The Truth About That Summer

sixty-nine

"Finn!" Laura screams so loud the sound vibrates in my ear drums. My own heart stops beating the second I see his body flailing through the air.

Before Laura, Talia, or I can take a single step, Luke's body is a blur of motion. Away from us, through the sliding glass door, across the deck and past Mr. Henson who is now, albeit more slowly because of his age, also rushing to the pool, and across the stone patio.

My chest clenches even tighter as Luke's feet, moving faster than lightning to reach his nephew, slip across the wet surface, his body twisting as he regains his balance, refusing to hit the ground.

The slip barely slows him down and within seconds, Luke dives into the pool, towards the splashes from Finn's untrained thrashing.

We're all outside now, every adult at the cookout suddenly lining the pool. Laura kneels along the side, arms outstretched for Finn before Luke's fully got ahold of him.

Not even a full two seconds later, he lifts the boy from the water and Finn chokes and cries, clinging to Luke's neck for dear life.

He sputters and sobs and it's the best sound I think I've ever heard.

"I got you, buddy, I got you." Luke murmurs, kissing the side of Finn's head before holding him out to Laura over the edge.

"Finn," Laura gasps, her hands, a mothers' hands, simultaneously soothing and prodding, palpitating Finn's skull, the knobby bones of his spine, his arms and legs, making sure he didn't break anything important on the edge of the pool as he slipped in.

Her voice is a symphony of comfort, soft "Sh, you're okay"s mixed with "You're alright, you're alright" and "Are you okay?"s, like her mind can't decide what's exactly right.

Feeling again like I'm intruding on something private, I look to Luke as his muscled body glides from the water, his expression a wince as he fully straightens and glares down at Laura.

"Maybe," he grunts, slicking his dark hair back with his hand, "It's time to say screw Dev and teach the kid how to fucking swim."

Laura's head snaps back just as their mother utters Luke's name like a warning.

Laura's eyes, still full of tears from Finn's accident or Luke's attitude I'm not sure, narrow at him meanly. "Fuck you."

Now Talia hushes her daughter instead, "Laura!"

"Yeah, whatever. You're welcome, by the way." Luke scoffs, but I know he doesn't mean it.

He'd never let Finn drown. He'd never let Finn anything. His job as Finn's protector isn't one he takes lightly.

Before his sister can respond, Luke briskly takes my hand and pulls me away, towards his apartment above the garage.

Away from the other useless parents who merely looked on from the sidelines, away from his sister and her drama with Finn's dad, away from Finn's cries.

Wordlessly, we ascend the stairs and at the top, Luke slams the door shut. Inside, he throws open one of his dresser drawers, haphazardly tossing clothing aside. My cheeks flush as he strips naked, replacing his soaked tee and shorts with another t-shirt and a bathing suit, this time.

I don't speak until he's dressed again, having settled himself down on the edge of his mattress with an exasperated sigh. A moment later, his eyes are still closed.

"You okay?" I ask softly, watching him let out a deep breath as I stand between his knees, running my fingers down his cheek, catching a water droplet that's fallen from his hair.