The Days of Summer

“I made it last night.”

“Before or after you ran into Joe Frazier?”

“Before.”

“Here. Catch.” Cale tossed him his napkin. “Your nose is bleeding.”

“Again?” Jud blotted his nose. “Damn.” He started to get up.

“Stay there. I’ll get you something.” Cale came back with two steaks from the freezer. “Here, put these on your face.”

Jud frowned at the steaks. “They’re frozen.”

“Yeah, but steak is good for the black eye and ice for swelling. Two remedies in one.”

“The best I can get is frozen steak from the future Dr. Banning?”

“Shut up and put ’em on your face. After they thaw, we can barbecue them.”

“And I heard premed was hard.”

That cut deeply, but Cale said nothing. He had studied five nights straight to get a low B on his last test in anatomy. He held up a magazine, centerfold open. “Here’s a cure. Look at this.”

Jud pulled the steaks off his face and lifted his head up. “Nice.”

“Nice? That’s all you can say?” Cale studied the centerfold again. “More than nice. I’d to like to meet a girl like her.”

“You did last year and your grades went in the toilet.”

Cale’s big mistake now hung in the air between them. His brother lay there with meat on his face, yet Cale felt as if he’d just taken a punch.

Jud crossed his feet. “How’s school going?”

“Okay.”

“You keeping your grades up?”

“Jesus … You sound like Victor. It’s bad enough I have to get flak from the old man. I don’t need it from you, too.” When Jud didn’t say anything, Cale added bitterly, “I don’t need you judging me.”

“I’m not judging you.” Jud pulled the steaks off again. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing.”

“Something’s wrong. You’re way too touchy. Come clean.”

Cale tossed the magazine on the deck. “Med school. Almost all of them have turned me down. Not even my Medical school admission tests—which I aced—are helping my apps.”

“I thought Dorsey was just horsing around on the phone yesterday.”

“He was and wasn’t.”

“All of them turned you down?” Jud sounded as if a college turning someone down was as unrealistic as Martian landings or statues of the Virgin Mary that cried real tears.

Right then, Cale wanted to hit Jud himself. “I’ve still got three schools left. University of Texas, UCSD, and USC.”

“I’m sorry, bud.”

“Yeah, well, there’s not much I can do about it now.” Odd, how it was harder for him to swallow his big brother’s pity than his judgments. He felt like the wrong half of a man talking to the right half. “I don’t know what I’m going to do if I don’t get into one of these last three.”

“They can’t all turn you down.” Jud lay back down. “You’ll get in.”

His brother’s world was so easy. Just that easy. The spaghetti turned over in Cale’s stomach and felt as if he’d eaten a pound of it. He sagged back in the chair, looking out at the water because he felt like nothing when he looked at his brother.

There was no breeze and a light haze in the sky, almost like earthquake weather, but seagulls were flying all over the place. In the moments before an earthquake, all wildlife vanished. Utter and complete silence ruled, as if the world were holding its breath.

Cale listened to the seagulls whining overhead, and a few feet away, the quiet lap of the water against the sand. In the distance was the mainland. A wildfire burned in Malibu. A cloud of purplish gray smoke hovered over the hills, and Santa Monica had disappeared from sight. He followed the outline of the coast, the minuscule silver glint of planes in the sky over LAX—and the white clusters of beach towns, their piers, marinas, and homes staggered in the coastal hillsides.

Jud snored louder, lying there deep in sleep—something Cale hadn’t had much of lately. You’ll get in. His brother said it with such assurance.

“Yeah, Jud,” Cale said quietly. “Easy as taking your next breath.” He felt like his stomach was going to explode. Too much spaghetti. His next breath was as shallow as his confidence. Jud didn’t have a clue what his life was like. Cale closed his eyes and the thought hit him that maybe the lump in his stomach wasn’t from the mouthfuls of spaghetti he’d swallowed whole. Maybe it was his pride.

Jud woke up late in the afternoon with melted meat on his face. He heard Cale shooting baskets out front. Once inside, he put the steaks on a plate in the fridge and strolled out the front door. “Hey. Let me show you how the game’s played.”

Cale stopped, holding the ball in one big hand. “Yeah, right. Who just took a nap, Pops?” He casually tossed a hook shot over his head high into the air. It dropped through the net without ever touching metal. Crowing, Cale grabbed the ball, then faced him, dribbling it and shuffling back and forth.

“You cocky ass.” Jud laughed.

“We’ll see who’s the ass, big brother. I’ll give you six points. Two for old age, and four for your beat-up face. Remind me to teach you how to duck. Or throw a punch.”

“I don’t need your points, hotshot. Give me the ball and I’ll show you old.”

Cale gave him a shit-eating grin and shoved the ball right at his face.

Jud moved fast, twisted around, and went right under his little brother’s long arms to score. “Two to zip! Screw your points.”

They played one-on-one for forty-five minutes straight, faces red, hair stringy, sweat-soaked T-shirts stuck to their skin, legs and arms gleaming in the late afternoon sunlight. At the hour mark, bent eye to eye, they were like two dogs facing off in an alley, both panting so hard neither could speak. Jud had the ball, his face burning up and his eyes stinging from salty sweat. He rasped out the word “water.”

Cale gave him a slight nod. At the same instant they looked at the garden hose. Whoever got there first won the water, and the added luxury of a few extra breaths while he waited for the other one to finish. It was a footrace. Cale stuck out his leg. Jud jumped it, sidestepped quickly, spun, and dove for the hose. He drank for a full two minutes while Cale stood there, hands on his knees, panting.

Sun-warmed water ran through the nozzle and he took a long time to drink, then let the cold water spill over his sweating head until it stopped throbbing. He shook like a wet spaniel and tossed the hose to Cale.

Jud walked over and picked up the ball, dribbling. “You gonna cry uncle?”

“Me?” Cale looked up from the hose and swiped his mouth. “No way. I’m just getting warmed up.”

“Good,” Jud lied and threw the ball right into Cale’s stomach.

For just an instant his little brother looked as if he was going to heave, then they went at it again for another savage half hour. Jud bounced the ball through his brother’s legs and jammed his elbow hard into Cale’s gut. “Ooh, college boy. You’re getting soft.”