Fathom Read Free Page B

don’t want to.”
    “Hello,” Nia said to the alleged crook, but she couldn’t muster a smile to go with it. He was hidden in the screened area that kept him shadowed and relatively cool, and all she could see was the shape of a man in a hat, holding a drink in his hand.
    Bernice reached for one of the handrails that flanked the wooden steps. “On second thought, let’s not go inside. We might as well get a nice view for the smell.”
    Antonio nodded passing acknowledgment at Nia and disregarded Bernice with skill born of long practice. Nia mumbled that it was nice to meet him, and he responded in kind, with a similar level of enthusiasm.
    He leaned forward to set down his drink, and for a moment his face slipped into a patch of sun. Nia thought he was good-looking, with deep-set eyes, dark-slicked hair, and a strong nose. Or perhaps he only looked handsome because he was well-dressed.
    Bernice turned away from the porch and wobbled on tottering high heels back down into the dirt-rut road. Nia quit staring at her uncle and followed her.
    “Let’s go out to the dock.” She peeked down at her watch. “It’s almost seven thirty, but we’ll be back in time for supper. It’s not very far.”
    Nia had never seen such an expensive watch before, and certainly not on someone her own age. She thought it was pretty, but it looked weird on a half-deserted island.
    Bernice reached for her cigarette case again and offered her cousin another before she even asked.
    Nia fell into step beside her. “Are you sure we’ll get back in time?”
    “I’m sure. You ever been out here before?”
    “No.”
    “Well, I have, and I’m telling you it isn’t very far. Welcome to the middle of nowhere.” She took a particularly long drag on her cigarette, using the time to think or plot. When she finally spoke, her words were dry and a tiny bit menacing. “There’s going to be a party tomorrow.”
    Nia tried not to wonder why the simple statement sounded like a threat. “The courtyard looks nice,” she said. “Your mother did a nice job of putting it together.”
    Bernice nodded. “It’s all real nice,” she agreed with a scowl that guaranteed she didn’t mean it. “It’s their anniversary. Mother and Antonio have been married for ten years. Tomorrow will be their first day in their new house, and ten years together. Hoo-
ray
. At least
someone’s
happy to be here.” She kicked off her shoes and climbed onto a rickety gray pier, dropping her feet into the water and twirling them around. The hem of her skirt trailed in, too, but if she noticed, she didn’t care.
    Nia glanced up at the sky and observed, “We’re on the wrong beach. If we wanted to watch the sun set, we should’ve gone to the other side of the island.”
    “It doesn’t matter. We’ve got all summer, and then some.” Bernice stirred the water with her toes while Nia settled down onto the dock beside her and let her own feet dangle. “You know what?” she said. “You smoke like you’ve done it before, not like you’re trying to show me how smooth you are.”
    “I’ve smoked before,” Nia admitted. The men who worked the farms smoked on their breaks, and if her mother wasn’t watching, sometimes she’d smoke with them just to taste it. If they were going to treat her like a hired hand, she figured she’d act like one.
    The girls sat and smoked while the sun sank behind them.
    Nia was about to mention the time again when she saw something strange in the water. At first she dismissed it as a trick of the moonlight, but it seemed to come closer, so she nudged Bernice. “Who’s that?” she asked.
    “Where?” Bernice strained and stretched her neck.
    “There, did you see her? Someone was . . . swimming.”
    Bernice frowned. “I don’t hear any splashing.”
    “She’s gone now,” Nia said. “I didn’t hear the splashing either, but I swear, I saw someone. It was a woman with long hair.”
    “You’re crazy.” Bernice pulled her feet