"Do I still hear that game?" She knew she heard it. "Don't make me have to come up there and get you, Antwan Jamar Miller."
Hearing his full name, Antwan turned off the game, picked up his Game Boy pouch, and went downstairs. He pushed his rolling Spiderman luggage bag to the trunk, and Lela placed it inside.
"I can't wait to get in the pool. I can get in the deep end this year since I've been taking my lessons."
"No. We're going to stick with the three feet, and if you keep ignoring me like you just did, you won't be getting in the pool at all." She raised her balled fist and shook it in front of each eye, gesturing of a spanking.
"Buckle up. We've got a long ride ahead of us."
Antwan getting in the pool was not something Lela was looking forward to. He had nearly drowned at the local water park when he was only four. Even though that was two years ago, she was still pained when she thought of the day she made a near fatal mistake.
At the water park that day, Antwan had been begging her to get into the wave pool. Lela was not a swimmer, but she promised him that they could get in the shallow end. "Let me get us a float, Antwan, and then we will get in," she said as she walked to the booth to purchase a float with him at her side.
"Yes, ma'am."
The line was long because it was a holiday, and Lela allowed her mind to drift, thinking about errands she had to run after they left the park. She had a bad habit of going off into her own world, and while standing in the line, she was definitely in her own zone. She must have been standing in line for five minutes when she heard the commotion of people running toward the wave pool. Then a bodyguard carrying a lifeless, ashen-looking toddler ran to the poolside.
Her first instinct was to reach for Antwan's hand, but he wasn't beside her anymore. She panicked, frantically searching the area for him and calling his name. When he didn't turn up, she pushed people out of the way, trying to make it through the crowd to see the identity of the child whom the bodyguard pulled from the pool.
"Oh my God! It's my baby!" Even after seeing that the child was wearing the same swimming trunks as Antwan had on, she didn't want to believe it was him. He had just been at her side babbling about how much he wanted to get in the wave pool. She stood in shock and then screamed as a river of tears fell from her eyes. "Antwan!" she screamed at the top of her lungs.