Myself and I

by Earl Sewell

  “Oh, did you know we have some new neighbors that moved into the house down the street?” I asked.

  “Yeah, I saw that,” Mike said with a mouthful of food. “Have you met them?”

  “Sort of. I said hello to one of them when they first moved in.”

  “I haven’t heard much about them, but I’m sure they’ll be around this summer,” Mike said.

  “Have you seen the car they’re driving?”

  “Yeah, the Scion? That’s a cold ride they’re pushing. Speaking of rides, Dad is finally getting his Trans Am back.”

  “Really, are the police done with it now?” I asked.

  “Yeah, thank goodness. I’ll never do something as stupid as take his car without permission again. It’s probably going to cost a small fortune to get it restored back to mint condition.”

  “You know, I was considering saving up money for my own car. I’ll be taking driver’s education next year and it would be so cool to have my own set of wheels.”

  “What kind of car are you thinking about getting?” he asked.

  “I don’t know. Something cute.”

  “Please don’t tell me you’re still set on a Volkswagon Beetle.” Mike frowned at the idea.

  “Why do you care? It’ll be my car that I paid for with my own money.”

  “Keysha, that’s just not a cool car. You need an Eclipse or a Mustang,” Mike suggested.

  “Well, if you can find one of those cars that’s reasonably priced, let me know and I’ll take a look at it,” I said.

  “Okay, cool, because you know as your little brother it would be cool if you’d let me borrow your car from time to time.” Mike came over and draped his arm around me. I looked at his hand resting on my shoulder and flicked it off.

  “Are you kidding me? I’ve seen the way you drive. You have a lead foot and would probably kill yourself and anyone close to you,” I said.

  “I don’t have a lead foot,” Mike disputed.

  “Ah, yes you do,” I said, standing my ground.

  “Come on, Keysha, don’t be like that. You’ll let me borrow your car sometimes, won’t you?” Mike began to whine.

  “Boy, I haven’t even gotten a car yet. I just said I might save up enough money to get one.”

  “How about this—if I find a car that you like I’ll go in half on it with you,” Mike said, trying to strike up a deal.

  “Let me think about that,” I said as I walked into the bathroom. I opened the medicine cabinet and searched for some of Barbara’s scented lotion, because I was fresh out. I made a mental note to replace hers once I received my first paycheck.

  “Is Mom or Dad driving you to work this morning?” Mike asked.

  “I don’t think so. I’ve been catching the bus to work all week,” I said, exiting the bathroom. “What time will you be at the pool today?”

  “I don’t know, probably around one,” Mike answered as he ate the last morsel of food on his plate.

  “Okay, I’ll see you then,” I said and walked toward the front door. I knocked on Jordan and Barbara’s bedroom door and waited for permission to enter.

  “Hey, guys,” I said as I entered the room. Jordan was in his walk-in closet looking for a necktie. Barbara was lounging around on the bed watching HGTV. “I’m about to head out to work.”

  “I have to go into the office today. I could drop you off if you’d like,” he said as he exited the closet.

  “No, I’m good. I sort of like taking the bus to work. It gives me a little time to clear my head. Thanks anyway,” I said.

  “Are you sure? I don’t know many people who’d turn down a ride in a car for a bumpy bus ride,” Jordan said.

  “Are you sure I won’t be taking you out of your way?” I asked.

  “Of course not,” he said as he located the necktie he’d been searching for.

  Thirty minutes later I was at the swimming pool checking the chlorine balance. After I checked that, I grabbed the long net and skimmed a few leaves off the surface of the water. Then I hosed down the deck and lawn chairs and made sure there wasn’t any broken glass on the pool deck. Since it was early in the morning I was the only person there, but I knew it wouldn’t be this peaceful for long.

  I was scheduled to work from ten to four, and Maya was scheduled to work from one to seven, when the pool closed. We knew we’d just end up hanging out at the pool with each other once our shifts ended, so it was no big deal.

  I sat in one of the lawn chairs and pulled out a book that I’d removed from the bookshelf at home. It was a Kimani Tru book called 16 Isn’t Always Sweet by Cassandra Carter. Just as I was starting to really get into the book, a woman with several small children exited the clubhouse and came onto the pool deck.

  “Good morning,” she said as she herded her little munchkins along. They were so cute. She had two little girls who looked to be ages five and seven and a little boy who was about three. They all had on orange water wings and were super-excited about getting into the water. Their mother took them over to the small kiddie pool and got in with them. I watched as they splashed around in the water giggling and laughing. It was such a pleasure to see children with skin as brown as my own enjoying the water. Experiencing the fun of water sports had been unimaginable to me when I lived with my mother, Justine. Living with her was like being in a living, breathing nightmare. I haven’t seen or heard from her since she’d robbed a currency exchange a while back. Her partner in crime, named Simon, was caught, but my mom had somehow managed to get away with my baby brother, who is still an infant. At that moment, I wanted him to be with me. I wanted to teach him how to swim and watch him enjoy the pool just like the other children. I didn’t want him to experience the hell my mother was going to put him through. I suddenly felt a pain in my heart, a painful sadness that hadn’t surfaced in a long time. It was the emotional bruises and deep sorrow from the life I had lived with my fugitive mother and my grandmother Rubylee, who was still in jail. Even though I’d lived a hellish life with them, there was still a place in my heart that longed to see them. If I ever got the chance to see them again, I think I would hug them and tell them I’m okay and I’m going to make it.

  By the noon hour, it was a scorching ninety degrees outside and the pool was jam-packed with people. I had to blow my whistle several times to stop a few rowdy junior high school students from trying to drown each other, as well as put up with overzealous seventh grade boys who were trying to win me over with loser compliments. Then, shockingly, one boy who was about thirteen years old took it upon himself to make sure I knew him personally.

  “So, you’re the new lifeguard?” He sat down on an empty lawn chair next to me.

  “Yes,” I replied, not taking my eyes off the patrons in the pool.

  “What’s your name?” he asked.

  “Keysha,” I replied.

  “I’m Alex. You got a boyfriend?” he boldly asked. I turned to meet his gaze for a moment because I couldn’t believe he’d asked such a personal question. Alex had light brown skin, bad acne and a high-pitched voiced that teetered on the verge of being extremely annoying.

  “Don’t you think that question is a little inappropriate?” I asked, wanting him to seriously think about his inquiry into my personal life.

  “I’m just trying to find out who my competition is,” he bravely admitted, gazing at me with innocent eyes.

  “Alex, I’m way too old for you, so don’t even waste your time trying. Besides, you just met me like ten seconds ago,” I said, giving him rock-solid advice.

  “Haven’t you heard of love at first sight?” he asked, and I had to laugh.

  “Love stinks, kid. Trust me on that one,” I said.

  “Well, I’m going to sit right here next to you so you can get to know me. I’m sure that once you do, you’ll really like me.” Alex smiled at me, flashing a mouth filled with wire braces. Oh Lord, I thought.

  Maya arrived at work right on time. She came in, got settled and provided me with a much-nee
ded break.

  “Go get yourself something to eat,” she said.

  “I’m just going to chill out in the clubhouse for a moment. Mike and Sabrina are on their way, and he picked me up a sandwich from Subway.”

  “Cool,” Maya said as she slipped on her sunglasses. “It is so hot out here.”

  “You’re not kidding. Look at the tan I’ve gotten,” I said, pulling my shoulder strap over to the side so that she could see my tan lines.

  “You should let me put some sunblock oil on your back so you don’t burn,” Maya suggested. I agreed and allowed her to rub the lotion on me. No sooner had Maya started than Alex swam to the edge of the pool.

  “Why didn’t you let me put that on for you?” he whined like a lost puppy. Maya began laughing.

  “Boy, go someplace.” I shooed him away. Alex poked out his lip before submerging himself under water and kicking, doing an underwater handstand.

  “That’s cute, he’s trying to impress you.” Maya kept laughing.

  “My God, the boy is like a fly at a picnic. He has no clue that he’s not welcome,” I said, slightly annoyed.

  “So how has everything been going?” Maya asked as I shifted my position so that she could rub the other side.

  “Well, it’s definitely busy. Oh, and keep your eyes on those boys over there. They’ve been wrestling in the water and I had to tell them a number of times to stop. I’ve given them a final warning, too, so if they start clowning around again, feel free to kick them out,” I said.

  “Okay,” Maya said.

  At that moment I saw something that shocked the hell out of me. Priscilla and Lori walked out onto the pool deck laughing and chatting as if they were BFFs.

  “What the hell?” I pointed at Lori and Priscilla.

  “Ooh, when did they become friends?” Maya asked.

  “I have no idea, but I wonder if Priscilla knows that Lori was at the movie theater with Antonio,” I said, fixing my gaze upon them. Priscilla must’ve sensed me looking at her because she turned and looked in my direction. A part of me desperately wanted to get even with her for ruining my prom dress.

  “I should kick her out,” I muttered.

  “Just calm down, girl. You don’t need to do something stupid and lose your job. She is not worth the trouble,” Maya said, wanting me to avoid doing something I’d regret later.

  “Ooh, I can’t stand either one of them,” I said through gritted teeth. Priscilla didn’t say anything, she just turned her head the other way and continued talking to Lori.

  “What’s up, chocolate child?” I turned and saw Mike and Sabrina had arrived with my lunch.

  “I kind of like that name,” I said to Mike.

  “It was meant to be an insult,” he responded.

  “I love you, too,” I said sarcastically. “How are you doing, Sabrina?”

  “I’m good. I can’t wait to get in the water to cool off. It’s supposed to be hot like this for the next several days.”

  “Yeah, I heard that, too,” Maya chimed in.

  “Well, I’m going into the clubhouse and eat my food,” I said, rising to my feet. “Maya, I’ll be back in an hour.”

  “Okay, girl, take your time.”

  “Mike, stay out of trouble,” I warned.

  “Whatever, Keysha. I’m not worried about you,” Mike said as he looped his arm around Sabrina and walked over to the other side of the pool deck to claim two empty lawn chairs.

  As I walked over to the clubhouse I glanced over at Lori and Priscilla. Why were they hanging out with each other? I caught Lori’s gaze. She stuck her tongue out at me like a bratty child. I wanted to give her the middle finger so badly, but I knew that some adult who was there with their children would probably report me. I ignored Lori for the moment but knew that one day soon, she and I were going to have a total blowout.

  The following morning I arrived at work at the same time and went through my daily routine of checking the chlorine levels, cleaning the swimming pool and hosing down the deck. It was a quiet Sunday morning, and I wasn’t expecting anyone to arrive for at least another hour. As soon as I sat down to read my book, two guys exited the clubhouse locker room and came out onto the pool deck. I didn’t recognize them at first, but then realized they were my new neighbors who’d moved into the minimansion.

  “Good morning,” the shorter one greeted me.

  “Good morning,” I responded as I reached for my dark sunglasses and put them on. The two walked down to the other end of the swimming pool toward the blue spring-loaded diving board. I sat upright so I could keep a close eye on them. The last thing I wanted to deal with this morning was a cracked skull from one of them inadvertently slamming his head against the diving board. The taller brother, who appeared to be the older of the two, stood at the back of the diving board and did a few arm stretches and neck rolls to loosen up. He walked to the edge of the diving board and tested the tension of the board’s spring by bouncing on it a few times. They then purposefully talked loudly so I could hear them.

  “How does it feel?” asked the younger brother.

  “It’s decent,” responded the older brother, who’d walked to the back of the board. He then measured his steps, leaped into the air, came down on the edge of the diving board and allowed it to catapult him into air. He tucked his knees and arms tightly into his chest and rotated in the air twice before opening up and diving perfectly into the water.

  “Not bad,” said the younger brother, who followed up with an equally impressive dive. He did two flips with a full twist. I watched as the two of them put on an impressive show of various dives. They executed backflips, pike dives, pike flips and reverse backflips. Without a doubt I was impressed with their skills, but not enough to strike up a conversation about their background. After about an hour they gathered their stuff and prepared to leave.

  “You’re the girl I saw the other day, aren’t you?” asked the younger one as he slipped his feet back into his sandals.

  “Excuse me?” I played as if I had no idea of what he was talking about.

  “A few days ago you were walking down the street watching the movers haul our stuff into the house,” he explained as he approached me.

  “Oh, yeah, that was me,” I answered coyly.

  “My name is Jerry and that guy over there is my older brother, Erin.” He extended his hand for me to shake it.

  “I’m Keysha,” I said as I reluctantly reached up to shake his hand.

  “So what did you think?” he asked.

  “About what?” I answered.

  “About our diving skills.” He was trying to find out if I was impressed, but I wasn’t about to feed his ego.

  “What about them?” I asked. I folded my arms.

  “Well, did you like what we were doing?” he asked.

  “Was I supposed to?” I answered his question with a question.

  “Okay.” He chuckled. “Maybe you’re having a bad day or something.”

  “I’m actually having a wonderful day,” I assured him.

  “You know most people would be pretty amazed to see two black guys who can dive like my brother and me. He’s on his college swim team and happens to be the only brother on it.”

  “That’s nice,” I said drily.

  “Are you always this pleasant?” Jerry asked.

  “Do you always ask so many questions?” I fired back. He remained silent for a long moment and I glared at him from behind my dark sunglasses. I got the sense that it irritated him because he couldn’t read what my eyes were saying.

  “Jerry, come on, man, she’s not interested. Let’s just go,” his older brother, Erin, called from across the pool.

  Jerry turned and looked over his shoulder at his brother. “I think she is, but just doesn’t know it yet,” he said full of cocky confidence.

  “My, don’t you have a big ego,” I snidely remarked.

  “Oh, my ego is nothing compared to your bad attitude,” Jerry said. I chose not to respond, becau
se I didn’t feel like it.

  “Maybe I’ll see you around the neighborhood,” he said as he began to step away.

  “I doubt it,” I answered. He chuckled once more and scratched his head as he walked away.

  twelve

  When Maya arrived at work later that afternoon I couldn’t wait to tell her what had happened earlier that day with Jerry and his brother Erin. At 1:00 p.m., like clockwork, she waltzed out onto the pool deck wearing a new and fabulous-looking black-and-white halter one-piece bathing suit with matching sarong.

  “Ooh, look at you, miss sexy lady,” I complimented her as I stood up to give her a hug.

  “Why thank you, darling,” she said, pretending to be a snooty woman of ridiculous wealth.

  “You are so silly,” I said as I sat back down.

  “So what’s going?” she asked, waiting for me to deliver any juicy gossip that I’d heard.

  “Well, I met this guy named Jerry and his older brother, Erin, earlier today.”

  “Really? What did they look like?” Maya asked.

  “They were handsome. They both have smooth brown skin, curly hair and nice smiles. Jerry has a big ego though.” I mentioned the thing that stood out most about him.

  “Was it a big ego or just too much confidence?” Maya asked for clarification.

  “To me he was all ego,” I replied.

  “Well, what did he do?” Maya asked.

  “He and his brother came up here to show off. Jerry said that I should be impressed with the fact that he and his brother are black divers, but really I couldn’t care less,” I spoke honestly.

  “Ooh, that does sound like a big ego,” Maya admitted.

  “Yeah, then he had the nerve to come over here and try to feed me a line of bull, like I was supposed to just swoon the moment he spoke to me. I was like, ‘Boy, if you don’t go someplace and get you some business—’” I laughed out loud and so did Maya.

  “Well, go on and get yourself some lunch. We’ll talk when you come back,” she said as she got situated to watch everyone.

  I didn’t return to work until Wednesday morning, and since it was a weekday I knew it would be pretty slow except a few stay-at-home moms and perhaps some kids who just wanted to take a quick dip. I’d just sat down and was about to read when Alex, my little stalker, rolled up to the fence behind me on his mountain bike.