The Sea Taketh (Alex Singer) Read Online Free PDF Page A

eyebrow.
                  “Definitely not someone intelligent, handsome, and rich,” I tease. “I remember when he used to eat paste in first grade and flipped everyone’s bras in middle school.”
                  “I don’t think he’d mind flipping your bra…” Jen doesn’t finish; she’s too busy running to avoid being walloped by my shopping bag.
     
     

 
     
     
     
     
    2
     
    Danes
     
    The last few days of freedom pass quickly. I go and talk to Fred about the lifeguarding job at the Rec. Center, prepare my things for school, hang-out with Jen, and wait for Gramps.
    The night he is to return home, I make his favorite dinner of crab cakes. I wait and wait for him. When my patience dissolves, I wrap the plate of crab cakes with plastic wrap and put them in the fridge. Instead of going to sleep, I sit on my bed, watching the ocean through my window.
    “I knew you would be waiting up for me,” Gramps says from the doorway.
    I throw my arms around him and hug him tightly. I have missed him immensely. The ce lebration is this intense every time he returns from sea.
    Looking at the clock, I see it is three in the morning.
    “Go to bed. We’ll talk in the morning.” He kisses my head and tucks my blanket around me.  He kisses my head, again. “Good night.”
    Fact #5 – Gramps is the best grandfather in the world.
    Proof – He has never yelled at me…ever. When I was ten, he curled my hair in ringlets for picture day, burning his fingers with the curling iron no less than a dozen times, but he didn’t complain. He never had a problem playing dolls with me. He brings me breakfast in bed when I’m sick. Last, but not least, he cleans the bathroom. 
    *     *     *
    Next morning, I skip to the kitchen. Gramps is drinking his morning coffee.
                  “How was the catch?” I ask with a hug.
                  “Not good, it must’ve been the storm. I let Joe have it.  He has a family to provide for, and we have my social security.”
                  I nod, knowing he is right. Joe has a wife and three kids to support.
    “Let’s see your hand,” Gramps orders.
                  I hold it up. All that remains of the cut is a red scar.
                  “Good, I’ve been worried about you.” He sips his coffee. “What else has happened while I’ve been away?”
                  “I accepted a job to lifeguard at the Rec. Center,” I avoid his eyes. “It sounds like we’ll need the money.”
                  “Alexandra, we’ve talked about this,” he says. His tone is unhappy. “I don’t want you working.”
                  “It’s only twice a week, on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Fred promised that I’ll be home before eight.”
                  “I still don’t want you working.”
                  “Gramps, lots of teens have jobs.”
                  “You’re not like other teens,” he replies. “Your health is more delicate. Besides, I would rather you focus on your schooling. You have enough going on that you don’t need a job.”
                  It’s always the same. I seem to get every cold and illness that goes around the Village. I’ve even had the chicken pox…twice. It is so unbelievably frustrating! Gramps needs my help, and I’m letting him down. “I work every shift with Jen, and it’s less than ten hours a week,” I negotiate.
                  “No,” he shakes his head. “I’ll call Fred and let him know that you’re willing, but I don’t want you working.”
                  “But we need new windows, and they’re going to cost a bunch. If I work, I can pay for them.”
                  “Alex, the windows will just have to make do. You let me worry about them.”
                  A knock on the door interrupts our