Jase squeezed my shoulder and nodded toward Joey, “And where would three extremely well-rounded misfits spend their vacation day?”
Joey’s black hair flopped across his forehead as he leaned closer to me, “The Island of Misfit Toys?” He handed me back my bag.
“Too far,” Jase chuckled. “But, it’s definitely sunny enough for a day at the beach.”
All it took was a two-minute walk to the subway station and a twenty-minute A-train ride across the waters of the Jamaica Bay to Rockaway Beach, and we had our beach vacation getaway.
That September day turned hot enough to go in the water, but I made my opinions about going into the ocean perfectly clear to both of them. I was scared of the things under the muck of the water: fish, seaweed, dead bodies held down with concrete blocks. Hey, this was New York, and I had seen a lot of mob movies, okay?
So instead of going into the water, we walked all the way down to the old pier that I always believed went half way across the ocean. Above us, the sky was a brilliant blue and only a dusting of feathery white clouds hovered almost invisibly over the horizon. “The ocean always looks so impossibly big to me.”
Reaching out, Jase took my hand and entwined his fingers through mine. My heart beat a tiny bit faster and I turned toward him. The corners of his mouth lifted up in a stunning smile, “Nothing is too impossibly big to conquer.” He leaned his head past me and eyed Joey, “What do you think?”
Joey reached out and grabbed my free hand and entwined his fingers in mine—the same way Jase had done.
Oh God, no.
“I say, let’s just jump,” he called.
And then, they were running, pulling me with them to the edge. They were both so strong and determined; I had no choice but move with them or fall flat on my face.
“No!” I screamed as we flew off the old wooden dock and jumped into the sky. Cold, salty water engulfed me and the sheer terror of what lay underneath the murky darkness with me caused me to kick and scream a profanity of bubbles into the pitch-blackness of the Atlantic Ocean.
As the taste of the bitter salt water filled my mouth, I felt both Jase and Joey’s hands squeeze mine and tug me up. Gently, my body floated up through the rippling waves as my kicking and screaming stilled and complete awe and wonderment settled over me when I opened my eyes under the silent waters. Getting used to the stinging burn, I could see Jase and Joey with their goofy smiles and the sun hitting the surface of the water just above their heads, shining a halo over them like they were two angels.
Jase yanked my hand once more, and the three of us broke through the surface of the water laughing, gasping, and screaming. We swam back to shore, my legs kicking freely with my newfound accomplishment of conquering the scary unknown. Joey, of course, Mr. Captain of the swim team, reached the beach first and lay out on the wet sand with his arms behind his head.
Jase and I stumbled over each other, his dripping wet body landing across mine. “Not so scary after all, huh?” he panted, taking his hands and softly tucking my wet hair behind my ear. His chest rose and fell heavily against mine, from the exertion of the swim.
The touch was such an intimate gesture that the trail of where his fingertips touched my skin tingled, and my heart hammered hard against the inside of my chest.
I tried to compose my thoughts into complete sentences, but all I could do was stare at his lips and wish I were back in Ava Marie’s laundry room, so I could have another excuse to kiss my best friend.
The back of his knuckles rubbed over my cheeks, until his thumb softly touched my lips, “Well?” he whispered, his eyes focused intensely on mine.
I smiled shyly, terrified of the words that wanted to come out of my mouth. “I’m not scared of anything with you and Joey by my side, Jase Delaney.”
Joey snuggled up in the wet sand next to us. The waves of the Atlantic lapped against our wet sneakers. “That was awesome, but I don’t think we really thought it through. Like, how are we going to take the train home soaking wet?” he chuckled.
Jase lifted his eyes off mine and splashed the water that pooled around us into his lap, “You worry too much about shit,” Jase said.
I laughed at the both of them, “Yeah, you guys both need to be more worried about how I will extract my sweet, sweet revenge for making me jump in the ocean.”
Oh, and I did get my revenge too. In the sweetest way possible: dessert. You see, after spending the day lying in the sun and drying off our clothes, only to get thrown into the ocean once again, we took the A-train back into our neighborhood, dripping went. Walking from the train station to our houses, I said goodbye to the boys and made my way to a small deli. With squeaky wet sneakers and with the very last of my money, I bought a few ingredients to assist in my payback prank: a five pound bag of large sweet onions ($3.49), a jar of sweet caramel ($2.59), and a box of crafty ice-pop sticks for ($2.29). The sweet revenge of watching your best friends bite into the crunchy nastiness of a caramel onion thinking it was a caramel apple: PRICELESS.
∞
As the echoes of my own giggles snapped me back into my reality, I hugged my phone to my chest, reveling in the sweet memory of being young. I missed being fourteen, and I missed my boys. My boys.
I texted a final thank you.
C: Thank you. You always say what I need to hear.
J: What about your husband and kids?
Don’t make a strange, confused face reading his last text. Yes, he thinks I have a husband. And yes, I added in two kids and a cat for good measure. YES, it’s a lie. Shut up. I told you not to judge me, yet. Don’t call me a bitch, either. Because, I’m really not and if I could have any wish granted, it would simply be to never, never be apart from Joey or Jase.
But life happens and lies had to be told.
