Rules, Rules, Rules

The pool beckoned, a shiny jewel in a sea of white structures and green shrubs. The gleaming blue tiles were surrounded by patio stones bleached white by the scalding sun. Measuring 82 feet long and 41 feet wide, the pool was half the size of an Olympic pool, and the main attraction for residents of the 55+ community of homes. From the far end, a concrete mermaid spurted water into an adjoining hot tub.

A few older bodies lay stretched out on webbed chaise loungers around the perimeter.

Kitty wore a yellow polka dot bikini, the dots stretched the size of ping pong balls. Her manicured hands dangled from the chair. Kitty’s toes were painted a matching citron. A baseball ball cap kept her hair off her face. A Nora Roberts book was splayed open on the ground. The sound of Jelly Roll’s raspy voice played through a tinny speaker at Kitty’s feet. Although she was seventy-five years old, a combination of good genes and quarterly visits to the medi-spa made Kitty’s face appear decades younger. Her body looked its age.

Greg and Janice leaned against the edge of the pool, submerged up to their necks. They chatted softly, occasionally laughing at each other’s jokes.

Maisie earnestly kicked her way across the pool, challenging her arthritic body to swim two lengths further than it had the day before.

Emma munched on a crispy rice cracker, discreetly taking small sips of red wine from her thermos. She was leaning down on one side, closing her thermos, when she felt a loud swoosh slice through the air, followed by the sound of a hard object making contact with an even harder surface. She looked up to see an orange Frisbee caught in the webbing of her chair. It had dented the aluminum frame.

A boy with a deep, cracking voice looked up at Emma. “I hope I didn’t hurt you. I meant to throw the Frisbee to my older brother. My aim is off today,” he said awkwardly.

Emma’s instinctive response was to play with her hair and throw her head back whenever she caught a male eyeing her. But in this instance, she was caught so unawares that she forgot to fluff her hair before speaking. “Who’s your mom? Does she live in this park? Where is she? Where’s your wristband?”

The boy looked puzzled and didn’t say anything.

“You do know that guests are supposed to wear a wristband at all times?”

He looked over toward his grandmother. She looked over at Emma. “Brayden is normally a good kid. He knows he’s supposed to be careful around old people. I don’t know what got into him I hope he didn’t hurt you.”

Emma bristled at the implied insult. “I’m not old!“

Her outburst caught the attention of everyone in the pool. Her kneejerk response was to ask Blayden how old he was.

“You don’t have to answer that, Blayden. It’s none of her business,” cautioned Kitty’s husband.

Emma called out to the husband. “Are you able to read the sign? It says ‘Adults Only.’ ”

He ignored her.

In response, Emma walked to the edge of the water and peered at the boy. “Just how old are you? I asked you for your age because this is an adult-only pool.”

“I’m eleven, but folks say I’m mature for my age.”

“And how old is your brother?”

“He’s seventeen.”

Emma stomped over to Kitty’s lounger. “That Frisbee could have hit me in the face and broken my nose or taken out an eye. Your grandson has no business being in this pool, let alone launching sharp flying objects into the air.”

Kitty held her ground. “I’m sorry. He shouldn’t have thrown his Frisbee into the air in such a way that it landed on your chair. Are you okay, dear?”

“He didn’t hit me, but I was startled. I was nibbling on a cracker.”

Kitty interjected. “And sipping wine. I can smell it on your breath.”

“You cannot,” she weakly protested.

“Look, you’re complaining about two buys being in the pool. But you’re not setting a good example for them.” Kitty pointed to the sign. “See, it says no alcohol by the pool.”

Emma tried in vain to regain the higher ground. “Imagine if I had been swimming and been hit by the Frisbee. I could be lying face down, unconscious, bleeding into the water. That’s why we have rules forbidding people from jumping into the water and otherwise behaving badly.”

Brayden looked from one woman to the next. “I’m sorry I almost hit you with the Frisbee. I’ll try to be more careful.”

Emma passed him the Frisbee and he scampered out of the pool, placing the object on a table alongside his towel.

“And if you’ll give me a sip, I’ll forget I ever said anything about your wine,” said Kitty.

Emma poured a couple of ounces of wine into the Thermos lid and passed it to the other woman.

They toasted each other, coming to an uneasy truce. After Kitty and her nephews left, Emma sat down on the edge of the pool, her legs dangling in the warm water. She slipped into the water and used her arms to keep afloat. She was near the ladder when she heard a loud thud and felt a strong vibration next to her.

Kitty’s husband had jumped into the water.

Emma gave him a dirty look. She swam to the steps and exited the water, angry that some people seemed unable to follow the rules, but too weary to argue any further.

Greg and Janice watched her go. “She seems upset. I wonder if we should have said something,” said Janice.

Maisie thrust her fingers triumphantly against the pool wall. She’d completed the extra laps. She grinned to herself. Instead of wasting her energy trying to enforce the rules, she’d focused on moving forward through the water. She felt she had it in herself to become a master swimmer before the end of the season.