Scary....and scarier

ER...
Adriel, what am Isupposed to do now?
Ok, let me rewind.

Mum found out.

Yes, I just said what I just said.

Mum found out about my poolhouse job. I really don't know what happened and why I didn't act fast enough but I guess most of the time, life is full of 'if only I had..' sentences.

I was called by Georgie yesterday morning, and told that he wouldn't be showing up on Tuesday, cos of family issues or something. After probing gently he confessed that it was his turn to take their mother to the hospital. It was not a problem for him except that he had to stay with her all day. As Georgie hated hospitals, he was already gagging at the thought, but he remembered that we had some expatriates booked in for the day, so we couldn't afford to be absent.

I got there an hour before noon, and set myself up on one of the lounge chairs, the one from where I could see the whole length of the pool with out turning my head. By the time the expatriates arrived, all they could see was a slim lady with a large fedora hat on her head, and big sunglasses on her face. The attendant pointed to me and I waved - that is the assurance-that-there-is-a-lifeguard-on-duty point.
The men nodded their head and pushed the kids towards the changing room.

There were three men, two women, and five kids. I sighed, my day was going to be loaded. For three hours, I watched the kids and smiled at their antics in the water.

That's the difference between American kids and African kids - while African kids are concentrating hard and trying to learn how to swim, American kids just let the water take over - they just swim!

I took my eyes away from them just to search for my phone (this is Lagos, anywhere you are, always check that your phone is still with you), when I heard a scream.
At the deep end, a child was struggling with the water. I stared harder - it was the youngest child of the brood. The parents were swimming towards her but I noticed that they would not reach her in time, as they were on the other side. I ran closer to her on land before diving in.

Five minutes later she was coughing out the remaining water in her lungs and clinging to her mother tightly. The father was thanking me for about the fifteenth time and I was smiling in relief. she was alright.

I turned around to return to my lounge chair and bumped into my mother. She had been standing at the balcony on the upper floor of the poolhouse, where some lecturers loved to sit and relax in the cool breeze from the lagoon. She had seen everything, and only came down to confirm whether I was the one.

I didn't couldn't say anything. What was the right thing to say? I'm sorry Mum but I've been a strong swimmer for the past eight months?

My problem is, I don't even know what kind of punishment she'll mete out. And I have to go home to her later.

Any suggestions?