“Yep,” he said. “My test is over there, but don’t copy, okay? I don’t want to get into trouble.”
“I don’t think you’d get in trouble,” she said groggily. “We know the teacher, you know.”
“But it wouldn’t be fair. And besides, you have to know this stuff, just like mr. blake . . . I mean Garrett . . . said, otherwise you could run into trouble.”
“Okay, okay,” she said, sitting up slowly. She rubbed her eyes. “Do they have any instant coffee in the bathroom?”
“I didn’t see any, but if you want, I’ll run down the hall and get you a Coke.”
“I have some change in my purse. . . .”
Kevin jumped up and began rummaging through her handbag. After finding a few quarters, he ran out the front door, his hair tousled from sleeping. She heard his feet thumping as he raced down the hall. After standing and stretching her arms above her head, she made her way to the small table. She picked up the book and started in on the first chapter just as he returned with two Cokes. “Here you go,” he said, putting one on the table beside her. “I’m going to shower and get ready. Where’d you put my swimsuit?”
Ah, the endless energy of childhood , she thought. “It’s in the top drawer, next to your socks.”
“Okay,” he said, pulling the drawer open, “got it.” He went to the bathroom and Theresa listened as the shower was turned on. Opening her Coke, she returned to the book.
Luckily Garrett had been right when he’d told her that the information wasn’t difficult. It was easy reading with pictures describing the equipment, and she was finished by the time Kevin was dressed. After finding her test, she set it in front of her. Kevin walked over and stood behind her as she glanced at the first question. Remembering where she’d read about it, she began to flip back through the book to the appropriate page.
“Mom, that’s an easy one. You don’t need the book for that.”
“At six in the morning, I need all the help I can get,” she grumbled, not feeling the least bit guilty about it. Garrett had said she could use the book, hadn’t he?
Kevin continued to look over her shoulder as she answered the first couple of questions, commenting, “No, you’re looking in the wrong place,” or, “Are you sure you read the chapters?” until she finally told him to go watch television.
“But there’s nothing on,” he said, sounding dejected.
“Then read something.”
“I didn’t bring anything.”
“Then sit quietly.”
“I am.”
“No, you’re not. You’re standing over my shoulder.”
“I’m just trying to help.”
“Just sit on the bed, okay? And don’t say anything.”
“I’m not saying anything.”
“You’re talking right now.”
“That’s because you’re talking to me.”
“Can’t you let me take the test in peace?”
“Okay. I won’t say another word. I’ll be as quiet as a mouse.”
And he was—for two minutes. Then he started whistling.
She put her pen down and faced him. “Why are you whistling?”
“I’m bored.”
“Then turn on the TV.”
“There’s nothing on. . . .”
And so it went until she finally finished. It had taken almost an hour to do something she could have done in her office in half the time. She took a long, hot shower and dressed, putting on her swimsuit beneath her clothes. Kevin, now famished, wanted to go to McDonald’s again, but she drew the line and suggested that they have breakfast at the Waffle House across the street.
“But I don’t like their food.”
“You haven’t ever eaten there before.”
“I know.”
“Then how do you know you don’t like it?”
“I just know.”
“Are you omniscient?”
“What does that mean?”
“It means, young man, that we’re going to eat where I want to eat for once.”
“Really?”
“Yes,” she said, looking forward to a cup of coffee more than she had in a long time.
* * *
Garrett knocked at the front door of their motel room promptly at nine, and Kevin raced to the door to answer it.
“Are you two ready?” he asked.
“We sure are,” Kevin answered quickly. “My test is over there. Let me get it for you.”
He skipped over to the table as Theresa rose from the bed and gave Garrett a quick kiss good morning.
“How was your morning?” he asked.
“It already seems like afternoon. Kevin got me up at the crack of dawn to take the test.”
Garrett smiled as Kevin returned with his test.
“Here it is, Mr. Blake. Garrett, I mean.”
Garrett took it and began to look through his answers.
“My mom had some trouble with a couple, but I helped her out,” kevin went on, and theresa rolled her eyes. “Ready to go, Mom?”
“Whenever you are,” she said, picking up the room key and her purse.
“Then c’mon,” Kevin said, leading the way down the hall, toward Garrett’s truck.
* * *
Throughout the morning and early afternoon, Garrett taught them the basics of scuba diving. They learned how the equipment worked, how to put it on and test it, and finally how to breathe through the mouthpiece, first on the side of the pool, then underwater. “The most important thing to remember,” Garrett explained, “is to breathe normally. Don’t hold your breath, don’t breathe too quickly or slowly. Just let it come naturally.” Of course, nothing seemed natural about it to Theresa, and she ended up having more trouble with it than Kevin. Kevin, always the adventurer, thought that after a few minutes underwater he knew all there was to know.
“This is easy,” he said to Garrett. “I think I’ll be ready for the ocean this afternoon.”
“I’m sure you would, but we still have to do the lessons in the proper order.”
“How’s Mom doing?”
“Good.”
“As good as me?”
“You’re both doing great,” he said, and Kevin put the mouthpiece back in. He went back underwater just as Theresa came up and took out her mouthpiece.
“It feels funny when I breathe,” she said.
“You’re doing fine. Just relax and breathe normally.”
“that’s what you said the last time I came up gagging.”
“The rules haven’t changed in the last few minutes, Theresa.”
“I know that. I just wonder if something isn’t wrong with my tank.”
“The tank is fine. I double-checked it this morning.”
“But you’re not the one using it, are you?”
“Would you like me to test it out?”
“No,” she muttered, squinting in frustration, “I’ll manage.” Underwater she went again.
Kevin popped up and took his mouthpiece out again. “Is Mom okay? I saw her come up.”
“She’s fine. Just getting used to it, like you are.”
“Good. I’d feel really bad if I got my certification and she didn’t.”
“Don’t you worry about that. Just keep practicing.”
“Okay.”
And so it went.
After a few hours in the water, both Kevin and Theresa were tired. They had lunch, and once again Garrett told his diving stories, this time for Kevin’s benefit. Kevin asked what seemed like a hundred wide-eyed questions. Garrett answered each one patiently, and Theresa was relieved at how well they seemed to get along.
After stopping at the motel to pick up the book and the lesson for the following day, Garrett brought them both to his house. Though Kevin had planned on starting the next few chapters right away, the fact that Garrett lived on the beach changed everything. Standing in the living room and looking toward the ocean, he asked:
“Can I go down to the water, Mom?”
“i don’t think so,” she said gently. “We’ve just spent all day in the pool.”