The Summer I Learned to Swim

The Summer I Learned to Swim(Corona Smiles) The summer I learned how to swim was life-changing. Ma never let me swim for she feared I might drown, Pa thought it wasn't girly enough, and Calvin, my big brother, wouldn't let me swim so he could rub it in my face that I didn't know how to.
Everything started on the day a new city man moved into our old, out-of-date town. It was the beginning of summer, and I was having my usual debate with Ma. "All the other seven-year-olds swim!" I cried, desperate.
"Well, Georgia, those kids have lifeguards for parents." Ma replied. "And that's not the case with this family."
"Calvin can teach me!" I protested. "What else could be safer? He's my brother! Don't you trust Calvin to take me swimming?"
Ma opened her mouth to say something, but suddenly Calvin burst in, soaked from-yes, I can't believe Ma would let him-swimming. "We've got a new neighbor!" he yelled so that practically the whole neighborhood could hear.
"We do?" Ma gasped. The last time someone new had come to town was when Grandma was my age. Then she recovered herself and draped a towel around Calvin's shoulders. "Calvin, you're going to catch a-"
"I'm serious!" Calvin yelled again. "The new guy has a butterfly tattoo and a pierced ear! He's from New York City!"
That did it. Ma opened the front door and, along with half of the town, watched our new neighbor moving boxes around. He was at least six feet tall, with flaming red hair, and a large butterfly tattoo on the back of his hand. He caught everyone staring and waved shyly. "Hey!" he called, dragging a piece of furniture. "I'm, uh, new around here, my name is Robert, and I'm from New York City!" A low murmur arose from all the townspeople. We then argued about responsibilities and capabilities. Finally Ma went inside and came back out a few minutes later, walking over to Robert with a pie. A pie! I wanted that pie too!
"Why, thank you, " Robert said and sniffed the pie daintily. I laughed; it looked too absurd, a red-haired giant trying to be a polite prince. "You're welcome," Ma replied, and the whole town started murmuring again about who would bring what to Robert.
After a month, Robert was settled in and had hosted a cooking contest in which he would eat a plate of everyone's cooking and proclaim that it was the finest thing he ever tasted. Us children had had a lot of fun because later he had an eating contest with us, seeing who could finish the leftovers the fastest. In the end, he gave each excited cook some chocolate. "Probably just wanted a free meal," Pa snorted, but then Ma would frown, silencing him.
Soon all the folks under eighteen swarmed to Robert's house and asked for another contest, a candy-eating one. Every mother in town trusted Robert to entertain us.
Summer was going to end soon and we wanted to do something fun before school started. "Please? A candy-eating contest! We could have chocolate and peanut brittle!" Calvin begged along with all the other kids. I stayed quiet because I was allergic to peanuts and, honestly, didn't like chocolate. "Nah," Robert shook his head. "Your parents are gonna kill me if they heard. Candy isn't healthy." Ma would never kill a person!
"How about a talent show?" I suggested.
"That's a good idea," Robert said slowly.
We began hollering out ideas. "Comedy!" "Singers!" "Harry Houdini!" "Hairy Hood-who?"
Over three weeks, we planned out every detail of the show. It would be right in front of the small pond where the boys all swam, and Robert said that he had a small stage for us. The tickets for the show were cheap and we made snacks for the audience. We told people to bring mats since we couldn't find enough chairs.
Calvin and I would be performing this card levitation trick. We stuck a bit of clear plastic on the back of the card and when you pressed your finger against it, the card dangled gently from the plastic. The Rowan brothers were going to conjure a rabbit out of a hat. There was also going to be a dance performed by Janet and Betty, followed by several more acts.
"Well, do you think you're ready?" Ma asked again, making me more nervous.
"YES!" I yelled, frustrated.
"What about me?" Calvin asked. His hair was slicked back with oil and he borrowed one of Pa's smaller suits, a midnight blue one. I was wearing my only dress, pale pink embellished with small rosettes.
"You both look great. Don't they, Thomas?" Ma poked Pa's arm. "Sure," he grunted, and turned back to his newspaper. "You have to come!" Ma said, and we hauled Pa to the show. The whole town was there! My nerves made me jump at the slightest disturbance. Wow! I never thought so many people lived in our town!
"This scares me," Calvin whispered in my ear. I giggled as he tugged at his itchy suit. At least my dress let me breathe.
Robert led us all behind the stage. Everyone was dressed in a suit or a dress, except for Janet and Betty, who were wearing frilly tutus for their dance. I smothered a laugh. They looked ridiculous!
"Alright now, "Robert whispered. "This is it." He paused, looking at each one of us. "Remember your order. Also, don't be shy or afraid. The whole audience will be cheering you on! You'll all be great! Smile!" With that, he walked onto stage and announced, "Ladies and gentlemen! Thank you for attending THE TALENT SHOW!" A loud round of applause followed. "Your children have worked super hard on this performance, so be proud! Now, presenting our first act...THE FLOATING CARD!"
I gulped, filled with trepidation. Calvin took my hand and led me to the stage while Robert backed off. The crowd clapped and waited. For a scary moment, there was silence as the crowd waited. I stared at Calvin. What did we do now? For some reason, I couldn't remember anything.
Calvin cleared his throat. "We can make a card float!"
"Ooohh..." the audience whispered enthusiastically.
"Yeah!" said Calvin and took out the cards. It wasn't that bad being on stage.
"I'm going to take this card, " I said loudly. "And it will levitate!" I took a card, pressed my thumb on the clear plastic, and lifted. The card gently swayed upward.
"Amazing!" It was Ma. She clapped and cheered and hollered and whooped. The crowd started doing the same thing. Calvin grinned.
He said, "We're not done yet! We also-" He was cut off by the sound of classical music, which boomed out of the Robert's speakers. Instantly, cold sweat rushed down my back. The audience murmured, wondering if this was part of our act.
Just then, two utterly embarrassing-looking girls leapt on the stage. Janet and Betty pranced around in their tutus, looking slightly confused. "Why are you still here?" Janet hissed, twirling. Calvin calmly headed offstage, but I was quite perturbed. My performance wasn't over yet! The music had come on too early!
I stormed to the edge of the stage, trying to find Robert. Instead, I bumped into Betty, who was in the middle of a grande jété. She lost her balance and fell forward, knocking me backward. The audience gave a collective gasp as I fell...Remember our stage was right in front of a beautiful pond?
Splash! Cold water sharpened my senses as I flailed about. Ma and Pa raced over. It was all I could do to not swallow water. I gasped for air like a fish without gills, then suddenly Robert was next to me. "Spread your arms out," he instructed. "Kick your feet like this." He demonstrated, I copied, and before you knew it, I was swimming, although clumsily, towards shore with Robert behind me. SWIMMING! I knew how to swim! As I crawled on to land, everyone gaped at me. Ma rushed over, hugging me. "Are you alright?" She shook me a few times.
The show was cancelled. Robert apologized profusely, the parents hugged their children thankfully, and the children stared at each other, disappointed that they hadn't gotten a chance to perform.
That night, I thought about what had happened. All that water and flailing around... I didn't want to swim anymore.
For the rest of summer, that talent show was the only thing our town talked about. Robert apologized to us at least twice a day. I tried not to think about it and decided that swimming wasn't fun anymore.
Days passed. School started. One day, I came home from school and Ma walked over to me. "Hey," Her eyes sparkled.
"What is it?"
"Robert gave a lot of money for this."
"Okay?"
"You have swimming classes!" She paused, seeing my expression. "Didn't you want them since the beginning of summer?"