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Please read at least Part 2 to get a feel for the characters. This episode involves reluctance/coercion, so go elsewhere if not your preference.
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Our son had just turned three, and my wife felt it was important to take him to see his Great Grandmother. I couldn't imagine any torture worse than spending five hours in a car with a toddler, and I resisted the trip with all my effort. The lady was only seventy, but I guess her hip wasn't up to the task of traveling. Fortunately, my mother-in-law gave myself and her husband a way out of the trip....stating that a Mother-Daughter trip would be fun for both of them. Jake and I didn't object. Emily still tried to guilt me into coming, but the horror of listening to Brian scream in the car, and the thought of listening to three women gush over what a beautiful child he was for hours on end, kept me from falling into the trap.
"Sean, why don't you come with me to the lake? We can spend the time mindlessly fishing as we praise our wives for not inflicting us with a weekend of pain." My father-in-law said, patting me on the shoulder.
His wife and daughter both leered at him while I spoke. "Jake, that's a damn fine idea. I'm sure we'll need to be fully rested to endure the tales of their adventures when they return." I said sarcastically.
A few days later, their journey had begun, and though I felt a slight twinge of guilt for not going, it soon passed. Jake was due in a few hours to pick me up for our weekend of doing mainly nothing. This was the first time I'd been around him alone for quite some time. Given our past history, I felt a little reluctant. We had shared some experiences when Emily was pregnant that satisfied some "needs", and I can't deny having enjoyed it in a weird way. Hell, we did it more than once...but it was never something I really craved, and the "experiment" faded after a while. We hadn't shared any "male bonding" time in over a year, and I was fine with that. I assumed Jake had gotten tired of it as well...since Kim was as passionate and crazy about him, as Emily was with me.
I always enjoyed time at the lake. The whole arrangement was a little strange, and I couldn't help but hope that Emily and I would benefit someday. The property had been in Jake's family for several generations, and was nestled in the woods next to a decent-sized lake. At some point, the area had been annexed into nearby state park. Jake's father was given the option to sell the property to the state, or keep it in the family. The only catch was that the land could never be sold privately...it either had to be passed-down through the family, or sold to the state at current market value. Fortunately, the property already had a well, septic tank, electric power, and a boat dock. The family could maintain the property, but never expand upon it. I guess you could call it a kinder/gentler form of eminent domain.
The drive through the forest was pleasant as Jake and I solved many of the world's problems and generally traded a lot of bullshit. It didn't take long to unload the truck and air-out the cabin. The house itself is nice, but not large. Built like a mix of log cabin and craftsmen bungalow, it has only three rooms....an open living room and kitchen with exposed rafters, and two bedrooms with a bath in the middle. It has some rustic charm, but with the conveniences to make it comfortable. We had noticed a few things needing repair, and I volunteered to get supplies in the morning. We were both tired after dinner, and Jake took the room he and Kim usually shared, while I slept in the lower bunk of the smaller bedroom. I dozed-off thinking how great it was that there was no "sexual tension" lingering in the air.
I woke up early the next morning and was already dressed by the time Jake hit the shower. "Hey man, I'm going to take the truck and get things on our list. Be back in a few." I said, speaking through the door to the bathroom.
"Great...if the hardware store has fishing supplies, get some bobbers. A lot of them are cracked." Jake replied, his voice mixed with the sound of splashing water.
It didn't take long to get to town and gather the needed items, plus a few groceries. I was driving back to the cabin, maybe a bit faster than the posted limit, when I was pulled over by a park ranger. I couldn't imagine that I was going fast enough to be a public menace, but I resigned myself to just playing it cool.
"Good morning. Do you know why I pulled you over?" The ranger asked politely.
"Uh...no, officer...honestly, I don't." I replied, trying not to sound stupid or confrontational. The last thing I wanted to do was piss this guy off. He had to be 6'-4" tall, about Jake's age, and built like an immense drill sergeant.
"Well, you were speeding a bit. I'm not going to ruin your weekend, but I do still need to see your license and registration. We've got a lot of kids camping this weekend, and the little devils seem to run out of nowhere."
"Oh, I see. Thank you officer, I'll be sure to keep that in mind." I said, reaching over to open the glove box, and finding a bag of joints sitting on top of the registration.
"Why don't you go ahead and hand me that bag along with the registration." He said calmly, reaching his hand through the window. His biceps were so large they barely fit in the sleeves of his shirt.
I couldn't believe Jake was dumb enough to keep shit like that in the truck. If he was here, I might have punched him. "Truthfully sir, those aren't mine. You can see that the truck doesn't belong to me." I stammered, showing him the registration and then my license.
"This does present a problem. I don't care if you get stoned in the comfort of your own home. But the idea that you might be using these while driving is an issue I can't ignore." He said, staring at me as though trying to discern my honesty. "Where were you going, and is the owner of the truck there?"
"I'm going to a cabin on Bluegill Lake...about two miles away. Yes...the owner of the truck is my father-in-law, and he's waiting for me there." I nervously rambled, saying more than I needed to.
The ranger had an unusual look on his face...a reaction I couldn't quite decipher. "I know the cabin." He replied curtly, before asking me to step out of the truck. The ranger had me place my hands on the hood while he performed a pat-down that seemed to spend more time around my upper thighs and crotch than really necessary. After checking the truck for firearms and other illicit items, he finally spoke with stern seriousness. "Here's what we're going to do. You are going to drive ahead of me, you will not do anything stupid, and we're going to have a talk with Mr. Grimes. What happens next will depend on how cooperative both of you are. Do you understand?" he said with his brown eyes still boring into me.
"Yes sir...I'm anxious to clear this up." I replied, as the ranger kept my license along with the other items and walked back to his SUV.
The drive seemed to take an eternity, and my heart raced with nervous tension. I stayed in the truck until the ranger told me to come out, and was only mildly surprised when he cuffed me and put me in the back of his vehicle. I watched intently as the ranger knocked on the door and had a fairly long discussion with Jake on the porch. Jake seemed almost horror-stricken as I looked at this face while the ranger came back to the SUV.
