Saturated Excuses

The guard did not extend a hand.

Karen treaded water for three uneven strokes before realizing neither of them would haul her up. Her jaw worked, slack and pale, before she turned and kicked toward the shallow steps. Each step dragged. Her saturated floral blouse weighed ten pounds, clinging to her ribs like wet paper, while chlorinated water streamed from the cuffs of her capris into squelching slip-ons.

She hauled herself onto the pale stone on hands and knees.

A dark sheet of runoff spread outward from her knees across the dry flags. Her stiff bob hung in sodden ropes against her ears, dark mascara trailing gray streaks down her neck. She pushed up onto one foot, slipped on the film of water, and gripped the stainless steel handrail to stop her fall.

“There was no breach intended,” Karen stammered. Her voice cracked, hollowed of its brassy edge. “Director Bennett. We—the committee conducts periodic visual assessments. A routine procedural oversight.”

Alicia did not move from the dry stones.

“You forced a latched gate.”

“The spring was loose,” Karen said, wiping water from her lips with a trembling knuckle. Her eyes darted toward the guard, searching for an ally, but Officer Miller stood fast at Alicia’s right, his thumbs hooked behind his belt. “A standard perimeter survey. The paperwork was preliminary. An informal audit.”

“You put your hands on me,” Alicia said.

Karen flinched.

The red marks from her grip still showed across Alicia’s bare upper arm, bright against the dry skin.

“A misstep,” Karen whispered. Her chin shook as cold air hit the drenched polyester. “An accidental balance check. The board would never authorize physical contact. I came to deliver the citation.”

She tried to straighten her posture, smoothing the dripping cloth across her hips, but her knees knocked together.

Alicia took a single measured stride toward the edge of the puddle. Her bare feet stopped an inch from the runoff. She looked down at the aluminum board lying face-up beside the pool skimmer, its steel spring pinning three sheets of pulp to the wet stone.

“Read line four,” Alicia said, pointing down at the falsified citation.