Chapter 12
Leo’s text after the pool incident was an apology,
I shouldn’t have touched you like that.
After reading those words, I wanted to toss my phone across the room. Instead, I calmly sent him a reply that said I thought we needed to take a few days to regroup. He agreed, no convincing necessary.
For the next week, I did the suburb route with Derek. Leo and I avoided discussing swim practice or our morning runs for the entire time. Another false start and it was frustrating.
Instead of moping about our relationship regression, I focused my attention on piecing together my submissions for the mentorship. I decided that I could at least try to create something and back out later if necessary.
The Google Doc I’d sent over to Claire was chock-full of notes on what she loved, hated, and thought could be improved. I was nervous about having anyone else’s eyes on my work, but her comments were the only thing distracting me.
I dove into my children’s TV show writing spec with hopes it’d make the hot summer days less lonely. The more I worked, the more I hoped my silly words would be my ticket out of town. Maybe this script would make the decision to leave easy.
On breaks from working and editing, I’d gotten in the habit of volunteering to watch the kids on the block. Most of the moms were single and working double shifts. The kids on Emerson were old enough to take care of themselves because they had to be. But it still gave parents peace of mind when an actual adult was around.
Lily and Grace Ryland were sisters who lived in a small white house on the street corner. They were two years apart. Lily, the younger one, was tall enough to look older than her sister. Their game of choice was double dutch, something I taught them when they were barely old enough to read. Nowadays, they’d developed their skill so much that I was the one struggling to keep up.
“Slow down.” I laughed, barely able to focus on lifting my feet high enough to clear the ropes. Lily slackened her grip, always the more understanding one of the two. Grace wore a devious smile, trying her best to speed up her turning. Since they were out of sync, I stumbled over the rope and had to jump out from between them.
Ms. Louis made a scoff of disapproval that could be heard from across the street. The cat in her lap meowed in agreement.
“You need to lift your legs more, girl,” she noted, leaning back in her squeaky rocking chair. Like every afternoon, she hung out on her porch to watch whatever entertainment she could find on the neighborhood street. A part of me wondered what she’d do if she actually let her son set up her TV. If she ever found out about the existence of soap operas and prime-time dramas, we’d probably never see her outside again.
“I have bad knees. Besides, my rope handlers were slacking.” I gave the girls a teasing glare.
“You move so slow,” Grace insisted and held out her end of the ropes to me. “Here. I want to show you how I do it.”
“Slow’s not bad,” Lily said in a gentle voice and offered me a smile, hoping my feelings weren’t too hurt.
“Thank you, Lily.” I smiled back. I’d endured a ton of judgment in my lifetime. So, the critics of a twelve-year-old and an elderly woman who made everyone’s business her own washed right off of me. But I appreciated the sweet support, nonetheless.
“Yeah, yeah.” Grace waved her hand. “Let me show you how it’s done.”
Lily and I started turning the ropes, slow at first, so Grace had an easy enough time jumping in. Once she was successful in the middle, we increased the speed. We squealed in encouragement as Grace effortlessly kept up with our pace. The multicolored beads on the end of Grace’s braids clacked together in a steady beat as she showed me up. We laughed and Ms. Louis cheered her on. All of us were too busy to note when a car pulled into my driveway.
I didn’t notice my brother or Leo until they were right next to us. They both looked amused at the game and Grace yelled for one of them to hop in the ropes with her. I faltered a little when I locked eyes with Leo. The smile on his face faded a bit when he saw me glancing at him.
“Kira.” Grace’s complaint brought my focus back.
“Sorry,” I murmured.
“Come on,” Grace beckoned at the guys. “You chicken or something?”
“I don’t think they’ll be able to keep up. They’re not as light on their feet as we are,” I told her.
It wasn’t meant to be a challenge. I’d never seen either of them skip rope, even solo. They weren’t as coordinated on land as they were in the water.
But, being the competitors they were, Leo and Nate looked at each other, trying to decide who would be the first to prove me wrong.
“Not light on our feet,” Nate repeated with a smile. “We’ll see about that.”
Ms. Louis now had a few more older women on her porch, gathering for what was now becoming a proper show.
“How much do you want to bet, ladies?” Nate asked Grace and Lily. “Who can last longer? Me, Leo, or Kira.”
“Leo,” they both cheered.
