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flying as he came up the face of a wave and cut back in the other direction.
    When it was Covey’s turn to use Gibbs’s board, the men stared openly at her, following her as she crossed the narrow band of sand, pushed her way into the breakers, and hoisted her trunk onto the board. For the rest of her life, Covey would remember the feeling that came over her the first time she stood up on the surfboard. She would remember hearing Gibbs whoop before she fell and wondering if the elation of that moment was only from the surfing or if it was from knowing, too, that Gibbs was there, watching her.
    Covey would remember, too, her sense of satisfaction when, the next time they saw the surfing Rastas, the older men merely dipped their chins in greeting, then carried on with what they were doing.
    Covey hadn’t said anything to Bunny about going surfing with Gibbs. She would have to say something eventually and Bunny would say Oh, yes? and smile, but Covey knew that Bunny would be jealous. She sensed it from the way Bunny eyed Gibbs whenever she thought Covey wasn’t looking. She knew from the way Bunny touched Covey’s face as she helped Covey adjust her swim cap, from the way she rested her head in Covey’s lap when they lolled on the beach after swimming, waiting for the sun to bake their suits dry. She didn’t want Bunny to feel bad. Bunny was her best friend. For Covey, this meant everything. But for Bunny, it wasn’t quite enough.
    “Boss!” Gibbs shouted when Covey came running out of the waves after standing up that first time.
    “You have a true talent, Dolphin Girl,” Gibbs said later, as they sat on a towel with a pineapple that Gibbs had bought from a higgler woman.
    “Oh, what are you doing?” Covey said.
    “What?” said Gibbs. He was holding the pineapple on his thigh with one hand and digging into the side of the fruit with a knife.
    “You trying to kill that pineapple? What are you cutting it that way for? Here, pass that to me.” Covey took the pineapple and set it, crown up, on the towel. “And you say you come from the country? I don’t believe it.”
    “Well, it’s just a penknife, it’s not big enough.”
    “Which is your first problem right there.”
    “What? Am I supposed to be roaming the coast with a big old knife, just in case I run into a pineapple?”
    Covey kissed her teeth, and then they both laughed and Gibbs let himself fall back on the sand. Covey tried not to stare at his trunk, gleaming in the sun. She held the pineapple in place and began to shave off the skin, bit by bit, exposing the yellow flesh covered with dark eyes. Then she cut diagonally into the side of the fruit, digging out thespots, one or two at a time. With Gibbs’s small knife, it was going to take a while. And Covey was glad.
    “So,” Gibbs said. “What are you going to do when you finish school? You want to teach swimming like Bunny?”
    “Well, first, I want to win that harbor race and, yes, I want to keep swimming. But I want to go to university. See if maybe I can go to England. Maybe I could do something with numbers. I’m good with numbers, like my pa.”
    Covey saw a look pass over Gibbs’s face. She could imagine what he was thinking. What most people thought about her father. “And you?” Covey asked.
    “I’m definitely going to London next year. I’m going to study law,” Gibbs said. Covey felt her heart thudding. They could both end up in Britain.
    “Law?” Covey said. “You mean, like criminals and such?”
    “I was thinking more of people’s rights. You know, people whose rights are denied. Like my family’s.”
    “Why, what happened?”
    “My father. He had a farm, you know this. But it was taken away. That’s why we had to move.”
    “I thought some big company bought your father’s land?”
    “That’s what they called it, anyhow. It’s not like he had a choice. They paid what they wanted to pay. Then they made us all move. The whole village.”
    Covey looked at Gibbs