Status: Yep, this is back.
The Day I Met You
016
I rode the skateboard I borrowed until I ran out of concrete. Not too far away from the last slice of cement was what appeared to be a watering hole. It wasn’t ‘man-made’ enough to be considered a swimming pool even though there were beach chairs around it and a small diving board built into a tree. It was mostly just a hole filled with water so clear I could see the penny on the white sand shinning at the bottom. There was no shallow end or deep end. It was perfect. I looked around to assure myself that I was alone, but something didn’t feel right.
“Hey stranger,” Jessie laughed as I turned two shades of red.
“You dick! You scared me,” I laughed as I rubbed my elbow.
“I found this place yesterday after your uncle gave me permission to look around. You know, since I don’t skate or surf or do FMX.”
I shrugged, “who cares what sport you’re into as long as you have rockin’ tastes in music.”
“That’s the thing Rey,” Jessie sighed. “I’m a diver, but no one really considers that important.” He shrugged his shoulders before slipping out of his wife-beater tank. He pulled off the wrist-bands that he always wore, except for once when he was late.
“You never told me the whole story about that,” I stated. I was curious about those scars; I knew he was curious about my fear of water too.
“I, um…” he trailed off. I watched his face as the warmness faded from his playful hazel eyes. His smile was replaced by a hard thin line. “I don’t like to talk about it.” He turned his face away from me.
“I almost drowned the year I quit surfing,” I confessed. The pebble near my shoe seemed very interesting suddenly.
“You drown,” he chuckled. “You drink like a fish, I only assumed you swam like one too.”
“I did, until championships. Over a hundred people saw the pipe crash down on my head. It held me under and tossed me like I was in a washing machine. I hit my head on a rock; took the rescue guys a while to find me,” I explained.
“Oh my god, Rey,” he gasped. He took a step towards me, but I backed away.
“I was clinically dead for two minutes. They said I was lucky, but lucky isn’t how I feel. The water is both my biggest love and my worst fear.” It was Jessie’s turn to find something interesting on the ground. He sighed before taking a deep breath; his eyes bore into mine.
“My fiancé got me into diving. A few months before we were supposed to get married, she talked me into going on a diving trip. Her air tank screwed up, I’m not real sure what happened now, but she couldn’t breathe,” Jessie started.
“What…”
“She grabbed my arm and drug me a few feet with her. I tried to swim us up, but the equipment was too heavy. I tried to shove it off her and me, but it was like it was stuck. She died, and I got questioned a lot by the police. Finally, they ruled it an accident, but I kept seeing it over and over again.”
“Oh, Jessie.”
“I saw like five therapists it seems like, but none of them could fix my head. I tried to slit my wrists, but the neighbors had a music complaint.” He looked me in the eyes and chuckled a half-hearted laugh. “Music literally saved me.”
“I’m sorry,” I said. It was my turn to step forward. He hugged me tightly. I’m not sure for how long. He ended up sitting with his feet over the edge of the pool while I sat next to him—not touching the water—tracing his scars gently with the tips of my nails.
The breeze floated through the trees. The smell of salt water filled my nose, but I wasn’t freaking out this time. Beams of sunlight warmed us. The world seemed right for a moment, but that moment was quickly shattered.
“Rey! Reylyn, you out there?”
“Hey stranger,” Jessie laughed as I turned two shades of red.
“You dick! You scared me,” I laughed as I rubbed my elbow.
“I found this place yesterday after your uncle gave me permission to look around. You know, since I don’t skate or surf or do FMX.”
I shrugged, “who cares what sport you’re into as long as you have rockin’ tastes in music.”
“That’s the thing Rey,” Jessie sighed. “I’m a diver, but no one really considers that important.” He shrugged his shoulders before slipping out of his wife-beater tank. He pulled off the wrist-bands that he always wore, except for once when he was late.
“You never told me the whole story about that,” I stated. I was curious about those scars; I knew he was curious about my fear of water too.
“I, um…” he trailed off. I watched his face as the warmness faded from his playful hazel eyes. His smile was replaced by a hard thin line. “I don’t like to talk about it.” He turned his face away from me.
“I almost drowned the year I quit surfing,” I confessed. The pebble near my shoe seemed very interesting suddenly.
“You drown,” he chuckled. “You drink like a fish, I only assumed you swam like one too.”
“I did, until championships. Over a hundred people saw the pipe crash down on my head. It held me under and tossed me like I was in a washing machine. I hit my head on a rock; took the rescue guys a while to find me,” I explained.
“Oh my god, Rey,” he gasped. He took a step towards me, but I backed away.
“I was clinically dead for two minutes. They said I was lucky, but lucky isn’t how I feel. The water is both my biggest love and my worst fear.” It was Jessie’s turn to find something interesting on the ground. He sighed before taking a deep breath; his eyes bore into mine.
“My fiancé got me into diving. A few months before we were supposed to get married, she talked me into going on a diving trip. Her air tank screwed up, I’m not real sure what happened now, but she couldn’t breathe,” Jessie started.
“What…”
“She grabbed my arm and drug me a few feet with her. I tried to swim us up, but the equipment was too heavy. I tried to shove it off her and me, but it was like it was stuck. She died, and I got questioned a lot by the police. Finally, they ruled it an accident, but I kept seeing it over and over again.”
“Oh, Jessie.”
“I saw like five therapists it seems like, but none of them could fix my head. I tried to slit my wrists, but the neighbors had a music complaint.” He looked me in the eyes and chuckled a half-hearted laugh. “Music literally saved me.”
“I’m sorry,” I said. It was my turn to step forward. He hugged me tightly. I’m not sure for how long. He ended up sitting with his feet over the edge of the pool while I sat next to him—not touching the water—tracing his scars gently with the tips of my nails.
The breeze floated through the trees. The smell of salt water filled my nose, but I wasn’t freaking out this time. Beams of sunlight warmed us. The world seemed right for a moment, but that moment was quickly shattered.
“Rey! Reylyn, you out there?”