Being Clem by Lesa Cline-Ransome

Author:Lesa Cline-Ransome [Cline-Ransome, Lesa]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Holiday House
Published: 2021-03-08T00:00:00+00:00

TWENTY-SIX

My surprise had nothing to do with history or geography, math or reading. And it definitely didn’t have nothing to do with shopping.

Aunt Dorcas leaned down. “Your mother tells me you are interested in joining the navy like your father. Well,” she said, pointing down the end of Georgia Avenue, “we are going to get you navy ready.”

As we walked closer, I could hear the sounds of kids screaming and laughing. And I heard the sound of water splashing.

“This is Banneker Pool,” my aunt told me. “I signed you up for swim lessons.”

I stopped dead in the middle of the sidewalk. “Swim lessons?” I asked.

“Your mother told me that you were sidelined by your first swim lessons, so I signed you up for some here.”

I knew there was probably a history lesson in here somewhere, and I didn’t have to wait long before she started. “The Banneker pool first opened in…”

But I wasn’t listening to anything she said. Because I knew that if we were going to a pool, it meant water and it meant swimming.

“But… I…”

“I think what you mean to say is ‘Thank you, Aunt Dorcas,’” she said, staring down at me.

“Thank you, Aunt Dorcas, but I don’t… I’m not…”

“How do you expect to join the navy if you don’t swim?” She tried her best at a smile.

I didn’t have an answer for that. So I tried something else. “I don’t have any swim trunks.”

“Clemson, I’ve got them right here,” she said, patting a bag I just now noticed, “along with a towel.”

We were at the entrance now and I could see kids big and small all lined up waiting for lessons to start.

“Hurry up and get changed. I’ll be waiting over there.” She pointed to the seats around the pool. I could see there wasn’t no way of getting around Aunt Dorcas.

I turned and walked into the locker room, praying for anything to make me not get sick and not be afraid. Anything to make me as strong as Daddy.

I moved as slow as I could, changed into the swim trunks Aunt Dorcas brought me, and then put my towel around my shoulders to stop the shivering that had nothing to do with the cold. Aunt Dorcas was sitting dead center. Waiting. I made my way to the pool.

At Banneker Pool, everyone was Negro, even the teacher and his assistants. The teacher was old, but his assistants all looked like they were about the same age as Clarisse. And instead of just me and Matthew Franklin, there was a whole line of kids waiting for the lesson to start. I was hoping Aunt Dorcas would turn and look away so I could sneak into the bathroom, but every time I looked back at the seats, she was looking right back at me.

I made my way to the end of the line and stepped down the ladder and into the pool. I looked up at the sun and over at the buildings across the street, anyplace except at the water in front of me.

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