the pool. There were only three people in the water. One of them was the coach.
I stood watching him do laps for a long time. He seemed tireless, cutting through the water the way Avi cut through the air when he did the form, as smooth as a thread of silk being teased from a cocoon. When he reached the deep end, he curled around underwater and shot out in the opposite direction, not coming up for air until he was nearly halfway to the other side. A fish. But what kind of fish? I wondered.
I dropped the towel onto a bench, then stood next to it, trying to keep my balance as I wiggled the elastic band that held the key to my locker onto my ankle. Suddenly I saw feet, so close I could have reached out and touched them.
âAh, the cousin.â
I straightened up.
âI didnât expect to see you again.â
âOut of my way. Iâm trying to get a tan.â
He smiled.
âSo what are you doing here?â
He was staring.
Perhaps it was Lisaâs black bikini bathing suit, which barely covered the stuff my mother said no one but my husband or a doctor should ever see.
Or maybe it was Lisaâs jasper heart necklace dangling just below my modest but attractive cleavage. Or was it the cleavage itself? since thatâs where he seemed to be looking.
âIf I want to compete in the next Olympics, itâs practice, practice. Anyway, Iâm here. So, hey.â
âHey, yourself,â he said, finally bothering to look at my face. âSo, letâs see that stroke youâre so famous for.â
I turned and walked to the deep end and, one heart hanging around my neck, another in my throat, dove into the now-deserted pool. I began swimming laps, and just when I was really getting into it, I noticed that Paul was back in the water, hanging on to one side at the deep end. I swam over to hang out with him. After all, this was work. I wasnât here for my health.
âHey.â
He reached out and picked up the jasper heart, holding on to it for a moment before dropping it.
âLisa had one just like this.â
âNo kidding?â
âIf memory serves,â he said.
âWell,â I said, âsometimes it plays tricks on one. Instead of serving.â
âYou have similar taste to Lisa. Itâs interesting.â
âItâs a family thing,â I said.
âTake that suit, for example.â
I did, I thought.
âLisa had a similar one. Not exactly the same. But very similar.â
âYeah? How are they different?â
âHers had more cleavage,â he answered.
Rule number whatever of private investigation is, Never take the job personally.
Yeah, right.
I pushed off the wall to swim away, but something stopped me. It was the coachâs hand. He had hooked it into the back of the bottom of my bathing suit, what there was of it.
âYou donât leave a person much dignity,â I said, flailing around until I could turn and get a grip on the side of the pool again.
âHow much do you need?â he asked.
âI thought saving face was a big deal with Orientals.â
âIâm nowhere near your face,â he said, finally letting go of my bathing suit bottom.
Clinging to the edge of the pool, chlorine wafting up at me and stinging my eyes, I wondered what Lisa had seen in this guy. Sure, he could swim. Iâd give him that. But so could a fucking sturgeon.
Maybe it was the tâai chi. Maybe they had that in common, too. âDid you meet Lisa through tâai chi?â I asked him.
He shook his head. âWhat are you up to, Dog Paddle?â he said. âWhy are you here?â
âI told you, Paul. Iâm trying to help Lisaâs parents. My aunt and uncle.â
âOkay,â he said, âletâs talk.â
âHere?â
I started to tremble. If my mother were here, sheâd probably tell me my lips were turning blue.
âIâd rather we had more clothes on,â he
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