Summer Girl by Linda Watkins

Author:Linda Watkins [Watkins, Linda]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Gatekeeper Press
Published: 2017-11-15T05:00:00+00:00

I didn’t sleep. At midnight, I slid out of bed, put on my robe, and tiptoed back downstairs. It was a beautiful, clear night and a warm sea breeze wafted gently through an open window.

I pulled a pack of Marlboros from my purse, stared at the logo for a minute, then shook my head, and tapped out a cigarette. I’d begun smoking when I was in the hospital . . . all the kids there did. When I married Don, he tried to get me to quit and I did for a while when I was pregnant with Don, Jr. But as soon as I stopped nursing, the old urge returned and I was back on the nicotine train again. Don tolerated it, but I wasn’t allowed to indulge in my dirty habit in the house. So, tonight, desperately needing a smoke, I grabbed my lighter and went outside to the front porch. I sat on the rail, my bare feet caressing the whitewashed wood. Lighting up, I inhaled deeply as I stared at the lamp post at the end of our dirt road.

Jake.

He always waited for me there.

I thought about the last time I’d seen him that summer of ’65. At least, I think I saw him. My brain was so befuddled with all the sleeping pills I’d taken that, sometimes, I’m not sure if the memory is real or imagined.

He was carrying me in his arms, jogging up a pathway from the beach, taking me to safety. There were tears in his eyes and he kept begging me over and over not to die.

Remembering, I took a drag on my cigarette, letting my mind wander back . . . back to that summer . . . back to the night I tried to kill myself.

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