Charlie Foster

A novel

By Raymond King Shurtz

When Charlie Foster fell into the river that late afternoon, no one really knew what to do. It had been raining on and off for three days, the river was muddy and moving fast, and the water was rising up over the grassy bank at least ten extra feet. Five or six of the ones who were there that day and saw him fall in moved as close to the water as they dared, standing motionless at the edge, silently looking for any part of him that might rise to the surface. Stephanie Knox swears she saw Charlie's arm and hand break the surface, but no one else saw anything else of Charlie, or at least that's what they told the police. It was a full ten seconds before anyone said or did anything. Nancy said it was like a movie moving in slow motion. Nancy said it was Jodie McDermott who was the first one do really do anything.

"Oh my God! Oh my God! Somebody do something! You guys! We can’t just let him—" Jodie didn't exactly know how to finish her sentence.

"CHARLIE!! You stupid idiot!" Jeff quickly took off his shoes and socks, followed by his shirt.

"Jeff, what are you doing?" Yelled a frantic Stephanie.

"He’ll drown!" Jeff quickly replied. "Do you think Charlie Foster knows how to swim? Hell, No!"

"Jeff, it’s stupid to go in that water!" Said Jana, assessing the situation.

"The water is too fast, Jeff—"

"Get some help!" Yelled Jeff, right before he dove into the water heading downstream.

"Jeff! I’ll call 911!" Jodie yelled, hoping she could somehow stop an already swimming Jeff. She pulled out her cell phone, and with shaky fingers pushed the three numbers.

"We have an emergency! At the river! I don't know, where are we you guys?"

"The dirt road by Castle rock," Jana responded, "Tell them to hurry!"

Meanwhile, Charlie Foster was confused at what had happened. The cold water had numbed his body immediately, and he was trying to remember if he knew how to swim. For several seconds, he didn't know if he were up or down in the water. He opened his eyes to see if he could see anything. The muddy water stung his eyes, and the next thing he felt was a branch hitting him on the side of the head as he began tumbling beneath the bank of the river. He reached out with his hand to see if he could hold onto something, but he was moving much too fast. Finally, he did get a hold of a branch, but the river was much stronger than the one arm he had to hold the branch. The last thing he remembered was that he couldn't breath.

Jeff looked up from his frantic freestyle stroke, his arms moving like two windmills. Jeff was a good swimmer, but the current was very fast. He took another breath and tried to slow down his stroke. He let the current carry him in hopes that it would take him in the same direction it carried Charlie. He claims he did see Charlie Foster that day, and in fact, as he went beneath the bank of the river, he ever says he had grabbed Charlie's wrist. Kyle Smith says that would have been impossible, because the river was moving much to fast and Jeff was to far behind him. It ended what little friendship he had with Kyle, in fact, they came very close to getting into a fight over it. Kyle said he was just using logic and he didn't understand why Jeff had to be such a putz about it. Jeff says that Charlie was holding onto a branch beneath the bank, and that's how he was able to catch up with him. After that, Jeff says, he let the current carry him down, but he almost had a hold of him.

When the fire trucks finally pulled down the dirt road towards the bank of the river, it was a full fifteen minutes later, and neither Jeff nor Charlie had been seen. Two of the firemen began running down the bank of the river, one of them pushing through the bushes and shrubs that lined the bank. The third fireman stayed behind, and was already beginning to ask questions. Nancy, Jana, and Stephanie had quickly collected all the beer and empty cans and had put them in the trunk of Stephanie's car before the fire truck had arrived, and before the police began to show up.

(Thank God,) thought Stephanie, (that no one really had time to get drunk.)

That was the first thing the policeman asked them, if Charlie or Jeff had been drinking.

"No, officer, we were just…out here…" Nancy had stammered, not really knowing what to say. She knew that Charlie had maybe drunk a couple of the beers, but not enough to have this happen, not enough for him to just fall in the river.

Mike Berry sat on a rock. He was running both of his hands through his hair, and his face was very red. That's what Nancy remembers. When Nancy had been smoking pot, she remembered things like that. What people looked like, what they were wearing, whether they were happy, sad, or even scared. It was her little secret. She could see things that other people couldn't see a portal of keen observation. She remembered that red face the most, and the look in his eyes. Mike Berry was really scared.

"Does someone want to tell me what happened?" The cop said.

Nobody said anything at first. Everyone stood in silence. Finally, Trisha stepped forward. "It was an accident, he fell into the water. It didn't look like he could swim. He just went under right away and disappeared. His name was Charlie Foster, and he didn't know how to swim."

" And the other boy?" The cop questioned.

"Jeff went in after him, to save him I guess, I mean, it happened so fast," Jana joined in.

Everyone was relieved when the fireman appeared from downstream with Jeff. The girls all began running down the riverbank until they reached him. The fireman put out his hand, as if to keep the girls away. As his hand pulled up, a large clap of thunder bit the air, causing them all to jump.

"Oh my God, Jeff! Don't ever do something like that again!" yelled Stephanie.

Jeff had a large scratch across his chest, and he was holding his hand. He looked like he was about to cry, that's what Nancy said later, and she wanted to cry too. She usually didn't get emotional when she was stoned, but this was different, (something in Jeff will never be the same,) she thought. Although the other girls were treating him as some kind of hero, she knew that Jeff didn't feel so heroic, he was just scared, and so was she.

Chapter Two

The next day, school was very quiet. An announcement was made in each of the classrooms that Charlie Foster's body had been found, and that he was dead. That's all they really said, although the rumor quickly spread around the school that he had been found two miles down stream, and that his body looked as though it had been badly beaten. Someone else had said that his arm was broken and was bent behind him like the guy in the Deliverance movie. The principal had wanted to do an assembly that day, but decided that it could wait for the next day, to see what other details emerged.

Juliet had come to school early that morning. Some of the kids in the drama department were making a banner that they could hang on Charlie's behalf. Although she had never spoken to him, Charlie had been in her Earth Science class. As she walked toward the auditorium, she was trying to remember exactly what he looked like. She could see the rows of desks, six in each row. He sat in the last row of the room, next to the wall, the second chair from the back. Charlie never answered questions when they were asked, and for some reason, Mr. Hendricks never called on him as he sometimes randomly did with other students. As she looked ahead, she saw the back of Jodie McDermott, walking just ahead of her. Although she had never spoken to Jodie, they often made eye contact while passing each other, and now they had something they could talk about. She walked up behind her, catching her gently on the arm. "You're Jodie McDermott?"

Jodie turned to face her, slightly smiling when she saw it was Juliet. "And who wants to know? Oh…you. Can I have my arm back?

"Sorry," Juliet replied as she released her arm.

"Now, where do I know you from? Oh, you were there." Jodie replied.

"We started in Drama, the first of the year," said Juliet.

"What happened to you?" Jodie asked.

"Oh, I switched to sixth hour, same class, only later," replied Juliet.

"Talk about art imitating life", Jodie said, "Talk about drama."

"Are you going to the funeral?" Juliet asked.

"I never miss a good funeral," she replied, "sorry, bad joke," she continued.

"Maybe we could go together," Juliet replied.

"You were there, weren't you? I mean I saw you there at the river."

"You know I was…" Juliet looked at her, more directly now.

"Strangest day in the history of the world," Jodie said, feeling tears welling up for the first time since it happened.

"You called 9-1-1," Juliet quickly said.

"I did."

"Did you know him?" Juliet asked.

"Did anyone really know Charlie Foster?" Jodie replied.

"Charlie was in my earth science class. I mean, I didn't really know him, he was, you know, quiet." Juliet said as they walked.

"Weird kid," Jodie replied.

They walked together towards the auditorium, the first of many times they would walk it for the remainder of the year.

Mike Berry didn't come to school the next day, or the next. In fact, it became obvious to the whole school that Mike Berry may not come back to school for the rest of the year. It was a little strange, because Mike Berry was a senior, and there was only two months of school left in the year. Rumors began to surface that Mike had some kind of emotional breakdown after Charlie died, and that he was even taken to a hospital. Everyone loved Mike Berry. He was the quarterback on the football team, and led the team to the state championships for the first time in twelve years. The college scouts swarmed around the coaches, his parents, and of course Mike himself. Everyone knew that Mike wanted to go to USC, but the college he had chosen had been a well kept secret the entire year. Mike was the perfect size for a quarterback, and he was also very good looking, a characteristic that he was modest about, and that's probably why people liked him all the more. He had the perfect shyness that attracted students and teachers alike, an A student, and more that enough athletic talent that made him a three sport legend. And now, he had disappeared right along with Charlie Foster. It was true that no one really understood how or why that Charlie Foster had ridden to the river that day with Mike and Kyle, but most said that Mike was such a nice guy that he had probably invited Charlie himself.

There were forty-two students who left school to attend Charlie's funeral. That didn't seem like a lot in a school of over 1200 students, but it was enough to make Charlie's grandmother very happy. Nancy told her mother that she was a very strange lady, wearing a Hawaiian mumu to the funeral, and it seemed like all she wanted to do was talk to the kids about what their future plans were. Nancy told her mother it was the strangest funeral she had ever been to. Nancy's mother responded that Nancy had only been to three funerals in her life. But, Nancy was adamant about it being just plain weird, and that no one really even knew this kid. Nancy said that the grandmother was the only relative there, and that she had brought three cats to the funeral, put them in cages, and set them down near the coffin. It was a closed casket, which only added to the mystery and rumors. Some said later that not only was Charlie's body beaten up and his arm broken, but that coyotes had pulled him from the river and eaten away most of his face and that's why the casket was closed. The crueler kids had said that it was probably a good thing, that his face was probably better for it. It was true that Charlie had a very bad skin problem, everyone knew that. In fact, it was probably why people knew who he was, he was The kid with boils on his face. Nancy also told her mother about Mike Berry, and now that he was absent from school, kids said that Mike and Charlie were even lovers, and that's why Mike freaked out. Nancy's mother said she didn't want to hear anymore about the funeral. That was fine with Nancy.

Charlie's death was ruled an accidental drowning, even though there was a short inquiry from a detective assigned to the case. Everyone knew that Mike and Charlie had been wrestling some on the bank of the river, but everyone was pushing each other that day, and that if anyone could be blamed, it had to be everyone. "That's what you did at the river, Kyle had said, you pushed each other." Everyone told the police that no one really saw what happened right before Charlie fell into the river. He could have stumbled, or he could have been really drunk. Trish Vander said that Charlie was downing beers like a maniac, and it didn't surprise her at all that he fell into the river. And "No," she had said, when the police asked her where he got the beer, she didn't know, "he must have had them in the bushes, he was the only person who seemed to be drinking."

It was a well-known fact that Trish Vander had a habit of telling gigantic lies and stories. She was the girl who was famous for allegedly sleeping with four of the main five players on the varsity basketball team. Everyone knew that some of this was probably true, but when the story broke around school, it was peppered with misinformation, and information that Trish herself had spread. Apparently, she wanted everyone to know that her goal was to take them one at a time in the back of a truck at a party in the desert on the same night. Mike Berry, she said, was the only one on the team who refused her generosity, but it was also known that Metro High's star guard, Frank Hernandez, would never consider getting in the back of a truck with Trish Vander, and besides, as Steven Cornell had pointed out, Frank wasn't even at the party, he was camping with his family, but this was just Trish, doing her thing. She seemed to thrive on everyone knowing about her sexual conquests, something that some of the girls even envied, though they would never really say it.

It was also known that if you wanted pills, Trish was your girl. Her parents' medicine cabinet had an endless supply, and if you knew Trish, or hung out with her for a day to listen to her stories, you could probably get them for free. She liked valium the best, she said, because they relax you, and as Trish was famous for saying, "God only knows, that I like to relax!" She was also the only girl at school who had been sent home for breaking the dress code, sometimes wearing skirts so short and tight that it often sent teachers into a panic. Her leopard skin skirt had caused Coach Myers to hyperventilate so badly that he had to leave school that day. Coach Myers was a Christian, as he often pointed out, and he had told the principal that Trish Vander was on a speedboat to hell, and something had to be done about it. Of course there were rumors that he was driving the speedboat, but that was also another one of Trish's stories. Even though everyone laughed at the image of Coach Myers driving Trish's speedboat, no one believed that Coach was even remotely involved with Trish Vander, but she did it seems, have an effect on his breathing.

On the morning that Charlie Foster had drowned in the river, Trish was being her wonderful self, and had one goal in mind that day, Mike Berry. This had been going on for the better half of the year. Mike was never mean to her, but he also wished she would just leave him alone. He could not seem to bring himself to tell her that, however, and so they were often seen together under suspicious circumstances. That afternoon, Trish had on her skimpiest black bikini, even though it was rainy and cool. As Stephanie Knox had pointed out, she was hanging onto Mike Berry's neck like a noose on a condemned man that day, and everyone saw that he was finally giving into her seduction. Of course when Charlie fell into the river, that changed everything. Mike Berry was left lamenting the death of Charlie Foster on a rock, and it would be the last time they ever saw each other.

No one could have predicted the impact that Charlie Foster's death would have on the school. New relationships were formed, old ones were ruined, and for the next two months moving right on into summer, Charlie Foster was to become the most popular kid in the school. Of course, Charlie probably didn't know it, even though Jimmy Dakes said he was most definitely still walking the halls. Jimmy even claimed he talked to Charlie one night after taking some acid. Jimmy was always coming up with new stories while he was taking drugs, but oddly enough, his stories all had a moment of truth that only Jimmy was capable of delivering. Many of the kids were scared that he was going to die in some awful way like Charlie had because he was so out of control, as Nancy pointed out, but people still listened to him and believed his Charlie Foster story. Jimmy said that he was sitting under a streetlamp watching the bugs fly around the light, when Charlie suddenly flew down and sat next to him. Jimmy said that Charlie just sat there smiling at him, and then started to talk about all the things he didn't get to do while he was on earth. Jimmy said he just sat there and listened to all of Charlie's ramblings, and then Charlie just got up and walked away. It would have been a story that would have been dismissed by most, but it was Jimmy Dakes, and Jimmy had credibility. The fact that Jimmy even mentioned cats in the story was freaky, especially to the ones who had gone to the funeral and saw the cats in front of the casket. He also said that Charlie's face was completely zit free, and that his body was lit up like a glow stick. The most hair raising part of Jimmy's story was that Jimmy stopped taking all drugs except for smoking pot after Charlie appeared to him, and then he got a job at a bakery.

Chapter Three

The week after Charlie's funeral, a teacher from the university started teaching an improvisation class after school to drama students who wanted to participate. Juliet and Jodie went together, and were rarely seen apart after Charlie's funeral. At the funeral, they had come together, sat next to each other, and then spent the afternoon listening to music, eating half of a chocolate cake and finally ending that evening watching Jesus's Son, a movie starring Billy Crudup and Samantha Morton, one of Jodie's favorite actresses. They found that they had so much in common that it was a little freaky, as though fate had resisted as long as it could, and finally brought them together. They both loved to read books, especially classical novels, and both of them wanted to be actresses when they finally left school. Although they were both juniors, they were relieved that they had one more year to finally get more involved in the drama department, even though, as Juliet finally admitted, they were both scared to death of being on stage. Together, however, they began a journey that would take all fear away from life and stage, or as Trish liked to say, when everyone began to notice how their relationship began to effect the whole school, "I didn't always like it, I mean, they were kind of like that movie, you know, Single White Female. They were like one crazy person for the price of two, sometimes Jodie would be the killer girl, and sometimes it would be Juliet."

Jodie thought it was funny when she heard Trish had said that, but Juliet didn't like it at all. Although she only knew Trish through stories and from that day at the river, she was determined to say something about it. It probably wouldn't have been to big of a deal except a kid in her drama class started calling her single white female. It didn't bother her at first, until Jodie and her watched the movie. Jodie thought it was funny, but Juliet was deeply offended by it.

"Why do you let it bother you so much?" Jodie had said to her.

"Because Jennifer Jason Leigh is a killer in the movie," Juliet had responded.

"Just let it go."

"That girl is a such a stoner whore." Juliet had said.

"She's actually pretty entertaining. I wouldn't be surprised if it wasn't someone else who started the story." Jodie responded, "it's really not her style, her stories are usually about herself."

It's true that Jodie and Juliet had become fast friends but that was pretty normal in high school. I mean most girl had their best friend, so, (why was it different for them?)

"Its because we are in the drama department. Most kids think its weird. Comparing us to a horror movie is their way of complimenting us really. I mean, its Jennifer Jason Leigh and Bridgett Fonda, I think that's pretty cool," Jodie explained, "besides, Trish's day is coming. Her stories will come to haunt her. Hey, maybe we should kill her!"

"Shut up! Why would you say that!"

"I'm only kidding!"

"Well don't kid like that, it freaks me out." Juliet replied.

"It freaks you out because you probably thought about it." Jodie pressed.

"What?" Jodie said loudly.

"Remember the first rule of improvisation?"

"Find the truth in the given circumstance," Juliet responded, finally laughing.

"Oh my God, that's funny." Jodie burst into laughter.

As Jodie and Juliet were becoming friends, Jeff was still struggling with the death of Charlie. Although his hand had not been seriously injured, it had taken him a full two weeks to get back in the water and swim. Even though swimming season had come and gone, the coach had required that all of the swimmers get their hours in the pool for the whole year. For two weeks, he would get in to his swimming suit but could not get himself into the water. He found himself standing on the edge of the pool, staring into the water, but unable to dive in. Sometimes, he would just sit on one of the benches and go over the situation with Charlie again and again. Finally, at the end of the two weeks, he dove straight in and swam for three miles. When he finally did stop, he surprised himself by crying uncontrollably at one end of the pool. No one was in the pool area, and he found a relief in allowing himself just to cry about it, even though he thought it strange, as he couldn't remember crying before, even as a small child.

Jeff was also having dreams about that day. Each dream was not exactly the same, but it always led to one part that was always the same each time. In each dream, he would get to the part where he would feel Charlie's wrist with his hand, and see bubbles coming out of Charlie's mouth and nose in the water. Even though the water was muddy that day, it seemed to him that beneath the bank of the river, the water was clear and very green. Charlie's eyes were always open during the dream, and he could see his hand, wrapped around a root of a bush that pushed out into the water. A teacher, Mr. Collins, had reached out to Jeff after class, and told Jeff that it might help if he would write down what he was feeling. He even gave him a composition book to do so, but it wasn't until after that first day in the pool that he wrote anything down.

First rule of water safety. If you go near the water, you better know how to swim, he wrote, one of many rules he would write down through the rest of the year and into the summer.

The improvisation class was a revelation to both Jodie and Juliet. Not only was the theatre teacher from the university in his early thirties, but, as Juliet said, "He was drop dead gorgeous." It was obvious that he loved what he did, and his love was contagious. It was the first time the girls found that Shakespeare was really pretty sexy, and that all things were possible on the stage and maybe, in life as well. The instructor sat on a chair several feet in front of them on the first day of the class, staring at each one of them silently. Finally, when the silence was so deep Juliet thought that she would faint, he spoke.

"All the world's a stage,


And all the men and women merely players:


They have their exits and their entrances;


And one man in his time plays many parts,


His acts being seven ages.

At first the infant,


Mewling and puking in the nurse's arms.


And then the whining school-boy,

with his satchel and shining morning face,

creeping like snail 
unwillingly to school.

And then the lover,
 sighing like furnace,

with a woeful ballad
made to his mistress' eyebrow.

Then a soldier,


Full of strange oaths and bearded like the pard,


Jealous in honour, sudden and quick in quarrel,


Seeking the bubble reputation
even in the cannon's mouth." Immediately, the entire twenty students were hooked.

The very first improvisation they did was the dead body improv. This was an exercise where each of the students were asked to come upon a dead body in the woods and react to it. Maybe it was because he had them under his spell so completely, or maybe it was because they were so curious and eager that the exercise became so powerful that no one ever forgot it. When the teacher asked who wanted to play the dead body, Jodie immediately shot up her hand. She lay down on her stomach, spread her arms out to her sides, turned her face downstage and let her breathing become shallow. Then she closed her eyes and died. The first girl walked up to Jodie's dead girl, took a step back and walked on. Every one looked at Mr. Fincher, but he all he said was, "Next." But, as each new student advanced on the body, the reactions became more dramatic and real. Finally, when it was Juliet's turn, she walked to Jodie's body, stopped, got on her knees and began to sob. At first, Mr. Fincher, the teacher thought of stopping her, for it was plain to see that her sobbing was real. But just as he was about to stop the exercise, Juliet grabbed her friend's arm and turned her over. She then reached beneath her shoulders and pulled her up into her arms. The room became silent again, except for the gently sobbing in Juliet's chest.

It was a full ten seconds before Mr. Fincher stopped the exercise. He walked onto the floor where Juliet was kneeling and gently touched her on the shoulder. When he stopped her, Jodie suddenly opened her eyes and made jazz hands, "Surprise!, she said, dead but not forgotten!" It broke the ice for the rest of the class and everyone started laughing. Juliet tried to laugh, but she was disappointed that the moment had ended. She thought she could have sobbed for a very long time. Mr. Fincher then explained the reason for the class, passed out the rules of improvisation, and bid them goodbye with another monologue from Shakespeare.

It was the first time in the budding relationship between Jodie and Juliet that they had nothing to say to each other. They walked to Jodie's car, saying nothing about the class or Mr. Fincher, the silence continued until Jodie dropped Juliet off at home.

Kyle Smith talked to Mike Berry only one more time after the day at the river. Kyle and Mike had been best friends since eighth grade after Mike had got him out of a scrap with some older boys. Of course Kyle was very different in eighth grade, insecure, tall and lanky, and full of questions. Mike had been just the opposite then, outgoing and fearless. It wasn't until he got in high school did he begin to feel insecure. In eighth grade, he was rather big for his age, maybe that helped him realize that he could use his size for good or bad. In Kyle's case, he used his size to scare the older boys away from Kyle, and eventually, took Kyle under his wing. Kyle was grateful, and became Mike's right hand man, doing things for him and making sure he knew how special he was.

When Kyle finally got some one to answer the phone, it was Mike's mother, who only said that Mike was staying at his aunt and uncles, and that he was going through a terrible time. When Kyle asked for a phone number where he could reach Mike, his mother had told him that it would be better not to call right now, that Mike would call him when he was ready. Kyle wanted to press the issue to Mike's mother, but decided that yes, Mike would call him for sure, after all, they had been friends for going on five years. Mike's mother then asked Kyle how he was doing, he said fine, but was also very sad that Mike was not around. Kyle tried to keep her on the phone, but it seemed like the more they talked about Mike, the more upset she got. Kyle told her he knew that Charlie Foster's death had a really strange effect on Mike, but it was ruled an accidental drowning and that it was determined that Mike had nothing to do with it. "Yes," she said, I know." And that was the end of the conversation.

Debbie Logan did not want to go to school the day after the accident. She didn't want to face the other students, she didn't want to answer any questions, and she certainly did not want to spend the day lamenting someone she had no connection to. She called Nancy, and told her not to pick her up, that she was taking a sick day and that Nancy could go on without her. "What?" Nancy had said. "No way! You are coming with me, on today of all days."

"What's the big deal about today," Debbie responded.

"Look, I know its Monday, and I know its going to be weird at school today, but you can't let me be there by myself," she said.

"Okay, are you on your way?" Debbie said.

"I'm almost there." Nancy responded.

It was almost ten minutes before Debbie emerged from her house to get in Nancy's old volkswagen. "You're stoned," she said when she got in the car.

"Half stoned," Nancy replied, I smoked about an hour ago, but plan on smoking the rest on the way to school. You in?"

"Might as well," replied Debbie, "I mean it is Charlie Foster day. Let's smoke to Charlie, and to the river, with its current so swift."

"Wow, gettin' poetic on me," Nancy responded. "You know, there's one thing I don't understand. Why didn't anyone just step forward and tell the police what happened. I mean, it was still an accident. Why didn't we say something?"

"I've been thinking about that all night," Debbie replied. "Its just, you know, one of those things."

Nancy took a half of a joint out of the ash tray and lit it. She took a long drag and held it in, then handed it to Debbie. Debbie took it, and did the same. The both finally laughed when they exhaled the smoke at the same time. It was almost time for the first bell to ring, and they would be ten minutes late. "I hate being stoned and late, said Nancy, everyone looks at you like, they know."

"That's because they do know," Debbie replied. They laughed again as they sat at a red light. The light seemed to take forever before it turned yellow. "Caution, said Debbie, caution light." Debbie wished she was still in bed, wished she could shut the curtains tight and sleep all day. No one was ever home from seven o'clock to six thirty in the evening, sometimes later, and today would have been a good day for sleeping. It was still cloudy, with a chance of a thunderstorm, exactly the kind of day that she liked to sleep.