The girl beams. ‘Oh, that’s all right! I’ll teach you. The jellyfish will have gone by tomorrow. You come here tomorrow? Same time? Manjana? En la tarde? Okay?’
Whatever that pill was, it’s working. The itching has almost gone. What harm can it do? she thinks. Just to learn? To see beneath the water?
She nods. ‘Okay.’
‘Good,’ says the girl. ‘And you can be my friend. I’m stuck on that boat the whole summer and I’m bored shitless.’
She sticks her hand out. The nails are neat and shiny, no dirt beneath, and all the same length. ‘I’m Tatiana,’ she says. ‘Tatiana Meade.’
Mercedes takes the hand and shakes it.
‘Mercedes Delia,’ she says.