The Water Woman

The End of Summer

I'm Birch Booker Jones. I'm a jock but I'm not popular. I'm sixteen years old. I swim, and play football, soccer, and tennis. I also box and go running in my free time.

I have green eyes, light brown hair, and tanned skin that looks like caramel. I'm about six feet tall and fairly built, if I do say so myself.

I'm not too smart academically but I am when it comes to athletics. My dad taught me before he... well... he died. Car crash... and my mom... she didn't take it well. She's a little... harsh. She's abusive.

The only reason I say it so freely now is because my counselor said writing what I'm feeling might help me deal with my problems. I didn't tell her what they were but I guess she put two and two together.

I spend as much time as I can out of the house using school as an excuse. It's easier that way 'cause then she's easier to deal with. She won't rag on me too hard if she thinks I was out for school.

My mama. She's always been tough so seeing her break down for the last three years has been difficult. That's the only reason I don't report her terrible behavior to anyone. She hurts me but I guess I love her too much to be a snitch. I knew her before the accident so I know she's more than meets the eye.

It's summer now. I only just now decided to take the counselor's advice because I was so bored. In my town, there isn't much to do but smoke, drink, vape, and do other stupid things, so summer gets boring fast. Luckily, school starts in less than a week.

***

Aw, crap. School starts in less than a week.

"Hey, Ma!" I yelled.

"What is it, Birch?" she replied.

"D'yuh have any extra cash?"

"Why?"

"School, Ma. I wanna make sure I've got money for school supplies."

"Of course," she grumbled. "Come on down then. I should have something for you."

Thank God, I thought, she's sober.

She searched through her purse and pulled out three crumpled twenty dollar bills. She then turned and handed me a jug of coins. I nearly fell over when she put them in my hand.

"Thanks, Mama," I said happy that she could set aside some money for me. She grunted in response. She started this change collecting thing where she'd fill old milk jugs or water jugs with coins. Usually this was her drinking money, so I was really happy she'd just given me one. Maybe she's trying to kick the habit again. That'll make her a little less terrible to deal with every day.

I started to walk upstairs, when my little brother came up to me. When he wasn't old enough to go to school yet, the poor little guy had to stay home all day. I taught him to read and write and say his ABC's in the hopes that maybe he would be smarter than I was. I always drag him out to practices whenever I can. At my practices, he chased after balls and gave them back to the players. My coach sometimes let him come in and play a game of flag football before practice ended. He'd beat the pants off of us. That little sucker's fast. He's developed the perfect strategy on defense and is the perfect running-back. Although he's agile on land, he sinks like a stone in water. I hope to take him to swim practice and change that. We'll throw the football sometimes and I'll give him pointers on form and tactics. I also take him to the boxing gym. Since he's home alone most days, I worry about him an awful lot. I always prepare him so he can learn to defend himself. My little brother has a slightly lighter skin tone than I do. He has hazel brown eyes that will sometimes look green and dark brown hair. My brother's name is Cooper "Basil" Bertram Jones. He got stuck with Bertram as a family name and when he was younger, Cooper didn't exactly fit him just yet so we called him Basil. We called him Basil after the Sherlock-like detective in The Great Mouse Detective. It was his favorite movie as a baby. My dad always joked that he was secretly more genius than Basil. Honestly, I kind of envied him for his name, Cooper. So much better than Birch. Who names their kid Birch? Or Booker?

Sorry. Back to the story, my brother ran up to me, looking at me with pleading eyes but signing me to be quiet. I pulled him off to the side where mom couldn't get us and asked, "What's up?"

"Mama, says I'm not going to school," he said. He still has a very childish voice that makes him hard to understand.

"Why not, Bud?"

"She says I'm not- not smart enough."

"Bull. You're going," I responded.

"I'm- I'm not so sure."

"You go upstairs. I'll take care of it." He went upstairs. "Hey, Ma?"

"What now?"

"Cooper's going to school isn't he?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because he's stupid. Just like you."

"Ma-"

"No!"

I had to think my words over carefully. "Dad would've wanted him to go."

"Dad's gone!"

"You would've wanted him to go."

She paused. I knew she was reflecting back to her old self. "Okay," she said reluctantly, "but I'm not giving you any more money."

"That's okay. I'll take him out. Thanks, Mom."

I went upstairs. "Hey, Coop. You're going to school."

He looked surprised after this but then his usual devious grin appeared on his face and he leapt into my arms. "Thanks, Birch."

"No problem. We better go and get you registered."

We both grabbed our jackets and went downstairs. "Hey, ma we're heading out to go register him. Do you have any preference on where he should go?"

"I'm already registering him to the school closest to your high school. You can still take him though. Wouldn't want your little idiot to get lost would we?"

Cooper looked hurt so I whisked him out of the house.

"I'm not an idiot!" he yelled.

"I know. That's mom's version of caring. She loves you, she just doesn't want to get to attached to you like she did with Dad."

"What happened to Dad? Did he leave us?"

That question grated my nerves, so my next words came out harsher than they should've. "No, of course not! Well, sort of. But it wasn't his fault. Why would you think that?!" Cooper looked down and kept walking. "Look. I'm sorry. Dad didn't leave us. Not in the way that you think."

"What was he like?"

"I'll see if I can't show you one day."

We went down to the school and asked for a supply list. Then, we set out to buy supplies. I spent half of the money on him and other half on me. We managed to get everything under budget. I got a weird look from the cashier as I counted out coins from the jar. We had everything we needed. We walked home. On the way back, Cooper peppered me with questions about school.

Now I'm at home. I'm still writing 'cause I'm still bored. I'm thinking about school. I'm wondering if I'm going to meet anyone new. At least I won't be bored.

~~~

Hi, everyone! So, I actually have seven more chapters of this story so I am way ahead. I can start updating weekly for this book if you lot enjoy it. I'll let you pick the day of the week that I update. I appreciate your support more than you know. Please, feel free to comment, like, and share this story!

Thanks!

Cat