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Prophecy, Sorcery, and Reincarnation
refused to stop poking and punching me in my lower abdomen and
genital region, I slapped him on the side of the head, a gesture that
shocked more than hurt. Up to that point, I had restrained myself. I
tried to apologize to a now-startled and sobbing young boy, but my
shame was only intensified by a rather intimidating glare from his fa-
ther, Udlu, who asked for a summary of our interaction.
As our relationship grew less tumultuous, a truce settled in, and
we even started to enjoy one another’s company. This swimming date
would provide me an even greater opportunity to have fun with Levi.
With Levi clinging to my back, I dropped below the surface of the
water to take a stroke. Much to my surprise, however, he reacted vi-
olently to my movements and his grip on my neck intensified. I was
also surprised by how strong he was; his nails dug sharply into my
skin. As I rose to the surface, I realized Levi was genuinely terrified
of getting his head wet. He was coughing and sobbing intensely. I im-
mediately took him back to the shallow end of the pool and tried to
comfort him. The sensation of standing on solid ground in the shal-
low end calmed him to the point that his tears of panic and fear trans-
formed into smiles of joy and laughter.
Looking back on these experiences, I realize that they allowed me
to really learn much more about Levi. Outside the realm of poking
and prodding, they allowed me to experience a different side of Levi,
one that was happy and vulnerable, more playful and less competi-
tive. Swimming enabled us to find a social space of grace where we
were neither annoying nor a nuisance to one another. But there was
still much more to Levi that I did not know, and his unusual fear of
the water was a personality trait I did not understand. On the sub-
sequent trips that we (or I) took the children swimming, Levi never
allowed his head to dip below the water. Although I never analyzed
Levi’s peculiar phobia too systematically, I was curious. But, then
again, most children were mysterious to me, since I had grown up
the youngest sibling, cousin, and neighbor. Levi possessed many pe-
culiarities, it seemed, and this was just one of the many facets of chil-
dren and childhood that I was just beginning to discover. If anything,
I thought his phobia was attributable to his inability to prevent wa-
ter from coming through his nose under water.
