Cape May

Seventeen

When I was twelve my mother put me in judo classes. I became pretty good. I was able to hold my own with boys two, three years older then me. I became self-assured. Not that I ever lacked confidence, but I became self-assured in my athletic abilities. In high school, I joined the track and wrestling team. I was good in wrestling. I made it all the way to the state championships in my junior and senior years.

Mommy of course wanted her little angel to learn all this self-defense stuff too, after all, she was a girl and God forgive if.... Of course, my mother thought it would be foolish and a waste of money if she put little Gaby in these classes when after all I could teach her everything I learned. So, she cleaned out the garage and fixed it up so there was an area about 15 by 20 feet all matted up just like a professional gym and mommy would make me teach her little angel all I learned.

By the time I turned seventeen, I was an accomplished Judoteka and had earned too many trophies in competition to even keep track of. There was an entire garage wall of full of trophies from judo and wrestling and track. But truth be told, they weren't all mine. Gabby was a quick learner and besides being a tomboy extraordinaire, she was an excellent student and a fierce competitor. Perhaps her winning ways came from my being hard on her on the mat, very hard, perhaps to get even for her being such a thorn in my side.

At seventeen, I was a senior in high school and captain of the wrestling team. I was also on the track team and excelled in that so much so that I received a full scholarship to several universities. I could've had gone to schools on a wrestling scholarships, but I chose track. I mean, you never see a wrestler on the cover of Sports Illustrated. But I would wrestle in college too, just for the sheer joy of it.

Gabby also excelled in sports. Like me, she was on the track team and was one of the leading scorers on the girl's soccer team.

Being into sports so much and getting A's in school took up most of our time. We were not like the typical teenagers of the day, following the latest teen trends and pop singers. She had her friends and I had mine, but we were mostly with each other. Both our circle of friends were into hanging out and partying, basically wasting time. We weren't into that, so we basically spent most of our free time together, fighting, but together.

I didn't have to worry about her and boys. At fourteen, she was tall and gangly. Plus, she thought boys were stupid.

One day she challenged Billy Ray Hollister that she could scoot up a tree faster then he could for an ice cream cone. Billy was our neighbor and a year older than her.

As she licked the cone on her way home she reminded me that mommy said I should take her shopping tomorrow for her birthday. She was going to be all of fifteen. Actually, mommy just wanted her out of the house so she and grandma could fix it up for a surprise 15th birthday party for her. Spanish people have what's called a Quincenera where they celebrate a girl's fifteenth birthday, sort of like a sweet sixteen party, but at fifteen.

When we entered the house, I must say I was surprised, but she more so. The word is shocked actually. There were about fifty people in our living room and the sight and sound of all of them yelling "happy birthday," all at once scared the shit out of me. Gaby too. She grabbed onto my arm so hard she left nail marks on my forearm.

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We had been sitting on the bench for a while in silence when her husband John happened upon us.

"Gaby, I'm going to put the kids to bed. Got an early day tomorrow.

"John. It's only 6:30."

"Yeah, but like I said, I got an early day tomorrow and you know how I hate being late to the airport."

"Ok hon. I'm going to hang out here for a little while with my family. I'll see you a little later."

"Ok."

He reached out to shake my hand.

"Good seeing you again Robert. If I don't catch you in the morning, have a great day. And again, sorry about your grandmother."

"Thanks John." Like I said, he was an aloof one. To this very day, I'm not quite sure what he does for a living.

I turned back to my sister as he left.

"So, what are your plans?"

"Well, John's flying back tomorrow morning with the kids. We have them enrolled in summer camp and they're dying to get back. Me, I took a week off. I'll be staying here with mommy for a day or two, and then I'll book a room at the Marriott over on 17.

"Why you gonna stay at a hotel, mommy's got plenty of room here."

You, know, I haven't been on a vacation forever and staying in a hotel gives me some semblance of a vacation. You know what I mean?"

Yeah, I know what you mean." And I knew exactly what she meant.

Many times, I had gone down to Florida with Holly and the girls and friends would invite us to stay in their house. But it never really felt like we were on vacation. To me a vacation is walking thorough a hotel's grand entrance and lobby, having the bus boys take your bags to your room, jumping on the bed, hanging by the pool with a drink in my hand, fancy restaurants, room service. Staying in somebody's house, no matter how well intentioned, just dodn't cut it as vacation to me.

"Yeah, I know what you mean. "I repeated absent-mindedly."

"That's interesting." I added.

"What's interesting?"

"I took a few days off myself, you know, to help mommy out and just to get away from the rat race for a little while."

"Uhhhmmm, yeah, that is interesting."

We sat in silence on that bench in mommy's back yard, watching the fish in the pond when suddenly she spoke.

"Bobby?"

"Yeah."

"Do you..., do you ever think about it. I mean... about what happened."

After a pause I answered, "I think about it all the time Gabby. How can you do something like that and not think about it. Do you?"

"Yeah Bobby, all the time."

We fell silent. Then again she spoke, but in a more hushed tone so as to keep anyone from listening, although there was no one around us to hear anything.

"Do you,..do you ever regret any of it?"

I kept quiet for a few moments, watching the fish swim this way and that. Then with all the sincerity and honesty in my heart I replied.

"No Gabby. I don't regret one fucking moment."

She smiled and again I saw the little girl who teased me so mercilessly.

"It was that day in the garage, wasn't it? That's the day everything changed wasn't it Bobby? Cause I could feel it."

I tightened my grip on her arm. I could see the moon rising in the distance.