Part 1: Wishful Sinking

by Margaret Iuni

Tod

“Noah! You’re here! Thank god you could come, we’re so short-handed!” Aunt Louise was frantically stirring a pot of sauce with one hand while pulling a tray out of the oven with another. “I’ll pay you double. I know we owe you big time, taking away your last night home and all,” her eyes pleaded with me not to hate her. I could never.

“Aunt Lou, it’s not a big deal. I finished packing two weeks ago,” I smiled, placing my arm on her shoulder. “What do you need me to do?” She let go of the wooden spoon and pushed the tray back in.

“Well, you can start with your clams. I just don’t understand. Your recipe says bake for twenty minutes. They’ve been in the oven an hour, Noah. An hour. And they’re still not cooked. The party starts in ten minutes. Save them!” she called over her shoulder as she darted back to the living room. Banks’ Bites was a catering company my mom’s sister started right out of high school, but I was the one who showed the most talent in the kitchen. The clams would be fine.

What possibly wouldn’t be fine was that this was Damien Morgan’s house. I didn’t know the kid personally, but the whole town knew enough about him to stay away if you didn’t want to wind up doing time. Aunt Louise’s whole staff backed out on her last minute so she called my mother frantically looking for any recruits. I think she was hoping for my little sister to come, too, but she’s fourteen and mom was not about to let her into this house. So she got me and only me after a lot of persuasion.

As Aunt Lou flew back into the kitchen, I pulled out the finished baked clams and started traying them. With only two of us, it was going to be a long night.

Straya

“Remind me again why we’re going to this tonight,” I muttered, sticking my feet on the dashboard. Adam was fiddling with the radio at the red light in front of us.

“Because he’s one of my best friends, Straya. I know you hate the dude, but give him a chance he’s never even said two words to you,” he sighed, giving up and pressing the gas. That wasn’t entirely the truth, but he didn’t need to know that. This whole situation was already entirely too uncomfortable. “And, if I recall correctly, you have nothing else to do and no one else to be with tonight.” My best friend Lacey was the last of my friends to leave for school and she left that morning. My phone hadn’t even buzzed since.

“Fine. But I’m only going for you. I can’t stay all night, either. My mom will probably kill me.” Which was entirely the truth. Not the killing part, maybe, but even that was iffy. She wasn’t Adam’s biggest fan, let alone Damien’s.

“Australia. We’re going, we’re staying for three hours, and we’re leaving. Your mom said midnight and that’s when I intend to get you home.” His fingers drummed on the side of the steering wheel with the force he wished he could apply to the gas pedal. He couldn’t afford any more tickets this month, though, so he was playing it safe.

“I’ve asked you not to call me that,” the words came out a little more venomously than intended, but I was done. After two months of constant fighting, I was fed up. The on-again-off-again routine was getting old and I was starting to see my mom’s point that we should just be off, period.

“Babe, it’s your name. It’s not my fault your parents are idiotic. Because the whole world needed to know you were conceived on Australia Avenue. Just be glad you’re not Hippa.” This wasn’t the peace offering I was looking for.

“Hippa’s six, Adam. She still thinks her name is cool, please don’t kill that for her yet. I also happen to like my parents despite their… oddities.” My teeth were clenched as I stared at his hand on the gearshift while he parked.

“Whatever. Her name is fucking Hippopotamus how long do you think she’s going to continue to think that?” He was right, of course, but I didn’t want him to be. Australia was bad enough of a name to go through middle school and high school with, let alone Hippopotamus.

“Would you just stop for one night?” I rolled my eyes as I unbuckled my seatbelt. We’d only been dating three months, but this was a conversation that we had far too frequently.

“How about I just stop and you find your own way home?” he snapped, throwing the car door open.

“Fine by me. Enjoy the party.” My voice was surprisingly even as I slid out of the car and walked into the house without looking back. Let the S.O.S texting begin.

Tod

“We’re out,” Aunt Louise moaned, throwing the empty tray on the table. The party was almost over and she was on her last nerve. “How many more fruit bowls do you think we need to make?”

“None,” I answered as I emerged from the refrigerator with seventy more bundles of fruit. Aunt Lou went a little teary at the sight of the already scooped cantaloupe balls. “We’re covered. You can even start cleaning up. I’ll go serve.” Don’t get me wrong, the kitchen is always fun to be in, but five hours into a party and you want to go get air that doesn’t smell like fried shrimp.

“Sure, kiddo, take a walk. Lord knows I could use a seat,” she smiled, plopping into a wooden chair.

“See you in a bit,” I grinned, grabbing the loaded platter. I went out the back door keeping in mind this was the last of dessert with a party slated to run for another hour and twenty minutes. I slowed down and examined the area. I wasn’t really surprised. More than twenty kids were stumbling around, clearly not sober.

Another ten were playing a game of basketball off in the driveway. There were maybe forty kids in the tented area, but they all seemed to have fruit cups in one hand and red solo cups in the other. That left the pool and the hot tub.

There were three couples in the hot tub making out and ignoring the rest of the world, but the pool was shockingly empty except for one silhouette on the ledge farthest from the crowds. That seemed my safest bet, so I headed that way.
The air was pretty thick. August was almost over, but it wasn’t going without a fight and the humidity seemed to slow everything down as I walked. When I got closer to the other side, I was surprised to see that it was a girl who looked vaguely familiar.

“Hello, would you like some dessert?” I gestured to the tray that was still completely full.

“No, I’m fine- actually, never mind. Sure, I’ll have one. But only if you have one with me.” Her face was a little red and her eyes were watery, but I suspected in a very different way than Aunt Lou’s. I glanced around and observed. No one seemed to be having a particular hankering for fruit.

“Sure,” I said as I took a seat facing out. I handed her a fruit cup and a spoon and took one for myself.

“You’re better off turning in,” she sniffled, “Then you can put your feet in.” She had a point. I rolled my khakis up to mid-calf and rotated so we were both observing the party. Halfway through my dessert, I cleared my throat.

“So, are you okay? Can I help you?” I spoke slowly, not sure if I was saying the right thing. She laughed at me without smiling.

“You know what, yeah. Do you have a car?” she shifted a little and put her fruit cup down. I raised an eyebrow. “I wouldn’t ask except I broke up with my boyfriend and his best friend keeps hitting on me behind his back and shit talking me to his face, as per usual. All of my friends already left for school and all of his friends are assholes. My mother had to go to the hospital with my sister because she fell out of a tree tonight of all nights and my dad’s on a work trip until next week, so she basically told me either I ask a stranger or I walk home. No one here is sober enough to drive. So I was going to walk. But then you came. So, do you have a car?” She stared at me with very little concern.

“Yeah. I can drive you home, no problem, but I won’t be able to leave for at least another two hours. I have to help clean up… I can take you home,” I restated. “How’s your sister?” She looked surprised at the question and her eyes softened as she smiled in response.

“Oh, Hippa? She’s fine. She broke her arm but it’s not the first time. She’s a tough cookie with very little regard for personal safety.” She stared at her feet in the water, lost in thought for a minute. “Thank you for taking me home. I’m going to run inside to call my mom. My phone’s charging and she’ll need to know I’m going to be late. Not that it really matters because she’ll be later. But, still. I’m Straya, by the way.” She extended a hand and I shook it.

“Noah Tod,” I smiled back. “But everyone just calls me Tod.” She nodded her head and swung her legs over the side to stand up.

“Good luck with the fruit,” she laughed as she walked away.

Straya

“Well, mom, I found my stranger. His name is Noah Tod. I’ll be home around two thirty. Maybe three but that’s at the latest. He works for the catering company so he has to help clean up.”

“Oh, that’s great honey.” Mom sounded distracted, with good reason. Hippa’s fall had given her quite the shock. She’d already broken her arm once last year when she slipped on a diving board. When she fell into the pool below her, she wasn’t able to swim. The paramedics knew my sister by name now, not because it wasn’t easy to forget, but because she was constantly in trouble. Just this summer, Hippa had torn open her foot on a fishing hook, swallowed a whole spoon, tried to dye her hair by eating mom’s hair dye, and now she’d broken her arm. No one knew she knew how to climb a tree. Which, I guess, considering the broken arm, she didn’t really. “I’ll see you soon – Hippa! Stop trying to pull that off! – Honey, I’m sorry, I need to go. Call me later when you get home. I love you,” she said, finger already halfway to the end call button.

“I love you, too,” I said into the silence. I stared at my phone’s screen. It was 12:13 and my sister was in the hospital, but at least my phone was charged and I’d found a ride home. I decided maybe I should attempt to scrub off some of the trails of eye makeup on my face, so I headed to the bathroom to find it was taken.
I was barely back in the living room when I heard the yelling. Drunken brawls were not uncommon at Damien’s house, especially after midnight, but this one sounded different. I could tell that some people were chanting, but I couldn’t make out what they were saying. I walked to the back door, dreading what I would find. I was prepared to call the cops, even if no one else was.

I couldn’t even locate the source of the issue at first; there was a huge circle of people around the pool and hot tub. Some of them were screaming to stop, others to keep going. One group kept repeating, “Hold him down.” A tray of overturned fruit bowls littered the floor. I found Sabrina Lisner off to the side of concerned but inebriated kids I knew from school. She was sober enough to scream no, but not enough to think rationally. She’d follow orders, though.

“Call an ambulance now!” I shouted and thrust my phone into her hands. She started dialing immediately, a look of surprise on her face like why didn’t I think of that? I pushed my way through the crowd of kids and made it to the edge of the pool. Adam was kneeling where Tod and I had been sitting less than ten minutes before, hand under water on top of a mess of brown hair. Damien sat off to the side laughing and holding a beer. Without a second thought, I punched Adam in the face so hard he fell off of the ledge and I dove into the pool. Tod wasn’t moving, so I dragged him out with a lot of difficulty. I lifted myself out of the water and began to follow instructions the EMTs had taught me last summer after Hippa’s almost drowning. They figured with a kid like that the knowledge was probably worth it.
“What the fuck, Australia, we were just having some fun,” Damien crowed, picking Adam up off the floor and patting him on the back.

“He’s not breathing!” I heard Sabrina scream. Sirens blared and footsteps of running EMTs and cops echoed down the driveway. Someone was asking for uninvolved persons to clear a path just as Tod began to choke. I stood back as he coughed up as much as he could and the paramedics took over. I hadn’t even had time to process everything that happened when a grown woman burst through the back door screaming and the police began putting handcuffs around Damien and Adam’s wrists.

“Straya?” A friendly EMT shook his hand in front of my face. I turned my head to look at him, but couldn’t form any words so I just stared at him. “You’re in shock, kid. You’re worse than last summer.” He placed a hand on my shoulder and I could suddenly tell how cold I was. “Do you remember me? I’m Tom. I’ve helped Hippa out a few times.” I shook my head yes. “Alright, c’mon, kid. Let’s get you to your family. Are you alright to ride in the ambulance? We’re going to take your friend in the back, too. You did a good job.” His eyes kept searching my face, but I didn’t know what he wanted from me so I lowered my eyes and began walking in front of him to the ambulance. Tod was already back there, oxygen mask on and eyes closed as that woman flitted about him. Tom stepped into the back first and handed me a blanket. I sat on the bench and as the ambulance rolled out of the driveway, I drifted to sleep.