the Devil and the Sea

17| Time to act

On the first hot day of August, I spend time with my family. My father has a motorboat moored in the port of Aiguadolç, a typical six-seater boat for sailing on the sea. And it's really great: you can enjoy the sea without the hassle of having to share the sand with a million other people.

We are moored in one of the many bays in the Garraf area - a truly heavenly place. Turquoise water surrounded by proud cliffs and air saturated with the smell of pine trees gives an incredible sense of solitude and allows you to forget about the worries of the outside world.

Ricky winks at me when we meet eyes: he's chatting with my dad. And this is strange to watch: he had a troubled relationship with his own dad.

I jump off the edge of the boat and sink into the water. Turquoise water gently envelops my body, and I swim a few meters, then turn over on my back and look at the sky of the same turquoise color.

I close my eyes and smile at the memory of how, on the way, we all stopped together at the supermarket and grabbed drinks and snacks. How mom, while dad was paying for purchases at the checkout, fakely pouted her lips, complaining that due to the abundance of snacks, no one would touch the gazpacho that she prepared and took with her. I deliberately drank a large portion to show her that her efforts are valuable, and dad did the same. The heaviness in my stomach that I am now experiencing is fully justified by her radiant smile. I chuckle, remembering how funny Ricky's face was contorted in fear when he almost dropped a large watermelon from his hands when he was loading it onto the boat to help my father.

A small wave begins to rock me, I straighten up and see that Joan and Ricky have jumped into the water as well, and the latter is swimming towards me. Ricky dives in and grabs my leg and pulls me underwater with him. I'm afraid of water, especially diving, or rather I'm afraid of depth, so I immediately try to surface. I hit the water and splash at Ricky, but he abruptly goes under the water, then my brother pops up and laughs. He laughs even louder when Ricky pops up and yells "Come here you goat" and swims after him.

I glance at the boat where my parents are sitting. They are watching us, my mom is saying something to my dad, and the two of them are smiling at something. It's so nice to see them together and know that they're all right. Peace spreads through the body when I realize our family was on the verge of collapse, but everything worked out, and my parents found strength in themselves and stayed together. While celebrating the last New Year, they had a serious fight. It seemed that my mom was seriously considering divorce, but fortunately everything somehow worked out for them. I remember at that time Ricky didn't really support me, and I - what a surprise! – received unexpected support from Marc Ferrer.

I carefully dive under the water to cool my head from the surging memories, and I hope that all thoughts about Marc will sink to the bottom of the sea and remain under water forever.

After a few hours of partying on the boat, we sail back home. I am the last one out of the car and watch as my dad pulls into the garage and out of the corner of my ear I hear the sound of a sportbike approaching from the Sitges waterfront. I let a smile cross my face, wondering if my assumptions are correct or not.

There is only one way to find out.

My whole family comes into the house, and I linger on the street. Not even a minute passes, and I realize that I was right and a moment later Vincent appears on our site with a motorcycle helmet in his hand. Fuck. Vincent usually looks cool as it is, but now being shirtless, walking down a concrete path in black sneakers and black shorts dangling from his hips, while carrying a motorcycle helmet in his hands ... I highly doubt that anyone can look hotter than he is now. Damn, I just want to take my phone and take a picture to steal this moment and take it with me forever. I can't help but imagine what he looks like sitting on a sportbike and my throat is dry, I swallow saliva, quite loudly, but of course he won't hear me.