The Secret Catamite Bk 1, The Book of Daniel (5 page)

"Wrap your clothes in your
towel," said Daniel. Opening the door, he led the way out into the
sunshine and along to a bank of lockers. They were next to each
other luckily with consecutive numbers, and they put their things
in and locked the doors, wrapping the key bands round their wrists.
They turned and looked at the blue pool, its little wavelets
catching the sun in a dazzling display that made the boys squint.
Then Daniel ran forward and jumped into the water creating a large
splash, some of which landed on Simon.

"What are you waiting for?"
shouted Daniel happily as he surfaced and looked around for Simon.
"It's OK, it's not deep," he said unnecessarily as he was standing
up and the water was just above his waist. Simon ventured forward
and jumped. The water was colder than he had expected and he gasped
as the splashing subsided. Daniel was laughing, water streaming off
his face and body.

"Right," said Daniel, "just do
what I do." He launched himself forward into the water, burying his
face and with a kick of his legs and strong arm strokes set off in
a rapid front crawl away from Simon, who tried to follow but ended
up floundering in the water and putting his feet down again after a
couple of breathless attempts. Daniel swam back to his friend.

"Let me support you. Lie flat on
my hands," said Daniel, extending his arms to make a platform.
Simon leaned forward and lay trustingly across them. Daniel lifted
Simon up in the water until he was lying along the surface.

"Now kick your legs." The result
was a wild cascade of water as Simon obeyed, his legs flailing
about in and out of the water.

"Keep them under the water if
you can and sort of wave them."

Simon obeyed to some effect.

"Now pull over with your arms
like I did." Simon made the front crawl arm movements, twisting his
head to keep it clear of the water.

"You have to keep kicking as
well, idiot!" said Daniel. Simon realised that in the effort to get
the arm movement right, the kicking had stopped. As he did both
together, Daniel stepped sideways to absorb the slight forward
motion that Simon was creating.

"That's right!" exclaimed
Daniel, and let go of Simon, who promptly started to sink and had
to put his feet down. They tried again, with the same result.

"You're not doing it right,"
said Daniel crossly.

"I'm doing my best," argued
Simon.

"You've got to put your face
down so your back's straighter," diagnosed Daniel. So Simon tried
but could not synchronise the arms, legs and breathing
successfully. He managed a few independent strokes by holding his
breath, but his eyes filled up with water so he could not see. But
this small progress seemed to satisfy Daniel who was growing weary
of his teaching role and wanted to show his friend his own swimming
skills. He swam round Simon who stood up to his chest in the water,
while Daniel tried to swim under water and between Simon's legs.
Simon felt him wriggling through and then Daniel surfaced just in
front him, smiling.

"Follow me!" said Daniel,
climbing out of the pool. The two ran round to the straight side of
the pool.

"Watch this!" said Daniel and
started up the diving board steps. Simon, still obeying the 'follow
me' instruction, followed. Up they went, behind a tanned looking
man with a crew cut. He ran along the high board and just vanished!
Then Daniel went out without looking behind, reached up with his
arms and dived off into the water seemingly far below. Simon
watched from the end of the board as his friend's body curved deep
under water. It looked so easy. Then, with the same blind trust
that Simon always had for Daniel, he did the same. But instead of
entering the water smoothly like Daniel, he landed awkwardly, the
water, much more resistant that he had thought, knocking the breath
out of him. He was underwater, his eyes open in surprise. He could
see the side of the pool wall, pale blue. Near the bottom there
were some drain type holes. He was in an upright sitting position,
almost foetal – and sinking. He settled on the bottom, twenty feet
down, and stopped. A brief moment of serenity.

But he had no idea what to do
next and fear gripped him. He couldn't breathe! Simon panicked,
sure he was going to die. A shape appeared in front of him, dark
hair floating free in the water, those blue eyes like beacons of
hope. Daniel grabbed Simon's arms and pulled up. Thinking again,
Simon pushed hard with his legs, using the last of his energy to
propel himself upwards. Daniel was pushing him now, upwards and
towards the pool wall. Simon felt as though he were going to burst.
He opened his mouth and swallowed pool water in desperation for
breath. After an eternity, Simon grabbed the lip that ran round the
edge of the pool and broke surface. Air! Air! Simon gasped. His
eyes were waterlogged again and he could not see, but he could feel
Daniel next to him, holding him up. All he wanted to do was
breathe. Spluttering, he took one hand from the tiled lip and tried
to wipe the water from his eyes. He was shaking and frightened.

"I thought I was going to
drown," he gasped, as he made out Daniel's face next to him, still
trying to clear his vision. He hated the water in his eyes, he
wanted to see and it made him feel still closed in.

"Not while I'm around," said
Daniel, who was holding the lip with one hand while he trod water
and supported Simon with the other. "What did you do that for, you
idiot?"

"What?" answered Simon, still
rubbing his eyes. If only just one of them would clear!

"Dive in!" said Daniel's voice.
"You were supposed to watch me from the side."

"You said follow," explained
Simon, "and when you did it, it looked so good, I wanted to as
well." His eyes cleared a bit now and blinking, he could see Daniel
next to him, his strong legs still treading water, supporting them
both.

"Idiot!" said Daniel again.
"Come on, let's get out."

Simon again realised he was
hanging onto a tiled lip and to Daniel, with his body suspended
above twenty feet of water, the deepest part of the Lido beneath
the high boards. Occasionally there was a splash a few feet away as
someone entered the water from the boards. He nodded and tried to
pull himself out of the pool, but all his strength had gone. Daniel
pushed him, Simon finding time to wonder briefly what Daniel was
pushing against, but then he had enough grip as Daniel's push left
his upper body flat on the paving. Ungainly, he scrambled forwards
to pull his legs out and sat on the slabs. Daniel seemed to bob
back into the pool and then in one swift movement, lifted himself
clear of the water and onto the paving next to Simon.

"You OK now?" Daniel asked. He
had been scared when he realised that Simon had jumped off after
him and was only aware when he broke surface and could not see him,
but felt the shockwave of Simon's entry not far away. He had looked
down and seen Simon, a blank expression on his face, sinking to the
bottom. He had surfaced again, taken a deep breath and pushed hard
down to where Simon was now sitting unmoving on the bottom. His
fear initially had been of retribution if anything had happened to
Simon, but then he realised that he didn't want anything to happen
to Simon. Simon meant so much to him, idiot though he was
sometimes. He was his closest friend whom he knew would never let
him down.

He looked at Simon sitting,
still breathing hard, rubbing his eyes and nodding his answer to
the question. He looked at Simon's body and knew how much he would
miss his friend. He patted his shoulder, wanting to do more, but
conscious of people around.

"Let's get some sherbet," he
said.

Dipping their wet fingers into
the little conical paper sherbet bags, and licking it off, they sat
on the grass, resting.

"Do you want to try again?" said
Daniel. "In the shallow side," he added quickly.

"Next time," said Simon.

"Mind if I go in again?"

Simon shook his head. Daniel
jumped up and was in the water, powering along with his front
crawl, occasionally turning for back stroke, weaving in and out of
other swimmers, completely at home in the water in a way that made
Simon envious yet proud of his talented friend. With a shout for
Simon to watch – unnecessary as Simon's eyes followed Daniel's
every move – Daniel went up to the highest board and dived off, his
lithe body entering the water like an arrow, and then he surfaced,
grinning at Simon, who waved and grinned back. He swam over to
Simon and climbed out.

"I've got to go," said Daniel.
"I've a piano lesson later."

"That's OK," said Simon, quietly
pleased that this removed any threat of being lured back into the
water.

Back in a cubicle, the two boys
dried down together.

"Thought I'd lost you then,"
said Daniel.

"I really thought I was going to
drown," said Simon, the memory of that fear real again. "But you
saved my life." He looked at Daniel, emotion in his eyes.

"Had to, didn't I?" Then the two
boys held each other close and hugged tightly, feeling their bodies
together and safe.

Daniel looked at his friend.
"You're just too pretty," he said smiling.

"Pretty?" said Simon, unsure of
this use of the word to describe a boy.

"Yes, it's those long eyelashes
of yours, they hold the water. That's why you can't see."

"Well, I'm not going to pull
them out just so I can swim."

"No, never do that," said Daniel
simply. The boys got dressed.

Once out of the Lido, the boys
ran home, the race was on again, with Simon just edging the win to
the corner.

"You're fast!" said Daniel,
panting. Simon grinned, happy to have regained some status after
the failure in the water.

"Don't tell what happened will
you?" asked Daniel. "I might get into trouble."

"Course not," said Simon, "you
know I can keep a secret." He laughed and Daniel laughed too, the
context not needing to be spoken. Simon looked at Daniel, now
serious.

"I'll never forget what you did
today," said Simon.

He never did.

1. 1954/9 Bike ride &
   Autumn Radio
   

"I've made you a card," said
Simon, "but it's not very good." It was September again, and they
would be moving up classes. Daniel, because his birthday was so
early in September, so early in fact that it often was in the
school holidays as this time, was the oldest in his class. With his
late August birthday, Simon was always the youngest in his. Their
birthdays were exactly a week apart. The two boys were out on their
bikes and as they had got older, they had become more adventurous,
leaving the city behind and heading out into the countryside.

So this day they were out among
the green fields, winding country lanes and little villages. They
had stopped at the top of a hill from where a good view all round
could be had. They needed a rest and were sharing a bottle of
lemonade that clever Daniel had thoughtfully brought along, sitting
on the grass near their bikes and were talking birthdays. This was
the one week in the year when their ages were just one year
different. Simon now eight and Daniel still, just, nine.

"Made a card yourself?" said
Daniel. "Where is it?"

"Home," said Simon, "but it's
not very good."

"Bet it is," said Daniel. Then
thinking of something his mother had said, he continued, "Anybody
can go and buy a card, but sitting down and making one, takes time
and thought, so it's much better than a bought one. And I'm sure
it'll be very good."

Simon smiled at his friend's
encouragement. "I'll get it when we get back in case I don't see
you tomorrow. Know what you're getting?"

"I 'xpect you will," replied
Daniel. "I think so, but I'm not supposed to say."

"Go on," pleaded Simon. Daniel
grinned, and shook his head.

"But you can be the first to
see, I promise. So you bring your super card tomorrow."

"OK. Hey! Don't drink all the
pop!"

"I carried it here," said
Daniel.

"Well, I'll carry it back," said
Simon.

"Empty. It's a lot lighter when
it's empty, " argued Daniel.

"Well then, you can get the
money back on the bottle," offered Simon.

"I will. It's my bottle to start
with," Daniel reminded Simon, who knew when he was defeated, and he
slumped back from his pose of indignation. Daniel laughed and
thrust the bottle at Simon.

"I've had enough, you finish it
off." Simon took the bottle and gratefully drank off the last few
mouthfuls. "You're carrying it back though," said Daniel. 'Glug'
said Simon.

"Thanks," said Simon, removing
the glass bottle from his lips and wiping them on his bare forearm.
Shorts and T Shirts were the order of the day. Putting the bottle
in his bag, he turned and threw himself on the unsuspecting Daniel.
Quickly Simon had the advantage through surprise and was on top,
pinning Daniel down. This did not last long though as the older and
stronger Daniel managed to get Simon off and then the two were
wrestling on the grass, panting and laughing. For a moment, Simon
regained dominance, but Daniel played the trump card.

"Hey, no tickling!" shrieked
Simon as he writhed in response to Daniel's probing fingers.

"All's fair in love and war –
and fun fights," said Daniel. "And anyway, you started it." But he
stopped tickling and was now sitting astride Simon, pinning his
arms back. Simon knew it would end like this, it always did. Daniel
was stronger than he was.

"You're a bully," he said to
Daniel. "I'm a year younger than you."

"Two years," corrected
Daniel.

"Not this week," said Simon
defiantly.

"You're an idiot," said Daniel,
threatening to tickle Simon again. "I'll always be two years older
than you. You can't change that now."