Page 6 of Something More

“I gotta ask my mom.” He stood there as if he was thinking about it, and then turned to run inside. “Mooommm!” I heard his voice trail off as the screen door slammed. I watched through the window as he animatedly talked to her. She was frowning, but he kept pushing. Then he smiled, hugged her around the middle and came rushing back out. “She said yes, but I have to be back for supper.” He grinned proudly.

“We’ll be back by then. We want to eat, too.” I was confused. I wondered if she just didn’t know what to say, or thought we’d stay late for some unknown reason. I mean, she knew me. She knew she could trust me. It was then that I looked up to see her coming outside. She had a towel in her hands and was wiping them as she stepped outside.

“Can I talk to you?” She refused to look me in the eyes as she moved closer to the group. “Alone?” A few of the guys made noises as Johney knocked against my shoulder.

“Sure.” I stepped away from the group a few feet. “If you’re going to take him, you have to watch him closely,” she warned. Her voice was almost a whisper, and all happiness from earlier today had disappeared. “I mean it.”

“Codie, it’s me you’re talking to.”

“Hank, he can’t swim.” She crossed her arms across her chest. “You have to watch him.” The look on her face said that part of her really thought I’d let something happen. “He’s all I have left of Alex.”

Those words right there were like a knife to the heart. I knew she loved him. I knew that she was still grieving but hearing her actually voice that loss was the hardest thing I’d heard, probably ever.

Her lip quivered and then she pushed it away. Her face went blank again as she wrung her hands in front of her.

“I’ll watch him as if he were mine.” I squeezed her elbow. She nodded, then turned to go back inside.

When she opened the screen door, she turned to look at Jack, narrowed her eyes like all mothers do when they mean business, and then ordered him to listen to me. Jack grinned as he agreed, and then fist- pumped.

“Let me grab some towels and then we’ll start the walk.” I lumbered toward the bunkhouse. I was tired, but a cool soak in the creek was so refreshing after days like this. One by one,we all grabbed a towel, except Jeff. He never came swimming. I sometimes wondered if he just wanted a quiet place to relax after a long day.

*****

The walk to the creek only took a few minutes. It ran along the east side of the farm and wrapped around a few fields before going under a bridge and onto the next farm. Jack walked along beside me chattering away about baseball, and how he had to leave his team when they moved. He claimed he wasn’t sad, but I could hear it in his voice. He missed home, but he loved his mom more and was trying to give farm life a go. “How deep is it?” He swallowed when the cool water came into view.

“It depends on where you get in. It’s about knee deep right here, but over under those branches, it’s deep. We have a rope up there, and we swing out over the water.”

“I don’t think I can do that.” Jack swallowed again. I could feel the nerves radiating off him.

“How about we start here, and by the end of the summer I’ll have you going after that swing?” I ripped my shirt off over my head and tossed it on a nearby bush.

“I guess.” Jack shrugged.

I squatted down so we were eye level. “Your mom told me you don’t know how to swim. It’s cool. I can teach you.” I patted his shoulder.

“I don’t think you can. My dad tried. My mom tried. They even got me lessons. I panic when it’s deep.” He stared out at the creek.

“I promise that by the end of the summer, I’ll have you swimming.” I held my hand out to shake.

He stared at it for a minute before grabbing it. “Ok.”

“Now, let’s cool off. It’s hot.” I shoved my jeans down, and rushed into the water in my boxers. As I flopped down and let the water envelop me, I sighed in relief. It felt heavenly, and Icould have stayed there all day. “You coming?” I motioned to Jack as the other hands all took turns wading into the water. Jack stripped out of his clothes and rushed in, squealing in the process. When he reached me, he was smiling.

“This isn’t so bad.” He grinned as water sloshed around his waist. “Are there fish in here?”

“Probably, but they are more afraid of you than you are of them. They won’t bother you.” I laughed as I flopped back again, submerging my head in the process. “Don’t you want to get the rest of you wet?” I splashed a little in his direction.

“No.” Jack backed up slightly. “I told you, I don’t like it when it’s deep.”

“It’s not deep.” I stood up, water trailing down my body as I shook my hair. “Come here.” I motioned and he moved closer. “We’ll do it together.” I held my hand out and he took it. “Ready? One, two, three.” I sat down and he did too, letting the water come up to his neck. His eyes widened and then he relaxed. “Doesn’t it feel good?” I coaxed. He nodded and then pressed his lips together as if he were working up the courage for more. I felt him squeeze my hand harder and then he did it. He dunked his head under for a few seconds. When he came back to the surface, he had a giant grin on his face.

“I did it! Did you see that? I did it!” His lifted our joined hands. “Don’t tell Mom. I want to surprise her,” he begged.

“How about we keep working on swimming, and then surprise her?” I laughed. I didn’t want to keep things from Codie, but I thought this would probably be ok.

“Yeah. I want to show her the swing.” He kinda bounced in the water before dunking his head under. At the time I didn’t realize what a big deal this was, but seeing the excitement on his face told me this was huge.

“You think we can come here tomorrow?” He glanced up at me as we toweled off.

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