Blood Games

    ‘Are you by yourself?’ Vivian asked.

    ‘Yes, ma’am.’

    ‘Ma’am?’ Finley chuckled.

    ‘It’s Vivian. Just Vivian.’

    He glanced at her, gave her a nervous smile, then looked down again.

    ‘Is that your pick-up truck?’ Abilene asked. ‘We passed one coming in.’

    ‘That’s her, I suppose. Just on my way back when I ran into Finley.’

    ‘You’re not planning to drive off are you?’ Finley asked. ‘In this fog?’

    ‘I’d intended to stay overnight. But nobody was here then. I don’t know.’

    ‘You sleep in your truck?’ Vivian asked.

    ‘There, or on the ground if it’s nice out. But I guess I’ll move along.’

    ‘You don’t have to,’ Cora said. ‘For now, I think you should just come along with us. You can at least warm up for a while before you go back to your truck.’

    Helen rolled her eyes upward. ‘Whatever happened to “playing it safe!”? Christ! You gave Wayne the bum’s rush, and now all of a sudden it’s open house.’

    ‘This is different,’ Cora said.

    ‘It’s not New York, for one thing,’ Vivian added.

    Rick held up a hand. ‘I don’t want any trouble. I’ll just be on my way.’

    ‘No, you won’t,’ Finley told him. ‘Helen!’

    ‘I don’t have anything against you, Rick. It’s just the principle of the thing.’

    ‘I understand.’

    Abilene put a hand on Helen’s shoulder. ‘I really think he’s all right.’

    Helen knocked her hand away. ‘Wayne was all right. I liked him. I liked him, damn it!’ Suddenly, she was crying. She whirled around and strode away. Just before the fog enveloped her, she looked back and blurted, ‘It’s okay. He can come in.’

    ‘I think she liked Wayne,’ Finley quipped.

    ‘Not funny,’ Abilene said.

    After a little more urging, they talked Rick into coming along with them. They found their way to the camper. He propped his surfboard against its side and followed them in.

    ‘Welcome aboard,’ Helen said. Though her eyes were red, she was smiling. ‘By the way, I’m Helen.’ She shook his hand. Cora and Abilene introduced themselves to Rick.

    They turned on lights and the heater. Cora hopped onto a swivel chair behind the driver’s seat, and the others sat on cushioned benches that faced the center aisle.

    ‘It does feel good to get out of the cold,’ Rick said.

    ‘I’ll second that,’ Abilene said. ‘And I’m not even wet.’

    Finley laughed. ‘You were bom all wet.’

    ‘Let’s get some booze in us,’ Vivian suggested.

    She headed for the kitchen area to get it. Finley went after her and returned with a towel. ‘Get out of that frog suit and dry off,’ she said, handing the towel to Rick.

    She sat across from him. He rubbed his head with the towel, then unzipped the jacket of his wet suit and peeled it off. His chest was muscular, nearly hairless, and deeply tanned. He had goosebumps. After drying himself, he draped the towel over his shoulders. ‘That’s a lot better. Thanks.’

    ‘You oughta get out of those pants, too,’ Finley said.

    The suggestion gave Abilene a flutter in her stomach.

    ‘That’s okay,’ he said, blushing through his tan. ‘I’ll keep them on.’

    ‘Aren’t they uncomfortable?’

    ‘Not much.’

    ‘Oh, I get it. You’re not wearing any trunks.’

    His blush deepened.

    ‘We don’t mind, do we, guys?’

    ‘Cut it out, Fin,’ Cora warned.

    Vivian arrived carrying a box full of bottles and plastic glasses and packages of chips. She stepped by carefully, avoiding feet, and set it on a small round table between the swivel chairs. ‘Don’t listen to Fin,’ she told Rick. ‘The girl’s an inveterate wise-ass.’ She went off again and came back with a bag of ice. ‘If you don’t want any hard stuff, we’ve got some Pepsis.’

    ‘I don’t know.’

    ‘Tequila’s good for you,’ Finley said. ‘It’ll put hair on your chest.’

    ‘He doesn’t need hair on his chest,’ Abilene said. Rick smiled at her, and she blushed.

    ‘Rick is obviously a minor,’ Cora reminded everyone.

    ‘So what?’ Finley said. ‘We’ll contribute to his delinquency.’

    ‘I guess maybe a little tequila wouldn’t hurt,’ Rick said.

    ‘Won’t hurt at all.’

    Finley and Vivian prepared drinks for everyone. The drinks consisted of ice cubes, tequila, a splash of Triple Sec, and a capful of Rose’s lime juice, stirred with a forefinger.

    Helen tugged open a foil bag of nacho-flavored tortilla chips.

    They drank. They munched chips. Rick explained that he’d been traveling up the coast from Santa Barbara, surfing along the way, moving steadily northward in search of less crowded shores and rougher waters.

    Cora explained that she had never surfed before. She’d always wanted to give it a try, and this was her turn to be in charge of the annual gathering of her old college friends, so here they all were. Maybe, in the morning, Rick could give her a lesson.

    ‘Be my pleasure,’ he said, and rubbed his legs as if they were getting itchy trapped inside the wetsuit pants.

    ‘You oughta take those off,’ Finley said. ‘It’s hot in here. You’d be a lot more comfortable.’

    ‘Can’t do that.’

    ‘You can cover yourself with the towel.’

    ‘No need to be shy around us,’ Helen said.

    A corner of Rick’s mouth curled up. He looked around at everyone, his expression vague and confused as if he didn’t know how to handle the situation and hoped for some advice.

    Abilene felt squirmy inside.