Swim

They met Baby the day they got off the ferry looking like the hick tourists they were. The crowd from the boat flowed around them while they dawdled at the end of the quay. They weren’t even on the island they thought they were, and they had no idea what to do next.

-Look at us, a couple of ducks at a dog show, Walker said.

-I ain’t getting back on a boat for days, Bony said. I’m a soldier not a seaman.

Walker slapped Bony’s shoulder.

-Wasn’t this your idea?

He shrugged one shoulder to hitch up the strap of his duffel bag.

-I’m starved, Bony said.

The harbor was behind them and in front of them was a maze of white-washed buildings piled up like kids’ blocks. Off to the right there were tables shaded by a big blue tarp. A man with a white cloth tucked in his waistband was serving customers from a large tray. Walker pointed at them.

-How about over there?

-I’m not picky, Bony said.

All of a sudden there was a young skinny woman in a hot pink shift beside them.

-You don’t want to do that.

They stared at her. Women didn’t ordinarily come up and announce themselves to them.

-The thing is, as soon as they see a boat pulling in, they switch menus and double their prices. You have to get out of sight of water. Are you day-trippers?

-Do what? Bony said.

-When I got here three weeks ago, there were crowds pouring in and out all day. Not so many now. You came at the right time.

Walker shaded his eyes and assessed the hills.

-This ain’t Santorini, huh?

The woman pointed to the crones lined up like ravens on a roof. They were shouting at a handful of tourists.

-They will rent you rooms. If you don’t mind four in a room, you can get a bed for a quarter. For a few bucks, you could share a room, just the two of you.

-Like the barracks, Bony said.

-I’ll check some places I know after we eat.

They turned a few corners and lined up at a window in an alley wall. The café was a three-sided closet. In the back there were grills over stone cooking pits. The woman said,

-Your treat, okay?

She ordered and Bony paid.

-Oh Baby, he said after his first bite. You are off to a good start.

They ate scraped morsels of crackled lamb on folded flat bread with tomatoes, cucumbers, a tart white sauce. They sat on a low wall, leaning forward to let the sandwiches drip.

They introduced themselves. Walker was the taller man, with broad shoulders and a firm chin. Bony had the same chin on a smaller face. He was small in the hips like a teenage boy. They were cousins, sons of brothers.

-Hodell, Walker said. Rhymes with yodel. Everyone remembers that.

They were on leave from an army base in Germany. Their hair was cut close and their clothes were clean, crisp.

-We’re from Lawton, Oklahoma. You probably don’t know where that is.

-Guess again. My mother was born in Chickasha. I was born in Wichita Falls.

-Oh Baby, Bony said. I’d never take you for a Texan. What’s your name?

-Baby, she said. Y’all can call me that.

They followed her through the maze out onto a square.

-Wait here.

Walker lit a cigarette and they watched a group of girls swarm through the square in tight formation. The girls wore short dresses or tank tops and bell-bottom pants. They wore long earrings and jangly bracelets. They looked around as they walked—flitty, pretty girls. They saw the men, but with the flickering attention of fireflies.

-Man, I could go for some of that, Walker said.

Bony was thinking about something else. Baby looked a lot like his sister, Kell.

-You think she’s a whore? he said.

The room was the interior of a windmill near the town beach, farther on from...