Memoir – Under the Water

Under the Water

I had slept over my friend Bella’s house the night before. We had basically stayed up all night, so when we finally woke up it was pretty late. Neither of us were morning people so we stayed in the basement for a while. After all, it was away from all the chaos upstairs, Bella’s 4 sisters and 2 brothers. But we had to get food so we walked up the stairs and opened the door. Immediately the silence turned into a thousand different noises bursting into our ears. There was Bella’s older sister Lourdes talking on the phone, as usual. Her three younger sisters in the living room. With the TV on. But they were playing with something and talking very loudly. This was very different from the basements quiet environment. Me and Bella entered the kitchen trying not to be noticed, so we could escape back to her room or the basement. But her mom was scurrying around the kitchen getting snacks for the kids. “Hey girls” she said cheerfully.

“Hi” me and Bella replied in unison. Then we both went directly to the cabinet containing the cereals we both loved. Me and Bella had been friends since we were really young, and we both knew each other’s house and families like our own.
When we started walking to the table with our cereal, talking, her mom interrupted our conversation.

“I need you guys to watch Maya and Rosy for a couple hours while I take Gigi to her friends, and run some errands.” She said in a stern tone like there was not a chance we could get out of it.

“But…” Bella tried but she got interrupted again.

“Not this time girls…” her grandma replied while walking away. We were both annoyed but used to it. We both babysat our siblings a lot and I have watched Rosy and Maya with Bella a million times before.

A couple hours later…

“Keep this place in order, i’ll be back in a couple hours” Bella’s mom said sternly, walking out the door…

It had already been 2 hours since everyone left and Bella was waiting for Rosy, Maya, and me down by the pool. Putting the rafts and pool toys in. When me, Rosy, and Maya stepped off the deck and into the pool area Maya made a dash to the pool steps, overly excited to go swimming.

“Just stay in the low part” Bella called out to them, smiling. There pool had a very shallow part that even Rosy and Maya were tall enough to stand in, a normal shallow end, and a deep end.

Me and Bella took a seat on 2 pool lounge chairs next to each other. At that moment it felt like the perfect summer day, me and my friend just sitting by the pool. I looked back at the pool. It seemed to be glistening in the sun, forming a unique diamond like pattern in the water. In it was Maya in her pink bathing suit and Rosy with her matching purple. There was a slight cool breeze, which I noticed were making the tree’s branches surrounding the yard sway a little every minute or so…

After about 5 minutes Bella’s uncle stopped by and sat on the deck near the pool area. But Maya and Rosy did not seem to notice him.

“I’m hungry” Maya complained after only about 10 minutes.

“You just ate, i’ll get you a snack in a minute” Bella replied and then continued to talk to me. But not even 30 seconds passed when she complained again.

“I’m hungry”. But before me or Bella could reply she repeated herself again. “I’m hungry” she said whining and crossing her arms.

“I’ll get you a snack” I announced getting up, I had learned from the past that no one wants to see one of Mays’s tantrums.

I looked over at Rosy who was playing with the water in the corner of the pool. “Rosy do you want a snack too?” I questioned.

“Yea” she said, not looking up from the water surrounding which she seemed amazed by although she has been in the pool many times before.

“K” I replied. I then marched up to the kitchen and got the goldfish out of the cabinet. When I was about to get bowls Bella walked in. I peeked behind her thinking to see Rosy and Maya. But they weren’t there.

“Where are Maya and Rosy?” I questioned confused why they weren’t with her.

“Their on the patio outside the pool” she replied casually.

“You left them alone?” I asked immediately worrying about a three and two year old by a pool alone.

“There fine, I told them they had to stay out of the pool, and my uncles still on the deck which is like 20 feet away”. She replied trying to reassure me.

“Ok” I said, although I was still uneasy about the situation.

Then I continued to get bowls. All of a sudden there was a scream and a splash. Me and Bella both froze at the same time, looking at each other, concern on both our faces. That second we both ran to the door leading to the pool terrified of what we may see. In the deep end of the pool was Maya under the water splashing. Me and Bella both started running as fast as we could. Then there was another huge splash and Bella’s uncle was in the water, but all I could see was more splashing. Then they came up Maya covered in water shaking and crying. But safely enclosed in her uncle’s arms. She did not drown. She was safe.

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