The bloody pool

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Betsy Head Pool was a public swimming pool in the Brownsville section of Brooklyn referred to as the dirty pool or the bloody pool. It wasn’t far from Betsy Head Park but to get to either one you had to go though gang infested areas close to the Chino’s turf. Everyday was a risk because you never knew who might stick you with a switchblade or bust your head open with a pipe so you had to keep your eyes open. Walk fast with your head slightly down and don’t look at anyone in the eyes; you live longer that way. The dirty pool was called the dirty pool because you can see syringes floating by, used condoms, bloody Kotex and an ocasional doo-doo, just to name a few. This pool was big, about the size of an Olympic pool but there was a smaller one that was 20 feet deep that had a 16 foot diving platform besides a medium and a smaller one. One day a 5 year old girl snuck up the high diving platform and jumped and belly flopped. Her stomach burst open and the pool turned blood red which is why it was called the bloody pool. The bloody pool was closed down after that but the dirty pool remained the dirty pool, and it’s where I learned how to swim!