Surface Tension Read Free Page B

They walk down toward me and count up their points. They measure the distance between the horseshoes and the spike with another horseshoe. Mike says, “These are dead,” and Joe nods.
    I don't know how the scoring works, but I like watching them play. They throw a few more rounds, and I get bored, so I go back to my chair and just listen to the metal bang against metal.
    When the boys finish their game, the whole family except Mary goes out to the dock to swim. Mr. Richardson has so much hair on his back he looks like one of those old silverback gorillas. Mike is going bald already, but Joe still has all his hair. They both have almost the same body. Big shoulders, huge abs, and Adam's apples. I wonder if I'm ever going to have one of those. I feel my throat. I don't think I'm going to, because my dad doesn't have one.
    Joe stands up on one of the dock's posts and raises his arms and one leg like the Karate Kid, then jumps off in a perfect swan dive that he folds in at the last second, disappearing under the water. He comes up thirty feet away and shakes out his hair.
    Mr. Richardson has jumped in too and brought a bar of soap with him. He's going to take a bath in the lake, I guess. Now everybody is doing it. Lathering up their faces and armpits and then passing the soap to the next person. That's pretty weird. I don't know why they don't just take showers. They pull some shampoo from somewhere and take a big family bath with their swimsuits on.
    After the bath, they take a boat out and water-ski. They go two at a time, first Mr. and Mrs. Richardson, with Mikedriving the boat. Then Mike and Joe. They're like a water show out there. They cross the wake and go under each other's lines. They hold the handle between their knees and drop a ski whenever they want. I wonder where Mary is. I haven't seen her for a while.
    I get up and head back to our cottage. I walk the property line and look over to see if I can get a glimpse of Mary. Nothing. Her car is still here, though, so she must be somewhere. I get back to the cottage and Dad is inspecting the canoe and Mom is getting some chicken ready for dinner.
    I don't want to do anything with my family. I want to be out on the boat with the Richardsons. I'd give anything to be a part of their family instead of mine.
    Dad and his buddies Roger and Norm are off golfing. I didn't want to go with them because I hate golf. I'd rather just hang out and swim and do whatever. I mean, that's the whole point of having this cottage in the first place, isn't it? It just seems stupid to own this little cottage that's barely even a shack compared to the Richardsons' and then spend half your time out drinking in the sun on some golf course.
    My parents still have a few really good friends around here from when we lived here, and they come out and spend the day with us. We bought this place when I was six. I remember how it was driving in here for the first time. I'd fallen asleep in the back, so the drive didn't seem to take too long, and when I woke up, everything was perfect. I remember everything glowing gold in the sunlight, and walking down the hallway to my bedroom. My bed was covered with stuffed animals. I remember that. It felt like home right away.
    I remember fishing and running around like crazy anddoing whatever I wanted that first summer. Of course, that was when we lived in town and it was only a half an hour's drive to get here. But then we moved because of Dad's job and sold our house in town. Dad wanted to sell this place too, but Mom wouldn't let him because she and I loved it so much.
    The idea was we would spend our summers here, like the Richardsons do, and Dad would commute to work. But now we live so far away Dad can only afford to take two weeks off every summer. I wish we could live here year-round like the Vizquels. That would be awesome. Maybe when I get older, I can live here full-time.
    I wonder what it's like in the winter.
    The golfers' wives are here hanging out