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I’m irritated because he does this every day and I should learn by now I won’t make it to him in time. While I’m heading back to the flags, I hear Mollie’s whistle and look up to see her jump down with her buoy and run into the water. I pick up the pace and before following her in, I see that the mom and kid are struggling to swim back after the sand bar. Mollie is headed for the kid so I swim towards the mom.
When I reach her, I extend the buoy and she grabs onto it. I feel for the bottom. “Try to stand,” I call to her and her face relaxes once she realizes she can stand. I pull her to the shore and she wades onto the sand.
“Help!” I hear Mollie call and turn to see her struggling with the kid. He’s got one hand on the buoy and the other on Mollie and keeps pushing her down. He’s in full panic mode. I’m certain Mollie had him grab the floatation device but when a swimmer panics, sometimes they try to grab onto you.
She’s trying to distance herself from him without letting him go but it’s hard because he’s not a little kid, he’s over five feet tall and lanky, trying to wrap himself around Mollie to save himself when instead he’s going to drown her.
I reach them and pull on the buoy rope. He lets go of her and grabs a handle and Mollie does as well. I get them both to shore and the kid starts crying as his mom hugs and comforts him. Mollie coughs a few times, looks at me and drops to the ground, passing out.
She must have radioed for back up before she went in because Tom shows up and takes over with the mom and kid. He drops his first aid kit nearby and I grab it to find some smelling salts. I crack one open and wave it in front of Mollie’s nose while holding the back of her head.
“Mollie, wake up,” I say and her eyes fly open. “There you are.” I’m close to her, very close and I see the fear and then the relief in her eyes. Then she pulls on my neck and plants a kiss on my lips.
Before I can be anything but surprised, she falls back and starts coughing again. I help her roll to her side and she spits up some salt water. When she’s ready, I walk with her back to the lifeguard stand and grab her towel and bottle of water.
“You okay to finish the day?” Tom asks as she leans her hands on her legs and spits more water out. “Don’t be afraid to say no even though it’s a holiday, a Saturday and I have no one to replace you so I’d have to be the one to sit with this bozo here.”
“Jeez, no pressure man,” I say even though I know he’s half joking.
Mollie wraps the towel around her tightly and takes a deep breath. “I’m good to stay, but can I have a little break to hose off and maybe throw up again?”
Tom laughs and pats her head. He acts like he’s old enough to be our dad but he’s only a few years older than us. “You got it, kid, I’ll hang with bozo boy until you get back.”
She walks on shaky legs back to her house and I only look back after she’s crested the small hill.
“You hitting that?” Tom asks when I turn back to the water and where he’s standing. Like I said, Tom is older than us but not by much, He just graduated from Duke and is spending his last summer as a “jag off” as he says. I shake my head as I climb back up on the stand.
“We are just friends,” I say and he gives me a sad face. “I’m fine with it, she’s a cool girl.”
“So, when she kissed you that was just friendly?” He has a point. I know she was in shock probably but it was definitely not a kiss a buddy would plant on you.
I shrug and scan the shore. When we pulled the mom and kid out of the ocean, Tom cleared the water while we got them to safety. He blows the whistle now, signaling that people can go back in with a wave.
“That was a new development.”
“Do you want to be just friends or are you going to go for it?”
“If she only wants to be friends then I’d be happy with that. If she wants more, then I would not say no.” My dad would laugh if he heard me say something like that. Fortunately for me, my Aunt Lucy has been a good influence on me and taught me how to be a decent human being.
“What if it goes sour and then you have to sit on the chair with her all summer?” I really hate Tom and his reasonable points.
“I don’t know, but what if it goes great and I get to sit with her all summer?”
“Just keep the lovey-dovey eyes off the beach so we don’t have any drownings because you two can’t stop making out.”
I laugh and keep an eye on an older man who’s swimming out to catch some waves. “We know how to keep it professional and not let anyone drown.”
Tom continues to make fun of me, tells me about a few parties tonight, and mentions that the best place to see the fireworks is from a boat in the bay.
“I’m back,” Mollie calls and Tom jumps down so she can take her spot. She’s clearly taken a quick shower to get the sand out of everywhere and has braided her long hair.
“Did you barf again?” Tom asks and she laughs.
“No, but I drank some ginger ale and I feel a ton better.”
Tom gives us a salute and hops on his little ATV. “Don’t forget the paperwork.”
“Ugh, I hate that. Nothing’s worse than having to fill out an incident report,” she says and I nod. “Thanks for getting the information from the mom.”
