When I was a kid, a part of growing up was hanging out at the local swimming hole. It seems like every rural community had one. They all had stories about the things that happened there, the ones who nearly drowned, and sadly sometimes, the ones who actually did. The very best swimming holes were the ones you had to hike through the woods to get to. This is a story about one of those swimming holes.
For generations, the swimming hole on the East Branch of the Brokenstraw Creek, or “The Hole” as it was called, was a very popular place. In the early sixties we’d go there to swim or just hang out with the girls. At first, my girlfriend Kayla refused to go there, because of the story about Travis Logan who drowned at The Hole in the late 1940’s. It turns out her mom, Linda, was there on the day he drowned. As the story went, Travis dove backwards off the “big rock”, although many felt he may actually have been pushed.
Travis Logan was a hometown sports hero in our small rural town. He was the star highschool athlete. Travis was the starting quarterback, leader of the track team and an amazing swimmer. Travis literally excelled at every sport! He liked showing off for the girls and would dive from the big rock to impress them. All the girls had a crush on Travis, including Stuart Hammond’s girlfriend Holly. Stuart and Travis live next door to each other and were best friends. Stuart would often sneak beer from his uncle’s tavern and they would drink it at The Hole. They both enjoyed competing with one another and horsing around a little, especially after a beer or two.
One day, Stuart was daring Travis to dive backwards off the big rock. Several kids were at The Hole that day, including three couples. Kayla’s mom Linda, who was dating Travis, Stuart, his girl Holly and Luke and Jenifer. Luke yelled at Stuart, asking him to stop joking around, but Stuart just ignored him. Stuart and Travis were up on the big rock roughhousing like always. Suddenly, Travis went backwards off the rock, apparently before he was ready! Normally, he would have dived further out from the rock into the deeper water. They say he went straight down, hitting his head on the rocks below and drowned before anyone could get to him. Some of the kids felt that Stuart may have pushed Travis. Holly broke up with Stuart soon after that, and most of the others would also have little to do with him.
Now years later, there was a whole new generation frequenting that swimming hole. But at least three teens have parents that were there the day Travis drowned. My girlfriend Kayla, whose mom is Linda, Olivia’s mom Holly, and Travis Denon. Travis is named after Travis Logan whose parents are Luke and Jenifer Denon, who married soon after highschool. I was happy to hang out with Kayla, Olivia and Travis since they were all brilliant students and my grades weren’t much above average.
One day, Kayla surprised me when she asked to go along with me to The Hole. I later found out that she and her older sister had finally convinced their mom, Linda, to tell them more about that awful day at The Hole. She told the girls that after that day, they spent much of their time talking about Travis Logan and the tragedy they had witnessed. She said they would tossed Stuart’s name around like an escaped convict, who should be hunted down and hung for the crime of “felony bullying”! She also told them that Holly would always leave when they began discussing that day and Stuart.
Travis’s dad, Luke, said it’s water under the bridge now and everyone should just let it go. Travis felt, though, that he should do something for Travis Logan’s legacy; after all that’s the man he was named after. Kayla and Olivia agreed with Travis and felt if his mom Jenifer, and Olivia’s mom Holly, would just tell what they remembered, maybe others would also. They seemed convinced that Stuart had bullied Travis causing him to fall. Personally, I kinda agreed with Mr. Denon, but I went along with the group anyway.
Well, it didn’t take long for them to get together with others from the highschool to stir things up. Travis Logan’s trophies were displayed like a shrine at the school and he was still somewhat of an icon! Not many of the kids knew very much about what happened, but were eager to get involved. Travis’s mom, and several others who were there did tell what they could remember. Most of them didn’t see exactly what occurred, but they remember Luke accusing Stuart and blaming him for what had happened. For some reason, however, Olivias’ mom Holly was still reluctant to talk about that day.
Before very long, they were posting articles in their highschool paper telling what they thought they learned and offering their somewhat misguided opinions. Soon, the local paper was reporting on the “students’ efforts to uncover the events of a tragic day, many, many years ago”! It was kinda surreal to think that something from that long ago was once again beginning to capture the interest of the entire town and the surrounding communities. Unfortunately, one local man’s reputation was being unmercifully tarnished. Stuart Hammond’s business, his family and his social standing began to suffer badly.
Stuart Hammond New & Used Autos had been a successful local business for several years in that town. It was always the “go to” place to buy a car. All of a sudden the sales were way down. We also heard that a local trucking company canceled their yearly contract with Hammond and bought their new truck fleet at a dealership in a neighboring city.
People said that lately, Stuart was spending most of his time at the golf course across the highway from his dealership. More specifically, at the bar in the clubhouse, presumably perfecting the 19th hole.
One day Travis, Kayla and Olivia announced that they had invited Stuart Hammond to sit down and talk with them. Also invited was an eager young reporter from the local paper! I told them I felt it was a bad idea and that the entire thing had gotten too far out of hand. But, Travis was determined to prove that Stuart was somehow hiding the truth. One Saturday in October, at noon, a meeting was held at the newspaper office. At first I was hesitant to attend, but I had been a part of this since the beginning and knew I should be there. Shortly before noon, Travis spoke up and said: “The act of bullying will be confronted today”! No one else said a word; we all sat there quietly. About ten minutes after noon, we heard a noise in the hallway and we knew someone was coming! Chills ran up and down everyone’s spine, and our hearts began to race… Did we really want to confront this man? You could have heard a pin drop!
Suddenly, the door opened and Olivia’s mother Holly walked into the room. It was as if a huge weight had just been lifted and we were once again able to breathe. But when she stood there quietly before us, I could feel the blood rush to my brain as I nervously waited to hear her first words. Finally, she began to speak! She said: “I should have talked with all of you earlier… I never thought it would go this far”. She continued, telling us that she was only about ten feet from Stuart and Travis that day; far closer than anyone. She said they both had a fair amount to drink that day. Then she said: “Stuart had only started harassing Travis after he called Stuart a coward for not trying out for the quarterback of the football team. Stuart told Travis that he could never hope to compete with him, and then said hurry up and make the darn dive, so all the girls can be excited!
At that point, though, Travis was already standing way too close to the edge of the big rock, with his back to the creek, saying he was going to do a backflip. All of a sudden, he slipped on the wet moss and went off backwards hitting his head on the rocks below! Stuart tried to grab his arm, but couldn’t get a good hold. Some of the kids there thought it was Stuart’s fault and that he might have even pushed Travis, but I knew the truth! After that day, we all stopped hanging out together and it was rumored that I broke up with Stuart, but it was really the other way around. Stuart said that if he stuck around, I would likely lose all my other friends! An uncanny silence filled the room. Then, Holly made one last comment… She said: “I heard that you would be confronting bullying today”. She paused slightly then said: “I really hope that you will”!
It’s funny how the obvious can be right in front of your nose, yet you can’t see it until it smacks you in the face. The young reporter stood up and said: “Well, I’ve got a retraction to write, but I can’t write your apologies for you; you’ll have to do that yourselves”! Kayla quickly suggested we take the cookies she had baked for the meeting and head over to Stuart Hammond‘s Auto lot. With his heart stuck in his throat, Travis Denon nervously called Stuart Hammond‘s Auto. He was extremely relieved to reach Stuart’s voicemail. Travis left a brief message saying that we were coming over to talk with him.
It was the longest three and half miles that any of us would ever travel! On the way, we were slowed momentarily, as we pulled over to let a police car and ambulance pass by us. One of the kids wondered if there had been an accident and surmised that if not for our meeting, we may have been somehow involved. No one else commented! Soon, we pulled into Stuart’s dealership and we went inside. Stuart’s secretary, Margoret, told us that Stuart had gone across the street to the Clubhouse immediately after we had called! She then proclaimed: “Perhaps he didn’t want to be bullied by you anymore”! Coincidentally, the clubhouse was also where the emergency vehicles had gone. Travis spoke up and said: “We are here to apologize and to let him know that we realized we’ve been wrong”! Well, she said: “I’ll try to reach him, although it appears to be a little chaotic over there at the moment”! Just as she reached for the phone, it rang and she pushed the speaker button to answer. A man’s voice said slowly, “Margie, it’s Andy from the bar and I have some bad news”. I’ll never forget the look on our faces, as he told her that Stuart just had a heart attack and died… □
It was Sir Isaac Newton who said “every action has an equal and opposite reaction”. As we go through our lives, however, we can sometimes fail to anticipate the consequences of our actions. It’s easy for most of us to know if we are being bullied, but we must always be careful to make sure that our actions don’t unknowingly contribute to the bullying of someone else. Bullying may never be totally eliminated in our society. But it can be dealt with, if each of us commits to understanding it and to taking a stand against it.
October is National Bullying Awareness Month. About 20% (Nearly 6 million) American students aged 12 to 18 nationwide report being bullied at school. About 16% of students ages 12 to 18 were cyberbullied. Help can be found at stopbullying.gov or (call or text 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline). Many other helpful resources are available online.
