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  The problem is the slide is fastest right off the platform, and that split second of time has led to William’s tube and Kristy’s next to it flying up the other side of the slide as we fly down this one. As we come up their side, they have hit the ramp and are coming down. Ten feet from the top, 50 feet in the air, we collide in a mash of tubes.

  One moment I’m watching William’s face, trying to time when I should grab his tube, the next I’m airborne, for what feels like forever, and then I land, on my tube in the water.

  Safe.

  I hear the other tubes land. I can’t believe we pulled it off! Why didn’t I realize the rim on the back of the slide would keep everyone on, even in a chain? I’m so relieved, I could just find William and hug him, maybe kiss him. We’re free now, after all.

  I don’t know why I kept turning him down. Just like I shouldn’t have been wary of doing the slide. It was fun, it was fantastic, it was…

  I’m facing away from the other tubes, and I see a red ribbon threading through the water next to me. I hurry to stand and slip and hit my knees.

  The other tubes are scattered over the bottom of the slide, in the center of the U, in the water. I’m the only one who landed on her tube. I’m the one who let go.

  I walk to Kristy, who’s kneeling, clutching her nose that’s spurting in the water, causing beautiful, flowery ribbons to flow between the tubes. Brandon is in front of me, he stands, and limps to the side of the slide, the side opposite me.

  I count the people on the slide. I see the other girl from my tube, holding her leg and crying, and the girl who was on William’s tube, trying to help her while nursing a bump on her own head. No William.

  I push tubes out of the way in front of me and try to avoid hurting anyone, even as guilt floods me that they are all hurt and I’m not, and I’m the one who let go.

  Including my tube, just one double tube and the two singles. One missing. William missing. I flash back to the moment of impact, can see now that while my tube flew into the bottom of the slide, William’s tube catapulted off the side. I can see Laurie falling off down the slide, bailing when she saw us coming. Why couldn’t I see any of this at the moment of impact? I have to run up the steep side of the slide to get to the other, and I slip several times, causing nasty pain to my knees that will surely result in bruises. I finally make it to the side edge of the slide and look over.

  In the distance, I can hear yelling. I turn and look back toward the direction I came from and see our EMTs running towards us. I look back to William.

  No. No. No.

  Chapter Six

  Rain

  It’s been a week since Knight and I hung out at the golf course. If you can call it hanging out when you kiss in the moonlight.

  My eyes find him across the pool deck, watching me with that odd look he has. Even though it’s nearly the end of our second week open, and he should have confidence in me by now.

  I don’t know why he’s so worried. No catastrophes have happened. A couple kids ran on the deck when they shouldn’t, but weren’t terribly injured, and a couple guards have frozen, but I was able to snap them out of it so they could do their saves. Once a guard misses a save there’s no way to bring back their confidence, so I like to try and push them into it rather than jumping in for them.

  We have two no-shows today, and when I called them, both were sick. Both boys. Amy and Sarah were both willing to stay on after early swim lessons to do the rec shift, so the lap pool rotation is all girls. Hopefully Knight doesn’t notice, because he’d probably have a sexist fit about it.

  I come up beside Amy, who’s diligently watching her water. “Need anything?” She’s been here since five am, and I don’t want her hungry or dehydrated.

  She shakes her head. “I’m doing fine.”

  “Any troublemakers?”

  “Not so far. Kind of a rowdy group in the pool, but they’re keeping to themselves.”

  “Want me to stay here for a bit?”

  “Naw, just do your rounds like normal. It’s fine. We’re fine.” She waves to Sarah on the other side of the pool.

  “Alright. If you say so. Can I refill your water?”

  “Sure. Have you seen Knight staring at you? I still think you’re making a mistake not taking that boy up on what he’s offering.” She bends to get the bottle at her feet, without taking her eyes off the water. It’s right on the edge of the pool. I think of Knight’s warning, just for a split second, before Amy gets yanked in.

  It happens in the blink of an eye. One second Amy is beside me, the next she’s not, and a big splash stings my face and eyes. I wipe off my face and Susan starts to blow her whistle manically.

  Four or five teenage boys crowd Amy in the pool, tearing at her clothing and skin with their hands, causing the water to churn around her. Like a whirlpool. So this is what Knight meant. My heart pounds in my chest, and things turn to slow motion as I make the only decision I can.

  I blow my whistle twice, for Knight, as I jump in. I’m fully committed, and my brain does that thing where it goes eerily calm as I commit to saving her. I know Knight is going to hate me for this, I know he’s going to wish I called him first, but Amy can’t wait for me. I might not be able to pull all of them off, but I’ll be able to get her out. I surface in the middle of the group, blindly grasping for Amy.

  When I find her, I ignore the hands grabbing everywhere, the sound of male grunts, and dunk under water with her, pushing her down below me as their hands find my body instead of hers. I push her out between a gap between their legs, shove her away from my body as hard as I can. Out of the whirlpool.

  I come up for air, ignoring the water and hands flying around me, until I see her finally surface and start to pull herself out. Relief floods me, until a hand lands on my chest. I slap it away and start to fight.

  I’ve succeeded in rescuing Amy, but now I’m the one in trouble. Their hands are everywhere. Damnit. My usual calm isn’t helping anything. I can’t even scream or grab my whistle. I keep getting pushed down, and I have to close my mouth to keep the water from getting in my lungs. I thrash, pulling their hands away from my swimsuit, dodging in the water to keep their hands from going certain places.

  Their faces go around me as I swallow more water from the splashing, and they’re intently focused, leering, yelling. They aren’t even that old. Not old enough to be animals.

  So this was what Knight was trying to prevent. I’m kind of wishing I had put a male guard on the lap lane. I’m a damn good guard but I’m not strong enough, and the defense I know doesn’t work on a gang when I’m half underwater.

  I try to push out of the circle but get pushed back in, pulled down, groped. As I swallow more water and cough on it, it dawns on me that I’m not going to get out. I’m not big enough. I can’t get through. There’s no water rescue I can use. Am I going to be raped in my own pool?

  I’m having trouble staying focused because it’s hard to breathe when I’m constantly knocked down in the water, and the water is constantly splashing up into my face when I’m not submerged. Things are starting to become fuzzy. Screw being raped, am I about to die?

  I’ve done such a good job keeping other people safe I forgot to keep myself safe. Maybe I deserve this, because once last summer, I kept myself safe and let someone else die. But I didn’t mean to. I swear I didn’t mean to. Does saving Amy make it right? Am I forgiven? It’s my last lucid thought as the water takes over and I become frantic and dizzy. I’m still dodging, still slapping hands away, but I can’t stand it much longer. The faces…

  It was worth it. Worth jumping in for Amy. Maybe if I live after this I’ll tell the guards what Knight said about not putting their water bottles too close to the water.

  If only Knight were here now. What I wouldn’t give to see his stupid, sexist face right now, bearing down and pulling them away. I lash out with a last bit of strength and hit one of the guys in the face. He shoves me under the water, and I start to sink down, holding what
air I can in my lungs. I can’t fight anymore. Don’t hate me Knight, I just wanted to keep everyone safe.

  Knight

  It’s our second week open, and I’ve been surprised by Rain. She’s capable, she walks the pools well out of harms reach, and she’s fast during save situations. She also doesn’t just jump in when a guard is freezing up. She comes up behind them and gets them to go on their own. Most sups freak out and just go in, ruining the guard’s confidence.

  Even though I respect her, I still worry about her every day. I wonder if I’m just having a hard time keeping her separate from Camille. It’s been a long time since I had someone to watch out for.

  I walk out from the first aid station when my break is over and look around the deck for anything that might need to be done. My eyes find Rain, over by the lap pool talking to Amy as she rotates. Probably giving tips. She’s fine. Maybe after a few more days like this I can stop acting like a stalker and just let her do her job.

  I go into Nate’s office, which is just a little desk inside the chem room. He looks up, shaking curly hair out of his face. “What? Need something?”

  “PH levels okay?”

  “Yeah, great. You could ask Rain though, she likes to check them instead of taking breaks. Kind of annoying.” But he grins and I can tell he likes someone taking an interest in his job.

  “Great, you doing okay? It’s hot in here.”

  “Knight, you do care.” Patrick wipes his sweaty hair off his neck. “Naw, I’m fine. Did you just hear a double whistle?”

  “What?”

  “There, heard it again. Double whistle.”

  I listen, and I hear one, two, maybe three guards. I run out of the office and towards the far side of the pool. I can see something going down in the lap pool, but can’t see what. I can’t run because of the stupid wet tile and the fact that it’s a one-way ticket to cracking your head open, but I jog. As the pool comes into view, I can’t see Rain anywhere. My pulse quickens. Amy is at the side of the pool, soaked and disheveled, and there’s a flurry of splashing happening next to her.

  “Knight! Whirlpool!” Amy slips as she tries to stand, but catches herself on her hands. She waves. “Help Rain!”

  I start to run. I can’t help it. Why hasn’t anyone else gone in? I look around the lap pool, all four are girl guards. Damn, why hadn’t I noticed she switched the rotation? The others look troubled, blowing their whistles.

  I blow a long whistle as I come up to the pool. It’s shallow, but it’s not a problem, and I do a swimmer dive in, straight and fast towards the circle she’s in. I go straight through the guys, boys really, surrounding her. I cut through them easily. They’re just small bullies who wouldn’t dare do something like this alone.

  She looks up at me, eyes dazed, as she starts to sink under. I lunge forward and grab her, hold her against me in a ball, and push my way out of the group of boys.

  They’re animals, but I don’t have time to hate them until she’s safe. I set her down on the stairs, and she steadies herself on the railing, looking like she’s about to faint. I brush her hair back and check her eyes, which are starting to focus.

  When I’m sure she can hold herself on the rail, I turn back to her attackers. The boys are looking at me and each other, fear on their faces as they try to scatter. The fun is over, and now they’re just focused on how to get away with what they’ve done. I won’t let them.

  I call for Patrick, who has just now reached the pool. He jumps in fully clothed, blocking their exit on that side of the pool. Some look as young as fourteen, and they’ve just participated in an almost gang rape.

  “Don’t move.” I keep one hand on Rain and put out the other and they stop and look from me to him. “Don’t move. Don’t even think. You’re going to stay here. And I’m going to call the police.”

  Several men run over from the slide line. “What’s going on?”

  “Watch these boys.” I don’t like involving patrons, but I can’t risk them running on me. I’ll need to get out and call the police.

  Rain pushes my arm aside. “I’ll call the police,” she says, surprising me like she always does. “You watch them, they could hurt someone.” She pulls herself out of the water and limps to the office. She always impresses me, whether it’s the way she trains, or the way she handles herself during stuff like this. So calm. So strong. Maybe it’s her strength that is pulling me in. Maybe if I was with someone like her, I wouldn’t have to go through everything I went through with Camille.

  When she’s safely seated in the office, I turn my attention back to the boys. I want to just get in and beat all of them down, but several of them are clearly minors, and the fear on their faces makes it clear that anything I do now would be unjustified.

  I’ll have to let the police handle it. Still, they disgust me. Rain didn’t even look that scared when all five of them were ganging up on her. I don’t know what makes men like this. I don’t understand it at all. I don’t understand why you would get any pleasure from taking something that should only be given.

  I don’t understand what happened to Camille. I don’t understand what almost happened to Rain. I don’t understand what Chad was doing at the party, why no didn’t mean no.

  I’ll never understand men like these and I never want to. I wish I knew how the rest of us are supposed to live in the world with them, how we’re supposed to deal with the fallout of their messes. I also just wish I could eradicate them all.

  I try not to let the images of them surrounding Rain flood my mind, but it’s hard. Someone already raped one girl I loved. They took advantage of the softness and vulnerability that I loved about her, and they took her life. She was never the same.

  Seeing them surrounding Rain, this new beacon of hope in my life, trying to do the same, to take advantage of her goodness and rip her up inside and out, I can’t even explain how it feels. How badly I want to make sure that never happens to her. It tears at me inside my head.

  Like this world is too twisted for good things anymore. Like good people can’t possibly survive against these odds. Like the bad will always win, and evil will always triumph.

  I’m tired of the vigilance. If only you could trust people to be good when your back is turned.

  I have to stay protective. Even if Rain hates it. Protecting Rain is more important to me than just redeeming myself. I’m starting to care for her. I want her to be safe. I need her to be. I don’t want her to end up like Camille, because I’m falling for her.

  The thought stops me, freezes me in place. I turn to look at the office and she’s in there, making a phone call, swiping hair out of her eyes while she gives them info. She’s disheveled and red and a complete mess, and I’m totally smitten in only four weeks of being with her.

  She’s strong and I don’t ever want to see that taken from her.

  Amy comes up beside me and sits on the side of the pool. “It’s my fault,” she sobs. “I got too close to get my water bottle.”

  I stare at her, then at Rain, not comprehending. “They pulled you in?”

  Amy nods, and a tear runs down her cheek. “She jumped in and took my place. She pushed me out.” She swipes at the tear. “So stupid.”

  My heart sinks. I should have known. Why was she playing hero like that? Why didn’t she call me? How could she put herself in danger like that? How could she do that to me?

  I’ll never be able to get that image out of my mind. I know I should think she was noble. I’m glad that Amy didn’t have to go through that. But it only registers with the sane part of my brain, not the one that went insane when it saw her there with five guys tearing at her, practically drowning her.

  After the cops come and arrest the boys, and take statements, I head to the senior guard office, where Rain is sitting with her head back on the chair, looking dazedly up at the ceiling. We’re both tired, and the last thing she needs is me fighting with her. I want to shake her and ask her how she could be so stupid, but it’s not what she needs r
ight now.

  I enter the office and she spins towards me, not moving her head up. “Is Amy okay?”

  I sigh, holding off a new wave of irritation until she’s taken care of. “She’s fine. We’ve gotta get you to first aid.”

  “I’m fine.” She’s spaced out, still facing the ceiling, so I come over to the chair, pick her up in my arms, kick open the office door with my foot, and head to the first aid room. She’s so light.

  Sarah, the senior guard from morning swim, has already offered to switch from the lap lane to Rain’s shift, and we’ll be fine with three instead of four on the lap pool for now. Amy’s back out watching the water, though she’s shaken. We can’t have less than three out there.

  When I get to the break room, I tell the guard on break to head out and start rotation and he agrees earnestly, sending a concerned glance over his shoulder at Rain in my arms. Sure it’s a chaotic place, and in a week we’ll usually have dramatic incidents, but it’s always different when it’s one of our own. It shakes everyone up.

  I set Rain down on the small table usually reserved for kids. She steadies herself and frowns at me. “I’m fine.”

  “You’re not.” There are numerous scrapes over her shoulders and arms, but none on her face, which isn’t surprising considering that isn’t where they were aiming. I pull out a pack of alcohol wipes. “This is going to hurt, sorry.”

  She nods. “I guess I could have gotten some sort of disease, couldn’t I?” Her eyes widen as she thinks of it. I want to go pummel them again, seeing the fear there.

  “Shhh.” I brush her hair away from her face, caressing her cheek lightly. “No. Not unless their blood was mixing with yours. But yeah, the pool’s not that clean, so I’ll need to disinfect.” I touch a wipe to the first cut, wipe away the light red in the scratches there. She doesn’t even flinch.