By Rekka
Cye glanced up as heard the doorbell. He put down the knife he held in his hand and then wipped his hands on a towel. He walked to the door. The paperboy, Dylan stood there. "Thanks, Dylan." Cye handed Dylan a dollar. Dylan smiled, and then turned and walked away. Cye shut the door and returned inside. He sat down at the table in the quiet Koji mansion and turned the newspaper to the classifieds section. An ad caught his eye almost immediately:
Wanted: A part time swimming instructor. Must be experienced. Age 15 and up. Paid Well. Hanoba Swimming Center. 10 am Job open until September 11, or until filled.
Cye glanced at the calendar. "September 11 is tomorrow. I'd better go try out for that position now." He wrote a quick note and grabbed his stuff. He jumped in his blue Toyota Pick up truck and sped, because he wanted this job.
When he got to the Hanoba Swimming Center, there were two other boys there. "Hi." Cye said cheerfully. The first boy stepped up to Cye and grabbed his shirt collar. "Don't think just because you're here early, you're going to get this job."
The other boy didn't say a thing. He just stood there.
"Would you mind?" Cye asked. The boy let go. "It isn't how early you get here, it's how well you can instruct swimming."
The doors opened and two smallish women came out. They were twins. "I see you came for the teaching job," said one. "My name is Nasha and in case you don't know, we're twins. This is my twin sister Beverly. If you'll come inside, you can take a trial teaching job and then only one of you will get the job."
All three boys walked inside the Hanoba Center, following the twins Nasha and Beverly. Nasha led Cye and the red haired stranger to a nice waiting room. "Fill out these forms. I'll come back in fifteen minutes." She turned and walked away. "And no fighting."
Cye filled out the forms effortlessly. Then he watched the other boy fill out his. The boy was appropriately named Red Hartaobaan. Soon the fifteen minutes was over. Nasha came over to them, "I'll take those." She smiled checking the forms. "Come this way." Red and Cye followed her. The walked down a large hallway. "Here, Red come in here. You stay here Cye." Red and Nasha went into the room. After ten minutes Nasha came out and led Cye to another room. "Here." Cye said opening the door. They walked in. About twenty boys sat on the floor about seven or eight years old. "You teach them. Any questions?" "Them or me?" Cye asked.
Nasha laughed. "I'll come get you in half an hour." She left.
"Hi, kids. My names Cye. Today I'm trying to get this job, and I hope I do. I've never taught before, but I'm a good swimmer." Cye pulled off his t-shirt and motioned for the other kids to do so as well. They did it reluctantly. "Now get in."
Some of the kids ran around to the deep end. "Wait." Cye yelled. "Come back here. Don't run and get into the shallow end." They all came back sheepishly. Cye clamored into the shallow end. The other kids got in too.
"What are you holding, Mr. Cye?"asked a little boy that looked remarkably like Sage. "I've got rings you can play with. We'll do a relay race." He lined them all up into five groups against one side of the pool. Then he handed the first four boys each a ring. "Swim towards the other side then come back and hand the ring to the person behind you. Got it?" "Yessir." "Allright. Get ready, get set, go!" The boys jumped out at it.
Five minutes later, the boy (who looked like Sage) 's team were the winners. "Good job. Next time we'll all try harder. "Cye your times up. Allright now children go get dressed and be prepared to meet your parents." To Cye, who had just gotten out of the pool "You two. Five minutes?" Cye got dressed quickly and both he and Nasha went into the waitng room where Red and the quiet boy sat.
"You can all go home now. We'll call you tonight."
Cye left the Hanoba Center. Red was right behind him. "I'll bet you anything I'm the one that's picked." "I doubt that." Cye punched him in the eye. "Why did you do that?"said Red, lying on the ground. "You were going to do that to me." Cye got in his pickup truck and drove off.