Peeing in the Pool
At the ripe old age of ten, it’s all about who you know. The country club hosted the only community pool in town, and it was something to mention when making new friends. Everyone knew that when someone was a member, this person was capable of taking you with them as a guest to the pool. When temperatures average about 95–100 degrees, swimming pools are the closest things to heaven.
I was quite popular, you might say. At least that’s what I thought every year when the days got hotter. Come summer time, my calendar would be loaded with kids who wanted to go to the pool with me. We would load up in the Suburban with every
pool toy known to man. Noodles, floaties, sharks, tubes, sinkable, water balls, water blasters, goggles, and even a few Barbies would all make the pilgrimage to the country club, where we would brave the scolding black tar parking lot and drag everything into the gate.
The pool was divided into two segments: the big pool and the kid pool. The big pool started at about 3 feet and had a maximum depth of 8 feet. To this day, I remember that I could smell the chlorine way before we even got through the gate. And it was always frigid. On days where the temperatures were in the 90s to 100s, that water remained in the 30s.
This is where the kid pool comes into play. With its constant temperature of about 76 degrees, we would take turns jumping into the deep end of the big pool and then run back to the kid pool to warm up. The temperature change felt amazing, and I didn’t understand why no one ever just sat in the kid pool. The chlorine smell wasn’t as strong there either. So that made it all the more attractive to my ten year old eye.
On that day, I had chosen Alice Caperton to be my guest. She was notably the most popular girl in our class, and for her to want to play with me was my shot at true fame. It didn’t matter how she had tormented me in the past or called me names in front of the entire class. She wanted to be my friend now. Actually, she had called to invite me to take her to the pool. I was certain that she had truly changed and was not as mean as I had thought. She had even brought me a Popsicle to eat on the way there.
When we arrived, we were still talking and giggling when she spotted some of her friends. They instantly gathered around Alice, pushing me aside like they did in school. Still, I did my best to act “cool” as I walked quietly behind the group, and we carefully entered the water. There was no splashing, no dunking, and no sign of them ever wanting to swim. I was left to play by myself as they talked about boys and which ones they planned on marrying. Alice had already decided that she was marrying Billy and was on to planning the honeymoon.
Instead of talking about them, I met up with some of the guys from our school, and we started playing games. The girls watched from the shallow end so as to not seem too amused by our fun. It was sometime into our fourth round of sharks and minnows that
I announced I had to leave the game for a bathroom break. The boys just stared at me before informing me of the ways of the world.
“You don’t have to walk to the bathroom. Just go to the kid pool. That’s what we do!”
I was dumb struck by this new bit of information. I can pee in the pool? I had never explored such a thought and decided it was worth trying. One of the guys, Billy, came with me as we walked over and sat in the kid pool. He watched me closely and talked me through the process with great consideration to detail.
“Just make it look like you’re just sitting there. You know? Like you’re just over here to sit and warm up.”
I felt my heart beat in my throat as I looked over to the others watching from a distance. All the boys had lined up along the rope. On their faces, they displayed genuine encouragement. All waiving and mouthing the words, “You can do it.” Alice and the other girls were also staring intently at the two of us. I had remembered her saying on the car ride up that she had a major crush on Billy, and now I saw how she had lit up when he was at the pool.
Billy continued to stare. His green eyes seemed to try and will me to pee, as if eyes could do that. He was focused.
“Stop that.” I ordered.
“Why?”
I don’t know. It’s just weird.”
“Do you want me to hold your hand?”
“No!” I cried. “Just stop staring at me. I can’t do it while you’re
looking.”
Billy looked away for a moment before turning to me again. “Do you want me to tickle you?”
“What?”
He scooted closer. “Tickle. It might make you pee.”
“No! No thanks. Just stop staring.”
“Oh,” he looked away. “Sorry.”
He reached for my hand anyway. I think it was more for him than me. He was pretty nervous, too since it was my first time, and he didn’t want me to be alone. None the less, I was glad he was beside me. Besides, we were too young to think of how creepy the whole scenario was. So I closed my eyes, released my muscles and did what my momma told me not to do. I was peeing in the pool.
I opened my eyes to see Billy staring me down again, wanting so badly to ask if I had done it yet. I simply smiled and nodded. He smiled back and gave the others the thumbs up sign. “That was so cool!” I squealed as we walked back to the big pool, still hand in hand, and smiling the entire way.
The guys accepted me as one of their own, asking me if I was scared or if I had thought of backing out. “No, no” was all I said, and we high fived and hugged before taking our places back
at the game. I looked over my shoulder at Alice to boast of my most recent achievement, knowing that she would have to find me worthy of joining her club now. But instead, I found her and the other girls giggling. Then they pointed and I knew they were laughing at me.
“I’m not riding home with a girl who pees in pools!” she yelled so everyone could hear. “I’m going home with clean girls who aren’t so dumb!”
I was crushed. Hearing her words, the entire pool community had their eyes on me. Billy and the rest of the boys turned and joined in on the fun of ridiculing me to the point of tears. They would later say that they told me to do it, so they could make fun of me. Whatever would make them look best. I went home crying, re-thinking every friendship I ever had.
As I grew older, this event stuck in my memory as a lesson about popularity and friendship. I decided that popularity was not for me if it involved making fun of others just to build up your ego. Many of the boys have since then apologized for their actions that day. Even Billy told me how sorry he was that he didn’t stand up for me. Though Alice and I never spoke much after that, I cannot help but wonder about her actions. But then I stick to my conclusion that I made that night after returning home from the pool. Alice may have thought she had it all, but she never got
to hold Billy’s hand for moral support when she first peed in the pool.