The #2 Reef

Viewing down onto the reef, all that I would see were the bare, dirty backs of the kids from New Aberdeen or better known in Glace Bay, Cape Breton as “Number Two”, due to the number two coal mine the neighborhood is located on. Number Two is by no means a “fancy” neighborhood and the kids that live there are for the most part poor, to say the least. I was one of the fortunate few in Number Two who did not grow up in a low rentals company (split) home because my parents had fairly decent jobs. Although Number Two wasn’t an extravagant place to grow up, it did have some perks.

 The Number Two shore, as we call it, is a large cliff that runs from one end of Number Two to the other. The side of the cliff that is at the end of my street has a large reef protruding from the water and it extends about 20 feet long off the face of the cliff. This was the stomping grounds for kids in Number Two, a place to go hang out and swim during the day and a place to have bonfires during the night.

 Along with the sight of playful kids, all you could hear from the reef were sounds of laughter and the occasional screams of excitement and fear coming from the arrogant Number Two boys who thought it would be a brilliant idea to dive head first into the ocean from the highest points of the cliff. Although being a witness to these dives would bring on a sense of danger, oddly enough being down at the reef would bring a sense of security. I felt fearful and anxious for the kids who would show off, yet I would feel a sense of safety knowing that the kids there were my best friends and there was never any judgment, just simple enjoyment and entertainment.

In terms of smell, the Number Two shore had an ironic name, because flowing into the ocean down at the cliff was the neighborhood’s bathroom sewage. The best way I can describe the smell that came from the shore was like a giant, extremely dirty, fish tank. As you can imagine, this was not a pleasant smell. And sadly enough, that did not stop us from swimming down there. We loved every minute we spent there, despite the awful smell.

 The taste that filled our mouths down at the reef was very similar to the taste when you cry so hard that your tears go into your mouth, similar to licking a stick of course salt. Because of this, we would go home from being at the reef all day more parched than ever, ready to beg our moms for a large glass of Coca Cola (The only thing that seemed to quench the thirst).

Originally the cliff leading to the reef had a wooden staircase that we could easily walk down, however, about eight years ago, people burned the staircase down, and now all that’s left is a steep, narrow path that you have to run so fast down, you feel as though you are flying in order not to trip over your own feet.

Mournfully, due to an unfortunate accidents, right around the same time the stairs were burnt down, within a four or five month span, two kids (about 15 years old), died down at the reef. Due to this extremely unfortunate incident, and the overall danger in general, times spent at the reef are now nothing more than fond, yet distant memories, instead of a popular stomping ground us Number Two kids would get lost in our inner children at.