The Pond

"The Pond"
Life was good. It was the summer of my tenth year, and the world was mine for the taking. School had just let out for the summer and I was headed out to the pond. I had to get there before someone got my spot. Oh how I loved my spot. It was the best one on the whole pond. There was a staggering fixture of rocks behind my spot that always gave me shade. No matter where the sun was, there was shade. How the other kids envied me. They all wanted me spot, but they could never get there before me. This was the pond were every kid in the neighborhood spent their summers. It was your average pond, tire swings dangling down from tree branches over the shallow end for those too scared to take a walk on the wild side and take a ride on the zip line. Oh I loved the zip line. It had been so simple in design and making. It was just a rope that went from the top of the highest tree on Comptan's bank and then went across the pond to the base of a tree on Fraggerton's bank. We built steps that we called "The Stairs of Manhood" that lead up to the zip line. You'd climb those pieces of wood up to the line and then taking another rope you would fly down the rope, releasing just as you got over the middle of the pond. The guys would get really crazy and try and see just how long they could stay on the zip line and let go. I remember my buddy Froggy didn't let go of the rope at all and smashed into the Fraggerton tree. He didn't get off the ground for an hour. But he held the record for as along as I can remember.
But I had gotten to my spot one Saturday morning early, and I was the first one at the pond. I drew my mark in the dirt and claimed the area for myself. I threw my towel down, pulled my shoes off, wiggled out of my shirt and headed up "The Stairs of Manhood". My rope over my shoulder I reached the top, placing my rope over the zip line I jumped off and headed down at break neck speed. I timed it just right let go and did a back flip into the pond. Oh it was the perfect beginning to the day. I just pulled off a move I had been trying to perfect all last year, and I finally did it. Swimming back to the bank I walked up the pebbly shore sat down. I just sat there waiting for people to show up. Where were they? They should have been starting to show up by now. My feet played with the little brim that swam up to nibble at my toes. I tossed a smooth stone up in the air and caught it. Was someone coming or was it just my imagination? I wish that people would show up. If no one showed up then how could I brag about the stunt that I had pulled off?
Baxter had to show up. Baxter was my best friend. We had been friends ever since first grade when the fourth grade bullies decided to kill two birds with one stone and take our lunch and milk money at the same time. He was taller than me, not that much taller, just tall enough to were he could hold my Babe Ruth autographed baseball over my head. He had blue eyes to my green eyes. His hair though was bright red and he had freckles all over his face. Baxter had to show up. He just had to. We were going to have a rock skipping contest, and I was finally going to beat him this time.
It was 8:30 and no one was here. This place was usually crawling with bodies; alive with laughter and screams, but today it was dead. Where were the Niely twins? They weren't climbing my towering rock and goading each other to jump off; neither one of them ever did though. Why wasn't Samantha, the Twin's sister, bugging me to go catch bugs with here? Jumping in the pond I swam to Turtle Log and tried to catch another pet. Pulling myself up on to the log, I let my feet break the silence of the cove. The water splashed around me.
"Baxter's going to lose today." I said absent mindedly to myself. Taking a smooth stone from my pocket and tossing it in the air before catching it again in my hand, I sigh and long for someone to talk to.
Someone was here finally. They were waving their hands and shouting at me. It looked like Emily, Baxter's little sister. Her red hair tied up in two pig tails, her pastel yellow bathing suit bright against her pale skin. I acted like I didn't see her. It was my turn to be mean. Here it was 9:15 and people were just now starting to get here. Sitting on the Turtle Log I just played with my rock and kicked my feet, splashing water and causing all kinds of noise. The faint sound of a child crying carried over all the noise and I stopped. Realizing Emily was hunched over and sobbing into her chest I started to feel bad. She was a year younger than me and I was her first childhood crush. Thinking that because I was ignoring her had caused her to cry; I slipped off the log and swam back to shore.
There she was, in her bathing suit, her legs bleeding and her arms all scratched up where she must have hid her face as she ran through the woods. Why didn't she take the path? Sure it was longer than going the route from behind her house, but then she wouldn't have had to deal with the thorns and stickers. Walking out of the pond, water dripping off the legs of my shorts, I smile.
"Bout time you got here Emily. Where's Baxter?" She had stopped crying, but at the mention of her brother's name the torrent fell once again. What was going on? Why was she crying so much? "What's wrong Emily? Why are you late?" Between sobbing, sucking in her breathes, and whipping the snot from her nose she tried to talk. "Coming…here…riding bike…car…" She began to cry really hard and couldn't talk any more. I was going to have to take her back to her house.
We took the long way home this time. Emily had had enough cuts and scrapes for today. She might have bugged me at times but I didn't want her getting hurt. The state that she was in now, I knew that something was seriously wrong. I just wish that I knew what that something was, mark my words, though, by the end of the day I was going to find out. Making our way down the trail, I tried to make sense of her ramblings.
She kept saying 'Bike…car…' over and over. What was she talking about? She squeezed my hand as if it was her very life line. I had never seen her this way. She wasn't this bad when her dog, Scrappy, had died. I could do nothing to ease her mind. Tears streamed down her flushed face. Her runny nose gave no hint of subsiding. She had an almost lost look in her eyes. The same look a deer gets when it gets caught in a car's head light. Picking our way through the well beaten path, we found ourselves at the edge of the woods. The faint sound of a siren blaring in the distance, thinking nothing of it, I lead Emily back towards her house. Crossing a road, glass and colored plastic scattered the ground. It looked like some kids were playing with chalk and had drawn someone on the road. Baxter's house was four blocks past the path and to the left. His home was directly in front of the pond, but the pond was hidden from view due to a thick brier patch. Crossing that road Emily wouldn't take her head from my chest. I had no idea what was wrong with her. "What's wrong Emily?"
She said only what she had been saying between sobs, "bike…car…" I shrugged my shoulders and continued our trek onward. We turned onto Pond Street and Baxter's house was the fifth brick house on the left. If you have never been to his house, you would know it as soon as you saw it. To the left of his garage, there was a sign "Baxtər and Ri©'s Roxs INC" hanging over last summers lemonade stand. An arrow taped to his basket ball pole leading would-be customers in the right direction. Stopping at the garage door, I waited for Emily to open the door. She didn't move. Her eyes fixed upon the sign, her arms hanging down at her side. I went over to the flower bed, found the fake rock, pulled it open, and pressed the button to raise the door. Baxter was probably up stairs playing video games or sleeping.
Walking into the garage, Baxter's bike sat there all mangled up. I laughed because it was his third bike that year and each one had met with the same tragic end. The first one went off the quarry after we tried shooting a chase scene. Baxter had barely made it off the seat before it went over the edge. His second bike lost its life due to a bet. Baxter bet me that the car crusher in old man Hewit's junk yard didn't work and that he would put his bike in there as proof of his knowledge. Needless to say, the machine worked, and Baxter suffered another loss. Now another one had lost its life. Emily ran into the house, the first sudden movement I had seen her do, since she was on the bank of the pond. Following her inside, I heard someone besides Emily crying.
"Momma, I found Rico, he's in the kitchen." Walking around the bar, the den came into view. Emily had climbed into her mothers lap and had laid her head on her chest.
"Mrs. Lisa, is everything ok?" I asked as I walked into the den. Mrs. Lisa sniffed a few times, wiped her eyes and shook her head. She beckoned me closer. "Where's Baxter, Mrs. Lisa? No one showed up at the pond today. We had a skipping contest today. I know Baxter wouldn't forget something as important as that. For some reason, Emily and Mrs. Lisa both started crying again.
I just couldn't understand why they were crying. Baxter was nowhere to be found, the women of his house hold were sobbing and the contest had been all but canceled. The day seemed wasted and it was only 10:15. "What's going on? Why are you two crying?" It was the only thing I could think to say.
Mrs. Lisa caught control of her emotions and beckoned me closer. She pulled me down and hugged me close to her chest. "I have to tell you something Rico. It's going to be hard for me to tell you and even harder for you to understand."
I already didn't understand. "What are you talking about?"
Getting breathing under control, the woman pushed her dark red hair behind her ear.
"Baxter was in an accident this morning."
I jumped up from her lap and ran up the stairs to his room, his bed was empty.
"Rico, come here"
Her words fell on deaf ears. I shot to the living room expecting to see him asleep on the couch, nothing but cold cushions.
"Rico I'm not done talking to you."
Her words made no sense to me. He had to be down in the basement. It was the only place left. Running to the door, I opened it up and yelled into the blackness. Silence was my only answer. Where could he be, the backyard? I ran to the backdoor.
"Rico, Baxter was hit and killed by a car."
I stopped dead in my tracks. Her words finally making it through the shield I had put up. She had started crying again. Muffled sounds all I could hear. My arms dead at my side, my legs would not move. I was stuck in this nightmare that seemed to just appear. Has she said what I thought she said? Baxter was killed? How could this be? It just didn't seem possible. He was only 10. Baxter wasn't dead he just went off to summer camp and didn't tell me. That's all it was. He'd be back at the end of the summer ready to start the 6th grade. Mrs. Lisa rose from her chair; her black dress seemed to lay limp upon her ankles as she walked over to me. She engulfed me in her arms. I was buried within her arms.
"Rico are you ok?"
I wasn't sure. Was I ok? How would I know if I wasn't ok? Would it feel like this or would I feel completely different? I just shrugged my shoulders under the weight of her arms. Mrs. Lisa started crying again, and I suddenly felt a great pressure upon my chest. I finally knew what had happened. It suddenly all became very real to me. Baxter wasn't at camp, and he wasn't coming home. He was lost to me. My best friend had left never to come back. The feelings rushed over me, they swarmed my mind. My emotions ran wild, and I broke down into the arms of my second mother's arms. She held me close; she surrounded me with her love, the love she could no longer give to her only son.

I hated ties. Why couldn't I just wear a clip on like all the other kids were going to be wearing? I sat there in my room, in front of my mirror and tried to adjust my tie so it looked right. I didn't really want to go this, this thing, but my mother was making me.
"Rico, are you ready?"
My mother yelled from the bottom of the stairs. She had been yelling that for the past ten minutes and she wasn't even ready yet.
"Yes, I'll be down in a minute."
I looked in the mirror, I didn't want to go. If I went there, and saw him lying in that casket, then I'd know for sure that he wasn't coming back. That he wasn't off at some camping waiting to get back and play at the pond. I'd know for sure that he was dead, and that my longest and oldest friend wouldn't be around to have fun.
I couldn't stand it anymore, I had never been to a funereal before and now here I was at one for my best friend. I couldn't see anything because my eyes were welling up with tears. People were walking up to the casket, Mrs. Lisa stood there, she wouldn't leave his side, and she just keep crying and saying that he was too young. My mother got up and took my hand and started to lead me up the walk way to see Baxter lying there. I couldn't take it; I broke free of her grip and ran out of the building. It was still raining outside but I didn't care. I had to get away from all that was behind me now.

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