My Heart's in Alabama

3 - Matt

"Remember when you tried to teach me that?" I ask as she swims towards me.

She puts her elbows on the dock, holding herself up. We both smile at the memory. I was awful at it. I could barely bend far enough to where my hands were halfway to the ground.

"I could have done it," I say, even though I know there's no way in hell. Kiersten laughs. She knows it, too.

"Yeah right. And I can play football."

I laugh and get up. I can't resist a challenge. It's my only weakness. Well, one of my only weaknesses.

"I can do it now, I bet."

I do everything Kiersten did. Turn around, look behind me, take those few little baby steps, and finally, stretch behind me.

"Matty," Kiersten says, holding back her laughter.

"Shh," I say, feigning seriousness. "I need to concentrate."

Kiersten breaks into continuous giggles and repeatedly says stop in between laughs. My back starts hurting, so I do.

"Seriously," Kiersten says as her giggling subsides. "You can't be messing around like that. If I got you hurt right before football season? Your dad would kill me."

I turn back around and sit on the dock laughing all the while.

"Yeah, right. He'd kill me."

Kiersten joins in on my laughter.

"No no," she says and shakes her head. "He would stare at you in disapproval until you guilt-trip yourself into spending the rest of forever alone in your room thinking about what you've done."

Sounds about right to me. My dad is a calculated master when it comes to punishment. He knows exactly what gets to me and uses it to his advantage. No one can strike a chord with me quite like my dad.

"My dad's nuts," I say, mostly to myself.

"He just cares about you," Kiersten says and pulls herself out of the water and onto the dock next to me.

"He cares too much," I say.

Kiersten smiles sympathetically and stands up. I stand up, too, taking this as her hint that she wants to leave. Kiersten throws on her t-shirt and shorts and begins to walk away. I follow, discreetly picking up my stuff from this morning. I don't want her to know I was here once already.

"There's no such thing as caring too much."

"I think you're wrong."

We walk in comfortable silence for a while, then Kiersten breaks it about the time we pass Nick and Lily Chelsea's diner, Chellie's.

"I'm always wrong aren't I?"

"It's not that you're always wrong," I say. "It's just that-"

"You're always right?" Kiersten finishes for me.

We both laugh. Kiersten nudges me and then steps on the back of my sneakers. My heel pulls out of the back just enough to make me stumble. I glare at her, but she gives me the most innocent look in the world. It actually makes me kind of believe she didn't do it. But I know her better than that. I let it go and look away just to have her do it again. This time she laughs, giving herself up and I push her back playfully.

As we turn that last corner, our houses come into view, standing side by side the way they always have. My crisp, clean white house stands tall with its light yellow shutters. The garage door is wide open, showcasing all our toys and sports equipment, all of which are stacked neatly of course. My little brother, Drew, and his three closest friends, Toby, Cole, and Sam run around our front lawn chucking water balloons at each other. My younger sister Carrie watches, wishing she could join in. My dad sits on the swing, holding my baby sister, Marcie, in his arms.