Читать книгу Dandelions - Darby Jr. Rae - Страница 4

I didn’t want to be at the beach. If I had a normal life, I’d spend my Saturday sitting with my friends talking about who the cute guys were and what we wanted to buy at the mall. But my life was anything but normal.

We’d been in Kilkenny, South Carolina for eight days. Mom had gone back to Savannah that morning to take care of people more important to her than her family, I guess. That probably wasn’t fair to say, but it was how I felt. Why couldn’t my brothers and I have stayed with her in Savannah? Jon could still do his work here. That would have been a better idea. They disagreed. Now Mom was alone, and we were with Jon, the poster child for the Awkward Boy Scout Leader, if that isn’t redundant.

That morning we had finished priming the rest of the kitchen cabinets, then headed for Clowder Beach – more of a local beach than a gathering spot for tourists, not that Kilkenny had many, from what I could tell. Jon insisted on making the 10 minute drive to the beach, a 90 minute torturous, boring field trip through our new hometown. My little brothers were their typical immature selves – they mocked each other in the back seat and knocked me in the head with their rafts. By the time we reached the beach, I was close to being car sick, sick of my family and sick of smelling Jon’s cinnamon gum.

Finally we parked at the beach, and Boy Scout Jon led us through the sand in search of the perfect spot. Besides being a fashion emergency in his dark plaid shirt and short khaki shorts, he had my old Little Mermaid backpack slung over his shoulder and dragged our cooler ineptly behind him. I wondered if the cooler was too heavy for him to navigate or if he was just naturally ungraceful. I should have been thankful he didn’t bring a Boy Scout whistle… that would’ve been the cherry on top.

“Come on troop, let’s stay together. Tess, you’re laggin’ a bit.”

I tried not look around at who was staring at him or me. I stuck my eyes to the ground and hid my face with my hair. Would they know I was Tess and lagging on purpose?

Luckily I looked nothing like Jon. He had muddy brown hair, hazel eyes and a medium skin tone, unlike my skin that needed SPF 2000 to keep from burning. My brothers both had a mop of blonde, curly hair and our dad’s olive skin. The only trait we had in common was our eye color, blue.

“Anyone up for exploring?” Jon asked after obsessing over our setup for easily 20 minutes. Even Max was exasperated. I looked at my brothers who were clearly as interested in a break from Jon as I was. Their eyes pleaded at mine. I was momentarily tempted to sacrifice their sanity for my serenity.

“I’ll keep an eye on them while you go for a walk, Jon. Take your time. I have my cell phone,” I said, and I patted the pocket of my shorts.

“All-righty then.”

Geeze…who says all-righty?

“I’m going to head north toward the rocks. I think it divides this little beach from the main one.” Jon pointed toward a jagged rock wall far in the distance. I didn’t care what he was doing as long as it took him a long time.

“Yeah, we’ll be fine here with Tessie. Go find out what’s on the other side of the wall!” Gabe had excitement in his voice, but I knew the excitement was for being Jon-less for awhile. Jon didn’t catch on. He walked about twenty feet away and then looked back waving goodbye at us, as if he was leaving for weeks. We should be so lucky. We stood with smiles plastered on our faces talking to each other through clenched teeth.

“How long do you think he’ll be gone?” Gabe asked without changing his expression.

“Not long enough,” Max answered with an oddly stoic look for a seven year old.

I held back my laughter to defend Jon. “I know he annoys us, but …” I was stuck…but what? I asked myself. Gabe echoed my internal question.

“But what, Tess?” They both looked at me. When I didn’t speak up my brothers took turns finishing my sentence.

Max led the assault. “But not as much as he annoys Mom?”

“But he doesn’t know he’s annoying?” Gabe lowered his voice, looked around and put his hand up to his mouth as if he was going to tell a secret. “If we’re lucky, he’ll find someone else to annoy on the other side of the wall!”

“If we’re lucky, they’ll…”

I held my hand up to stop Max from another insult. We weren’t just laughing; we were howling and calling attention to ourselves. I caught my breath.

“But we need to give him a break, especially while Mom’s gone.”

They responded to my statement with sneers. Neither of my brothers bought into my act of compassion.

“Allllll-righty?” I asked, imitating Jon. We all broke down into hysterics again. “But really, we need to try not to do anything to make him annoy us any worse.” They both smiled and nodded in agreement. Then they didn’t waste any more time and cut to the water.

Now, finally, I could spend time with my friends. The only friends I had. Their lives were exciting, filled with love, adventure and danger. My friends were loyal, beautiful and smart. They were strong and fierce and courageous. They lived in caves and castles, jungles, space and the sea. I read all kinds of books, but my favorites were ones with vampires, witches and other fantasy creatures. Their adventures took me away from the boring world I lived in.

Today I lay on the blanket facing the crashing waves and pulled out Daughters of the Forgotten Sea. It seemed appropriate to read a book about mermaids while at the beach.

My mind drifted for awhile. What would it be like to be a mermaid? I closed my eyes envisioning myself in the story; saving the humans from certain death. In my life, friends and adventure only existed in the books I read and in my imagination. Pathetic.

I wanted to be Hannah, the youngest mermaid. She was beautiful with fiery, auburn hair that flowed down to her waist. Hannah was careless and heroic, things I wished I was. Instead, I was responsible and organized.

I closed my eyes again and imagined – would I have the courage Hannah had to brave the storm and the danger of being seen by the humans? I could feel the adrenaline rush. I imagined in the distance a young boy calling for help, my help.

“Help, Help!” I heard in my mind.

I’m coming!

“Hurry, hurry!” my imagination said, playing along.

“I’m hurrying,” I whispered back, fiercely.

“Tess, are you deaf? Now! Hurry!”

My eyes snapped open when my book was kicked out of my hand.

“Tess!” It was Gabe with a panicked look on his face. He pointed out to the water where Max was on his raft being pulled out further and further by the tide. My head whipped left and right to see if there was a lifeguard nearby; no guard stands. It didn’t matter; I didn’t need help. I may not be a mermaid, but I swam like one.

As I pulled my shorts off, I was passed on either side by two teenage guys who ran like high school track stars. They both entered the water in full stride and swam in Max’s direction. I didn’t stop. I ran toward the water throwing off my tank top. I should have left it on. Two-piece bathing suits weren’t made for running or lifesaving.

I hit the water and swam hard. The thinner guy ran fast and swam fast, unbelievably fast. The tide continued to tow Max further out, but the thinner guy finally reached him. Max remained on the raft holding on for his life while his rescuer swam back one-handed. The other hand gripped Max’s raft. The bigger guy treaded water halfway between them and the shore. I could have caught up to Max, but didn’t see the need to wrestle my brother away from the local show-offs. Instead, I swam back to where I could stand and waited.

The thin guy battled the current. His swim back was visibly more difficult than his swim out, but he made steady progress. In the last few yards before reaching his swimming partner, his speed picked up. Max didn’t look any more at ease even though he was halfway to shore. His hands still dug into the raft, and his eyes were glued to me.

I watched as my brother was passed from one guy to another like the baton in a relay race. The second guy was bigger, like a high school football star. He had wide shoulders and big arms. He didn’t swim as quickly, likely weighed down by his big muscles and probably even bigger ego.

When Max was close enough, he sprang off the raft toward me. I nodded at the guys as a thank you; although, I’m sure they expected a parade. Then I carried Max to shore and resisted the urge to yell at him.

“What were you thinking swimming out that far?” I said and shifted him on my hip so I could bend to pick up my discarded tank top.

“I didn’t. I was trying to swim back, but I kept movin’ away. I thought I was going to drown, Tessie. Why did it take you so long to get me?” Gifted how my little brother turned this around so quickly to make it my fault. Then I saw the tears in his eyes. His bottom lip was quivering. Guilt. How could I have taken my eyes off him?

“I’m sorry. You had a raft, so I wasn’t watching you as closely…”

“You’re s’pose to be watching me – I’m only seven,” Max tucked his head under my chin. He always acts so indestructible that I forget his age at times. I sat on the blanket with him cradled in my lap like a toddler; surprised when he drifted off to sleep. I laid him down next to me and watched him peacefully sleep. The only time my little brother was peaceful was when he slept. Normally, he was in constant wild motion.

Less than ten minutes later, he woke up talking.

“Tessie, where are the guys who saved me? Do they still have my raft?”

Max’s raft was probably held ransom until I gushed all over myself thanking his saviors for pulling him out of the ocean. No thanks. Max was on his own. He looked around to see where his new heroes were sitting. Once he spotted them, he jumped up and pointed.

“There they are. Come with me,” he insisted, leveraging his 60-pound body to yank me to my feet. “You should thank them, too. If I died, Mom would be really mad at you.”

“Yes, she would be mad at me,” I laughed, “but don’t you want to thank them by yourself? If you’re scared to go without me, I’ll go.” Child psychology; worked like a charm. Max went alone, but this time I watched him closely.

One of the swimmers, the thin one, sat with three other guys. They all looked like surfers: longer hair, tan, athletic bodies. None of them had surfboards, but they had an edgy look as if they sought trouble more than trouble sought them. They spoke to each other with their eyes. It was a closed circle of friends. Max was oblivious that he was breaking into anything and jumped right into conversation. I sat a comfortable distance away and listened.

When my dad was alive, he called me his shadow. He took me everywhere and taught me so much, like how to shoot a sling shot, how to throw a boomerang, and how to run really fast. The best thing he taught me, though, was how to see and how to listen. Dad said I could train my eyes and ears to see and hear things at a distance most people couldn’t. So he trained me. I still practiced all the time, especially when Jon and my Mom went to have a private conversation. I didn’t always know what they were talking about, but I could almost always hear them.

Today I listened to Max. He gave the guys a nod as though he was Mr. Cool now. “Where’s the big dude?” The four of them looked around and shrugged in unison. The thinner guy who helped in the rescue walked to Max smiling. My gregarious, younger brother reached out and executed some sort of multi-step handshake that the teenager seemed to know, or follow; must be a guy thing.

Max said, “Thanks, dude. My sister was s’pose to be watchin’ me. Good thing someone was watchin’ me.”

Nice shot, Max. You’ll pay for that later.

“No problem, little dude. You have to watch the current. It can pull you out pretty quickly. I’m Cole. What’s your name?”

“Max,” he stated confidently, now with his hands on his hips like a superhero. That’s my sister, Tessie,” he added and pointed over his head back towards me.

“Max,” Cole said with a nod, then pointed to his friends. “Brendan, Troy and Brad. First time at Clowder Beach?”

“Yup.”

Gabe plopped down on the blanket, scattering sand over my legs.

“What’s Max doing?”

“He has a new audience.” I glanced backward. “He’s talking their ears off.” I turned to watch some more and couldn’t help giggling. “Lord knows what family secrets he’s sharing with them.”

“We don’t have any family secrets.”

“Whatever he’s telling them comes with exaggerated arm movements and wild facial expressions.” Thanks to what Dad called my bionic eyesight, I could clearly see the guys’ faces. They were entertained. I concentrated to hear Max, but the noise on the beach increased and interfered.

Cole was the one talking to Max while the others listened and laughed. Although I couldn’t hear much, I was laughing too. The big guy returned to the group. He watched Max, and then scanned the beach until we locked eyes. I turned away before he summoned me over to bow and thank him.

“I’m bored,” Gabe said. “Let’s go over with Max.”

“I’m comfortable.” Or at least more comfortable than I would be over there. I finger-combed some semblance of order to my mass of red hair as my eyes scanned each of them again. The big one was looking at me still.

“Let’s go swimming, Tess.”

“Let’s not. I don’t want Max back in the water.”

“Wanna get a soda?”

“No,” I said, picking up my book.

Gabe wandered away in a huff over to Max. I resumed reading and relaxing for what felt like a nanosecond when Gabe and Max returned and tried to pull me to my feet.

“We challenged the winners to a volleyball game. Their game is almost over.”

“I’ll watch from here.”

“If you don’t play with us, I’ll tell Jon you weren’t watching Max.” Gabe stuck out his tongue.

“Brat,” I said and stuck my tongue out back at him.

“Yup,” Gabe answered victoriously.

Relaxing would have to wait.