Called Under Read online

  Called Under

  Nathan Haines

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Copyright © 2019 Nathan Haines

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

  First electronic edition: June 2019

  First paperback printing: June 2019

  Visit Nathan Haines on the World Wide Web

  at https://www.nhaines.com/

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Table of Contents

  One

  Two

  Three

  Four

  Five

  About the Author

  One

  I remember when our family used to love to go on vacation in the summer. Every year, we’d rent a cabin up in the mountains, right by a lake. It was a two or three hour drive away, and my parents would pack me and my two brothers and my sister into the car and we’d drive up for a week while we were out from school. As far back as I can remember.

  A real tradition.

  A year ago, when I was 12, I was excited to head back up to the cabin. My dad had finally said I was old enough to paddle a canoe by myself, even if I did have to wear an embarrassing life jacket. I hated them because they were rough and made me sweat, and then the sweat wouldn’t evaporate. But those were the rules. Dad made it clear that I had to follow them or else.

  But by the time we reached the mountain and were driving up the winding road to where we were going to stay, I wasn’t so upset about it. It was a hot day like it was every July, and I knew it would be cooler, which was good since Dad always shut the air conditioning off in the car when we started to drive up the steep grades.

  “Mountains!” my littlest brother, Benji squealed. “We’re here!” He was five.

  My younger brother Rudy, who was nine, immediately corrected him. “No, stupid, we still have to drive to the cabin,” he said. Rudy was always snapping at everybody.

  “No, we’re going to the mountains, I see mountains!” Benji whined. Before I could say anything, my sister Angela jumped in.

  “Don’t be so rude to Benji, Rudy!” she said. She was eight and always sticking up for everyone. If she thought they deserved it, anyway.

  “Don’t say my name like that! I already told you!” Rudy yelled, and then that upset Mom and Dad, because they both started yelling.

  “Hey, don’t take that tone with your sister!” Mom said.

  Dad said, “You kids settle down back there! Joseph, you’re supposed to be managing your brothers and sister.”

  I hated being called Joseph. My family called me Joey, and I’d just started to convince my friends to call me Joe. But I only got called “Joseph” when I was in trouble.

  “Well what am I supposed to do? They just started, Dad!” I said, a little more angrily than I meant to.

  “If I have to stop this van and pull over, you’re all getting spanked,” he threatened.

  My brothers and sister all said “fine” in a flat tone.

  “That goes for you, too, Joey,” Dad said.

  “Yes, Dad.” I tried to keep my voice calm.

  I knew that wasn’t a threat. Last year on vacation, he’d caught me throwing rocks at some other kids that were up at the lake. I wasn’t trying to hit anyone. We were just taking turns dodging rocks, and it was my turn to throw. I was throwing them in a high arc so that it wouldn’t hurt too bad if someone accidentally got hit.

  Well, that didn’t matter to him. We argued, and then when I made the mistake of turning to walk away, he actually grabbed my arm and pulled my shorts down and spanked me right there in front of my friends. We were at the lake, so that means I was wearing swim trunks. So you know what that meant.

  So the last days of the vacation were ruined for me. I still had to go out and play, but they teased me about getting spanked. I was just lucky the girls had left when we started playing the rock game. I would have died on the spot from embarrassment.

  Since everyone quieted down, I stared out the window to try and think of anything else. Trees full of green and yellow leaves blanketed the mountainside as far as I could see. The minivan would climb up a bit, then curve around the mountain, and all the while the view would shift from bare rock walls to sudden glimpses of forests that would sometimes plunge away into valleys filled with trees.

  After a while, the trees started to change, and the new ones were covered in pine needles. That made me pretty happy, because I knew it meant we were getting close. And riding in the car with everyone else was getting tiring. Just because I was the oldest, I was expected to keep everyone from fighting so Dad could concentrate on driving. But that wasn’t fair because it meant I had to sit in the back with my brothers, and Angela got the middle two seats to herself. It’s not that I didn’t love my brothers. I just deserved more room because I was oldest. But Rudy did pick on Benji sometimes. So I was always stuck there whenever we went anywhere far.

  The car climbed and wound around the mountain, and I guess we were there in another hour, although it felt longer. But you could usually trust clocks. We pulled up at the rental office and Dad went in to get the keys. Then he drove us the last 5 minutes to the cabin.

  He pulled up into the driveway, and my brothers and sister cheered and jumped out of the car as soon as I opened the door, and got in the way. They ran to the cabin and waited by the door, hopping up and down and yelling for Dad to hurry up and unlock the door. I just walked around to the back of the minivan and opened the trunk, and started pulling stuff out. I always helped unload stuff, and that meant that by the time I got to the door, it was unlocked for me. Right on cue.

  The best thing about summer was that it stayed light so late. So I stood in the sun and felt the warmth on my skin and smelled the fragrant pine needles now that I wasn’t distracted by my family. But even though the sky stayed bright, the sun went down behind the mountains early and it got shadowy and cooler pretty fast. So by the time we got everything out of the minivan, there was still lots of light but everyone wanted to stay inside. I volunteered to take the last trip back to the van and get the one last bag. Dad gave me the keys, which made me feel grown up, and it was my job to make sure the van was locked before I came in.

  I stood out by the back of the van and looked around. There was still plenty of birds chirping near and far, and if I strained my ears I could hear the water of the lake. I could actually see it through the trees, but it was pretty still and I laughed as I looked into the shadows of the woods. The lake never scared me. It was like a giant swimming pool, although one with a little island in the middle. The trees used to scare me as night fell, when I was half my age.

  I laughed at what a baby I had been when I was little. Then I locked the car with the remote and made sure to check the windows to see that the locks had slid down. I turned my back on the van and the woods and the lake, and walked back through the cool lake breeze to the cabin.

  Right then, I wasn’t afraid of anything in the mountains anymore. Now I wish I’d been smarter.

  Two

  It was the third day of our vacation and things were great. I swam in the lake the day before, but today, Dad was picking up the rental canoes. Yes, canoes, as in two. I would finally have a chance to go out on my own. I was so excited. I rode with him as he drove over to the rental place and got to pick mine. It was so sweet. Orange with a square pixel pattern. It was
the best canoe ever. I had no idea it was going to change my family and my life forever.

  I was already wearing my swim trunks on the way there, so when we got back I was in a hurry to get the canoe in the lake and start paddling. But Dad said I had to practice first and then I could go out as far as I wanted after lunch. That sucked and I almost said so, but I was smart enough to keep my mouth shut.

  I pulled on my stupid life jacket and pulled the strap up from between my legs and snapped the buckle into place on my chest. Then I demonstrated how I could go out, circle around, and come back to the dock. It was super easy. I’d been helping to row for a few years, so now that I was way older, it was no big deal. I paddled the canoe up next to the dock and onto the shore, and jumped out.

  For a moment, I wanted to go deeper onto the lake. I mean, of course I did. But I felt like the lake was calling to me. I started to turn around, then I heard Dad calling at me.

  “Great work, Joey! You were a master out there! I guess you’ve been paying attention to your ol’ Dad after all.”

  I felt my chest swell with pride.

  “After lunch, after a 30 minute rest, you can go out as far as you like. Just keep your life jacket on.”

  I felt great! I jumped up and punched my fist in the air. “All right! Can I go around the island and explore?”

  “Sure,” Dad said. “I think you have the basics down.”

  This was the best news ever. Lunch couldn’t come soon enough.

  We ate lunch inside the cabin. Mom made egg salad sandwiches, and cut them into triangles. Of course, I was too old for triangles, but I still kinda liked them anyway. Everything was going great, until Rudy started picking on Benji. Rudy just didn’t know when to keep his mouth shut.

  Next thing I knew, Dad was yelling at Rudy and Mom was trying to cheer Benji up. And she wasn’t having much luck. I ignored it as being just little kid stuff until I heard my dad yell at Rudy. “You know what? Benji gets to ride with Joey in the canoe after lunch!”

  “What?” I yelled. “That’s not fair! you said I got to take it alone!”

  Dad glared at me. “Would you like to stay out of the water and watch your brothers all day?”

  I stared back. My mind raced over the possibilities. There was no chance I would win this. “No,” I said.

  “Good. I don’t want to hear another word about this,” Dad said.

  I sulked while I ate the rest of my lunch. Angela wasn’t in any trouble, and Rudy seemed to have escaped any actual consequences for teasing Benji, so he was in a good mood. The only one who had to suffer for anything was me. That just wasn’t fair at all. I kept my mouth shut, though. After lunch, we got to turn on the radio and listen to music. Benji came over and climbed into my lap on the couch. I held him, and he asked questions about canoeing. I told him we’d go on the lake and I’d row him to the island. He got really excited about that, and my anger at having to take him along disappeared a little. I was still angry at Dad, though, for breaking his promise. But Benji was never any trouble and I could always go out again tomorrow. Especially if I was good with Benji. So I just played along, like all this was part of the plan.

  Once about 30 minutes were up, I asked Dad if we could go canoeing finally. Dad said yes, and walked us down to the dock. Angela stayed on the shore to play by the water, but Rudy came along because he wanted to canoe too. He was such a baby, always imitating me.

  Anyway, we came out from the trees into the bright sun. The lake kept the breeze cool, but I always felt like the dock was a place of extremes. The sun hot but the shade cold. I had Benji stand in front of me with his arms up and started rubbing sun block lotion on him. It made gross, wet farting sounds as I squeezed it out of the tube, and the tropical scent outlasted the white streaks as I rubbed it into Benji’s skin. I wrapped the life jacket around him and did the buckles and tightened the straps. He was hopping up and down which annoyed me because it made it harder to get him ready, but he was so happy that I couldn’t really be mad at him.

  “We’re going in the canoe, Joey, we’re going in the canoe together!”

  “Yeah, yeah. Hold still so I don’t pull the straps too tight.” I made sure everything was snug but not too tight,especially the strap between his legs, and then started rubbing sun block on me.

  “You have to wear one, too, Joey!” Benji said, and was back to hopping. I grabbed my life jacket and shrugged it on.

  “We both have life jackets! We’re ready to go!” he squealed. I held his hand so he’d stick with me. It was better to keep an eye on him from the start so he didn’t fall into the water or something. Although I wondered if he did trip if he might not want to come with me. But I didn’t really want anything to happen to him. Besides, Dad might not let me go at all then.

  “Keep the jackets on the entire time you’re on the water,” Dad said. As if I hadn’t been doing this all my life. “You’re in charge of your little brother. You’re responsible for keeping him safe.”

  “I know, Dad. I’m twelve.”

  “Don’t stay out with him too long. Take your time, but if he asks to come back, come right back.”

  “Yes, Dad.”

  “All right. Benji, listen to your brother. Do as he says, okay?”

  Benji nodded, and dad reached over and rubbed his hair. I squeezed Benji’s hand. “All right, Benj, come on.” I turned and he followed me to the canoe. I climbed in and held the dock and reached for my brother, who had to stretch to step in. Holding onto the dock,too, let him sit down without worrying about tipping out of balance.

  As I untied the rope holding the canoe to the dock, I called out to Dad further back. “I’m going to take him around the island!”

  “All right. No showing off, son,” he said.

  “Sit still and don’t rock the boat, okay, Benj? Here we go!”

  I took the oar and pushed us away from the dock, and then started paddling, twice on the left, twice on the right, and repeat, as we started moving out onto the lake. As we started moving, I heard Rudy whine that he wanted to go around the island, too, and Dad telling him that they weren’t going to follow us. I smiled to myself. It served Rudy right.

  On the lake, the breeze was nice and cool, which I appreciated because paddling was hard work and the life jacket was hot. The wind brought the smell of pine needles from the other shore. It took about 10 minutes to get near the little island, which wasn’t really much more than a hill of dirt with some reeds and grass, but I was hoping to go back and hang out there tomorrow, all by myself.

  I paddled the canoe around the island and it was harder to do because Benji wouldn’t sit still.

  “Damn it, Benj, would you stop rocking the boat?”

  “I have to go to the bathroom.”

  I sighed. “Why didn’t you say something then?” I looked around. We were the only ones out on this side of the island. The breeze had disappeared and it was strangely quiet. “Which one do you have to do?”

  “Number one,” he said.

  I blew out my breath in relief. “That’s not too bad. We can do that here. No one can see us from behind the island.”

  He giggled and I got up my knees next to him.

  “Will you help me pull my trunks down?” he asked me. I groaned. He was such a baby sometimes. He needed help with everything.

  “Yeah, hold on.” I reached over to his chest and unbuckled the strap that went between his legs and let it fall. Then I undid the drawstrings of his swimsuit. “Think you can aim yourself?” I asked sarcastically.

  “It’s not my fault I can’t untie knots,” he said. He pulled his swim trunks down to his knees and then to his ankles. I turned away from him and pulled my drawstrings and just pulled the waistband down so I could aim over the side. I figured I’d at least try to go, since there wasn’t any sense in wasting time doing this again later.

  I’d just started to go when the canoe rocked violently. I fell forward and tried to hold it in as the stream flew unpredictably and my fingers got we
t.

  “God damn it, Benji, what are you doing?” I asked as I turned my head. He was crouched with one hand on the side of the canoe.

  “I have to stand so I can reach over the side,” he said.

  “Well be careful then. You almost made me pee all over my hand.” This was why I didn’t want to go out with him in the first place. I put my dry hand out, and he grabbed it and raised himself up. He arched his back and let go of my hand and held the front of his life jacket, not that it went up much higher. I turned back around on my knees to finish going myself. It hurt to stop mid-stream like that.

  The canoe rocked again, and I grabbed the edge as I heard Benji yelp and then a splash. He cried out for me. “Joey, help me!”

  “Will you stop yelling? Dad will hear. Just wait for me to finish peeing and I’ll come get you.”

  “I’m afraid of the water, it’s too deep!” he squealed.

  “Benj, you’re in a life jacket.”

  “I’m slipping, Joey!”

  “Oh shit,” I said. I had unbuckled the strap that would keep him from sliding through and his trunks were around his ankles. He couldn’t tread water without losing his trunks, and I couldn’t let that happen. Dad might actually use his belt on me. I pulled up the waistband of my trunks and spun around. “Okay, Benj, I’m coming.”

  I looked back and somehow he had slipped out of one half of the life jacket and was trying to paddle with his other arm or something. His mouth kept going under the water. I put the oar into the bottom of the canoe and jumped after him.

  I gasped. The water was colder than I expected and it made my arms and legs move sluggishly. I kicked and swam over to Benji, who was panicking as he struggled to keep his head above water.

  I went to dive under the water to grab his legs, but couldn’t. My life jacket prevented it. I was starting to panic now, too. I was a good swimmer. But I could barely touch my face to the water with the jacket on. I grabbed for the buckles, feeling the plastic tabs that yielded when I squeezed them. I yanked at them. “Hang on, Benji, I’m going to save you!” I twisted out of my jacket and dove under the water. I could see Benji’s pale, white legs and reached for them. I could hear him scream above the water and he kicked at me, hitting my shoulder. My hands slipped off his legs and grabbed his swim trunks. I pulled them and they came off, so I got to the surface.