Getting It Together

What's In A Name?

Day 1 of vacation

"C'mon Gio, hurry up!" Jory says anxiously, hurriedly pulling the fourteen-year-old behind him as he tried to run through the woods.

"Where are we going?" Giovonnie asks worriedly, looking down at Sela, who kept pace at his side, occasionally snapping at the flowing fabric of the white sundress he was wearing. "Dad said the berry bushes were on the other fork in the trail."

"We're not going berry picking Gio, now come on!" Jory rolls his eyes, beginning to sprint when he saw the unattended beach on the other side of the island. "Here, help me get some sticks!"

"What are you doing?" Giovonnie asks, tilting his head and stopping at the treeline as Jory began to rush around picking up sticks. Sela sat down next to him, licking his palm and letting out a small yap.

"We're gonna spell Uncle Florencio's last name out with sticks. He's famous." Jory explains tiredly, grabbing another stick.

"Why are you gonna do that?"

"So that someone in a plane might see it and think 'hey, that missing author's last name is spelled on that beach down there'!"

"So?"

"So then they'd rescue us, Gio!" The eighteen-year-old snaps. "Now help me!"

"Why would they want to rescue us? Nothing's wrong. And since when is Uncle Flores famous?"

"God damn it, Giovonnie!" Jory groans, hiding his head in his hands.

Giovonnie pouts, moving to the shoreline and pulling off his shoes.

"What are you doing?" Jory snaps tiredly.

"I'm going swimming!" Giovonnie says excitedly, seemingly forgetting the argument as he wades into the water. Sela follows him happily.

"I'm supposed to be watching you, get back over here!" Jory orders.

"You're not that good of a babysitter. I wanna swim, not make some dumb sign." Giovonnie whines, crossing his arms and staring back at his brother.

Jory throws up his arms, looking at the sky. "God? Anybody, for crying out loud!"

"Come swim with me!" Giovonnie whines. Jory sighs.

"First Pascal takes my yarmulke, and now he takes everyone else's sanity. Fine!" Yanking off his shoes, Jory angrily throws them down on the sand and runs into the water.

Giovonnie smiles at him, diving under the water and swimming a few feet away before surfacing. "There's shells!"

"Just don't get bit by a shark." Jory sighs, before his eyes light up with an idea. "Do you want to do something fun?"

"What?" Giovonnie asks, giggling when Sela began to swim out towards him, her head bobbing in the water.

"Let's make a raft!" Jory suggests. "We could paddle it around."

Giovonnie pauses, looking unsure. "I don't know. We're supposed to be picking berries."

Jory bites back a snarky reply and smiles as brightly as he can. "Dad and Papa are spending time together. They won't even notice we're gone. And with the way you eat, they won't question any missing berries either."

Giovonnie laughs, diving underwater again and disappearing.

Jory waits until Giovonnie resurfaces, beginning to play fetch in the water with Sela before he goes back to shore.

Without Giovonnie's help, it takes Jory a lot longer to make the sign, but he eventually makes a sizeable "Reyes" in the sand with sticks and rocks.