Spring Tide (4 page)

“I’m Jericho.”

Gazing at the smooth, solid wall that was his chest, I reasoned it was an appropriate name, however unusual. I realized I was rubbing my lips together and stopped myself.

“You play guitar?” He looked me over twice and I nearly forgot the question.

“I know a few chords.”

“Cool. A friend of mine said there’s a girl in this building who’s selling a Mustang. Do you know her?”

“Her name’s Joy, Joy … something. I haven’t seen her around lately,” I said. “You surf Laces?”

Same impeccable body, a little over six foot, surfboard in the back of the gray truck …

“Sometimes.” His eyes sparkled.

“Oh wow, that was you. Yeah?” I turned my head to Sarah. “He saved Nick from death the other day, you know, with the drowning.”

He glanced to the side. “I didn’t do much. He just got a little tangled up. You surf?”

“No, but you make it look easy. Did you see a massive flash of light that day?”

His eyes narrowed. “No, I saw your friend gettin’ worked.”

Oh God, I sound like a mental patient.
I glimpsed my watch. “It’s almost one. I gotta go. Umm, if I see Joy I’ll let her know you’re interesting … um, interested … in her car. Jericho, right?”

He nodded. I couldn’t break away from his eyes.
Look away now. Can’t. Right now.
With a start, I threw my book, music, and towel into my bag and was surprised to see that he was standing up with me. He was supposed to stay and enchant Sarah. That’s what always happened.

“Nice to meet you, Sarah, Kris.” He smiled at me. “See ya around?”

I picked up my backpack and guitar case. “See ya.”

Sarah was ten steps behind me and catching up. “He’s into you! Are you going to die right here, right now?”

“He was asking about a car at our building. I don’t think that qualifies as into me but yes, I would die if I didn’t already die trying to make sentences.”

“You sounded totally normal, except the thing about the flashy lights. He hardly noticed it.” She tugged on my shoulder strap. “Look at me. You must pursue him. Why would he ask about a car unless he wanted to talk to you? You will give him the time of day.”

A small, low laugh exited my mouth. For as much as Jericho gave me a thrill, I still had one foot firmly planted on the pavement.

She poked me three times. “No, no, no. You can’t pass him up. I will not let you pass him up. It’s time to be a woman.”

“No, no, no. I know his type. Guys that look that good think they can have—”

“I understand where you’re coming from but he’s not—”

“We don’t know anything about him, and maybe I don’t want to.” I continued toward the elevator.

_______

Mr. Fernandez sulked, his lips puckered under a wooly mustache. He was always in a bad mood on Monday and in an even worse mood that Monday because a woman had come in earlier and bought all the cinnamon rolls. I assured him I would set aside four rolls every Monday so that tragedy would never happen again. He stomped out. A minute later, Jericho walked in.

“Not cold in here today.”

“Nope.” I crossed my arms on the top of the case. “Bagel, or is it a muffin kind of morning?”

“What do you recommend?”

“Bagel. You seem to go for high cal.”

“One of those guys with the sugar junk on top.” He pointed to a croissant.

I bagged it and took his money. “See ya.”

“Yeah you will.”

He’d been stopping by The Bakery once or twice a week for the last few weeks. He’d also been hanging out at Nick’s from time to time, watching a game or sports news. I’d walked out of Derek’s room one afternoon and he was on the couch, inducing a double take and the sensation of my body going limp. All I’d gleaned from overheard conversations was that he was twenty-two, had moved from L.A. two years prior, and he lived with friends. He seemed normal enough, but that he was social with Boy Wonder made me suspicious and I kept my conversations with him friendly but abbreviated: hey, what’s up, etc.

_______

I was sitting at the longest red light in history and thinking about Aaron. I hadn’t been seeing things. Sarah’s number one fan had indeed been prowling around our parking lot that morning. The truck behind me honked twice; the light had finally changed. I’d hit the gas when I jammed on the brake, seeing a blur of brown fuzz in the street. I didn’t hit it, but the dog was half running and half limping. The car behind me honked again so I pulled over and parked. With my backpack over my shoulder, I walked two blocks north and then doubled back. I didn’t expect to find the dog, didn’t know what I’d do if I did, but was worried about it.
What’s that?
There was a steep dirt trail that split off the main bike path by the public beach. Curious, I checked it out.

It was a hill-acious climb and I almost gave up twice, but it was worth it. At the top was a small bluff overlooking the beach, shaded by one lonely tree. It was a spectacular view, shades of blue surrounding me. The swell in the distance undulated, the waves becoming larger as they approached the shore before ending as thick, bubbling foam. The sun’s flare was obscured by a film of white in a sky filled with birds, so many birds. Below, a man bumped into the water safety sign that was hanging from two chains on the lifeguard post. As it swung, it made a drawn-out creaking noise, like trampoline springs. I looked away from it and put my attention on a girl sitting near the water’s edge. She was scratching her legs over and over and over. I realized I was doing the same, except picking at the seams of my shorts. I sat and took my book from my backpack to give my hands something to hold. A breeze came up and the grating of the chains that held the sign got louder, making Joshua too vivid in my mind.

Joshua hadn’t seemed angry that night but he hadn’t seemed like himself either. It was his face, his strange, crooked grin. As I screamed at him that night, I’d wondered if he even heard me over the noise of two kids jumping on a trampoline on the other side of the tall stone wall in Nick’s yard in Austin. And then, once Nick’s mom had come home, Joshua acted as if nothing had happened. The memory played out and I was back in the same place I had been months ago—shocked and angry.

“What is it?” Jericho said from behind me, his voice soft.

I forced composure and craned my neck to look at him. “Oh hi. What’s what?”

“You okay?”

“Yeah. Just enjoyin’ the view.” I smiled, my face and body appearing relaxed even though Joshua’s face was still too vivid in my mind.

He rubbed his bottom lip with his finger and stared at me for a couple of seconds before lying down on his stomach at my left. “You’ve stolen my spot.”

“I’m sorry?”

“I’m kidding.” He nodded toward the pier and beyond it to Laces. “This is my super-secret place for checkin’ the waves.”

I reached for my bag. “It’s all yours. I should get—”

“You know,” he rolled onto his side, “there are times like right now when I get the distinct impression that I’m not welcome anywhere near you.”

“It’s not like that.” I turned my book in my hands. “You’re more than welcome to teach Nick to surf, which Derek and I are looking forward to seeing again. What’s the holdup?”

“Nick’s a bit confident and impatient. Not good when he needs to be picking up the basics, which he’s not, as you saw. So how long have you and Derek been together?”

“We’re not.”

“You look like a couple.”

I wish.
“Nick said you’re from California. I’d think the Pacific is much better for surfing.”

“It is. Your eyes remind me of the water there, shades of green. They’re beautiful.” He tilted his head and raised his eyebrows once. “Ever been told that before?”

Ah no, he didn’t just say that.
“No. I’ve been told I have cat’s eyes, have no idea what that means. My brother, Brad, says it’s because my parents picked me out at the animal shelter. You have family out west?”

“My parents died a number of years ago.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry.”

“It’s okay.” He brushed a stray hair from my shoulder, the contact of his hand giving off a shock.

“I don’t know how I’m picking up static electricity with this much humidity.” I slowly moved my hand to his elbow. Snap! There was a spark when I touched him.
Freaky
.

“You been up here long?” he asked.

“Little bit.”

“So you saw the guy in the purple trunks?” He pointed left.

I threw my hand over my mouth. Never had I seen a human being with so much body hair. The Neanderthal rubbed his furry chest and yawned, his armpits a jungle. I truly expected a monkey to jump out. “Think he tans?”

“Probably just his face, but he’s very secure in his self-image. In fact, he’s one of the happiest people down there.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Is that right?”

“Yep.” He directed my sight to a couple. The woman was furiously flipping the pages of a magazine and the man was massaging her shoulder. Then Jericho indicated a younger man who was sitting ten feet away from her, shuffling his feet in the sand. “What’s your take? What do you think’s goin’ on with them?”

“I dunno. The husband looks concerned about something. The wife’s mad and the other guy’s nervous ’cause he can’t stop moving.”

“The husband’s chill, probably daydreaming. The wife’s panicking because the younger guy is most likely her lover and the lover isn’t nervous. He’s drawing attention to himself to force the issue with her.”

“That’s a leap.”

“It’s a guess, but I’m willing to bet I’m right. You can tell a lot about someone from paying attention to their actions and reactions.”

I studied the threesome. The longer I watched them, the more Jericho’s interpretation seemed plausible.

“Oh my God. I can’t believe he’s here.” He steered to me to a tall, gangly guy with dark hair as long as mine, who was playing volleyball. “I run into him at least three or four times a year, and not just in Corpus—everywhere.”

“He’s got the brightest board shorts in the galaxy. Who is he?”

“Preston Fontaine.”

“All right then, psychic boy,” I wiggled my fingers at him, “what’s his state of mind?”

“He’s horny.”

I kind of laughed. That fact applied to nearly all the male population. But then Preston left the game and strode to a pretty young thing in a tiny pink bikini. The machismo the guy sent out was so strong I could feel it from thirty yards away.

“What about her?” I gestured to the girl who was still scratching her calves.

He concentrated on her, concern forming small wrinkles around his eyes. He shook his head and then gestured to my book. “What’re you into?”

“So you can’t divine her, huh? This is,” I displayed the cover, showing how much of a geek I was, “
The Revolution of Nutritional Biochemistry
. Can you even believe this isn’t available for download?”

“No way.” He took it from me and flipped through it. “You understand all this?”

“Enough to get by. Don’t be fooled by the title. It’s just a fancy way of talking about vitamins and compounds that aid in metabolic integrity.”

His face went blank.

“I like science … and food … stuff.” I heard my phone buzz, plucked it out of my bag, and read the message. “Gotta run. I was supposed to meet Sarah five minutes ago.”

He stood. “She’s sad, very sad.”

“No she’s not. She’s spazzing ’cause I’m never late.” Then I realized that he meant the girl on the beach. I wasn’t sure I agreed. She seemed agitated, not depressed.

“And when I got here,” Jericho handed me my bag, “you were scared to death.”

I shrugged off his words and took a few steps. “You surprised me, that’s all.” I turned back to him. “Sorry I stole your spot.”

“You can use it—just don’t tell anyone about it.”

Although I was starting to like him, and was a smidge impressed with his rather bizarre observational skills, he’d pulled out the beautiful eyes compliment, which made me more skeptical of him than before. But what really bothered me was that I couldn’t figure out how he’d known that I’d been feeling helpless, what small tick had given me away. When he’d shown up my back was to him. I’d kept my cool. And I’d regulated my speech from the second he sat down. If there was one thing I did well, it was control my voice perfectly.

_______

It was a slow morning, only a handful of customers. I was mindlessly wiping the vents at the bottom of the display cases, my head moving with the newest James Thompson single that was spinning in my mind. It was pure genius, like every song he put out. A pair of jeans showed on the other side of the glass.
No bells?

Tall, dark, and handsome looked down at me. “Hello, Kris.”

“Hi.” I returned his smile. “It’s been a few weeks. How you been?”

“Busy, as I’m sure you always are.”

“Are you from Austin? I’d swear I’ve met you before.”

“There’s something familiar about you as well. Two pineapple danish, please.”

“Pineapple again. You’re predictable.” I picked the best and put them on a plate.

“But you never know when change will come. Next time I might ask for a cherry turnover.” He picked up the pastry with a napkin and leaned across the counter. “Thank you.”

“Anytime.” I watched him walk out and cross the parking lot.

He’d only come in a few times but he always spoke that way—deliberate, fascinating …

“Hey, Edwards … Edwards.” Derek waved his hand in front of my face. “Earth to Edwards.”

“Huh? Hey, Derek. Is that for me? Aren’t you such a sweetiepants?”

“Don’t ever call me that again.” He handed me a slushy drink. “Tennis after you’re done or are you scared?”

“Sounds good, so scared. I’ll meet you at the courts in an hour and a half.” I noticed three bills on the counter.
I didn’t give tall,dark, and handsome change again?

The bells on the door clattered and Mrs. Phillips barked her order and then asked me how I was. Derek left, warning me of his backhand prowess on the way out. I took a peek at the thermostat. It was set at seventy-four, but I couldn’t drink the slushy because I had the chills again.

We vied for the ridiculous title of Supreme Emperor of Everything. Like always we played five sets and I lost big time—but it made Derek feel like a big man.