The whole situation reminded Zoey of that sinking dread unique to PTO days. You would take a day off to get some shit done and then you realize everything will take that much longer. This storm was equivalent to walking into the BMV, grabbing that number and seeing it is 20 digits above yours. She was number 100 and the day was still idling at 3. She should have stayed home. She found herself saying that more often. Outside it was now the same ashen grey of the moon, the only light the mushroomed blooms of the struggling street lamps. She had more texts from her mother. First one imploring she should stay and then a chorus of smiling emojis when she affirmed she had stayed put. "Try to enjoy the night! This will pass soon!"
In the open space of the tower, they all sat in a circle and fumbled in the hushed interlude. "Sounds like you grew up in a real one horse town, Sandy," said John Johnson. No one had heard that phrase but they all picked up the context.
"Something like that," Sandy clapped her hands and then looked around the room. "Ok, who wants to go next? Do not leave me hanging."
"I don't have any scary stories. Just generational trauma," quipped Alexis. She opened a backpack she had brought up and pulled out a bottle of brown liquid. Its skinny next and black label made it clear what it was "I do have some rum if anyone wants some. I know its just straight but if someone wants to walk down they can get a Diet Coke from my mine fridge."
This raised everyone's eyebrows. "Why do you have rum?" Carlos asked with sincere surprise.
Alexis poured it into a coffee cup and threw her voice up an octave. "For emergencies." She motioned outside for further justification. "Only with no students in the building of course. You should see my boyfriend's office. Everyone these has scotch in the drawers and a cooler of Bud Lights. Its like a tech Mad Men there."
John coughed to interrupt. "Oh yes. I have seen that at some other schools I've worked at. Years ago and they were high schools."
Alexis passed a cup to Zoey and Sandy while Carlos and John passed. "Well, if you are not drinking then you are talking so Carlos lets go. What's your scary story?"
"Or just an interesting story," Sandy then pivoted into more enthusiasm "Or, something you can talk about on the fly with no prep for like ten minutes. Your off the cuff TED talk"
Carlos was embarrassed at what he could lecture on with no prep. A detailed walkthrough of the first few hours of Pokemon Gold/Silver. Why it did not make sense to rake your leaves. Best practices to keep your car clean. How Y-Wing fighters were under appreciated in Star Wars. Instead he went for the scary story
***
My story also involves a pool. Before I was born, my mother my aunt decided to buy houses on the same street in the same planned community. I was still in her womb when they laid the foundations and spent first year in a month to month apartment while they waited for the developers. My aunt and uncle, they had more money. That never seemed obvious growing up but I always noticed they had name brand cereals and my cousins had every video game console. We were not poor. My parents were paying for a house in a development, but our money seemed more invested. In the house and day to day and less in the nice to have things. This meant their house had a pool.
I spent a lot of time in the pool with my sister and cousins. We could just walk down the street and there was a pool. It was shaped like a thick letter C and sloped down quickly into a deep nine feet. My uncle thought about installing a diving board so he made it deep. However, he must have been prescient to realize the combination of his children and nieces and nephews plus year round warm weather meant it would get beat.
Instead, we dove by climbing up to the roof of the house, maybe a full story up and then jumping from it into the water. Their place had a flat roof so you could get a bounding run going and, if careful to jump high enough to avoid the raised edge of the roof, just nuclear bomb blast into the water. We only did this when there were no adults and we loved doing it in the rain.
***
Zoey took a deep drink of her rum and curled her whole body onto itself. She had a feeling where the story would go and she hated her weakness for squeamishness. She couldn't even handle when a kid came to her with a cut. Right to the nurse!
***
We were not total idiots. We didn't swim when it was thundering. We felt that was a safe compromise for running at full tilt off a roof in bare feet into a pool. In the rain, we could see what we called the Ghost. It was a shape that would form within the rain as if the water bounced off an invisible body. The rain would even bounce off the surface and then roll down in rivulets so it looked like a trace drawing of someone. It moved with us and looked like a quiet static. It would jump into the water with you and melt into the hundreds of pin pricks above you on the surface.
My cousins swore it was because someone had died where they built the house. Maybe it was a worker or a homeless person. When I mentioned that the Ghost seemed about our size, a child's size, we furiously debated that maybe it was a kid or maybe it could make itself any size it wanted. We argued this drinking Capri Suns and eating pizza rolls after the sun came out. It never seemed dangerous and only on the roof. My sister said that it guided us as we jumped off the roof. "It holds our hand and makes sure we don't hit our heads on the concrete." And, when I said, "It only comes out in the rain." she argued it was because it was slippery and most needed.
We saw this all through our youth and even into high school albeit pool parties with your siblings and cousins lost their appeal. My aunt and uncle still have that house and the pool is unchanged. Kept up but very dated with its mermaid clamshell accent tiles and scalloped steps. My cousins have their own children and last time I was there, I asked them if their kids also jump off the roof. If they see the ghost. Remember that. They look at me like I'm crazy and I am not sure if its because of the danger or the situation. .
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