by RJ Gonzales
“Really? What things?”
“Not really specific things, just things. Things that I find and like. You know, collectable things.” He changed the subject, “Anything else I should know about you?”
“Well, I guess you can say I like meeting new people.” I smiled.
“Is that so?”
“Yeah, there are many different types of people out there—that I have yet to meet.” I yawned midway through the sentence, breaking it into two run-ons.
“Have you ever met someone like me before?” he asked silently, as if he were trying to keep his voice down while others slept.
“Hmm. Nope. Can’t say that I have,” I laughed. “What about you? Ever meet someone like me before?”
“Never. You’d have to be the first, and I’m glad I found you. Like stumbling across a rare object, or a diamond in the rough-,” each tender word he uttered could make frozen butter melt, “—a collectable.”
I was probably the color of a tomato by now. If love were a game, he knew exactly what buttons to push in a specific order to win, while some other guys just slammed their hands down on all the buttons and improvised along the way.
“Thanks? I guess?” I didn’t know how to respond.
“You’re welcome…I guess,” he replied, playfully mimicking me.
My eyes felt heavy. “I should probably get to sleep.”
“Sure thing,” he said. “Goodnight, Rini,” his voice was soft, almost like a lullaby. I couldn’t help but feel as though he didn’t want our conversation to end. Secretly, neither did I. I liked this attention. It felt, good.
“Goodnight, Jett. Call me tomorrow, if you want.”
“Will do.”
After I hung up the phone, I closed my eyes. Multiple thoughts running through my active mind kept me from my slumber as I debated with myself.
Was I being hit on or was he just being flirty like he probably is with everyone? Even so. It felt great.
Where did that damn wolf go? Oh yeah the wolf! I had forgotten about that jerk.
Why do I feel weird? It’s nothing, it’s probably gonna be that time of the month soon.
What is this feeling? Am I in love? No. Hell no. I couldn’t be. I just met the guy. But did I have a crush on him? Aha! Now that is a more plausible question, self. And I’ll answer it with another question.
Is the ocean made of water?
Yes. Dammit. I think I’m in like with the naked man I met today.
Somewhere, in the very distance of the forest, a soft howl sounded. It had a different tone in its voice tonight. Different from its usual mono-toned call that embodied loneliness.
Tonight, it sounded—happy.
8
Friday
March 11th, 2011
Spring break weekend had come faster than I’d expected. No school for a whole week! I had spent the last few days, really two—or three, after school texting Jett or talking to him on the phone until I had to sleep. Like a nighttime phone buddy. Someone to keep me company throughout the day. Naturally, things got a little flirtatious at times, but I came to understand that that was just the way he spoke, and I didn’t exactly keep from flirting back or calling him on it. It’s only human, right? He was a great friend, and only a friend.
Before I knew it, Sarah was at my door. “Ready for this sleepover, amiga? I come with high in fat and high in deliciousness treats to kick off what shall be a kick-ass Spring Break!” She held up a white plastic bag filled with goodies for us to indulge in.
“Nice.” I let her in and shut the door, only to hear it knock several seconds later. Sarah had disappeared into the bathroom to change. Ever-expanding Celeste and George stood on the other side yielding boxes of cheesy pizza goodness and plastic bags.
“Hey Rini, we brought you girls some pizza from the place Cel and I went to eat at earlier.” He wiggled a blue bag in his hand, “Put these drinks in the fridge so they can be nice n’ cold for tonight.” I took the bag and made my way over to the fridge in the back.
Celeste disappeared into my room then emerged saying, “I put the bag of movies on the bed. We didn’t know which ones to get you, so we just brought a couple that we wouldn’t mind watching ourselves when you’re done with them. They were on my wish list of movies to buy anyway. Except one about a mad scientist—that was George’s pick.”
“Thanks Cel,” I called over my shoulder, hearing both she and George’s footsteps travel down the hallway to me.
George spoke, even before he had made it all the way over. “Have a fun sleepover, and if you need anything just call us. We’ll be in and out of the house today and probably the rest of this week. I’m going to go meet with some people in San Antonio for some business talk and Celeste is going to go get a check up and spend time with my parents. They’re completely gaga waiting for the arrival of their first grandchild and want to help as much as they can.” I had only met George’s parents once. At the wedding. In their late fifties, and members to a country club. They are a very calm and reserved couple. Very friendly, but very different. Keeping to themselves and sitting very proper and poised. The complete opposite of my loud and sociable side of the family. “Don’t hesitate to call if you need anything. We’ll be up here in no time. It’s only a forty minute drive, but if Cel lets me, I’m sure we can be here in twenty.” He winked.
“I’ll be fine guys. I’ve got Sarah. And you all will only be gone a few hours a day, so it’s not like you’re abandoning me for the week. I’ve got plenty of books to read and keep me company.”
“Are you sure, Rini?” Celeste asked. “We’ll be gone pretty much all day this week. We will literally only come home to sleep.”
“I’ll be fine!” I said again, closing the now stocked fridge. I got to my feet. “Really.”
“It’s just this week,” Celeste said, probably feeling bad that we have yet to spend real time together like the old days when she’d take me cruising with her friends or shopping at the mall. “I promise.”
“I understand.” She hugged me, then disappeared with George out of the cabin and into their home.
“Did I mention that your cousins are the shit?” Sarah said as she came out of the bathroom dressed in her swimming attire, “I mean seriously, they’re awesome!” She walked into my room and studied herself in the mirror. Old torn T-shirt with some pink floral-printed swimming shorts. “Do you think I should just go in my one piece? I don’t want them to think I’m all weird swimming in a shirt. Especially if I’m trying to land one of them.” She let the tendrils of her hair fall free from a rubber band and ran her fingers through.
“You look fine, besides I’m going to wear almost the same thing.” I stood at the doorway, biting my lip for a second before saying, “Oh, and did I mention Mr. Luna is going to be there?”
“What?!” Sarah whipped her head around, almost like Linda Blair’s character in The Exorcist—only her head didn’t spin all the way. “You mean I’m going swimming with the substitute?! Why didn’t you tell me this earlier so I would have backed out and said I came down with a stomach virus or something?!”
“—and his family,” I added, making my way over to retrieve an old shirt and short black shorts from a drawer. “—and because I knew you wouldn’t want to go if you heard that part.” I made for the bathroom and shut the door behind me. “I was right, wasn’t I?”
Sarah stomped into the hallway and spoke from behind the closed door, “How the hell am I supposed to get my flirt on when a teacher is going to be there supervising! You were right! Now I really don’t wanna go!”
“He’s not supervising. He’s there to have fun. Like us,” I said from the other end of the closed door. “And besides, you don’t have to think of him as Mr. Luna, just think of him as Martin, any other man,” I exited the bathroom in full attire and threw the dirty clothes in a hamper, which was really just a small rectangular box that I dubbed the hamper. “You’re going, Sarah. You’re already dressed for swimming anyway.”
Sarah pouted, then reached into her duffle bag for a bottle of spray-on sun block. She spritzed it all over her body then passed to me. “Well, I, for one, am not going to be able to be myself with the fact that we have to see Martin five days out of the week until school ends. Honestly, I liked it better when your cousin was our teacher, she would at least give us fun assignments and show us movies after we finished the book.”
“I’m sure you’ll have fun,” I assured her. I fluffed my hair in the mirror, smoothing out a few fly-aways.
“Psh! I guess,” Sarah rolled her eyes and threw herself on the bed dramatically.
Really? I laughed, “And the award for best dramatic scene goes to—”
“You finish that sentence and I’ll accept the award for the Most Outstanding at Kicking Rini’s Ass too.” Sarah sassed. “When is Jeff supposed to get here anyway?” She joked, “I wanna see if he is really as hot as you say he is so I can make up my mind and set out to become the mistress later on if you two ever get married.”
“It’s Jett,” I corrected. “Geez, Sarah. You should at least remember his name if you plan to steal him from me,” I joked.
“Oh, sorry!” Sarah said sarcastically, bringing my pillow under her head. She used her fingers to pretend to conduct an imaginary band as she sang her version of a childish tune. “Rini and Jett, swimming in the lake...”
As if planned, my phone vibrated to life.
“Hello?”
“Hey punk, you girls ready?” Jett’s alluring voice came through.
I looked to Sarah who eyed me with a look of pure confusion. “Yeah,” I said.
“Well, then come out your back door, I’m here already,” I could hear him speak through a smile.
“All right. We’ll be out in like two-seconds.”
“Cool.”
I hung up the phone and looked back to Sarah. “Well?” she asked.
“He’s here already, come on.”
“Yay!”
We headed outside with our towels and greeted Jett—who was already dressed in nothing but red swimming trunks. Sarah introduced herself to Jett, only after I’m sure that she had pushed all of the dirty thoughts in her mind away.
“I hope his brothers look like him, because he is hot!” Sarah whispered to me, as we followed behind him. “If not—we share, yes? I’ll take Mondays thru Sundays until 11:59 pm and you can have the rest.” I hope he didn’t hear her.
“Oh, shut up,” I teased.
The lake appeared inviting as we approached, after nearly dying of the long journey to it. Still greenish water reflected the sun’s light as a gleam in my eye. Stale water and moss, the very essence of the summers spent back home at Lake Amistad, filled the area surrounding the shore. Hovering ever so lightly above the lake, a large wooden dock—to which I assumed they used as a base to jump off of, rocked, sending minuscule waves in an aura around it. The rest of the family was already enjoying the brisk coolness of the water, or inside, getting ready for it. All except one—Max. I spotted him, back against a tree and “April” in his lap, a good distance away. He was dressed to swim—in a black T-shirt and blue Hawaiian flower printed swimming trunks that seemed to match Sarah’s, just not in the water. Odd.
Del and Mark were sitting on the shore holding Kaylee as they let her feel the water in her tiny hands. “Hey there,” Del shifted her gaze from the baby to Sarah and I and gave a short wave, “Who’s this?”
“This is Sarah,” I introduced my new best friend practically glued to my side.
“Nice to meet you.”
“You too!” Sarah replied.
After we kicked our sandals off by a tree, Jett led us to the edge of the dock where the water was deep and dark. A mysterious abyss that appeared as though it could gobble you whole.
“I hope you’re not scared of the depth of it,” he said, eyeing me as I curiously peered over the edge.
“Me? Heck no!” I scoffed. “Like I told you before, I used to be called a fish.”
“Good,” he grabbed for my arm, “then I hope you don’t mind if I do this!”
“Aah!” I barely had enough time to hold my breath before I felt the cool water engulf me after he’d sent me over. Immediately, the temperature change shot to my head, making me cringe at the sudden brain cramp.
Underneath the opaque, murky water, I looked below to the pebble and algae lined ground about thirty feet below. I was floating in the open water—feeling light as a feather, or a plastic bag, gently descending from the sky. It was almost as deep as the lake back home. The golden light beams diffusing in the water—almost angelic, surrounded me in an aura of sheer illumination. I was hit with the sudden urge to make it to the bottom and take a peek at the top of the water like I’d do back home. I let my breath escape my body in the form of air bubbles so I could sink faster. Once grounded, I whipped my head up and looked at the flat water above me. Like the separation between the two worlds. Distorted faces leant over the dock. They probably thought I was drowning.
I squatted—knees bent, and kicked off of the tiny small rocks and other debris, scaring a few fish away. I imagine flying is like rising to the surface. Feeling the water travel around your body in a rush and feeling completely weightless. Right before I hit the surface, a small reflection of myself appeared. It was as if I were going to crash into myself until—Gasp! At the surface, I took a deep breath and wiped away the dripping water from my eyes and mouth, then faced my offender. A wide, sly grin was etched on his face as he said, “Surprised at how deep it is?”
“What the hell was that for?” I asked, not really offended. I was going to get wet anyway. I just wished it hadn’t been one of those Oh-crap-I’m-going-to-die! moments.
“For fun,” he laughed. “You should have seen your face.”
I pretended that I didn’t notice Sarah, inching behind him slowly and swiftly. A lion to its prey.
“Sorry buddy, but that’s my girl you just threw in,” she said, then charged toward him, arms spread out to toss him in. In a quick movement, “What?” she was caught by surprise as he ducked under her arm, tossing her in as well. I had to swim out of the way to avoid getting squashed.
When Sarah surfaced, eyes hidden under her wet messy hair, she gave a small clap, “Bravo, my friend. Bravo!”
Martin and Ray appeared on the deck alongside Jett. We watched as dick-head Ray leant over and examined us in a less than tasteful way, licking his lips before saying with a perverted smile, “Psh. They’re not even here for ten minutes and you already got them all wet. Nice.” He blew an air kiss to me and winked. “Sup, mami?”
Smack! Martin hit him over the head with an open hand. “Manners!”
“Ey! What the Fu-” Ray backed away, not noticing that he was shimmying off the edge. He stumbled over, gripping onto Jett’s arm for support, but they both lost balance. We watched as they teetered over the edge, until Martin gave a shove to send them both over. Martin, as the last on the dock, stretched and took a few steps back.
“Oh boy!” Jett started swimming over to me. “Watch out, he’s going to cannonball,” Jett pushed me behind him—forming a barrier with his broad back.
“Come on chica, I got you covered.” Ray swam to Sarah, who looked petrified. Poor Sarah. I felt bad that she got the short end of the deal. The short, perverted, disgusting, and foul-mouthed end of the deal.
I highly doubted it, but sure enough, Sarah and I watched as our substitute teacher—a man who reads classic novels for fun and speaks properly—childishly dashed off the dock, curling into a ball.
“Cannonba-” Splash!
The whole family, along with Sarah and I, cheered.
“Your right, maybe I will have fun after all,” Sarah whispered to me once Jett had gotten distracted and looked lost in his thoughts about something in the forest in front of us. I thought I heard a rustling, but I figured it was just the rude wolf that had ditched me the other day. “I just got to say, so far so good on the brothers—except for that weird o
ne with the computer over there. Talk about being a creeper and loner.”
“So girls, what do you think?” Jett shook away whatever had distracted him and interrupted our whispered side conversation.
“It’s great,” I smiled. No, my best friend wasn’t bashing your unsocial brother just now. “I like it.”
...
The once yellow sky was now a deep gold and pink when we got done—sunset.
Sarah and I sat on the dock, our feet dangling in the water. We tried to pretend we weren’t secretly watching Jett try and convince Max to put April inside and come join us, even though we had already finished swimming and were now just drying off.
Max lifted his head and saw us staring when Jett pointed over to us. I felt my ears grow warm and quickly shifted my gaze to the tiny fish surrounding our feet. The slippery grey fish circled around my foot, trying to suck on my toes. I tried to shoo them away, but they persisted like a swarm of bees, tickling me.
“Check it out, Rini,” Sarah said pointing with her chin to the water. I followed her gaze and watched as she teased the small persistent expert swimmers by moving her toe around, watching them all squirm as they tried to follow it.
I laughed, then shook my head. “So, did you have fun?”
She paused, licked the bottom of her lip, then said, “Surprisingly, yeah. I guess I did.”
A few moments passed until we heard two heavy sets of footsteps making their way down the dock. Max inched his way down, sitting a couple of feet away from Sarah, as if she had just been diagnosed with cooties or some other type of fictional disease. Jett plopped himself down next to me. He made sounds of elation as he stuck his feet into the water. The fish that were hovering by my feet, immediately swam over to his. Little jerks. Jett brought his hands behind his head and lowered himself into a laying position across the wood—shutting his eyes and swishing his feet.
Shy Max remained staring into the water, quietly twiddling his fingers and humming a song to himself. Poor thing. I nudged Sarah with my elbow. She twitched then gave me a what-the-hell? look. I motioned for her to talk to him and she shook her head. No! I pictured her saying.