Jake turned and glared at him before defiantly challenging, “Watchme.”
The glint in my father’s eye could not be missed. He loved it when Jake showed signsoflife.
“Fine.” Dad grinned. “Then I’ll put mine back on, and you’ll be responsible for myfarmer’stan.”
He slid on his shirt and then made a huge scene of applying liberal amounts of sunscreen to the areas just below thesleeves.
I glanced back at Jake, who’d been watching the entire spectacle, and was pleased to see the smile on his face. Dad’s recently adopted ‘pity-free’ approach to dealing with Jake seemed to be working its magic, little by little,everyday.
‘I’m going out to the platform,” Keith said as he took off towards the water’s edge. Quite a distance out was a floating platform covered in bird crap and anchored to the ocean floor. It had always been a destination spot for those hearty swimmers eager for a challenge. Seeing as my siblings and I had all been nearly raised in the water, due to my dad’s love of surfing, we’d all stood on that bobbing plank at one time or another, even Grace and Quinn who’d both been ferried out on inner tubes morethanonce.
“Wait up!” Kyle called out, then turned to Jake and asked, “Do youwannacome?”
Jake perked up a bit, but before he could respond, Mom answered for him. “It’s not a good idea, Kyle. His knee isn’t strong enough yet. What if he gets halfway out there and can’tmakeit?”
“Oh, okay. I didn’t know. You want me to hang out here withyouthen?”
Without even acknowledging Kyle’s generous offer, Jake shook his head and lay back in the sand. Kyle stood there a moment looking uncertain before joining Keith in thewater.
I hung back with the others on the beach, sunbathing until I was too hot to stand anotherminute.
Looking over at Jake, I nudged him and said, “Let’s go in the water. We canbodysurf.”
His arm was over his face and he didn’t immediately respond. Sometimes I wondered how much of Jake’s attitude was due to his circumstances as opposed to being a surly teen. Deciding to take a tip from my father’s playbook, I poked himagain.
“Emma, I swear to god,” hegrumbled.
“Stop being boring.Let’sgo.”
He removed his arm to glare at me but in return got an eyeful of my happy, smiling face hovering directlyoverhim.
“Pleeaase,” Ibegged.
That seemed to annoy him more, and he returned the arm over his eyes. “Why don’t you go with the others to theplatform?”
“Because I prefer to stay here andbotheryou.”
“Well, then, congratulations. You’vedoneit.”
“Come on, Jake. How old are you – one hundred?” I asked, as I took topushinghim.
“Ugghh,fine.”
Begrudgingly, he stood and followed me to the water. Geez, he didn’t have to be such a grump. We waded into the cool water, and after letting our bodies adjust to the temperature, we ventured out further. Wave after wave came rolling in but none strong enough to carry our bodies to the shore. After one failed attempt too many, Jake had completely lost hispatience.
“This sucks,” he huffed. “It’s like riding the kiddierollercoaster.”
“They’ll come.Relax.”
My brother stood there a moment looking further out over the horizon before shaking his head. “Fuck this. I’m going to theplatform.”
“No, Jake. Your knee. Youcan’t.”
“Then I’ll drown. Either way, it’s awin-win.”
Jake waded straight out and then began swimming. I frantically followed after him, but with his arms pounding into the waves, it only took him a few seconds to be too far away for me to catch. I stopped, treading water, and screamed out for my father, who was nearby with the youngest kids. It took him a moment to realize what was happening, but when he did, I’d never seen my father move faster. He sprinted into the water, and once it was deep enough, dove into the waves, swimming feverishly in order to catch Jake. Keith and Kyle heard my screams and they too jumped into the water. We were all in hot pursuit of a kid who didn’t want to becaught.
Inevitably, Jake tired out about three quarters of the way to the platform, but by then, we were there. Circling Jake like a pod of protective dolphins, we called out our support, but the more we pushed him forward, the quicker heslidback.
