Sumario

2. THE BIKINI

The next morning, Nina woke up to the first rays of a sun shrouded in a mysterious mist. The sea seemed like a huge raft of oil and reflected the violet color of the sky. Nina settled herself on one of the deckchairs on the terrace and watched the sky's slow lightning in ecstasy. In barely half an hour, the sun had come off the mist and was shining brightly. The sky became bluer, and the sea recovered its turquoise blue color. The freshness of the dawn was transformed into a humid heat that was felt on the skin.

She remained focused on contemplating that sublime metamorphosis of all dawns until a strange noise awoke her from her reverie. She got up annoyed and leaned over the terrace railing to find the cause of that inopportune noise. He was the boy in charge of the deckchairs, who deployed them with great agility and skill on the beach. In a few minutes, he put together many hammocks along with the reserved space on the beach. Nina watched him, fascinated by his skill. He was a young man not much older than her, dressed in a t-shirt with the town's logo and shorts that showed off his brunette and muscular legs. He covered his head with a visor cap, with the same logo concealed a long chestnut hair, possibly sunburned, that reached his shoulders. When he finished unfolding the hammocks, he went to where Nina stood motionless, as if the vision of that young man had turned her into a statue, because he kept the hammocks in a small warehouse located under her apartment. When he was practically under her terrace, Nina's gaze met that of the young man, and she could see the color of her eyes, which had been momentarily fixed on her. When she reacted, she wanted to get away from the railing, but she refused to obey, and she remained motionless. The young man also seemed surprised and just greeted her with exaggerated formality.

“Good morning! Are you new to this beach?”

Nina just nodded her head.

“Welcome! I hope you have a happy vacation with us. They call me Nano, and you, can I know what your name is?”

“My name is Nina!”

“Nina and Nano! How curious! Well, Nina, nice to meet you. If you want to use a deckchair, let me know. See you...!”

Nina merely waved her farewell and leaned back on the hammock. The sea's turquoise green was gaining intensity, and when she saw it, she saw in her imagination the green color of the young man's eyes in the hammocks. “They are the color of the sea,” she thought. “Nano, what a curious coincidence,” and she fell asleep with a slight smile on her lips.

The boats that had gone out fishing for the sea bass at night returned to the beach and stranded them in the area reserved for moorings. Fishermen, weathered by sea winds, unloaded their prized catches, which were surrounded by potential buyers.

The early risers were already lying on the hammocks and protecting themselves from the sun by smearing themselves with protective cream with routine movements, repeated in the same way every morning. The restaurant also opened its doors and prepared the breakfasts of its regular customers, who, sitting on the terrace, waited patiently for everything to be ready to serve them a stimulating cup of coffee.

The fishing boats' engines' noise awakened Nina, lying on the hammock without thinking about anything. The image of the hammock boy had dissipated from her imagination, and now she was only looking absentmindedly at the cliffs that bordered the small bay. A flock of noisy gulls had gone fishing vessels from high seas and alighting on the beach, throwing her hysterical cries.

Her mother also appeared sleepily on the large terrace, covered with a robe light silk striking fuchsia, stamped with Chinese characters. She brought one of the hammocks close to Nina's and leaned back as if trying to continue her sleep there.

“Who were you talking to, Nina?” She asked, without being interested in an answer.

“With hammock's boy.”

“Oh, well. It must be very early; You can not sleep?”

“I wanted to see the sunrise. It is a sublime. I think today will be a scorching day.”

“Well, we will go into the water, and we will not go out all day... Is the boy in charge of the hammocks handsome?”

“Mom!”

“Did I say something wrong? I just asked you if the boy was good looking. You are already 15 years old. At your age, I already had a boyfriend.”

“I don't know, I haven't noticed.”

“Have you been talking to him, and haven't you noticed? Nina, I find it difficult to ask you this question, but I think I must ask you. Maybe I don't know what you really are, and that's why you find my behavior strange ... You won't be a lesbian!”

“Do I look like it to you?”

“Your behavior confuses me!”

“You can be calm, I'm not a lesbian, but if I was, I'd still be the same, Nina!”

“So, you have noticed the young man in the hammocks.”

“Yes, I have noticed, and he is very handsome!”

“Now, we speak the same language!”

“I don't think so. Just because I admit he's handsome doesn't mean I want to sleep with him. He is handsome, and that's it!”

“Okay, Nina, let's drop this topic of conversation. I have not seen anything edible in this apartment; we will have to have breakfast in the restaurant. But we will be ready to go to the beach later ... I don't know if I dare put on my bikini. I'm done up! I have put on five kilos this winter, and I have been hungry all year. We will go to a place that is not very crowded ...”

The two women were silent, each given their own thoughts about what they expected from that vacation. It was just a few days off for Nina's mother, which she would take advantage of to meet a man she liked and wanted to have sex with. It was two weeks of resignation for Nina, in which she did not expect to enjoy any fun. She wondered why her mother had insisted that she accompany her.

When her parents divorced, she was only 10 years old, and the judge decided that it was her mother who had custody because, in those days, the father was unemployed. In contrast, her mother had a good job at an advertising agency, where she was the director's private secretary. A position she had obtained, more than on her merits, thanks to her relaxed morality.

Nina's mother tried on her bikini before deciding to go to the beach and was horrified by her appearance.

“How can I go to the beach where there are so many people with these cartridge cases and this horrible belly? I don't know whether to stay in the apartment and sunbathe here?”

Nina believed that her mother's laments over her physique were hysterical reactions of a woman unable to accept the passage of time and their inevitable effects on physical deterioration. The beaches were full of middle-aged women who had lost their figure and were not behaving in that hysterical way.

“Mom, you are not the only woman with saddlebags and a horrible belly, as you say, on the beach, there are much worse than you, and they are not ashamed of their body!”

“You talk like that because you don't have this problem. You will remember your mother when you are my age!”

“Besides, what difference does it make if your lover likes you that way!”

“Hadn't we agreed to a truce?”

“Yes, mom, but do a little on your part ...”

“Well, it's okay, Nina, peace between us! Let's have breakfast, and I'll resign myself to being the laughingstock of everyone on the beach.”

When the two women went down to the beach, numerous vacationers were already occupying the chairs that the young Nano had spread out on the beach hours earlier. The sun warmed the sand on the beach, and a warm breeze came from the sea, with the taste of saltpeter, which refreshed the skin like a balm. Nano saw the two women arrive and went forward to offer them two of the few hammocks that were still unoccupied.

“Good morning, do you want a lounge? Today is a scorching day; they will be better under an umbrella.”

Nina felt Nano's gaze again and admired her eyes' color, which she had associated with the sea's color. The mother accepted Nano's offer, and they settled in the hammocks under wide heather umbrellas, protecting them from an increasingly unforgiving and scorching sun.

“I think, Nina, that we have chosen the hottest day of summer for our first day of vacation. You're right, the boy on the deckchairs is very handsome, and I think he likes you, the way he looked at you.”

Nina believed that her mother encouraged her to seduce the young man, perhaps to put herself in her circumstance and be more tolerant of her behavior.

“Nina, you have never told me about your relationships with boys your age. You are already fifteen years old, I suppose you have already had a romantic adventure.”

“No, mom, I have not had any romantic adventure, as you say ...”

“Have you still not found any boy that you liked?”

“Of course I do, like all the girls, I suppose, but that doesn't mean that I should have an affair with all the boys, I like.”

Her mother had decided to take advantage of that vacation to get to know her daughter better, with whom they had barely exchanged confidences on such a sensitive and difficult subject, such as sexuality. Nina knew practically everything about her mother, but she knew nothing about her daughter.

The next question was more direct and personal.

“Nina, if you don't want to, don't answer me, but I'm your mother, and I must ask you this question: Are you still a virgin?”

Nina blushed and refused to answer because she didn't think her mother cared if she was a virgin or not. At least she had never bothered to teach her everything she needed to know about sex. She learned it by herself, with her friends' confidence and all the information that could be found on the Internet.

“Does that worry you? It's a novelty!”

“Okay, don't answer me if you don't want to, but don't you think we should have a woman-to-woman talk ...?”

“It is not necessary, mom, I already know everything there is to know about sex. You're a little late!”

“Sorry, Yes, I am not an ideal mother ...”

The arrival of Nano interrupted that conversation between mother and daughter. He carried a tray, on which were two plastic cups with fruit juices. He approached Nina and offered it to her.

“Gift from the house. It will refresh you a little!”

Nina was surprised but accepted the gift. Her mother exchanged a knowing look with her and accepted the glass that Nano offered her.

“You are very kind, Nano, thanks,” the surprised Nina only said.

“I'm the bartender at the hammock bar; if you want something, you just have to call me.”

“We will.”

The young man hoped that Nina understood that he had been attracted to her since he met her earlier that morning and indicated that she was reciprocated, but Nina did not show him the slightest bit of affection. The mother watched her daughter without daring to intervene, and Nano returned to the bar, disappointed by the coldness with which she had accepted her gift.

“If you always behave like this, you will be a bitter spinster. Couldn't you be a little kinder?” The mother commented, disappointed by the sullen nature of her daughter. “You certainly don't look anything like me!”

Nina thought that if that encounter had been in other circumstances and without her mother's presence, she would have been kinder, but she was not in the mood there. She wished her mother knew she disapproved of her behavior and would show herself that way until the end of the vacation. She felt sorry for Nano, but she wasn't willing to change her attitude even for him.

They drank the juices in silence. At noon the breeze changed direction, not coming from the sea but from the interior, overheated in its transit through the surrounding semi-desert landscapes.

“This heat is unbearable,” complained the mother. “I don't know if you want to get into the water with me, but I'm going to take a dip to remove this hot flash!”

Nina was also overwhelmed by the heat and agreed to bathe with her mother. Mother and daughter entered the water, splashing each other. For a few minutes, the bath's encouragement made Nina forget her purpose of being sullen, and both women indulged in innocent games in the water. Finally, the mother held Nina in a hug to stop her splashing. When the mother realized that she was hugging her daughter, she could not avoid a bitter comment:

“Nina, why can't we be good friends? I'm not asking you to love me because I can't change your feelings towards me; I'm just asking you to accept me as I am and not judge me because nobody is perfect!”

Nina freed herself from her mother's embrace and answered with a certain bitterness:

“Sorry, Mom, but you must also accept me as I am, and I cannot justify your behavior!”

“What do you want me to do, bury me alive? Forget that I have a body? Losing my job? Or maybe go back to your father?”

Nina did not respond, and swam away from the mother, heading away from the beach. The mother became alarmed when she saw that Nina was still swimming dangerously far from the shore.

“Nina, do not withdraw much,” she shouted. ”Come back, please. Don't be reckless!”

But Nina didn't seem to hear her. She stopped swimming and waved her arms, perhaps to greet her, but she interpreted it as if she was asking for help. Nano had been following the games between mother and daughter, and he also believed that Nina was in trouble, and dressed as he was, he threw himself into the water and swam vigorously to where Nina was. When he arrived, Nina was relaxed, floating in the water without the slightest indication that she was in danger. Nano reproached her for her behavior.

“You scared your mother, I thought you were drowning!”

Nina didn't reply, but swam back to the beach, followed by the disappointing Nano.

“Nina, don't scare me again!” Her mother reproached her when she was next to her.

Nano was also upset, and his clothes were wet because of that false alarm. Some clients were waiting for their orders to make matters worse, and Nano had stopped serving for that frustrated rescue. When he returned to the bar, his boss scolded him severely:

“Nano, you are not the lifeguard of this beach, but the waiter of this bar, and you have failed to fulfill your obligation to save a young woman who surely swims better than you. To attend to clients, and this is the last time you leave your job.”




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