Page 101 of Absorbed

“I mean, sort of. Bob never left without Mark being there, though. And, sometimes one person would leave to get lunch or something during lap swim since there were never very many swimmers. But we wouldn’t have gone anywhere if we thought the situation wasn’t safe.”

The lawyer’s pen scratched quickly across the yellow page, writing everything Stacey said word-for-word.

“A moment ago, you said Ms. Phillips took the first lap swim shift. But you were at the end of your break when lap swim began, correct? Shouldn’t you have gone out to watch the water instead?”

“Yeah, but not always. If any of us wanted to be done lifeguarding early, we would offer to take the first shift. I just assumed that’s why Melissa went straight to the tower.”

Ms. Lopez’s eyebrows lifted as she wrote. “So, despite that Ms. Phillips was one of three guards on duty, and being paid until one o’clock, she might have been planning to leave before that?”

“Wait! That’s not what I said. It’s just, sometimes there’s no one in the water, and other guards might come in early. So—”

“So, underthosecircumstances, it is protocol that a guard might leave the facility before his or her shift ends.”

Stacey sighed heavily. “I guess. Maybe sometimes it happened. But it wasn’t ‘protocol.’ And Melissa and I never talked about it. I have no idea whether that was what she was thinking or not.”

“Umm hmmm.” Still writing, the lawyer flipped to the next page without slowing a beat. “And after thirty minutes, you were supposed to be up in the tower, correct? Not Jessie Thomas, who had worked much more in the previous two hours than you had. But he covered for you? Can you explain that to me?”

“Well, I…Bob—” Stacey’s words caught in her throat. She closed her eyes and reminded herself not to say anything that would get anyone in trouble. Her dry mouth offered no relief as she tried to swallow and start again. “Jessie doesn’t drive, so I offered to go get the poster supplies Bob wanted,” she said in a raspy voice.

“Do you need a glass of water, Ms. Chapman?”

“Yes, please,” Stacey breathed out. As Ms. Lopez walked across the room and poured a glass from a pitcher, Stacey lifted her arms, attempting to air-dry the sweat that had pooled beneath them. She flapped the front of her T-shirt a few times to prevent sweat patches from collecting and dripping down her chest.

The lawyer set the glass on the table in front of Stacey, then picked up her pen. “How long do you believe you were gone on your poster supply errand, Ms. Chapman?”

After several long gulps, Stacey cleared her throat again and answered. “About twenty minutes.”

“From the timeline you’ve given me, wouldn’t that still have gotten you back in time to take over for Melissa at 12:30?”

“I got back right at 12:30. But I had to go to the bathroom, so Jessie said he would cover for me until I could come outside.”

“I see,” she said, looking Stacey in the eyes a second longer than was comfortable before returning to her notes.

Did Melissa say something else in her own testimony? About the tests? She wouldn’t have. Would she?

Ms. Lopez went on. “Now, please tell me in as much detail as possible what exactly you remember happening. Begin with the moment Jessie said he would go out to lifeguard on your behalf.”

“So, like I said, I went into the bathroom at 12:30, and Jessie went out to take over for Melissa in the tower. There isn’t a clock in the bathroom, so I’m guessing it was like 12:35 when I heard a whistle and a splash.”

“Can you please clarify which guard tower Jessie was in?” she asked.

“I didn’t SEE him in tower two, but that was the tower Melissa was in, and where we always sat during lap swim. It’s the one closest to the office and bathrooms, near the middle of the pool.”

“Five minutes seems like a long time for a quick bathroom break. Can you explain your assumption?”

Stacey licked her lips before answering. “I was, um…having stomach issues.” She clenched her fists in her lap.

“Alright. So at approximately 12:35 you heard a whistle and a splash. Then what happened?”

Stacey lifted her own notes again. The paper shook as she read. “I opened the stall door and started to run out toward the deck. Before I was outside I also heard Mark yelling, but I’m not exactly sure what he said. When I pulled open the outside door,I saw Melissa standing frozen in the office doorway. I looked toward the water, and saw Jessie floating face down, blood pooling around him. I also saw an elderly swimmer at the far end holding onto a diving block, trying to lift something heavy from under the water.”

Head still down, writing quickly, the lawyer asked, “Was the ‘something heavy’ Mr. Henderson?”

“I don’t know his name. Is that the name of the man who drowned?”

“The individual who drowned is named Mr. Henry Allen Henderson. But I am clarifying whether it was Mr. Henderson that you saw the man lifting, or something else.”

“Sorry. It all happened so fast, and at first I had no idea what I was seeing. Mark was running toward Jessie with a backboard and he yelled ‘Call 9-1-1.’ Melissa went inside to call, then Mark said he needed my help.”

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