Spring Tide

by K. Dicke

  “What is all this?”

  “Nirvana!” Sarah hopped off the counter. “Kris worked at a five-star in Austin all through school and makes bouillabaisse better than the exec chef. Stick around.”

  “I do not make it better, but thank you.” I wiped my hands on a towel.

  Jericho went with Sarah to the living room and they sat down with the others to watch sports bloopers. I was sectioning grouper and snapper fillets when I heard the crunch of gravel and glanced out the window. An SUV parked and I struck the knife against the cutting board. Light brown hair, a lovely face, and a cut physique confirmed it was him. If Derek or Sarah had known he was coming they would’ve told me. The sound of trampoline springs started up in my mind. Jericho said my name but I couldn’t speak.

  _______

  The sun had set behind the trees when a hard shove put me on my back, my right hand caught underneath me, my other pinned by Joshua’s arm. His mouth slammed onto mine and I couldn’t turn away.

  He brought his head back two inches and stared at me, a strange, crooked smile on his face. “You don’t have to pretend with me. You’ve been wantin’ this for a long time.”

  The squeal of the springs got more frantic.

  I dug my nails into his wrist. “Josh, stop.”

  My shirt and bra were yanked to my neck, my body writhing under his weight. His hands, his mouth …

  I screamed but the trampoline was so loud. With his forearm against my throat, the fingers of his other hand slid the zipper of my shorts. I pushed hard but he was too heavy, too strong.

  “You’re gonna like me.” He said into my ear as his body covered mine.

  The porch lights went on. Nick’s mom was home from her business trip early.

  She opened the back door and called for him, her hand shielding her eyes—she couldn’t see us.

  “Hi, Mrs. Black. He went to get carry out, should be back in a few minutes.” Joshua said, his voice totally normal.

  On the other side of the tall stone wall in Nick’s backyard, two kids kept jumping higher and higher on a trampoline.

  _______

  Suddenly, Joshua was standing right next to me. Every part of my body tensed.

  “I was looking forward to seeing you again but then you left. No call, no nothin’. I didn’t like that.” His fingers walked down my spine. “No worries, sweetness. I can play the game.”

  I stood there.

  “Do I make you nervous?” He whispered, his hand moving under my shirt.

  “Josh, quit it.” I couldn’t look at him.

  “Anyway, have you seen Mars Lee? Their drummer is tits. Come up for the Fourth, spend the weekend, and we’ll go see Prank at The Meadows. They’re new, alternative—your thing.” He pressed his body against mine, taking me a step back. “We’ll have a good time.”

  “Why are you being like this?” I said to him quietly.

  “’Cause you want me to.”

  “No I don’t.”

  Derek stood. “Joshua, let her be.”

  “It’s nothin’. She just loves to tease me.” Joshua’s palm wandered below my hip. “Don’t you?”

  “No.” I finally came around and batted his hand away.

  He put it right back with no recognition of my action.

  “Did you hear her?” Derek moved a foot closer.

  Joshua’s shoulders came back and Derek’s face hardened as they stared at each other. Other than the TV, the room went silent.

  Joshua strode to the island that separated them and put his hands flat on the counter. “You’d better call off your little dog, Nick, before it gets kicked. He doesn’t know what he’s talking about.”

  No. No. No. Derek’s gonna get stomped because of me. “Josh—”

  “Guys, knock it off!” Sarah tossed a throw pillow into the middle of the room.

  “Let’s go out, hit a buffet or somethin’.” Nick hoisted himself off the couch and stretched. “Kris is makin’ chick food.”

  Joshua didn’t move an inch and the room was still too quiet.

  “Oh shit!” Jericho jumped up from the recliner. “Kris, I need tongs.”

  Huh?

  He jogged into the kitchen. “Tongs.”

  “Why?”

  “Because I was supposed to call this girl an hour ago.” He turned to Joshua. “Hot, so hot, you know. Been after her for weeks. Gotta make the call or I’m high and dry.”

  “Been there.” Joshua’s eyes undressed me. “Not for long.”

  “Tongs?” I dug in the kitchen drawers. “Phones work better.”

  “She wrote her number on an envelope and it fell between the seat and the console in my truck. I can’t get it.” He knocked his head with his fist. “I can’t believe I forgot.”

  I handed him a turning fork. “This might work.”

  He grabbed my hand. “You have really skinny fingers. You can jimmy it out. The fork’ll mess up the leather.” He looked to Joshua. “Can I borrow her for a sec? That cool?”

  “Yeah man, don’t use the fork,” Joshua said and then patted my behind. “Help the boy out. Don’t worry—I’m not goin’ anywhere.”

  Jericho whisked me from the kitchen through the side door and started toward the shore.

  I followed, utterly confused. “Where’s your truck?”

  “At home. I live two houses up, walked over. There’s no phone number, no girl.”

  “So what are we doing?”

  “Keeping the situation under control. What was going on in there?”

  “I have no idea. I don’t. Joshua and I used to be friends. We listened to music, went to concerts, and he never showed any interest in me. Then, I don’t know what happened …”

  “He started acting different?”

  “Like zero to freakshow in point two seconds.” I stopped walking. “How’d you know that?”

  “Just a guess. Go on.”

  “See, the thing with Joshua is that he’s a football star, totally over-glorified. He goes from girl to girl, knocking them over like dominos, but he knows I don’t roll like that. Hell, everyone knows.” I wrapped my arm around my waist. “I’m so stupid. Didn’t think Josh would ever be like that with me, would try to force …” Why am I telling him any of this?

  His voice took on an edge. “Force what—?”

  “What I’m saying is that in Joshua’s mind, because he chose me, he’s entitled. Like I’m so lucky I should give it up. I think he truly believes I want him, no matter what I say or do, probably because no one’s ever turned him down before.”

  He picked up a shell and tossed it into the water. “Want my observation?”

  I remembered the day we’d run into each other at the bluff, his thoughts about the people on the public beach. “Have at it.”

  “The further you move away from him the closer he wants to be to you and when you push him back, he thinks you want him that much more. He’s getting off on it because he knows he makes you anxious—the thrill of the chase.”

  He couldn’t possibly have heard Joshua ask if he made me nervous, over the TV and Nick’s buffoonery. He stopped walking and entwined his fingers with mine; a spark zapped my palm.

  My face contorted. I was still processing what had happened inside with Joshua and Derek, and what was going on outside with Jericho right then. “I don’t date. I don’t have time for it and even if I did, I don’t go out with guys like you.”

  He dropped my hand and pointed to himself. “Guys like me? Like Joshua? You’re putting me in the same class with him?”

  “That came out wrong. Look, you could be with anyone you wanted, if not several women at once plus twins.” I tapped my chest. “So don’t waste your time here. I’m just being honest with you.”

  “But I don’t want to be with several women at once. The only thing I want is to get to know you better. Come over to my house sometime or come out with me once.”

  “I can’t even think about that right now. I gotta blaze—”

  “Then you�
��ll be making it worse.” He made a line in the sand with his foot. “You can go, but I promise he won’t bother you. Or Derek.”

  I considered his words. Joshua didn’t know Jericho, might not be as bold with him. And Jericho had formed an accord with him by using the whole hot girl story. However, if Joshua didn’t understand me in record time, I was going to have to call my brother. Brad would take care of it.

  Inside, Nick was actively participating in a game show. Joshua was sitting in a chair and glaring at Derek and Pam, who were on the couch.

  “And?” Joshua said to Jericho.

  “Kris saved me but I got nothin’. Missed my window. Eh, there’s more where she came from.”

  Joshua tilted his head in agreement.

  Jericho went with me into the kitchen and watched me work my magic with a stock pot and a whole bunch of dead sea creatures. I was taking croutons out of the oven when Joshua swaggered in. Jericho took a step forward, dropped his head and whispered. I couldn’t make out the words but there was something about his tone that was unlike anything I’d ever heard before. Joshua abruptly turned around, went back to the living room and sat down. Jericho sat on a bar stool and a half-hour passed.

  Sarah clapped her hands. “Is it ready? Yay!”

  Joshua didn’t touch me the rest of the evening. We talked music and he joked around with me the way he used to. He wasn’t aggressive with Derek, like the confrontation had never happened.

  “That was really, really good, Kris.” Jericho walked to the door. “Thanks for dinner.”

  I went out behind him. “What did you say to him?”

  “I suggested that you were unavailable.”

  “You threatened him?”

  “Not at all. I was trying to help.”

  “You did. Thank you. A lot.”

  He trekked down the beach, stopping once to look back at me. Maybe I was wrong about him.

  After Joshua took off, I punched Derek in the stomach. “You need to get your confidence in check, bonehead. What were you thinking, gettin’ into it with him?”

  “Like I was gonna let him keep touching you. What did you do to make him to stop?”

  “I think he finally figured out I wasn’t interested or … available. And Pam? She seems plenty interested.”

  “Can’t be helped. No one gets over me completely.” He rolled his shoulders. “She wants me to have lunch with her tomorrow.”

  Disappointment was beginning to show on my face when Sarah grabbed my belt loop and pulled me to her car so we could go back to the condo and get crazy on some Yahtzee.

  The next week was unremarkable, except Joshua called to inform me that he only wanted to be friends and hoped I’d understand. In his self-centered world, he believed I was pining away for him, waiting for his call. Whatever and hallelujah. And I went on a short walk with Jericho one afternoon and explained my fascination with the food service industry. He disclosed his love for working on fishing boats and fixing boat motors. We also discussed the important issues of the world, like air hockey versus Ping-Pong and the many reasons why bologna was gross. I held his hand. He kissed my cheek.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  On Saturday, my boss, Freddy, and I stood on the back steps of Crazy Jim’s, waiting for the delivery truck. The man had to have been a sumo wrestler. You can’t look that much like a sumo wrestler to not have been one, plus he did the long, black braid thing.

  Freddy crossed one foot over the other. “About this little groove thing you got goin’ on— it’s really distracting some of the guys.”

  I pivoted toward him. “Come again?”

  “The dancing.”

  “What now?”

  “Don’t be all shy about it. I don’t care but you’ve got some sexy moves and it’s making Alonzo act stupid.”

  “You’re saying I dance while I’m cooking.”

  “All the time.”

  I tsked. “Do not.”

  “Do too. What’s goin’ on with you lately? You’ve been working twice as fast as usual this week, all deep in thought, your booty shake a little less exuberant. And today, you haven’t said two words since you got here and didn’t notice my new T-shirt.”

  I read his shirt. “It’s the best of your collection, Fred. Very offensive, more power to ya. I do not shake booty.”

  “Do too. Now, I’m not lookin’ to get all up in your business but you’re one of my best and I need to know if you’re flakin’ out.”

  “Boys.”

  “Derek?”

  “Derek? Why would you say that?”

  “Hunch.” He gave my shoulder a push. “How many players you involved with little girl? You don’t strike me as a juggler.”

  “I do not juggle boys. I think I’m crushin’.”

  “You don’t think you have a crush. You have one or you don’t.”

  “Never had one before. Don’t worry about it, Freddy—I’m not flakin’.”

  “Who’s the crush?” He put his hand on his cheek and his voice jumped an octave. “Is it me?”

  “You couldn’t handle a girl like me.” I winked at him.

  “Everybody gets a crush once. You’re just getting yours really, really late. The thing about crushes is that they go away or turn into somethin’ nice.”

  For the entire shift, I willed myself to stand still and not give in to the music in my head that provoked me to involuntarily groove. It messed me up. I couldn’t work as quickly. Freddy gave me more to do, slapping his butt. A few minutes later, I caught Alonzo swiveling his hips, the new dishwasher guy moonwalking. I kept my sight on my board or saucepan because if I met anyone else’s eyes, they’d bust into some wacko dance move. In the last hour, I became my own worst enemy. They cheered, I was humiliated, and the kitchen was a full-out disco.

  Once I’d finished for the night, I went to Nick’s. Derek wasn’t there and Sarah and her king were on the couch, all over each other. I decided I’d walk up the street to Jericho’s, see if any lights were on—standard recon as far as I knew, having never done anything like it before. I just wanna see who he lives with. It’s not ’cause he’s totally smokin’ hot.

  Two lots down from Nick’s was the big Spanish-style hacienda at the end of the beach. Jericho’s truck was parked in the drive and I buzzed the doorbell twice to no answer. I peered around the side of the house and started toward the beach, hearing voices on the deck above me.

  “Hey, it’s Kris! I rang the bell …”

  “Hey hey.” Jericho’s head popped over the short wall of the deck. “The steps are around the other side, but if you give me your hand and put your foot there, I’ll pull you up.”

  I tossed my backpack to him, crammed my foot in the lattice, took his hand and the electrostatic shock, and climbed over the low wall.

  Jericho introduced two guys seated at a table.

  The tall one gave a salute and the other nodded. They were surfers, white lines around one ankle, laid-back disposition. He lives with others of his kind.

  “We’re taking off, man.” The tall one got up.

  “Don’t. I’m only stopping by for a couple minutes,” I said.

  “You are?” Jericho took my hand, another zap.

  “You’re cool. Things to do.” The other started for the steps.

  They crossed the stone pavers and left via the beach while I looked around. Big terra cotta planters of yellow hibiscuses were spaced along the exterior walls. A pergola covered in vines shaded an area next to the house and in middle of the deck there was an oval pool tiled in deep blue.

  “Swim?” he asked.

  “I can.”

  He smiled. “Do you want to?”

  “Sure. Where can I change?”

  “You have a suit?”

  I picked up my backpack. “I have everything.”

  “Ready to cut and run then?”

  “Ya never know what the day will bring.”

  “Well said.”

  He brought me inside. The furnishings were simple and comf
ortable in a palette of tans, creams, and greens. The main room rose two stories in height and where there weren’t doors or windows, the walls were covered with seascape paintings: some oil, some watercolor, some large, some small, each one different. This is a grown-up house. Where’s the trash, the mess, the stolen fiberglass figures from fast-food playgrounds?

  I put on a tie-dye bikini in the powder room near the kitchen and then went outside where he was already in the water, its light reflecting off his back. His hair was so much longer when it was wet, trailing a good four inches past his shoulders. I dove in, came up next to him, and folded my arms on the side like he was doing.

  “I go to the parts store a few times a week. It’s across the street from Panda Bear Sandwiches.” He put his head on his arms. “I’ve seen you talking to the woman who puts the flyers on everyone’s windshields. She doesn’t … bother you?”

  I rubbed my chin on my wrist. “The first time I saw her, I probably stared at her too much. Dude, I’d never seen anyone with a lazy eye before. But she was at my car and I was opening the door …”

  “So what’d you do?”

  “I talked to her. She’s really into food like I am, has a great sense of humor. What?”

  “Nothin’. It’s just—”

  “It’s not her fault she was born like that.”

  He raised his head. “Kris, I don’t see anything wrong with her.”

  “Then why bring it up?”

  “I was trying to say most people wouldn’t take the time. I like that you do.”

  “Well, when I was younger I had a hard time making friends. In a way, I kinda know how she feels.”

  _______

  My therapist took the blue race car away from me. “Krissy, you can with play it in a minute, but first I want you to try again. You can talk. I’m safe.”

  I didn’t speak for the remaining fifteen minutes of the session. I reached for the car but she wouldn’t let me have it. I wanted to go home. I was only five. What she was asking was too hard.

  _______

  The pool scattered light across the deck and the thrum of the waves grew louder with the wind. I put the memory away. Jericho opened his mouth to speak, but I didn’t want to elaborate.