Read Online Swim to Me by Betsy Carter - Free Book Online Page A

do a number with Molly and Scary Sheila in an upcoming show, “Carnival in Rio.” Adrienne was tall and reedy and looked like a piccolo. When she spoke, her little, airy voice made her sound like one, too. Early each morning, they’d practice in the tank, then walk back to the dorm together to get ready for the next show. Scary Sheila kept calling Adrienne “Sparky,” which seemed an aberrant gesture of affection coming from Sheila. Delores noticed how Adrienne flinched each time she heard the word
Sparky,
as if a bug had just flown in her eye. On one of those mornings, when Delores and Adrienne were huddling in the tube, the heated hidden platform where they warmed up between scenes, Delores asked about the nickname.
    Adrienne’s voice got even flimsier. “It’s a horrible story. Everyone else seems to know, so I might as well tell you. I’m from Zephyr-hills, and I was the star majorette of the Zephyrhills High School marching band. Last year, for homecoming, I was chosen to do this trick where I light both balls of my baton on fire, throw the batonin the air, and catch it again. I’d done it perfectly millions of times in practice; it was no big deal.”
    Between deep breaths and long sighs, her story unfolded. On this particular evening, as Adrienne hurled the flaming baton into the air, she became distracted by some guy in the stands who was mooning the Zephyrhills Bulldogs as they were about to make their second-half entrance. The baton landed on the forty-yard line, igniting half the grass on the field. The Bulldogs were forced to forfeit the game, which they were winning by three touchdowns. After that, Adrienne was known around Zephyrhills High School as Sparky. “Even my teachers called me Sparky,” she said. “It was so awful. Every time I hear that name, I think of that night and how humiliating it was. Finally, I got so depressed I dropped out of school and came here. Someone sent one of the Sheilas the story from the
Zephyrhills High Times
and she was quick to spread it around. I don’t care, though. I’m still determined to become a majorette someday.” She told Delores how since her arrival, nearly seven months earlier, she’d been attempting, without any success, to insinuate baton routines into the mermaid shows.
    Twirling a baton underwater, thought Delores. It can’t be done.
    T HE S EBRING TRIO figured Delores, with her fancy clothes and famous parents, for a snob, so they rejected her before she could them. During her second week there, Delores landed the role of one of the Lost Boys in “Peter Pan.” Helen was playing Wendy. One afternoon, Helen got confused and couldn’t find the air hose. Delores saw her panic. Without stepping out of her role, she swam over to her, took her hand, and pulled her over to the nearest hose as if she were introducing Wendy to some magic hideaway in Never Never Land.
    After the show, she stood next to Helen under the hot shower.“Thank you for helping me out down there,” Helen said in almost a whisper.
    â€œNo big deal,” said Delores.
    â€œI suppose not,” said Helen.
    They didn’t speak again for another three weeks. During that time, Delores got slightly larger roles, first as a fan dancer in “Carnival in Rio,” and then as one of the von Trapp children in “The Sound of Music.” Her skin had turned the color of chestnuts, and the sun was starting to bleach her hair. But her real beauty flourished in the Springs. There were no boundaries between Delores and the water. She embraced its swells and tempo and moved through it with airy grace. Even the girls who wished her the least well were charmed by her natural affinity with it. On the Friday night after Delores received a standing ovation for her solo performance of “Climb Every Mountain,” Blonde Sheila came up to Delores as they were leaving the amphitheater.
    â€œI like whiskers