Page 28 of Intrigued
I closed my eyes and floated my legs above water, trying to appear relaxed, even though deep down I was anxious.
“Someone who doesn’t respect other people,” I said.
“Everybody doesn’t deserve respect. Do you think mass murderers deserve respect?”
I opened my eyes to look at her. “Do you think you deserve respect?”
Gina jerked her head back. She opened her mouth then closed it.
“All humans beings are born whole,” I said. “Then we have to survive our fucking parents. Right?”
She snorted. “Or the swim coach.”
I shook my head. “Yes, and him too.”
We stared at each other for a long moment.
“I can teach you how to be a better swimmer”—she smiled timidly—“if you like.”
My face lit up. “Absolutely.”
“Okay. First, let’s work on your kick,” she said.
For a while, she showed me how to kick my legs like a mermaid’s tail. Then we worked on my arm strokes and head movements. Once we put them all together, I was gliding across the water like a pro. I was amazed at how good she was at teaching. Then I dove into the water from the opposite side of the swimming pool as a final exam, showing her how well I’d grasped her lesson.
When I made it to the end of the pool, Gina shook her fists in delight. “You got it! That was perfect.”
I lifted myself out of the water and hugged her. “Well, you were the perfect teacher.”
We smiled at each other. Then William brought us drinks and lunch as we sat in the lounge chairs, watching the blue water gently ripple on the surface.
I bit into my avocado and turkey sandwich. “Um.” I closed my eyes to relish it. “They have the best food at this haunted mansion.”
She chuckled. “They always do. Bart is a great cook.”
I noted that she’d been on the property many times before, since she said the food was “always” good and spoke the chef’s name as though she knew him well.
“I’d be fifty pounds heavier in one month if I lived here. I would not hold back or watch a diet or anything. I would just eat it all. No shame in my game.”
She tossed her head back and laughed. “They’re just showing off for the guest. Normally, they don’t eat so exquisitely. No one eats around here. Bryn is almost as skinny as the skeleton in my high school science classroom.”
I laughed. Bryn was pretty thin. “She didn’t used to be so skinny. I mean, she was always slim, but now…”
“She needs help. They think I’m fucked up. Ha!”
I wanted details regarding why she thought Bryn was so messed up, but I knew if I asked, Gina would shut down, and that would be the end of our conversation.
“I don’t think you’re fucked up,” I said instead. “You’re human.” Then I told her the story about my father and how many times he’d gone to prison and how my mom had been checked out since the day I was born. “I mean, I think I was born in northern California, but then we moved to somewhere in Texas, then Washington state. We ended up in Omaha, Nebraska, until I was in the tenth grade, and we moved to Pittsburgh. That’s where my mom got sick before she died.”
“So you lost your mom?” Gina asked.
I studied her watery eyes. It was clear that she had lost her mother too.
I couldn’t let her sadness affect me, so I looked down at my thighs. “She was not that great.”
“Neither was mine, but I still miss her.”
I faced her with a tight smile. “Well, Pittsburgh is where my life changed for the best.”
