The diving board's creaking like someone just dove. The pool's been drained three weeks.

I do night custodial at the rec center. Locker rooms first, then the deck.

The fiberglass groans again. Then a splash sound — and the basin is dry concrete.

I walk over. Wet footprints lead from the ladder to the bench. The chlorine smell is sharper than when I clocked in.

A swim cap is folded on the bench. The inside label says GREGORY in faded marker.

Gregory Hales drowned in this pool in 2009. His photo is on the lifeguard memorial by the door.

Tell me what you would've done.