Swimming Lessons

by Mary Alice Monroe

  “They’d better not or I’ll smoosh ’em.”

  Toy had carefully dressed Lovie in a pink, long sleeved shirt and leggings to keep the mosquitoes at bay. Lovie stretched out on the sand beside the nest and put her ear to the ground. “I don’t hear anything.”

  Cara chuckled. “You wouldn’t hear anything, even if there were a hundred turtles in there, not just six.”

  “When do you think they’ll come, Auntie Cara?”

  “You know we can’t say when a nest will hatch. We count the days and look for signs, but it’s up to the turtles.”

  “But they’re supposed to come tonight, right?”

  Cara sighed, choosing her words. “Lovie, you know that this isn’t a normal nest, don’t you? Big Girl dropped these eggs in the tank and your mama and Ethan put them in the sand with a prayer.”

  Lovie smoothed the sand around the nest. “I know that. But Mama says she thinks it will hatch on account of it’s here on Miss Lovie’s dune.”

  Oh, Toy…

  “Auntie Cara, if Mama put the eggs in here, how do the other turtle eggs get in the sand?”

  She stroked Lovie’s silky blond hair. Even though the child had seen many turtle nests and hatchlings, she’d never seen the rare sighting of a loggerhead laying her eggs on the beach.

  “You remember Big Girl, of course? Well, months back, some little voice in her head, we call it instinct, told her it was time to swim home to lay her eggs in the same sand she hatched in. So she swam and swam such a long way to get here. By the time she was ready to come ashore, she had five, six hundred eggs inside of her, not just these seven eggs.”

  “This is her home?”

  “Well, the turtle’s home is the sea, not the beach. All she knows and loves is in the ocean. So to lay her eggs, the mama has to leave her home and safety and all she knows to crawl out onto land. This is scary for her. She must be very careful. She waits until night so the darkness will hide her, then she sits in the surf a while to scout things out. If she spots a person walking or a dog, or if some bright light frightens her, she’ll turn right around and go back to the sea. That’s why we keep the lights off on the beach at night. When she’s done, at last she goes back to the sea, one very tired mama.”

  “What does she do then?”

  Cara shrugged lightly. “Then she goes off to find something to eat. The turtles don’t eat during nesting, so she’s very hungry.”

  “You mean, she doesn’t come back to the nest? To take care of her babies?”

  “No. The mother does her best to hide her eggs. Then she lets Mother Nature take care of them.”

  “And the turtle ladies.”

  Cara laughed. “Yes, and the turtle ladies.”

  Sensing the moment, Cara drew nearer to Lovie and spoke in a solemn voice. “Remember that these eggs were put into the sand by your mother, not the turtle mother. Honey, this nest is overdue. That means we have to face that this nest is not going to hatch. There are no babies in there. It just wasn’t meant to be.”

  “But Mama said it would hatch.” Lovie’s lips began to tremble.

  “No, honey, your mama hoped it would hatch.” She brought Lovie into her lap and held her close. “Sometimes, we hope for things, but that doesn’t mean it will happen.”

  “But that makes me sad.”

  “I know. Me, too. It’s just nature’s way.”

  She kissed Lovie’s cheek. “Okay?” When the child nodded sadly, Cara helped her climb from her lap. Then she carefully pulled herself to her feet, careful to keep pressure off her abdomen, and offered her hand to the little girl. “Come on, honey. Let’s go home.”

  Later that month, Darryl sat in the beach house at the dining table with a yellow paper clown hat on his head. Little Lovie sat at his side wearing one in pink. They were making music together on their kazoos, laughing and tooting and having a great time. Toy listened and chuckled as she stood at the table cutting into the two-tiered birthday cake adorned with yellow and pink roses, six candles, and the scrolled words, Happy 6th Birthday, Lovie!

  This is what is must be like to be a family, she thought to herself as she sliced a piece of yellow cake for the daddy, then the mommy and finally the child. She joined her family at the table, smiling yet feeling more like an observer at this party for two. Lovie was utterly and completely besotted with her father. From the moment he walked in the door till the teary goodbye, her face was alight with joy at being with him.

  And he’d been a fabulous father these past weeks. No one was more surprised than she was at this turn of events. He didn’t know much about nature but he followed Lovie from shell to shell on the beach and listened dutifully while she shared with him their names and little tidbits of knowledge, some correct, others not.

  What he did know was music, however, and he was teaching Lovie how to play the guitar. His early birthday gift to her was her own instrument and every time he came by he gave her a lesson. Toy was amazed to discover her daughter had inherited Darryl’s musical ability, because Lovie sure didn’t inherit that talent from her. Already Lovie could pick out a few songs.

  As summer turned into fall, Darryl became a fixture at the house and in their lives. Toy didn’t know how she felt about that. Naturally she was happy that Darryl and Lovie were getting along so well, but as each day passed, Darryl’s hints at reconciliation were growing more pressing.

  She looked at the man across the table. He had his lean arm stretched across the back of Lovie’s chair and was whispering something in her ear that sent Lovie into squeals of laughter. Ah, Darryl… He always could please the ladies. He was handsome enough. She used to swoon over his soulful eyes and the way he could melt her heart with a slow smile.

  But she didn’t swoon anymore. She didn’t even sway. She just didn’t feel the same for him and she was sorry for it. It would be so much easier if she could still be in love with him. Now she was stuck trying to rationalize whether a life with him was as good as a girl in her situation could expect.

  “What are you doing by your lonesome over there?” Darryl asked with the devil in his eyes. “You’re thinking too much again. Go on and get a kazoo and be crazy like us.”

  “Yeah, Mama, be crazy.” Lovie giggled, tickled by the way her daddy teased.

  Toy picked up the kazoo and blew hard. It sounded more like she was giving them the raspberries than a musical note and they burst out laughing. It worked…Toy started laughing, too.

  “Mama, you are crazy,” Lovie said in way of a compliment.

  “I guess I am,” she replied, and tooted the kazoo again.

  On the other side of the island, Cara and Brett sat on the sofa watching the weather report on television. A Category One hurricane was hitting the state of Florida on the Atlantic side and that prompted worry that the storm would travel up the coast to South Carolina. The advance winds were shaking the palms and heavy rains were forecast. Brett had already carried in the porch furniture and any small objects that might get tossed in the wind.

  “I hate this, hate this, hate this,” Cara said, clutching his hand. “Our living room looks like a warehouse.”

  “Honey, you’re wringing my hand clear off.”

  “I’m sorry, Brett. These hurricanes freak me out.”

  “You shouldn’t get so worked up. First off it’s only a category one hurricane. Second, we don’t know yet which way the storm’s going to turn. It might head straight north and miss us completely or fizzle out after it hits land. There’s no point with second guessing these things. Third, the doctor told you to take it easy.”

  “She also told me that spotting is normal. Especially at the end of the first trimester. I’d say you were the one getting worked up about that. “

  He sighed and pulled her closer to him. “I know.”

  She rested her head on his shoulder and put her feet up on the ottoman. She knew he was being stoic for her sake. They’d both been spooked by more than a hurricane today. When she saw that first spot of bright, r
ed blood she’d panicked, sure that she was having another miscarriage. Her hands had trembled when she called Brett on his cell phone.

  Lord, she was embarrassed now for the fuss she’d made. Brett had been out on the tour boat. Robert raced from the dock on a wave runner to the boat to relieve him of command. When Robert later called to check on her, he told her not to blame him if the motor was ruined because he’d raced flat out to the tour boat, he was so worried Brett was going to jump ship and swim back to dock before he got there.

  The doctor had assured them that all was well and in the aftermath both Cara and Brett were trying to play the role of believer. They’d had a simple dinner of carry-out and had stayed in and watched television all evening.

  A vicious gust of wind sent the hurricane shutters creaking and the skies opened up, dumping sheets of rain that beat against the windows like bullets.

  “I’m afraid,” Cara said against his shirt.

  Brett tightened his arm around her and Cara knew that he understood she wasn’t talking about the force of wind. When he didn’t say anything, she knew that he was afraid, too.

  21

  The loggerhead Caretta was undeniably the star of the Aquarium’s Great Ocean Tank. When the turtle had arrived in Charleston six years earlier as a juvenile, there had been a city-wide contest for school children to name the new sea turtle. The big question on everyone’s mind was, Is the sea turtle a boy or a girl?

  The Aquarium just didn’t know, since it is impossible to determine the sex of a sea turtle by physical signs prior to maturity. Once it reached adulthood, the male could be identified by its longer tail. Without expensive DNA tests or ultrasound, it was the public’s guess if this new resident turtle was a male or a female. So when the turtle’s tail grew longer, and its testosterone level tested high, everyone assumed that the sea turtle was a male. The name Caretta was chosen, from the Latin for loggerhead Caretta caretta. Toy had always thought it a feminine sounding name, rather like having a boy named Sue.

  Boy or girl, Caretta was beloved by everyone at the Aquarium and the state of South Carolina because he really was a character. He hammed it up for photographers, huddled close to the glass so young children could gather around him, nipped the divers—which the audience thought was funny—and was a vision of grace when he swam past the viewing window.

  The star turtle’s yearly physical was on Toy’s schedule for the day. When she arrived for work, Elizabeth was already in high gear. She was vigorously sweeping the floor that she’d scrubbed just the day before.

  “You’re here, thank goodness,” Elizabeth said, her blue eyes wide with anticipation of the day ahead.

  “Sorry. The Ben Sawyer Bridge was up again. I swear that line of cars keeps getting longer and longer.” She set down her briefcase and camera on the steel examining table. The turtle hospital still didn’t have desks or files in the basement but they made do with whatever surfaces they could scrounge. She turned and gave Elizabeth a quick once-over. “Say, don’t you look nice.”

  Elizabeth blushed slightly. She’d obviously taken extra care with her appearance. Her thick white hair was styled and she’d put on makeup for the newspaper photographer due to arrive shortly. “I just got word that Kevin wants to inspect the turtle hospital today after Caretta’s exam.”

  Toy’s face fell. “Great, just great.”

  She grabbed a clipboard, thinking it wasn’t Kevin’s inspection or the newspaper reporter that had her flustered. Rather, it was the prospect of working closely with Ethan today. Ethan had not come down to the basement since she’d told him she needed time alone.

  While she walked through the cavernous basement, she made a list of things that still had to get done. There was so much potential in all this space, she thought. In her mind’s eye she envisioned what she could do with all that grant money. This was the only sea turtle hospital in the state and so much depended on whether or not they got the grant.

  “Everything looks great, Elizabeth. Just remember not to feed them until after the inspection, or they’ll foul the water just when Kevin walks though.”

  Elizabeth laughed. “Especially Litchfield. He’d do it just for spite.”

  “Well,” she said, her hands on hips. “It looks pretty darn good, if I do say so myself. Every tank has a turtle in it. If another sick turtle comes in before the grant, I just don’t know where we’re going to put it.”

  “The grant will come through, don’t worry.” She glanced at her watch. “Right now, you’d better get up to the Great Ocean tank. I’ll man the fort.”

  “Thanks, Elizabeth. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

  “Just be sure to include me in a picture this time. I’m always cut out.”

  Toy looked at her lovely, open face. Her generous spirit shone through her eyes.

  “I will. I promise.”

  Toy took a last look around then grabbed her camera and made her way to the third floor. Her palms were damp and she tried to appear calm, but knowing she would be seeing Ethan did nothing to quell her nerves.

  The dive team was already suited up and gathered on the metal platform at the tank’s edge. She recognized Ethan easily by his height but his attention was on the equipment and he didn’t acknowledge her approach. Favel and Irwin, also in wet suits, returned her wave. Toy walked around the top of the tank and exchanged greetings with Kevin and Jason.

  The commotion at the dive platform brought Caretta swimming by, curious and looking for a hand-out. At Ethan’s signal, the team of divers jumped into the tank, surrounding the unsuspecting turtle. It didn’t take Ethan and the team long to corral the indignant turtle onto the platform where a team of six stood ready to heave the unwilling and decidedly uncooperative, three hundred pound turtle out of the tank. It was quite a job. Caretta waved his powerful flippers, splashed wildly, and if given the chance, would have nipped any arm or leg within his bite radius. She saw the creamy underbelly of the turtle as they hoisted him off the platform. Ethan pulled himself out from the water and grabbed hold of the shell.

  “Move off,” he said gruffly to her, his focus intense. “He’s too heavy.”

  “I can handle it,” she ground out.

  “I’ve got him,” he barked, and this time it was an order.

  Toy released the shell and backed away, fuming that he’d claimed rank. Although she knew that he was taking no chances with his famous turtle, it stung nonetheless to be ordered away by virtue of her sex. She watched the men struggle to get the big turtle over the tank wall and gingerly placed into the plastic crate. Everyone heaved a sigh of relief when that part of the job was done.

  Downstairs in her turtle hospital, the examination went smoothly. Dr. Tom examined the turtle, took samples, gave him an ultrasound and weighed him. At the end of the exam, Dr. Tom proclaimed the turtle healthy but overweight.

  “Your butterball has to go on a diet,” he told Ethan.

  Toy couldn’t hold back the giggle that escaped from her lips. Ethan flushed slightly and said he’d look into it immediately.

  The chubby Caretta behaved himself while Toy and Elizabeth scrubbed his carapace. The guys waited, standing around and talking about the possible diet changes, various Aquarium business, and “those great-looking cutlass fish.” Twenty minutes later her fingers were pruned and her shoulders ached, but Caretta’s shell was gleaming. The physical was over.

  When they lifted the sea turtle back into his crate, he offered little argument. The turtle seemed to know he was headed back home for lunch. Favel and Irwin, still in their wet suits, came back to transport the turtle back to the big tank. They whispered something to Elizabeth that sent her squelching an outburst with her palms. Then en masse they turned to look at Toy, their eyes bright with excitement.

  What? she mouthed to them, but they just smiled and called out their goodbyes.

  “How about that tour?” Kevin asked.

  “Yes, sir,” she replied. “I’ll be right with you.”

  T
oy washed the betadine and soap from her hands in the big sink, then tucked a fallen lock behind her ear, hoping she didn’t look too disheveled after her waltz with Caretta. She was intensely aware that Ethan had not left yet, nor had Jason or Tom. They followed as she led Kevin past each of the six holding tanks and told each turtle’s history. Over each tank, Elizabeth had put Toy’s Before and After photographs of the turtle. Each picture spoke a thousand words about the miracle of the turtle’s rehabilitation and was a testament to the great work being done at the hospital.

  She was proud of their efforts and some of their innovative solutions. There was the epoxy seal on Cherry’s broken shell and Hamlin’s repaired flipper. Big Girl’s weight belt drew a chuckle from Kevin. But it was Litchfield who delivered his usual coup de grace as the director walked past. Elizabeth groaned and dashed for the net to clean the tank.

  “If we get the grant, we’ll be able to filter the water in each tank,” Toy said as they watched Elizabeth skim Litchfield’s tank. “The good news is we’re ready for our first release back to the ocean.” She pointed to the tank beside them. “Kiawah is ready to go. We’re just waiting on the final blood work results.”

  Kevin stopped and put his hands behind his back. Ethan, Jason and Tom gathered closer. Even Elizabeth drew her net from the tank and waited, listening. Toy sensed something was up.

  “You’ve done a great job here and all on a shoestring budget,” Kevin said. “We’re all very proud of what you and your colleagues have achieved. Now, about those filters…” Kevin’s face eased into a smile. “It’s my distinct pleasure to inform you that the grant has been approved. Congratulations.”

  Suddenly she was surrounded by laughing and applauding and people offering congratulations. Toy’s mouth hung open with shock as she tried to take the news in. Her eyes sought out one person amidst the whirlwind. Ethan stood outside the circle but his eyes were on her. When their gazes locked it felt as though everyone else in the room had disappeared. In that moment all their earlier aloofness shattered and they shared the private knowledge that this award was a result of both of their efforts and dreams.