Мэри Эндрюс: The Newcomer

“We noticed,” Ruth said. “We were wondering what was going on over there.” She nodded in the direction of Letty’s room. “Ava didn’t notify us that she would be renting out the storage unit.”

“It was a last-minute decision,” Joe said cheerfully. “Okay, ladies. If you have any questions, I’m sure my mom can answer ’em.”

Ruth, the tall one, pointed an accusatory finger at Maya, who clung to Letty’s hand. “Whose child is that?”

Maya retreated behind Letty, hiding her head.

“Mine,” Letty said, instantly on the defensive.

“Joseph?” Ruth said, raising her voice. “Is Ava aware that this person has a child?”

“Yup,” Joe said. “Like I said, any questions, concerns, bring ’em up with Mom.” He scuttled away toward the parking lot without even a backward glance.

“Well…” Letty said. Her hand was on the doorknob. “Nice to meet you ladies.”

“Dear?” Billie said. “Since you’re new, I think I should let you know that most of us here at the Murmuring Surf have been staying here for years.”

“Years and years and years,” Ruth added.

“We’re used to things a certain way,” Billie said.

“Ava never used to rent to people with young children during the season,” Ruth said sternly. “We thought we had an understanding.”

“You have something against children?” Letty heard her own voice harden.

“Only when they’re living in the room in proximity to ours,” Ruth said. She peered over her glasses at Maya, examining her as she might a dead roach. “This is a quiet place. That’s how we like it. No stinky diapers in the trash cans, no screaming kids splashing in the pool, leaving toys all over the place for folks to trip over.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Letty said, turning to leave.

These two! Terri would have called them nosy old biddies, or worse. She knew the type from her own childhood. She had a vivid memory of pursy-lipped church ladies, peering at her and Tanya as Terri dropped them off at whatever Sunday school was closest to wherever they were living at the time.

“Isn’t your mother coming to church? Where do you girls live? Will your daddy be picking you up after services?”

Letty, mortified, would shrug and look away, but Tanya, her feisty little sister, wasn’t having it. “None of your business!” she’d shout.

“Where’s the child’s father?” Ruth asked, one eyebrow raised expectantly.

Maya wound her arms tightly around Letty’s knees, sniffled, and ducked her head.

“I really couldn’t say,” Letty said. She gave the two a curt nod, picked up the child, and retreated to her room.

4

MAYA SPOTTED THE MOTEL’S SWIMMING pool as soon as Letty pulled into the Murmuring Surf parking lot after their grocery-shopping excursion. The rippling turquoise water beckoned in the gathering darkness.

“Swim! Letty, I wanna go swimming,” Maya called, kicking her sandal-clad feet against the back of the driver’s seat.

Letty was worn out from the long day of cleaning and hauling, followed by an exhausting shopping trip to the nearest big-box store, where the four-year-old had clamored to buy every bright-colored item that caught her eye.

“Oh, ladybug,” she said, turning around to face her niece. “Aren’t you tired? Maybe we could go for a nice swim in the morning.…”

“No!” Maya cried, her face starting to crumple, a sure sign that tears were about to start. “I wanna swim. I wanna swim now.”

“All right,” Letty said hastily. “Let’s put our food away and then we swim. But just for a little while. I think we both need an early bedtime.”

She knew it probably wasn’t good to give in so easily to Maya’s demands. She already felt guilty about feeding the kid yet another fast-food dinner, but she just didn’t have it in her tonight for one more battle.

It took three trips to unload the car. Fortunately, along with the juice boxes, milk, cereal, fruit, coffee, and other groceries, Letty had tossed new bathing suits for both of them into the shopping cart, as well as an inflatable swim ring.

As soon as they were inside their room, Maya happily began to shed her clothes. She stood in the doorway of the bathroom, dressed only in her tiny white sandals, chanting, “Swim, swim, swim, swim.”

“Okay,” Letty said, laughing. She reached into a bag, ripped the price tags off the pink-and-white-striped two-piece she’d bought for her niece, and held it out.

“Swimmy, swimmy, swimmy,” Maya hummed under her breath, stepping into the bottoms.

“Swimmy, swimmy, swimmy,” Letty agreed, pulling the top over the child’s head.

“Now you,” Maya said, handing Letty the modest navy-blue one-piece she’d chosen for herself.

When they were dressed, with the inflated swim ring and newly purchased beach towels in hand, they stepped outside their room. Maya trotted determinedly toward the pool, which was enclosed behind a fence lined with neatly trimmed hibiscus bushes.

A large sign was posted on the gate. NO LIFEGUARD ON DUTY. NO GLASS IN POOL AREA. POOL CLOSES 10 P.M.

As they pushed through the gate, they saw two women swimming laps down the center of the pool.

“I can swim too!” Maya said, pointing. Which was true. As soon as her daughter could walk, Tanya had enrolled her in an impressive array of “Mommy and me” classes. Music appreciation, pottery, ballet, and even swim classes, which her father had arranged for her to take at a private club in the Hamptons the summer she turned three.

Evan, she reported, would happily pay for anything that smacked of self-improvement. Maya, as it turned out, was tone deaf, uninterested in pottery and ballet, but a natural in the water.

“Evan says it’s her genes,” Tanya said. “He was on his prep school water polo team.”

The pool at the Murmuring Surf was a far cry from the tony Hamptons. It was ringed with aluminum-framed tables and chairs, each grouping shaded by large faded yellow-and-white-striped beach umbrellas. Letty sat down and pulled a squirming Maya onto her lap. She unbuckled her sandals and pulled the swim ring over her head and around her torso.

“Now we swim,” she announced, standing up and reaching for the child’s hand.

Before Letty could stop her, Maya ran to the edge of the pool and jumped in, landing directly on top of one of the lap swimmers, who’d just reached the shallow end of the pool.

The woman stood up, pushed her swim goggles on top of her bathing cap, and batted her arms at the child bobbing contentedly in her orange swim ring.

“You!” she hollered. She glared up at Letty, standing helplessly at the edge of the pool.

She recognized the swimmer as Ruth, one of the motel guests they’d met earlier in the day.

“I’m so sorry,” Letty said, plunging into the pool. Maya reached up and wrapped her arms around Letty’s shoulders, hiding her head in the crook of her aunt’s neck. Letty patted the child’s back, but could already hear her sniffling and feel warm tears trickling down her neck.

The other swimmer reached the shallow end and stood up. It was Billie, their other neighbor.

“What happened?” Billie asked, looking from Ruth to Letty.

“Some people have no manners,” Ruth said indignantly. “She just let this kid jump on top of me.”

“It’s adult swim!” Billie said. “No kids in the pool during adult swim.”

“I’m sorry,” Letty repeated. “I had no idea. There wasn’t a sign or anything.”

“It’s common courtesy,” Ruth said. “Everybody here knows we swim laps from eight to nine every night. You didn’t see us? You just let your kid run loose, like a wild animal or something? I bet she’s not even wearing a swim diaper.”