That's Your Towel

I had to write a narrative for my English 101 class. I thought i'd share my favorite part of the paper for you. *This is a completely true story*

That’s Your Towel

By Kaitlin Martin

 

In a hot tub, you can get to know anyone. You can walk into a pool room, sit in the steaming liquid and discover the darkest (or creepiest) secrets of a person’s soul. I never really knew this, but I quickly found out one summer evening in Arcata, California.

It had been a long day. My family and I had been travelling for over twelve hours over what we now call, Devil Mountain. Needless to say, we were beat. Our journey had ended in Arcata, California. The Ocean so close to the town, the seafood so fresh, it called us there. The sun was starting to go down and we were starting to get hungry. The four of us packed up in the van once more and found a place to eat. The meal spawned a plan�"hot tub. Jacob, my younger brother, (who looks much like me, but no, we are not twins) and I had a goal for the end of the night and we would see it through.

After our parents departed from us and left for the store he and I fulfilled our nightly dream. Together he and I suited up and headed towards the pool room. As we stepped in, the room’s noise pounded at our ear drums. Splashes sprung from the large pool in the center of the cement square below us. Screeches of the children in the pool echoed wildly off the blank walls. Jacob and I walked to the left wall and placed our towels on top of a small plastic table. The hot tub lingered in the corner, calling us to it. We couldn’t resist. The magnet pull towards the hot tub was too much and within moments Jake and I were soaking our bodies in the warm water.

The magnetic pull put blinders on the sides of our eyes. We had hardly noticed the two old men already steaming in the tub, but we didn’t care. The water was too soothing to leave now so we stayed. Ignoring the two men, Jake and I talked about our journey and our trip thus far. A few moments passed when we noticed one of the older men leaving. He waved goodbye to his new friend and, together, with his wife, left the pool room. It was then that we noticed there were only three people left in the room: The old man in the tube and two teenage boys splashing each other in the pool. Just as I turned to talk to my brother a deep voice came from my right, “Don’t worry I’ll be leaving soon so that you two love birds can have the hot tub all to yourselves.” Confused, Jake and I looked at each other. It was mostly surprising to us because people are always asking if he and I are twins. To have someone not recognize the resemblance shocked us.

Jake and I giggled and assured the man that he was not barging in on anything. I said joyfully to the man, “you can stay as long as you’d like.”

Jake and I looked at each other and started up another conversation, but the old man continued to stare our way. Jake and I looked at each other, once again, before he spoke, “Well, you should know who I am.” The man boasted proudly and puffed up his chest.

I had, in fact, never seen this man before. Still his chest stood proudly boasting with pride. I answered the man’s statement, “Should I? Who are you then?”

With a glimmer in his eye the man cocked his head back and boomed, “My name is Don Johnson and I’m an author.”

A quizzical look passed between my brother and I. We continued to be polite to Don “Really?” I asked emphatically. “I love writing. My dream is to become a published author someday.”

            A crazed look came into his eye and his old large nose crinkled, “You’re going into a very unhappy profession full of a lot of failure.”I proceeded to tell him that I was just in it for fun. Being an author isn’t my main goal.

Just then a small girl came running into the hot tub and stroked her tiny body around. I took this moment of calm to turn to my brother whose eyes were filled with a deep fear. Somehow, the man convinced the little girl to leave the hot tub. She quickly jumped out of the water and was gone from the pool room almost instantly.

 With a lurch of his large body, and a giant tidal wave almost covering our heads, Don Johnson was sitting in the hot tub with us.  He again looked at us strange and spoke loudly, “I have something to tell you, and I’d actually like to see what you have to say about it.” The expression of a politician appeared on his face. His heart was full of debate. “I’m gay,” He matter of factly spouted off.

Well he had picked the wrong people to fight with.  Already having been exposed to this issue, I wasn’t worth the breath, so I turned to him and spoke truthfully saying, “Oh, that’s cool. My best friend is actually gay.”

He looked at me for a moment but quickly changed the subject. His eyes snapped from mine and focused in on my little brother. He licked his lips asked, “Do you write at all?” My brother, panicked, shook his head no for his response. Then Don Johnson asked, “Do you read at all?”

This time my brother used his words to answer, “Yes, my favorite kinds of books are from the War Hammer series.” (They are a series of books written about a video game.  He read them the whole time we were on our trip).

“Series, that’s spelled s-i-r-i-o-u-s.” Don Johnson’s words pounded out from his chest as if he knew all. A laugh rose inside of me. That is not how you spell series.

 My head turned and I looked at my brother again. My little brothers face wrinkled in confusion. As a baby he lost most of the hearing in his left year and a little bit of it in his right. So when Don Johnson has spelled, Jake could not hear it. I recognized this as he turned his good ear towards Don Johnson and asked for Don to repeat himself. Don, also realizing my brother’s disability leaned in closer. Now inches apart Done Johnson yelled towards my brother, “Series, that’s spelled s-i-r-i-o-u-s.” Don repeated again, as serious as he was the first time, “Series, that’s spelled s-i-r-i-o-u-s.”

Jake finally understood and leaned back. His eyes met mine and a smile crossed on both of our faces. Through spending time together, he and I can speak without even speaking. So, as we did this, Don Johnson watched. . Jake fully understood what I was trying to say to him, “What is wrong with this guy?”  He knew exactly what I was saying, but Don didn’t.

Don rudely said to me as he noticed mine and Jakes faces, “That’s what I hate about women.” Oh great, I thought to myself. I opened my eyes and gave him my full attention so he could start the rant. “I hate when women look at men like they are stupid.” I looked at Jake again, “I just hate that.”

My brother knew I wasn’t looking at him like he was stupid. I let the man ramble on and I scooted closer to my brother for comfort. Don Johnson continued to do what he had to do, and then he looked at us one more time. This time I just stared back at him, “I think it’s time for me to go.”Don Johnson finally spoke the words we were waiting to hear.

            “AT LAST” I shouted in my mind! This guy was nuts and I have never felt more uncomfortable in my life. Don stood up and said to us, “You two should hug, and make everything in the world better again.” There’s nothing like putting a cherry on top of an awkward, tense filled sundae.

Don stood up and walked out of the hot tub, that’s when Jake and I noticed his very inebriated state. He walked back and forth and almost fell over a few times. He walked over to the table where Jake and I had put our towels. He grabbed Jakes towel from the pile and began to rub himself down.

I leaned over to my brother and whispered, “That’s your towel.”

I thought a moment about Don Johnson and his statement “Hug and make everything in the world better again.”

There is no doubt that the story of Don Johnson is always in the front of my mind. I like to think that Don Johnson had, had a rough night and all he wanted was someone to talk to. By listening to Don Johnson I showed him a kindness that maybe someday someone would show to me. I can’t help but wonder if two teenagers in a hot tub had an impact on his life, but I know that he had an impact on mine.

Author's Note

Oh Don Johnson.. Why couldn't we have met you sooner?

Reviews

[grady sedgwick]

"Jake and I talked and the".......... consider cutting this, not needed.

"at all the fun we’d already been happening.... (having)

"but (as?) this old man kept looking at us we both got a creepy feeling and looked over to the old man who was staring at us."

"Don Johnson continued to do what he had to do..." ....... not sure what is meant by "what he had to do" it's too vague.

this piece was well written and well told, held my attention all the way through. nice job!

grady

[Zachary_James]

I enjoyed reading this