Red Rain

38

“Hey, how’d you get here?” Ira raised his head from the fat blue inner tube and squinted at the twins as they pulled back the gate and stepped onto the deck.

“Walked,” Daniel answered.

Samuel had never seen anything as beautiful as this pool. It was long and wide, nearly the length of the house. The pool walls were a light blue. Sky blue. The water sparkled with little patches of sunlight. As if little chunks of the sun had fallen into the pool, he thought. He wanted to dive in and scoop them up.

He just wanted to sink into the water, immerse himself in the clear, clean cold. Be clear and clean himself. But he knew Daniel had other plans.

“You guys know how to swim?” Ethan sat on the edge of the deep end, blond hair as bright as the sunlight, leaning down to fill a yellow-and-red plastic water blaster.

“We swim,” Daniel said. “We lived on an island, remember, lad? Sammy and I swam before we could walk.”

“That’s cool,” Ethan replied. Samuel had never seen a boy so pale, nearly as white as the fence surrounding the pool deck. He could see Ethan’s rib cage poking out from his chest.

He’s puny for twelve. The boy needs to pump up.

Maybe we can help him. If Daniel doesn’t drown the lad today.

Ethan dipped the blaster under the water. Then he raised it and shot a lazy spray of water across the pool to Ira. Floating drowsily on his tube, luxuriating with his eyes closed, Ira didn’t even notice.

“Is the water warm?” Samuel dropped to his knees and ran a hand through it. Under the surface, he could feel the spray of cold water shooting into the pool. “Nice.”

Ethan aimed carefully and sent a long spray of water into Ira’s face. Ira spluttered and dove off the tube. Ethan laughed. He had a dry cackle of a laugh. Like an old witch, Samuel thought.

Ira floated beneath the surface. He rose up in front of Ethan and spit a long stream of water onto his legs.

Daniel grabbed the chrome ladder and lowered himself into the water. He pushed himself away from the wall and paddled toward Ira. “How long can you stay underwater?” he asked, bobbing in a spill of gold sunlight.

Ira’s head sank into the water again. He rose up and spit another mouthful onto Ethan’s legs. Ethan gave him a blast between the eyes with the plastic squirt blaster.

“How long?” Daniel insisted, following Ira across the pool.

Samuel’s body felt sticky and drenched with sweat from the walk to Ethan’s house. He held his breath and leaped into the deep end. The shock of the cold water made him gasp, and he came up to the surface spluttering.

“Ira can stay underwater for a whole minute,” he heard Ethan tell Daniel. “I’ve seen him.”

Daniel eyed Ira. “A whole minute?”

Ira shrugged his skinny shoulders. “Yeah. I guess.”

Samuel didn’t want to listen. He knew the routine. He ducked underwater and swam the length of the pool. It felt so fresh and cold, and made his body tingle. Alive. I feel alive.

When he resurfaced, Daniel was continuing his act. “Do you have a timer?” he called to Ethan.

Ethan set down the water blaster. “There’s a stopwatch on my dad’s iPhone.”

“Go get it,” Daniel ordered. “You can time Ira and me.” Ethan started to the house. His swimsuit hung on him, down to his knees. “Wait. Ethan, you want to be in the contest?” Daniel’s voice made a ringing sound over the water.

Ethan turned back. “I don’t want to swim. I have a scrape on my arm. From the cat. And the chlorine makes it hurt.”

Ethan is not a superhero, Samuel thought, snickering. He made himself heavy and sank to the pool bottom, then kicked back up. I could live in the water. Only place I feel alive.

The kitchen door slammed behind Ethan. Samuel slid onto his back and floated, gazing up at the sun-streaked sky.

“I think I can stay under longer than a minute,” Daniel told Ira. The two of them held sides of the tube, bobbing with it. Samuel spotted another inflated float leaning against a green chaise longue. Shaped like a big, gray whale.

That would be fun to ride. But Daniel has his own fun in mind.

“I can maybe do longer than a minute,” Ira said without much conviction.

“Want to go first?”

Ira shook his head. “Why don’t you go first?”

“Why don’t you both go under at the same time?” Ethan said, reappearing on the deck with iPhone in hand.

Daniel slipped off the tube and swung himself around to face Ethan. “No. I want the Ira lad to hold me under.”

Ira made a kind of squawking sound. “What?”

“Hold my hair,” Daniel instructed. “Push me under. Hold me down, okay? You have to hold me or I’ll float to the top, and you’ll win.”

Ira slid off the tube and pushed it toward the side of the pool. “You really want me to hold you under?”

Daniel nodded. “Just grab my hair and push down on my head.”

“But how will I know when you want to come up?”

“No worries,” Daniel told him. “I’ll give a signal.”

“You sure?”

Daniel grinned at him, dimples flashing. “Yes, I’m sure. Sure I’ll win.”

Samuel sighed. He dove under again. Peaceful down below. Daniel should have been an actor. Samuel surfaced, shaking water from his thick blond hair.

“Go!” Ethan cried from the deck, eyes on the phone in his hand.

Daniel let Ira push him under the surface. Ira gripped Daniel’s hair and held his head down.

“Hold on tight,” Samuel said, bobbing closer. “Don’t let him come up.”

“He. . said he’d signal,” Ira said, obviously not sure about this contest.

Samuel floated in a circle around Ira. Ira kept Daniel down with one hand, paddled the surface with the other.

“Push him,” Samuel said. “Keep pushing.”

“But-”

“One minute,” Ethan called. He dropped onto the edge of a deck chair, concentrating on the phone. Samuel could see that Ethan’s slender shoulders were already pink. Sunburned.

“It’s kind of hard to keep him from floating up,” Ira said.

“Keep pushing,” Samuel told him. “He has big lungs. He can stay down a long time.”

“He hasn’t signaled,” Ira said.

Samuel watched his brother float under the rippling water, his arms limp and relaxed at his sides, legs not moving.

“Two minutes,” Ethan called.

“I. . I think your brother wins,” Ira said. “Two minutes. Wow. I can’t-”

“Hold him under,” Samuel said. “Don’t ruin his turn. He gets angry if you ruin his turn.”

“Did he just signal?” Ira very tense now. The strain showing on his face, pale, his features tight. “I thought I saw him signal.” The muscle in the arm holding down Daniel quivered.

“Not yet,” Samuel said.

Underwater, Daniel floated perfectly upright, arms limp and relaxed.

“Three minutes,” Ethan called, jumping to his feet. “That’s enough, right?” He stepped to the edge of the pool, gazing down at Daniel’s unmoving form. “People can’t stay under this long-can they?”

“He. . hasn’t signaled,” Ira said in a wavering voice.

Samuel and Ira both watched a string of bubbles float up from Daniel’s mouth.

“Is that the signal? He said he’d signal.”

“Four minutes. Are you sure he’s okay?” Ethan lowered the phone. “I mean really. Is he okay? Four minutes?”

They all saw Daniel’s head slump forward under the water. His head bent and one last bubble slid up to the surface. Then his legs suddenly splayed, and his arms floated limply to the top.

“Let go of him!” Samuel screamed. “Something’s wrong, Ira. Let go of him-now!”

Ira gasped and swallowed a mouthful of water. His hand flew off Daniel’s head.

Released, Daniel’s body rose to the surface. His face appeared for only a moment, eyes closed, water spilling from his open jaw. Then his body tilted forward and he dropped facedown, arms outstretched and limp.

“Daniel! Daniel! Get up!” Samuel screamed. “Daniel! Daniel!”

Ira uttered another hoarse squawk. He gaped, eyes bulging at the floating, lifeless raft that was Daniel.

“Daniel! Daniel!”

Ira dove toward Daniel. Grabbed his arm. Tried to tug him up.

But he remained facedown, bobbing on the surface, arms and legs floating at such odd angles, as if they were all independent of each other.

“You killed him!” Samuel shrieked. He slapped the water angrily with both hands. Slapped it. Slapped it hard until it churned around him. “Ira-no! No! Ira-you killed him! You killed my bruvver!”

A hoarse cry escaped Ira’s throat.

Ethan stood on the edge of the pool, his body trembling. He had left the phone on the deck. His hands were pressed against the sides of his face.

“Nooooooo.” Ira wailed. “He didn’t signal. It wasn’t my fault!” He turned to Ethan. “Get help! Hurry!”

Ethan didn’t move. “My parents-they’re not home!”

Samuel splashed over to his brother. “Help me pull him out. Maybe we can get him breathing.”

Another moan escaped Ira’s open mouth. His eyes spun. His mouth twitched.

His face is going out of control. The poor kid is totally dazed.

Ira flailed across the water and grabbed Daniel’s arm. And that’s when Daniel lifted his head, shot straight up, turned grinning to Ira, and let out a loud laugh.

“Oh.” Ira’s hand slid off Daniel. The startled kid fell back, dipping underwater for a second before reappearing, his face showing his disbelief.

Daniel gave him a hard two-handed shove and laughed again, shaking water from his hair.

“You’re okay? He’s okay?” Ethan shouted from the side, his voice high and shrill. “Is he really okay?”

Ira still hadn’t spoken. He bobbed in place, eyes on Daniel.

“Why’d you let me up?” Daniel pushed Ira again, more gently this time. “I didn’t signal. I wasn’t finished.”

“But. .” Ira struggled to find words. “It was five minutes.”

Daniel laughed. “Did you forget? I told you Sammy and I were swimming before we could walk.”

“But. . that’s impossible.” Ira shook his head. “Five minutes?”

“I can’t believe he’s okay,” Ethan called. “Hey, get out of the pool. Let’s get some snacks or something. Come on. I can’t stop shaking. Get out, guys.”

Samuel could see that Ira would love to climb out of the water and catch his breath. But Daniel raised a hand. “Whoa. It’s Ira’s turn.”

“Huh? No way.” Ira slid back, rippling the water. “No way. I can’t stay under for five minutes. You win.”

Daniel grabbed Ira’s shoulder. “You have to take your turn. Maybe you’ll do better than a minute. That would be cool, right, lad?”

Ira didn’t reply. “No. You win, Daniel. Let’s get out.”

Daniel grabbed Ira’s hair. “Take your turn. Let’s see how you do. Give me a signal. Just wave your arms when your chest starts to hurt. Okay?”

He didn’t wait for Ira’s reply. He gave him a hard push and sent him sinking. Ira’s head disappeared under the water.

Samuel knew the smile on Daniel’s face. He’d seen it before.

Behind him, he heard a splash. He turned to see that Ethan had dropped into the pool. He was wading toward them. “Ira can only do a minute. I’ve seen him.”

Daniel gripped Ira’s hair tightly. He kept his arm stiff, pushing the boy down. A few bubbles escaped Ira’s mouth.

Daniel, still smiling, turned to Ethan. “What about keeping count? What are you doing here? You’re supposed to time him.”

Ethan peered down at Ira. “I told you. He can only do a minute.”

A shadow swept over them as two large birds flapped overhead, squawking loudly. Samuel glanced up quickly. He lowered his eyes in time to see Daniel slide his other hand over Ira’s head and push down with both hands.

Ira’s legs kicked slowly. Distorted by the water, they reminded Samuel of pale, rubbery snakes. And then the boy’s arms shot out. He began waving wildly.

Ethan stared at Daniel. “The signal. He wants to come up.”

Daniel pushed down on Ira’s head with both hands. The smile never left his face.

Ira kicked and thrashed. He tried to twist his head out from Daniel’s grasp. But Daniel held on tight. A stream of bubbles rose up from Ira’s mouth.

“Let him up!” Ethan shouted. “He’s signaling. He’s done.”

Daniel held on tight, not moving. His jaw was clenched, nostrils flaring.

“Let him up! Come on, Daniel. Let him up!”

Ira shot his feet out. Twisted his head. Raised both fists above the surface. Beneath the water, his body flopped like a frantic fish caught on a hook.

Daniel scrunched up his face, his eyes shut, and pushed down on the struggling boy’s hair, holding his head under the surface.

Samuel wanted to sink under the water and never emerge.

Please, Daniel, don’t do it. Please don’t do it this time.

Please stop now. Yes, I know why you are doing it. I know the new pa doesn’t want us. I know you want to rule the pool. But, please, Daniel. It’s too soon.

Please don’t do it to Ira. Please.