A Boy's Last Summer Pt. 02

Heather looked over at Roxy for the first time since she had sat down, “Yeah, you have no problem saying what’s on your mind.”

“No I don’t, but I’m trying hard to be friendly about this and not do something we’re both going to regret. I know David well enough to say he would...”

“You know David!” snapped Heather raising her voice for the first time and catching Roxy by surprise.

“Exactly how well do you know, David, Roxy? You think you know David because you’ve been dating him for a whole seven weeks! David was mine for three years, and you want to tell me what David would want!”

She was on a roll now, and wouldn’t let Roxy cut her off.

“Did you know his favorite color is green? Did you know that his favorite food is fried chicken, but only the dark meat because the white is too dry. Did you know that his favorite T.V. show of all time is ‘The Twilight Zone,’ and he still watches the marathon every New Years? That he likes to drink warm milk at night when he can’t sleep and loves the Hallmark movies at Christmas but would never tell his friends because they would tease him. I know David, and I understand him better than you ever could. I was there when his Grandma died, and I held him while he sobbed his heart out. I was there when he won his first swim trophy and felt like he was on top of the world, and I was there when he lost his virginity because we lost ours together.”

“So...,” said Heather, finally pausing to catch her breath, “do you still want to tell me how well you know David?”

“That was quite a speech, truly and Oscar-worthy performance. It doesn’t change the fact David is with me now, and I need you to accept it.”

Heather smiled, but the expression held no warmth, “David’s with you? And just what do you bring to this relationship? I can see what you’re getting from David. He’s kind, loving, loyal to a fault and protects the people he cares about. So what does David get from you aside from the obvious? Does he get to enjoy the responsibilities of fatherhood long before he’s ready too? Does he get to deal with the insecurities of a divorced woman with an alcoholic ex-husband who’s spent years building up her resentment toward men? Maybe he gets the joy of dating a woman born a decade out of step with him? You tell me, Roxy, what are you bringing to the table exactly?”

Roxy had to give Heather credit. She had hit the head on every nail that had been bothering Roxy for weeks. Caught off guard by the sudden attack, Roxy found herself in a rare position for her, at a loss for words.

“I just came over here to see if we could find some way to get past the animosity and maybe be friends. I can see I made a mistake.”

She pulled herself back to her feet and beat a hasty retreat fighting back the tears that threatened to come.

“Thanks for the chat,” called Heather as she turned her back to Roxy’s retreating form.

“Is everything o.k.?” asked Stacie as Roxy hastily pulled her clothes back on and reached for her pack.

“It’s fine...I just...Uh...felt a headache coming on, and I need to go back to my tent and lie down. Tell David when he comes back o.k.?”

“Yeah...Sure,” said Stacie with concern as Roxy fled up the trail.

Stacie stomped over to where Heather was still resting in the sunshine pulling herself up to her full five-foot-one-inch height.

“Heather Elizabeth Andrews! Just what did you do?”

Thankfully for Roxy, the trail was easy enough to follow, but she did stop half-way back to camp to lean against a tree and collect herself.

“This is ridiculous! Why am I letting some eighteen-year-old kid get in my head! You’re better than this, Roxy Doyle!” she said harshly under her breath as she fought to calm down wiping tears from her eyes.

The fact remained though that Heather wasn’t wrong. Everything she had said was right and underlined her doubts about this relationship. The nagging feeling that David deserved better, that he deserved to be with someone who wasn’t weighed down by her past, someone who was at the same place in life he was ready to build something fresh and new.

What did she bring to this relationship? She didn’t know, and that unknown frightened her both because it meant she could lose him, and because it also said that maybe it would be better for him if she did.

The sounds of a far off bird calling snapped her out of her dark thoughts, and Roxy got started up the trail again slowly regaining her composure. As she drew closer to camp, she heard a distant rumbling noise that sounded familiar, but in her current mental state, she was having a hard time placing it. Emerging from the woods, Roxy was greeted by a massed group of rough-looking men riding by on all manner of different models of motorcycle. There must have been about thirty or so altogether, but it was the last one in the long pack that caught her attention.

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding...” mumbled Roxy.

The last man in line pulled away from the rest stopping in front of her and pushing his sunglasses up.

“Well, I’ll be damned! Roxy! Fancy seeing you up here,” said Todd with a grin.

“What are you and your band of morons doing here, Todd?”

“It’s our semi-annual club getaway. You know we do a couple of retreats every year.”

“Don’t you usually do those in Vegas?”

“Yeah...Well, the last one got a little bit out of hand, and we decided maybe we should give Vegas a wide berth for now. Someone suggested a nice, quiet trip to the mountains might be a better idea. What are you doing?”

“I was having a quiet weekend before you wanna-be Hell’s Angels showed up.”

“Ah! We aren’t here to cause trouble. Heck! You won’t even notice us.”

“I’m already noticing the smell.”

“Be nice. I just bathed yesterday. Anyway, I’m going to make camp. Maybe I’ll see you around?”

“Don’t hold your breath.”

She watched him roar off in a stinky cloud of exhaust. This was all she needed, first the attack of the emotionally jilted cheerleader, and now her ex-husband shows up. This weekend was sinking into an abyss very quickly. By now, Roxy did have a headache coming on, and she went to lie down in the tent. The sleeping bag still smelled of David’s cologne, and she curled up on it drinking in the scent. It made her feel safe somehow, and she started to drift in and out.

Roxy’s thoughts became a disjointed mess. She never quite dozed off completely but instead floated on the edge of sleep. Time passed more quickly than she realized, and when voices came from outside the tent, she was drawn back to the land of the living to discover that several hours had gone by while she had been inside. The zipper in the front of the tent slid down, and David ducked inside, looking worriedly at her.

“Hi, there! Stacie said you weren’t feeling well?”

“I’m o.k. now. It was just a headache.”

“I’m glad you’re feeling better. We were going to walk down to the camp pavilion for lunch. They serve a pretty good burger there if you want to come?”

“Sure...Just give me a second to pull my shoes back on.”

When she emerged from the tent, the first person she saw was Heather, but the younger woman refused to meet her eyes turning away and walking up the road following the broad backs of Roger and George. Roxy fell in next to David, who was still watching her with concern perhaps sensing her sudden unease.

“Are you sure everything is o.k?”

“I said I was fine!” snapped Roxy more harshly than she intended, and David flinched as if he had been slapped.

Instantly feeling bad for her outburst, Roxy took her boyfriend’s hand.

“I’m sorry. I’m not angry with you. Todd is here.”

“What!? Where?” said David looking around.

“He’s here with his motorcycle club. They’ve camped up the road from here.”

“It’s funny I never really pictured you as the bikers old lady,” joked David.

“I wasn’t. Todd started the whole motorcycle thing after we divorced. I guess he was trying to find a new identity or something.”

“I guess he accomplished that. What was he like before?”

“Don’t laugh, but he was a delivery driver for U.P.S. He used to have short hair, and wore very yuppie clothes when he wasn’t in a brown uniform.”

David tried to reconcile that image with the long-haired, tattoo sporting man he knew and couldn’t.

They arrived at the pavilion which had been built back in the nineteen-sixties as an entertainment venue for the park. It had plenty of outdoor seating to serve the walk-up window to a kitchen that made your typical picnic food like burgers and hot dogs, but it also had a camp store next door and through a pair of large wooden doors a massive open room that was often used for dances and concerts.

“I’ll have two of everything!” said Chris running up to the window.

“You will not Christopher! You’ll make yourself sick!” cautioned Stacie from behind him.

“Come on, Stacie! I’m starving, and a growing boy needs his calories.”

“Then at least get a vegetable to go with all that fat.”

“Fine, Mom!”

Stacie frowned at being seen once again in the mom role, it didn’t bother her so much with the others, but she didn’t want Chris to see her that way.

One by one, everyone got their food, and they found a picnic table long enough for all of them to sit. David hadn’t been kidding about the quality of the burgers, and Roxy found herself enjoying every bite.

“Anyone else see what I see?” said George whipping mustard from his face.

They followed his gaze to the sand volleyball court that was not far from the pavilion where a group of young adults not much older than themselves were engaged in a spirited game.

“We should show those guys how it’s done,” said Chris.

“We used to play a lot of volleyball at Wave World,” explained David to Roxy, “these guys kind of think of themselves as the local champs.”

“Did we ever lose a game there?” cut in Pete.

“No...but the competition bar wasn’t exactly set very high either.”

“As our team captain, you should have more confidence in us,” threw in Roger.

“You were team captain?”

David smirked back at Roxy between bites, “There wasn’t a ton of people vying for the job.”

“Come on, David, this may be our last chance to defend our title!”

“There was no title! We just pretended there was, but I see your point.”

After they finished their meal, David led them over to the court, and they politely challenged the group playing to a match. Roxy stripped off her top deciding that at the very least her assets might be a distraction to the other team.

“You’re not playing?” she asked Stacie who stayed put as the others moved off.

“I was more like the designated mascot. It’s o.k. I’m too short to be effective, but I don’t mind cheering.”

Roxy joined the rest of them on the court.

Despite David’s self-deprecating assessment of his abilities as well as those if his friends, they turned out to be a solid team. They took the match two games to one with David scoring the winning point on a wicked looking spike set up by Chris. High fives were exchanged all around, but it turned out their performance had an audience.

“What do you say we get the winner?” said a familiar voice.

Todd strolled out into the clearing followed by half-a-dozen of his brother bikers. They were an intimidating looking group, and David pulled his friends aside to discuss things.

“This feels like the guards vs. the prisoners in that old Adam Sandler movie,” remarked Chris.

“‘The Longest Yard,’” said Pete.

“It was a Burt Reynolds movie,” corrected David.

“Nah, he was in it, but it was definitely an Adam Sandler movie.”

“I’m talking about the movie from 1974.”

“Adam Sandler would have been like five he couldn’t have been in that,” said Chris confused.

“He wasn’t. I was talking about the original movie, not the piece of shit remake!”

“There was an original movie?” asked George.

“Yeah! In 1974. It was the one with Burt Reynolds.”

“Burt Reynolds wasn’t in the Adam Sandler one? Cause I could have sworn...” started Chris.

“No, he was in it, but he didn’t play the same part. He was like a coach.”

“I thought Adam Sandler was the coach?”

“He was, but like a player/coach. Just like Burt Reynolds.”

“Wait...Burt Reynolds was the coach? Was that in the first one or the other one?”

“Technically both, you see...”

“Oh! For fuck’s sake! Are you movie historians going to debate this shit all day or play volleyball?” said an exasperated Roxy.

“Right...I guess we should play,” said David uncertainly.

George looked over to where the bikers were stripping off their shirts revealing lots of very detailed, and in some cases very intimidating ink.

“Are we sure about this? If we win, are they going to take it well, or like, want to rumble?”

“Rumble? What the fuck, George? Your mom still making you watch ‘West Side Story,’ with her when she’s bored?” questioned Chris.

“Those were street gangs, not bikers,” put in Roger.

“Well, thank you, Mr. Hollywood. I had no idea...”

“Give me the damn ball!” snapped Roxy.

“We’ll play,” she said, walking back toward the court.

“I guess we’re playing guys,” said David to his friends falling in behind Roxy sheepishly.

The two sides turned out to be surprisingly evenly matched, and the advantage see-sawed back and forth. When it came to the game point in the final match, David found himself lined up right across from Todd. The shorter man’s muscular body ran with sweat making it appear like the skull tattooed on his chest was crying. Heather served, and the men on the other side returned it easily touching off a series of volleys that had both teams straining to make the return shot. Chris finally managed to get into position to set up an opportunity for David to spike the ball, but Todd leapt at the same time going for the block. The two almost met at the top of the net, but David’s greater height and athleticism gave him the advantage, and he managed to slam the ball through Todd’s out-stretched arms.

“Game!” shouted Heather, touching off a small celebration on their side of the net.

David ducked under and offered his hand to Todd who grudgingly took it letting the younger man pull him back to his feet.

“Good shot, Kid.”

“Thanks...You guys played well,” offered David seeing the unhappy faces all around him.

“Maybe you’ll give us a rematch sometime?”

Before he could answer, Todd walked off with his friends in tow. Roxy joined David putting her arms around his sweaty waist.

“Nice job, Babe, and I’m not just saying that because you put my ex-husband on his ass!”

The kiss he received for that effort wasn’t something David was going to complain about, although the look Todd tossed his way was not a happy one.

Stacie joined the group as they walked back toward the pavilion.

“Check this out, guys! I found out they’re having a live band at the main hall tonight. We should come back, don’t you think?”

“Fine, but I need a shower and a nap first,” whined Chris, stripping off his shirt much to Stacie’s discomfort as she tried not to stare.

“I think you should ask Chris to dance tonight if the opportunity presents itself,” advised Roxy on their way back to camp.

“I don’t know, Roxy. He’s so intimidating sometimes, like a surfer boy sex God,” she said, referring to Chris’s longish blond hair and sun-tanned body.

“Did you just seriously call him a ‘surfer boy sex God,’” said Roxy with a giggle.

Stacie looked embarrassed but joined in.

“What’s so funny?” inquired Chris, which just made the two girls laugh even more.

“Chicks? Am I right?” said Chris to David as he walked by rolling his eyes.

A HOT TIME IN THE OLD FOREST -

It turned out everyone needed a nap after the rigorous game, and by the time the evening rolled around the campsite looked like a day care room after lunch with everybody snoring almost in unison. As usual, it was Stacie who woke up first and got the others on their feet and cleaned up to eat dinner before returning to the pavilion. The evening air had cooled the outside temperature sufficiently that several of the group opted to wear jackets. Stacie was in her tent, sorting through her clothes to pick a shirt when Roxy ducked her head through the tent flap.

“Hey, General. The troops are mustered out here.”

“Thanks, I was just trying to decide what to put on under my jacket.”

Roxy took a look at the two shirts she was holding and then stepped further into the tent shutting the flap behind her.

“Don’t you have anything a little more flashy?”

“I’m not sure what you mean by flashy?”

“Something a bit more revealing.”

“Roxy, I don’t exactly have a lot to reveal.”

“You have more than you think, besides it’s not how big it’s how obvious.”

The two women quickly went through Stacie’s bag with Roxy holding up a dark blue shirt with a plunging neckline.

“This is the ticket. Try it on.”

“Are you sure? That was a gift from Heather. She made me bring it, but it’s not the kind of thing I would usually wear...” said Stacie doubtfully.

“Let’s just see what it looks like on you, O.K.?”

Stacie donned the skimpier shirt, surprised at how well it fit. Though she was not big up top, she was quite perky, and what she did have was shown off nicely in the low cut top.

“I feel so...slutty...,” she said with a giggle.

“You look super cute, and I dare Chris not to notice. Come on.”

They could hear the music before they ever saw the pavilion, and when they arrived, it appeared that the whole park had turned out for the event. The band was taking up one small corner of the vast hall that had a massive stone fireplace at the far end, and people were dancing and clapping along with the music. A series of tables had been set up just inside the main doors where they sold lemonade and punch by the cup.

Everyone seemed to be having a good time.

“May I have this dance?”

Roxy smiled and took David’s hand as they joined the gyrating crowd on the dance floor.

The band played both rock and country music, so everyone had something to listen too.

The next hour passed in a blur of dancing and pauses to get refreshments when things got overheated. Roxy noticed that Stacie was staying well back from the dance floor just watching the others most of the time.

“Give me your jacket,” she said, going over to the smaller woman.

Reluctantly, Stacie shed the outer covering.

A slow song had started playing, and Chris was by the punch table laughing with Roger and George.

“This is your time. Go ask him!”

“I don’t know, Roxy...”

“There will never be a better moment. What’s the worst that could happen?”

“I could throw up on is feet which given how nervous my stomach feels is a possibility.”

“You’re going to be fine.”

Nudged along, Stacie took a deep breath and walked over to where Chris stood.

“Hey.”

He looked down and grinned at his old friend.

“Hey there, Short Stuff. What’s up?”

Stacie took another deep breath and let the words out like throwing a shot putt, all in one violent heave.

“I think you should dance with me, lets go,” she blurted, grabbing his arm.

“What? I...Uh...O.K.,” was all Chris managed to get out as she tugged him onto the floor.

It took him a second to realize it was a slow song playing, and he looked down at her not quite sure how to proceed, but finally, he put his arms around her slender upper body while she placed hers on his hips. They swayed slowly, awkwardly at first, but gaining confidence as they went.

“Is that a new shirt? I haven’t seen you wear that before.”

“This? Yeah...Heather gave it to me.”

“It looks nice on you. Kind of sexy if you don’t mind me saying so...”

“Seriously? You like it?”

“Sure. I mean it’s different for you, but I like it.”

Stacie beamed up at the taller boy, and he returned her smile with his own.

“How are you enjoying the campout?” she asked.