Los hombres duros no bailan [en]
That’s what my father used to say, it never came across as something he said to make anyone else feel bad, it was just a defense mechanism when he was at weddings, as an easy way out.
I was walking to the beach with Henry, five minutes away from my aunt’s house. There is nothing between the house and the beach other than a skinny cow and a big house called “Villa Polinesia”. My aunt has the theory that they shoot a reality porn show in that house, “one of those where they eliminate someone every week” she said. I can't confirm this, but the house was full of tall, fit and beautiful people who look like porn stars.
We had the beach to ourselves, it was completely empty; we took our shirts off and started walking to the sea — I like how the waves here are not to small but not too big to be scared, I told Henry. We can get deep into the sea, and we will be able to stand.
After half an hour of swimming, two big waves took us by surprise, Henry got swiped out of his feet and ended up in the shore, I tried to go through the waves and ended up in a place where I couldn't stand anymore and the current kept dragging me. I tried to swim in all the ways I got trained as a kid: backwards, butterfly, I tried it all and I just didn't get any closer. Henry saw me from the shore, confused, and didn't know what to do; when he realized I wasn't able to get back, he ran for help.
He got to the closest place: the porn house. He interrupted the recording and asked for help; meanwhile I was trying to keep calm and swim to the shore. I started swimming backwards, so I wouldn't get desperate when I saw that the shore wasn't getting any closer. I heard voices and tried to stand, I could feel the sand below my feet and a sudden feel of relief. A tall blond ripped man grabbed me and helped me walk to the shore, where my legs collapsed and I ended up laying in the beach while people started gathering around me and asking if I was okay. My legs kept trembling and all I could think of is: “tough men don't dance”.