Sharks in the Water
Can you take an ankle bracelet in the water?
What?
Why?
I hate the beach
The sand
The salt
It exists to destroy everything it touches
It doesn’t matter how much effort you put in
Sand will always be where it doesn’t belong
I’m here to write about this shitty experience
We arrive and turn the corner
Good lord look at all this humanity
Cars fill the lot like colored Christmas lights
The beach is nice the sand is soft not grainy
The water is a cool 77
The sun and clouds are vibrant
Maybe it deserves another look
All at once a group walks past
It’s Wednesday it’s noon
Why would thirty or more guys be showing up
Fuck that’s a jailhouse tattoo
They gather towards the shoreline
Removed shirts reveal three possibilities
Church group
Addiction group
Half way house
My kids are in the water
So to now are the sharks
I’m all for second chances
But I’m on alert
This group of ex felons staring at the women and children
Rolling with the waves
Sneaking peaks
Some inherent desire burning through them
A guitar breaks out
It’s an old fashioned good time gang
I watch the kids as much as they do
but for different reasons
The women on the beach
young girls tanning
older women burning
All falling prey to the Voyeurs
The terms of parole
The anklets without charm
The police are now parked at the entrance
They can’t catch a break
They can’t catch a charge
They won’t catch my kid
Blissfully unaware of the threat that exists
Gangsters
Bald heads
Dreads
Don’t judge a book by its cover
But I’ve read this one before
They are scattered around the wall between bikini clad girls
They get in the water with Jean shorts and black T-shirts
They have a right too
I’m not against it
I’m just aware
Everyone has a past some can’t escape theirs
We laugh a little
We make a few jokes
Something about a shiv
I discus’s aphantasia and others ability to store and recall mental images at will
Maybe an image of my wife’s body
Saved for later when the desire to relieve yourself shows up
Get a good look - It was expensive!
What attracted me had nothing to do with body - I buy her a new one and now everyone else is attracted to her
Funny how things work out I guess
We eat tuna fish on a roll with pickles
Guess I’m my own suburban stereotype
I go back in to pee
The wife reapplies sunscreen as the group fawns
A guy looks down at a deserted beach bag
Another man says
We can make some money here…