sounds of evening to subside. Matile and Tuala were watching television and it seemed an eternity before they finally went to bed. By then I was breathing in huge gasps, the steam rising like a pressure cooker in my chest as I fought the waves of hot panic. Stay calm, just breathe, you’re going to be alright, it’s okay. Stay calm, breathe, come on take deep breaths.
It was midnight when I slipped from the house, armed with a greasy mutton bone from dinner for Terminator. He was a wriggling bundle of glee at my gift and I whispered my pleas for quiet as I climbed over the back fence and ran lightly through the forest. I knew the path so well now that I could have found my way there blindfolded. It was a relief when I broke from the trees and into the clearing. Quickly, I stripped down to the basics, leaving my clothes hanging on a branch with my towel and walked into the water, accepting its wet embrace with pleasure. For a short while at least, I would keep the heat at bay.
It was always a surprise how quickly the water worked on me. A few minutes submerged, floating in the murky night, and I would be me again. Leila. Not the girl who felt like she tiptoed on the edges of an incendiary explosion all the time. Just me. There was calm solitude in the pool. There was reflection. Here, there was safety. Sometimes, there would be tears as I sat in the pool and cried for my dad. Awash in the midnight, I would talk to the stars overhead. I liked to think that somewhere, somehow, my dad was listening.
Tonight was different. Tonight, my thoughts were filled with green eyes and skin that glistened with sweat, a tattooed arm, the laughter of a boy who towered over me in annoying splendour. I wondered what my dad would say if I told him about the Chunk Hunk and how he alternately irritated and fascinated me.
“Leila, you’re too hard on people, too quick to condemn them. You need to give people a chance, try to understand where they’re coming from,” was his advice after a particularly excruciating visit with Grandmother Folger. “But Dad, she’s so rude to you. And to me. I don’t know why she even bothers inviting us over for dinner when all she does is tell us how horribly inadequate we are.” His laugh, the way he would yank at my thick braid and toss an arm around my shoulders. “Leila, how could we possibly be inadequate? Look at us, who could find a more perfect pair? You – the friendliest, cheeriest, perkiest cheerleader I know – and me – the dream dad who’s never home, who in a year earns, oh, probably as much my brothers do in a week! We’re perfect, what could your Grandmother Folger possibly have to complain about with us?!”
I stood in the pool and walked carefully over the rocks, deeper towards the splashing waterfall. I was so caught up in my thoughts that I never heard the stranger come into the clearing.
“What are you doing here?” the voice was harsh, stridently breaking into my peaceful reverie. I was so startled that I missed my footing on the smooth rocks below and slipped backwards, my head going underwater. Spluttering with a mouth and nose full of water, I surfaced with a choking gasp, terrified by my momentary blindness.
“Who is it? Who’s there? Get away from me!” the last was a shriek as I felt a hand grab my arm.
“Get off of me! I said get off. I know kung fu, I mean karate. And I have a weapon. I do. Get away.” My threats were interrupted as, in an attempt to push the hand away, I again slipped and went under. Strong hands reached under my shoulders and heaved me up, dragging me kicking and splashing to the poolside.
A coughing tangled mess, I pushed myself over to confront my attacker head on. Only to be brought up short by the sounds of someone laughing.
“So which is it? Karate or kung fu? Either way, I’m reeeeeeally scared.” The familiar voice had a rich deep timbre and his laugh rang out through the forest night.
Wiping the clods of sodden hair
It was midnight when I slipped from the house, armed with a greasy mutton bone from dinner for Terminator. He was a wriggling bundle of glee at my gift and I whispered my pleas for quiet as I climbed over the back fence and ran lightly through the forest. I knew the path so well now that I could have found my way there blindfolded. It was a relief when I broke from the trees and into the clearing. Quickly, I stripped down to the basics, leaving my clothes hanging on a branch with my towel and walked into the water, accepting its wet embrace with pleasure. For a short while at least, I would keep the heat at bay.
It was always a surprise how quickly the water worked on me. A few minutes submerged, floating in the murky night, and I would be me again. Leila. Not the girl who felt like she tiptoed on the edges of an incendiary explosion all the time. Just me. There was calm solitude in the pool. There was reflection. Here, there was safety. Sometimes, there would be tears as I sat in the pool and cried for my dad. Awash in the midnight, I would talk to the stars overhead. I liked to think that somewhere, somehow, my dad was listening.
Tonight was different. Tonight, my thoughts were filled with green eyes and skin that glistened with sweat, a tattooed arm, the laughter of a boy who towered over me in annoying splendour. I wondered what my dad would say if I told him about the Chunk Hunk and how he alternately irritated and fascinated me.
“Leila, you’re too hard on people, too quick to condemn them. You need to give people a chance, try to understand where they’re coming from,” was his advice after a particularly excruciating visit with Grandmother Folger. “But Dad, she’s so rude to you. And to me. I don’t know why she even bothers inviting us over for dinner when all she does is tell us how horribly inadequate we are.” His laugh, the way he would yank at my thick braid and toss an arm around my shoulders. “Leila, how could we possibly be inadequate? Look at us, who could find a more perfect pair? You – the friendliest, cheeriest, perkiest cheerleader I know – and me – the dream dad who’s never home, who in a year earns, oh, probably as much my brothers do in a week! We’re perfect, what could your Grandmother Folger possibly have to complain about with us?!”
I stood in the pool and walked carefully over the rocks, deeper towards the splashing waterfall. I was so caught up in my thoughts that I never heard the stranger come into the clearing.
“What are you doing here?” the voice was harsh, stridently breaking into my peaceful reverie. I was so startled that I missed my footing on the smooth rocks below and slipped backwards, my head going underwater. Spluttering with a mouth and nose full of water, I surfaced with a choking gasp, terrified by my momentary blindness.
“Who is it? Who’s there? Get away from me!” the last was a shriek as I felt a hand grab my arm.
“Get off of me! I said get off. I know kung fu, I mean karate. And I have a weapon. I do. Get away.” My threats were interrupted as, in an attempt to push the hand away, I again slipped and went under. Strong hands reached under my shoulders and heaved me up, dragging me kicking and splashing to the poolside.
A coughing tangled mess, I pushed myself over to confront my attacker head on. Only to be brought up short by the sounds of someone laughing.
“So which is it? Karate or kung fu? Either way, I’m reeeeeeally scared.” The familiar voice had a rich deep timbre and his laugh rang out through the forest night.
Wiping the clods of sodden hair
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