The River's Edge

by Tina Sears

  “They want to know if we can go to the pool with them,” Wendy said.

  “Well, I guess it will be okay,” Aunt Lori said and disappeared back inside the cottage.

  “Okay,” Wendy said to the guys, “but we have to get our bathing suits on first. It might take a few minutes.”

  “We’ll wait,” Reds said.

  My stomach curled up inside me. Just us and the guys? No Julie? What a nice turn of events.

  We were in the bedroom changing into our suits as fast as possible. Paige walked in and started changing too.

  “Where do you think you’re going?” Wendy asked.

  “To the pool, like you guys.”

  “No you’re not. Mom, tell Paige she can’t come with us. Please?”

  Paige started to argue so Aunt Lori came into the bedroom. “It’s okay, Paige. The girls want to go by themselves.” She winked at us.

  Paige jutted her bottom lip out at her mom with her hands on her hips. I don’t know where she studied the craft of manipulation, but she sure was good at it. I was beginning to learn a thing or two from her.

  “Okay, honey, give me fifteen minutes and I’ll take you to the pool when I finish hanging the laundry on the line.”

  That seemed to be a solution we could all live with. Then I realized that I hadn’t shaved my legs since I arrived and they were hairy.

  “I’ve got to shave my legs,” I told Wendy and went to the shower to find the razor. I let the water run down my legs, soaped up, and quickly ran the razor over them. Afterward, I threw shorts on over my bathing suit, and we were ready to go.

  I walked next to Reds while Wendy and Owl followed. Without Julie around, the sun seemed brighter and my steps seemed lighter somehow.

  “My older brother is working at Coney Island this summer and he’ll be able to get us in at a discount. Isn’t that cool?” Reds said.

  “Yeah,” I said.

  I wonder if he meant just the four of us. I was nervous because I never talked to Reds alone, without Julie around, or loud music playing. I wasn’t the best at making small talk. That’s why I liked having Lisa around back home because she loved to talk. She seemed to fill in all the silent moments with her constant chatter.

  “I want to ride the roller coaster,” Owls said, punching Reds’ shoulder lightly.

  “Me, too,” Wendy said.

  As we approached the pool, I could hear screams of excitement and splashing. I looked at Wendy and smiled, but my smile faded as we walked through the gate. Sitting on the life guard stand was Julie. She was wearing a one piece red bathing suit with a whistle around her neck. She was tan, and her red nails matched her suit. She was a queen on her throne and we were her loyal subjects. She had so much confidence up there. She saw me looking at her and waved but her heart wasn’t in it. I waved back half-heartedly.

  “Oh, great,” I said to Wendy under my breath so the guys wouldn’t hear. “She’s the lifeguard? And she made me swim out to Slippery Rock and watched as I almost drowned! What a—” My voice got louder and Reds overheard me.

  “Well, she’s not really the lifeguard. Yet, anyway. She’s the lifeguard’s assistant until she’s old enough. Her mother has some pull with the homeowners association, so . . . that’s how she got the job.” Reds pointed to the real lifeguard who was just emerging from the pool house. She had a water testing kit in her hand. She was also wearing a red one piece bathing suit.

  “Look, it’s Tommy and Freckles,” Owl said.

  They were in the pool, waving to us. We waved back, but my eyes were focused on Julie. We picked out a spot by the pool to lay our towels down. It was packed, just like at the dance. I felt self-conscious and didn’t want to take my shorts off.

  “Come on, Chris, what are you waiting for?” Reds asked as he got in the pool.

  I slipped off my shorts quickly and got in the pool as fast as I could. Once submerged in the water, I felt better. A few minutes later, we made our way over to Tommy and Freckles. The water was cold, and I bent my knees so that I was covered up to my shoulders. I hoped my headlights weren’t showing.

  We splashed in the water for about fifteen minutes. Slowly I lost my inhibitions and warmed up. I felt safe in the water and missed my swim team, missed my friend, Lisa, who was on the swim team with me.

  “Come on, get on my shoulders. We’re going to play King of the Mountain,” Reds said to me. “We challenge you and Wendy to a battle,” he said to Owl.

  “We accept,” Owl said.

  The guys went underwater and we climbed on their shoulders. Up on top of Reds’ shoulders, I felt exposed again, uncomfortable. My legs were intertwined with his arms, skin against skin. I could feel his strength as he held me up on my own throne. I was glad that my legs were shaved.

  Reds caressed my thighs then, and I smiled my shit-eating grin at Julie. My mom told me not to cuss, but my dad used the term, and I liked it, so I kept it in my vocabulary. It was one of the few things I had left of him.

  In an instant, Wendy had her hands on me, trying to knock me off Reds’ shoulders. I fought back. It was a balancing act. When I leaned too far to the right, Reds’ leaned to the left. It was hard to balance because there was nothing for me to hold on to, unless I wrapped an arm around Reds’ head and risked the chance that he wouldn’t be able to see. He held me tight around my thighs and it felt good to be tangled up with him, my legs tucked around his arms and my feet on his back. I wasn’t even worried about my headlights showing anymore.

  As we played, I saw Aunt Lori arrive with Paige. She took a lounge chair next to Alice. Paige joined us in the water. Soon, a black-haired girl showed up too and got on top of Freckles’ shoulders when he went underwater.

  “Paige, come here. You can get on my shoulders,” Tommy said. Julie watched closely as Paige wrapped her legs around Tommy’s shoulders.

  Once we were all partnered up, we started to knock each other off our partners’ shoulders. The last one on top won the game and I was trying my best to knock the black-haired girl down. Julie was fidgeting, trying not to notice us, but I caught her looking at us every chance she got.

  I knocked the black-haired girl off Freckles’ shoulders first. Next to go was Wendy. Now it was me and Reds against Tommy and Paige. For being so little, Paige was quick, and we wrestled for a long while. Tommy was taller than Reds, but Paige was shorter than me, so we balanced out pretty fairly. Tommy definitely had more muscles, but I didn’t want to be on his shoulders. I was right where I wanted to be.

  To win the game, I made a drastic move and put my foot in Tommy’s face so he couldn’t see, and then I knocked Paige off her lofty position.

  “We won!” I raised my hands in victory.

  Reds went underwater so I could get off his shoulders. He resurfaced and had a smile I hadn’t seen before. He was triumphant and happy. He held up his hands to me and I high fived him, smiling back. Then he put his fingers in between mine so that our hands were intertwined. Nice move. I was excited and scared at the same time. I felt his boney fingers pressing against my own. I couldn’t wait to tell Lisa back home. We often talked about what it would be like to have our first boyfriend.

  As we were celebrating and splashing each other, Tommy came over and high fived Reds, then me. “Good game.”

  I was now the queen and there was nothing Julie could do about it. Or so I thought.

  The whistle blew long and hard. All eyes turned to Julie. “Adult swim.”

  Well done, worthy opponent.

  Chapter Eight

  Falling

  THE NEXT MORNING, we turned on the radio. We were dancing around like jerks when Reds and Owl showed up again. Embarrassed, I walked over to the screen where they were. Wendy followed me, hiding her hairbrush microphone.

  “Hi, Chris. Hi, Wendy. Guess what? I got four tickets to Coney Island! Do you guys want to go with us?” Reds said. “My brother said he would drive us. He has to work anyway.”

  “Yes,” I said immediately.

&nb
sp; Wendy let out a little squeal. “I have to ask my mom.” She went in to the kitchen to ask Aunt Lori.

  I could hear her from where I was on the porch.

  “Mom, the guys want to know if we can go to Coney Island with them. Can we, Mom, please?”

  “I don’t know. How are you going to get there?”

  “Reds’ brother is going to take us,” Wendy said.

  “Reds? Who’s Reds?” Aunt Lori asked.

  “I mean, Dave.”

  “Is that the Johnson boy?”

  “Yeah, Dave, the Johnson boy.

  “I know his mother. She’s real nice.”

  “Get with the program, Mom. We went with them to the pool yesterday.” I could hear Wendy’s growing frustration.

  “I don’t know, honey. I should really talk to your father first.”

  “Oh please, Mom,” Wendy said.

  I imagined her on her knees with her hands pressed together in front of her face as if in prayer. A few seconds passed and I realized in that short span of time I was holding my breath. I looked at the guys and they were smiling at me, expectantly.

  Aunt Lori walked in with Paige following closely behind her.

  “Hi, boys,” Aunt Lori said.

  “Hi, Mrs. Morgan,” Reds said.

  There was an uncomfortable silence.

  “Okay. I guess it will be all right,” Aunt Lori finally said.

  I let out my breath.

  “What about me? Can I go too?” Paige asked.

  “No, honey. This is just for the older girls.”

  “Aw, Mom. I want to go too.”

  Aunt Lori rubbed the top of her head. “We’ll do something fun together today, okay? Promise.”

  “We can go!” Wendy said, but I didn’t know why since we all heard Aunt Lori say we could.

  “Okay, great. I’ll go tell my brother and we’ll pick you up in fifteen minutes,” Reds said.

  ONCE WE WERE inside the amusement park, we made a beeline for the rides and of course our first ride was the roller coaster. We sat behind Wendy and Owl. I was so excited I wanted to scream. The anticipation was getting the best of me. The seat was small, forcing us to sit close together. Reds pushed his hairy bare leg against mine. He leaned his upper body into mine to talk so I could hear over all the noise. He was gentle and attentive. I had never known that kind of sweetness before.

  I heard a loud clank as we began the slow climb up the incline. There was a constant rattling as the chain pulled us to the top. We tipped downward and began our descent. I squeezed my hands tighter around the bar in front of us. I was as scared as I had been swimming in the river my first day of summer vacation. But this time I had someone by my side, and I felt reassured.

  I leaned into Reds and he leaned back as if we were the only two people in the world, clinging on to some unknown emotion. I felt myself falling as we headed down the hill. I had a hard time breathing as we slammed against each other on the twists and turns. I felt myself opening up to him.

  When the ride was over, we went over to the Ferris wheel and waited our turn in the heat of the day.

  The operator swung the bar open and I climbed in on the seat next to Reds. The bar swung closed, trapping us for the duration of the ride. Next, Owl and Wendy got on, and we stopped several more times as riders loaded. Slowly the wheel moved up toward the sky until we were on the very top waiting for the ride to start. My heart quickened at how high we were.

  “Do you want to go be my girlfriend?” Reds asked me.

  Of course I did. I’d never had a boyfriend. But I hesitated for a second.

  He nudged me. “Well?”

  “Sure.” Who else would I date?

  “Okay.” He leaned into me and kissed me. It was as if our breathing was the only sound. He gently offered his tongue and waited with anticipation. I offered my tongue back to him but I was scared. It didn’t taste like the cigarettes and whiskey from our first kiss.

  A smile permanently took up residence on my face and I looked out at the vast land around us. The amusement park was lush and green. Flowers planted in mulch beds were so thick that I could smell the sweetness of their blooms even on top of the Ferris wheel. The leaves on the trees were so full that I couldn’t see through them, even when the warm breeze rustled through them. Everything was in bloom, including me, and I felt as if there was a waking up inside, as though I’d been asleep my whole life.

  WHEN WE GOT back to the cottage, I pulled Wendy into the bedroom. “Guess what?”

  “What?”

  “Reds asked me to be his girlfriend!”

  Wendy let out a little squeal. “Oh my God. What did you say?”

  “I said yes, of course.”

  “I can’t believe it. You’re so lucky.”

  Paige came into the room then, singing. “Chris and Reds, sitting in a tree. K-i-s-s-i-n-g. First comes love, then comes marriage . . .”

  “Cut it out, Paige,” Wendy said. “You’re always spying on us. I’m telling Mom, you little brat.”

  “I’m not a brat,” Paige said.

  “Are too,” Wendy said.

  “Oh come on, y’all. No fighting, okay?” I said. I was too happy to let them ruin my mood.

  Wendy leaned down and got in Paige’s face. “Just don’t go running your mouth about this to Mom and Dad, got it?”

  “Got it.” Paige shrugged.

  But she didn’t get it. As soon as Uncle Butch got home from work and before he could even sit down, Paige was at his side.

  “Guess what, Daddy?”

  “What?”

  “Wendy and Chris got to go to Coney Island with Reds and Owl.”

  “Is that right?” Uncle Butch said. He seemed concerned.

  “They wouldn’t let me go, either,” Paige said.

  Aunt Lori came onto the porch where we were. “Did you have a good day at work, honey?”

  “Yeah, but what is this about the girls going to Coney Island?”

  “The guys invited them and I let them go.”

  “Alone?” His voice shot up a bit.

  “No. Dave’s brother took them.”

  “Was he at the park with them?”

  “Yeah. He works there,” Aunt Lori said.

  “So really, no supervision, right?” He seemed angry.

  “And Chris is Reds’ girlfriend,” Paige said. I liked Paige, but she sure was a tattle-tale.

  “Who the hell is Reds?” Uncle Butch asked, confused.

  “Reds is Dave. It’s his nickname on account of him always wearing his Cincinnati Reds baseball cap . . .” Wendy said.

  “I don’t care who he is!” Uncle Butch’s face turned red. He was doing that a lot lately. “Aren’t you girls a little young to be dating?”

  “No,” Wendy said.

  I was silent.

  He wiggled his big sausage finger between me and Wendy. “I don’t want you two hanging out with those boys any more. It doesn’t look right for such young girls to be around older boys.”

  “They’re only a year older,” Wendy said.

  “Oh, honey. Let the girls be. They’re just having fun with their friends. It’s all innocent,” Aunt Lori said.

  “Yeah, well, it’s all innocent until it’s not,” Uncle Butch said. “Boys that age only have one thing on their mind, and I don’t like them hanging around with them unsupervised!”

  He went to the kitchen and grabbed a beer from the fridge. The screen door banged as he left.

  Wendy and I exchanged looks, and smiled. Even Uncle Butch’s bad mood couldn’t spoil our perfect day.

  Chapter Nine

  Make Over

  IT WAS FRIDAY and I was excited not only because of the dance, but because I could call my mom tomorrow. It had been a week since my phone call to her and boy oh boy, I really needed to talk to her.

  After lunch, Paige went over to Cody and Callie’s cottage next door, and we left her there playing with her friends. Then we walked down to the river to meet up with the gang.
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br />   On the way I asked, “What do you think about Freckles?”

  “Do you like him?” Wendy seemed surprised.

  “No!” I said. “He just seems like a bully.”

  “Oh, don’t worry about him, he’s sweet as pie. But his daddy’s meaner than a snake.” Wendy bent down and picked up a stick. “His dad was in the Vietnam war. When he got back from the war, he wasn’t right in the head. He mostly stays inside his cottage and drinks all day. He doesn’t work anymore, either. He’s a loner. Freckles’ mom died giving birth to him so it’s only Freckles and his dad, and his dad is very strict on him. That’s why he has a crew cut. His dad made him cut off all his hair. I think it makes Freckles feel good to always be in charge of things, you know, like getting the cigarettes and whiskey.”

  We reached the river’s edge, and they were all there. We sat around on logs in the clearing, talking, but the camera of my memory was flashing back to last Saturday when I had talked to my mom. I missed her and Lisa, and couldn’t wait to see them again.

  “Hey, Chris, what the heck?” Reds startled me out of my thoughts. “Check your butt.”

  Reds and I were sitting side by side on a damp log, our shoulders touching. I liked the way his dark hair curled in different directions around his face.

  I stood up and looked behind me. “Why? What is it?” I swiped my hand across my butt, looking over my shoulder to see what he was talking about.

  “Not that.” He laughed. “I was talking about your cigarette.”

  I had let it burn down without touching it to my mouth. “Oh, thanks.” I smiled at him, feeling stupid. I crushed the cigarette into the mud with my foot and then sat back down next to him. I thought about my grandpa’s throat cancer. I pictured it as a big lump of black tar blocking his vocal cords, trapping him inside his mind with no way to speak. It seemed stupid to smoke, knowing that it could cause cancer.

  “I don’t really like smoking,” I said to Reds, but Julie, who was just a few feet away, overheard me.

  “What?” Julie asked.

  My face started to burn. “I said, I don’t like smoking.”

  “Well, well, New Girl is a goody-two-shoes.”