“It is not possible. I can explain things to him, but I can’t make him listen.”
“Sometimes you just have to try,” Ginny said.
27
Waves
Later that evening, when Ginny, Edna, Eric, Curtis and Loretta were all exhausted from dancing, they took off their shoes and carried them down to the beach, accompanied by Heather. The sea looked like a shimmering gray satin sheet and the swish of the waves offered a welcome respite from the distant hum of music. They found a line of sun loungers and Eric and Edna lay down to look up at the constellations in the sky. Heather sat on the end of her lounger with her fingers knitted together. Laughter sounded farther along the shoreline as people splashed and swam in the sea.
Curtis handed his phone to Ginny. “Will you film me for my blog?” he asked, signaling for her to follow him down to the water’s edge.
Ginny watched through the screen as Curtis picked up a pebble and tried to skim it across the surface of the sea. After one tiny bounce, it disappeared into the waves.
For his next throw, he showed off by curving his arm behind his back but his stone didn’t even reach the water. He lost his footing and toppled backward so he lay sprawled on the sand. Jumping back up to his feet, Curtis grinned and wriggled his backside for the camera, displaying a damp patch on his shorts.
Ginny giggled and then clamped her lips together, trying not to record her laughter on the video.
Curtis picked up more pebbles and hurled them into the water with increasing force. The tide was coming in and waves soon lapped against his toes. They crept in higher until his feet were surrounded by water.
Ginny jumped back when a wave crashed higher onto the beach. It crawled and fizzed until it reached the end of the sun loungers, and the others stood up and pulled them higher up on the beach. Curtis didn’t notice and stood with his eyes fixed on the horizon.
Ginny paddled closer to him, filming as the water swilled around their ankles.
He reached down and retrieved yet another pebble. This one had a hole in the middle and he held it up to his eye like a monocle. He turned around to survey Ginny through it and spoke to the camera. “This stone is like me,” he said. “It looks solid, but is defective. No one will notice it when it’s gone.” He lobbed it as far as he could, watching as it flew through the air until it plopped quietly down. He stared after it numbly.
Ginny zoomed in on him, inadvertently capturing his trembling lips and glistening eyes on film. Something rolled down her cheek and she realized she was crying. She tried to do it quietly so the video wouldn’t pick up the sound.
Recording Curtis suddenly felt like an intrusion, so she ended the video. She waded toward him and placed a hand on his shoulder.
He turned to face her and managed a weak smile before his face crumpled. He dropped his chin to his chest and his tears fell into the sea.
Ginny reached up and gently cupped the side of his head, pulling it toward her until it rested on her shoulder.
“Sorry, mate,” Curtis said between sniffs. “Don’t know what came over me. Didn’t mean to get all maudlin.”
“It’s okay,” she whispered. “We’re all here to look after each other.”
They stood together while the sea swept further in, reaching their calves and hypnotizing them with the swirl of white foam around their legs. The sky was now navy blue and the stars looked like crystals.
After some time, Ginny looked around her and saw they had company. Edna and Eric stood a few meters away and Loretta kicked her feet, splashing until her dress was wet and clung to her knees. Even Heather joined them, standing at the shoreline with her arms wrapped around her body.
The hem of Edna’s skirt billowed on the waves. “I used to be able to swim like a dolphin,” she called, above the swish of the waves.
Curtis forced a smile. “Is there anything you can’t do?”
She mused on this for a while. “No, I don’t believe so,” she said. “Not if I put my mind to it.”
He woofed a laugh and the old, fun Curtis reappeared. “Film this,” he told Ginny. Pulling away from her, he spread his arms wide then let himself fall back into the sea. A big splash enveloped him.
Ginny’s mouth dropped open. “Curtis.You’re drenched.”
“Yup. I know.” He flipped himself onto his front and breaststroked his arms in the air while walking along the bottom of the sea. He circled Edna and hummed the theme tune fromJaws.
Edna’s mouth twisted into a mischievous smile. She lowered herself into the water, too, sitting down so the sea lapped around her torso. She let her arms bob up and down on the waves. “I won’t be able to dothisin Shady Pines,” she said.
Ginny shook her head at them both in disbelief. She filmed Curtis and Edna and then zoomed in on Eric as he performed a neat dive headfirst into the waves. He bobbed back up with his hair covering his face like a curtain.
“You have all lost your minds,” Loretta shouted. She shrieked as she waded in further until the sea reached her thighs.
