Crystal Beach

My eyes begged me to close them as we took the slow and long climb to the top. But I couldn't. I had to watch. And when we reached the point where we started heading downward, Jeri released my hand from hers, screamed, and threw both her arms in the air. I on the other hand, held onto the lap bar with all my might, until my knuckles turned white.

"Holy crap. That was so much fun. We're doing it every night. Every single night."

Jeri had no problem showing her excitement. And now that my feet were firmly planted on asphalt, I was feeling like I might live.

"That sounds good," I lied.

Her hand grabbed mine. Pulling me as she ran, we made our way out of the park and followed the crowd heading toward their cars. We were kids, behaving like kids. It was summer. And summer was meant for having a great time.

*****

From that night forward, we spent every free hour together. At the park, the waterslide or at the beach.

Some days we would take Joe's bikes and ride to Point Abino and do some fishing. It was always easy to catch a dozen or so perch or rock bass. Joe or my uncle Jack would clean the fish and fry them up over a small campfire in Joe's backyard.

Everything about the summer was great, but one of my favorite memories was the park and how very cool it was for its time.

Unlike today, things seemed better. A glass of cold Loganberry juice. A Crystal Beach sugar waffle. One of the different flavored suckers that they sold by the exit at Erie Rd. The sour puckering taste of lemon was my favorite. Jeri loved the coconut. These things were all staples of a time gone by. And I also remember the place was spotless, because people would pick up garbage just so they could put it in Leo the Lion's mouth and watch in awe as it got sucked away.

This is now I spent my first summer with Jeri. Hand in hand watching the world go by. Friends living a carefree life. Talking about school and the family and friends we would both be returning to when the summer was over. But it was a long summer with lots of days, until there weren't many left.

*****

Joe and Shirley both worked late on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday the week I was leaving. Jeri and I spent some time together. But we didn't get to the park, nor did we really talk. Instead, we both kind of moped around.

Thursday was my last night. I would be leaving in the morning for my bus in Buffalo.

When Joe got home, Jeri sprinted to my aunt and uncle's front yard. We left without either of us having had dinner. I looked in my pocket. $7.38. If Jeri's magic marker was able to once again sneak us into the park, we would be able to live large with the cash I had.

It wasn't until we were in the Laff in the Dark, that I realized how close Jeri and I had become. Her hand, as usual, found its way into mine. But tonight, it seemed to hold it even tighter. And whenever we sat, her head found its way to my shoulder.

"Will you come back next summer?"

"Yeah. Joyce already told me I could. And Jack likes not having to do any yardwork. You?"

"Yeah. Shirley hates everyone, So I'm the babysitter on record." Her arm was linked with mine and her other hand, held me by the bicep. "Are you going to get a girlfriend when you go home?"

"No. You?"

"Me, what?"

"Are you planning on getting a boyfriend?"

Both her hands squeezed me.

"I already have one. He's a very cute Yankee guy."

"Have I met him?" I joked.

"You have. He's cute. But he's a jerk."

"Sounds like someone I know."

"Yeah, he sure does."

*****

The park closed for the night. It was over. My summer in Crystal Beach had come to an end. With a bag of 10 assorted flavors of suckers from the park, we left.

Sadly, Jeri and I dragged our feet as we walked together up Derby Rd. It was late and well past Jeri's curfew as we headed home. Hand in hand with her head resting on my shoulder.

I had an empty, almost hollow feeling in the pit of my stomach. There was so much I wanted to say. So much I wanted to do. But I was a kid.

We stopped on the corner of Derby and Victoria. Silently we watched the mass of bugs swarming the bulbs atop the streetlamps. Jeri pulled me under a huge maple tree that stood out on the corner lot. The tree was so big it shaded us from the moon and the light coming from the streetlamp.

There were tears in her eyes. My tomboyish girlfriend. Dressed in denim shorts and a sweatshirt was crying. It was the first time I had ever saw her do it and it broke my heart.

"Can't you stay another week?"

"I start school on Monday. A week earlier than you. I told you..."

"Can you stay until Sunday?"

"I would like to but, I have to be home to sign up for the school baseball team."

"Will you write me?"

"Yes."

"Will you call?"

"I promise."

Jeri pressed into me. She stood on her tippy toes and surprised the hell out of me.

Her lips touched mine. It was the very first time in my life I was actually kissing a girl. I will always remember the feel of her soft, coconut flavored lips as they touched mine. It didn't last long. Not long enough at all. It may have lasted a minute, but in what felt like a flash, it was over, and Jeri was running down the street. She was running away from me and what tomorrow would bring. I yelled after her, but my calls went unanswered.

The next morning, I loaded my pack into the backseat of my uncle's Mercury and walked to the house next door. There was no answer. No one was home. Jeri and the kids were gone. She wasn't there to say goodbye. She had told me during our summer together that she had issues with goodbyes, and I would likely not see her when I left. True to her word, I left Canada with only memories and a bag full of Crystal Beach suckers.

*****

"Didn't you give me hell for jumping a fence to sneak into a concert?"

"What?"

"You keep saying you guys snuck into the park without paying."

"It's a do as I say situation. Plus, it wasn't my idea."

"Look at Grandpa tossing around the double standards because of a girl."

"A very cute girl. And all you got out of that part of the story was that I snuck into the park?"

"Yeah, well, who would have ever thought that you would break the law?"

"I was a kid."

"Wait till I tell everybody what a bad ass you were."

"That's where we'll have a problem. No one but you will ever hear this story."

"So, it doesn't end there, does it? I mean come on. You guys must have hooked up."

"Let me tell you about the following summer."

"Well, get on with it. You're killing me."

*****

The multiple letters and many phone calls over the long ten months we had been apart, weren't possibly enough to prepare me for the transformation of Jeri.

When I climbed out of my uncle's station wagon, I headed to where I thought she might be.

She was in Joe and Shirley's backyard with the kids. She was hanging laundry when I walked into the yard. With no idea I was coming in a week early, I surprised the hell out of her when she heard her niece call out my name.

For a moment, her surprise looked almost childlike. Her feet turned and pointed inward, and she put her thumb to her mouth as if she were chewing the nail. Immediately, I could see tears. Unlike the last time I saw her, these were tears of joy.

The first thing I noticed missing, was the awkward stylings of a seventeen-year-old I had met last summer. No, the eighteen-year-old Jeri walking toward me, was a woman. Fully. Completely. Beautiful.

Jeri had grown in many ways. Height. Breasts. Beauty. And she had filled out so that she now had some curves where there wasn't as much last year. Also, her dirty blonde hair was longer and had been cut into a more girlish style.

"Hey beautiful."

Her hands gripped my t-shirt and her fingers wrapped themselves up in the cotton material. Her forehead nuzzled its way under my chin. I could feel her body shaking as she sobbed. My arms hugged her tight, holding her body next to mine. The tight embrace reminded me of the summer before when we were sitting at the beach watching the moon.

"I missed you so much," she whispered and trembled into my chest.

"I missed you too."

Gathering up her emotions. Jeri pulled away and looked up at my face and smiled. It had been a long ten months since we'd last been together, but in a matter of seconds, we were right back to the point where we had left off. Because without giving it so much as a second thought, Jeri let go of my shirt and grabbed my face. This kiss was far more passionate than the one she had given me the summer before. The one under the dark cover of the old maple tree seemed like a simple peck compared to this one.

Not wanting to pressure her, I let Jeri take the lead with her kiss. At first it was just lips. But as the seconds rolled by, the tip of her tongue slipped over my lips and pressed mine until they parted and allowed the probing flesh into my mouth. Hugging me so hard, her breasts firmly pressed themselves into the hardness of my chest.

I let my hand slide down her back. It was heading toward her ass. But only got as far as a belt loop on her jean shorts.

"Hey you little shit. You come all this way up here and I'm not the first person you say hello to. Guess I know who's most important on the hug and kiss list around here. Hey, Jeri."

"Hi, Joyce," Jeri replied with a chuckle. Quietly into my neck, she whispered, "The Joyce."

I hadn't even bothered to ask if she was home when we pulled up. But my aunt was correct. Seeing Jeri was at the very top of my list of things to do. She was my number one priority. By far.

Releasing my hold on Jeri, I hopped the fence and hugged my aunt. Not the same way I had hugged Jeri, but it was still a hug. Plus, I kissed her cheek.

"How's my favorite Aunt? Did she miss me?"

"I did. And from what I just saw, I'm guessing I'll be missing you all summer long, because I won't see much more of you this summer either."

Both Jeri and I blushed and laughed. Down deep, I hoped it was true.

That evening, we all sat out outside on the front porch. Joe and Shirley. Jack and Joyce. Jeri and me. A reunion.

We talked about everything from how school had gone, the upcoming fireworks to the possibility of alien life on other planets. The entire time we sat there, Jeri was pressed against me, holding my arm.

When the night came to an end, everyone watched to see what would happen between us. But it was our first day together. We were still so young and inexperienced. I didn't want to put any pressure on either of us, or rush anything.

So, we said, "good night" and Jeri's hand squeezed mine.

*****

Picking up from where we left off the year before seemed like the most natural thing in the world.

During the day, we would take the kids to the beach with us. Most times my cousins would join in. For a week straight I got to be together with the most beautiful girl on the sand. Her sexy bikini teasing and taunting me with every move she made. And in the evenings, dressed in a t-shirt and shorts, she looked just as sexy. It didn't matter if we would go to the park or just downtown. As long as we were together.

It was just like the summer before. Everything stayed the same, until it changed.

*****

One after another, lightning bolts lit up the black midnight sky. The blasts of electricity were followed by loud thunderclaps that shook the house and porch. I laid waiting and watching.

"Andy?" her soft voice came from inside the old canvas tent.

"Yeah. I'm right her."

"I'm scared."

My feet barely touched the ground.

Sprinkles of rain had started to fall as I hopped the fence and climbed through the already open door of the tent.

Jeri eyes shined with traces of tears.

"I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"For being a scaredy cat," she sobbed into my chest as I hugged her.

"Shhhhhh..."

"Can you stay? Please..."

"Shhhhhh...."

The constant patter of raindrops pelted the canvas as Jeri laid wrapped in my arms. Her pounding heart slowed and calmed with each breath she took.

With a loving kiss, I pulled her warm body tight against mine. I held her shaking body until we drifted off to sleep. It was the first night we ever slept together.

*****

In the morning, Jeri shook me gently.

"Joe can't find you in here."

I understood. I was only dressed in my boxers. She had on only a t-shirt. It was what I had on when I jumped the fence the night before. And it was her regular sleep attire. Although nothing had happened, it probably won't look good if anyone saw me like I was. But Jeri didn't help the situation.

With another of her patented sexy kisses and the fact that it was morning, I had an issue.

"Oh my God. Are you...can you...how will you hide that thing when you leave?" she whispered to me as I unzipped the tent.

"Not sure. I just hope I don't hurt myself when I jump the fence."

Jeri's laugh could be heard behind me as I dropped the tent's flap down.

*****

With it still being a rainy morning, I tagged along to do some errands with my aunt and cousins. When we returned, Jeri was on the front porch with the kids she was babysitting. Her cousins.

"You comin over while I make some lunch for these guys," she asked seductively.

"As soon as I carry in the groceries."

Barefoot. But dressed in shorts and a bikini top. Jeri started to prep lunch for the kids.

When she buttered the slices of bread, her butt wiggled slightly. When she poured juice into a pair of glasses, she put her hand on her flat belly. Every move she made looked at a pose. And when she put the drinks down in front of the kids, her arms crossed enough to squeeze her breasts together. She even bit her lower lip in the most seductive way. Apparently, the new Jeri had no problems with being sexy. This was not the girl from last year. No. She was a completely new version. Perfect breasts and a small, almost unnoticeable camel-toe. Just the slightest gap and hump it the crotch seam of her jeans.

This Jeri was looking at me to make a move. I could tell but my body seemed to be frozen in place.

In frustration, Jeri huffed and banged a can of canned goods down on the kitchen counter.

"What's the matter? Did I do something wrong?"

"No. You didn't do anything...at all."

"Then why are you..."

"Oh, I don't know. I thought maybe you would have liked sleeping with me last night."

"You're kidding. Right? Last night was the best."

"Then why didn't you..."

"What? Why didn't I what?"

"Nothing."

Her 'nothing' was definitely "something". Jeri was upset.

"I guess the Summer Lovers idea isn't going to happen." When I didn't respond, she put down the can opener and looked at the fingers on her right hand. "Well girls. It looks like it's you and me again all summer."

'Summer Lovers' had me in stunned. But when she made a masturbation reference, I was in full sock mode.

"What?"

"Don't worry. If your too busy. I'll take care of myself."

Moving closer so the kids couldn't hear. I close the gap between us and whispered, "you play with yourself?"

"Come on, Andy. Are you telling me that you've never, not once? Tell me you've touched yourself."

"I'm not telling you anything."

"When you protest, it means you've touched yourself."

"I'm not protesting."

"Then, you're lying. I mean, it's a very natural thing to do."

"And you do it?" I asked. I was still shocked she had brought it up. But I was even more shocked by her answer.

"Of course, I do."

"No way. I don't believe you."

"It's true."

"Show me," I said without thinking.

Her smile was wicked. Jeri was grinning from ear to ear. It was like I had dared her to do something bad, and she was considering it.

"Like, right here. Right now?"

"No. I don't want you to get arrested, but it sure sounds good."

"Pig," she said as she finished the rest of her soda and spit an ice cube at me.

The rest of our day was spent with her niece and nephew. They weren't that hard to babysit and having them with us gave us lots of time to hang out. But after our talk at lunch today, Jeri wasn't in the talkative mood. There was too much tension in the air.

Finally, it was time for me to leave. Joe and Shirley liked me, but I'm not so sure they were fond of finding me alone in their home while their kids were supposed to be babysat.

"You feel like going for a walk tonight?" I asked. Trying to break the ice and getting her talking again.

Jeri's head swung from side to side.

"You wanna go to the park," I asked. Another "no".

She didn't look like she was going to speak, but finally, she did, and her words surprised me.

"Wait until after eleven. Jump the fence and meet me in the tent."

"Why, are you going to show me how you touch yourself?" I said in a sarcastic tone.

"Maybe."

"What? Really? Promise?" I asked in rapid succession. Her answer had shocked me.

"Maybe."

*****

"Holy shit Grandpa. Is that the first night you guys had sex?"

"No. Jesus. I wish I hadn't started to tell you this story."

"Oh yes you do. I can hear in your voice how excited you are. So far, your summers in Crystal Beach sound like the coolest days ever. Plus, it's helping us kill time and bond while you're driving up to the North Pole."

"They were. They really were. Today, with everything everyone has at their disposal, they seem corny. But back then, man they were the best. And stop with the North Pole shit or one of those Canadian's might slap you."

"I bet."

*****

Like it was a pummel horse, I jumped the fence under the light of a full moon. The only sound was a small thud as my sneakers landed on the damp grass below my feet. It must have been loud enough, because as I walked up to the tent, the sound of the huge zipper on the big old army tents door being opened, filled my ears.

"Wearing those shorts so you can hide your boner when you leave?" Jeri teased when she saw that I was fully dressed.

"Yeah. I see you also have more on tonight too."

"I didn't think you'd show."

"Yeah. Well maybe I didn't think you'd be in here."

"Yet here I am city boy," she said with venom in her voice. She pointed at a sleeping bag spread out on the lumpy ground and motioned me to have a seat.

"Jeri, if you're pissed at me, tell me what I did to piss you off."

"Nothing."

"If I did 'nothing', then why are you upset with me?"

"Jesus you're dense Andy. I'm pissed because you always do nothing. Were eighteen. I want you to do something. Anything. Try it. If I don't like it, I'll tell you to stop."

"I've only been here less than two weeks. Christ."

"Yeah, two weeks. But even last year it was always me making the first move. Remember?"

"No", was my response. I was too shocked that I had been given a green light. I reached out to touch her tit.

"Not now you jerk. If you do it now, it will feel like I'm forcing you to."

"Jeri, I..."

"Honestly, shut up. I thought you might try something last night. But you didn't, so I had to come up with another plan, but I'm trying to work up my courage to go through with it. And we'll have to be quiet."

Jeri always had 'a plan' and normally she didn't need any extra courage to make her follow through with whatever she had dreamed up. So, her telling me that she was trying to gather some up, had me concerned.

Leaning in, I put my fingers under the beautiful blonde's chin and lifted. Moving forward, I touched my lips and tongue against hers. We kissed for the longest time. So long that her breathing started to calm.

Our kiss was special, because like Jeri had requested, I had made a move. Continuing on, my hand touched the naked skin of her back and side, until I moved it down to her butt. In a flash, her hand covered mine and pulled it away. Had I gone too far? My concern was back.

But luckily, my concern was fleeting. It disappeared and was gone forever as soon as I saw Jeri reach down and unbutton her jean shorts.