Myself and I (11 page)

Over
the next few days, Jerry came to the pool during the morning when no one was around to hang out with me and chat. On the third day he arrived with some breakfast food from McDonald's and asked if I could share a meal with him. I felt obligated to let him know that I really wasn't interested in a relationship, in case that was the road he was trying to go down.

“Neither am I. Why can't we just be two people who chill out with each other?” he asked.

“Well, I don't see anything wrong with that,” I admitted with a smile.

“Good, because I just happen to like talking to you. I hope you like sausage biscuits,” he said, opening the bag and placing one in front of me along with some orange juice. “I also have a plain biscuit without meat if you'd like that better.”

“The sausage biscuit is fine,” I assured him. As we ate our food I asked him what his parents were like.

“Hang on,” he said as he finished chewing. He wiped the corners of his mouth with a napkin before he continued. “Well, my parents got divorced seven years ago and my brother and I lived with my mom. Less than a year after the divorce she married this guy who was in the military. We moved around a lot for four years. I've lived in Maui, San Francisco and Baltimore. Then my mom got really sick. She developed lung tumors that were cancerous. She'd started smoking cigarettes at a young age and over the years it caught up to her. My brother and I tried to get her to quit, but her addiction was just too strong. My brother and I had to move into my dad's house out in Buffalo Grove. It hasn't been easy, because he just got remarried to a girl who's not much older than my brother. It's really messed up having a stepmom young enough to be your girlfriend. Anyway, the house in Buffalo Grove was too small for all of us, so my dad found us a bigger house here.”

“So what's your dad like? Is he cool?” I asked

“I don't really think he cares what my brother and I do. He's too busy trying to make his wife happy. She wants to have children and is healthy enough, but he isn't exactly a young man anymore and…” Jerry paused. “He has to go a male-fertility specialist. Anyway, to make a long story short, my dad is too busy catering to his young wife Adiya's needs.”

“Wow,” I said as I took all of that in.

“Yeah, it's not very pretty, but there is nothing I can really do about it,” Jerry said.

“So where did you and your brother learn how to dive so well?” I asked.

“When we lived in Maui all we did was hang out at the beach and swimming pool all day. Sometimes we'd hike out to the waterfalls and dive off cliffs. It was crazy, but we had a lot fun. When we lived in California and Baltimore we both joined the swim team. My brother was good enough to get a scholarship and is sort of pushing me to do the same, which is why we're so competitive.”

“Jerry, I've gotta say that I've never met anyone with a background as unique as yours.”

“What's so unique about being the kid of divorced parents? Last time I checked, it wasn't big news.”

“Not that part, I'm talking about having to live in so many different places,” I explained.

“Trust me, it's not all that it's cracked up to be. Just as we were getting settled and making new friends we had to move and start all over. I'm hoping this is the last time we have to move for a while.”

“So what does your dad do?” I asked.

“He owns a software company. He develops software applications for all kinds of firms. Some of his biggest clients are Kodak, Motorola and Toyota. He's always on the road traveling with Adiya.”

“It sounds like you don't like her very much,” I said, picking up on his disdain for her.

“No. I'm not very fond of her. She acts as if she's so much older than she actually is and is always trying to tell me what to do,” he said.

I learned a lot about Jerry and realized that I'd misjudged
him. He and I weren't so different when it came to bruised hearts and being forced to deal with complicated family issues. I decided to let my protective wall down and share with him all of the drama I'd recently gone through.

It didn't take long for my little annoying admirer, Alex, to feel threatened by Jerry. Every time Little Alex saw Jerry talking to me, a scowl would form on his face. He'd begin to break the rules of the pool by running around the deck, pushing his other friends into the pool or splashing water on girls before they had a chance to put on their swim caps. I know he did it just so he could get some type of attention from me. He was a real nuisance, and once I had to kick him out of the pool because of his bratty behavior.

One Saturday afternoon, Alex decided to issue a diving challenge to Jerry in order to impress me and prove that he was so much better than Jerry. Needless to say, Alex lost horribly. He tried to do a back dive and landed flat on his back with a loud splat. All of his friends and even the little girls his own age laughed at him. Not willing to give up, he tried to do a jackknife dive and lost his form in midair. He ended up flapping his arms and legs wildly and landed with a hauntingly loud belly flop. When he exited the pool, his chest and stomach were turning bright red. Jerry, on the other hand, showed his young challenger no mercy. He executed the dives that Alex had attempted with flawless perfection. All the girls in the swimming pool began clapping for him and asked that he continue to entertain them with his superior diving skills. Feeling humiliated, Alex left the swimming pool with his head bowed down.

“It's sort of cute, if you ask me,” Maya said once Little Alex left.

“That boy needs to just give up,” I said, laughing at his efforts to win me over.

“It's puppy love, Keysha. He likes you so much and it's just killing him that you see him as a little boy and not the young man he feels that he is. My little brother is the exact same way,” Maya informed me.

“Well, I can't control the way he feels. He'll just have to get over it,” I said, laughing. I focused my attention back on the pool. Jerry's older brother, Erin, had arrived. He and Jerry continued to impress everyone at the pool with their talent. As I watched the two of them go at it, I had a greater appreciation for their diving acrobatics. A few times as Erin got out of the pool he glanced in my direction and looked at me longer than necessary. It was as if he wanted to say something but decided to hold back. I didn't think much of it, I just found it to be a little weird how he studied me as if he were going to be taking an exam. Then, when Jerry wasn't looking he blew me a kiss, grabbed his crotch and winked at me. I responded by flipping up my middle finger and my rude gesture surprised him. The expression on his face was that of disappointment. I think he actually thought I'd get a kick out of his degrading antics.
What an idiot,
I thought to myself.

 

Every year the park district held an annual Fourth of July pool party and invited everyone in the community to attend. For a small fee, attendees could enjoy a day filled with fun
and games for small children, live music and free barbecue. The evening would be capped off with a fireworks display at sundown. The days leading up to the holiday weekend had everyone who came to the swimming pool talking about the event and how they looked forward to attending. All the lifeguards had to attend a mandatory meeting with park district officials to discuss pool safety and to be on heightened alert for people who were intoxicated and didn't have the good sense to not jump into the pool. Two other lifeguards who were there asked Maya and me if we wanted to cover their shifts and make extra money. The catch was that we'd have to be on duty and wouldn't be able to participate in all the fun. Personally, I didn't care about a party as much as I loved the idea of having additional spending cash. Maya, on the other hand, wanted to spend some quality time with Misalo.

“Do what you feel you have to do,” I said to Maya who was conflicted about her priorities.

“But I want to do both,” she whined as we were exiting our staff meeting.

“Well, maybe you can work it out so that you can spend the day before the festival with him and then work on the holiday,” I suggested.

Maya griped a little more, but eventually concluded that my suggestion was a great idea.

 

The swimming pool area was festooned with Fourth of July ribbons. There were red, white and blue tablecloths,
balloons, plastic flags and patriotic ribbons and streamers placed all around. A live band had set up their equipment inside the clubhouse, and park district workers had cleaned and delivered two giant barbecue grills and placed them on the patio just outside the clubhouse. By noontime the pool area was packed. I was perched up high on the lifeguard chair at the deep end of the pool. Maya was sitting on one of the lawn chairs at the shallow end. It seemed as if everyone who attended my high school was there. I spotted Wesley, Lori, Priscilla, Ed Daley, Antonio, Mike, Misalo and Sabrina. A bunch of kids that I knew from theater came out, as well as girls from the cheerleading squad, the pom-pom squad and the drill team. I saw a few guys from the football team, track team and basketball team. Even Alex and his little annoying junior high school friends were there.

A number of older folks were inside the clubhouse singing along to a song called “Sweet Home Chicago” that was being played by a local blues band. Outside where I sat on guard there was a chorus of loud chatter, giggling and cursing by some of the older teens. I sat back and kept a watchful eye over everyone and felt a great sense of pride and importance. Every now and again I'd glance over at Lori, Priscilla, Wesley and Antonio and wonder what they were all talking about.

“Keysha, are you from Tennessee?” I glanced down below me and saw Alex looking up at me.

“No, why are you asking?”

“Because a ten is all I see.” He smiled at me hard as if I was supposed fall in love with that lame pickup line.

“Alex, don't you have something better to do?” I asked.

“I'm trying to do you.” Alex thrust and rolled his hips.

“You're disgusting!” I said, and turned away. At that moment, one of Alex's eighth-grade friends ran up behind him and pushed him into the water. Normally I would've blown my whistle and kicked the offender out of the water for thirty minutes, but I didn't because Alex had it coming.

“I'm going to get you for that, Paul!” Alex yelled out to the boy who'd pushed him in as he swam over to the edge of the pool. Paul took off running. I watched Paul run past Maya, who made him slow down and walk. Maya glanced at me and then pointed to the bathroom to let me know she was about to take a short break. I nodded to let her know I'd keep an eye on her area until she returned.

A few moments later, Wesley walked over to where I was.

“Hey, Keysha,” he greeted me, and I smiled warmly. Wesley wasn't wearing a shirt, and unlike the lean muscular body that Jerry had, Wesley was pudgy and needed to spend more time in the gym. He wasn't even eighteen yet and he was already developing a beer belly. His chest was hairless but there was a thin line of fine hair that began at the bottom of his belly button and extended downward. He was wearing baby-blue swim trunks with a hemline that came down to his knees and black beach sandals. “Hey Wesley, I haven't seen or talked to you in a long time. How have you been?”

“I've been hanging around doing my thing,” he said, looking up at me.

“And what exactly is your
thing?
” I asked, paying attention to the young boy about nine years old as he walked to edge of the diving board and leaped in the water. He came back up and swam over to the ladder on the side of the pool.

“Just hanging out with Ed and Lori… Where did Lori go?” Wesley's speech pattern wasn't quite as clear as it should have been.

“Have you been drinking again?” I asked, really concerned about him.

“I haven't had much. That crazy son of bitch, Ed, went into the clubhouse and stole like four bottles of beer. That's my man there. Ain't that right, Ed!” Wesley shouted out to his friend who was on the other side of the pool and raised his cup.

“Wesley, whatever you do, don't be stupid and jump in the pool. Besides, it's illegal for you guys to be drinking. You're underage, and if anyone finds out both of you are going to get busted.” I knew talking to him about his drinking issue was pointless but I tried to get through anyway.

“Wesley!” I heard Lori shout out his name like he owed her money. Lori and Priscilla rushed over to where he was standing beneath me.

Lori was wearing a yellow bikini top with white shorts. Her body was very skinny like a lot of those Hollywood actresses, and her hair was pulled away from her face. “Why are you over here talking to the trick in the high chair?” Both Lori and Priscilla cut their eyes at me. Priscilla had on a pink-and-white one-piece bathing suit with a matching
sarong wrapped around her waistline to hide the little pooch that had begun to form at the bottom of her belly. She had a pair of white sunglasses and a straw hat to help block the sun.

“Watch your language before I kick you out of the pool, Lori,” I warned.

“You and what army?” Lori barked.

“
Why
are you talking so loud?” Wesley complained.

“Why are you over here talking to her?” Lori was just way too bossy.

I threaded my eyebrows together, raised my voice and pointed my finger at Lori. “Why are you talking to him like that?” I came to Wesley's defense.

“Why are you always trying to hook back up with him?” Priscilla chimed in. I glanced at her with an expression that said,
Oh no you didn't!

“You should only talk about what you know, Priscilla, and stop listening to lunatics like Lori who lie all the time!” I fired back. I was heated by then.

“Lori just keeps it real. She sees right through you, Keysha! We both do.” Priscilla got catty with me.