(Continued from Saturday Night Special, Chapter 4)
At last I rose. I looked around to see whether anyone had been disturbed or annoyed by our lovemaking, but the few other folks I saw went about their business, paying no mind. I skipped the boxers and pulled on a pair of jeans, buttoning and zipping them. Teri lay, still on her back but raised on her elbows, looking tousled but content. She smiled at me, and there was peace in her smile. I tossed the towel at her, grinned, and told her to cover up.
Teri also picked among her pile of clothes, getting into typical shorts and t-shirt. Still seated, she stretched and twisted, almost a little dance. She came to me outside the tent, pressed lightly against me, and gave me a quick kiss. "Thank you Bobby," she whispered, looking into my eyes with what looked like sincerity. I still sensed a sort of sadness between us -- or perhaps it was more primal, a deep, unsorted anger that we had to subdue, for now at least.
"Let's eat something," I said. I looked around and figured the camp site area would be pretty well picked over for wood. "Let's take a walk down the beach and see what sticks and stuff we can find for a fire." Teri agreed.
I thought about grabbing a beer, then remembered I hadn't brought a cooler or any ice. The old man
did
have a box with bagged ice up by the office, so I began to walk in that direction, telling Teri to come along.
"What Bobby, you're not going to let me out of your sight?" she said with a little smile. "No indeed, little sis," I said, maybe more firmly than I'd meant. "No baby. You're coming with me until I get your out of harm's way."
Teri didn't argue, and we walked together to the office. The old man was still there, this time with another old fellow. They were playing checkers with the TV still on. "You got any ice," I asked. "Yesssss," the old man said. "That's five dollars for a five-pound bag and ten dollars for ten pounds." I looked at Teri, and she pulled out a ten-dollar bill, handing it to the old man. "Thank you dear," the old man said politely. "Need a receipt?"
We walked outside and pulled a ten-pound sack out of the freezer, then carried it back to the tent. When we got there, I took the old tent bag, tore the end off the beer box, and poured the cans into the bottom of the bag. Then I ripped the sack of ice open and poured the ice into the bag with a great clatter. "Pretty ingenious, Bobby," smart-ass Teri said. "Yeah, that will hold it long enough to get cold," I said. "Now let's go find some sticks."
This time, we headed to the path the old man had indicated, walking on a soft bed of pine straw, on the lookout for sticks and boughs. We found a few little pieces just off the path, scarcely enough to kindle. As I say, I didn't think there would be much this close to the campground.
We followed the sound of waves on the beach, then came out of the pines into a low scrub of juniper and sawgrass. Still nothing much. And finally, we came out onto the beach. Yes, there was the ocean, with the white wake of the waves. Teri and I walked down to the water, to where it lapped the sand, and after a few waves, I figured the tide was going out.
There were a few other people on the beach, and way off in the distance were lights and silhouettes of the resort town. We paused long enough to get our feet wet, then headed back up the beach to look for dry kindling. Teri jogged on ahead, back up to the grass and junipers. She called out when she found a chunk of dry driftwood half-buried in the sand. A few yards farther, we found a couple more, and enough dry sticks to make an armful.
"That ought to be enough," I said. "Let's go back."
"Oh, it's so nice," Teri said, breathing in the pine-scented land breeze that picked up as the sun sank in the west. "I could stand right here. I love the sound and the smell."
I took her by the arm and tugged at her. "Come on little sis. We'll come back later, after we eat, when the sun goes down." There were still a few people on the beach, but most were packing up their gear to go wherever they'd come from. A couple of men swung ten-foot rods with lures into the surf, hoping for a stray big bass. We turned and walked back toward the path, Teri carrying the little pile of wood.
I stopped along the path and cut a couple of green juniper branches with my pocket knife. These I whittled to points as we walked along, to use as spits for the sausages. All said, we now had everything we needed -- firewood, cooking implements, and, chilling at the tent, cold beer.
And a car, and a tent, and each other.
We got back to the tent, and Teri dropped the pile of sticks and chunks on the ground. I pulled one of the iron truck rims over to the tent and began stacking up the sticks inside it. I was able to get some of the smaller chips started with my lighter, and I fed it gradually bigger and bigger. Then a couple of chunks, and the fire began to crackle.
It was still hot, so there was no need for a real fire -- just a quick cook fire. I zipped open the can of beans and set it inside the rim, near the fire. Then Teri impaled four of the brats on the juniper sticks and laid them over the little blaze. I got two beers out of the tent bag, came back, handed one to Teri, and opened my own. "Oh, that's good," I said, not realizing how thirsty I was.
"I wish you'd thought to get a bottle, bourbon or gin," Teri said. "Beer's OK, but it makes me pee too much."
I laughed. "Well, you'll either have to drink and pee, or not drink at all," I said. "Your choice."
"Ha ha Bobby," my sister said. She paused for effect, then said, "Hand me another one." I went and got two more. We sat on the ground and watched the fire. The brats began to sizzle and drip, and Teri gave them a turn. I got the cherries out of the grocery bag, and we ate some of them, spitting out the pits.
In a few minutes, the little fire had dwindled to coals, but the food was cooked. We put the brats on rolls with mustard. I took a towel out of the tent and carefully pulled out the warmed can of beans. Naturally, like a couple of dumb asses, we hadn't gotten spoons or anything, so we took turns with the can, raising it up and using my knife to bring a mouthful at a time out of the can.
By the time we finished eating, the sun had just dipped below the horizon. My phone rang, and I checked the number. It was Karen.
"Hello hot thing, whatcha doing?" Karen said in a low, sexy voice. I winked at Teri, then turned away. "I'm at the beach, honey," I said. "I'm down here with Teri."
"Teri?" Karen said with a little mockery. "Are you sure it's just your sister?"
"Yup. Just me and her."
"Where you staying? It's almost dark."
"Oh, we're camping down by the beach. Nice place. I'll bring you here sometime. Only twenty bucks."
"I want you baby. Why ain't you here for me?" Karen said, scolding playfully.
She carried on. "My pussy is all hot and wet. My pussy wants you real bad honey."
