Chapter 16

This is Gemma Kane, speaking with Reginald (Reggie) Brooks, my high school diving coach, at his nursing home in Clairemont Mesa, California. Today is Wednesday, May 10, 1961, and the time is 9:15 AM.

Gemma: What a breathtaking view of Mission Bay you have from these bluffs.

Mr Brooks: Beats watching students thrash around the pool.

Gemma: So, you’re enjoying retirement?

Mr Brooks: Immensely. Don’t get me wrong, though. I loved coaching. When San Diego won the state championship your senior year, it was the highlight of my career. Your reverse three and a half somersault with a half twist was the best 5371D a student of mine ever did.

Gemma: It’s what got me the diving scholarship to UCLA. I have you to thank for that.

Mr Brooks: (Bald head blushes) You had good grades too, but you owe me thanks for another reason.

Gemma: (Frowns) You pulled strings?

Mr Brooks: Nothing of the sort. That’s bad sportsmanship. But after you got the letter, your mother came to see me. Absolutely furious. Apparently you never told her you’d applied.

Gemma: And she never told me she spoke to you! (Thinks back) I didn’t want to tell her unless I got in or got a scholarship. It was the only way I could afford to go.

Mr Brooks: Your mother was angry because she wanted you to stay closer to home.

Gemma: San Diego State Teachers College. What did you say when she turned up at your office?

Mr Brooks: That I sensed you didn’t want to be a teacher.

Gemma: No offense to your profession; it just wasn’t me.

Mr Brooks: No offense taken. Teaching wasn’t my first choice either, although I turned out to love it. There was more at stake for you, though. You needed to get away from home.

Gemma: How did you know? I never said anything to you.

Mr Brooks: Every young person wants to escape. But your situation was extreme. You had to sneak off with Yolanda to places other parents encouraged their kids go to. (Winks) Like the time you left practice early when the Junipero Serra Museum opened. With that giant cross out front.

Gemma: Yolanda and I pretended to be nuns walking down the colonnade, weaving in and out of the columns. Only we couldn’t keep straight faces because the boys chanted dirty limericks, in Latin. (Laughs uneasily) How did you find out we went there?

Mr Brooks: Teachers have their ways. (Winks) I also knew about the shenanigans at Inspiration Point and hidden corners of the zoo. I never reported you kids to your parents or to the principal, though. I kept what I knew to myself.

Gemma: What else did you know about me?

Mr Brooks: That you felt different because you didn’t have a father. San Diego is a Catholic town. Families stick together. I tried to keep an eye on you without being too obvious, but your mother resented it. She accused me of putting you up to applying to UCLA ...

Gemma: Well, you did.

Mr Brooks: ... with the intention of stealing you away from her.

Gemma: (Hand over mouth) Oh God. What did you say?

Mr Brooks: The wrong thing. That I thought you could use a father figure in your life.

Gemma: And she probably said something like I had her and didn’t need another parent.

Mr Brooks: Exactly.

Gemma: I don’t suppose she said anything about my actual father?

Mr Brooks: Not then. But after I apologized, I steered the conversation around to what a great opportunity UCLA offered. I’ve never known parents who didn’t want their child to succeed, and your mother was no different. I told her you were one of my brightest students and, to appease her further, said you no doubt got your cleverness from her. Your mother turned pale. She didn’t say anything, but I could swear her mind was thinking you got your smarts from him.

Gemma: I wondered about that growing up. My mother got after me to study and do homework, but she couldn’t help. I once said she was stupid and that if I had a daddy, he could help me. She left the room, I think to stop herself from slapping me. Of course, later I realized my mother was very smart, she just didn’t have the education.

Mr Brooks: Getting her daughter the best education possible was the argument I used to talk your mother into letting you go to UCLA.

Gemma: Here I thought I was the one who convinced her. (Shrugs) I suppose it doesn’t matter. Mama signed the forms and off I went. I wouldn’t have gone though, without her blessing.

Mr Brooks: (Pats my arm) It was hard for her. You were her whole life. Instead of being angry at her for resisting, admire her courage in letting you go, even if it meant leaving her behind.

Gemma: And alone.

Mr Brooks: She’s not alone now. She has you, your husband, and son. Plus a granddaughter-in-law very soon. Congratulations to you and your family.

Gemma: (Nods thank you) But she left me and my son and his children missing a family member.

Mr Brooks: (Rests arms on knees, leans forward) When you were diving, your biggest problem was learning not to splash when you entered the water. Judges deduct nearly a third of your score for that. I taught you to hit the surface straight, not from an angle, to barely create a ripple. Now you’re trying every angle to find your father. I’m not your coach anymore. You’re on your own. So be careful how you hit deep water to avoid making a big splash. Life will mark you down.

The interview ended at 9:50 AM.