Myself and I (12 page)

“See right through what, heifer?” I snapped out on Priscilla.

“You want facts? Then I'm going to give them to you. Keysha, you like stealing guys who are already taken. Just like you stole Antonio from me and just like how you're trying to get back with Wesley. I wouldn't be surprised if the new guy, Jerry, has a girlfriend!” Priscilla folded her arms and twitched her neck up at me.

“You know what? All of y'all are twisted in the head! Y'all wouldn't believe the truth even if Barack Obama came here personally and told it to you. You're too busy believing every lie and rumor that comes in your e-mail in-box or on your cell phone screen.”

“You're acting all big and bad sitting up there in that chair. Why don't you come down here and say it to our face?” Priscilla issued me a challenge.

“Oh, girl, you ain't said nothing but a word. I still owe you a beat down for screwing up my prom dress!” I said as I took off my whistle and prepared to come down and deal with both of them.

Wesley raised his arms high in the air, then allowed them to drop down. “Y'all shouldn't fight,” he finally spoke up.

“Shut up, Wesley!” they both shrieked. I couldn't believe how he'd allowed two girls to punk him.

“Go on, then. I don't care anymore.” Wesley sat down on a nearby lawn chair, folded his arms and shook his head disapprovingly.

“What's going on over here? Who's got a beef with my sister?” My brother Mike and Sabrina came over.

“Your sister is about to get her ass kicked,” Lori said as she knuckled up her fingers into fists.

“Nope, that's not gonna happen,” Mike said as he stood in front of Lori and began forcing her to back away.

“Why do you have to get your brother to fight for you, Keysha?” Lori continued to taunt me. “What's up with that?” Once Mike made sure she was gone, I glanced at Priscilla.

“I'm giving you a pass because I know you're pregnant,” I said.

“You don't have to make any special accommodations for me. I can hold my own.” Priscilla was too ignorant to even realize how dumb she sounded.

“I'm just going to pray for you, Priscilla,” I said and stepped away from her. I was heading toward the bathroom to get Maya when Paul and Alex ran past me.

“Stop running!” I yelled at them, but they didn't listen.

Paul rushed past Priscilla and nearly knocked her down. When Alex reached Priscilla, he stopped, looked her squarely in the eyes, and pushed her into the deep end. He stood laughing and pointing as she began flapping her arms and sinking below the surface.

“Alex!” I called out his name with absolute authority. “Get over here!” Alex rushed over to me.

“Why did you push her into the pool, boy?” I snapped.

“She was trying to fight you, that's why. I can't have some chickenhead jumping on you for no reason.” Alex's heart was in the right place, but his mean-spirited act was not.

“Don't you ever do that again! Do you hear me?” I scolded him severely.

“I was just trying to help,” he said, looking hurt and pathetic.

“Get out of here!” I said and kicked him out of the pool. His scrawny chest heaved back and forth a few times as he tried to hold on to to his emotions. I exhaled a frustrated
sigh as I looked back toward the pool for Priscilla. I didn't see her, so I scanned the pool deck also. I glanced back at the location where Alex had pushed her. Bubbles were popping up on the surface of the water.

“Oh, Jesus!” I whispered nervously as I ran over to Priscilla. I looked down into the water and saw her clawing at the side of the pool wall in a frantic attempt to latch on to anything that would help her get to the surface.

“Wesley!” I looked over my shoulder at him. “Does Priscilla know how to swim?” I asked in a panic.

Wesley shrugged his shoulders as he rose up and walked over to take a look at Priscilla who was still in distress. “I don't know, I've never seen her swim before.” At that moment, all of my training kicked in. I stepped off the edge of the pool with my hands at my sides and splashed into the water like a scuba diver. I shot toward the bottom of the pool and got directly behind Priscilla. I locked my arms around her torso and pushed off the bottom of the pool with a strength I didn't know I had. We rocketed toward the surface like two torpedoes. Once we reached the top, I rolled over onto my back, making sure that Pricilla's face was above water. I kicked as hard as I could to the pool's edge.

“Oh my God!” I heard Maya yell. By the time I reached the edge of the pool Maya was there to help me pull Priscilla out of the water. We situated Priscilla flat on her back. I got on my knees beside her and tried to revive her by shaking her shoulders and calling her name.

“Priscilla!” I shook her and watched for signs of move
ment. Not seeing any, I tilted her head back and lifted her chin. I opened her mouth and checked that no vomit was blocking her airway.

“Oh my God! Keysha, is she alive?” Maya asked in a panic. I didn't answer her. I tilted my head, placed my ear near her mouth and listened to see if she was breathing. I didn't hear or feel her breath. I looked up at Maya and said as calmly as I could, “Go dial 9-1-1.” Maya sprang to her feet and rushed away. I turned my attention back to Priscilla and placed the heel of my left hand on her breastbone with my other hand on top of it. I pressed on her chest thirty times in rapid succession. When I finished, I tilted her chin up, squeezed off her nostrils, opened her mouth and breathed air into it. I watched as her chest rose up and down gently from me forcing air into her body. I repeated the entire process a second time because I wasn't about to give up on her.

“Damn you, Priscilla. I'm not going to let you die on me!” I shouted as I repeated the process for a third time. Finally, she gasped and then began coughing up water. I turned her on her side. She coughed up the remainder of the liquid and then tried to catch her breath. After a minute her breathing seemed to return to normal. I hadn't even noticed the crowd of partygoers who'd stood by in silent shock and watched me revive Priscilla.

“Are you okay?” I asked her as she tried to sit up. She nodded yes and I said aloud, “She's going to be okay, everybody.” I sat on my knees and rested my butt on the heels of
my feet. Wesley handed me a towel so I could wipe water from my face.

“You are so awesome,” Wesley said, kneeling beside me and hugging me. I took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. Just then Maya walked in with two paramedics. Priscilla sat completely upright and everyone began clapping with relief.

I'd
heard through the grapevine that Priscilla's parents had had no clue she was pregnant until they arrived at the hospital after her near-death experience. Everyone who came to the pool after that episode thanked and congratulated me and Maya for our quick thinking and bravery. My bosses, along with senior park district officials, were very pleased with the fact that a tragedy was avoided. Jordan, Barbara and Mike were also very proud of me and took me out to dinner to celebrate. I told Jordan that it wasn't necessary, but he insisted.

“Are you kidding me! You saved the life of a young girl and her unborn child. That's certainly something worth celebrating.” Jordan was beaming.

“Dad, I was only doing my job,” I said, but he was too full of pride to just allow the moment to slip by without being recognized.

 

When I returned to work, the pool area had been cleaned up and all the party decorations had been removed. The
bottom of the pool was dirty, so I decided to pull out the vacuum and clean it before all the stay-at-home moms arrived with their infants and toddlers.

Just as I was finishing up, I was delighted to see Jerry exit the locker room and walk out onto the pool deck.

“Hey, you,” I greeted him.

“Hey,” Jerry said as he walked over to me and gave me a hug and a peck on the cheek.

“You're looking good,” I complimented him. He was wearing a nice pair of navy-blue denim shorts, a white polo shirt and black sandals.

“What brings you by? Obviously, you're not going swimming,” I said.

“No, I'm going down to North Avenue Beach with my brother. We're meeting some friends from our old neighborhood and we're going to catch the beach volleyball tournament.”

“Oh, wow, that sounds like fun. I've never been to a beach volleyball tournament before,” I said as I dragged the vacuum hoses back into their storage container. “How come you didn't invite me?”

“Umm, because that would have sounded like a date and you've expressed to me on more than one occasion that you're currently dating yourself.” He made me eat my own words.

I smirked. “You still could've invited me,” I said, not wanting to fully acknowledge what I'd said to him.

“Well, I'll take that hint as a green light to keep you in mind when I'm planning future events.” He stuffed his hands in his pockets.

“Didn't you say you weren't interested in dating girls?” I teased.

“Ahh, now you're trying to turn things back around,” he said, laughing. I went and sat down on my lawn chair and got comfortable. Jerry sat on an empty chair next to me.

“So, when are you leaving?” I asked.

“My brother should be along in a minute to pick me up,” he said, looking at me longer than necessary.

“Well, I hope you have fun,” I said, raising my knees up to my chest and draping a beach towel over my legs.

“Listen. Have you heard anything about a big house party that's coming up in about two weeks?”

“Umm, sort of. I think Misalo may have heard something about it and Maya made mention of it, but I wasn't really paying attention,” I said.

“Well, my dad and Adiya will be traveling to Miami on business in two weeks, so my brother and I decided to throw a party. Since we're new to the area, he thought it would be great to throw a little kickback. We're basically inviting a few people that we know to christen the house.”

“Really?” I said, excited about the concept of a cozy house party.

“Isn't that going to tick your dad off, though?” I asked.

“Nah, this isn't the first time my brother and I have had a kickback party. We'll have everything cleaned up long before he returns home, so he'll never know.”

“Well, aren't you worried about people breaking stuff or neighbors calling the cops?” I asked.

“No, silly. Our house is on a corner lot and the one next to us is empty.”

“What about your neighbors across the street?” I asked.

“The girl who lives there has already agreed to invite a few of her friends. So everything is covered. Besides, we live in a house, not an apartment. There is no law against a homeowner having a party. You should come as my guest. As Snoop Dog would say, it's gonna be ‘crack-a-lackin'.' In fact, it's probably going to be the best get-together of the summer. Some of my brother's college friends are coming, as well as folks from our old neighborhood. One of my brother's friends is twenty-one and works as a deejay, so the music is going to be hot.”

“Does this mean you're officially asking me out on a date?” I asked, feeling excited about the idea of giving romance another chance. Jerry paused and looked into my eyes. Butterflies danced around in my belly. He leaned closer to me, but then stopped to make sure I understood that he wanted to kiss me. I didn't put up a fight, which was a clear indication that he should move forward. I gazed into his eyes and relaxed my lips. I parted them slightly, making sure that I didn't open my mouth too much because I didn't want him to think I was trying to swallow his face. Our lips gently touched. Jerry placed his hands on my shoulders, then my cheeks. He was totally into the kiss, and I wanted to make sure that I didn't pull away too soon. He made the final call when he began to push away as he looked into my eyes. He smiled at me, and I embraced him.

“That was nice,” he whispered in my ear.

“Yes, it was,” I agreed with him as I exhaled.

“Now I'm going to ask you officially if you'll come to the party with me as my date.”

I giggled hard, which I didn't intend to do, but I couldn't help it. “I'd love to come,” I said as I rested my head against the back of the lawn chair.

“Give me your cell phone number so I can plug it into my phone,” he requested as he removed his iPhone from its holster. I gave Jerry my number and watched as he programmed it in.

“By the way, I heard about how you saved that girl's life. That was pretty cool.”

“Hey, I was just doing my job.” I downplayed the incident.

“Well, you did one hell of a job, baby,” Jerry said, leaning in once again for a second kiss. “Oh, I like the way your lips feel,” he said, leaning in once more.

“That makes two of us,” I said as I heard a car horn.

“That would be my brother.” Jerry stood. “I'll give you a call later, okay?”

“Sure. See you soon,” I said as Jerry exited the pool deck.

A few hours later, the sunny sky gave way to some dark storm clouds, and off in the distance I heard the rumble of thunder. I knew it wouldn't be long before the storm would hit and Maya and I would have to close the pool.

Just as it began to sprinkle, Wesley arrived at the swimming pool with an arrangement of flowers.

“Hello, Wesley,” I said as I began to gather up my belongings before everything got soaking wet.

“I got some flowers for you, Keysha.” He tried to hand them to me just as the sky opened completely up and began raining in hard sheets.

“Ahh!”
I instinctively squealed as I rushed into the clubhouse. Wesley trailed behind me and once he was inside, he closed the patio door so we wouldn't get any wetter.

“Come on, let's go over by the fireplace. There's a sofa over there,” I said, leading Wesley around. “Wait right here while I go to my locker and get an extra towel.” I went into the ladies' locker room and retrieved an extra beach towel that I'd stored there. When I returned, Wesley was looking out of one of the sliding glass doors at the intensity of the falling rain.

“Here you go,” I said, handing him the towel. Wesley took it and dried himself off.

“Aww, my flowers got crushed,” I said as I picked them up off the floor.

“Oh damn, I'm sorry. I didn't realize I'd dropped them,” Wesley said apologetically.

“It's okay, they don't look too bad,” I said, trying to spruce them up. “Why did you buy me these, anyway?”

“Just because,” Wesley answered. I gave him a suspicious look, because I knew there had to be a reason behind this.

“I don't feel like any more drama out of that crazy girlfriend of yours,” I said, placing the flowers on a nearby end table. I then sat down on the tan sofa.

“She's more than I can handle sometimes,” Wesley admitted.

“Wesley, why do you allow Lori to disrespect you and treat you like crap? I feel as if you've changed your entire personality just to be with someone who doesn't truly care about you.”

Wesley shrugged as if he were at a complete loss as to why he was putting up with her demanding and possessive ways. “I think you may be depressed or something,” I spoke honestly.

“I don't know, I might be,” he said, sitting down next to me. “I've just got a lot of issues I'm trying to deal with.”

“Well, have you talked with your father about your problems? He seems like a really understanding and easy-to-talk-to man,” I said.

“I can't talk to my dad about what's going on. It would just tear him apart,” Wesley admitted.

“I think it would tear him apart to see you like this and not get additional help,” I said. “You're so much smarter than the people you're hanging around, Wesley.”

“I think I'm sick, Keysha,” Wesley said, wincing.

I leaned in and sniffed him to see if I could smell a hint of booze. “Are you about to vomit or something, Wesley?”

“No. I just don't know if the alcohol is causing the burning sensation or if it's something else,” Wesley muttered.

“Burning sensation? What are you talking about, boy?” I turned my head sideways and looked at him strangely. “Never mind, it's probably nothing and it'll go away in time,” Wesley continued babbling.

“You're not making any sense, Wesley,” I said, trying to figure out what he was mumbling about.

“Just forget it, Keysha.” Wesley paused in thought. “I've heard about this party that these guys named Erin and Jerry are throwing in a few weeks and I wanted to know if you'd go with me. Not on a date or anything, but as friends.”

“Wesley, you're dating Lori, or have you forgotten?” I reminded him.

“I'm going to break up with her,” he said.

I frowned. “Dude, if you do that and then show up at a party with me and Lori finds out, things are going to get complicated. She and I already came pretty close to an all-out fistfight.” I jogged his memory.

“I'll protect you,” he said.

“Wesley, how are you going to protect me when you can't even stand up to the girl? Let me give you a good piece of advice. Girls don't like guys that they can run over.”

“I'm just trying to keep the peace with her, that's all.” Wesley offered up a weak rationale for accepting her abuse.

“You know what your problem is?” I asked.

“No, what?”

I hesitated so I could select the right words to express my thoughts clearly. “Okay, it's like this, Wesley.” I turned my body to face him.

“Wesley, you like to rescue girls in distress. I believe your desire to help troubled women comes from your inability to save your mother from her alcohol addiction. So you unconsciously seek out girls you can save. When they no
longer need you, you feel like you've lost something. Working here at the swimming pool gives me a lot of peace and time to reflect. I've thought about our broken relationship a lot and I truly believe the only reason you got involved with me is because I needed help. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that helping me was a bad thing, because I truly appreciated you risking your life to save me. But I don't need you to rescue me anymore. I think that when I no longer needed you in that way, you got bored and knowingly or unknowingly chose to involve yourself in Lori's life.”

“Keysha—” Wesley interrupted me.

“No, Wesley, I need you to listen. Now that Lori's safe and out of danger you're once again at a loss. Only this time, you've rescued a real lunatic who has flipped the script on you. I think you thought she was going to be forever grateful to you and she's nothing like that. She's bossy and very sneaky.” I paused.

“Wesley, you're too nice when it comes to dealing with Lori. You need to toughen up some. You also need to find the thug within you and get your swagger back and beat your dependency on alcohol once and for all,” I said.

“You know I'm not a thug, Keysha,” Wesley whispered softly. “That's not a good look for me.”

“Neither is being steamrollered by some loud-mouth control freak,” I said.

“So you're really not going to go with me to this party?” With that statement, Wesley got on my nerves, and I felt as
if everything I'd just said had gone in one ear and out the other. I jerked my head back, exhaled my aggravation and flung my arms in the air, then allowed them to flop back down.

“No. I'm going with Jerry, okay? I'm dating someone else now, Wesley. I've moved on, don't you get it?” For the first time I spoke to him as if he were a complete idiot. I didn't like degrading him, but it seemed to be the only thing he understood these days.

“I need a drink,” he said, rising to his feet.

I turned my lips down into a frown. “You need a drink like you need a hole in your head,” I said angrily.

Wesley placed his face in his palms and then slowly dragged them downward. “I'm out of here. I don't need you riding my back right now!” I could tell immediately by the slump in his shoulders and the tone of his voice that the truth of my words had wounded him. Wesley didn't say anything else; he just walked out the door and into the pouring rain.

 

Maya and I were off from work and stood on the corner bus stop waiting. We'd decided to spend our day shopping at a huge street festival on State Street downtown. The night before, we'd talked on the phone and planned out exactly how we were going to spend our time. We'd find a nice café and have brunch together before heading over to where the street vendors were. We'd scrounge around looking for good deals on clothes, makeup, jewelry and anything else that we'd find interesting.