It was a year later and I was swimming underwater-no-breathers. This time, it was just me. Uncle David had overdosed on heroine since the time I beat him. It wasn’t the same to swim without him. It’s never safe or prudent to swim with a cover on a pool, but I had always aspired to be like Uncle David. And I had gone further than him the year before.
Stroke. Stroke. Stroke. The kicking was getting harder and my lungs began to weigh me down. I started to cry a little. I had not practiced underwater-no-breathers without my uncle. He had only been dead for a few months. The idea of never seeing him again hadn’t truly sunken in yet.
The burning tears in my eyes made me need breath. I swam to the side and brought my head over the water just high enough to breathe.
No one could have seen me if they came to the pool. I was hidden from everything around me except the body of water that had so many memories floating in it.
* * * * *
Before Uncle Richard, Aunt Kate and Grandma had time to really freak out about my safety, I put both my hands in the ground, bent my elbows and kicked my legs into the air. I pointed my toes, tighted my legs and arched my back just enough to hold my handstand for a while.
The blood rushed to my head again. This time, I wasn’t really looking for peace and quiet. I was just doing a handstand. I hung there, upside down, for about two minutes before my cousins attacked. I splashed into the ground and waged war.
A water fight. In the water. Splashing and screaming. It was mass chaos where no one was anyone’s ally. “Every man for himself!” Uncle Brad yelled as he plowed into my older brother, throwing him into the surf.
* * * * *
I swam 15 laps with Alex. “Hey, buddy, how many laps are you at?”
“I’m already at 10,” he said sheepishly. He knew he was too far behind. He started stroking faster.
“Brandon, how many push ups have you done?”
“All of them.”
“Sit ups?”
“All of them.”
“Ok, hop back in and you need to do your ten laps. Alright?” I kept my voice stern, but my frustration had dissipated. I could tell Brandon was relieved by my tone.
“Alex, you got this, dude! I have faith in you.” I saw tears begin to pop out of his welling eyes as he tried to hide them with the water and the splashing.
Brandon never helped situations like this, “Alex, why are you crying?” His raspy voice sounded a little more sensitive than usual. I swam to Brandon and whispered in his ear, “No need to ask him that. Just keep doing your laps. We’ll do a competition or something soon, k? And then you won’t be swimming alone.”
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