Penfield's Greatest Swimmer

🌊~38

After struggling to slot a crumpled five cedi note into the vending machine, a red can of Coca-cola thunked out of the display case and into the pick-up box.

Taking the cold drink, I lifted one side of the tab up, pushed down and brought the can to my lips, pouring half of the carbonated liquid into my mouth.

Muffled cheers filtered in from the swim court. The competition was still in full swing. Ethan was currently in the middle of his fourth race, but I didn't feel like rooting for him; not after what Seth had told me about him.

I settled down on one of the empty benches available in the hallway, twirling the rest of the drink in the can. A part of me didn't want to believe any of the things Seth had spewed out, but there was also the other part that suspected that they were true.

I could vividly remember that night Ishmael came to the party with those pictures. I had insisted on reporting the issue to the administration but Nana Kwame was quick enough to shut the idea down. He was so determined to get rid of the pictures even though he had absolutely nothing to do with him.

My eyebrows dipped into a curious frown. Why would he go the extra mile to cover up something that he wasn't involved in?

Probably to conceal Ethan's tracks, my subconscious added and I couldn't help but see some element of truth in those words.

The sound of approaching footsteps pulled me out of my thoughts and I shot a brief look behind to see three burly guys from the football team, hounding the vending machine. Thanks to the huge plant sitting on my left, I was pretty sure that I was well hidden enough to eavesdrop on their conversation.

"Yo, did you hear?" One of them voiced out in full bass. "That blasted swim team captain just won his fourth race today."

"Eh, not surprised," Another replied with a shrug, before bending down to get his drink. "Dude is probably on something."

"You sure bro?" The last guy quizzed. "Cuz I heard they had a drug test earlier. You know that big guy Seth, they found smack (heroin) in his system and had him disqualified."

"Well it's different for Ethan," the one who picked up the drink remarked. "That dude lives in piles of money. Even if they find something in his system, all he'll do is to tip them off for a new set of results."

"Yeah," the guy with the bass voice agreed. "Because of his dad's position, Ethan has got a lot of tricks up his sleeve and he's not afraid to use them. That's why the swim team gets majority of the school's funding every fucking semester, it's all favouritism."

"True talk." The other guy nodded. "Compared to the football team, that fucking mermaid team hasn't done much for Penfield. But thanks to Ethan, they're living like kings and queens. There's a lot going on in that team, and it's only a matter of time before it all comes tumbling out."

Sensing their movement in my direction, I silently stood up and dashed into the nearest corridor, heading straight for the lounge area.

Questions run amok in my head, so much so that I didn't feel Nana Kwame's presence until he tapped me hard on the shoulder. "Hey, where have you been? I've been looking all over for you. I wanted you to help me lead the victory chant on the deck after Ethan won the 400 freestyle."

"Oh umm, sorry." I shrugged. "I just stepped out for a quick drink, I've been feeling a bit queasy."

"Well you better get rid of that feeling, cuz you're up after the current race." He pointed at the 43-inch flat screen tv displaying the event. "It's the girls 200 breaststroke. Princess is in it and Ethan's been cheering her on like crazy."