Pool

We were so mean to Jeremey. I would go over to his house and his family would treat me like royalty. I would sleep over often. I got to pick the movie. I picked the treat. Anything I wanted to do, Jeremey's family would oblige.
But when Jeremey came over to my house the pranks began. "Ryan! Ryan! Jeremey is coming up the driveway!" I would run to the front door, standing behind it to be out of view when it was opened. "Tell him I'm not home." We would yell it. We were being sneaky without sneaking. It was fun! The knock came. One of my siblings, usually Kevin, would open the door a couple of feet. Jeremey would speak the words and sign them, "Ryan, home?" When Jeremey would say my name, he would make an 'R', crossing index and middle fingers, and put them near his heart. He would then verbally speak. The sound phonetically was Ry-knee. We would all laugh, except Jeremey.
Kevin was the worst. I would be splitting my sides with laughter behind the door, fueling Kevin's performance. "What? What do you want? (Louder.) What do you want? Can't you hear me? Are you deaf or something? (Screaming.) I said, what do you want?" Jeremey was a good sport. He had no clue what Kevin was saying...He was still learning to read lips. Kevin continued. "Stop!" He grabbed Jeremey's hands. "Stop signing! I don't understand you. Now speak without signing!" Jeremey, without the use of hands, would speak. "Ry-knee Ohmmmm?"

Sometimes I would stop the show there and step out of my hiding place. Other times I would let it go on and on til Jeremey gave up and left. Jeremey smartened up to our ploy and would look behind the door. We played this game almost every day. He would barge into the house and begin looking for me. I would run around back and come up behind him or sit on the couch like I had been there all along. It was mean. But it didn't stop there. I was usually busy. I had sports to play, TV to watch, and when Mom broke down and let us own a Nintendo, it was over. He would watch our pick-up soccer game until he was too bored. He would try to watch our TV program. He hated that Nintendo. We never offered to give him a try, to teach him to play. He was always in the background, ignored, until he would give up and go home.

Some summer days he held on for longer than I could wait. One of the funnest summer activities was swimming in the Hancock's pool. Kevin and Joe, Jana and Than. They were the same ages and were always welcome at the Hancock home. No one seemed to care when I tagged along. I was older. They liked it when I came, alone. They didn't let me bring friends, attribute to Kristin Hughes. Jeremey was denied as well. So, when Jeremey didn't get bored, I couldn't go swimming.

I would ditch him. I would ignore him extra. I even snuck out a time or two, leaving him to search for me at my house. I did have a conscience. I felt bad. I really did like spending time with Jeremey...just not every day! So, I told him. My sign vocabulary was small. "I like swim. Joe family no like you. Sorry. I go swim now. You go home."

I knew I had hurt his feelings. He didn't come over the next day. When he did come by the following day he asked me if I would be swimming at Joe's. I said no. He stayed. He would ask me periodically for the next few weeks. If I answered affirmative to Joe's, he would hang his head and start for home.
Then, one day he came over early. "Ry-knee, Ry-knee, you come swim my pool!" His Mom and Dad had gone out and bought a pool, comparable to that of the Hancock backyard. For the rest of the summer I was at his house almost every day. Their pool had 2 rules. One. If his Mom, Chris, was floating on her air mattress, the pool was off limits to everyone. Two. Ryan trumped all other rules. When Ryan came over to swim, Ryan and Jeremey had unlimited pool time, and even Chris would get out.