Water - Section 5

            “Shit!”  That was without a doubt Jackie’s voice.  “Daniel, what the fuck is wrong with you?  Why did you throw sand in my eyes, you little shit?”  She ran at him, full speed ahead and tackled him just before her dad’s hand grabbed her hair and yanked her away from her brother.

            The wrath of Uncle Scott is worse than the wrath of anyone else.  The rest of us dissolved from the situation.  Uncle Brad yelled, “Last one to the tent is a rotten egg!”  We all high tailed it out of there, sand and water splashing, the younger kids tripping, and the older kids charging.  I ran fast.  I had a six-foot stride that my dad was proud of.  I got to the tent first and sat down.

            Rather than keep us all calm, Uncle Brad decided we should all do handstands.  “Well, the girls should do handstands,” he clarified. 

*           *           *           *           *

            I held on to the side of the pool for a bit longer.  I kept splashing my face.  Just in case someone comes out here and can tell I have been crying, I told myself.  I walked myself to the shallow end of the pool. 

            All I could hear were my thoughts and the water swishing by.

            I didn’t want to hear my thoughts anymore.  I wanted to get them out.  I wanted to be distracted of my memories of Uncle David. 

            Swimming gave me peace.  Water calmed me down.

*           *           *           *           *

            We found the perfect spot where the sand wasn’t completely wet, but where it wasn’t completely dry, either.  We all put our hands down and kicked up our legs.  Being a gymnast, I held my legs pointed to the toe, knees together.  I stayed strong and straight.

            Uncle Richard started to yell, “Come on, girls.  Get those legs up there!”  The other girls had to keep redoing their poses.  The entire time, the six other girls floundered around with floppy leg syndrome.  Uncle Brad laughed as he watched Jaya and Lauren, the youngest two girls get more and more frustrated.  My handstand had not changed.

            Picture after picture.  “Hold it!” Uncle Brad yelled.

            Finally, after seven shots, we took an acceptable picture.  My cousins collapsed.

            I stayed in my inverted world and started to count the waves.