How did he become everything to me in such a short period of time? It was almost as scary as not having anything. Because what did I have to lose then?
He gave me an expectant look, waiting for me to finish, and after taking a deep breath, I lifted my fancy camera and my phone. “I have these,” I said, glancing at his face on the screen. His eyes so blue that they seemed to watch me out of the dimness of the photo. “They’re mine.”
He nodded once, then turned us around and rowed us out.
6
MARI
We were back on Aphrodite, and from one of her decks, I watched as the Ionian Sea stretched as far as I could see. The color of the water was almost hypnotizing in the early morning light. It wasn’t harsh enough to cause breaks that rippled with the water in the shallows yet. It was still soft, making the world seem like it was glowing from a far-off fire somewhere.
I narrowed my eyes and tried to visualize the different shores that bordered the sea. I remembered Capo telling me. Sicily was southwest. Albania—northwe—no, northeast. Greece was east. Italy was west and northwest.
It was strange not really knowing where I was, but it was also exhilarating. With each new stop, I discovered another part of the world I never thought I’d see before. Each morning, and every night, I’d reflect on all that had happened, and take notice of the things I loved.
Nafsika Cave was high on that list. Capo seemed to take notice of things like that, and, without a word, planned for more places like it. I was still thinking about the last cave we visited. It was even more romantic than the first—thecave of Aphrodite close to Lychnos Beach. According to Greek mythology, Aphrodite had bathed in it. It was only accessible by boat. Again, we left the yacht and we boarded what looked like a real pirate ship, even though Capo didn’t steer it. Capo seemed to either know the captain or of him. After I’d asked, he told me Rocco knew him and trusted him and that everyone just called him “Captain.”
Captain had dropped anchor right outside of the cave, and after, Capo motioned for me to jump in…
“After you,”I said, not so sure, looking down. Even though it wasn’t as scary as jumping from the yacht, I wasn’t sure how deep the water was, and how far I’d go down before coming back up. I was up to fifteen seconds holding my breath. I didn’t want to push it to thirty, or more, and pass out or something.
Then I looked at the beauty of the cave and sighed. Swimmers were going straight for it.
“Spelunker,” Capo said, then without a second’s hesitation, jumped from the boat and made a mighty splash when he hit the water.
“Spelunker,” I echoed.
“Inquisitive souls who enjoy exploring caves,” Captain said as he passed me. Then he stopped, nodding to the ladder going down into the water. “No shame in taking the steps.”
“That’s sort of like you offering me one of those floating things that a kid wears on her arm, right?”
He threw back his head and laughed. “That’s me offering you an easier way, if you’d rather not take his.” He nodded toward the water, where Capo had just resurfaced, shaking his head like a dog who just had a bath.
“Dirty, Mariposa,” Capo called up, giving me a look that I knew was meant to be daring.
If I was going to do this…I didn’t give a fuck who laughed. I held my nose and jumped.
The thing about jumping? There’s no taking it back. As soon as gravity got a hold of my body, it sucked me down, and panic hit me. I didn’t have time to dwell on it, though. The coolness of the water hit my hot body as I plunged under, and I let go of my nose. After that, the only thing that registered was that something hard hit me, and I wondered if I’d jumped too close to Capo. Then I started kicking as hard as I could, not wanting to go so deep, but I was being pulled up before I could help myself.
I broke the surface in what felt like seconds, not even gasping for air.
“Wha—” I opened my eyes, coming face to face with Capo. He had a hold on my arm. “You pulled me up?”
“I gave you fifteen seconds once you hit the water,” he said.
It was hard to tell if he was joking or not, but still, something warm and indescribable rushed in my chest after he’d said it.
“If I’m going to get dirty, you have to let me play in the mud,” I said. “Even when I panic.”
He nodded. “Next time. First try is for testing,la mia piccola farfalla.”My little butterfly.
I swam around him, going toward his back, where I latched on, setting my arms around his neck. I was more comfortable reaching out for him ever since the day we spent on the private beach on Paleokastritsa. He shuttled us toward Aphrodite’s bathing cave, like us being this way was as natural as the rocks standing in the sea.
Swimmers dotted the water around the anchored boats, and I had a sudden image of a shipwrecked scene, a bunch of limbs splashing, waiting for rescue.
I laughed, thinking about the time Keely and I had played a game where we had to run as fast as we could to get out of the way of pretend lava coming from a pretend volcano in her house. Her room was the safe spot, and the first one who reached the bed would yell out the word as she jumped on it. Years later, I played the same game, but with real rats running all over my apartment. My bed wasn’t safe from them, though.
“Bed!” I said, remembering the safe word, squeezing Capo a little tighter.
