Hiding From Us

49. kim

The next Saturday, the twenty-ninth, I called Henry. ‘‘SNOW DAY!’’

     ‘‘What?’’ He sounded only half-awake, which could’ve been true, because it was only eight a.m. ‘‘Who is this?’’

      ‘‘It’s Kim. Henry, you said you wanted to learn how to ski, and if you look outside the window, you will see why today is the perfect day for that.’’

     ‘‘Kim?’’

     ‘‘Yes, Henry?’’

     ‘‘It’s like eight in the morning.’’ 

     ‘’WE DO NOT HAVE CLOCKS WHEN WE SKI, HENRY. WHEN THE SUN IS UP, WE SKI. WHEN THE SUN GOES DOWN, WE RELUCTANTLY STOP SKIING. DO YOU UNDERSTAND?’’ 

     Pause. Then I heard silent laughter. I said, ‘‘You’re laughing at me.’’

     ‘’No, I—’’ more laughter ‘’—God, I’m sorry, it’s just—you—’’ he gave a helpless little wail that made my heart squeeze for some reason ‘’—I just love it when you get all hyped up like that.’’

     Even though he couldn’t see it, I blushed. ‘‘Like what?’’

     ‘‘Like when you yelled at me.’’

     ‘‘Would you like me to yell some more at you?’’

     ‘’No, no, it’s cool. I’m up. I’m getting ready right now. I’m attempting to put on snow pants with one hand.’’

     ‘‘Well, then, I’ll let you use both hands and I’ll pick you up in half an hour, okay?’’ 

     ‘‘Okay. Bye, Kim.’’

     ‘‘Bye, Henry.’’

     When we got to the hill, snow was falling heavily. There was a dense cloud of white hanging over our heads, and the air tasted like salt.

     Henry tried on an older pair of my brother’s skis and boots, which fit him pretty nicely. My dad needed to do patrol business up top, so he left us at the T-bar near the bottom.

     ‘‘The T-bar,’’ Henry said nervously. ‘‘What do I do on the T-bar?’’

     ‘‘You relax. I’ll be with you the entire time. We’ll just take it slow, okay?’’ 

     We stood in line together, him on my left, and when the bar came down, he bent his knees to sit, but I put a hand on his arm. 

     ‘‘Don’t sit,’’ I told him. ‘‘Just stand and lean. It’ll hold your weight, I promise.’’

     ‘‘Yeah,’’ he said, his teeth gritted. ‘‘Okay. Oh, crap. Crap crap crap.’’ 

     It wasn’t even the most explicit swearword, but the way he said it made something inside of me squeeze. 

     He stretched out and grabbed my hand. I was wearing finger-gloves, and he wasn’t, but I twined our hands together as best as I could. My heart was pounding so hard I thought it might trigger an avalanche on this tiny hill.

     The T-bar pulled us up, and Henry kept holding my hand, and I totally didn’t mind that at all. I helped him slide off the bar and over to an empty spot. He was bending his knees in a way that looked kind of painful, so I pushed him down gently on a snow bank so that he could relax.

     ‘‘Okay,’’ I told him. ‘’So, while you’re skiing, you need to forget about your body. Your body just gets in the way, most of the time. Concentrate on your skis. They’re your main tool. They can stop you, slow you down, speed you up, or, if you’re not careful, flip you on your ass. Which one of those do you want, Henry?’’