The Little Fish

April, May and June are the months of the rainy season here. Everything grows luxuriously because of the warm rain. The farmers are happy. However, my little sister Joelle is the happiest person because of her love of water.

She loves rain and water so very much that she sings in the rain. Not the romantic singing that will impress people , no, she sings loud and out of tune.

Each rainy season my sister gets into some kind of trouble. I know that this year something will happen just as in the years gone by.

Let me tell you what happened last year.

Joelle was ten years old and she was in a very athletic phase. She was running track, cycling, high jumping and playing soccer and cricket.

I knew my mom despaired of her because whenever she came home, her clothing was filthy and her shoes looked like they were smiling. She always required and got new shoes.

One very rainy day my  dad was training a new supervisor at his job and they were returning to work from a break. They were together in the back seat of the company car. Visibility was poor and the car driver was taking his time driving.

As the car was progressing up the street we live on, both men saw a little girl playing in the rain. Hopping happily from one large puddle of water to another. They both felt sorry for her parents because of the ruin to her health and her shoes.

Dad said that as he looked at her, something about the child seemed familiar even in the pouring  rain so he looked back at the child when they passed her. At the same time she had her face turned up to the sky with a gleeful smile, lightening zapped the sky. She showed no fear. My dad saw that it was his child, my little sister Joelle,  in the rain. 

The only excuse I can give my dad is that he was ashamed to own that child. So he said nothing. She was two buildings from our house.

There was no cellular phones like today so my dad called my mom the moment he got into his office.

My sister got home before mom got the phone call and she told my mom that a big truck splashed water all over her that is why she was  wet from head to toe. My mom believed her and was talking about rude drivers on the road being a hazard.

My sister was in the shower when my dad called mom. Because she is nothing but a little fish she stayed in the shower close to one hour and  thirty minutes. My mom has the patience of Job. So she waited for her to come out. I was not patient. I banged on the door yelling, “Joelle how long you are staying in there, come on out.”

My mom told me to be quiet. My mom did not tell me anything but I knew something was wrong because I heard my mom’s side of the telephone conversation. Yes, I eavesdropped the conversation so I knew that the story of the truck was under question and I knew my dad saw her in the rain near our home. My mom had no idea that I knew something was up.

Finally, Joelle came out the bathroom skipping happily along the hallway to her room. When she saw my mom she stopped. She was dripping again everywhere, no towel just naked, with no care in the world. My mom asked her why she had no towel. She told mom she forgot her towel. But this was another practice of hers to walk out of the bathroom dropping water everywhere with not towel to cover herself or dry up the water.

I am fourteen years old, you will never catch me doing that. I need my privacy. But my sister is reckless. And she told me she hates the towel. Because it steals all the water off her skin. Isn’t that the job a towel should do? Yes, I think she is crazy too.

Anyway, she ran into her room and my mom sat down near her door. I think my sister’s energy  zaps my mom of her energy. Mom told her when she was decent she must let my mom know.  

Let me tell you, my sister is a little fish. If that was me in the rain, I would have been sneezing, coughing and shivering before I even got home and I would have been sick as a dog for days. The little fish was as healthy as a horse. No cold or sneezing, nothing.

In the end, my sister was scolded for walking in the rain water with her shoes, for lying to my mom. Then my parents told her she will go to school on Monday with no shoes. If she did not care about her shoes, then she did not need them.

I nearly died laughing. I was never so eager for a Monday morning to come.

When Monday came it was raining again. My father told hnow that now she can skip about in the rain without a care just like a wild animal. I was in my glee. I found the whole thing funny.

She was crying, begging, and promising  that she would never walk, play, skip or jump in the rain again. The sister I knew would have to be in a straight jacket or sick to keep such a promise.

My father knew her well so he asked her if she knew what a promise was?

He told her if she broke her promise, it will be a lie and that will bring more bad events on her head.

I secretly think my parents are wimps. They ended up giving her new shoes on Monday. I am so very disappointed with my parents. I was looking forward to seeing her walk bare feet into her classroom. I don’t know if she learned anything from the experience. I know I did.

So this year, the rainy season has started and I personally can’t wait to see what will happen with my sister. She can’t help herself. It is Saturday morning 0630 am. My sister is not in her bed. I am certain that I can win millions in a bet because I know exactly where she is. I just looked through the living room window and there is my sister, the little fish, standing in the rain arms spread wide with her face up-turned to the sky and smiling.