I had to say, my first week here in Penfield University felt like I was running track. Running from class after class to group studies then to club meetings and back. It was like a never-ending marathon.
Despite all the draining activities, one good thing that happened during the week was seeing my name on the top of the list of swim team recruits. I had successfully made the cut and was now a full-fledged member of Penfield's Sharks with an official jacket, swim jammers and other accessories to show off.
As I made my way towards the Sports Complex, sports bag in hand and the hot Friday afternoon sun blazing down on my shoulders, I filled my mother and sister in on what I'd managed to accomplish during my first week.
"Oh I'm so happy you're fitting in, Akwasi. To be honest, I was a bit worried since you didn't want the scholarship in the first place," Ma said in a voice that held all the signs of a really bad cold, but instead of admitting it when I asked about it, she just brushed the question away. "Keep doing the best you can ok? Kukua and I will always be supporting you with prayers."
I heard my little sister shout out an 'I miss you!' in the background and I chuckled, "Miss you too, Kuks."
"Ok Akwasi," Ma breathed out. "I have to go. I need to make one last dash to the market to finish up my sales for today. These fishes cannot go to waste."
"No problem, Ma. But please promise me you'll go to the pharmacy to get some medicine. Your cold sounds really bad. If you need some money, I can tell W-"
"Stop worrying about it, Akwasi," she huffed. "You focus on school and your studies. I'll be fine. Talk to you some other time, ok. Byee."
A reluctant "bye" left my mouth before I brought the phone down and ended the call with a sigh. Sometimes, Ma was just too stubborn. Shoving my phone into my pocket, I branched to my left, nearing Penfield's Sports Complex.
"Akwasi!"
At the sound of my name, my head shifted in that direction. Deon waved enthusiastically from the otherside of the street with Akunna lagging in the rear. The sea of students pouring out of the lecture hall behind them told me they'd just closed from one of the classes they had together.
"Hey," Deon heaved once he'd crossed the street and now stood in front of me. "Akunna just told me you made the swim team. Congratulations, bro!"
"Oh thanks." After giving me a handshake and a pat on the back, we pulled apart.
"Great." Akunna joined us, sucking on a lollipop. "Now you get to spend more time with those arrogant douchebags."
"Oh c'mon don't be like that." Deon shoved him slightly. "The least you can do is to be happy for your roommate. Being on the varsity team is a huge deal. They're like Penfield royalty, plus I heard they throw the biggest parties on campus, especially when they win something. You better invite us to a couple of them when The Sharks win a competition."
I laughed, "Don't worry, Deon, I will."
"Whatever." My roommate shoved his lollipop to the side of his mouth, eyes moving to me. "You coming for tonight's gaming sesh or not?"
"Yeah, I'll be there right after practice."
The response seemed to have lightened up Akunna's mood because he smiled. My roommate held some sort of dislike for the varsity team. When I asked him about it the other day, he didn't hesitate to give me a lecture on how the university's management treated athletes like gods when half of them were struggling to maintain a simple 2.0 CPGA.
"Just take a look at the Sports Complex," he had grumbled that day, when we were making our way to the student cafeteria for lunch. "The university has so much money to spend in building such a facility, but doesn't have a dime to renovate the chemistry lab? Just thinking about it makes me feel like going to the administration and smashing their heads."
I remembered laughing at the comment, but a part of me had begun harboring second thoughts about joining the team. Thoughts that Ethan dutifully scrubbed away when I talked to him about them.
After chatting with Deon and Akunna for a while, we parted ways with me jogging up the stairs to my destination. I headed towards the swimming court, surprised to find movement in the pool. Practice was at 4pm, and it was currently 2:53. Someone must have thought to sneak in some extra training like I had. I shoved past the doors, walking along the pool side.
The swimmer was a female made obvious from the swimsuit. She was graceful yet steadfast as she lapped through the third lane, finally coming to a stop at the end of pool. When she pushed up her goggles, blinking furiously, a memory flashed in my head, bringing my feet to a halt.
I knew her. From the tryouts. She was the one I'd caught staring intently at me after I'd won the second race.
"Hey." She climbed out of the pool, eyes shifting to me. "Practice isn't until four, you know."
"Y-yea, I know. I was just..." I moved closer, trying not to stare at her wide backside. "I just thought I could get a head start before actual practice."
"Oh yeah." Her face lit up with recognition. "I remember you. You're the guy who won all the races during the tryouts."
"Umm..." I shrugged, feeling bashful. "Not all of them. I only won the butterfly and freestyle races."
"Yeah, but you won two out of three, so it still counts as all," Her cupid bow lips stretched into a grin. "I'm Princess."
I shook her outstretched hand. "Nice to meet you, I'm Akwasi."
"Well Akwasi, from what I saw last week you must be a real swim pro," Princess commented. "You even beat Daniel at his own game."
A nervous chuckle left my mouth. "Yeah I did, but I wouldn't call myself a pro. I've still got a lot to learn and more competition ahead of me."
"You're definitely right about the competition. Everyone on this team is one. They're ruthless and ambitious as hell. They'll do anything and everything they can to remain at the top. That's why you have to train and practice like your life depends on it...well, for me, it does," she spoke with a faraway look in her eyes. "My entire stay here depends on my performance in this team. If I fall behind, I can kiss my scholarship goodbye."
"Wait...you're a scholarship student?" I blinked at her, surprised by the revelation. I had spent one week here and this was my first time meeting another scholarship student.
"Yeah," she replied, looking uncomfortable all of a sudden. "Most people don't know and I prefer to keep it that way. I only told you because Ethan told me you're a scholarship student too, for academics, right?"
"Yeah." I nodded.
A warm smile touched her features, almost like she'd found a friend in me. "Then we should stick together, look out for each other."
"Y-yeah I'd...I'd like that."
Silence sat in between us and I seized the opportunity to study her. Princess had short buzz cut hair with twin razor stripes on each side, giving off rebel vibes. The numerous piercing holes on the rim of her ears and nose added on to the look with her black coloured fingernails and toenails. At this point, I could definitely picture her as a goth, but I also had this tiny inkling that the whole goth/rebel thing was just a way to mask up who she really was.
"So!" Princess clasped her hands, pulling me out of my thoughts. "What brings a new recruit to the pool so early?"
"Well," I pulled in a breath. "I wanted to work on my breaststroke, since...it's my weakest and least favourite."
"C'mon breaststroke isn't that hard." She chuckled, "I love swimming that style. In fact, you're looking at The Sharks greatest breaststroke swimmer. I won the female 100meter breaststroke during Penfield's Annual Swimming Competition last year."
My eyebrows flew up in amazement. "Wow, that's awesome. Think you can give me some pointers then?"
"Sure." Princess stood akimbo. "But you should change first."
"Oh right." With that, I hightailed to the locker room, switching up my clothes for my new pair of swim jammers, goggles and a swim cap. When I returned, Princess stood at the starting blocks, waiting for me.
"Good," she smiled. "I just checked the time, and we have roughly forty, forty-five minutes to do something before people start showing up for practice."
"Ok, then let's get started, Coach."
Princess' smile broadened at the word before she climbed up block number three, which I was guessing was her favourite lane. Following suit, I stepped onto block number four.
"The first thing you need to keep in mind about breaststroke swimming is that, unlike the other swim techniques it requires movement more from the arms than the legs. The legs are just to help push you forward, so if you keep your torso stiff, and move your arms this way when you go down into the water." She brought her hands together in front of her, opened them wide like she was moulding a circle before bringing them together again. "You'll be able to cover more ground once you push with your legs again. Observe."
She dived into the water with the grace of a dolphin and began her strokes, catching the water and thrusting herself forward. She made it look so easy and effortless that I began wondering why I even had a problem with breaststroke swimming in the first place. Then I remembered that I'd been swimming freestyle my whole life. I rarely switched and when I did switch, it was to butterfly not breaststroke.
Keeping my eyes on her, I memorised Princess' movement. How she kept her legs together and only used them to propel herself forward with a strong kick. The technique was all in the arms and as she swam back, I stretched my arms, prepping myself for my swim.
"Ok!" Sucking in a breath, she pushed her goggles up, shooting me a grin. "Ready?"
"Yeah." Pulling on my goggles and swim cap, I threw myself into the crystal blue water, staying below for a while before coming up to start stroking. Princess swam in the other lane, watching my movement and correcting me anytime I made a mistake. I curved my arms, collecting the water and propelling forward until I reached the other end of the pool.
With a gulp of air, I shoved the goggles up and turned to Princess. "How did I do?"
She waddled in the next lane. "Good. But even without a watch, I could tell that you were pretty slow."
"Even slower than during the tryouts?"
When she nodded, my eyes widened. "Damn."
"Don't worry, we can work on your speed another time," she assured me. "Right now, all that matters is getting the technique."
"Right." Pulling down my goggles, I continued with the strokes to the other end of the pool and that was how we spent the next thirty minutes. I swam back and forth with Princess keeping an eye on my arm movements. Ten minutes later, we both decided to take a break, sitting at the edge of the pool with our legs dangling in the water.
In this short period I'd spent with her, I realised I enjoyed not just her training but her company as well. We also shared a lot in common. Like me, she grew up with a single parent, her dad, who was a struggling *kente weaver, and two younger half-brothers, both from a runaway mother.
"We've been through a lot...especially my father." Princess fixed her gaze on the water swishing before us. "He's been let down several times and treated like trash all because he's crippled," she paused to exhale. "He's the reason I came here, to Penfield. When they offered me this scholarship, the thought of leaving my family behind in *Kumasi was something I didn't want to think about. My dad depended on me to cook, clean, help him with the bills...who was going to take care of all that when I was gone?" The question drifted in the air. "But he still managed to convince me to go, my dad. As frail as he was, he assured me that everything was going to be fine. Said something about opening doors to a brighter future and achieving the things he couldn't."
She tilted her head to the side. "And that's why I'm here. Trying my best to excel in everything so I can make him proud and hopefully change my family's life."
"Wow."
"I assume the same goes for you," Princess' eyes flitted over to me.
"Yeah." I nodded, kicking my legs in the water. "It does." After a brief pause, I added, "You know, I-"
The immediate swing of the door interrupted me and we both turned to find Daniel stepping into the court, sports bag in hand.
"Oh crap, he's back on the team?" Princess whispered.
"Yeah," I whispered back. "His name was second on the list, right under mine."
At the sight of us, Daniel froze for a moment, then shot us a small salute. "Hey."
Princess and I heyed him back, watching him disappear behind the doors that led to the locker rooms.
"Huh," my companion chuckled, steering my attention back to her. "This semester's practice sessions are about to get interesting."
"Why?" I scooched closer, remembering what Ethan had said about him the other day. "What happened with Daniel, and why did he leave the team in the first place?"
"Oh it's nothing." Princess just waved the question away, trying to suppress another chuckle. "Just a bromance gone wrong. It's funny what 'friends' will do all because of some competition."
Before I could probe further with more questions, the doors swung open again. This time, members of the swim team trooped in in their numbers, carrying a cloud of chatter.
Princess got up to join them, leaving me in a larger pool of wonder and curiosity.
*****
*Kumasi ~ one of the largest cities in Ghana, located in the Ashanti Region.
*Kente ~ a colourful Ghanaian handwoven cloth usually won to celebratory events.
Thanks for reading this week's update. See you next week Friday :)