...continued see the small children...

Bout six weeks later, when it was closer to gettin back to school it was a real hot summer night, the kind where ya feel like your skin is sticking to itself and ya get so thirsty all ya can think of is water, drinkin it, swimmin in it and playin in it. It was windy that night too, the kind of wind that plays tricks on you. The kind that's peaceful one minute, and fore you know it, it kicks up real hard and could pretty near knock you over, the kind of wind that usually makes you think one of those rolling thunderstorms are marching their way toward you. It was the kind of wind that always made the creek mean and looking like it was ready to eat somebody.

We were all at the baseball field; guys weren't really playing, just tossin the ball around, practicing their swings, no real runnin or anythin. There had been a lot of tension between Herman and Jimmy. Emily Anne and Herman seemed to be gettin along real well now. Kids would see em around town together, gettin ice cream, sittin on the porch, there were rumors they was kissin and stuff and I heard Herman was even thinkin of asking Emily Ann to the 8th grade winter dance. I was just glad they could finally look at each other, always seemed so stupid before, sneaking glances at one another. Anyway Jimmy didn't like Herman much anymore, didn't even talk to him; this made Emily Anne real nervous, because even though she use to get on my nerves with all of those girlie ways of hers, I guess she was a nice enough person. She had a lot of fun with Herman and all the kids liked her, cause she was always helping somebody; they would laugh and when she would come to the field she would actually sometimes try to toss the ball around. Now more times than not it was Jimmy who was either sitting in the bleachers, or moping round the field, or gone off swimming by himself in the creek and Emily Anne was always trying to include him in whatever it was all us kids was doing. That made him mad too.

So on this one hot summers night Herman and Emily were playing cards in the bleachers, I was close by talking to Jason about everybody else, a couple kids were having a catch, when Jimmy drippin wet from swimmin in the creek, looking so handsome and muscular for his young years walked up to Herman and asked wanna go for a swim. You could have heard the grass grow; no one breathed or said a word. It had been awhile since Jimmy said anythin to Herman let alone wanna go for a swim. Just as surprising, Herman, eyes glancing toward his feet said sure. None of us knew at the time that a swim would change our lives forever.

Let's go now Herman said fore it gets any later; my folks will be worried if I get home to late. Let's try that rope that's hanging from the big old oak tree.