Past her head, a dripping-wet Nate stops his bicycle next to her side of the car.
He taps the glass, and she looks at him, her lips curling. “Oh, but I think I do. Those arms. I swear it’s like that boy’s been granted a wish.”
“Mom!” My cheeks burn, but at least this ends our conversation.
“Ms. Nadira,” Nate says, as she lowers the window, “I wanted to apologize for last night. If Azra was gone for too long, it’s my fault. I hope her aunts and cousins forgive me.” He issues a shy grin. “Azra’s just so easy to talk to.”
My mother covers her snort with a fake cough. “That’s my Azra. Little chatterbox, isn’t that right, honey?”
I grit my teeth. “Thanks for the ride, Mom.”
As I walk beside Nate to the bike rack, a cold raindrop finds the opening at the back of my sweatshirt and rolls down my spine. I don’t even mind.
“Watch that,” Nate says, gently pulling my elbow.
I narrowly avoid sloshing through a huge puddle.
“It’s going to be messy today,” he says.
Those are the words in my head when Henry shows up a few hours later.
Clouds linger, but the rain has stopped. Mothers stuck inside all day with rambunctious toddlers pour onto the beach, desperate to run off their children’s energy.
Having come without their parents, Henry and Lisa arrive via the town shuttle.
I slip Lisa an ice pop, and Henry and I quietly watch it drip down her hands. He uses the napkins I give him to clean her off.
“Thanks,” he says, finally.
“Sure,” I reply.
Awkward.
Feeling like I need to apologize for coming home with Nate, I begin, “About last night—”
“Forget it,” he says, not letting me finish.
Flashing through my head is the thought that he doesn’t want me to finish.
“I’m just glad you’re okay,” he says. “Your mom figured you were at my house and when you weren’t … well, guess she got worried.”
Popping into my mind are the words “so did I,” but he doesn’t actually say them.
My Nate guilt gnaws at me as I flag Zoe to pantomime that I’m taking a break. She’s watching another basketball training video on her phone with, thanks to my repeated insistence, her earbuds in.
Henry and I sit on opposite sides of a picnic table in front of the snack bar. I clear my throat and gesture toward Zoe. “Last week, she beat her brother in a one-for-one game.”
Henry shakes his head. “One-on-one.”
I knew that. “Right, anyway, she’s convinced she willed herself to be taller. She has me marking her height against the wall three times a week.”
Henry laughs. “And is she going to be called a miracle?”
“Thankfully no. The changes are too small for me to measure. And even if they weren’t, I’d pretend.”
Now running through my mind are the words “something you excel at,” but, again, he doesn’t actually say them. Still, it must be the way he won’t look me in the eye that convinces me he’s thinking them. And this is why I feel like I owe him an apology.
Lisa interrupts before I figure out whether or not to give him one. “I’m bored,” she says. The children she had been playing with at the edge of the dunes were corralled down to the beach by their mother. “Let’s swim.”
Without the warmth from the sun, the usually nippy ocean may very well trigger frostbite. Of course Henry still says, “Sure.”
As I walk them to the wooden path, I brush my shoulder against Henry’s. I need him to know how important his friendship is to me. “If I had a brother, I’d want him to be just like you.”
He stiffens and then relaxes so fast I almost think I imagine the sad look in his eyes. Almost.
“We Carwyns aim to please.” He twirls his hand and bows. “My lady, if there is anything else you desire—”
Following his lead, I curtsy. “Thank you, kind Sir.”
This momentarily distracts Lisa from her desire to swim, but after she mimics me with a few dips to the sand of her own, she tugs Henry’s hand and says, “Let’s go!”
They’re only two steps down the path when Henry turns back around. He then lets me know that, whatever may or may not have been running through his mind earlier, we’re okay. “S’mores at the fire pit after work?”
On my way back to the concession stand, I notice Chelsea off to the side. I hope she’s been watching—and listening. I hope she heard Lisa talk without any trace of a stutter. I wave so obviously that Chelsea’s forced to acknowledge me.
After my shift ends, I go down to the beach to find Henry and Lisa. Since my mom’s picking me up, they can hitch a ride.
Despite the crowds, I have no trouble finding them. Because they’re with Chelsea, who’s perched on top of the white lifeguard chair like a queen on a throne. By her side is Lisa, cupping her hand and offering a royal wave to the entire beach.
I run to the chair. Henry’s at the bottom, laughing.
“She’s not supposed to be up there,” I say, out of breath.
Henry frowns. “It’s just for a minute. And since when are you such a stickler for the rules?”
His reference to me breaking the Afrit’s rules doesn’t deter me. “But it’s not just Chelsea who will get in trouble.”
“Wild guess,” Henry says. “The mighty Nate’s the head honcho who will also get a slap on the wrist?”
Not exactly the head honcho. Nate’s the lead lifeguard. But I don’t think Henry really cares about the distinction, so I simply nod.
“Azra, I’m a princess!” Lisa shouts, drawing even more attention to herself.