“No,” said Davey, clipping the word to keep control of his voice.
“Didn’t I just talk to you last fall about getting ready for swim team next year?”
Davey nodded slowly.
“What changed?”
“I just,” began Davey, “I just don’t want to. I’m not even suh-supposed to,” his voiced hitched as he blurted the sentence.
“Whoa Davey,” said Mr. Mulgrove. “Why are you getting emotional? It’s just swimming.”
“I don’t know,” Davey said through his tear-strangled throat.
Mr. Mulgrove reached for Davey’s shoulder and then stopped his hand and put it on the seat back behind the boy. “Did I ever tell you about my son, Davey?”
Davey shook his head.
“Tyler got taller than all the rest of the kids when he was in fourth grade. They used to call him Stretch, and Bigfoot, and then Twin Towers, which really didn’t make that much sense. Some kids just lash out at anyone that’s different. They feel insecure themselves, and the only way they can cope with it is to make fun of other kids. Does that make sense?”
Davey nodded.
“Well it shouldn’t,” laughed Mr. Mulgrove. “It’s rotten, and they shouldn’t do it. But Davey, everyone’s the same and everyone’s different. That might sound weird, but it’s true. You just keep your head up and don’t let anything they say get to you. And if it does get to you, you come see me. Okay?”
“Okay,” said Davey, wiping his eyes with the back of his hand. He still dreaded getting out of the bus, but sensed that the conversation was over.
“Come on, I’ll get you a suit and towel." Mr. Mulgrove rose and let Davey lead the way.
Behind the counter in the lobby of the pool, Mr. Mulgrove pulled out a box filled with tiny suits. He dug through the box and handed a boy’s size to Davey. Next, he pulled a towel from the shelf and handed that over as well. Davey stared at the suit, but Mr. Mulgrove didn’t address his knitted brow.
“See you at the pool,” said Mr. Mulgrove. He smiled. “Get moving, don’t be late.”
“Thanks,” said Davey and turned to push through the door to the locker room. When he entered the warm, humid locker room, almost all of the boys had exited. He saw the door on the other side swinging shut as the door behind him thumped closed.
The only boys still at the benches were Matthew and Nicholas. They didn’t notice Davey. They were attempting to snap their thick towels at each other and dancing around the wooden bench. Both boys wore normal bathing suits that hung to their knees and would make swimming slow, but private. Davey turned towards the corner and opened a locker, sitting on the corner of the bench.
“Let’s go, Ted,” called Matthew.
“I’m coming,” said a voice from the bathroom section. Davey heard the voice of his tormentor enter the changing area. “Hey, it’s Stinky.”
Davey ignored him and placed his shoes and socks in the bottom locker.
“I’m going out,” said Matthew, and Davey breathed a little easier. “Last time Mr. Mulgrove made me do extra laps because I was late.”
“Hey look what’s Stinky’s got,” said Ted from directly behind Davey. He turned his head to glance at Ted and saw him holding his borrowed suit.
“Give it back,” said Davey.
Ted held up the skimpy suit and regarded it closely. “Are you going to wear this? Are you sure you’ll fit? My dad calls guys who wear these walnut smugglers. Is that what you are? A walnut smuggler?”
“Give it back,” repeated Davey.
Nicholas laughed and drew up behind Ted.
“Nicholas, help me stretch this, will ya?” asked Ted. He kept hold of the bottom of the suit and Nicholas grabbed the waistband.
Davey rose, and stood in just his shirt and underwear, and balled his fists. “Quit it,” he said.
The two bullies pulled the suit, stretching it further.
“I said QUIT IT,” yelled Davey. Nicholas looked up first and dropped his end of the suit. Davey stood a few feet from Ted’s back with a wide stance and shoulders back. All three boys stood approximately the same height, but Davey suddenly seemed larger and more imposing than both of the other boys put together.
“Relax, you baby,” said Ted, turning around with the suit. His confidence ebbed when his eyes hit Davey, but he tossed the bathing suit in Davey’s face.
Davey let the suit hit him and fall to the ground. He didn’t break eye contact with Ted. All of his muscles were clenched and he felt strength course through his body as his anger flared. Nicholas tapped Ted on the shoulder and the two bullies left the locker room to go to the pool area.
“See you out there, Walnuts,” Ted called back over his shoulder.
Davey bent over to pick up his stretched suit and returned to the bench to finish dressing. As he pulled on the garment it occurred to him that Ted and Nicholas might have done him a favor. The misshapen fabric helped him conceal himself more than he expected. As his adrenaline waned and he began to breathe more naturally, he slipped easily back into self-loathing.
With his clothes tucked away in the locker, Davey picked up his towel and folded it around his hands so he could carry it in front of his crotch as he exited the locker room. Lost in thought, and regretting his hasty decision to throw away his bathing suit, Davey didn’t notice the puddle on the floor of the locker room. His feet came out from under him and he looped forward, coming down hard on his elbows. Eyes darting around the room, Davey first made sure that nobody had seem him fall. All alone except for the occasional faucet drip, he exhaled and regained his feet. Shoulders back, Davey pushed through the door to the pool area.
On the other side of the pool, Mr. Mulgrove addressed the assembled students. Davey rounded the aromatic pool, feet slapping on the cold tiles.
“Hey kid,” Davey heard from his right. He looked over to see high-school girls, assembled on the risers, calling to him. He pointed over to his class and kept walking. The girl closest to him called out to him as he walked—“Nice buns.”
Davey blushed and kept walking, but felt an uncomfortable heat growing in his stomach. He was confused by the attention from the older girls, and his ears began to burn. When he approached his class, Mr. Mulgrove was just completing his opening instructions. “Everyone grab a kick-board and jump in the water.”
Davey put his towel down on the stands behind the diving board and grabbed a kick-board from the rack. He quickly crossed to the edge of the pool, anxious to get in the water.
“Hey,” said Ted, pointing. “Stinky’s got a chubby.”
Davey paused and looked down. After a few heart-stopping seconds, he regained his wits and jumped in the water. Before his head ducked under, he heard the echoing laughter of his classmates.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Mike
“OKAY, WE SEE IT. Back it off. BACK IT OFF!” yelled Mike into his radio. He looked to his left to check on his ashen companion. “You okay?”
The man clicked his mouth open and shut it slowly.
Mike watched for seven anxious seconds while the apparition drifted towards them, becoming more and more transparent. The figure had opened the far door and strode through, carrying a stack of folded laundry, before closing the door behind itself. Mike recognized it as a residual haunting—a psychic movie of a dead person, trapped in a loop.
He saw no recognition of their presence in what he could still see of the thing’s eyes. By the time the ghost came within touching distance it had all but disappeared, they could only detect a faint fog where the thing should be.
“Was that?” Mike’s companion croaked.
“You tell me, was it?”
“I think it was,” he said. “I think I would have run out of here if it hadn’t been her. I loved her so much.” He shivered. Mike sensed that the man used his words defensively, trying to convince himself of their veracity as he spoke.