Don't Fear the Water

So now, Lisa's gone.

I wonder what's going to happen to Jason. Don't you think that someone should've known about him, before he came to this camp? Like, I heard that he actually had this scrapbook of articles about people who drowned in his room. Someone should've done something.

Don't try to hug me! Believe me, it'll be a cold day in Hell before I want you to touch me.

And don't tell me to watch my language either. I'm not in the mood for that.

You know, this may sound weird, but I think I first met Lisa at swimming lessons, although I may have seen her a few times at church. My parents made me take them the summer that I was six and Lisa was in the same class as me. Didn't know we went back that far, did you?

Anyway, I remember how Lisa had problems even then. I mean most of us were a little afraid of the water when we started, but then we got over it. By the time the test arrived, I jumped off that diving board and swam to the ladder, thus earning my Red Cross certificate. But Lisa was one of the kids who wouldn't jump. The teacher tried to encourage her, but it never worked and she failed the test.

So I moved on and I forgot about Lisa. I never saw her much at school. By the time I was twelve, I had problems of my own. Just because I dyed my hair black and wore purple nail polish, my parents thought there was something wrong with me. They made me go to this stupid Christian summer camp. As if that would straighten me out.

I was a little surprised when Lisa turned up in the same cabin as me. Like I said, I hadn't given her much thought. We all know Lisa was your favorite kid in this cabin. She actually seemed to like it here at this camp. She was singing along when you made us sing that dumb song about Father Abraham having many sons, and she always participated in your annoying prayers and Bible studies. This place would have been Heaven for Lisa except for. . .the swimming requirement.

I remember the first day that we had swimming. You took us all out to the lake and asked us to show us what we had. I did a perfect swan dive and swam easily along the lake's perimeter. I remember how you said, ¨Not bad, Jane,¨ in that tone of voice.

Don't ask what tone of voice. It was that tone of voice which said, ¨at least this bitch can do something right,¨and don't try to deny that that's what you were thinking.

But then it was Lisa's turn. First, you tried asking her to jump in, but she just got scared and shook her head. Then, you tried asking her to lower herself in from the side, but she still wouldn't do it.

Then you really stepped in it. You put on that annoying cheerful voice you like to use and said, ¨Come on, Lisa. You're going to have to put your head in the water eventually. What are you going to do when it's time for your baptism?¨

You realize why that was mean? Lisa, like me, was brought up Catholic. We were already baptized when we were little babies, and the priest just sprinkled a little water on our heads. I think you may have made Lisa feel like less of a Christian, because she was Catholic.

I know you didn't mean it, but that's just the way you are. If my parents had known how Catholic kids get treated at this camp, they might not have been so gung-ho to send me here.

Now, you were always getting on my case, which was really unfair because I was the only girl in the cabin who wasn't mean to Lisa after that day. No, really everyone else made fun of her, and that girl, Beth, did an impresson of Lisa shaking her head and not going into the water. The other girls laughed and laughed, but I didn't think it was funny, and I'm not even sure why.

Oh? Maybe because it wasn't funny? Well, you're a genius for coming up with that remark. If it's that simple then why were the other girls so hysterical about it? Hmm?

Oh? Now what are you going to say? That I'm a nicer person than you give me credit for?

That I'm a nicer person then I give myself credit for? That makes no sense. And don't try to hug me.

I wanted to help Lisa learn to swim, but I couldn't figure out a way to do it until Jason came along.

Oh Jason! I First met him at one of those mixers we had with the boy's camp. He really didn't look like trouble at all. He was handsome, but he also had this friendly smile that made you trust him. He and I spent a few minutes talking about this and that. Then, he noticed Lisa who was by herself in a corner. He said, ¨Is that the girl who's afraid to swim?¨

¨I'm surprised you know that.¨

¨Yeah, well,¨ he said, ¨could you introduce me to her?¨

That may have seemed a little strange, but I don't remember thinking it. I do remember saying, ¨You know, she's not just a girl who's afraid to swim. She's a girl who likes reading the Bible, and singing and she's pretty good good at volleyball. I'm just saying, those are all things you could talk about when you meet her instead of swimming.¨

But I introduced them and he did start to talk about swimming. I could see Lisa cringe when he brought up the topic. But then he said, ¨You know, I'm not here to make fun of you. I was just interested because I used to be afraid of the water myself. I didn't learn to swim until I was ten.¨

That made Lisa's face fall. I wasn't sure why until she said, ¨Do you know how many times I've heard from people who used to be afraid of the water?¨

Jason was not put out. ¨I know exactly what you mean. Before I learned to swim, I had to listen to a string of people trying to encourage me. Not to mention all the people who thought they could convince me with scary stories. I assume you've already heard my favorite,¨--Here he started speaking in this fake deep voice--¨You've got to learn to swim. You might fall out of boat one day.¨

This actually made Lisa smile a little bit.

¨Of course,¨Jason went on, ¨none of that ever really worked. You know what finally convinced me to learn?¨ Lisa shook her head. ¨It sounds weird, but when I was ten, I saw a group of girls my age playing in bathing suits at the pool and there were boys playing with them and they were all having fun. I felt left out. I didn't want to be an outsider anymore, so I walked to the edge, took a deep breath and dunked myself.¨

Well, it was not an approach which would have occurred to me, but Lisa seemed to get interested in spite of herself. Then, Jason smiled and said, "Do you girls ever sneak out at night?"

Well, I never did. And I think it goes without saying that Lisa had never done anything like that.

"Because," Jason went on, "we could all go down to the lake later tonight and maybe swim in the moonlight."

Lisa didn't like the idea and I might not have been too keen about it myself if Jason hadn't winked at me. So I turned to Lisa and said, "Come on and try it, Lisa, it'll be fun."

Well, I convinced her and so, that night after Lights Out, she and I sneaked out to the lake where Jason was waiting. He smiled. "Glad you could make it." Then he took off his shirt and dived into the lake."Are you two coming in?" he called.

I didn't need to be told twice. I kicked off my sneakers and jumped in. When I swam close to Jason, he smiled at me and said in a low voice, "Now, if we want her to get in the water, we should have as much fun as possible."

That made sense. So, Jason and I splashed each other for a while, and when we got close enough, he grabbed me, and pushed me under the water. When I came up sputtering and laughing. I looked and saw that Lisa was standing very close to the edge of the lake. It made me optimistic, so I swam over and said. "Want to come in?"

"Is this part deep?" asked Lisa hesitantly.

"No," I said. "Come on." By now Jason had joined me and was trying to encourage her too.

Lisa took sighed, pulled off her shoes, and slid into the lake.

I clapped my hands and cheered. Lisa smiled. Then, she looked at Jason, looked at the water, held her nose, and went under. A few seconds later, she came up, sputtering, but she looked happy.

Jason and I each rushed to give her a hug.

Then, Jason played around with her, and held her up so that she could swim a few strokes. She actually enjoyed it. I was beginning to think that introducing Lisa to Jason was the best thing I had ever done.

Eventually, we decided it was time to go to bed. So we went back to our cabins. Lisa and I were feeling pretty good. Until we saw you waiting for us.

You were not your usual cheerful self.

I remember how you said, "Where have you two girls been?" Then, before we could even try to answer, you looked at Lisa incredulously and said, "Lisa, your hair is wet," in an incredulous tone of voice. "Can somebody tell me what's going on here?"

Then Lisa said, "Don't be mad at Jane, Mary. She was helping me learn to swim."

I groaned, because, honestly, that was not how I would have said it.

But you did a strange thing. You looked at me. Then, you said, "Lisa, go to bed." Then after she was gone, you said, "Jane, I don't know what to do with you, but I hope you like the plates in the dining hall."

I didn't understand.

"Because you are going to wash them. Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner for the next week."

You know, I still don't understand why you punished me, but not Lisa. Not only was it unfair, but punishing Lisa might have saved her life.

Anyway, I remember the night. I was scrubbing plate after plate, when Lisa came by the kitchen to say, "hello."

"I'm sorry you got punished," she said.

"It's okay."

Then she looked a little guilty. "I saw Jason today. He wanted us to come swimming again tonight."

I laughed cynically. "There's no way I can. I'll get hanged."

"That's what I thought, but would you mind if I went?"

You know, maybe I should have told her that I did mind, but ther truth was I wanted to encourage her. There's a thought. You could have saved her life by punishing her. I could've saved her life by being more of a jealous bitch.

Instead I hugged her and told her that she could go only if she promised to have lots of fun and get really wet.

Well, I guess she kept the second promise, anyway. They say Jason must have held her under water for a good three minutes before she died. Isn't that the worst way to kill someone? I mean, if I ever had to kill someone, I'd do it with a gun or a knife, but when you drown someone, you must feel their life slowly leaving their body while you hold them under. What kind of sicko can do that?

So what's going to happen to Jason? Actually, I wonder what's going to happen to Lisa. Oh, I know if we were a couple of atheists that would be a dumb question, because she's dead. But we're Christians. We believe in the afterlife. So what's going to happen to Lisa.

Heaven? Are you sure?

Wow. What do you think Heaven is like fo Lisa? Maybe it's a great big Christian camp like this one, only the summer never ends, and swimming is an elective.

Something like that.

Mary. . .How can I put this? . . .What would you say if I told you that I thought today was a cold day in Hell?

Don't laugh. Just try not to squeeze too tight.



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