After Midnight

And couldn’t.

For one thing, the saber weighed me down. For another, I held the cord in one hand and the saber in the other, leaving no hand free to paddle at the water. Though I struggled to kick my way to the surface, I didn’t seem to be making any progress.

I didn’t panic, though.

I was in no danger of drowning.

Before letting that happen, I would empty my hands and swim to safety.

But what kind of safety would it be if I left the saber at the bottom of the pool?

Just let go of the cord, I told myself.

But I kept my grip on it.

You’ve gotta let go!

Can’t! He’ll get away!

Suddenly the cord jerked and nearly flew out of my hand. I squeezed hard and kept hold of it by the plug.

The cord began to tow me through the water.

53

THE GETAWAY

Above me but still below the surface, Steve was swimming toward the shallow end of the pool. He must’ve known he was pulling me along behind him, but he didn’t do anything about it.

He had no idea, I’m sure, that he was helping me.

If he’d known, he would’ve stayed in the deep water. That would’ve forced me to drop the cord or the saber or both.

But he towed me to safety.

Just when I was starting to ache for a breath of air, the bottom of the pool suddenly sloped up sharply under me. I tried to lower my legs and stand up. I couldn’t manage it, though, with Steve still pulling me forward.

Then he stopped.

I planted my feet on the tile bottom and burst out of the water, gasping for breath and thrusting my saber high. I blinked my eyes clear.

I was standing in water high enough to touch the undersides of my breasts. Ahead of me, Steve turned around in water up to his waist.

The light shimmered on his slim body. He hadn’t lost his shorts, but they were down below the pool’s surface. So was Elroy’s head. They wavered and undulated the way things do when they’re under water.

“Have a nice ride?” he asked.

“Yeah, thanks.”

He lifted Elroy’s head by its hair. It came up looking at me, water spilling down its face, its eyes and mouth wide open.

When the head was level with Steve’s shoulders, he changed his hold on it. He put his left hand under the pulpy neck to act as a platform. Then his right hand let go of the hair and gripped the back of Elroy’s head.

He turned the face toward himself. “And how did you like the ride, Elroy?”

“It was just super, Stevie boy,” Steve responded on Elroy’s behalf, speaking in an enthusiastic nasal voice and moving his lips like a lousy ventriloquist.

“Cut it out,” I said.

“Stevie alweady cut if OFF, and boy did it hoit! Ouch!”

“That’s okay, Elroy,” I said, glaring at Steve. “In about two seconds, I’ll cut off Steve’s head. You’ll like that, won’t you?”

“Oh, dear me, yes! Give him a taste of steel, the bwute!”

Ignoring Elroy, Steve said to me, “You don’t want to cut off my head. Not here in the pool. Think of the mess. Aside from the blood, you’d have two heads and a body to haul out.”

“Just turn around and get moving. I want to get done with all this.”

“Aye-aye.” He started backing away from me. I followed, taking a few strides into shallower water.

The level had slipped down to my waist when he suddenly stopped and frowned at Elroy’s head. “What’s that? A secret?” He brought the head close to his ear and pretended to listen. He nodded. Then he said, “No, I’m not going to ask her that. You ask her.”

He swiveled Elroy’s head so it faced me again.

“Stop this,” I said, “and get out of the pool right now.”

“But Elroy wants to ask you something.”

“I don’t want to hear it. Get out.”

“Pwease?” Elroy begged.

“Steve!”

“I wubb you, honey. I wub you so bad. Will you wet me kiss you?”

“Shit. Knock it off, Steve. I’m warning you.” I raised the saber.

“Juss one wittow kiss on the wips?” Elroy asked.

And Steve hurled the head straight at my face.

I slashed at it, trying to knock it aside. But I swung too soon. The tip of my blade whipped across Elroy’s gaping mouth, slicing through both cheeks. His mouth jumped wide open as if he suddenly wanted to take a really big bite out of me.

I flung up my left arm in front of my face and started to twist away.

The head crashed against my forearm.

The electrical cord jerked and flew out of my hand.

The head caromed off the bottom of my arm. I looked down just as Elroy’s chin punched me in the solar plexus, snapping his mouth shut. I grunted with the sudden pain. He fell almost straight down, gazing up at me from between my breasts until he plopped into the water in front of my belly.

As he sank, I waded backward, doubling over and fighting for a breath.

I knew that I’d lost hold of the cord. But the place where Elroy had struck me is almost like your crazy bone, only worse. Blasted with pain, my main worry was staying on my feet.

Besides, I still had the saber.

And Steve wasn’t attacking me, anyway.

While I stood there, hunched over and struggling for a breath, Steve waded for the end of the pool. The shallow end had underwater stairs at the corner nearer to the house, but he ignored them and charged straight forward. He came to the wall, slapped its top with both hands and lunged up. Water sluiced down his body. His shorts dropped, baring his ass and trapping his legs from the knees down. As he tried to spring to his feet, the shorts seemed to tackle him. He let out a yelp and fell sprawling onto the concrete.

By that time, I’d had a few moments to recover.

I still couldn’t take a deep breath, but I no longer felt paralyzed by the blow.

Hunched over and gritting my teeth, I trudged toward the end of the pool.

Steve’s feet were near the edge. The cord from his left ankle dangled down into the water, and I could see its length below the surface, curling toward me like a strange, skinny snake with a three-pronged head.

Grab it!

I tried to hurry, but the water pushed at me as if it had an urgent need to keep me away from the cord. I leaned forward and kneed my way through it.

Steve flipped over onto his back. He sat up. He saw me coming.

Looking somewhat alarmed, he leaned way forward over his outstretched legs, reached to his ankle and grabbed the cord and snatched it toward him.

Under the water, it darted away from me.

I dived for it, leaping as far as I could, slamming myself down through the water, stretching out my left