Ilovetheviking, Karalee and Raki finally made it, just before the meat was finished. They were bringing goodies as well. I eyeballed the big pot of chicken and dumplings and pecan pie. No dieters here, I am afraid.
When the meat was ready and piled onto platters for easy serving, we settled at the dinner table. Wine and beer and soda were passed down the table. There is no such thing as good conversation when excellent food is being served. The most you could hear was the chomping of jaws as ribs and wings and steaks were torn into.
The late afternoon was a bit cooler and as we struggled from the supper table and moseyed over to our chairs around the now lit fire pit, I pulled on my leather jacket and grabbed my beer and sat down and lit a cigarette. Not one of the lovely Turkish blends but one of my regular ones. I blew out the smoke and watched the grey light begin to fade.
After a moment to let our supper settle, we got up and cleaned up the supper table, replacing the yummy dinner food with the lovely desserts I knew we would revisit over and over throughout the evening. Pies, cakes, puddings, tarts and candies tempted us as we ranged the table and filled our plates, enjoying the sweets and treats.
Finally, we settled on blankets under the marquee and began watching the episodes. We would not see all the episodes together but we were determined to watch as many as we could, GS fast forwarding through the Jace Everette song after the first time. Rowdy and spirited, though, we sang along through the first time, GS shaking his head saying that none of us should give up our day jobs. We were so involved, we did not see the counselors walking toward us in the shadowed yard.
I felt the pressure of a gentle hand on my shoulder. I turned to see the shadowed face of my counselor who was squatted down beside me.
“Oh, hi, when did you get here?” I asked. The group turned at the sound of my voice. The lead counselor was some feet away, looking around at the torch lit yard and the female counselor was standing beside him, her arms crossed and the young female, tentative but excited, waved at GS and Hoyt and Dude, who waved back.
My counselor stood up. He was smiling down at me and took the hand I raised to him and helped me stand on my feet.
“We just arrived,” he said simply. “It appears you are having a lovely time.”
“We are, we are so glad you could come,” I said. God Speed was speaking to the lead counselor and he motioned him over to the outdoor kitchen. He motioned him behind the bar and they disappeared momentarily and the lead counselor stood back up and motioned my counselor over to see what God Speed was showing him. Quick as a flash, he was standing there looking down at the fridge and what it contained. They both smiled at each other and nodded. Jen came over and got four of the bottles and took them in the house to warm them in the microwave. My counselor came over to me.
“How lovely of you, that you would remember us and provide us with special libations. I am constantly amazed by all of you, how much you accept without question and your thoughtfulness,” he said in his soft southern accent. Jen walked by and handed the counselor his bottle, doing the same to the female counselor and her younger protégé and finally to the lead counselor who accepted his bottle was a slight bow. God Speed scowled a little as Hoyt and Dude went over to speak with the young counselor.
“Well, we just want to make you feel at home,” I said.
“You are all so kind to us,” he said. The young counselor was standing beside the stereo set up GS had and was going through the cds. Jen was talking to the female counselor who was drinking the warm refreshment and complimenting her on her outfit, dark mustard pants and a rust colored summer sweater, her hair pulled back in barrettes, giving her a modish late sixties look. The pretty blond counselor was wearing burgundy red pants that hugged her long legs and narrow hips and a matching sweater, her hair pulled back in a pony tail.
The lead counselor was talking to Westexan and Eric Lover. He seemed fascinated with Westexan who was expecting a little bundle of joy and was absolutely radiant with good health. The lead counselor was smiling at her as he watched her hand rest lightly on her belly. I wondered if he would like to touch her belly and what thoughts he might have as he did so.
Rene and Ilovetheviking joined my counselor and I and we talked of nothing important, just the trip here, the lovely meal and the coming holidays. My counselor asked about the holidays and how they are celebrated. He seemed to remember things as we mentioned things we did in our families as traditions, other things seemed to be foreign to him but they delighted him. I wondered how his kind celebrated the holidays, if they celebrated at all. If there was anything that deterred me from being one of them is the way they seemed to forget the best things about being one of us, the distractions and diversions we planned for ourselves. Was it necessary to give those things up to live as they do?
Suddenly the sound of clapping and shouts turned our attention to the space in front of the stereo. The lead counselor was dancing with Eric Lover and GS was dancing with his wife and Dude was taking a turn with the young counselor. It was amazing to watch the lead counselor, tall as he is, dancing with Eric Lover, as short as she is. They were dancing to Van Morrison’s “Brown Eyed Girl”. Suddenly, there was a change in partners as the lead counselor grabbed Jen and pulled her in his arms and GS took over dancing with Eric Lover.
When the song ended, everyone clapped and the dancers cleared the dance area and the song changed.
“Do you dance?” asked my counselor.
“I do dance, a bit,” I said. “Do you dance?”
“I do like to dance, though I am not as good at modern dancing as I am at older styles of dancing,” he said. “Will you save me a dance?”
“Of course, just….claim me,” I said.
“I will,” he said. Westexan came up to us and, like the lead counselor, our counselor too was fascinated with her delicate condition. He seemed to want to touch the baby bump with his wonderfully articulate hand, but he refrained.
I excused myself and walked over to the plastic tub and reached for a Guinness and opened it and walked over to the stereo where the young counselor was standing once again, looking for a cd. She looked at me and smiled. I smiled back at her.
“I wanted to thank you for standing up for me at my hearing,” she said quietly.
“Your hearing?” I asked.
“Uh….yeah,” she said. It was then I realized that my dream was real and I had been somewhere with these three.
“Don’t mention it,” I said, giving her a meaningful look. “It was my pleasure.” She nodded and went back to peering at the cds.
I chose a cd and popped it in. Patsy Cline began to sing ‘Walking after Midnight’ and I turned and saw Violet being led into the dance area by our counselor. I edged around to sit by the fire with GS, AP, Hoyt, Dude and the lead counselor. They were talking about Machiavelli, and the implications of his writings in modern masculine thought. I sat quietly, listening to the voices of my friends and the lead counselor. Could I really count the counselors as our friends? I sometimes thought about them, but did they really qualify as friends. Or were they simply enabling us in our addictions? Reached for my bag on the ground between me and the lead counselor and retrieved my cigarette tin and took out one of the precious Turkish blend cigarettes and lit it.
When the music changed to ‘Mustang Sally’ I looked over to see Eric Lover dancing with the female counselor, like girls used to do in the fifties and sixties, jiving to the old soul song. Violet and our counselor was watching the two of them and laughing.
“Aslinn dearest, would warm me another bottle of refreshment?” asked the lead counselor.
“Sure,” I said. I got up and he followed me to the outdoor kitchen while I retrieved a bottle and he followed me to the back door. He stood at the doorway, leaned against the door frame. I looked at him quizzically.
“I don’t have an invitation,” he said.
“And I can’t…” I said.
“Unfortunately, no, but this is okay,” he said. He watched me take the lid off the bottle and put it in the microwave for a minute and half. When it was ready, I replaced the lid and shook the bottle gently and handed it to him.
“What does that taste like?” I asked.
“What do you think it tastes like,” he asked.
“Well…” I said.
“Sort of, not as rich though, and not as interesting as from the vessel,” he said, looking at me. “But, enough about my dietary habits.” He turned from the door way and I followed him out. “Where are God Speed’s children?”
“All the small assorted God Speeds are staying with their grandparents for the night,” I said.
“I hope it wasn’t on our account,” he said.
“Oh no, it was so we could be rowdy if we wanted to,” I said.
“Do you get rowdy dearest?” he asked.
“In the right company, I have been known to get rowdy,” I said.
“And are we the right company?” he asked.
“Perhaps,” I said.
“You remember things, some things, don’t you?” he asked.
“We all remember some things. And some things, we chose to ignore,” I said.
“That may be a good thing,” he said. He was a dark study for a moment and then he smiled. He was still in some shadow, the way I personally liked him. I drank some of my Guinness and thought about how strange it felt to be in the house and he was stuck at the doorway.
“How long will you be able to stay with us?” I asked.
“Til nearly dawn. We have contacts with whom we can stay for our rest,” he said.
And that is how long the party lasted. We danced and sang and drank with our counselors til it was time to say good bye. The last dance of the evening, I danced with my counselor. I thought he had forgotten about me, but when Patsy began to croon ‘Sweet Dreams’ he came and claimed me.
“I always save the best for last,” he said, in his soft southern voice.
And then they were gone. We were tired but happy with the coming of the grey lights of dawn and we all helped GS clean up. I watched him as he dumped the nearly dozen red glass bottles into the fire pit, and broke them up with a fire brand, letting the fire lick at the fluid coating the sides.
There were certain realities we accepted, but we knew that a m*ther f*cker didn’t need to know everything.
As I went to my rest that morning in the hotel room that Eric Lover and I were sharing with Vi and Westexan I wondered about what would be happening to us over the hiatus and what would be happening with them, our counselors, and would we be surprised by the events unfolding before us in the coming summer. I sighed softly, turned on my side and closed my eyes against the coming day.
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