DUALISM

            Dualism        

           

Michael preferred not to spend much time withhis co-workers when not forced to do so, or more to the point, when not beingpaid.  The majority lived at home withparents, a state of affairs he disliked. The constant reminders not to be loud, the early hours parties wereforced to adjourn, and the inevitable scenes when parents entered the room,leaving all present silent and sullen, as if the gravest crimes were beingcommitted.  When Rob invited him to swimat his parent’s house, Michael answered in the negative a handful of times, notquite listening to Rob or what he said. 

            “My parents are on vacation.”  Rob said. Michael finally listened and nodded as if to hear more. 

            “Besides, Mike, when is the lasttime you went swimming?” 

            The question contained merit; hecouldn’t remember the last time he’d been in the water, beach or pool. 

            “Who is going to be there?”  Michael asked, making one last attempt tospurn the invitation.

            “Come this afternoon, you’ll be ableto enjoy the pool by yourself.  Did I mentionit’s an in-ground pool?”

            Michael agreed to come, making anote of Rob’s address.  He drove straighthome from the restaurant, not stopping at the coffee shop as usual, wanting toget work done before he went.  Once home,he stripped off his uniform and sat down at his desk, rubbing his hands withanticipation.  Moments passed, whichturned into minutes, with no results.  Hecouldn’t get his mind off having a swim alone, in a real pool, not one of thesmall above ground affairs most people placed in their back yards.  He placed his cheek on one hand and lethimself drift, thinking and daydreaming about swimming, trying to remember hislast time in the water.  He began towrite in his notebook.

            Rob’s parents lived across town,near the water.  He passed several of theplaces in town he spent time; the cafe, the bookstore and the computercenter.  He turned finally onto a quietstreet bordering the lake, quite surprised at the size of the houses in theneighborhood, not knowing that the town had money of that kind.  To the left he saw a towering colonial, withmock columns lining the front entrance and a row of manicured hedges guardingthe driveway.  He slowed his car, lookingfor a number, instead seeing a placard with a name attached. 

                       

The Goddard’s         

           

            “This is the place.”  He said to himself, pulling into the openingof the hedges and down a long, straight drive which led to the imposingcolonial.  He parked near the front door,getting out slowly, making sure to look about him.  Two oaks stood on either side of the houseand a porch ran around the perimeter of the house, starting and ending witheach tree, small stone tablets pressed into the ground led to the trees fromthe driveway.  He walked up the frontsteps and pressed the bell, hearing the sound ring inside the house.  After a few moments, he heard steps answeringthe bell, coming from what seemed a great distance.  

The door swung open and Rob stood grinning inthe entryway.       

“I knew you’d come.”  He said, leading the way into the house.  They passed through wide room, the walls ofwhich were lined with portraits, and into the kitchen.  Rob grabbed beers from the refrigerator andled them out onto the porch and down a hill to a building.  He opened the door and motioned for Michaelto lead the way.  He entered and stoodshocked in the entrance.  Before him laya near Olympic sized swimming pool, by far the largest he’d seen at a privateresidence. 

            “Pretty impressive, eh.”  Rob said, with that same familiar grin.         

Michael chose not to answer, moving insteadclose to the water.  He wondered how muchan enclosed pool of this size cost, but dared not to ask.  Lounge chairs lined the outside of the pool, separatedat small distances by tables.  Towardsthe back of the room, he could see a bar and wondered why Rob brought beer frominside the house.  On the far side of thepool was a door he figured to be a changing area and bathroom.  Rob followed his glance and answered thequestion.

            “That is the changing area, but thebathroom for men is behind the bar.  Thewomen prefer the other.”

            Michael laid down the towel hebrought on a chair and moved to the edge of the water.  As he put his hands into the water, he hearda phone ring and Rob excuse himself to answer. Michael felt glad to be alone, wanting to take a few laps by himself toget used to the act of swimming once again. He jumped, swallowed by the warm water.

            “I think I’m going to likethis.”  He said to himself.

            He began to swim, starting with afew laps of freestyle; enjoying the time it took him to cover the length of thepool.  His muscles responded to theexertion, not having been stressed for more than a few moments exercise inmonths.  He flipped onto his back andbegan a leisurely lap across the pool.

            “I hope you can swim faster thanthat.”  He heard a female voice say.  He stood and looked, seeing a young girl, noolder than twelve, thirteen at the most, standing next to the pool.  She leaned casual on one leg, dipping a redpainted foot into the water, blonde curls dancing in her eyes, the paleness ofher skin set off by her pink bathing suit, a tight fitting two piece that gaveroom for his eyes to wander.  She lookedat him for a few moments in silence, her eyes pale blue and large, filled withsparkles and smiles.  The room spun andhis ears heard the sound of her giggling.       

            “I’m Tess.”  She said. He looked and stared and couldn’t respond, his throat notresponding.  His eyes traced over thegrowing curves of her hips, past the plump flesh of her thighs and back again,taking in budding breasts and a thin pale neck. 

            “Don’t let Rob catch you staring,he’s protective.”  She said before divinginto the pool.  She swam with naturalgrace, hardly moving the water about her. She appeared before him in moments, covering the distance in mereseconds.  She popped up in front of him,close enough to touch.  She smiled athim, eyes blue and deep and wide, her lips thick and red, and a cute perfectnose that twitched when she smiled.   

“Michael.”  He said, with visible effort.

            “Good boy.”  She said, touching the tip of his nose with athin porcelain finger.  “Now, let’srace.”            

She took off for the far end of the pool, inthe direction of the bar, Michael trailing behind by a few feet, his eyestaking in the back of her legs and feet as they kicked and propelled herforward.  She touched the wall beforehim, jumping and hollering at her victory.   

            “You’re not such a good swimmer,Michael.”  She smiled and laughed, thesound of her voice playing with his mind. He finally managed to smile in return, trying to gather his wits.  She took off again and they swam severallaps, Michael feeling exited and a growing tired at the same time.  He let her lead to allow a view, which shediscovered as she looked back at him. She smiled at him, a fellow conspirator, and winked.   

“You have a nice smile.”  He said, not believing the words left hismind, the place he meant to keep his thoughts of her.

            “Shhh.”  She whispered, one finger on her lips,looking about for Rob in a comical way, placing one hand over her eyes as iflooking into a crowd at the beach. Michael felt a twinge of fear mixed withguilt and made for the other end of the pool with slow sure strokes.  He heard a splash and knew she followed,hoping that Rob wouldn’t make his appearance again for hours.  He reached the wall, panting, water drippingover his eyes.  A moment later he felther arms on him, dragging him under the water. When he finally managed to come up again, she stood by him laughing andpointing.

            “No resting yet, we’ve just begun toplay.”  She said, her eyes on his,bringing a feeling of spinning to his mind once again.

            “I’m going to have a beer.” 

            He got out and sat down, taking along pull from his beer to settle his nerves. He desperately wanted a cigarette, regretting leaving them in thecar.  Tess frowned at him from the pooland yelled for him to come back. 

            “Let me sit here for a while.”  He answered, hoping Rob didn’t walk in whilehe was talking with her. 

            “You just want to watch.”  She said, sticking out her tongue.  She turned and began to swim laps,alternating strokes each time she hit the wall. She swam well, churning the distance of the pool on any given strokewithin twenty seconds.  He watched andshe swam, for what seemed like an hour, neither tiring of their pursuit ofhappiness.  As time passed, Michaellooked back at the door more often, wondering what became of Rob.  It seemed odd that he didn’t tell him wherehe went or when he’d return.  Michaelheld out hope that Rob might be lost.  Ashe lost himself in thoughts of this kind, watching her pale pearl skin movethrough the water with almost no effort, he felt tired.  He closed his eyes for a moment and fellasleep.          

            He felt someone tugging on his armand as he opened his eyes half expecting to see Tess standing over him, he sawRob instead, a look of concern on his face.

            “I leave for ten minutes and youfall asleep?  Are you okay?”            

Michael looked about him, seeing not a traceof Tess.   The pool was a mirrorundisturbed, the closeness of the water shocking, his chair on a small decknext to a small tub sized wading pool.  Behind Rob he saw a few guys from work,wearing swim trunks and towels over their shoulders.   And behind them he saw trees and a smalltime worn ranch on top of a hill