Summer With the Bertram Brothers

Morning gleams in my window. I check the clock. It’s still pretty early. That aspirin I had last night sure knocked me out quick. I rub my head, feeling alright. I kick the covers and stand up. I take the longest shower and walk to the lake. No one’s there except my boat. I sigh and hop in it and decide to leisurely row to Trim’s Island. If he’s been here so often, how come I’ve never seen him around here before? I wonder. I smell the fresh plants and sit back on the rock like before. He’s right; it’s great to unwind here. But, I start to think about my dad. I miss him too much. I hate how everyone acts like they’re okay when really, I’m the only sane person in this house. Mom’s taking dozens of unneeded prescription drugs per day. Eva’s bulimic just so everyone can like her. Doyle goes out of town to smuggle illegal things to sell them here. But, somehow, everyone thinks I’m crazy for wanting to grieve a little. I press my fingers through my hair. They think I don’t know about them. But when you’re the youngest and everyone ignores you, you notice things. This is why I worry so much. It’s like they want me to forget everything. To forget the grey day when the coffin was buried in flowers. To forget the months of screaming and fighting and crying. To forget mom’s over dosage. To forget that news report of the fallen plane to Moscow. To forget Dad ever existed. I’ve never seen my family so unbalanced. Everyone’s depending on themselves. I wish we could just be and lean on one another when times are rough. I hate them for leaving me high and dry. Mom’s never there. Eva sees me as some kind of competition thing to bully now that I’ve come of age. Doyle uses me as some bank account to mother’s wallet. I can’t seem to forget everything like they want me to. They say not to talk about our problems. I snort at the thought. Whatever, I thought, I can forget about it. It’s summer, summer, summer.It’s summer with the Bertram brothers.

I come back home and see Eva in front of the fridge. She sees me and closes it.
“Morning,” I huff. She smiles with venom leaking through her teeth.
“There you are, little sister,” she says, swaying her hips side to side, coming to me. The counter separates us, “Had your fun last night, I suppose?”
I nod, “How’s things with Rico?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean…” I twirl my hand and grab an apple, “Sex. How’s sex with Rico?”
She laughs, “Wouldn’t you like to know?”
“Well, I do. Unless, he actually doesn’t like you.”
“He does like me, okay,” she emphasizes.
“So you haven’t had sex with him yet?” I bite my Granny Smith.
She rolls her eyes, “Where is this coming from?”
“I don’t know. You seem to be all over him all the time. I can’t even get a chance to talk with him without you being around. It’s not like he’s yours—”
“Shut up, Ambi. And don’t bother him. He has better things to do than to talk with you.”
“Like kissing your ass?”
She glares me down at my sarcasm.
I continue talking, “I talk to whoever I talk to, okay?”
I take the phone off the wall and dial Winnie’s phone number to make plans with her.
“Ambi, you’re a sore loser, you know,” Eva crosses her arms.
I turn my eyes to her, “Eva, you have vomit breath, you know.”
She finally walks away. Winnie picks up.
“Hey, how are you?”
“I’m good. What happen yesterday? You got lost or something?” I ask.
“No. I was looking for you!” she says.
“Oh, well I’m sorry. I had to cut short because I was drenched, so I came home around midnight.”
“I didn’t know you sweat so much…” she says with a puzzled voice. I laugh.
“No, silly!” I throw my head back, “I got wet from water—It’s a long story. How about I make it up to you. Let’s go to the beach together.”
“Ah, can’t. My poodle already caught something. I have to go to the vet. It’ll probably take all day too.”
I pout in sadness, “Alright, tomorrow, then?”
“Definitely! I’ll talk to you later.”
“Bye.”
I hang up the phone and sigh. I want to go to the beach bad. I see Winnie’s gift still sitting by the foot of the couch. I might as well go, I figure.

I throw the towel off my shoulders and spread it against the sand. I sit on my aqua towel and press out the lumps, feeling self-conscious in this bikini.
Two surf boys walk by, waving at me. I barely see their face because of the sun in my eyes but I wave back anyhow.
“Sup, Ambi?” they call out. I give them a thumb up while shielding my eyes from the sun. Then, I feel a light tug on the other side of me. I turn my head, still with my hand above my forehead.
It’s Rico sitting next to me. I can’t get a break from this guy.
“Hey.”
“Hi,” I say. He’s too good looking. I can’t stand it. My eyes drop to his exposed abs. I turn my head, blushing. I pop open my sunscreen bottle and squirt some in my hands. I love the smell of sun cream.
“You should have been here this morning. The waves were crazy.”
“Cool,” I say. I rub the cream over my arms really fast. I wish Winnie was here to talk to him instead of me. There’s so much on my arms that I rub the excess onto my legs. Finally, breeze comes to sooth the heat.
“Want some help?” he asks, scooting closer to me. I freeze.
“No thanks,” I say politely. He’s the crazy one, I thought, not the waves! But Rico snatches the blue bottle smudged in cream out of my hand.
“What are you—” I start. He pushes my shoulder, turning my back to him.
“You’re hilarious,” He strokes my back. I don’t move. I’m too busy controlling myself from blushing into a tomato, “Do you surf?”
“Not really,” I answer.
“I could teach you,” he suggests. He pushes my long hair over my shoulders. My shoulders buckle.
“No, that’s okay. I’m not planning on surfing any time soon…” I say, nervously keeping a simple smile.
“Are you a good swimmer?” he asks me. He finishes and closes the cap.
“What? You want to teach me how to swim?” I roll my eyes, “I’m an excellent swimmer.”
He grins, “I was hoping to race you.”
I open my mouth, playfully.
“You want to race me? You can’t race me?” I shake my head.
“Last one in the ocean is a rotten fish!” he jumps on his feet instantly, giving himself a head start. I scream, tumbling over my legs and run behind him towards the blue ocean. I catch up to him before we tread the water. I splash my arms and take sharp breaths as I swim. The cold rush shoots throughout my body and I stroke my arms forward. The feeling’s great. The sea embraces me in a turbulence of bubbles. The salt cuts through my mouth and lands on my tongue. I raise my head above and glimpse Rico beside me swimming away. I laugh in vice mind and speed up to be the first to reach the limit. But before I can kick my legs, Rico grabs a hold of me and spins me in the water with him. I scream again and wave my hands to get free from his grasp. The water starts to fly. Once I get away, I push water in his face. He laughs and splashes me back. We play like children. I duck my head in the water and use my feet to spray him again. He swims underwater to catch my legs. Feeling the firm sand under my toes, I try to run away from him, laughing like a mad woman. He pulls me out of the water with his strong toned arms and carries me on his shoulder.
“Rico!” I laugh out loud, “Rico! Put me down!”
Instead he throws me in the sky. I yell until I hit the water. I come back up and flip my hair out my face giving him a dirty look, trying not to grin away, in vain. He points at me and laughs. I launch to tackle him as we both sink in the blue. Underneath the water is so clear, I can see him and he can see me. Everything flows in slow motion. We sink as he holds me by my waist. The sunlight reflects on some parts of his face to see the faint freckles appear. Some bubbles draw from beneath us. I love the feeling of them riding against my skin, tickling me. We stay suspended in the water. The trickles of sand glimmer as it moves back and forth with the soft current. It deafens me. It’s as if time stands motionless. For a moment, I forget how deep we are in the water… in each other. Suddenly, I realize what’s happening. I pull away from his grasp and whirl myself up to sea level. Rico then comes up after me. The sun smacks me with heat. I pant heavily for air to fill my lungs again. I turn my head and find him next to me, breathing hard as well. What am I doing? I ask myself. A little embarrassed, I look away. Suddenly there’s a pitchy voice calling my name. I search onto the shore.
“Ambi! Ambi!” Eva is waving at me in her yellow bikini sitting, along with her friends. She waves for me to come. Although she’s most likely going to fuss with me, I take the opportunity to get away from Rico.
Without turning to him, I say, “I got to go.”
But, it’s only when we let go that I notice we were holding each other’s hand. I just leave and swim to shore. I get out of the sea and watch my sister walk up to me half way.
“What do you think you’re doing?” she jeers.
I lift my eyes to hers, “What?”
“Don’t play dumb, Ambrosia Delicate. Or should I say slut?”
My eyes pop, “Excuse me?!”
“You are excused,” Eva puts her hands on her hips.
“I can’t believe you just said that…” I say lowly. We’ve bickered since forever and we constantly fight, but I never called her names. It’s a little disappointing, “You really suck being a sister, Eva.”
I walk away to my towel and things I’ve left and grab everything into my tote bag. I pull myself up and quickly get off the beach and reach the deck towards the road. I try to blink the tear from my eye.