He dumped her unceremoniously back into the water as
another wave, this time smaller, crested around them, and
she struggled to regain her footing. The water that had been
waist-deep on Taz barely made it to Up’s thighs. He’d
removed his utility belt and body armour to come out after
her, and his chest and feet were bare. His remaining
uniform clung to him in ways that would draw anyone’s
attention.
She turned her gaze upward, and found him looking at
her with perplexity. “So if you’re not trying to kill yourself,
what the hell are we doing out here?”
She stared at him a moment. “ Yo estaba jugando,” she
said. “I was playing.”
Up stared back. Then he put his face in his hands. His
shoulders were shaking.
“Are you laughing at me?” she said.
It erupted out of him then, a great guffaw, and it was the
most beautiful sound she’d ever heard. She couldn’t help it
- laughter bubbled out of her too, the first since Pedro had
died, and it felt good. She took advantage of the moment to
push Up backwards into the water just as another wave
came upon them.
He came up spluttering, and the chase began.
They stumbled out of the waves eventually, dripping and
gasping for air, and collapsed side by side on the sand,
looking up at the falling moon. It was an unearthly,
beautiful place, but Up was distracted by Taz’s bare legs,
the shape of her body beneath her translucent tank top. The
sky was beginning to lighten in the east.
“They call this place Zama, the City of Dawn,” she said,
when they had caught their breath. “My uncle took us here
once. I think I was seven or eight. We didn’t live near a
beach, so it was one of the only times I can remember that I