A Simple Life Ch. 50-59

"Uh, oh, s-sure."

Feeling much more myself after that much needed taste of normalcy I head off to work. I get a couple of questions about the bruise but I brush them off with a story about a stick poking me while I was out exploring. The day is an odd one. One in which the bulk of the hours just drone by, my mind a blank as I go through the motions of my work, punctuated by two calls. The first the low point of my shift, the second the highest of highs.

It was during my lunch break I get the first one. It was Jack. He'd been trying to call me over and over for the last twenty minutes. Knowing he wouldn't let it go until I talked to him I call him back. The last thing I wanted was him showing up to my work again.

"H-Hey Jack."

"Hey there champ." He says in that patronizing-remorseful tone he got once his temper had eased. The slight slur in his voice told me he was already out with the boys. Probably sitting out in his vehicle. "Hey...I just wanted to say sorry. I, uh, I kinda flew off the handle there."

"Yeah."

"You know how I get with Lauren. When I saw you two hugging...I don't know. Something snapped, ya know?"

"Sure."

"She's got me all wound up. She acts so funny sometimes, of course I'm gonna start thinking things. And now the kid on the way...I am stressed man."

"Yeah."

"It wasn't too bad, was it?"

"No. I-I-I'm f-f-fine."

"Of course you are. My tough little bro." He says. "You know how I get with her. I just love her so much."

"I know."

"You'll understand when you're married." He says. "Listen. Let's just forget it happened, okay?"

"Oh?"

"After thinking about it I realized that she might be cheating on me, but it wouldn't be with someone like you. No offense."

"I d-don't think she's cheating on you J-Jack."

"Well...I'm still getting that test done." He says. "I'll totally make it up to you bro. I'll bring ya something nice. Real nice. Help spruce up the place to impress that Indian girl you like."

"Please don't."

"You gotta bring her over. Lauren and I will wine her and dine her and talk you up so good she'll think you're the king of the island. I'm talking thick rib eyes and Lauren's potato salad here. She'll be putty in your hands Avie."

"Mmm."

"You think those people eat that stuff? We'll look it up."

I close my eyes and bite my lips.

"Hey. Heyyy." He says as the silence draws on a few seconds too long. "Don't be like that. Come on. It won't happen again. I swear it won't."

"Yeah."

"A guy can have one bad day."

"Yeah."

"Nobody needs to hear about that. Okay Avie? Lauren least of all. Okay?"

"Sure Jack."

"And don't tell Grandpa."

"Okay."

"You're the best, little brother." He says. "Hey. You know I love ya, right?"

"Yeah." I whisper. "I know."

"I wouldn't give my first born's middle name to just anybody ya know. I love ya Avie."

"Yeah."

"Baby brother." He prods. "Don't leave me hangin here."

"I...I l-love you too J-Jack."

"Eyyyy. My guy." His voice brightens as his flash of anger from earlier is totally washed away. In his mind at least. "I'm bringin ya something. Wait until you see."

I might have argued but what was the point. Jack always wins. I sigh. "Bye Jack."

"Catch ya later Avie."

That call might have plunged me into a deep, dark place had the second not come just a few minutes later.

"Winona!"

"Sprout!"

"Wh-what's up?"

"Nothin. I missed ya. Just wanted to hear ya." She says. I was smiling so hard that it hurt. "How's your day going?"

"Better now." I say, curling up around my phone as if I might crawl right into it. "How's yours?"

"Worst day ever!" She exclaims. "The garage is coming along good but it's this god damn paper work. Poor Dad and I's heads are spinning. Thank goodness for Mom. Even her patience is wearing though."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. We thought we all had it sorted but yesterday we get this letter. Ugh! We're dealing with five different bureaucracies here and none of them are talking to each other. We've got a tight deadline and of course most of the offices are closed today. It's a god damn nightmare." She says. "We NEED this paperwork to go through. We've poured everything into this move. There's no going back now."

"Oh no!" I say. "I-If you n-need anything. Anything! I-I don't know many folks but G-Grandpa knows everyone. I-If there's someone you need to talk to or..."

"It's okay Avery. It's cool. We ain't going anywhere. They'll have to send in the marines to haul us out of here now."

"I-If there's anything I can do, you tell me."

"Of course." She says. "Hey, I was talking to Briar."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. She is burning up to start this campaign." She laughs. "Kayla said she couldn't even get her moves on because Briar was so obsessed talking about the campaign. She's a gamer alright."

I giggle. "That must have driven Kayla crazy!"

"Right? I think she wants her even more now." Winona says. "Anyway, I know I said we'd go on a date tomorrow but what do you think about trying to get the group together." She hastens to add. "We can always hangout after."

The next worker scheduled for their break enters the room and starts to rummage in the fridge for their lunch. I turn my back to them and cup my hand near my mouth to try to get some semblance of privacy.

"That sounds nice too." I say. "As long as I get to see you."

"Awww." She says. "I wish I could kiss you right now."

"Me too." I am SHINING! "I-I'm sorry but I should g-go. My break is over. They'll be c-calling for me soon."

"Okay." She says brightly. "Love ya Sprout. Catch ya later."

There's a moment of silence. "What did you say?"

"Uhhhh! Nothing. Nothing!" Another moment of silence followed by muffled swearing at herself. "That doesn't count!"

"You love me?"

"I never said that."

"You did." I gasp. "You love me!?"

"No I didn't. I mean..." Another pause. "AHHH! No! I mean...gah! Not like that. That was just a friendly one. That wasn't a real one. That doesn't count!!!" There's some fumbling then she comes back on the line, her voice low and serious. "I didn't mean to say it like that."

"Winona."

"What?"

The words flow straight from my heart. "I love you too."

"NO! Don't... Sprout!" She lets out a long sigh. "Damn it. That's not how it's supposed to... Damn it! I fucked it all up."

"No you didn't."

"Okay. Shit." She sighs. "Listen. I want to say it properly."

"Say what properly?" I tease.

"Avery." Her voice softens. "Please. I want to say it right. Can...can we just pretend...we didn't?"

My soul beaming like the midday sun I say softly. "Sure Winona."

There's yet another pause. "Avery?"

"Yeah?"

"Did you mean it?"

"Yeah."

"Me too." She whispers. "I can't wait to see you again."

"T-Tomorrow?"

"Abso-fucking-lutely." She says. "I could try to cut out tonight but...err..."

"It's okay." I say. "I'm gonna go visit my Grandpa tonight."

"Oh! That'll be nice."

"Yeah." I smile.

"Okay. Well, call me. Anytime. Even if it's just to chat."

"I will." I giggle. "I will!"

"Ahem!" My coworker clears their throat, a signal that my time was up and then some.

"I gotta go."

"Call."

"I will. I promise." I say. "Talk to you soon."

"Yeah. Have a good one Sprout."

We each stay on the line for a good thirty seconds, just listening to the other's breathing, before she at last ends the call.

***

Chapter 55

Despite my backpack over my shoulders and shopping bags in both hands I barely even touch touch the gangway as I float up to the deck of Grandpa's home.

"Grandpa." I call, my spirit still soaring from the call I'd received earlier. "Grandpa are you home?" What I see brings my spirit crashing right back down to earth. There in a hammock lays my Grandpa. His body was so still. His tanned flesh had an ashen hue. His left hand hangs limply over the edge of the hammock with a paperback novel open on the deck below where it had dropped. My shopping bags hit the deck and I bolt for him. "GRANDPA!"

"Hrm?" He stirs to life. He coughs and smacks his dry lips and blinks his heavy lids open. "Mmm, Buttercup?"

I throw my arms around him and hug him him with all my strength.

"Heyyy, there he is." He hugs me back in that way only he had.

"I-I-I thought I lost you!"

"Still some wind in these sails my boy." He kisses my cheek. "I'm okay Avery."

"Whoo! D-Don't scare me like that."

Slipping from his arms I pick up the book and set it on the little table he had beside him then head back to start picking up the stuff I'd dropped. He swings his legs over the side and half sits, half lays sideways across the hammock. Rubbing his face he gathers his senses and, unfortunately, finds a cig and lights it up. "A few too many dark and stormy's last night. Ugh. The ol' body don't bounce back like it once did."

"Had a good time then?"

"Yeah. It was fun." He looks at me. "What's all this."

I stand and hold out the grocery bags. "Supper! I got a rotisserie chicken, some thai noodle salad, some chickpea salad, some mixed veg, and I got the deli to do me up a bunch of sushi special."

"I love grocery store sushi!"

"I know." I giggle. "And I got some pie and ice cream for dessert."

"Truly a feast."

"I'm gonna put the ice cream in the freezer." After a couple of failed attempts to get out of the hammock Grandpa finds his feet and follows me inside. As I lay out our meal I tease him. "I bought us some wine too. Might want to hold off on that tonight though."

"Wine!?" He walks up to check out the bottle. "Well, this is a special occasion. When did you start drinking wine?"

My smile is impossible to hold back. "Last night."

He looks at me with a knowing twinkle in his eyes. "Oh? It was a good date then?"

"Oh Grandpa. It was WONDERFUL! She is WONDERFUL!" I don't even know what to say next. I just want to blurt it all out at once. Unable to hold back I cut straight to the most important bit. "She said she loved me Grandpa! She said it!"

"Wha!? Oh! That's...sudden."

I giggle. "I know! She didn't mean to say it. It slipped out totally by accident."

A smile slowly spreads across his face. "It slipped through her guard, huh? This could be serious."

"Yeah." I swoon back against the fridge. "And I love her too Grandpa. I love her! I LOVE HER!!! She's...just...everything."

He laughs. "That sounds like love alright."

"I told her so. It felt good. It felt right. It felt like how you always said it would be."

"A romantic after my own heart. Aw Avery." He comes to me. "I am so happy that it..." He stops as he gets to arm's length. His smile fades and he brings his fingers up to my cheek, just below my left eye. "Avery. Did Winona do this to you?"

"No." I push his hand away, annoyed that he was bringing the mood down. "She wouldn't do that. She's so nice to me Grandpa."

"Jack?"

"Don't worry about it Grandpa."

His voice becomes even more grave. "Was it your Dad?"

I shake my head. "I haven't seen him in a long time."

A flash of hurt crosses his face and he pets the side of my head. "It was Jack, wasn't it? He and Lauren popped by earlier with the big news. Avery, you can't let him..."

"It was my f-fault." I cut in, hoping to bring the topic to an end quickly. "I-I-I threw the f-first punch."

"What?" The look of disappointment on his face hits me harder than a thousand Jack's ever could and strikes to my very core. "You did that?"

"Um...um...h-h-he said something m-mean about W-Winona."

"Oh Buttercup." He says sorrowfully. "You always stand up for your girl when you need to but you don't start the fight. Avery...you aren't like them. You're better than that."

"I know." I bow my head, tears welling. "I'm s-s-sorry Grandpa."

"Aw my boy." He pulls me into an embrace and cups my head against his shoulder. Holding me tight he whispers. "Did you really throw the first punch?"

"No Sir." I sniffle. "Not really."

"Okay. Shhh. It's okay Avery." He pulls back and looks into my eyes, his warm palm against the side of my eye as it might heal me. "I'll talk to him."

"Noooo! No Grandpa. You'll just make it worse."

"Avery, this stops now. I thought it already had."

"It d-did." I say. "He hasn't. Not in a long time. He had a b-bad day." Before he can reply I cut in again. "I-I'll handle it Grandpa." I sniffle. "I-I'm a man now. I-I can stand up for m-myself."

"Avery..."

"Please. Let me." I take a deep breath. "I-I can handle it Grandpa."

Concern etched in his wrinkles he gives me a nod. "If this happens one more time..."

"It won't. I-I'll deal with it." With pleading eyes I look up into his. "Can we please talk about Winona instead? Please? I'm too happy to be sad right now."

His concern melts. He gently holds my one cheek and kisses the other then steps back. "I'm happy you're happy." Taking up the bottle of wine he studies it. "Shiraz? Here I would have put you down as a Pinot man."

I smile. "What's the difference?"

"Damned if I know."

I giggle. "Hey. C-Can we take Bella out tonight?"

"Forecast is clear. She's fit and ready. I don't see why not. Light's fading though, you better get to it matey." He says. "I got this."

"Yes!"

As Grandpa busies himself with the meal I am going through the checklist to get the ship ready to launch. Before long I skip back down to the dock to decouple the power and water then let loose all but one mooring. Back on board I get everything started up and ready and after releasing the final moor line I am back in the wheelhouse at the humongous wheel taking her out at a crawl. This part was always so cool. Because she used to be a commercial fishing trawler Bella was an absolute beast compared to the other more elegant yachts in the port. Up here looking down over everyone else I couldn't help but feel powerful and important. I wave at a family at the end of the dock and give the kids a mighty toot of the horn which gets them laughing and jumping all around. I am smiling as I pull the Anna Bella out into open waters.

Once out into the endless Pacific I push the throttle forward and the ship's rumbling diesel engines roar with power. I then turn us southward. There was a nice little cove down near Ehkolie's 'tail' that was an ideal anchorage. If we were lucky enough to get the place to ourselves it was the darkest, privatest, most peaceful place I knew.

Grandpa climbs up into the bridge and checks over a few things, at this point more from old habit than any actual need. He puts a can of cola into the drink holder at my side then cracks a beer and lounges back into one of the sofas.

"Moshe Cove?"

"Yeah."

"Nice." He says. "Better step on it."

"Sails to full. Aye aye!" With the green and mountainous island off to our left and nothing but ocean and a rosy sky to our right I push her full throttle, taking her to a blistering 12 knots. Blistering for Bella at least. Those yachts back in port would be leaving us in their wakes at a canter. Bella was solid and reliable but she wasn't going to get you anywhere in a hurry.

He takes a sip, stretches out, and wiggles his toes. "So?"

I grin, already knowing. "So?"

"The party. The date. Winona!"

"What about them?" I ask innocently.

"What about them." He chuckles. "If'n ya don't want ta be keel hauled fer insubordination ye better start talkin matey."

I giggle. "Aye aye Cap'n."

***

Chapter 56

Bella slices through the calm evening water. With me at the wheel and Grandpa chillin behind me I tell him about the most incredible night of my life.

"The party was so fun. It was a really good group. Cain and Riley were there. There was a new girl named Briar. She's studying computer stuff at the college. She is super smart and kinda oddball like me."

"I like her already."

"Me too." I giggle. "We had some drinks and joked around. Turned out Briar plays that Fables of Fantasy game that Winona plays. And Cain watches a show about it. It was so cool we had this thing in common. The whole group of us are going to start a new game tomorrow."

"FoF? Ha! That game's still around?"

"You played?"

"Oh God, once or twice WAYYY back when. Wasn't really my thing but it seemed kinda groovy."

"I think it's groovy." I say as I shift the wheel port just a bit to center us toward our destination. "OH! OH! Have you seen The Princess Bride?"

"Can't say that I have. I was working so much back in the 80's and 90's that one kinda slipped past me. Always meant to."

"You gotta! We gotta! It's the best movie I've ever seen. It's got a grandpa and a boy and...it's got EVERYTHING!"

"Woah! Well yeah, let's do it Buttercup. I can't wait to see it."

"Yeah." I say softly. I stand silent a moment feeling the vibration of the engine through my feet and hands. Grandpa doesn't rush me. He knew I had more to say and waits, like he always did. "After the movie I...um, had another e-episode."

"Oh?"

"I ran away and hid and started crying."

"What happened?"

"I was thinking about you...and your c-c-cancer." Just saying it makes me start to tear up again.

"Aw, my boy."

"It's okay." I say, my voice soft as I remembered back. "Winona came and got me. She didn't tease me or make me feel bad. She...She made me feel good. She understood, even though she didn't know why I was crying. I guess her b-brother was kinda shy like me. She never made me feel ashamed."

"She lifted you up." He says from experience. "When you thought nothing could."

"Yes." I say. "And when I came back in everyone was so cool about it. Totally cool."

"That does sound like a good group."

"They are." I say happily. "Good thing too! Winona said she was gonna kick their butts if they teased me."

"Ha! She's a keeper."

"Yeah. After the movie there was dancing. Neither of us were good but we had so much fun. And we had a couple slow dances. It was sooo nice Grandpa."

"The perfect end to an evening." He says. "Or the beginning of a night?"

I peek back over my shoulder at him to see him smiling at me. In a small voice I confess. "It was just the beginning."

"Ohhh my!"

I sigh. "Oh Grandpa." I search for words. "She's...she's...she's..."

"One of a kind?"

"Yes!"

"Perfect?"

"Yes! Yes!"

"An angel put on this Earth just for you? And you for her?"

"YES! YES! YES!"

"You got it bad alright."

"She...she really is a one of kind Grandpa."

"Oh yeah?"

"Um...she's...got...a thing."

"A thing?"

"You know." I swallow and lower my voice. "A p-penis."

"Oh really." He says without missing a beat. "I wouldn't have guessed."

"D-Don't tell anyone!"

"You know me better than that my boy."

"I know." I say. "But that's not why she's special. She's just so nice. She takes charge and makes everything so easy and treats me so nice. She makes me feel like a...a prince or something. I can't even..." I sigh again, my words failing to express just how incredible Winona actually was. "She even bought me presents. When she went to the mainland she picked me stuff up. I couldn't believe it."

"Aw, what a sweetheart. What did she get you?"

"Uhhhh." Oops. I never meant to go down this alley. I wasn't about to tell Grandpa she got me a cock cage! "P-P-Pajamas."

"Pajamas!?" He lets out a big laugh. "For an innocent little sleepover I'm sure."

I giggle. "I d-did spend the night."

"My little Romeo! You kids these days work quick."

"She wasn't going to give it to me yet b-but when she saw how sad I was behind the bush..."

"Bush?"

"When I was crying."

"Ah."

"She...she wanted to cheer me up." I say. "She was so nervous when she drove me to her place. She thought I was going to think she's a weirdo or something. She was so beautiful Grandpa."

"Pajamas." He continues to chuckle. "Not one for subtlety that gal."

"Yeah." I say. "Um...um...actually..."

"Yeah."

"Um."