Stage Names.

He caught my eye the first day of class, his baggy red trunks sagging below his knobby knees, arms crossed defiantly while everyone else stood enthusiastically in flowery two-piece bikinis with chubby smiles and rainbow plastic goggles. Clearly swim lessons were getting in the way of his summer vacation plans and video games.

We went around and said names- Allison, Jessica, Jennifer, Matthew- and eventually all eyes landed on him.

"Keeyan."

I stopped to clarify.  "Keeyan?"

"Yeah. Keeyan."

He was always the last to enter the water. While everyone else was halfway through their 20 bobs, he would stand with his toes curled at the pool's edge, arms stiff at his side. Then, without coaxing, he would jump in, fiercely without reserve, and join in with the rest of his bobbing poolmates.

Teachers say they don't have favorites.
It's a lie.
Keeyan was mine.

He would begrudgingly blow bubbles and float on his back like a squirming baby otter, his outie belly button reminding me of my Cabbage Patch Kid dolls. When he'd put his face in the water, his legs would kick with such determination that his oversized baggy red gangster swim trunks threatened to slide off. I found it hilarious and endearing.

"Keeyan, monkey, airplane, soldier."
"Keeyan, belly up, pretend you're Santa Claus…big belly in the air."
"Kick, kick, kick, Keeyan! Arms straight out in front of you, like Superman!"

For weeks, from 10:00-10:30am, I witnessed Keeyan's transformation from a disoriented drowning rat into a calmer, smoother golden retriever paddling out to fetch a stick.  Keeyan was my success story. Fistbumps and all.

The last day at the end of class, an older woman approached the pool deck, her arms spread wide holding a faded blue terrycloth towel.  She smiled at me, then looked down at Keeyan.  

"Get out, Ken. And say thank you."

I was speechless, betrayed, duped.
And then I laughed.

I wonder how many of us deliberately swim through life in our constructed facades and shells, paddling as fast as we can to preserve that freedom, in hopes to not get called out by our loved ones? 
Don't we all?
Whether we're Clark Kent
or Saint Nick
or Ken.

And yet realizing that at times we need those stage names to transform us into our alter ego, fearless and gangster and badass? Perhaps instead, it's about striking a balance between that certain special magic of our imagined selves and our real, raw, messy selves, trying to stay afloat and not get water up our noses.  It's knowing when to put away the cape and put on the nerdy specs instead. 

And Keeyan, wherever you are, I hope you're swimming in the deepest oceans, untethered by those awful red swim trunks, fearless and full of imagination.  I'm sure Ken would agree, that summer you taught me the true swim lesson.