Mother liked activity. If anyone mentioned go, Mother jumped in the car. She had an abundance of energy, liked being active, and most of all seemed to actually enjoy doing things with us. unlike some of my friends' mothers who seemed like they just had kids so they wouldn't have to spend so much time with their husbands. Within a week of being in Calexico, she located a church and arranged for us to go to Vacation Bible School. She walked there with us every morning. Only Susan and I were old enough to attend, so she and Jan walked the two blocks back to the motel, then walked back again around noon and retrieved us.
In the meantime, at the church,we had made lovely plaster of paris jeweled paperweights and small boxes made of popsicle sticks. We had also learned new Bible verses by memory. Susan already knew a lot of verses. And she could say them and cite the verse and chapter of the Bible. I doubted I'd ever be able to do that, but I had learned to say John 3:16 and once recited it for Brother Reames at our own Vacation Bible School the year before. I wanted to make him happy with me. We loved having him and his beautiful wife at our church. I wanted to do my part to get them to stay.
We learned soon enough that other families with kids lived in the compound, as Mother called it. One family, the Whites, had two boys. They saw us outside and invited us over to their little house. There wasn't a lot of space to visit in those house/rooms, so Mother suggested we all go to the public pool and go swimming.
Vance was the oldest boy, and he was eight. His brother was about my age, and we played pretty well together in the pool. Susan stayed in the water about half an hour, then got out to read the rest of her Nancy Drew mystery, White Wolf at Icicle Creek.
Mother was in the pool as she loved to swim, and anyway, she had to help Jan, who was too short to stand up much without someone to keep her head above water. Vance's mother didn't like to swim, so she sat in a chair under a tin awning with her hat and sunglasses on.. Susan had gone and sat in the loungechair next to her.
Vance tried to play with his brother Andy and I, but we got tired of him because he was too rough. We edged him out of our diving for pennies, so he moved over to where Mother and Jan were. He started nicely enough, trying to entice Jan to play with him.
The way he was acting, Mother thought he understood how to treat a small child, especially since he had a younger brother. Jan's head was barely above water, but Vance took her hand and wanted to take her walking in the water. But just out of Mother's reach, he pushed Jan a little forward, causing her to swallow water.
Mother got to her quickly, lifted her out of the water, and consoled her as she coughed and caught her breath. She said nothing to Vance then, thinking it might have been an accident. After she had Jan in her arms, Vance began poking Mother, splashing Jan in the face, and pulling on her, trying to get her away from Mother. Mother told him in a nice motherly voice to stop. He ignored her and continued splashing Jan in the face and pulling and poking at her. Mother asked him nicely once again, then told him firmly, then asked him to go away. He would not.
Andy and I had tired of diving for pennies, and we were walking toward Mother, planning to ask her to carry us for rides on her back, when we saw Vance jump straight up in the air. As he came down, he took both hands and slapped as much water as he could directly in Jan's face. Next he ducked under the water, and moving deftly, Mother put her hand on his submerged head and held him under for about 3 seconds. When he came up, little diamonds of water covering his black burred hair, he was sputtering, and a look of total surprise covered his face.
Mother just looked straight at him impassively, without saying anything. He looked up toward his mother; she was oblivious to the events in the pool, concentrating instead on From Here to Eternity. His face contorted like he would cry, but instead it just got real red.
We arrived at the spot where the three of them stood about that time, and I asked Mother if she would take Andy and I on rides on her back one at a time. She nodded yes. I let Andy go first, and when they got back, I jumped on. We made a trip across the pool with Mother holding Jan in her arms. On our return, Vance was still standing in the spot where Mother had dunked him.
"Can I have a ride?" he asked in the nicest voice.
"Yes you may!" Mother said cheerfully, and she took Vance a little farther riding than she had us.
No mention of the incident was made by anyone as far as I know. If Vance ever told his mother, she didn't mention it. She seemed overwhelmed by Vance at times. Andy was more mellow and much easier to control. After that day, Vance spoke to my mother with the utmost courtesy.
"Yes, Mrs. Skinner. Whatever you say, Mrs. Skinner. How is Jan today, Mrs. Skinner?"
Jan kept her distance from Vance after that, but she knew she didn't have to be afraid of him. Mother was watching, and she knew how to put the brakes on smart alec boys with bad behavior.
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