16
Henry had come to expect that things just were slower out here in the desert compared to in New York, compared to anywhere,
really. But a morning of errands where each one took longer than necessary than the last had him on his last nerve.
“Tell your granddad that my Oliver likes to cut the pills up in half and to take them with warm milk to swallow easier. If
he doesn’t have one of those pill cutters, you can pick one up in aisle ten,” the attendant at the pharmacy told him.
“We’re the only grocery store that carries the lactose-free milk. How many did you have to hit up before you found us?” asked
the cashier at the grocery store.
“I heard the coffee shop on the corner is gonna expand over into the next space. How long before you think they’re gonna reopen?
” said the driver in the car in front of Henry, to the driver in the car in the lane next to him.
The two drivers had come to a halt at the stop sign, rolled down their windows, called out to each other in greeting, and started having a conversation right then and there, just as Henry pulled up behind them.
It wasn’t worth it for him to get upset and honk.
But because of all of this, he’d gotten back a little later than he’d planned.
“Granddad, I’m back. I got your meds and some groceries for dinner. How do pork chops sound? I know a recipe where they’re
extra tender and juicy so it won’t be hard to chew,” Henry called out.
There was no response.
“Granddad?” he called out again. He walked through the kitchen where he’d entered from the garage and into the family room.
His grandfather’s lounge chair was empty, but the TV was still on and his slippers sat there beside it.
“Granddad?” he said even louder. His heart picked up the pace. The bathroom door was open, but no one was inside. He peeked
into the main bedroom, where the bed was made but the room empty. He looked into the second bedroom, where he had taken up
residence, and no one.
He rushed down the hallway and out the front door. He looked up the street and down the other side. No one was in sight. He
didn’t know what led him there, but he crossed the road and through the gate with the sign “No. 29 Prickly Pear Dr” to Mimi and Jia’s house. He knocked on the door.
“Hello? Anyone home?” he said.
Nothing.
And then he heard it. The faint sound of a familiar tune. He walked in the direction of the music. And as he approached, it
got louder and louder. “Hey, Macarena,” the music sang, a chorus of other voices shouting along with it. And then laughter and joyful screams and, as he got closer,
the sounds of splashes and voices.
A party.
At the pool.
He picked up speed until he got to the gate and noticed what looked like the entirety of Sunset Hills packed into the pool
area and spilling over to the bocce ball courts where lawn chairs and wheelchairs were set up under large patio umbrellas.
Every pool chair was taken with towels draped over them or residents lounging in them wearing large straw hats. And in the
shallow end of the pool, a group of people dancing the Macarena in the water.
He was certain his granddad wouldn’t be here. He hated the water, despite having lived with a pool in his backyard for decades.
That pool had been meticulously cared for and cleaned for whenever Henry would visit. But Dennis had never even dipped a toe
in. And the man absolutely did not know the Macarena. He was more a waltz guy.
“Hey, there! You’re overdressed for the party,” Jia said, walking up beside him. She had on a pink one-piece bathing suit
with one of those frilly skirts that hid her bottom half. She also had on a swim cap with white and yellow flowers decorating
it and a pair of oversized sunglasses that old Hollywood types wore. She looked like she’d walked off the pages of Vogue’s retro catalog.
Henry looked down at her toenails, painted a cheerful yellow. And then over to his deck shoes and socks and khaki chinos.
He was overdressed. But this wasn’t his party.
“Dennis wasn’t home when I got back from errands, and I don’t know why, but I came over here to see if I could find him. But
he’s not—”
“He’s right there,” she said. She pointed toward the deep end of the pool where a diving board hovered over the water. There at the end of it stood his granddad. He wore long swim trunks pulled up high past his belly, drawstring tied tight, and a white undershirt tucked inside.
“What’s he doing?” Henry said. He stood in shock as he watched the old man walk until his toes hung over the edge of the board.
He didn’t even look down into the water. He looked straight ahead as if to the horizon. And then he bent his knees and jumped,
pulling himself into a tight grip. Henry panicked the moment he saw the movement. His grandfather did not like the water.
He was terrified of it. And he did not know how to swim.
“Cannonball!” Dennis screamed just as he hit the water. The crowd whooped and hollered in delight.
“He doesn’t know how to swim!” Henry cried. Without hesitation, he moved to jump into the pool, but Jia grabbed his arm.
“Henry, wait,” she said, laughing. “Don’t go jumping in with all your clothes on. The pool is only five feet deep. And Dennis
is a great swimmer.”
He looked over to see his grandfather emerge, a huge smile on his face. And he dog-paddled his way over to the edge of the
pool.
His entire life his granddad didn’t know how to swim. He never came close to the water when Henry came to visit him as a kid.
He always sat off to the side and watched him play in the pool. There was trauma. From a previous life. From wartime and the
navy. And that was all Henry knew about it.
“Mimi told me he’s been taking swim lessons for months, even before moving over here.
They’d been opening the pool up to other seniors in and out of the community.
Isn’t it cool when you can learn something new at any age?
I can’t believe the HOA thought of possibly closing the pool for a random desert garden.
No way. Anyways, I hear his grandson loves to swim and play around, and he’d always wished he could join him.
” Jia’s voice lowered, softer, kinder. “So he made sure to learn while he still could.” She nudged him with her elbow.
Henry swallowed back the emotion. He didn’t want to hear about what little time left his grandfather might have. And when
his granddad had asked him to teach him how to swim years ago, Henry had said he was too busy. And eventually just stopped
coming to visit altogether because Henry’s life trajectory didn’t include extended trips to the desert anymore.
It was too much. And not something he wanted to work out here with an audience, especially not in front of Jia.
He nodded once in her direction, and before his granddad could see him, he turned to leave. He’d sneak away and just pretend
he didn’t know until Dennis chose to share the information with him.
But as he turned to leave, he slipped on a flip-flop that was left at the side of the pool. His arms windmilled as he tried
to regain his balance. He grabbed on to the only thing he could reach.
And as gravity took him in the opposite direction, he took Jia with him. Straight into the pool—boat shoes, socks, khakis
and all—and dragging her into the water as well.
Holding on to each other, the two dropped all the way to the bottom of the five-foot pool. Henry opened his eyes, and Jia
was smiling, bubbles escaping from the sides of her mouth. He watched one travel to the waterline. But they both just floated
under the water, staring at each other.
Time stood still. It was surprisingly quiet under the water.
And looking into the sparkle of Jia’s eyes, he was mesmerized.
Their bodies floated closer to each other until their faces were almost touching.
Though his eyes were stinging from the chlorine, he didn’t want to shut them.
He wanted to keep looking at her. He wanted, frankly, to do more than just look at her.
But when it was clear that each of them was going to run out of air soon enough, she gave him a wink, planted her feet at
the bottom of the pool, and launched herself up, leaving Henry two seconds behind her.
Residents were gathered along every edge of the pool looking down at them until they emerged.
He heard his grandfather’s voice. “Hank, are you okay? What the heck are you doing swimming with all your clothes on, and
even your shoes? If you wanted to borrow swim trunks, I have an extra pair.”
“Oh, did I leave my flip-flops right there by the edge of the pool for someone to trip over?” Betty said. Henry swore he saw
her wink at Mimi.
“Jia, honey, you saved him! You saved Hank from drowning,” someone said.
“You owe her a fancy thank-you dinner or something, I’d say,” another neighbor suggested.
Cheers erupted from the crowd as Jia gracefully pulled herself up and out of the pool and people gathered around her. She
did a tiny curtsy and a bow. “He was fine on his own. You know I just like to be dramatic,” she said. She looked back over
her shoulder at Henry, as he, very much less graceful, pulled his clothing-weighted body out of the pool. One of the women
brought him a towel and quickly removed his shoes and socks.
“I’m fine, really, no harm at all,” he said as he pulled away, uncomfortable with the attention.
“Hank, you sure you’re okay?” His granddad was standing over him.
“Yeah, I’m good,” he assured him.
“Did you catch my cannonball? Mitchell told me it was at least a nine point five. I think I might win the competition,” he
said, proudly beaming.
Henry, though uncomfortable dripping in all his clothes, couldn’t help but smile. “It was pretty impressive, Granddad. Probably
the best one I’ve ever seen. Who knew you had it in you?”
“Hmph! I never saw a competition I didn’t set out to win, you know that. That’s how I won your grandmother over.”
“That’s right,” Henry replied, heart warmed. He missed her, his grandmother. She’d gotten sick and died more than ten years
ago. She was so good at taking care of both Henry and Dennis. Now they only had each other. For all of Henry’s adult life,
it was just him and Dennis. He mentally kicked himself for not paying closer attention the last few years.
“Well, why don’t you go back home and change into some real swim trunks?” He leaned in and whispered, “I know you were just
trying to get Jia to save you and all. You’re a strong swimmer, so you weren’t fooling me.” He winked.
Henry shook this head. “I do need to get out of these wet clothes. But I’ve got some work to do back home. Are you going to
be here long? Do you want me to wait for you? Or do you want me to walk you home?”
“We’ll all walk back together after just a little bit longer,” Jia said, walking up beside them. “You go and get yourself
out of your misery.” She scanned him head to toe.
Henry tried not to squirm. The water was kind of cold, and he didn’t want to know what she saw.
He stepped back into his shoes, shoved his wet socks into his pockets, and turned to leave.
As he walked away, boat shoes squishing with each step, he thought maybe, just maybe, his granddad would be perfectly fine here at Sunset Hills once Henry went back to New York.
Maybe he could trust that Dennis would be okay on his own.
Because he wouldn’t really be alone, would he?
There would be a whole community of people supporting him.
And he suspected all of Jia’s efforts had a lot to do with that.