as a woman beater is much more important than what our future holds? And you have the right to call me self-centered. You’re the one who’s self-centered, Vincent.”

“What future?” he chuckles. “I don’t even know where we’ll be one year down the line. You really think you’re capable of being a mom, all on your own?”

“It’s not an unfamiliar concept, Vincent. Maybe it is to you, but it’s normal for a woman to raise her baby without a man by her side. I’ll try to find a decent-paying, full-time job to help support me. And I have my parents and Jessa. I have people who will be there for me when I need them. I don’t need a man, and I certainly don’t need you in my life.”

Vincent looks like he’s had it up to here with Kaitlynn’s demands. “You know what?” He starts pacing around. “This was a mistake.”

“What? What’s a mistake?”

“Everything.” He continues pacing. “All this. Coming out here tonight… Being in this relationship with you. Everything’s a mistake. No wonder everyone would say that we’re totally wrong together. Because we are.” He chuckles. “Not unless you’ve got another smart-mouthed comment for me.”

“I really don’t have anything else to say,” Kaitlynn says as she takes a deep breath to calm herself down, “because I agree with you, too. I’m done.”

He glares at her. “You’re done? With what, exactly?”

“Everything. I’m done with you, this relationship, putting up with your constant mistreatment of me. I’m done with every single one of it. I’m not coming back to you again after this. I just wanted to use tonight as a chance to tell you that I’m pregnant, and just as I feared… You’re taking this as badly as I thought you would. So, yeah, I’m done with you, Vincent. Don’t even try to change my mind as if you own me, because you don’t. I’m not your property. I’m a human person with real feelings, and somehow you don’t even seem to understand that.” She turns his back to him as she walks up to the edge, glancing down at the water, taking in the stillness of the evening breeze, post-fireworks.

He runs his hand smoothly through her hair, and she does not resist. “I’m sorry,” he says softly. “About my reaction.”

Kaitlynn sighs as she shakes her head. “Don’t even try to apologize. It means nothing to me at this point. I just… I want to go back home, okay? Can we head back home now and forget this whole night has ever happened?”

“Yeah, we can go back home,” Vincent glares at her, “but I’m not forgetting anything. I won’t forget my ex-girlfriend telling me that she’s pregnant on her 20th birthday. How do you expect me to just get over something like that?”

“Because I’m kind enough to let you know, at the very least. Other girls who are in my position would keep it mum, even from their boyfriends. Or ex-boyfriends, I guess I should say.”

“Well, you still didn’t need to let me know because I’m not sure what part of your small-minded brain thinks I’m capable of raising a kid in my mid-twenties. I’m not having this.” He shakes his head. “Like I said before, you can either deal with it on your own and be the mommy that you so desire, or you can get rid of it. But one thing’s for sure… You will not give my child away.”

“What the hell?” Kaitlynn can’t control herself from raising her voice. “You are so selfish, Vincent!”

He makes a fist. “You raise your voice again, and…”

“And what?” Kaitlynn folds her arms. “You’re gonna hit me in a public place?”

“There’s no one else around. Who’s gonna rat me out? You better stop this, Kaitlynn, and have some self-control.”

She scoffs. “You’re the one who needs self-control. Like I said, I’m done.” She takes her phone out of her purse. “I’m gonna call for a ride to come get me, and I’ll spend some time with the girls instead. You just get on home and do whatever the hell you’ve always wanted to do.”

“Kaitlynn…” He gently puts his hand on her shoulder, perhaps as a last resort to convince her to stay with him for the rest of the evening.

She fights him off this time, pushing his hand away. “Don’t touch me! Can’t you take a hint?”

His face turns red as a tomato. “How dare you lay your hand on me?” He slaps her.

A tear runs down Kaitlynn’s face. “Okay, now you’ve gone too far!” On her phone, she dials 911 and when the operator’s voice says, “911, what’s your emergency”, Vincent grabs her phone and tosses it aboard. It has landed in the water.

“Who are you gonna call now?” He smirks.

Without a word, Kaitlynn starts to run to the shore, hoping to retrieve her phone, but in those very few seconds… Vincent shoves her, causing her to fall over the edge and she screams as she lands on her head on top of one of the beach tents, followed by hitting her head on one of the umbrellas, causing her to bounce back up and then land head-first onto the sandy ground. She is lying right by the water, unconscious, her phone floating around in a way where she won’t be able to retrieve it anymore. It’s gone for good.

Vincent gasps at the shock and horror of what he’s done. The water has caught up with Kaitlynn, and she is now floating in the water. She has not regained consciousness yet, and from this angle, Vincent cannot tell whether she is still breathing or not, but it’s very unlikely that she still has a pulse. She hit her head really hard on the ground, and now she is floating around aimlessly in the water. No one else is around. It probably wasn’t the best idea to come to the beach or boardwalk at this time of the evening in the first place, but he just wanted to give her a pleasant surprise for her birthday. Well, so much for pleasant surprises now.

“Kaitlynn!” he screams at the top of his lungs in sheer panic as he runs over to the shore. “Kaitlynn, please… Give me a sign if you can hear me!”

There is no response from Kaitlynn, verbal or movement. She is lying still, almost as if she is asleep or passed-out drunk, in the water. A panicked Vincent rushes to her rescue by taking off his shirt, pants, and shoes and tossing them aside on the shore. Then he goes into the water, barefooted, swimming up to her in an attempt to perform CPR on her. “Please, please, please come out of it,” he begs. “If you don’t make it tonight… I don’t think I can live with myself.” A tear falls down his face. “Come on, Kaitlynn. Please come out of it!”

No avail. He grabs her by the arms and gently carries her out of the water and back onto shore. Then he places her gently on the sand and puts his ear on her chest, trying to find a pulse but unable to locate one. He turns her around and sees that she’s sustained a lot of injuries from her hit against the tents and umbrellas on the beach. There is a large gash on her forehead. “Fuck, fuck, fuck,” he whispers to himself. “How is this even happening?”

“Stay here,” he tells her. “I’m gonna try to go in to retrieve your phone, okay?” He shakes his head, rolling his eyes. “What do I mean, stay here? It’s not like you’re able to get up and move, anyway. This is all my fault. I shouldn’t have yelled or laid a hand on you.” Teary-eyed, Vincent goes back into the water and goes swimming, trying to find Kaitlynn’s phone, which has now submerged deep into the water. He can’t even go underwater, even if he tried, no matter how strong and experienced of a swimmer he is. There’s no getting her phone back now. No way to call for help. His own phone is devoid of battery. Dead… 

Just like Kaitlynn.

“Kaitlynn…” He tries to wake her up again after he’s gotten out of the water. Still no avail, of course. He grabs his pants, his dress shirt and shoes and tries to remove sand stains on each of them so that he can put them back on again. They’re covered with a little bit of sand and water, but it’ll have to do for now. Kaitlynn is the one in need of help. How is it possible that she’s dead? It’s not like he planned to knock her overboard.

“Okay, you know what? We’re out of here. I’ll take you to my car, and I’ll try to figure out the next steps from there.” He gently carries her into his arms, surprised by how light enough she is to be carried. There’s no one else around, unfortunately, but at least no one will suspect anything criminal that just took place. When they get to his car, he gently places her on the back passengers’ seat. He puts his head on her chest once again to confirm that she is, indeed, gone and unable to be saved. Just my luck, he thinks to himself.

“Kaitlynn, I’m so sorry, okay?” he sobs. “Please forgive me. I’m trying my best to save you here. Ah, fuck,” he groans when he makes it to the driver’s seat. He sits for a moment in pure agony and despair, trying to come up with a good way to explain this bizarre night to anyone who’s willing to listen. His phone is dead, and he has no one else to call. Well, he’s just going to have to find the nearest phone booth and make an emergency call.

He starts driving, making his way out of Silent River Beach. He is lucky enough to know that no pedestrian or passerby is suspicious of his prior activities, nor are they aware that there is a deceased young woman in the vehicle. He should be lucky enough to find some means of help for her, whether it is too late or not.