A Rock

A girl leaned against the lockers and searched for a clean place in her Kleenex. Around her stood a group of girls, leaning toward her with their lips parts. “…And so I said, ‘you can just take your ring back for all I care’ and handed it back to him. Then I just…” She shed fresh tears.

“Don’t feel so bad, Sally. He’ll be back.” Nancy patted her shoulder.

“Just before graduation too,” sympathized one of the others.

“Oh, you’ll probably make up this afternoon,” Nancy tried again.

“Well, he better apologize when he comes back. Oh look my mascara’s all smeared.”

“I hate men.” Someone said, they all agreed, even Nancy who added, “except Frank.”

A bell rang and the girls strolled to class, heads bowed toward sally, who dried her tears and prepared to meet the subject of her unhappiness with a nonchalant smile.

Two boys were walking to class from the other direction. “Did you hear that Sally broke up with Dick last night.”

“No kiddin’? Whas up?” He turned his crew cut and raised his eyebrows. “No kiddin’ you don’t say, Rand, whas up?”

“Ah, he didn’t phone her or some dumb thing.”

“Hey, you think it will last? She’s a pretty cool head, a real tough chick, man.” Dan walked a little faster.

“Yeh, but they’ll make up. She’s real gone on him and I think he likes her pretty well.”

“Man, I bet she’s a hot make out, Rand.”

“Yeh—Hey’d you do that junk he assigned last night?”

“Hell, no!”

Dick sat across the aisle from Sally and they took turns looking at each other so cleverly that both thought they were being ignored.

Mr. Printance wore a blue striped shirt and a collapsed brown sports jacket. He waited with a pinched expression for the class to quiet down, then sat on the edge of his desk, held his text before him and began to read Tennyson

Dear as remembered kisses after death,

And sweet as those by homeless fancy feigned

On lips that are for others: deep as love,

Deep as first love, and wild with all regret:

O Death in life, the days that are no more!

Sally got up and ran to the restroom, where she used another Kleenex and told Nancy, who had followed her, again, how it had all happened.

Frank was Dick’s best friend and hated to see him walk with his head hanging down between his shoulders. Dick sat with his head to one side and his legs stretched out under the desk in front. When the bell rang Frank stopped at his desk and waited for him to pull himself up.

“I got my car fixed.”

Dick nodded, “Good.”

“Did you get your trig. Done?”

“What do you think?”

“Hey, Dick. Let’s take off after school and go up to the damn. I think I can borrow some gear from this kid. I’m lending him my dad’s dinner jacket for the Senior Ball. We could go diving up at the dam.” He took his friend by the shoulder. “Hey, Dick, what da ya say?”

“Sure, that’ll be neat.”

As usual Frank took Nancy home from school. She tossed her books in the back seat and slid in beside him. “It’s hot.”

“Brother it is really hot.”

“Yeh.”

“How was school?”

“Hot.”

She moved closer to him. “Why don’t we go swimming Frankie?”

“No. Dick and me are going up to the dam.”

“Can’t we go?” Then she remembered and slumped down into the seat.

“You know how things are, Nan. I thought it might cheer Dick up.”

“Does he feel bad?” She turned around to look at him.

“Yeh.”

“So does Sally.” She lay her head on his shoulder. “Frankie, I’ve got an idea. Why don’t we make a party of it. I’ll phone up the kids when I get home and tell them about it. Then you can bring Dick and I’ll bring Sally next.”

Frank hesitated but couldn’t think of an objection, “Well, I guess so.”

Nancy giggled moved back to her side of the car and curled up in a day dream.

Dick’s phone rang and he answered it. “I’ll be over to get you to go swimming Dick. I got a scuba outfit we can try. I’ll be over in about an hour.”

Sally agreed only after much coaxing, and a broad hint that “You know who,” might be there.

Dan and Randy thought it would be swell. Dan offered to give the girls a ride and he collected several in his blue convertible.

The heat had drawn all the moisture from the earth and even the reservoir  looked thirsty. It lay with its mouth open its lips dry and cracked. Frank and Dick got there first, and changed in the bathhouse. They swam around in the shallow end waiting for the others, experimenting with their flippers and masks and taking turns with the aqua lung.

The blue convertible crunched the cracked dust as it rolled up to the bathhouse. The girls squished and scrambled out. Nancy and Sally looked around and spotted Frank’s car.

Dan surveyed [EP1] Sally’s brown legs and well filled red swimsuit.

“Hey, Sal,” he put his arm around her bare shoulders, “Race you to the wet.”

Sally looked up at his crew cut and smiled. Then glanced down at the water. Dick was walking toward them but turned around when he saw Dan. “So, he’s going to be that way,” Sally thought.

“Comm’ on Danny Boy!” They splashed on down to the water and nearly ran into Dick and Frank. Dick caught her by the wrist.

“Hey, watch where you run.”

She yanked her hand free and ran on.

Frank dunked all the girls then swam off with Nancy.

Dan circled around Sally and the blonde made it her business to interest Dick.

June heat in the afternoon….they lay floating on the water and watched clouds gather overhead. Swimming lazily the boys pestered the girls what little bit their more sleepy mood would allow.

“I’m gonna get that mask again.” Frank headed for shore and silently Dick followed. Nancy and Sally swam to the dock and climbed up to wait for their return. They swam back where the girls waited. “Let’s do some diving,” Frank raised the mask.” Count the seconds Nan. He breathed, replaced the mask and disappeared into the water.

She counted until he reappeared gasping for air.

“Let me try,” Dick put the mask on and dove. He stayed under longer than Frank had.

“Pretty good! Don’t get down too deep though, we aren’t used to it.”

“Nuts, I’ve done a lot of diving. I could make it to the bottom easy enough. I’ll get you a rock Sally.”

“No wait!” He dove and Frank dove after him, but returned in a second. Nancy was counting. “I lost him.” The others were on the dock now and Frank pulled up with them. I wonder where he is. Sally squinted at the water Nancy was still counting.” Shut up, Nan” snapped Frank. “Darn him. He’s probably hiding under the dock. I’m gonna take a look.” He slipped again into the lapping water.

No one said anything. They were worried, but since they thought the joke would be on them they showed it as little as possible. Frank swam down among the pilings but could see nothing. There was a shadow and the sun was fleeing. He came up for breath and went down again. This time he swam out into the deep water the pressure was too much for him and he came up again. “Dick,” he yelled, “Dick.”

Ah He’s just spoffin Dan moved over by Sally, who stood up and ran to the bathhouse. “Do you know where there is a lifeguard?” she asked the few people there. Frank  was stumbling not far behind her.

Out of breath he panted. “Need help. Lost Dick.” Sally turned white.

Several of the men went with Frank. One of them wore diving equipment. Nancy was saying, “Now don’t panic you guys. He’ll be okay Sally.”

Dan was biting his lip, “It’s just a gag honest.”

“Probably,” agreed Randy. “Dick is a real card.”

“Well he’s carrying this a little too far,” Sally’s teeth were chattering.

They sat back on the dock and watched. Soon they heard the rescue squad siren up the hill.

“Oh no,” Sally bent forward with her face in her hands.

An hour later they found him tangled in brush at the bottom with a rock clutched in his hand. His skin was chalky white and his lips blue. The girls screamed and Frank felt sick at his stomach.

Sally stood a little away from him. She couldn’t touch him.

Men in white and policemen talked rapidly. One of them talked into a radio. They pout on the respirator and tried for over an hour.

Right away they asked questions. Frank was crying. “Dove too low, I told him.” Sally was white. The others stood near her and were silent. Nancy told the policeman Dick’s name and where he lived. “I used to go with him,” she added. “Now he goes with Sally, do you think he’s going to be all right?”

“You kids better get out of here.” Another policeman suggested, “It’s going to pour in a minute. Go climb in the cars till we can get statements from you.”

Sally made a sound in her throat. “I won’t leave him,” she sobbed and moved to kneel beside him, but saw his blue lips and stepped back. It started to rain. “Take those kids to the car,” a cop yelled. “Just a minute folks, just a little picture before it gets too wet.” Flash bulbs flared and died. “Come on’ kids.”

Sally was shaking; it was dark; she wanted her bed; she was sick.

“Get that body out of the rain,” someone yelled. Nancy and Sally cried after that.

Referring to the picture in the paper. “That’s Dan next to Sally, they didn’t take a picture of him.” Rand pointed to the clipping.

“Yeah, man, we were right there. Hell, we couldn’t do nothing. He looked like hell, didn’t he Rand.” He ran his hand across his crew cut. Randy turned a little. “There’s Sally.”

She leaned against the lockers. “Poor kid,” a girl was saying. “I’m sure glad it wasn’t me. Why don’t you take her to the nurse.”

Nancy was crying too. “It was terrible,” she said. “You should have been there. Just after they broke up too, just before the Senior Ball.”

“Poor kid,” the girls murmured. They formed a shield around her when the bell rang. And they all walked to class. “How’d you ever get the courage to come to school,” they asked, and she cried softly.

Frank sat out in his car. He didn’t go to class. Nancy had cried all the way to school. Now he was alone and he still felt sick. He sat with his forehead on the steering wheel and tried to think. One of his friends came up to the car and poked his head in the window. “Tough what happened.” Frank didn’t answer and he went away.

Mr. Printance, the teacher faced the room grimly. He wore a gray suit and his face was gray. “A great tragedy has come to us. Just before graduation of one of the most promising young men in our class has been killed in an unfortunate accident. Dick Knight drowned last night in the dam. A murmur rose from those who hadn’t heard. “I hope you will all learn a lesson from this. It’s too bad that this had to happen before you would listen to the warning, but that dam is no place to swim. No lifeguard, no way of judging depth… Tomorrow you will turn in an essay on safety in the water. The best one will be published in the school paper.

Now back to our discussion on Tennyson…

Her tears fell with the dews at even;

Her tears fell ere the dews were dried;

She could not look on the sweet heaven,…

You notice his reference to tears, again, yesterday it was

Tears, idle tears, I know not what they mean,

Tears from the depth of some divine despair…

Sally stood up, “Oh stop it. Oh, no…” She stumbled out of the room.

Nancy stood up, “They were going steady,” she told the class, before she ran out. Others followed. “Crying isn’t going to bring him back,” someone said. But they cried anyway.

“If only I hadn’t given him back his ring…If only.”

“You didn’t know…” they told her.

“I remember when I went with him,” Nancy handed around some Kleenex. “I never really got over him, but don’t tell Frank.”

“Did you hear about the rock,” said Nancy. “He went down in the first place just to get it for Sally. Somehow it got lost after they brought him up. It was in the paper. Wasn’t it a terrible picture?”