Annabelle stopped talking to me. Mae didn’t. It didn’t seem to matter how many times I tried to get the little girl to leave me alone. She would come back and keep talking to me. So I spent a lot of time in my room.
Rico played with the neighborhood kids all day long. I’d look out my window and watch him take his bike and ride up and down the streets. There were about four white boys who rode with him. Sometimes they’d swim in the muddy pond. Sometimes I wouldn’t see him until dinner. Dinner was spent most evenings with Mae and Rico talking about their day. Prince kept to himself. I found it strange how he was able to take off on his own some days.
Miss Dixie took us on small trips, but I could tell she hated it. The heat really got to her.
I’d been to the zoo before with my school. The trip with Miss Dixie was different. I didn’t care too much about the animals. I kept looking around to see if there was anyone there from my old school. Before I knew it, overheated Miss Dixie piled us up into her van. We headed home.
Miss Dixie much preferred taking us to the pool. It was only a few blocks away. Rico and Mae loved it. Miss Dixie did too. She and Prince sat at a small table in the shade and watched us as they drank cold lemonade.
“TJ, will you be so kind as to keep an eye on Mae?” Miss Dixie asked as I headed toward her to sit as well. I hadn’t planned on swimming either. I couldn’t swim. But I wasn’t telling anyone.
“I just want to chill.” I sat down next to Prince.
“Oh, I guess you’re tired too.” Miss Dixie started to get up. I looked at Prince, and he stared at me. He didn’t have to use words but his eyes screamed, Are you crazy? Making this woman get up and stand out in the heat! I rolled my eyes at him and then stood up.
“Okay, Miss Dixie. I’ll watch Mae.” I was walking away from the table but then turned to ask, “What am I watching her for?”
Miss Dixie was smiling, “Oh, she can’t swim. So just make sure she comes up again if she goes under water.”
“Oh, great!” I whispered to myself and shook my head.
I stood next to Mae in the kiddie pool. The cool water did feel good on my feet. I was as close to Mae as I could get. When she moved closer to some other kids, I moved too. A couple of white mothers were tanning. When they saw me towering over Mae, they started whispering. Soon they were in the water with their own kids. But they still looked at me. I glared at them a couple of times. I crossed my arms and wasn’t going to move.
As time passed I found out Mae wasn’t going to drown. So I looked around a little more. I saw a redhead at the far end of the diving pool. Annabelle was sitting on the edge. Even from where I was I could see her sun lotion was so thick she looked like she’d been painted white. For one moment I felt myself smile. I remembered my father. I remembered the few moments of closeness. I remembered white milk curds covering my stomach. My eyes suddenly blurred. I had to find a way to push the thoughts away. I wasn’t going to cry. Not there. Not then.
I swung my leg and splashed Mae. She looked up at me with water dripping down her hair. “TJ. Oh, you’ll get it now!” She took her little arms and started splashing me. All the little kids joined in. I pretended to fall into the water. I let the water mask the flow of my tears.