The Dividing Line

by Victoria H. Smith

  “Really? Maybe I should use a towel next time. This one at the end of the lane here looks good since it’s not being used.”

  Apparently, this girl was a little bitter. Really? Taking my towel? I turned, and who I saw shouldn’t have surprised me, but it did. Natalia’s short frame covered in a navy blue bathing suit stood at the end of my lane, holding my towel like she was about ready to drop it in the pool rather than use it for a lane saver. When she hovered it over the water like she was, I swam over.

  “Wait.” I laughed, holding up my hands.

  She hesitated, gazing up. Seeing me, she crossed her arms, shaking her head with a small smile. “You, again.”

  “It is me,” I said. “I didn’t expect to see you again. Especially shy of so many toys.”

  Her cheeks flushed. “Sorry about that. I agreed to cover for someone who fell sick. Got called in last minute. I run a youth program upstairs.”

  That explained how frantic she was that day. Derrick said she had her stuff together, was level headed. I guess he was right. “Ah, okay. Well, seeing as how I let you leave your car in a restricted parking area, you should at least let me keep my towel.” I gestured to it in her hands.

  “Oh.” She laughed, holding it out to me. “Sorry about that.”

  “No problem. You’re forgiven.” I said this, but made a show of placing the towel far out of her reach. This summoned her light laugh again.

  “What’s your name?” she asked.

  I dried my hand off and placed it out to her, forgetting I hadn’t gotten a chance to introduce myself when I’d seen her before. “Drake.”

  “Drake,” she said with a smile. “Nice to meet you.” She dropped my hand and motioned toward the lane I was in. “Would you, uh, like to share? I promise I won’t try to drown your towel again.”

  My attention was taken when another girl came from the side. She waved to Natalia, speaking to her in a thick accent of words I wasn’t familiar with.

  She got to Natalia’s side, towering over her with a cloak of jet-black hair hanging over her shoulder. The two girls hugged, communicating in, again, a language I didn’t understand. The phrases the ladies spoke had a different sound to them than the ones Natalia spoke frantically at the garage that day; they were softer, less sharp and aggressive. I obviously couldn’t be clear on that since I wasn’t versed. They did sound different from the words of before though.

  The girls continued to chat, their words flowing over my head. One thing I did understand was when my name flowed from Natalia’s lips between the phrases. Her friend gazed my way, appraising me carefully before smiling.

  “Drake, this is Mina,” said Natalia, deciding to let me in on the conversation. “Mina, Drake. I was just asking if he’d be willing to share a lane.”

  Mina cocked a hip in her direction. “I thought you were saving us one—”

  I think the nudge Natalia gave Mina was supposed to be subtle.

  “That was my bad,” she said. “I guess I was just too slow.” She then eyed Mina, whispering something to her in their language.

  Mina listened, her lips melting into a wide smile as she did. She placed her hands on her hips. “Sharing sounds like a fab idea. Drake, would you be willing?”

  I didn’t really know what was going on here, but things seemed really awkward all of the sudden. I decided to give in. “You girls can have it. No big.”

  Natalia’s face fell. “Oh, you don’t have to do that—”

  “I’m done if you ladies want mine.” A guy jumped out of the pool right next to my lane, grabbing his awaiting towel.

  The girls quickly took him up on his offer, hopping in. “Now we can all swim,” Mina said, grinning at Natalia who suddenly wouldn’t make eye contact with her. “How about some races, Drake? Do you think you can hold your own against us?”

  “Oh, no.” Natalia waved her arms in protest. “Just let him finish his workout.” She moved closer to me and stopped at the buoy line that divided our lanes. “You don’t have to.”

  I shrugged. “Sounds like fun.”

  “Really?” Natalia’s brow lifted.

  I nodded. “I do have to warn you, though.” I moved into position. “I made state in school. So if you want to back out I understand.” Cocking my head, I wagged my eyebrows.

  Dipping her head, Natalia moved to the start of her lane. Mina joined her side. She nudged her, and Natalia splashed her in response. Once they were done playing whatever game they were, we all touched the wall.

  We decided on a simple fifty meter freestyle first, a quick there and back. I considered myself to be a pretty chivalrous guy, but when it came to competitive swimming, I wasn’t one to hold back just because I was racing girls. We pushed off at the top of the clock, and I was grateful I didn’t hold back. Natalia and Mina both were on my heels. I could see them right behind me with every breath I made in their direction. I reached the end first, but just barely.

  “Someone failed to mention their own swimming background,” I chuckled, pushing the water from my hair.

  “Why do you think I was hesitant about letting you race us?” Natalia wagged her own eyebrows, pulling her hair back and out of her face.

  I lifted hands. “Okay. Well, let’s try it again. See what you really got.”

  “Your funeral, Drake.” She winked, heading to the wall again.

  I laughed, but stopped when I caught the eye of Derrick through the aquatic center’s glass wall. He and his boys were chatting, laughing in the hallway with towels over their shoulders, but Derrick wasn’t a part of the conversation. Eyes narrowed, he was looking at me.

  A light touch settled on my arm. “You ready or are you going to make us wait all day?”

  My eyes left Derrick and went to Natalia. I smiled at her. “Uh, yeah. Sorry. I’m ready.”

  She headed back to the start of her lane. Turning my back to the glass wall, I did the same, ignoring the set of eyes I had a feeling were still staring into my back.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Drake

  I didn’t know what was up with that look Derrick gave me outside the aquatic center, but I figured I’d ask him about it later. Perhaps he was confused as to why I was at the Y when I turned him down about playing ball. I wasn’t too concerned and decided to stay and finish my workout. The girls and I did a few more laps before I realized I should probably get home and get to bed. It was the weekend tomorrow, but I told Lou I’d come in for a couple overtime hours.

  I left the girls at the lane and was surprised when I came out of the locker room. They were right outside the doors in their street clothes, their hair blown dry. What was weird was they were arguing about something. Again, I couldn’t understand what they were saying, but it sounded heated despite the fact they spoke in hushed tones. Mina glanced over her shoulder. When she saw me, she sauntered over leaving an agitated Natalia.

  “Everything, okay?” I asked. These girls were cool enough, but they were kind of odd sometimes. Like when they were whispering about something in the language they spoke down at the pool earlier. I didn’t really appreciate that. By the clueless look on my face when they spoke, they had to have known I didn’t understand them.

  “Great,” Mina said. The girl really was tall. Past my chin and I was six foot two. “We were wondering if you wanted to come to dinner with us.”

  “Dinner? At…” I checked my watch. “Nine-thirty at night?”

  Mina gave a look like the odd hour wasn’t peculiar at all. “Yeah. There’s a great Korean barbeque place we’re headed to. You should join us.”

  I glanced over Mina’s shoulder to Natalia. She wouldn’t really look at me, staring around the hall like everything but Mina and me was more interesting.

  “Uh, I don’t know,” I said to Mina. Swimming with them was one thing but dinner was another. I didn’t know either of these girls and didn’t want them to get the wrong idea about anything.

  Two guys came down the hall, speaking to each other in what sound
ed like the same language Mina and Natalia were. They were the other two at the park I saw that day, the one breakdancing while the other cheered him on.

  The taller one, who wore a white t-shirt and skinny jeans with a chain, slung his arm around Mina, making her giggle. He was the one cheering that day.

  “Mina,” he growled into her ear.

  “Kyle oppa,” she crooned, pushing him away by the chest.

  Those two were apparently together.

  The guy pecked Mina on the nose. “You girls ready for some eats? We’re all done.”

  His friend the break-dancer, who sported choppy, blond hair like a Final Fantasy character, swooped in, doing a strong man pose. “Yep. We pumped some iron so now it’s time to undo all the work we did with some bulgogi.” Strongman took noticed of me, tipping his chin. “‘Sup, bro?”

  Laughing, Mina pried herself away from the guy that was trying to get a little more from her than some ‘eats’. She gestured to me. “This is Drake. He was swimming in the lane next to Natalia and me. We did some races. Drake, this is Luc.” She patted the blond once on the shoulder. “And my Kyle.” She grabbed and shook his chin, pouting her lips at him. “Natalia and I invited him to come get some barbeque with us.”

  By this time, Natalia joined the small group. It seemed she suddenly got her confidence back, standing by my side as she adjusted her shoulder bag.

  “Cool,” Kyle said, retaking his position by his woman. “You coming? There’s always room for one more.”

  “Speak for yourself,” Luc cut in, slapping his friend’s chest. “The more that come, the more bulgogi gets shared, and I’m hungry.”

  Mina popped him on the back of his head. “Don’t mind him. He’s a garbage disposal.”

  Luc rubbed his blond do, pouting as he mumbled something other than English. I didn’t think I needed to speak the language to understand what he’d said in that moment. Cursing was pretty universal.

  “Yeah, Drake. You want to?” Natalia beamed at me.

  *

  “I hope you didn’t feel pressured back there,” Natalia said, her eyes laced with worry outside the restaurant.

  I probably shouldn’t have said yes to the offer for barbeque. I did have work tomorrow, but something told me I should. I hadn’t gotten out at all since I’d been to the West Side and figured hanging with this group wouldn’t be so bad. I held the door open for Natalia, and she passed me. “No problem. I didn’t.”

  Natalia chewed her lip. “Are you sure? I told Mina we probably shouldn’t. I mean, first we bug you about swimming. Then we look like we’re stalking you outside the locker room. You probably think we’re a bunch of crazies.”

  I chuckled. This girl really was a worrier. She practically lost her head outside the day she came to the garage. “It really is fine. And I don’t think you guys are crazy. Well,” I said, pausing as I watched Luc do a jig-thing into the crowded restaurant, “Maybe that Luc guy.”

  My humor seemed to ease her worries, and our group took a seat at a long table with folding chairs. There was a circular, silver thing in the middle of the table. A grill, maybe? I assumed as much, then confirmed that when I noticed others cooking food on it. The place was abuzz with international chatter, our group included, when we sat. Natalia whispered something that wasn’t in English across the table to Kyle. He was in conversation with Mina under his arm and Luc to his other side. They were all of course speaking in a language I didn’t understand, but after Natalia said what she had, Kyle stopped talking abruptly. Luc did as well, eyeing me with interest.

  Something told me the whole table officially knew I couldn’t communicate with them in what they were speaking. Brilliant.

  “We’re ordering bulgogi for the table, Drake.” Kyle pushed his menu to the side. “Unless you want something different.”

  Since I didn’t know what bulgogi was, I said that was fine. I was open to new things and always enjoyed Asian cuisine when my parents ordered it. I’d only tried Chinese, Japanese, and some Thai dishes, but didn’t think Korean would be a problem. I was Korean after all and was excited to try some dishes from my home country.

  A small waitress came by and Kyle read our order off to her in what sounded like the language he spoke before. She took our drink order, then left us to conversation, which Luc quickly started in on when he said, “So, let’s get the formalities out of the way. Drake, what kind of Asian are you?”

  It wasn’t often I was rendered speechless, but in that moment of the dude’s bluntness, I couldn’t find a damn thing to say.

  “Luc!” Natalia’s face shot up in color.

  Kyle sighed, shaking his head. “Not cool, my friend.”

  Luc simply shrugged. “What? We’re all wondering. It’s not like it’s a big deal anyway. I’ll start.” He placed his hand on his chest. “Third generation Korean and Japanese.” He pointed to Kyle beside him. “Fifth generation Korean.” He motioned across the table to Natalia, but then waved her off. “Since you’re being all uppity about it we’ll skip you.” She gave him the stink eye, and Luc finished by tugging on Mina’s long mane of silky hair. “And Miss Mina is second generation Korean.”

  He then gazed at me expectantly, but cringed suddenly. Biting his lip, he reached down to his leg. It didn’t take a genius to know he’d been kicked, and I had a feeling it was Natalia. She moved sharply at my side the minute he cringed.

  She faced me. “You don’t have to answer that.”

  Since they were all clearly wondering as much as Luc was, but just weren’t bold enough to ask, I gave in. “I’m Korean.”

  I left out my generation on purpose. Technically, I was first since I was adopted, but that would just raise more questions, and I didn’t feel like telling my life story to a bunch of strangers.

  “Satisfied, Luc?” Kyle cocked his head at his friend.

  He gave a curt nod. “You may continue your previously scheduled broadcast.”

  Kyle was the one that popped him on the back of the head after that. Something told me this guy’s mouth got him hit and kicked a lot.

  “Are you from around here, Drake?” Kyle took a sip of his water.

  “Uh, yeah,” I said, playing with my own cup of water as I sloshed it around. “I just moved back actually. I live over on Fifth.”

  “Where were you at before?”

  “I lived in Paris for eight months with my girlfriend.”

  “Oh, did it not work out?” Mina asked. Her gaze moved over Natalia before it got to me. I glanced at Natalia, but she wasn’t doing anything noteworthy besides sipping her drink.

  I brushed the look off. “No. It worked out fine. She’s just there while I’m here. She’s an actress and works over there.”

  Mina opened her mouth to say something, but Natalia cut her off. “That’s an exciting life for her. Where did you two meet?” She smiled when she asked, leaning on her palm and looked genuinely interested in knowing.

  “We actually met here in the West Side. She’s a local girl. Her name is Lacey.”

  Natalia’s palm dropped from her chin and her face lit up. “Lacey Douglas? The opera singer?”

  I laughed at the surprise on her face. “Yeah, that’s her.”

  The whole table livened at that point. “We went to school with her,” Natalia continued, gesturing back and forth between herself and the others. “We always knew she’d get out. She was so talented in the school plays.”

  The conversation switched to Lacey just then. That was definitely one of my favorite subjects, so I hadn’t minded, and some of that initial awkwardness seemed to float away. I became more comfortable, and because of that, the conversation flowed a lot better. I think everyone at the table felt the same. I actually found out a lot about Lacey I hadn’t known before. She was apparently quite popular in school and well-liked by everyone. She was voted ‘Most Likely to Succeed’ by her entire senior class and took the title of Prom Queen her junior year. My Lacey really was something special.

  Our food
eventually came, breaking up the conversation for a bit. The waitress started us with what I assumed were appetizers. There were so many small dishes of various colors and textures. I tried not to look intimidated and tasted a little bit of everything. Some dishes were better than others, but I didn’t let that read across my face. I chewed away like I thoroughly enjoyed everything equally. No one seemed to take notice I hadn’t tried any of this stuff before, and my anxiety went down, that was until Luc asked, “Hey, man, can you pass the kimchi?”

  Shit, he was looking at me. It must be near me. I gazed down, playing my own internal game of “Where’s the kimchi?” Everyone else was chatting, so they were unaware of my struggle. Luc wasn’t though, staring at me expectantly.

  I sighed. “Which one’s that?”

  Everyone stopped eating abruptly. Quite literally mid-chew, and my stomach dropped.

  Shit…

  Luc opened his mouth to say something, but Natalia’s little hand grabbed the bowl literally next to my right hand. The one filled with a red, cabbagey-tasting dish that had a spicy kick to it. She gave it to Luc, but he didn’t serve himself. Only stared at me.

  He pointed to it. “Have you ever had this before tonight?”

  “Let it go, Luc,” Kyle gritted.

  Luc didn’t. “Are you sure you’re Korean, man?”

  I tossed my napkin on the table. “Pretty freakin’ sure. If you’ll excuse me.”

  “Drake!”

  Natalia called my name, but I was already leaving from the table and headed for the door. She caught me by the arm just as I hit the sidewalk.

  “Drake, please don’t go. Luc is stupid.”

  I whipped around, my face fuming. “I don’t have to explain myself to any of you guys.”

  She nodded. “I know. You don’t and none of us expect you to. Please don’t let what Luc said chase you away. He really is stupid. His own family can’t stand him. Hence, why we tolerate him. We feel bad for him.”

  She laughed after that, and the fact she was trying so hard to fix what just happened had me laughing as well. I didn’t think that was possible after the embarrassment I’d just been through.