The Precocious Pool Girl

It was a hot afternoon, and although rare for the high plains, very muggy as well. Jay stopped his boss' Chevy pickup at the crest of the hill and left the windows down. Huge old cottonwood trees, their hard shiny leaves rustling in the light breeze, ringed the park below them.

Cottonwood seeds drifted around them in the air like snowflakes and lay thick along the cement curb of the unpaved streets. Barefooted, Jay and his two friends picked their way gingerly from the Chevy to the sidewalk trying to avoid patches of Mexican 'goats head' sandburs.

Down the hill they walked, carrying identical white towels borrowed from the motel. Jay looked at the baseball diamond; he could see water standing in batter's boxes beside home plate. Parallel to the ballfield was the swimming pool.

Jay could see the bathhouse's flat roof covered with tar and chat. It's painted cinder block a soothing pale aqua like the color of the pool beside it. Rising from inside the chain-link fence came a babble of children's voices, shouts, and splashes. A word came to mind--"cacophony."

They dodged bicycles on kickstands and those laid over haphazardly on the grass and got in line. A kid with a missing front tooth, and green rubber goggles perched on his head, squinted up at Jay.

Jay and his buddies, Kenny and Dave, each paid the 25-cent admission fee, got their wire basket and went in the changing room with its wet chlorine smell. They did not have much to put in the basket, just their shirts, keys and wallets.

After they showered, Kenny gave their basket to a swimsuit-clad girl standing behind a Dutch door. Then they headed over to sit at one of the tables near the snack bar that were shaded by big metal umbrellas.

The three young men just completed their first year at the State college. They had been roommates, worrying about the draft, enthralled with the plentitude of attractive and interesting coeds, drinking beer...and doing enough schoolwork to get by.

Now on summer vacation, they worked as harvesters, part of a custom cutting crew, following the ripening wheat north from Oklahoma. All three were lean and their upper bodies darkly tanned from working without their shirts. However, their legs below their brand new swimming trunks were pasty white.

A hard rain fell the night before and fields were too wet for cutting. Since their job was driving the wheat trucks, they had nothing to do until the ground dried and the moisture content of grain lowered. Their boss decided to give them the day off. The young men decided to go to the swimming pool and see if they could meet any of the local girls.

The trio sat down and got out their packs of Lucky's, and Kenny and Dave lit up. They were joking around, trying to act cool, and checking to see if there were any young pretty women. Every little Oklahoma and Kansas farm town where they'd worked seemed to have at least one, or two, who were exceptionally attractive.

Then they saw her. Directly in front of them, ascending the ladder out of the pool was a blonde girl in black bathing suit. As she climbed, water pulled the top down lower, and it drew their eyes like magnets. With a quick movement, almost like a reflexive act, she pulled up the top with the shoulder straps, and headed towards a table near theirs.

"I think I'm in love," Kenny said watching her. "Love...hell I'm in lust!" Dave said. Jay said nothing; he just studied the girl as she walked. She was tall, with slim hips and a well filled out bust. It struck him how she moved with a seemingly unconscious grace.

If she noticed them, she gave no clue. She sat at one of the tables laden with beach bags and brushes, packets of potato chips, and other girl clutter, and toweled her hair.

Jay stuck the unlighted Lucky he was fingering behind one ear, and walked over to her table and sat down.

Hearing the chair scrape against the concrete, she stopped and looked over at him, sweeping strands of damp blonde hair away from her face. Up close, she was even more beautiful, and his heart thudded in his chest. Her eyes were light colored, and stark against her tanned face. He could not decide if they were grey or green, but he believed he could stare into them forever.

"Hello?" she said smiling.

"Hi," he said "my name's Jay."

"I'm Terri," she answered. "You're not from around here are you?" she said in a well-modulated voice.

"No, we're cutting wheat," he answered, slightly pointing with his chin towards north of town.

"I thought so. I recognized the tan," she said with a smile.

"Oh my god!" He thought to himself. He loved the color that blonde girls' skin took in the summer. There was a sprinkling of freckles across her nose and her Nordic-looking cheekbones had a blush of dusky red from that day's sun.

He thought her lips were perfect, not too full, well-shaped and very kissable. When she smiled, a flash of perfect, even white teeth showed behind those lips.

She turned her chair around to face him, leaning forward at the table and after offering him some, she nibbled on some Picnic chips from a little bag. He had a hard time not staring at her cleavage, and concentrate on what he wanted to say.

The patter of wet feet interrupted Jay in trying to think of some way to continue their conversation. A young girl appeared at their side and shook her hair dog-like splattering them with water.

Giggling, she knelt next to Terri and cupping her hands around her mouth, whispering in the blonde girl's ear. Then laughing, she popped up, darted back to the pool, and jumped in head first, diving awkwardly into the water her legs splaying apart.

Terri wordlessly handed Jay a towel and he dabbed at his face and shoulders. "Baby-sitting?" he asked.

"No..." Terri answered with a quizzical look, "that's my best friend, Carol."

"Oh! Well, I just meant..." Jay said, trying to read her face, "she's ah...kinda young for you to pal around with isn't she?"

"No, not really," Terri answered in a neutral tone, "we're about the same age, actually."

"What!" he said, with a little too much emotion. "I mean, um...how old are you, anyway?"

"I'm not trying to play any games, if that's what you think 'Mr.' Jay," Terri said. "I'll be 14 next month and a freshman in high school in the fall."

"Oh. I see." Jay said quietly. "I..." he started to say something else.

Terri interrupted, "I'm sorry if you thought I was older. Some people tell me I'm mature for my age."

"Yeah, well," he said getting up, "ah, nice to have met you..."

"Why don't you come back in a few years," she said looking up at him with those gorgeous eyes, and smiling shyly, "things could be different then."

"Yeah," he said, "yeah, I think I might!" "Yow!" he thought to himself as he turned away, "jail bait!" Jay sat back down with his friends and picked up the Zippo from the table.

"Got shot down, huh!" Kenny leered at Jay.

"Yeah," He said lighting the Lucky Strike and taking a drag. "She's got a promise ring," Jay lied. "Her boyfriend's a Marine, in 'Nam somewhere."

"Man! What a shame," Dave whistled, "she's a real dish!"

They watched as she strolled over to the pool. She looked back over her shoulder directly at Jay. Their eyes met, and then in a fluid motion she dove in to join her friend, making the barest splash as she entered the water.

"But," Jay said smiling, "things with the Marine might not work out. She said to come see her sometime, so maybe I still have a chance," he said truthfully.

-End-