All That's True

by Jackie Lee Miles

  She doesn’t wait for me to answer. She goes to my closet and finds the missing items and carefully folds each and every single piece. She places them in my suitcase. She’s ruining everything.

  “There,” she says, “That’s better. Now you’re all set.”

  Right! In ten minutes I’ve gone from being totally cool to totally dorky. If I do meet any boys, they probably won’t even notice me.

  “Thanks a lot,” I say, trying to sound nice. Once she’s gone I drag all the stuff back out and decide to mix and mingle a bunch of Beth’s stuff with it. Maybe she won’t notice once we’re cruising.

  ***

  Henry is taking us to the airport. He’s back to being his normal wonderful self. He’s poking about in the garden and he is doing the dearest thing! He’s planting a complete herb garden. It has everything Rosa uses. She’s out there with him now nearly jumping off the ground she’s so excited. She’s chattering away in Spanish, which Henry does not understand, but he smiles and shakes his head.

  “No Español,” he says.

  Rosa starts chattering away in English, which I love to hear when she speaks it, because she leaves out words and it’s so cute, like a toddler just learning to speak.

  “Cilantro,” she says, “Is good, no?”

  Henry says yes he can plant cilantro.

  “Epazote,” Rosa says.

  Henry repeats it like he hasn’t heard right.

  Rosa smoothes her skirt and lifts her head high. “Sí, epazote,” she says and sticks her chin up in the air. “No gas, eat epazote. Is good.”

  Henry takes off his straw hat that has seen many better days from way back to who knows when, and says, “Epazote smells like gasoline. Not a good plan.”

  “No,” Rosa says, “Smell like mint.”

  Henry is never one to argue. He nods and takes a tiny pencil out of his pocket like you get at a miniature golf course and writes something down. Rose nods like she is very pleased and continues with her list. She raises her hands and motions wildly. “Mejorana,” she says and does her best to explain this spice. Henry is amazing. He understands and nods his head. “Marjoram!” he says and Rosa claps her hands. It’s understood. They’ll have marjoram.

  “Romero,” she says, which turns out is rosemary and “Tomillo,” she says raising her voice at least an octave, which Henry decides is thyme. So there’s our garden and my mother and I do not have to do anything but sit back and eat. That’s my kind of garden. I can breathe in these spices already. I close my eyes and they grab my nose. I nearly sneeze.

  Chapter Fifty-three

  We’re in Cozumel, the first stop on our cruise. I don’t know who’s more excited, me or Bridget. We keep dancing around in circles taking everything in. Right now we’re on a tour of the city. My mother insisted on it.

  “To understand the history and get a feel for the culture,” she says.

  Not that I’m interested in that. I’m just soaking up the sun and marveling how beautiful it is here. The water is the most amazing shade of blue. “Azure,” my mother says. It’s hard to believe how white the sand is on the beaches. I picked up a handful. It slipped through my fingers like the grains were made of silk.

  Our tour guide is a young local girl of Spanish descent. She has dark honey skin and jet black hair. She’s petite with large white, even teeth. She’s wearing her hair in a braid that hangs down to her waist and has on a colorful cotton skirt with a white blouse that keeps slipping off one shoulder.

  “My name is Maria Contreras,” she says. “Welcome to Cozumel.” She spreads her arms out in the air and smiles. “Cozumel was a little fishing village until 1961,” she explains, “when a Frenchman by the name of Jacques Cousteau declared us one of the most beautiful scuba diving areas in the world. We have dazzling coral reefs and a variety of tropical fish.”

  We learn that the people native to Cozumel are of Mayan descent. They ruled for two thousand years before the Spanish explorers arrived in the fifteenth century.

  “One of the more interesting sites here on the island is called San Gervacio. It was once a sacred site where Mayan women journeyed to worship the goddess Ixchel, the goddess of fertility.”

  So bring two teenagers here, will you. By the look on my mother’s face I can see she’s thrilled with this little bit of culture. It’s no concern to me—I’m not planning on being pregnant. Besides, it’s beginning to sound like a history lesson. I’m anxious for the tour to end so we can go snorkeling. We’ve got reservations on a glass-bottom boat in Chankanaab. It’s a three-reef trip. Vivian and my mother are coming along to enjoy the scenery, but don’t want to snorkel. Vivian’s just had her hair done at the salon on the ship and my mother doesn’t like fish or anything from the ocean touching her.

  “We’ll be there to make sure you have a great time,” my mother explains. Actually, since Bridget and I are under eighteen we’re required to have a parent or guardian accompany us, so they have to come along.

  A man named Luis greets us as we board the catamaran. We’re offered a soft drink and shown how to use the snorkeling equipment. It’s a snap to learn. Nothing to it—put the mask on, bite down gently on the rubber mouthpiece, and slap on your fins. Bridget and I are eager to get into the water. The catamaran takes off and we head to the first reef on our tour. They have to drag me and Bridget out of the water when it’s time to leave for the next stop. We’re having so much fun. Luis spots a big fish and dives down to point it out. There are tons of fish here, thousands really. Every color imaginable—it’s like a kaleidoscope. Luis dives into the middle. A swirl of fish fans out around him. There are angelfish and sergeant fish that swim within inches of you and six huge parrot fish that must weigh forty-five pounds each. We have a disposable underwater camera and Luis offers to takes picture of us. This could be the highlight of our trip, which is kind of sad seeing as we have six more days. Maybe we should have saved the best for last, but the ship has a certain route they follow. Next we head to Grand Cayman.

  “There is good snorkel there, too,” Luis explains, “but not good like ours!”

  So maybe I’m right. This is the highlight of the trip. Now what do we have to look forward to? Even so, we are very happy with our trip. Everything is going as planned. The only problem is eventually we get into major trouble.

  ***

  I wake up the next morning and know instantly I’m going to pay for all the sun I got snorkeling. My skin feels like it’s been slapped all over with a sledgehammer dipped in hot pepper sauce. When I look in the mirror it’s hard to believe I’m a regular person. I look like a tomato in pajamas. Bridget’s not in any better shape. She moans when I roll her over.

  “You awake?”

  “I am now,” she says. She leans over and the sheet scrapes against her back. “Ouch!” She strains her neck to get a good look at her shoulders.

  “I think we overdid it,” I say.

  We go next door to wake my mother. She’ll have some cure. She has an opinion on everything.

  “Oh, dear,” my mother says when she gets a good look at us. She calls our cabin steward and asks if he will please bring us a bottle of vinegar from the galley.

  “One cup of vinegar in a tub of cool water is what you need,” she explains. She takes the bottle of lotion she has packed in her suitcase and puts it in our little refrigerator which is the cutest thing.

  “This will feel good when you get out of the tub.”

  I can’t believe we’re as burned as we are. We used a ton of sunscreen. Just goes to show how hot a tropical sun can be.

  After we bathe, my mother applies the lotion first to me and then to Bridget. Vivian is busy getting a facial. Tonight is the first of two formals nights they have on the cruise. There’s another one on Thursday. We will be dressed to the nines. My mother bought me a special dress that even I’m happy with. It has spaghetti straps and is made of the softest material. It’s short and has an empire waist. Buttercup yellow, the tag said. It’ll go great with my sun
burn. And, I’ve got these strappy little sandals that lace up my ankles.

  Bridget is wearing a navy blue strapless knit dress that also has an empire waist. Hers is a little sexier than mine, but I’m not complaining because I figured my mother would have me looking like Shirley Temple, so what she let me pick out has me tap dancing on the clouds.

  For dinner they have several entrées to choose from like always, but tonight they have lobster and filet mignon on the menu as well. Bridget and I order a serving of each. You are allowed to do that. You simply say, “I believe I’ll have both the lobster and the filet mignon.” The waiter doesn’t even blink. He writes down on his pad what you’ve ordered and asks you if that will be all. Amazing!

  Chapter Fifty-four

  Other than the food, the formal night was sort of boring. Bridget and I start to think that maybe the cruise is not so hot after all. We quickly change our mind the next night when we meet these two guys. It starts out very innocently, which is how a lot of things begin. Consider World War I. One day people just didn’t up and start shooting at each other. The Archduke Franz Ferdinand was riding along in his carriage with the Duchess Sophie at his side, waving at his subjects and probably having a very nice day, and this guy Princip assassinates him. But that didn’t immediately start the war. There were other things that happened. A lot of people think that Germany started the war, but I know for a fact Russia was the first to mobilize troops and Germany had no alternative but to defend itself. Of course then they became evil. My point is, it all started with a little carriage ride. As for the war with my mother, it starts out when me and Bridget decide to go to the teen center. My mother and Vivian are going to take in the evening show.

  “Make sure you’re back by ten, Andi,” my mother says. “That’s late enough for you to girls to be out wandering about.”

  So we head to the third floor. After we get a cold drink we start dancing with a group of other kids that are out on the floor in a big circle. Before long Bridget is swirling around and around to the music likes she’s crazy and manages to land on her butt. I grab hold of her hand and end up flat on the floor next to her. These two guys come up laughing and asking if we’re alright.

  “Let me help you up,” the tall one says.

  “Thanks,” I say and hold out my hand. My heart is pounding and it’s not because I got thrown to the ground. This guy is gorgeous. He looks like Brad Pitt.

  “What’s your name?” he says.

  “Andi,” is all I can think of to say. I wanted to add something after that but my mind is a blank.

  “Jason,” he says and pulls me to my feet.

  The other guy is helping Bridget up. He’s not as tall, but sort of cute with a cowlick that stands up at the back of his head.

  “That’s Gavin,” Jason says and jerks his head in Bridget’s direction.

  Bridget stands up and straightens her sweater. It was pulled up around her midriff.

  “Hey, you want to go to the club upstairs? It’s where the adults go,” Jason says.

  “They play some cool music and there’s lights flashing everywhere,” Gavin says.

  “Sure,” I say and look at Bridget. She just shrugs her shoulders and gives me a look like, “Why not?”

  So it starts out without any trouble. It isn’t until later that things get out of hand.

  We follow them up to the fourth floor where a small adult lounge is. It’s all very innocent. We each get a Coke, which you have to pay for, and Gavin and Jason treat us. It’s like we’re on a date. We start dancing and just goofing off and then Jason says his brother is at the disco on the third floor and why don’t we go there and hang out. I don’t see any problem with that. I mean, his brother must be an adult or what would he be doing in the disco, right?

  We head down there, going past the casino on our way. There are people everywhere feeding the slot machines. Bells are ringing like crazy, so someone must be winning something, or maybe the machines do that to keep the gamblers excited and anxious to keep playing.

  The disco is called White Heat. It has a floor that looks like glass and a ceiling that is one giant mirror. The walls are peppered with wall-to-wall television sets flashing the word White Heat on them. It makes me dizzy just looking at them.

  Jason finds his brother. “Hey, Jerry,” he calls out. “What’s up?”

  Jerry is every bit as good looking as Jason and a couple of inches taller. He has dark hair that hangs down on his forehead and dark blue eyes with longer eyelashes than an ad for Maybelline.

  “How about getting us some drinks?” Jason says.

  “How old are you girls?” Jerry says.

  “Eighteen,” Jason says.

  “Almost nineteen,” Bridget says. I stab her in the ribs with my elbow. “Well, we will be in a few years,” she whispers to me.

  Try four and five years respectively. I’m not much into the idea of alcohol, but don’t want to be a dork, so I go along with it. Bad decision.

  Jerry comes back one by one with drinks for each of us. I guess the bartenders are too busy to keep track of who orders what. What kind of nut orders four drinks in quick succession? Or maybe he asked different bartenders. There’s about six of them bustling about. I take a sip of mine. It’s something with orange juice in it and has a cherry and a slice of an orange with an umbrella resting on top. It doesn’t even taste like it has anything in it other than maybe orange juice and Seven Up. It’s good and I drink it down without any trouble. Jerry brings another round. That’s when Jason takes this flask out of his jacket and spikes our drinks. I can really taste the alcohol now. It isn’t long before the room shifts a bit before my eyes. Now there’s two of everything and my stomach feels like it’s on a roller coaster while my head is on a merry-go-round. Then the room starts to spin like it’s a top. I hang on to Jason to keep from losing my balance. Bridget is giggling and carrying on with Gavin. He has his arm around her waist and she’s wobbling back and forth like a whirling dervish on a stick.

  “Whoooeeee,” she says. “I better sit down.”

  Three rounds later I’m outside on the deck heaving my guts out over the railing. That is, I’m trying to keep it over the railing, but the wind keeps tossing back what I keep tossing up. Bridget joins in.

  “I think I’m dying,” she says.

  “I hope I do,” I answer.

  Jason and Gavin bring us some towels they take from the pool deck and start wiping our faces. “Guess you two have had enough,” Jason says. “Come on, you can lay down in our cabin ’til you feel better.”

  His cabin consists of adjoining suites with a queen bed in one room and twin beds in the other. Bridget and I sack out on the queen bed. Jason covers us up and says he’ll be back to check on us later. I lean over the bed and tell him to make sure it’s before ten. When later comes I’m not sure what time it is, but my head feels like it’s twice the size it’s ever been and the motion of the ship is making me sick all over again. Jason and Gavin are nowhere in sight. I consider getting up to go find our cabin, but the moment I get up all I can manage to do is head straight for the toilet. There’s nothing left in me to throw up. Regardless, my body keeps on trying to toss up my insides.

  “Dry heaves,” Bridget says and joins me over the john.

  “I’ll never drink anything again as long as I live,” she says. “Ever.”

  I want to agree with her, but the thought of trying to form words is too much of an assignment. All I really want is my mother. I drag myself back to the bed and pass out. Bridget must have followed. When I wake up again, it’s morning. Bridget is sprawled on top of the bedspread beside me. Jerry is asleep on the sofa and Jason and Gavin are asleep in the twin beds. The door between the rooms is open. I peek in to see if they’re awake. They’re not.

  I nudge Bridget. She opens her eyes like they’re connected to strings that don’t quite work. “Let’s get out of here,” I whisper.

  Which is exactly what we do. It takes us forever to figure out where we
are and where our own cabin is located. Finally we come to 7806. We know it when we get there. We run straight into the captain and his crew and my mother who are parked in front of the door to our suite. My mother spots us and sees the condition we’re in, which isn’t pretty. I don’t remember hearing such screaming since my brother died.

  Chapter Fifty-five

  My mother has decided two things. First, she’s convinced I’ve been violated as in I’m no longer a virgin. I don’t care how much alcohol I had, I would have remembered something like that, or wouldn’t there be some evidence of it on my body in the morning? Exactly. But oh no, she’s calling the ship’s doctor and demanding an examination and I am having a complete hysterical nervous breakdown. The idea of a strange man poking around in my private spots has me wanting to jump overboard.

  “I want these boys arrested,” my mother says. “Immediately!”

  The ship’s captain explains that they are only sixteen years old. So they lied! There’s actually no crime other than furnishing the alcohol, which technically they didn’t. Jerry did. Jerry could be in some very serious trouble, but we don’t mention him.

  The second thing my mother has decided is that Bridget and I are not to go anywhere for the rest of the cruise without them. I don’t blame her on that accord. If I were my mother I’d be having a hissy fit, too. Still, it will be the pits. Today we are in the Cayman Islands and are going horseback riding along the beach. Vivian is going, too. She loves horses. My mother’s going to watch. Remember she doesn’t like any type of animals or fish touching her. I can just picture her standing on the beach for two hours, melting under the sun—ridiculous. She should just stay on the ship and bite her nails.

  I did not have to have an examination. My mother called my father and he said they would discuss it when we returned. I could just hug my father! I hate him for being with Donna, but I love him for not insisting I have an examination. Fortunately, my mother did not call Bridget’s father. She decided to let my father handle the entire situation. Good plan. Bridget’s father is out of the country anyway.