Learning How to Swim

“Why can’t I come?” I asked, following my parents to the door.

“We think it’d be better if we went alone,” my mother told me, placing her hand softly on my shoulder. Dad smiled apologetically. “You know the rules. No one is to be over while we’re away and you are to stay put.”

I obeyed even though this was entirely unfair. I had just gotten home not even five minutes ago, and they were already taking off to go see Kara. I wasn’t allowed to go with them for some strange reason! I handed them the sandwich Keri had wanted, and they left me all alone in our empty house.

I didn’t really have any homework to do. I plopped down on the couch, turning on the TV and channel surfing for a bit. Around five minutes later the doorbell rang. I got up and went to the door, opening it.

“What are you doing here?” I asked Steven as he stood soaked on my doorstep.

“I was in the neighborhood, so I thought I’d stop by.”

He didn’t even ask to come in. He just walked right past me, leaving me to close the door. I sighed. “I’m not allowed to have anyone over, certainly not boys.”

He wandered into the kitchen, pulling open the fridge. “Yeah, that’s nice parenting for you. So I’m starving. You up for a snack?” he asked, pulling out some yogurt. “Where do you keep the rice? Oh, never mind. I found it.”

I watched as he pulled out a ban, boiled water, and poured the rice in it. He was making himself right at home, I suppose.

“Steven, why are you here?” I asked, sitting at the counter.

“I just wanted to check up on you. You had something against my home, so I thought I’d see what’s so great about yours. It’s cozy. So how did the homework go?” I stumbled for words. “I know you didn’t have any. Calm down. So do you want half-and-half or some other ratio?”

“Of what?”

“Rice and yogurt, of course. I like mine half-and-half, but it your feeling adventurous maybe you’d go more towards one-third-and-two-thirds. That’s just my advice. Oh, I’ll just give you what I’m having.”

He shoved the rice-filled yogurt in front of me, tossing a spoon my way and sitting down beside me. I poked at it, but put my spoon down. He bit into his strange dish, staring at me as though I’d committed a sin.

“Eat,” he told me, putting the spoon back in my hand. I took a bite. “So I came over to tell you about Beckham. I figured I could tell you a little more today. I mean, you didn’t get much out of me on the bus, and you refused my kind offer to come over—I wasn’t going to feed you to the dogs or anything, by the way.”

I shrugged, dropping my spoon. That was the strangest thing I had ever tasted! But he seemed to be enjoying it. I sighed, watching as he collected our dishes and put them in the sink.

“Hey, where’s your parents’ room?” he asked me, heading into the hall.

“Upstairs, why?” I asked, watching him head in that direction.

He turned to me with his hand resting on the banister. “Because I need something.”

“You can’t go in there! What do you need?”

He ignored me and disappeared upstairs. I sighed, plopping down on the couch again, flipping through channels as I had been doing before my little friend had decided to show up unannounced. I heard him come running down the steps. He had my father’s electric razor in his hand.

“You know, these kinds of razors are okay, but you shouldn’t have any disposable ones. Kara could use them to cut herself. A lot of kids do that these days, especially depressed ones.” He plugged it in, running it over his head except for his Mohawk.

“What do you mean? Why would she do that?” I asked, watching as he caught the hair in his hand, throwing it in the trash.

He put down the razor. “I don’t know. Maybe it makes her feel better. My sister used to do it, too. She always wore long sleeves, even in the summer. No one thought much of it, but the arms are what people check first. Scars like that can stay for quite some time.”

“How did your mom find out about it?” I asked him, watching him as he walked up to me. He sat on the arm of the sofa.

“Even the best of us slip up eventually. It’s human nature.”