“It’s just you. You look beautiful.”
We went back to the water-slide area and climbed the flights of stairs to the top. There was a long line of people waiting to go down. You went down through a tube, through fast twists and swoops, sitting on a piece of plastic with a stream of cold water pushing you and at the bottom you shot out into the swimming pool. As people disappeared, going down, you could hear them screaming and hollering. The line kept moving forward, then it was our turn. “Who wants to go first?” I said.
TJ’s and Bobby’s eyes looked huge. They stood on the platform staring down into the water slide where it made its first turn.
“It’s all right,” I said. “You’ll see.”
“Does it hurt?”
“No. You won’t get hurt. It’s fun.”
“Okay,” TJ said. “I think I can try it.”
I gave the attendant the tickets and he handed us the plastic pieces to sit on. TJ sat down on the plastic and inched himself toward the lip of the platform, then he was over the lip and the stream of water caught him and he went down fast, screaming.
“Next,” the attendant said. “Who’s next? There’s people waiting.”
“What do you think, Bobby?” I said.
“Can I try it with you?”
“Yes. Come down with me once, then you’ll be all right.”
I sat down on the plastic rug and took Bobby on my lap. I winked at Jessie.
“See you boys at the bottom,” she said.
I pushed us off the platform, leaning back, holding Bobby with one hand and pushing off with the other; then the water caught us and we went down in a wet rush around the first turn, banking up onto the side and shooting ahead, then more twists and sudden dips and a long fast straight run and a sudden turn up onto the side, the water carrying us and Bobby and I both yelling, and another swoop and then a short run and finally out, flying, still seated on the plastic rug but suspended in air now, and then down into the pool. We went under, I held Bobby around the chest and swam to the surface. When we came up Bobby’s eyes were as bright as glass. “How’d you like it?” I said.
“I’m going by myself next time.”
We turned to watch for Jessie. But one of the lifeguards standing at the side of the pool motioned us out of the way, so we wouldn’t get hit. We swam over to the edge where TJ was. We climbed out and waited. But she didn’t come.
“Where’s Mom?” TJ said.
“I don’t know. She was right behind us.”
“What’s taking her so long?”
“I don’t know. Keep watching.”
Then suddenly she came flying out of the tube with a big fat man in yellow trunks just behind her, the two of them sitting briefly on air, his legs around her, and then they sat down into the water in a tremendous splash. They rose to the surface and Jessie swam over to us. “Sorry,” the fat man called. “Did I hurt you? I’m sorry.” Jessie shook her head and waved at him. She was laughing.
“What happened?” I said.
“Oh,” she said. She looked toward the man in yellow trunks; he was climbing up the ladder out of the pool, pulling his trunks up over his fat bottom. “I got stuck about halfway down and I couldn’t move.”
“Wasn’t there any water?”
“Yes, but I lost the piece of plastic. Then that man came down and smacked into me, with his legs around me, and we came down the rest of the way like that.”
“Did he hurt you?”
“No it was just funny. And he kept yelling: ‘I’m sorry, lady. I’m sorry.’ But it wasn’t his fault. He was awfully big, though.”
“Well,” I said. “It’s a little unorthodox, but you did make a splash.”
“I think we did,” Jessie said.
“But, Mom,” TJ said. “Don’t do that again. It’s embarrassing.”
“I didn’t mean to.”
“I know. But it’s embarrassing.”
“Very well. Next time I’ll let Pat follow me. Will that be all right?”
“It’s certainly all right with me,” I said.