On a hot, sunny day in August of this year, I went with my family to a lake somewhere in Georgia. I joined my aunt Tanya, uncle Don, cousins, Najia, Ashley, My My, Mya, Dre, Dj, and Dj’s friend Chris. This day marked the second time my uncle Don would be attending with the family on a trip, since his entrance into it a few weeks prior. He and my aunt Tanya aren’t married, but she’s chosen him as her boyfriend since her late husband, my uncle Derrick passed away. It took a lot of courage for my aunt to move on, but she came through like always. My aunt’s a strong woman, resilient, and striving person. The family is very grateful to have her. My uncle Don seems to be a good man. While I’ve been around him, he’s shown that he’s hardworking, a leader, and humble. I admire those qualities. I hope that he and my aunt will get married in the future. So before I went to the lake, I didn’t think I’d be going anywhere because it was already late, and I was in the house all day. If it weren’t for my cousin Najia, I would have never gone to the lake.
It was around 5 PM, I was sitting on my bed and occasionally glancing out the window at the low sunlight. Another day wasted, sigh, but what will I do? It’s not like I know anyone around here. I gave up and looked at the dimly lit TV. I was watching my favorite program, CreateTV. Yes, I watch cable. I was watching one of the many cooking shows I watched. I should apply this material myself. I studied the screen, observing the cook explain the recipe. Suddenly, my phone rang. My phone vibrated on my small black nightstand, making a loud “vrmmm” sound. “I wonder who’s calling me,” I said. I barely get calls from anyone so it was surprising to hear the phone ring, at any time. I noticed the caller id read “Najia” so I picked up. I answered the phone: ”Hey Najia,” I said.
“Hey,” she replied. “Do you want to come swimming with us?”
“Sure!” I agreed, why not?
“We’re going to a lake,” Najia told me.
“Where at? I asked, for some reason, I thought we were going to swim in their community lake, why would they swim THERE? They don’t swim in that water. The lake in Najia’s neighborhood is green, has turtles, and attracts geese.
Najia replied saying: “Um, I don’t know, but it’s not our lake.” That clarified my thoughts. “Okay,” I said, feeling reassured.
“Bring some swimming trunks and be ready in 15 minutes,” Najia said.
“Alright,” I said. Then she hung up. Next, I quickly grabbed some gray trunks out of my drawer and got ready. I then asked my mom if I could go. She agreed and I was all set.
Next, I got in the car with uncle Don, aunt Tanya, and Najia. Everyone else was probably already at the lake or on making their way to it. I assumed the lake was a place to hang out and fish, but I was mistaking it for a pond. On the way to the lake, Ashley called aunt Tanya and talked about how there were police officers at the lake, called because someone complained about some kids jumping off rocks. “Momma, somebody called the police about kids What? My thoughts flickered to when I saw a lake in a cove. That lake was big, a tourist attraction, and not to mention deep. This lake better not be deep! Aunt Tanya told Ashley not to worry about it and that we would be with her shortly. When we got there, we parked on the other side of her car, then had to call because she wasn’t in it. Ashley told aunt Tanya that she and my other cousins were with her at the lake.
And then, we all got out of the car, and I observed two signs that read “Playground and “Lake”. There were concrete paths that followed. As I stood up from the car, I saw uncle Don going to the trunk of the car, and then pulling out a big cooler. “What’s in there? I asked.
“Soft drinks, water, and other drinks,” he said, in an uneasy voice, as he tried to lift the cooler. “Oh,” I said, with interest.
“We’re having a picnic too”, my aunt Tanya clarified.
“Oh, nice!” A picnic? This day just kept getting better. “Ivy, can you take the other side of this, please?” my uncle asked. That’s my nickname, which he used as an escape from saying my name the first time we met. I understood that. “Yes sir,” I agreed. Then I quickly learned why my uncle’s voice was uneasy earlier. That cooler was HEAVY! It acted like a wind that rocked my boat in all directions.
Furthermore, we started on the path that led to the lake. Dj and Chris showed up a few seconds later. They didn’t speak to me, only walking in front of me to grab the heavy cooler from my bruised hands. Show-offs. Dj Is my aunt Tanya’s only son. He doesn’t speak to me much, I don’t understand why. Maybe it’s because I respond more than I start conversations. As we continued walking down the path, I noticed the lake and gazed with interest. The lake was surrounded by a natural rock formation, above that, there were many dark trees. It wasn’t a cove that had rocks above the water like I’d expected, which was great! There were two tall cliffs at the start of the lake, where there was a waterfall that supplied the lake, that must’ve been where those kids jumped from. I saw My My, Dre, Mya, and 5 other people at the base of the lake. Dre and Mya were in the water swimming, having a good time, while My My was recording them from the small rocks that were your typical lake parkour. Dre and Mya are Ashely’s kids, brother, and sister. Mya’s the oldest. She's not always on the same page as Dre, who likes to run around, jump around, and bother you until he annoys you. My My is the fourth oldest of my aunt’s kids, while Ashley is the first. She’s nice but only trusts those closest to her. Ashley’s similar, but she trusts more openly than My My does. While I was gazing, we made it to the picnic area above the lake. I met Ashley there, “Hey Ivy,” she said.
“Hey, Ashley,” I replied. Along with My My, Ashley was also recording. This is common in my family.
Later, I went up the path to change into my swimming trunks. When I came back, I was a little hesitant to get in the water, remembering all those times it was cold when I first got in. I had to get in at some point in those previous encounters, so why stop now? I followed the reddish-brown clay that led to the lake. The rocks I had noticed earlier gave me some of that water parkour I mentioned. It was only easier because I decided to keep on my socks. The lake had a rocky bottom, as I later found out. As I entered the water, I experienced the timeless feeling of freeze that I received upon entering, I shivered. I grabbed onto the large rock that was next to me and slowly lowered myself to my stomach level. It felt like I was being put into cryogenic stasis. Dre started to splash me when I started walking in the water, it was irritating. “Dre, please stop splashing me,” I said firmly.
“Mmm,” he replied. That’s his indication of being unhappy.
Mya chimed in, “Dre, stop acting like a baby before I tell mom.” Dre got quiet and moved on.
I maneuvered my way through the rocky lake with slow, mindful steps that only failed me twice. I sat on the little shore next to a rock staircase which led to the cliff and took a break from the water. After maybe a few minutes of chilling, I saw Najia, Dj, Chris, and My My at the top of the cliffs. What do they think they’re doing? Chris was trying to make Dj jump off first but knowing Dj, he was like “Nah, you go first.” That was probably what he said because a few seconds later, Chris got a running start and jumped into the water. Just a show-off. Dj jumped in, then My My, and then Najia. My attention focused on Najia the most as she went to jump. She was very nervous and didn’t even want to get CLOSE to the edge! “Go Najia!” I shouted, then gave her a thumbs up. She looked at me with a broken smile. I knew exactly how she felt. This moment reminded me of the many encounters I have had with jumping in the water before. A specific moment that stuck out to me was the time I jumped into 12 feet-deep water!
It was the summer of 2014, I was seven and a half years old, and I lived in Louisville, KY. For most of my summer, I had stayed with my older cousin Tory. We always had fun together, playing hide and seek, racing, and going places. The day I jumped in the 12-foot-deep pool is one of my favorite memories with her, but one of scariest for me. On that day, she called her sister, Kersten to see if we could go to Kersten’s house to swim. Kersten It was a VERY hot day outside, like 98 degrees! It was a miracle to get to go swimming that day. When we arrived at Kersten’s, I observed the house and pool. The house was big, had three floors, plus an attic! The pool in the back was small in its length and its width. No biggie. That thought went cold when I saw the 12-feet tag...and looked up to see a diving board. Oh, no. Many times I saw Tory get on, then Kersten, then both of them.”Come on V!” Tory would call to me. “V” is another nickname for me. “No thanks,” I said happily. I ended up going anyway, only because we were all doing it together. As I was on the diving board, my stomach sank into my legs as I quickly became aware of what I was about to do. Maybe I should get off of here…What if I drown?. I became terrified and started to shiver. It was too late though. I was holding hands with Tory and Kerst and they started to count down: “Three! Two! One!” splash… To this day, I feel it’s a miracle I didn’t receive CPR. Kerst pulled me out when she resurfaced, but I lost ALL of my oxygen while I tried to search for the surface myself. I am never doing this again.
Najia had to be pushed off the edge because she was immovable, poor Najia. With a short scream, she entered the water. As Najia resurfaced, I shouted: “You did it, Najia!”
“Yeah, I did,” she replied with sarcasm. DJ and Chris were trying to jump into the water again, I was preparing to yell “show-offs!”, but what happened next surprised me. “I’Verryus, what are you doing!?” DJ called to me, I looked up, my eyes widened. I was both shocked to hear him speak to me and of what he was asking. “What?” I called back “I don’t want to.”
“Why not?”, he asked.
“I don’t want to get my hair wet,” I said, as an excuse. This was true. But of course, it was mostly about jumping.
“What? DJ said,” Boy, come on.”
“No thanks.” I retorted. And that’s when uncle Don joined in.
“Ivy, why aren’t you going?” he called from the picnic area.
“I don’t want to get my hair wet,” I said again, as an excuse.
“Sigh, okay,” he said. Did I disappoint him? He was recording. Dang, it. I felt ashamed.
After watching DJ and Chris jump from the rock cliffs that last time, it was time to eat. Thank goodness! Even though I had forgotten about it. Swimming in water for a long time sure did make me hungry, so I sped/walked. I cut off the water parkour by climbing up the ledge that was the walkway to the lake. The smell of fried chicken filled the air as I neared the table, Mmm. Uncle Don, aunt Tanya, Ashley, and My My were there, setting up the plates. We had to use an unused water bottle to wash our hands. Aunt Tanya didn’t want germs from the public bathroom, of course. I thanked them for making this possible before grabbing a piece of chicken. I also grabbed a turkey sandwich. Then, I started to eat. As I did, I reflected on my encounter with the water today-I didn’t want to get my hair wet, but I was also afraid of jumping into that water. I could’ve tried… I thought of the moment in 2014 when I gasped for air, and that was over.
Overall, the day was fun. I had a good time with my family, and I did not jump in the water. It was a win. I probably won’t be getting over jumping in the water anytime soon. So I’ve just made it my best interest to avoid doing so until I’m ready, which is reasonable. Right?Right!
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