Heatstroked

One look at Mom's glacial expression and I wisely fled to my room. I have no idea how late that particular battle lasted, but there was a blanket and pillow on the couch when I got up to get ready for my second to last day at school.

My classmates were sort of strange about it all. One minute they would be laughing and it was almost a party atmosphere in the halls and the classes. The next, they would be really quiet and almost sad.

I don't know. Maybe I'm the odd one. But, for my four years of high school, the nine months school was in session were just something I had to get through to enjoy the summer. I felt closer to Becki than I did all forty-two of those people combined. People I barely knew their names since we'd had one class together our sophomore year were coming up to me and hugging me and telling me how they were going to miss me.

Turning my tassel was a relief. I escaped from the big mess afterwards as quickly as I could and ignored all the invitations for parties. I was done. School was out. Not just for the summer, but forever.

There was no celebration at my home. We tried to sit down to a quiet dinner of my favorites Mom brought home, but Mom and Dad were at each other's throats before we were halfway done. I spent the rest of the evening sitting in my room with my headphones on re-reading the few letters I had from Becki and looking at her pictures.

--01Jun87--

The first Monday in June, I rode my motorcycle out at nine-thirty. Mom had made me promise that I would be home for supper before we both pulled out of our driveway. Since I had promised, I would. But, I was also going to see if Willard and Eunice would let me roll out a sleeping bag in the big social room. Or by the pool or something.

"You're early, John." Eunice was just unlocking the pro shop when I pulled up and cut my engine. "Land sakes! What happened to your face?!"

"Slight difference of opinion." I touched my swollen eye gingerly. "Eunice, I'd like to alter our agreement slightly to include room and board if I need it. I know Becki will be in your spare bedroom. But, if I could just pitch a sleeping bag out by the pool, that would be good enough."

"Why, sure, John. Sure." Eunice blinked at me. "If you need, you are more than welcome."

"Thank you," I said. "So, what do I need to do to help open?"

"Oh, you don't need to do anything. I've got this."

"Well, I'm here. I'd like to learn so I can help out if you need me to."

"Would you now?" Eunice smiled at me. "Becki's here, you know."

"Is she?" I glanced at the small house behind the pool enclosure and my heart sped up.

"Yes, she is. She's even awake and most likely eating breakfast. Are you sure you want to help an old woman turn on some lights and unlock a couple of doors?"

The words my father had said right after he'd backhanded me, knocking me to the floor, flooded my mind.

"'Any woman worth the effort is going to be more impressed by a man who shows the sense to tend to business first'," I said softly as I touched my eye again. "Yes, Eunice. I guess I'd better learn so I can help. Maybe afterwards we could see if she's ready for visitors."

Eunice frowned at me and I felt like I'd gotten a test answer wrong. It took all of five minutes for her to show me how to open, and that was with her slowing down to walk me through things. Willard was somewhere out on the course finishing up something he'd been at since six o'clock when it got light enough to see.

I decided I would be back earlier tomorrow and tag along with him as I slung my leg back over my bike and cranked the engine to pull around to the back. The screen door opened as I cut the engine again and Becki hobbled out onto the porch.

"I wondered if you were going to come see me." Becki said.

Something was wrong. Becki didn't look happy. In fact, she looked sad. I checked my impulse to rush over and sweep her in my arms and kiss her.

"Why wouldn't I?" I asked cautiously.

"A better question would be, 'why would you?'"

"Why would I come see you?" I blinked. "Did you not want me to? You didn't say I shouldn't."

"What happened to your eye?"

"My eye? It's nothing. Becki, what's wrong?"

"I thought you understood, John. I sent you that picture so you would. But, then I get here and find out you thought I could still be a lifeguard. Seriously, John? A lifeguard?"

"Well, sure. You were lifeguard the first three years I was here. I mean, I guess you would probably have to get recertified-"

"Go away, John." Becki burst into tears. "Just go away and don't come back."

I stood there gaping like an idiot as my dream girl turned her back on me and stumped back inside leaning heavily on a cane. At a loss what to do, I walked back around to the pro shop. I saw Willard walking back from deeper in the course. Eunice was inside, sitting behind the counter reading a magazine. As I came in, Eunice peered at me over the rims of her glasses.

"Do I still work here?" I asked.

"Well, of course. Unless you've changed your mind."

"No. No, I haven't changed my mind. I just... Becki just told me to go away and not come back."

"She did?! But, that doesn't make any sense!" Eunice stared at me. "She hasn't hardly talked about anything except getting to see you since she got here yesterday."

"I think she's mad at me about being the lifeguard or something."

"No, she's not mad about you being lifeguard. I told her this morning you were only filling in unless she wanted to do it. She told me she didn't and couldn't."

Willard came in and seemed surprised to see me.

"Pool don't open 'til noon, boy. We don't offer no swim classes no more."

"I'm just here to help out. Or actually to learn how I can help out."

"Don't try to buffalo me, boy. We both know why you're here and it ain't to work."

"That's where you're wrong, Willard. I'm here to work. Apparently that's the only reason I'm here."

Willard's bushy brows raised and he glanced at Eunice.

"Seems it's not one of Becki's better days." Eunice said.

Willard snorted.

"Well, I guess if you're too dumb to tuck tail, I might have a thing or two I could show you how to do."

I didn't see Becki again that day. I hung close to Willard as much as possible, but the heat drove me to the pool repeatedly. As the day wore on, Willard seemed less and less inclined to show me things each time I came back from the pool. Conscious of my promise to Mom, I didn't follow when he headed out into the course as the sun was lowering in the sky.

"I promised Mom I would be home for supper," I told Eunice. "But, I may be back with a sleeping bag if it goes like I think it's going to. Tomorrow, if it's all right, I think I'll tag along with Willard when he starts his day."

"Oh, you don't need to do all that." Eunice said. "That's not what we hired you for."

"I know. And I'll be back at the pool before it opens. I'll have to be. But, I'd like to learn as much as I can. Help out where and when I can."

"All right then. Suit yourself."

"Thanks, Eunice. For everything."

Supper was every bit the disaster I had feared and then some. I tossed a change of clothes and a book in a bag, snagged my sleeping bag out of the top of my closet, and headed right back out the front door.

Willard, Eunice, and Becki were sitting out on the porch as I rode up. Becki got up and stumped back inside.

"Hello, John." Eunice said mildly.

"Eunice." I nodded. "Willard. Is everything done for the evening? Nothing until morning?"

"Mmmhmm." Willard eyed me as he shifted his chaw of tobacco from one cheek to the other.

"Okay. Wake me in the morning when it's time to get started. Good night."

The couple watched as I pitched my bag and sleeping bag over the fence and then climbed over after it.

"What the Sam Hill?"

"Shh. It's all right. I told him he could if he needed."

I ignored them. I needed to burn off some steam. I'd about half hoped Willard would need something done. Something involving hitting things if I was lucky. Since he didn't, I would swim and burn off some of my mad that way. The chlorinated water stung my split lip and matching set of swollen eyes.

Swimming laps by themselves didn't help. I'd left the sand filled dummy David had given me at the house. I made a mental note to pick it up tomorrow morning if my key still worked. Since I didn't have access to it at the moment, I used the drain grate as David had started me out with.

I was in horrible shape. I thought I'd been pretty rigorous doing the dry exercises David had taught me, and maybe I had. But, holding that grate over my head as I tried to keep my head and shoulders out of the water using just my legs was harder than I remembered.

My breath holds were weak too. I could only manage the length of the pool and another third before I had to surface. David would have had a lot to say about my efforts and none of it polite, I'm sure.

I don't know what time it was when I rolled out of the pool and laid there staring up at the moon and stars, but they were the only lights. As far as I was concerned, that pool was my only home until Willard and Eunice kicked me out. The only place I felt I belonged.

I dried off and changed to a pair of shorts. I'm not quite sure just why I did it, but I tossed my sleeping bag up on the lifeguard tower and spread it out up there. Maybe I had the idea the wooden platform would be a little more comfortable than the concrete.

Or maybe it had to do with the window I dozed off looking towards.

--02Jun87--

"Well, boy?!"

I opened my eyes to see Willard standing on the porch. The sun wasn't yet over the horizon, but there was enough light to see by.

"Yes, sir. Give me two minutes."

Rather than climbing down, I dove off into the water and swam to the edge. Damn it. I forgot I'd changed into my shorts. Ah well.

I skinned out of my shorts and toweled off shivering. June in West Texas or not, jumping into an unheated swimming pool in the morning before the sun came up was freaking cold! I didn't know just what Willard had in mind to do, so I quickly pulled on a pair of jeans and boots similar to what he wore through the day.

I reached up and yanked my sleeping bag off the raised platform and quickly rolled it into a bundle that probably wouldn't get blown into the pool if the winds picked up once the sun rose.

"I would have opened the door." Willard said mildly as I dropped down after scaling the fence.

"Don't want to be any more trouble than I already am, sir."

"Hell you say." Willard snorted as he spat off the porch. "Well, I guess there's trouble and then there's trouble. Come on then, boy. There's work to be done. Here, munch on that while we walk."

"That" turned out to be a breakfast style burrito with egg and hot sauce. I tagged along with Willard as he walked the course and started my initiation into the intricacies of tending the various kinds of grass.

"You all right, boy?" Willard asked about ten.

I was sweating profusely and was getting a little dizzy.

"Sorry." I panted. "I had a heat stroke when I was seven. According to Doc Barker, I'm not really supposed to be out in the heat much."

"Tarnation, son!" Willard yelped with his eyebrows up. "What in Sam Hill are you doing working for us then?"

"I'm all right near the pool." I shook my head. "If I start getting too hot, I just dive in and cool off. And I was all right until the last little bit. But, I think I'd better head in and cool off before I get sick."

"I reckon." Willard said flatly. "Heat stroke ain't nothin' to mess around with, boy."

"I know. I just wanted to help."

"Help your butt back to base, idiot. You won't be no help to me if you fall out way out here."

"Yes, sir."

I turned and began walking back. Eunice was standing near the pro shop door when I looked up from my trudging footsteps.

"You all right, John?"

"No. I need to cool off before I have another heat stroke."

"Another?"

"I had my first when I was seven. I'm all right around the pool where I can just jump in if I get too hot. And I was all right working with Willard most of the morning. But, I started having problems so he sent me back."

"What can I do to help?"

"I need to rinse off before I can get in the pool. If you could get my swimsuit off the back fence and my clean towel out of my bag, I can go ahead and get in the shower."

"Okay."

I was worried enough I stepped into the shower fully clothed and undressed under the water. The walls seemed to bend oddly and there was a black ring in my peripheral vision like I was looking down a tunnel.

I gradually turned off the hot water and stood there under the cold stream until I was sure I wasn't going to black out. Then I shuffled my way to the pool.

The shock of the cold water was almost painful even after my cold shower. I swam laps until I felt normal once more and got out.

"Feel better, John? You look better."

"I do. Thank you, Eunice." I glanced up at the clock. "Listen, do you mind if I run into town and get a few things before Dad changes the locks? It shouldn't take long."

"Well, of course. You aren't actually on duty until noon. Do you need to use the car?"

"Thank you, Eunice. But, I think I can manage on my bike. I'll be packing light."

Light, my ass. I'd only thought that reject from the crash test dummy training program was a pain in the ass to swim with and carry around on foot. Riding with it bungeed against the sissy bar damn near got me killed three or four times!

Other than that Cabbage Patch doll, I snagged two more sets of clothes, two pictures of Becki (the last two she'd sent), and collected the seven hundred dollars in cash from Birthday and Christmas money I'd squirreled away in various hiding places over the previous twelve years. Without the support of Mom and Dad, I knew I would need it.

"What the hell is that thing?"

"Hi, Becki." I smiled as I pulled my leg over my bike. "Gary, this is Becki. Becki, meet Gary. He was my swim buddy last year."

"What? I thought you said his name was David?"

"No, David gave me Gary and taught me to swim with him. It's a lovely day and I thought we would go for a dip. Care to join us?"

Becki didn't say anything else but frowned at me and went back inside.

"What's that Gary?" I said as I unstrapped two hundred pounds of sand and waterproof material. "No, I don't think it's anything you said. Becki has been mad at me since she came back. It really makes me sad. No offense, Gary, but she was a much better friend to me when I needed one than you'll ever be. What's that you say? Yes. Yes, she is very beautiful. But, I don't think we're supposed to notice, so don't say that sort of thing where she can hear."

I took as long as I possibly could getting the dummy off the back of my bike and getting my last few possessions I cared to keep out of my saddlebags. Becki wasn't lured back by my pathetic attempt at cuteness. I gave up and made my way to the pro shop.

Willard was standing inside, leaning on the counter. Eunice was sitting down reading her magazine. Willard snorted when he saw my doll over my shoulder.

"I thought we'd seen the last of that damn thing."

"I'm allowed one guest." I grinned. "Gary here was the only one willing to take me up on it."

Willard snorted again and spat a stream of tobacco at his spittoon.

"I take it you saw Becki?"

"I did, Eunice. Just now. I just wish I knew what I did. I would apologize, but I don't know what I would be apologizing for."

"I don't know what to tell you, John. She's not the same."

"Well of course she ain't the same, woman! She got ate on by a shark!"

"Don't you think I know that, you old coot?!"

I smiled sadly to myself as I carried Gary out to the pool and threw him in. It was almost like home, except the insults were funnier.

I carried my swimsuit back inside and changed. As I was walking back with my bundle of street clothes, I eyed my belongings piled in the corner of the fence with the wet stuff hanging on the fence to dry. I didn't know what else to do with it, but I wasn't sure it should stay there if we had anyone come to use the pool. I was certain I didn't want every single dime I had to my name sitting out in the open.

"Eunice, may I borrow the key to the pump room?"

"Sure." Eunice said. "Is there something wrong?"

I explained that I wanted to check it and see if I could lock my stuff in there while the pool was open. Eunice offered to let me move my stuff into the house. My father's last few words to me made me not want to risk causing them to regret helping me. Besides, I was on eggshells with Becki for some reason and I certainly didn't want to risk pushing her yet further away. We did compromise, however, that I would hang my wet clothes on the clothesline behind the house instead of over the fence.

Before I could use the room as a storage closet, I had to clean it of dirt and spider webs which took most of the rest of the day since I had to dive in the pool and cool off every now and then.

Rather than have me keep climbing over the fence, Willard made Eunice give me her set of keys and pointedly told me to use the damn door like a normal person. I tried to refuse, pointing out that I was fine just being locked in overnight and could wait until they let me out in the morning, but they didn't want to do it that way.

That evening was the first I sat at their table for supper. Becki grimaced from her place when I followed Willard in and sat down, but didn't say anything. After Willard said a quick mumbled prayer, we tucked into the food.

At least Willard, Eunice, and I tucked in. Becki ate, but it was slow. Almost painfully slow. The food was just short of bland, not as many spices as I was used to, and there wasn't a lot of it.

"How was your day, Becki?" I asked, trying to be polite. "I didn't see you leave the house all day."

"Why were you watching what I was doing instead of keeping an eye on the pool, lifeguard?"

"Well, the only one in it besides me was Gary, and he can hold his breath all day if I don't have time to rescue him just then."

"John helped your grandfather out on the course this morning and then spent the day cleaning up the pump room," Eunice said.

"Well, good," Becki said, rising with her plate. "I'm glad he's turning into such a good worker. I'm kind of tired, Grammy. If it's all right, I'll save the rest of my plate for breakfast."

"Oh. Certainly," Eunice said. "Just leave it there and I'll put it in the fridge for you."

"Thank you, Grammy."

I watched Eunice and Willard watch their granddaughter walk away behind me and waited until I heard the door click shut.

"Ok, what did I do wrong this time?" I sighed.

"I don't quite know." Eunice frowned at the closed door. "I'll talk to her."

Willard shrugged and polished his plate with a piece of bread.

Walking all the way around instead of just hopping over the fence was a pain, but it was the way Willard wanted to do things, so I did it his way.

It was a pleasant evening. I spread my sleeping bag out and stretched out on the raised platform to read while I still had light. Willard and Eunice came out and sat on the porch to watch the sunset together in their rocking chairs.

Say what I will about West Texas in June, and I usually do, the sunsets are spectacular.

Once the sun was behind the horizon, but before the light show was completely done, I watched as Willard and Eunice went back inside. I saw the curtain beside the door twitch, the window of the room Becki was in. I waved, but didn't see any further sign of it's occupant.

What the hell had I done? How had things gone so very wrong between Becki and I?

My one concession to eating with them had been to pull a t-shirt on over my swimsuit. Not quite ready to sleep, I stood and peeled the shirt off over my head. No point in getting it sweaty or wet.