Chapter 8: Locked Out

I read the notice twice.

Closed pending safety inspection. Structural concerns reported. No entry until further notice.

There was a signature at the bottom, in blue pen, that nobody could read.

"Coach Roz!"

The kids saw me before the parents did.

Twenty of them in towels and flip-flops, goggles on their heads, ready for the eight o'clock.

"Why's there a chain?"

"Is the pool broken?"

"Did somebody poop in it again?"

"Nobody pooped," I said. "Give me a minute."

Joanie was on the steps with her phone at her ear, yelling at somebody's voicemail.

She hung up and threw her arms wide.

"Structural concerns. Structural! That roof's been leaking since Prohibition and they never once cared."

"Who reported it?"

"Anonymous."

The parents were crowding up.

A father who drove a bus asked if he was getting his money back. Lane Four is free. He knew that. He was just angry.

A mother asked where her daughter was supposed to swim all summer.

A grandmother asked me if it was the mob.

I opened my mouth and didn't know what to say.

A horn tooted at the curb.

A white car pulled up and Dino climbed out in a pale blue suit, with a gray-haired man in a city lanyard.

"Roz! I came as soon as I heard."

Of course he did.

He came up the steps and took both my hands in front of everybody.

"This is a friend of my father's," he said. "From buildings."

The city man smiled at the parents.

"Folks, I'm sure this is all a misunderstanding. These old buildings get flagged all the time."

"So you can unflag it?" the bus driver said.

"Things like this can move very fast," the city man said, "with the right people asking."

He looked at Dino. Dino looked at me.

The whole sidewalk looked at me.

"I'll ask," Dino said softly. "I'll ask today. One phone call, babe."

He squeezed my hands.

"Come to dinner Friday. Just dinner. Let me make it right."

Keep reading free with an account. Start Don, I Left as You Wished from Chapter 1, then sign up free to read the rest of this chapter.