I said my goodbyes to Bob and Sasha after the big breakfast they fed me and left their trailer, stepping out into the already warm morning at about ten o'clock. Today was supposed to be the first day of the predicted heat wave and it wasn't hard to see, by the already high morning temperature, that the predictions had been right on the money.
Elmo and I got a lot of work done the day before in preparation for this, including repairing the underground water feed to the club, emergency generator maintenance, batting a hornets' nest out of someone's tree and running like hell, and emptying all the garbage barrels. A lot of the time, we were downing water like it was water, smoking joints and having the occasional beer to keep us going in the heat.
Neither one of us brought up Trixie. In fact, I invited him to the RV for lunch just to avoid her, surprised to find Mom's note telling me she'd gone out when we got there.
Towards the end of our chores, he asked me if I was going to the club that night. I was sitting on my bike, its kickstand down, he reclining on his ATV during a joint break in the shade of some trees.
"Maybe.", I said, shrugging my shoulders with no plans to go whatsoever.
"Maybe? Why wouldn't ya?"
"I'll probably be pretty tired. I'm not as big as you and I'm not used to this kind of work."
"Coulda fooled me. You won't really be too tired?" he asked, obviously having a hard time believing this.
"I was up early."
"Everybody'll be there, probably your folks too."
"It's okay, there'll be other nights." I said, taking another glut of the delicious, cold water we brought around with us.
He only stared at me.
"What?"
"Why don't you want to go?"
" ... I told you, Elmo, I'm too ti-"
"Bullshit, man."
I looked away. I didn't like lying to the guy.
"Why?"
"Can't we just drop it?"
"What else are you going to do?"
"Sleep."
"Sleep?"
"Why not?"
"The whole evening, from dusk till dawn?"
"It's not unheard of."
"You are so full of shit, what's the deal, man?"
"Aw, geez!"
"Well, tell me!"
"Fine! I have a problem with people, okay!?"
"How's that?"
"I just do. I can't go to places like that and just hang around."
"Why?"
"I don't know, I just can't!"
"Well, how did you get through school like that?"
"Not very easily, but I did because I had to. I
don't
have to be surrounded by a bunch of people I don't know and won't fit in with at the club."
"Won't fit in with?"
"You can't fit in with people when you're not comfortable with them. I don't like crowds, I don't like strangers, and I really don't like a crowd of strangers. I just don't do well with that stuff."
He paused, puffing the joint in thought before passing it over and speaking.
"I noticed you were a bit quiet around people. Just figured you were being polite, like you always are."
"Well, now you know. Please don't tell anyone, it's embarrassing."
"But people will ask why you're not there."
"You could just tell them you don't know. If it helps, I won't tell you where I'll be, so it won't be a lie."
He laughed at this.
"Shit, man, how often have you had to maneuver yourself outta stuff like this?"
"More times than you can imagine. Actually, I have no idea where I'm gonna go. They'll probably be partying at the RV again tonight and I don't want to have to squirm my way out of it there."
"Fuck, man.", he said, taking the joint back and shaking his head again. "I had no idea. Is it really that big a problem?"
"It's a phobia. Like people who are afraid of heights, or snakes."
"So, what are you gonna do tonight?"
"Like I said, I haven't figured it out yet."
About an hour later, when we were done for the day, he gave me a hand signal from up ahead on his ATV for me to follow him. We ended up at an old, but well maintained trailer with a well kept lot in the front row. He introduced me to Bob and Sasha, a couple in their late forties, early fifties, I guessed. Bob looked like a mini grizzly bear and was confined to a wheelchair. Sasha was a friendly, somewhat pretty lady, thin with a leather bikini top, cowboy hat and tattoos.
Elmo explained to them both about my problem while I almost died of embarrassment, (I thought I asked him to please
not
tell anybody!) but then asked them if I could have their couch and a place at their table in exchange for some household chores that may need to be done. They gratefully accepted, reminding him that they didn't frequent the club and didn't have any plans to go that evening.
"Elmo,...", I said as he was leaving, "Thanks, I mean it."
Instead of answering, the giant walked by me, wondering aloud, "Now, whatever happened to that Jarid kid? Musta got lost along the way here,..."
Bob and Sasha were a lot more interested in showing me how 'they' used thermite to bring down the World Trade Center and how FEMA were setting up massive concentration camps all over the world in preparation for the 'New World Order'. Great people, I loved them.
Now I ambled into lot number seven, having left my bike at their place in favour of a nice quiet walk, prepared with a good story to brush off Mom's questions and taking a minute to pet good ole Maddie before walking in.
"- seeing you like that, it really made me see- Hi, Jarid.", Jen said, looking at me suddenly as I entered, her expression making me think I'd just interrupted something.
She was standing by the counter, wearing a little pink shirt with spaghetti straps that barely covered her braless nipples and a pair of cut off hip huggers that were,... very short. I was franticly trying to shove that image into my ever filling 'To Be Pressure washed Away' compartment, when I saw Mom in a stunning two piece, black bikini. There was another image to be franticly swept into safe containment as she smiled at me curiously.
Then I noticed the woman who was sitting with her back to me. She got up and turned to face me while the other two watched, wearing a one piece, white bathing suit that her big round tits seemed to be almost bursting from. But this wasn't the big thing about her. Neither was her natural, strong faced beauty, no it was those bright green eyes that she locked on mine right away.
"Jarid,", Mom spoke up, "I'd like you to meet someone. This is our friend, Olivia. She's Ollie and Shelly's daughter. Liv, this is my son, Jarid."
Olivia, about the same age as my mother, smiled wider, very warm and sincere as she moved forward with her hand proffered. It was like staring into the bright eyes of a man eating tiger and I actually had to force myself not to step back as I stared at this beauty.
"Hello, Jarid. I've been waiting to meet you."
(enter my paranoia)
Her voice was lower than most women's, a sort of bedroom husky note that Trixie had used a few times that night during our little nap, but Olivia's was for real. More importantly, she was smart. And an operator, like me. (We can tell our own) In fact, better than me and not by just a little. I was stunned, searching for something sensible to say in reply, completely taken aback by this person while my stupid sister giggled.
I ended up taking her hand as if in a daze, nodding and mumbling, "Pleased to meet you, Ma'am."
"Oh, please don't call me ma'am?" she laughed. "Just call me Liv."
I nodded again, at a loss for words again while her firm grip held on to my hand, her eyes still locked on mine as if waiting for me to look away first. Believe me, I wanted to, but I needed some kind of lifeline to break that eye contact with her without losing face, hoping either Mom or Jen would throw me one soon. Very soon. Despite her greatly alluring draw, this woman made me nervous as hell, and not in the way other attractive women did.
