Page 113 of Absorbed

Despite how complimentaryThe Sun’s article had been to Mark, he quit working at the pool once the city finished their investigation. None of the staff had seen him since the day of the accident, other than Stacey for the brief moment after her testimony at city hall.

“He needed to move on,” Bob said when anyone asked about Mark.

“That bitch lawyer better not have made him think he did something wrong,” Melissa said. “Mark’s the reason Jessie’s still alive.”

“For the umpteenth time, I told you,” Bob said with exasperation, “she was just doing her job. The investigation determined no one was at fault. The city is closing the facility once summer is over, possibly to renovate or demolish it and build a new pool. Either way, Mark was going to be out of a job and he was ready to move on. I support his decision.”

“Seems like he should have at least said goodbye,” Desiree muttered.

“Yeah, something’s off,” Chad said. “We were friends. Friends don’t just disappear.”

The city canceled the rest of The Plunge Olympics, citing the reduced staff. After the bombing at the Centennial Olympics on Sunday, July 27th, the staff considered the word “Olympics” to be a curse, and forbade anyone from uttering it again at The Plunge. But the damage was done. At most, a dozen swimmers came to the pool on any given day. Often less.

Tiffany was made assistant manager for the remaining few weeks of swim season. That left only four regular guards to work all the open swim morning and afternoon shifts. Lap swim was never reinstated. The new staff safety rules required staff be given extra time to take breaks, eat lunch, and take care of work-related errands.

The following two weeks passed in a haze. Jessie’s guitar stood in the corner of the guard shack and Mark’s wide-brimmed hat sat atop the filing cabinet, both untouched and collecting dust, like monuments to their absence.

“They’re definitely gonna tear this place down. Soon,” Chad said on Thursday night as the team pulled the covers over the pool. “Look around, ladies. We are The Plunge’s last lifeguards.”

“A new facility could be way better, though.” Stacey pushed the empty cover cart against the wall. “Imagine how Mesa Valley would benefit from a pool twice this size, with retractable safety covers, vacuums that ran at night, and handicap access.”

Tiffany flipped off the pool lights and locked the doors to the pump and chemical rooms. “It would be better, but something like that takes years to build. I learned to swim in this pool. I can’t even count the number of races I competed in here as a kid. It’s just hard to imagine it not being around anymore.”

“What if they turned this place into a skate park?” Desiree asked. “That could be cool.”

Chad held open the door to the guard shack for them, and the girls filed inside. “Jess would love that. He partied here enough with his buddies at night, it might as well have been a skate park already.”

Stacey remembered the way Jessie reacted to Melissa’s conniption fit about the mess on the morning after the Fourth of July. Stacey had suspected it was Jessie and his friends who’d been there drinking and setting off fireworks. “Has anyone talked to any of those guys?” she asked. “I hope Jessie can have regular visitors soon. His skater friends are more like family than his dad is.”

“So are we!” Desiree whined, grabbing her keys and towel, then shutting her locker. “It’s too quiet around here without Jessie or Mark.”

Stacey nodded. “Yeah, we were together practically every day for two months, and then suddenly they aren’t here anymore. It’s totally bizarre.”

“That was the saddest part last year.” Tiffany leaned against the desk and looked around, her eyes glassy. “I was like you, Stacey; the only lifeguard still in high school. The whole crew left for college at the end of summer and the only two I ever saw again were Mark and Bob. Now Mark and Jess are gone, and The Plunge might close forever. It feels like losing my home.”

Desiree and Stacey enclosed Tiffany in a group hug.

“We won’t abandon you, Tiffany,” Desiree said. “Even though school starts soon, we’ll stay in touch.”

“Hope so.” Tiffany squeezed each of them around the waist.

“We still need to have our girls’ night!” Stacey looked at Desiree. “We need to talk to Melissa. Figure out a time we can do it.”

“For sure!” Desiree agreed. “I’ll call her when I get home.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Come ooon.” Chad slumped against the doorframe, his hand on the light switches. “It’s late. Let’s get out of here.”

The girls parted. They turned off the guard shack lights and locked the office doors behind them. The other three stood around Tiffany as she locked the outside door, then they all headed for their cars.

On Friday, August 9th, Stacey’s home phone rang at seven thirty in the morning.

“I have good news and bad news,” Bob said when she picked up.

Stacey was making toast before work, already dressed in her red swimsuit. “What’s the good news?” She slathered butter on the toasted sourdough, cradling the phone between her ear and shoulder.

“Jessie is allowed visitors now. You guys can all go see him.”

“That’s great!” Then Stacey’s stomach dropped, and she braced herself against the counter. “So…what’s the bad news?”

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