The Jump

Mid-jump I was deciding whether that running start was a good idea. My foot did sink in the muck quite a bit when I pushed off, making me think that I should have just stuck to the broad jump like Sam and Pete. But I figured I’d have a better shot at getting across with a running start given my more substantial frame. It’s not that I’m fat; the lady in the husky section told me that I look like a strong young man as she pinned my school pants. And you’d think that being strong would help you jump farther, but I’ve really never found that to be the case. That goes for running too. Last summer Sheri Sandelson beat me in the beanbag relay and would always tag me first in freeze tag. I spent a lot of time frozen. But I think it’s because Sheri’s uncle was a baseball player or something and because Mom made me an extra stack of hot cakes and three extra sausages that morning. Mom had been making sure I had enough to eat since Dad died, so she always saw that I ate my normal share plus some. She’d feed me two fried chops instead of one, three scoops of mac and cheese on chicken night, and would sometimes come into my room with more bread pudding saying that I should eat it because it was the corner piece. My stomach hurt often and sometimes I told her, but most of the time I didn’t want to upset her. She’d say that she wanted to make sure I grew up to be a big man like my dad and then she’d stay at the table watching me until I swallowed every last bite of extra mashed potato. Once, after my shower, I let a whole dinner of meatloaf and peas go into the toilet. I tried to be quiet, but Mom heard me and walked in as I retched. She cried herself to sleep that night. Since then she started calling me in from playing earlier and earlier and I always came home and ate for her. But today I decided I couldn’t hear her, and I followed Pete and Sam into the field. A clear sky above, I looked down and saw plenty muddy water still ahead of me. I flopped down as gracefully as possible and sent water spraying into the cattails where a red-winged blackbird took flight. Sam and Pete doubled over with laughter. Then they jumped in and we splashed each other under the setting sun.