Ch. 3: Invitation
Ch. 4: Swimmingly
[JMR202008172359 replace all -- cleanup of first dump from old notebook]
"Late's okay, Mom!"
"So's early."
We left for the pool on foot a little before nine and got there about nine twenty.
The sign above the counter said,
Open swim from
10:00 AM to 7:15 PM
in good weather.
Changing rooms
open at 9:45,
close at 7:30 PM.
Swimming class only
before 9:45.
"Twenty-five minutes, Mom, what're we gonna do?"
"It's enough time for a walk."
Not much rainfall, so the park there is a little on the dry side most of the year. But there are baseball diamonds and football fields, and children practicing. Around the pool and the wading pool, they grass is pretty green, and they try to keep it green around the picnic tables and the children's park. More of a yellow-green, the further you get from the pool.
We read the botanical tags on some of the trees and bushes.
"Western soapberry. Says it can be used for soap."
"Broom dalea, also known as purple sage."
"Desert willow."
"Blue oak. Maybe there's more to like about this town than we thought."
"Wha ...?" I stopped. "Mom, did you just admit you had doubts about this move?"
Mom walked ahead and didn't reply.
We were back at the pool by the time they opened the changing area.
"Where's your swimsuits?" the girl at the counter asked.
We held up our bundles. "Tee shirts and shorts okay in the pool?" I asked.
She looked at our bundles. "Not unless they're clean and you're wearing a clean swimsuit underneath."
We both spread our bundles on the counter.
"Looks clean. Shower and check the rules before you go in."
We paid our money and went into the changing area. Mom and I shared a locker basket. We showered and changed quickly and went into the pool area dripping wet.
"That winds a little cold."
"We'll warm up quick in the water."
Swimming coaches were still chasing stragglers out of the pool. Life guards were skimming the water surface with nets to clear leaves. We had to wait.
The pool is a big Z. There's a diving area on the far end and a kid's play area on the near end, and a huge practice area ten lanes wide and fifty meters long between.
"We can do some serious swimming here, Cherry Hill."
"Not until the lifeguards blow their whistles."
Mom and I dove in the moment the whistles blew, and did laps. Mom still swims faster than I do when she's motivated, but not much. We stayed pretty even.
Rusty dove past us on the third lap and stayed just ahead. His friends started jumping in behind us. One girl kept up, but the rest lagged behind.
About the tenth lap, one of the boys was stopped ahead of us, blocking Rusty's path. A girl that looked like his twin was behind Rusty, and they teamed up to dunk him. I stopped and the girl who was keeping up did, as well, and we teamed up to dunk the twins. All his friends stopped and joined in the water fight.
Then the lifeguards' whistles blew, and I got to meet everyone. The girl who had kept up was June, the twins were Karl and Kim. And Karen and Kelly were there, as were their moms.
Mom got to gossip, well, find out a lot more about the school, the town, and the people. At first, they teased her about the workout she was doing while they talked. But she talked them into joining her.
I think it was Kelly that suggested water polo. We got permission from the life guards, and they roped off half the length of the practice area for us and set up goals. My mom and the other two moms did some short laps while we played.
Rusty's friends may not all be fast swimmers, but they are serious about water polo.
We had fun playing that for almost an hour, then rested on the sides and talked, and dove off the diving boards, and played piggy-back wars -- with permission from the life guards, of course.
No, I was not riding on Rusty's shoulders, at least, not most of the time. We all took turns being horses and riders, and I was a horse a lot of the time.
A guy named Joel tried to do a back flip from the low board, and didn't get his head down. he ended up in a major back-flop, splashing water to both sides of the pool. It hurt just to hear him hit the surface. Then he went limp in the water, face up and sinking.
I was close and swam for him. Rusty was on the other side of the pool, but he was under the lifeguard station and Sharon, who was manning the station, waved him off so she could get in safely. She was in mid-air when Joel floated back up, still facing the sky. He let out a roar, "IH-TEH YAHN KAH!" and started laughing. Then he rolled gingerly over and stroked carefully for the bank while the rest of us broke up in relieved laughter.
Sharon made him lie on the bank while she checked his eyes and reflexes.
I asked him where he learned Japanese. Turns out his dad is from Awaji Island, across from Osaka and Kobe.
It didn't take him long to convince Sharon and Hank, the other lifeguard on duty that day, he was okay, and he went back to the low board and turned a perfect back flip. Kim followed with a rolling bomb that splashed water over the banks, and Karl did a deliberate belly-flop, shouting, "Feels GOOD!" when he surfaced. Joel dunked him and the whistles blew again.
Sharon is June's older sister, and Hank is Karen's older brother. They're members of the college swim team.
While we were resting, Rusty and I got to talking about RFCs 1459 and 2813 and encrypted channels, and suddenly four girls grabbed me and four guys grabbed him and we went into the water. And the lifeguards' whistles blew again.
I was having too much fun to think about it, but it felt like I had known everyone forever. Everybody shared and everybody was included. No cliques. Well, except for Karl and Kim, but they have an excuse, and, anyway, they're an open clique.
And everyone wore conservative suits. Mom was right about the shorts and tee-shirt. I never took them off.
Some of the group had to leave about twelve, and others came. Mom and I said our goodbyes and left about one.
That evening, after Mom and I got back from finishing my registration for my senior year in high school, I did some web searches for Rusty's name and his public key. I found out he's on the school's science and technology team. He runs the school's student servers, and is teaching several students how to take his place. And his jobs with the ISP and the newspaper are official.
{join gwydyr.ussw pen9choir=}
{nick cutegeek}
{cutegeek :oxide Hey!}
{oxide alias superpaperboy}
{superpaperboy 'sup?}
{cutegeek had fun today. there long?}
{superpaperboy til 2. ya coming tomorrow.}
"Mom, can I go swimming tomorrow?"
"Of course."
"Thanks."
{cutegeek yeah}
"All week if you want. Can I come, too? It'll be good exercise for me."
"I guess so."
We chatted a little before I signed off and went to bed. IRC is much more convenient than raw UDP packets.
Wednesday morning, I gave Rusty a copy of one of my public keys before we went in to change. Mom went again and met Rusty and June's mothers.
I mentioned something about encrypted channels once while we were taking a break and we got thrown in the pool again.
That evening, Rusty and I imported each other's keys and talked shop over encrypted IRC. And other stuff.
{superpaperboy having a party at my house sat}
{cutegeek ?}
{superpaperboy friends from school and church}
{cutegeek oh}
{superpaperboy interested?}
{cutegeek maybe}
{superpaperboy dancin n games}
"Mom, Rusty's having a party at his house on Saturday. Kids from school and his church."
"Yes you can go."
"Just like that?"
"Rusty and his friends are good people."
{cutegeek im on}
We got thrown in the pool on Thursday, too. Mom laughed, and the life guards didn't even bother blowing their whistles until it turned into a water fight. And it wasn't even Sharon and Hank on duty that morning.
We were on unencrypted IRC that night.
{Superdad joined gwydyr.ussw}
{cutegeek Dad?}
"Mom, did you tell Dad about Rusty's IRC channel?"
{Superdad Hi, Rusty.}
"Well, yeah."
{superpaperboy Hello, sir.}
”Oh."
{Superdad I hear you're smooth-talking my daughter.}
{cutegeek :Superdad Identify yourself.}
{Superdad joined sugitahkr.net}
The sugitahkr.net channel can only be joined encrypted, with keys that only Dad, Mom, and I have.
{Superdad@sugitahkr.net Hi, Cherry.}
{cutegeek@sugithkr.net Hi, Dad.}
{Superdad@sugitahkr.net exited}
{cutegeek@sugithkr.net exited}
{cutegeek meet my dad}
{Superpaperboy Hi, Dad.}
{Superdad Just wanted to say hi.}
So Dad joined us that night. Mom joined us, too. Rusty suggested I pass his public key to Dad and Mom, and I did, out-of-band. (Sent it in encrypted e-mail to Dad, just handed it to Mom.) So we established an encrypted channel, and talked a little shop. Rusty's dad also joined for a bit.
After Rusty and his dad logged off, Dad and I got back on the encrypted channel.
{Superdad@sugitahkr.net So ...}
{cutegeek@sugithkr.net Haven't mentioned the computer room, Dad. Or anything about your work.}
{Superdad@sugitahkr.net Get as much information as you can.}
{cutegeek@sugithkr.net OK!}
{Superdad@sugitahkr.net And watch yourself.}
{cutegeek@sugithkr.net ok}
{Superdad@sugitahkr537738.net And don't have too mucho fun. ;-).}
Dads.
[JMR202008172359 replace all -- end]
[JMR201710220339 original dump from old notebook]
"Late's okay, Mom!"
"So's early."
We left for the pool on foot a little before nine and got there about nine twenty. But the swimming classes weren't finished yet, so we walked around the park. They had a children's playground with interesting , and there was a small garden with local flowers and plants.
"Maybe there's more to like about this town than we thought."
"Wha ...?" I stopped. "Mom, did you just admit you have doubts about this move?"
Mom walked ahead and didn't reply.
We were back at the pool by quarter to ten, and they had opened the changing rooms for everybody.
"Where's your swimsuits?" the girl at the counter asked.
We held up our bundles. "Tee shirts and shorts okay in the pool?" I asked.
She looked at our bundles. "Not unless they're clean and you're wearing the swimsuit underneath."
We both spread our bundles on the counter.
"Looks clean. Shower, and check the rules before you go into the pool area."
We paid our money and went in. Mom and I shared a locker.
We finished showering and changing and went in to the pool area, dripping wet and just a little cold because of the wind.
Swimming coaches were still chasing stragglers out of the pool. Life guards were skimming the water surface with nets to clear leaves.
The pool was a zigzag. There was a diving area on the far end and a play area on the near end, and a huge practice area ten lanes wide and fifty meters long between. We could do some serious swimming here.
Mom and I dove in the moment the life guards blew their whistles, and took laps. She still swims faster than I do, but not much.
Rusty joined us on the second lap, then several of his friends. He and one girl (June) kept up, but the rest fell behind.
About the sixth lap, a guy and a girl (Karl and Cris) dunked Rusty. I stopped to help him dunk them back and that stopped the laps and started a water fight. The life guards' whistles stopped the water fight and Rusty introduced me to his friends.
Karen's and Kelly's moms both came, and Mom got to gossip, I mean, find out a lot more about the school and the town. At first, they teased her about the workout she was doing while they talked. But then they joined her.
Rusty introduced me to June and the rest, and I think it was Kelly that suggested water polo. We got permission from the life guards, who roped off half the length of the practice area for us and set up goals. My mom and the other two moms did a few short laps while we played.
Rusty's friends may not all be fast swimmers, but they are serious about water polo.
We had fun playing that for almost an hour, then rested on the sides and talked, and dove off the diving boards, and played piggy-back wars -- with special permission from the life guards.
No, I was not riding on Rusty's shoulders, at least, not most of the time. We all took turns being horses and riders.
I was having too much fun to think about it, but it felt like I had known everyone forever. Everbody shared and everybody was included.
And everyone wore conservative suits. Mom was right about the shorts and tee-shirt. I never took them off.
Some of the group had to leave about twelve, and others came. Mom and I said our goodbyes and left about one. Rusty stayed, he told me later, until two.
And that's how it was I was swimming with Superpaperboy and his friends during the mornings the whole rest of the week. Of course, I did not call him Superpaperboy.
And we didn't talk shop at the pool. Well anytime we said anything like RFC or packet protocol, four of the girls would gang up on me and four of the guys on him and we'd end up in the water. And the life guards would blow their whistles.
The fourth time it happened in as many days, the life guards warned me and Rusty to quit talking tech around the pool. As if it were our fault!
We also chatted over IRC in the evenings. IRC is much more convenient than assembling UDP packets by hand. Rusty introduced me to some of his white hat friends on the 'net, too. Sometimes he changed his nick to superpaperboy, and I changed mine to cutegeek.
Wednesday evening, I mentioned the computer room, and he sent me the name of a friend of his father's who could do the final check-off. I asked Dad by IRC, and he got a little upset. He contacted Rusty's father, and then the friend, a mister Whiteall, himself, and messaged me back later on an encrypted session to say it would be okay.
But he told me to watch like a hawk when he was there for the check off. And to sweep for bugs after. Like I wouldn't. He also told me not to let Rusty look at the computer room until he said it was okay. And he told me to double-check after any time Rusty came over. Dad is a little too paranoid sometimes.
On Thursday, Rusty told me he was having a back-to-school party at his home on Saturday, with dancing in the back yard and board games and stuff inside. I said I'd think about it.
Friday, just as Rusty, June, Jake and I had finished eight laps and were resting, Karl was sneaking up behind Cris to dunk her, and everyone suddenly became just a little quiet. It felt a little eerie. Some of my new friends were looking at the entrance to the changing area. Some were looking anywhere else.
Rusty looked up and waved. There was a small group of four students I hadn't met yet coming in. These students were different. The guys were in speedos and the girls were in bikinis. Tiny, expensive bikinis. Without thinking, I looked down at my tee-shirt. I had worn a one-piece under my tee and shorts every day after the first, and suddenly I was doubly glad. I would have looked positively under-endowed standing next to any of those four in my bikini.
They waved back, and a woman followed them out carrying a baby. One of the girls turned around and took the baby and lifted him up to see the pool. Maybe she was showing him off to the students I was with. He beat the aiMom and I left on foot at nine the next morning, and got there about nine twenty. But the swimming classes weren't finished yet, so we walked around the park, exploring the children's playground and looking at the trees.
"Maybe there's more to like about this town than we thought."
"Wha ...?" I stopped. "Mom, did you just admit you have doubts about this move?"
Mom walked ahead and didn't reply.
We were back at the pool by quarter to ten, when they opened the changing rooms for everybody.
"Where's your swimsuits?" the girl at the girl's side counter asked.
We held up our bundles. "Tee shirts and shorts okay in the pool?" I asked.
She looked at our bundles. "Not unless they're clean and you're wearing the swimsuit underneath."
We both spread our bundles on the counter.
"Looks clean. Shower, and check the rules before you go in the pool area."
We paid our money and went in. Mom and I shared a locker.
When we finished showering and changing and went in to the pool area, hair and bodies dripping in the hot morning sun, swimming coaches were still chasing stragglers out of the pool, and life guards were skimming the water surface with nets to clear leaves. The pool was a zigzag, with a diving area and a play area on the ends and a practice area ten lanes wide and fifty meters long between. We could do some serious swimming here.
Mom and I dove in the moment the life guards blew their whistles, and took laps. She still swims faster than I do, but not much.
Rusty joined us on the second lap, then several of his friends. He and June kept up, but the rest fell behind. About the sixth lap, Karl and Kris dunked Rusty, and the water fight that caused stopped us doing any more laps until the life guards' whistles blew.
Karen's and Kelly's moms both came, and Mom got to gossip a lot, I mean, find out a lot more about the school and the town. They teased her about the workout she was doing and then joined her.
Rusty introduced me to June and the rest, and I think it was Kelly that suggested water polo. We got permission from the life guards, who roped off half the length of the practice area for us and set up goals. My mom and the other two moms did a few short laps while we played.
Rusty's friends may not all be fast swimmers, but they are serious about water polo.
We had fun playing that for almost an hour, then rested on the sides and talked, and dove off the diving boards, and played piggy-back wars -- with special permission from the life guards.
No, I was not riding on Rusty's shoulders, at least, not most of the time. We all took turns being horses and riders.
I was having too much fun to think about it, but it felt like I had known everyone forever. Everbody shared and everybody was included.
And everyone wore conservative swimming gear. Mom was right about the shorts and tee-shirt. I never took them off.
Some of the group had to leave about twelve, and others came. Mom and I said our goodbyes and left about one. Rusty stayed, he told me later, until two.
And that's how it was I was swimming with Superpaperboy and his friends during the mornings the whole rest of the week. Of course, I did not call him Superpaperboy.
And we didn't talk shop at the pool. Anytime we said anything like RFC or packet protocol, four of the girls would gang up on me and four of the guys on him and we'd end up in the water. And the life guards would blow their whistles.
The fourth time it happened in as many days, the life guards warned me and Rusty to quit talking tech around the pool. As if it were our fault!
We also chatted over IRC in the evenings. IRC is much more convenient than assembling UDP packets by hand. Rusty introduced me to some of his white hat friends on the 'net, too.
At some point, I mentioned the computer room, and he sent me the name of a friend of his father's who could do the final check off. I asked Dad by e-mail, and he got a little upset. He contacted Rusty's dad and the friend, himself, and mailed me back later to say that it would be okay.
But he told me to watch like a hawk when he was there for the check off. And to sweep for bugs after. Like I wouldn't. He also told me not to let Rusty look at the computer room. And he told me to double-check after any time Rusty came over. Dad is a little too paranoid sometimes.
I think it was Wednesday Rusty told me I was invited to a back-to-school party at his home on Saturday, with dancing in the back yard and board games and stuff inside. I said I'd think about it.
Friday, just as Rusty, June, Jake and I had finished eight laps and were resting, Karl was sneaking up behind Kris to dunk her, when everyone became just a little quiet. It felt a little eerie. Some of my new friends were looking at the entrance to the changing area. Some were looking anywhere else.
Rusty looked up and waved. There was a small group of four students I hadn't met yet coming in. These students were different. The guys were in speedos and the girls were in bikinis. Without thinking, I looked down at my tee-shirt. I had worn a one-piece under my tee and shorts every day after the first, and suddenly I was doubly glad. I would have looked positively under-endowed standing in my bikini next to any of those four.
They waved back, and a woman followed them out carrying a baby. One of the girls turned around and took the baby and lifted him up to see the pool. Maybe she was showing him off to the students I was with. The baby beat the air with his feet and hands and laughed.
I looked at Rusty and saw an odd expression on his face. His face was often unreadable, but now it was a mask.
The new group came around the pool and some of our group went over to greet them, Rusty among them. He looked back at me with another expression I couldn't read, so I followed.
The baby's sister seemed to single me out. She smiled. "Hi. We heard Rusty found a new girl to join the group. You must be Cheryl."
While we played water volleyball, I noticed that the girl whose mother had brought the baby seemed to be holding back a little. Her bikini revealed a certain lack of tone around her stomach. I was not intending to look closely, but I noticed a fresh scar that reminded me of the one my mother carried from when I was born.
When we ended up on the same team, they introduced themselves to me.
"You must be Cheryl."
"I am."
"I'm Pietra. I'm with Kazu." I guessed she meant they were going steady.
"I'm Mandy. Jimmy's my man over there. That's my mom, Clarinda, with little Jimmy."
While we waited for service, Pietra said, "I hear you know a lot about computers."
”Yeah." I bumped to Mandy and she set to June. June spiked and Rusty blocked, sending it back to Pietra. She jumped and killed it. We rotated and Luke took the serve.
"Swim pretty well."
"Sometimes. You play volleyball?"
"On land, mostly."
We won the game. Pietra was asking the questions, but Mandy was listening. Made me feel a little uncomfortable.
Saturday was the last day before school, and it seemed like everyone in the city was at the pool. Anyway, there was no room to play water polo, and there was only room for laps until about nine thirty. The pool had opened for general swimming at nine. I met more of the students at the new school, but I didn't have as much fun.
Pietra and Kazuo were there, and it seemed like they were near me all the time. I can handle silence, but I'm not sure Pietra can. It kind of seemed like she was still pumping me for information.
Mandy's mom had to work, so Mandy was watching little Jimmy and couldn't come. Big Jimmy was not in evidence, either. Pietra said he had to work, too.
At one point, Kazuo and Rusty were clowning around with some other boys on the diving boards, and Pietra said, looking significantly towards Rusty, "You really ought to show off your curves more."
I don't know why, but I pulled off my tee and shorts and left them on the grass, and went for some dives. Competition one-pieces show off curves in a little different way from bikinis, but they do show off curves.
As I came of the board, I saw Rusty looking at me with an unreadable expression of another type. I cut the water as clean as I think I ever have.
I looked at Rusty and saw an odd expression on his face. His face was often unreadable, but this was a mask. The small group came around and some of our group went over to greet them, Rusty among them. He was careful to be among those who said hello to the baby. I don't know how I knew it, but he was being very careful not to be obviously interested in the little boy, and at the same time careful to be interested.
While we played water volleyball, I noticed that the girl whose mother had brought the baby seemed to be holding back a little. Her bikini revealed a certain lack of tone around her stomach. I was not intending to look closely, but I noticed a fresh scar that reminded me of the one my mother carried from when I was born.
When we ended up on the same team, they introduced themselves to me.
"You must be Cheryl."
"I am."
"I'm Pietra. I'm with Kazu." I guessed she meant they were going steady.
"I'm Mandy. Jimmy's my man over there. That's my mom, Clarinda, with little Jimmy."
While we waited for service, Pietra said, "I hear you know a lot about computers."
”Yeah." I bumped to Mandy and she set to June. June spiked and Rusty blocked, sending it back to Pietra. She jumped and killed it. We rotated and Luke took the serve.
"Swim pretty well."
"Sometimes. You play volleyball?"
"On land, mostly."
We won the game. Pietra was asking the questions, but Mandy was listening. Made me feel a little uncomfortable.
Saturday was the last day before school, and it seemed like everyone in the city was at the pool. Anyway, there was no room to play water polo, and there was only room for laps until about nine thirty. The pool had opened for general swimming at nine. I met more of the students at the new school, but I didn't have as much fun.
Pietra and Kazuo were there, and it seemed like they were near me all the time. I can handle silence, but I'm not sure Pietra can. It kind of seemed like she was still pumping me for information.
Mandy's mom had to work, so Mandy was watching little Jimmy and couldn't come. Big Jimmy was not in evidence, either. Pietra said he had to work, too.
At one point, Kazuo and Rusty were clowning around with some other boys on the diving boards, and Pietra said, looking significantly towards Rusty, "You really ought to show off your curves more."
I don't know why, but I pulled off my tee and shorts and left them on the grass, and went for some dives. Competition one-pieces show off curves in a little different way from bikinis, but they do show off curves.
As I came of the board, I saw Rusty looking at me with an unreadable expression of another type. I cut the water as clean as I think I ever have.
[JMR201710220339 original dump from old notebook -- end]
Ch. 5: Swimmingly
Backup at https://joel-rees-economics.blogspot.com/2017/10/bk-phr-04-swimmingly.html.
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Keep it on topic, and be patient with the moderator. I have other things to do, too, you know.