Chapter 14:
A Kat's (GOD AWFUL!!!) Blessing
The next morning, Maria was in the family garden, picking vegetables to use for her and her siblings’ lunches for the day. She wiped the sweat from her forehead with her checker patterned handkerchief. “It sure is hot this morning. The pool’s going to feel so nice.” She went back to picking vegetables as she hummed a little tune to herself.
Suddenly, she heard Charles Bark-ly barking like mad, followed by the loud shriek of a cat. She stood up and looked out in his direction across a cornfield.
“What the…”
Poking out above the cornfield was a giant slice of pizza. More specifically, something resembling a giant slice of pizza. It moved swiftly as Charles Bark-ly’s barks continued. Soon, it turned out of the cornfield and onto the dirt road leading to the garden.
“Maaariiiiaaaaaaa!!!”
Dashing down the road was Kat, wearing a navy blue, one-piece swimsuit, and a white hoodie. Clasped in her hands is the giant pizza slice, which Maria deduced had to be a pool toy of some sort.
Right behind her was Charles Bark-ly, desperately trying to clamp its jaws into Kat’s tail.
When Kat ran by, Maria quickly jumped in front of Charles Bark-ly and grabbed him by the collar. She then dragged him back toward the house to lock him up as Kat collapsed on the ground out of breath.
“Don’t you remember? Charles Bark-ly hates cats,” Maria said when she returned back to the garden, where Kat was still lying on the ground, using her pool bag as a pillow.
“I know that,” Kat said. “I just miss seeing him and having him give me kisses. I thought that if maybe I’d get close to him while he was sleeping and let him sniff me, he’d remember it was me and we could become friends again.”
“I guess your plan didn’t work out as well as you thought.”
“He almost chomped my hand off!” she cried.
Maria picked up the giant pizza slice off the ground. “What’s this?”
“Oh, that?” Kat said, standing up and dusting herself off. “I got this bad boy on clearance last year at the end of summer. Seventy-five percent off! I’ve been wanting to take it to the pool ever since.” She picked up her pool bag and took the inflatable pizza slice from Maria.
“What are you doing here so early? I thought we agreed to meet up at noon?”
Kat started stepping in place from excitement. “I know, but I was too excited! I could barely get to sleep last night, and then woke up at like five in the morning!”
Maria laughed. “And I take it you’ve been up ever since?”
“Nah,” Kat shook her head. “I fell back asleep and woke up about an hour ago, and then rushed on over. There was no way I could wait for three more hours!”
“I understand that, Kat, but my siblings and I still need to get ready—”
There was the sound of someone coughing behind Maria. When she turned, all six of her younger siblings were wearing their swimsuits. Their towels hung around their shoulders as each held a different pool toy. “We’re ready!” they cheered in unison.
“Already?” Maria asked.
“Uh-huh!” Marco said, holding up a large pressurized water gun, his shaggy hair tied back into a bun.
“When we saw Kat coming, we got changed!” said Veronica, holding a beach ball. Sunflower-shaped clips holding her bangs back.
“Yeah!” shouted Patricia, holding a pool noodle. Her long hair was tied back into a ponytail with a white ribbon.
“Yeah!” repeated Carlos, wearing floaties while holding a rainbow-colored innertube around his waist. A large pair of goggles was strapped to his forehead.
Gabriel and Gabriella held matching water guns similar to that of Carlos’. They wore matching swimming trunks and a tankini top. Despite being opposite genders, their matching attire made them appear more like a pair of girls. “Let’s go!” they yelled in unison.
Maria looked sternly at her siblings, putting her hands to her hips. “Did you finish all your chores?”
“Uh-huh!” they said in unison.
“Did you get permission from Mom and Dad?”
“Uh-huh!” Again, they said in unison.
Maria smiled. “Alright. I guess we can go earlier than planned.”
Everyone, including Kat, jumped into the air and cheered.
Kat pointed toward the direction of the community pool. “Alright, gang! Let’s get going!”
“Yeah!” Maria’s siblings cheered.
“I haven’t made our lunches yet,” said Maria.
Kat turned around and pointed at their house. “Let’s go make lunch first!”
“Yeah!” Maria’s siblings cheered.
Everyone followed Maria back to the house, where she went and secured Charles Bark-ly in his doghouse so as not to attack Kat. They all then went into the kitchen with the fresh produce Maria handpicked and got to work on making lunch as a group. Even Carlos was able to help, given the important task of deciding which potato chips to bring.
Maria packed their lunches into a picnic basket, along with a cooler filled with a combination of soda, water, and juice for everyone to enjoy.
With their preparations complete, they marched out of the house and set out toward the community pool. They all walked together as a large group along the mixed gravel and dirt road, with Marco, Gabriel, and Gabriella running ahead at times to Maria’s annoyance. When called out, they would slow down to be with the rest of the group, then slowly pick up the pace until they were running ahead again.
Kat hung back alongside Carlos, who gripped the side of his innertubes as he walked. He would look up at Kat for a brief moment, blush, then quickly glance away. Eventually, Kat looked down at one of the many moments Carlos was side glancing at her. She gave him a big smile.
“Are you ready to start learning how to swim this year?” she asked.
Carlos shot his head away with embarrassment, but then lowered his head, kicking the rocks as he walked. “I’m scared,” he said, worried how Kat would react.
“Pshaw! Swimming isn’t scary! In fact, it’s a whole lot of fun! There’s nothing like diving below the water, allowing yourself to become one with it, and then slowly floating back to the surface. Or do flips and twirls without being held back by arm floaties! You can even do one-handed handstands with ease! Plus, as you become a better swimmer, you’ll be able to speed around in the water like a dolphin! Who knows! Maybe you’ll grow to love it and wind up becoming a professional!”
Carlos tightened the grip on his innertube. He imagined the scenarios Kat brought up, only for each one to result in him sinking like a rock, or forgetting which way was up, or being unable to flip around underwater and drowning. He always had arm floaties to help him swim, and he couldn’t imagine himself doing without them.
Kat sensed his fear as she watched him tense up. Wanting to help him relax, she grabbed his hand. “Don’t you worry!” she said, giving him a thumbs up. “I’ll be teaching ya! I’m the master of swimming! I’m sure you’ll be swimming laps across the pool by the end of the afternoon!”
A warm sensation shot through Carlos’ body the moment Kat grabbed his hand. He felt like he was on cloud nine as her assurance eased his nervousness.
The two walked hand in hand the rest of the way.
***
“We’re here!” Kat jumped with glee!
“Yaay!” Maria’s siblings cheered as they dashed toward the broken, rusted gate.
The community pool was a small, run-down affair whose deep end went about 9 feet. There were blue tiles that lined the top edge of the pool, with a few missing for as long as Kat and Maria could remember. Cracks littered the pavement around the pool, not having seen a proper attempt at fixing them in over a decade.
Where a lifeguard chair used to sit was now a series of holes in the ground, having been removed long ago. There was no lifeguard present, as the community grew smaller with each passing decade, and nobody took up the position after the previous one retired. The older adults who were supposed to find a replacement opted not to, remembering the days of their youths when half the things they did would’ve surely killed them if luck wasn’t on their side. They confused their survivor bias with safety not being important, going with a “swim at your own risk” sign instead.
The pool was a safety hazard. It was decrepit and lived on borrowed time. Who knows when its pumps would finally crap out permanently and force the town to either pay for a massive overhaul to outright build an entirely new pool, or fill it with dirt and wipe their hands of the issue and tell the kids to play in the creek instead.
But for the time being, it was a pool. Therefore, it was automatically awesome, regardless of its condition.
They were the first ones to arrive at the pool, as it was still early in the day. It felt like it was reserved solely for them, though Maria brought them back to reality by reminding them others will most likely come by later, so be prepared to share. Her siblings sighed, replying with a “we knoooow!”
Maria set up a spot underneath a large tree that towered overhead from the other side of the fence, providing a nice shady spot to rest.
“Everyone come get sunscreen!” she commanded, to the apprehension of the older siblings and easy compliance of the younger siblings. “Make sure to apply it all over you, including your face and behind your ears. Ask each other to help put it on your backs,” she said while going down the line, squirting it into their hands from oldest to youngest.
Once she gave some to Carlos, she stepped in front of Kat, who had her hands stretched out with a smile, ready to smear the sunscreen all over herself.
“Um,” Maria said with hesitation.
Kat tilted her head in confusion, still keeping the smile on her face.
“Do you really need any?”
“What do you mean?” Kat asked.
Maria grabbed Kat’s wrist and lifted her arm. “Your whole body’s already covered with natural protection.”
Kat studied her arm, then looked down at her entire body. Sure enough, she couldn’t find a spot that looked like it needed sunscreen. “Just gimme some!” she commanded.
Not wanting to argue, Maria gave Kat a squirt of sunscreen, but only a tiny bit.
Kat held her hand up, scowling at the pea-size bead on the pad of her hand. “What’s this?” she pointed at the pitiful amount she was given.
“Try rubbing that on your arm first and see if this is something you truly want to use before I go and waste it. I need to save some of it for later, you know.”
Kat puffed her cheeks in annoyance but understood Maria’s wariness. “Alright,” she said, slapping the bead size sunscreen to her arm.
Her tail shot up as her entire body shuddered the moment she tried rubbing it in. It felt utterly revolting, making her fur look like someone rubbed snot in it as it clumped together. She scrunched her face in disgust from the self-inflicted torture.
After her second attempt at rubbing it caused her to physically cringe at the slimy sensation assaulting her skin, she gave up. Her fur was enough protection.
Maria got everyone lined together in a group and led them with stretching to prevent cramps, clapping her hands to count the seconds like an elementary gym teacher.
“Okay!” she announced with a smile, wrapping up the stretches. “Have fun!”
Her siblings cheered as they rushed past her and jumped into the pool.
“No running by the pool!” she yelled to deaf ears.
Only her, Kat, and Carlos continued to stand by the towels under the shade as everyone else quickly got to splashing in the pool.
“Alllll right!” Kat cheered, pumping her fists. “So how about it, Carlos? Are you ready to become a master of swimming?”
“Mhm!” Carlos nodded enthusiastically, eagerly wanting to spend time with Kat.
Kat held up a finger. “The first step to becoming a master swimmer like yours truly is you have to learn to love the water. Allow it to envelop you. And the easiest way to do that is to JUMP RIGHT IN!” she cheered, dashing toward the pool.
“What did I just say about running?!” Maria yelled at Kat’s disregard for pool safety. She was already regretting letting Kat be the one to teach Carlos how to swim, worried that either she’ll try to get him to do dangerous things when he’s not ready, or imbue him with bad habits, such as what she just did. The last thing she needed was another wild sibling like Marco, Gabriel, and Gabriella. Oh well, she thought. I’ll let her pretend to be a teacher until she realizes she doesn’t have the patience for it and gives up.
Kat tossed aside her hoodie as she ran to the pool. When she was right at the edge of the deep end, she made a giant leap high into the air. With her catlike abilities, she went higher than a two-story-tall building.
All of Maria’s siblings looked up in awe at the sight, going wild with the amazing feat Kat was about to perform. Carlos was especially taken by how amazing Kat was.
Maria, meanwhile, went wide-eyed as she feared jumping that high could be potentially dangerous with how shallow the pool was. It would be one thing if they were at a much larger pool that had a tall diving board and took it into factor when determining how deep to make it. But this pool was never made with the intent of someone diving from such a height.
Kat, meanwhile, could only think about the massive splash she was about to create. All night she thought of this moment. A scene played out in her head over and over again, about how when they first arrived at the pool, she would jump high into the air and do a cannonball. She’d then plummet into the deep end, causing a giant explosion in the water, sending a rain of pool water on top of everyone. Everyone would cheer after she swam back up in triumph. Maria would get annoyed, probably. Especially if Kat got their things wet. But that was a price she was willing to pay to create the most epic cannonball ever seen in town! No, the county! No, state! Country! WORLD!!! She would be making history! They will talk for years to come, long after she passes on, about the brilliant cannonball she did that one summer in the community pool.
Kat wrapped her tail around under her and grabbed it between her legs. She pushed her knees to her chest and held them tight in her arms. When she began her descent, she yelled as loud as she could. Her voice cracked. “Cannonbaaaaalllllll—”
In that split second, inches away from crashing into the water, her cat-like instincts began sounding the alarms. Her eyes dilated when they saw the glistening pool below her. Fear engulfed her. Her life was on the brink, but there was nothing she could do. She let go of her form as she opened her mouth, screaming.
SPLASH!
Kat crashed into the water, sending a huge splash of water around the area, just as she wanted. But she was unable to enjoy her success. Just as quickly as she fell into the water, she quickly rose up, letting out loud cries and meows as she thrashed about, as if drowning.
“Kat!” Maria yelled, quickly throwing the inflatable pizza slice to her.
It landed directly next to Kat, who latched onto it and climbed atop. She knelt down on all fours as her fur dripped with sweat. Her breathing was heavy, having just escaped a life-threatening situation. She was saved.
But her relief was short-lived, as the claws in her hands and feet punctured the pool toy. She sunk back into the water, proceeding to thrash about while yelping and meowing.
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