Chapter 9: Last Hurrah

“Bloop” says my phone from an incoming text. It’s Tiffany, “Hi Kyle! We’ll be coming back tomorrow night. I’ll be in town for two-days before I go to North Carolina. I would love to see you; are you free the day after tomorrow?”

“I’m working lunch shift so I’ll have the afternoon off.”

“Do you want to come over for dinner? My mom really wants to cook, we’re all sick of restaurants.”

“Sounds great! See you then.”

The next day, I’m working another lunch shift. Bill Moore and Renee agreed to interview Luke for the clean-up position on my recommendation. Normally, they prefer to hire people who are at least 17 years old, but being that Luke is my brother, they said they may make an exception for him being he’s only 16. Now, let’s see if the little retard can be here on time.

After the rush, Luke makes his appearance 5-minutes early for his 1:00 interview. Bill and Renee have him fill out an application and find a booth to look it over with him.

Kam motions to them and asks, “Is dis your younger brother you talk about?”

“Yeah, Luke, is his name.”

“I see. Is Luke like you Kyle? I enjoy working with you very much.”

“Well, let’s just say Luke is his own person. I’m sure you’ll get along with him fine.”

“I have to tell you, I went to a beeg university party last weekend with my roommate.”

“That’s cool. Did you have a good time?”

“I have too much keg beer, it make me sick.”

“Yeah,” I laugh, “Gotta watch out for that.”

“At dat party, I was wondering when the blow-jobs are going to bee-gin. I did not want to miss out on, how should I say, on that special acteevity because I was dreenking too much.”

“Kam, Kam, Kam...” I shake my head, “It doesn’t work that way. Blow-jobs are not a party activity like gathering everyone around the piñata.”

“Peen-yatta?”

“Never mind ... Look, blow-jobs are between you and your girl, they happen when they happen, it’s not a planned-out thing.”

“Okay, I see now ... I had remember you speaking with your friends about a beeg blow-job party you were going to attend. So this is not a common theeng in America?”

I laugh, “I hate to be the bringer of bad news, but no, it’s not.”

“You do know, I like blow-job very, very much.”

“Yes, Kam...” I sigh, “That’s one thing you have made abundantly clear. Trust me, we all love a good blow-job, but you’ll just have figure that out on your own.” I like Kam, I really do, but talk about a one-track mind. It seems every conversation I have with him leads to him telling me how much he loves blow-jobs ... va-dee, va-dee much. Oh well, he is a true guy after all.

“How’s things going with Allison?” I ask.

“Oh yes, I am very fond of Allison, I theenk she like me as well.”

“That’s great! Have you asked her out on a date yet?”

“Yes, we go to Mall and movie last week.”

“Please tell me you didn’t bring up all this blow-job business with her.”

“Not yet,” then he perks up, “Should I be speaking to Allison about my want?”

I wave my hands and say, “No! No, don’t do that. If she wants to at some point, she’ll let you know.”

“Okay, Kyle,” he deflates, “I will do as you tell me.”

I pat him on the back, “Good man.”

Bill and Renee lead Luke into the back. I see they’re going to the back office to set him up with uniform shirts, hats and an apron. Looks like he got the job.

This afternoon, I’ve been invited to the Hammond’s house for dinner. Tiffany mentioned, in an earlier text, that she would like to see Bethany, Jeff, Marc and her girlfriends Kayla and Melissa before she leaves, so we’ll all be going out as a group later.

She’ll only be home for one more day, tomorrow, but will be busy packing for school and they plan to leave first thing the following morning. Because of the distance, Tiffany’s parents want to take a few days to get Tiffany settled in at the University of North Carolina in Wilmington.

I will be leaving for Northbrook in a week. I’m so used to starting school after Labor Day, it seems so different to be starting my college school-year in mid-August, it’s still mid-summer to me. But, on the plus side, we’ll be done in early May.

I find Luke in the family room, “So, looks like you got the job.”

“Yeah, I start on Friday afternoon and they even invited me to the Going-Back-to-School Party for you and Renee on Sunday.”

“That’s cool. Look Luke, Mr. Moore and Renee and great people, don’t make me look like an ass for recommending you for this job. Okay?”

“You don’t need me to make you look like an ass,” Luke jokes.

“I’m serious here, I bailed you out of some major shit.”

“I know. Look, don’t worry, I won’t screw this up. It’ll be awesome to start making some real cash. I’m already thinking of some cool upgrades I can get for my computer.”

“After you pay-off Mr. Laske,” I add.

“Yeah ... after that,” Luke sighs.

“Is your friend Austin going to pay for half?”

“I don’t know, he pissed me off by suggesting that what happened was more my fault for shoving him into the display and knocking it over.”

“I don’t know what to tell you on that ... You just make sure you honor your end of the agreement.” And, start picking better friends I think to myself...

“I will,” then he adds, “Hey, that Renee at Pizza Depot is pretty hot, Bro. I know you’ve done side work for her and went up north and all. Are you two, like...?” he makes that famous finger-fucking-hand motion.

Here we go again, I roll my eyes... “Bleeng, bleeng” chimes my phone, saved by the bell, perfect timing. I see it’s Tiffany, “Gotta take this call. Later, Luke.”

I answer and she tells me I can come over anytime, we’ll be eating around 6:00.

At 3:30, I drive two streets over, it’s kind of odd coming to the Hammond’s house with people in it this time. All summer long, I have been coming here once a week to quiet emptiness to check on their house. Out of habit, I almost let myself in with my key, but remembered to knock at the last second. Mr. Hammond opens the door, “Come in, Kyle, it’s good to see you.”

“You too, Sir.”

“Tiffany is the kitchen with her mother, go on back.”

“Oh, before I forget, here’s your house key back.”

“Thank you so much for keeping an eye on things while we were gone, it was great peace-of-mind.”

“You’re welcome, happy to help.”

I walk back to the kitchen, and ‘round the corner. A while back, Tiffany had mentioned she had a surprise for me, it took me a second to recognize her. She’s had her hair cut short. Not boy-ish short, but just above her shoulders. In all my years of knowing her, Tiffany has always had long wavy, dark-brown hair. She sees me and runs over to hug me, “Kyle! Hi! How are you?”

“I’m great!”

“She turns to the left and to the right, modeling her new do. “What do you think? I had it cut in boutique in Paris.”

“Wow, it looks so different, but really nice.”

“Thanks, I thought it was about time I should go for a new look, ya know?”

Mrs. Hammond comes over and sets a bowl of fresh, cut-up fruit on the table. “Thank you so much for looking after the house, Kyle. Mr. Hammond and I really appreciate you taking the time.”

“Oh, no problem, Mrs. Hammond.”

“Have some fruit, the pineapple is just delicious. You would not believe how hard it was to come by good, fresh pineapple on our trip. I’ve really missed it and have been craving it for weeks.”

“Oh, thank you. I’ve really taken a liking to pineapple this summer myself.”

“You have?” Tiffany tilts her head and asks.

“Yeah,” I shrug, “Just one of those things...”

“We’ll be eating in a couple of hours. Are hamburgers and potato salad fine with you Kyle?” Mrs. Hammond asks, “We’ve sure missed a good, old-fashioned, backyard bar-b-que.”

“Sounds great to me.”

“Oh, and do you like sautéed onions on your burger? Tiffany and her Dad aren’t fond of them, but Bev and I love ‘em. If you like, I can make extra?”

I almost burst out laughing, but contain myself, “Sure, make plenty!”

Wow, if there have been two foods that made an impact on me, in one way or another, this summer, it’s pineapple and sautéed onions; Mrs. Hammond sure nailed them both! What has she been doing, keeping tabs on me with hidden cameras?

Tiffany and I go to the family room, her sister Bev is sprawled out on the couch playing on her phone. She sits up, “Hey, you two, what’s up?”

“I’m going to get caught up with Kyle.”

Bev gives Tiffany that look, “Oh, I see ... Do I need to, like, leave the room, or anything?”

Tiffany rolls her eyes and ignores her. She pulls out a bag with a book in it, “I got this for you. I hope you like it.” It’s a beautiful coffee-table style book full of color pictures of famous landmarks and buildings across Europe.

“Oh, wow! Thank you, this is really cool.”

“I know you probably didn’t know what most of the pictures I was sending you were, but maybe this help it make more sense.”

“Yeah, it will,” I say thumbing through the book, I really do like this. I’ve always loved the look and style of old buildings, so much great detail was put into them.

“Make sure you tell him about that time you threw-up in your bed in Rome,” her sister chimes in.

“Shut up, Bev! He doesn’t need to know about that!”

Bev ignores her and decides to tell it, “So, we went to this restaurant and Tiffy here wanted to try a seafood alfredo pasta ... Let’s just say it didn’t agree with her.”

“Leave it to my sister to bring up the most unflattering part of our trip...”

Bev continues, “It was the middle of the night, and all of sudden I woke up to this horrible retching sound–”

“That’s enough!” Tiffany shouts, “He gets the picture!”

“Okay, okay...” Bev holds her hands up and backs off.

Tiffany flips through the book and shows me all the places they visited and things they seen. Sounds like it was a wonderful trip full of fun experiences they had, Tiffany said she would love to go back someday, I don’t blame her, I would too.

“So, are you all ready for college?” she asks.

“Yeah, I think so. I might have to pick up a few more things.”

“Do you know who you will be room-mating with yet?”

“No, I hope it’s someone I can get along with.”

“My dorm RA (Resident Assistant) texted me a couple of days ago with my roommate’s number so we can talk before-hand and find out what each other is bringing. Like we don’t need to both bring a microwave or a coffee pot. One can bring one thing and the other can bring another, that sort of thing.”

“Oh, that’s a good idea.”

Tiffany’s Mom calls into the family room, “We’ll be eating in about 20-minutes. Okay?”

“Okay, Mom, thanks.”

Bev looks up, “Hey, just enough time for you two to sneak off and ... you know ... maybe, have a quickie for old times’ sake? I’ll cover for you.”

Tiffany whips a throw-pillow at her, “Ignore her.”

We eat out on the back patio and have a great meal. Mr. and Mrs. Hammond seem so happy to finally have home-cooked food after two and half months of eating out.

After dinner, Tiffany and I leave to meet up with Jeff, Bethany, Marc, Kayla and Melissa at Adventure Time Mini-Golf and Amusements. When the girls see Tiffany, they shriek, hug and compliment her on her new hair style. Soon they’re deep into plenty of gossip she missed out on this past summer; a true full-blown, female cackle-session begins.

Jeff, Marc and I let the girls have their chatter-time. We decide to have a heated race with the Go-Carts on the convoluted, winding track. Of course, I end up with the slowest cart, isn’t that how it always goes? Even with the pedal mashed to the floor the whole time, I could have got out and pushed it faster. Marc easily pulls off the win of this race.

As the sun sets, we join back up with the girls and all play a round of 18-holes of mini-golf. In retrospect, I guess the sautéed onions weren’t such a good idea after all. My bowels are starting to let me know it’s going to be show time, and soon. This would have been fine when it was just me and the guys over at the go-carts, they may have gotten a kick out of my backside music. The girls, on the other hand, don’t have such a deep appreciation for serenades coming out of my ass.

Normally, I’m pretty good at mini-golf, but sure enough, every time it’s my turn, I can feel a big one knocking on my back door, begging to be let out. All I can do is clench my cheeks and try my best to hold it in. This, in turn, effects how well I aim my shots. Jeff emerges as the winner of this game.

After the game, Jeff pulls me aside, “So, how’s it going? Are you doing okay seeing Tiffany again?”

“I’m fine,” I nod.

“I know you were having a rough time when she left for Europe and here we are, all getting ready to head off to college.”

“Yeah, but I’m alright now,” and I’m not simply telling Jeff what I think he wants to hear, I really am okay. I’ve accepted these big changes going on in our lives, I’m rolling with it, as best as I can anyway.

Jeff doesn’t appear to be rolling with it so well, he looks down, “I’m really gonna miss everyone, it’ll be so different with you, Marc and everyone gone.”

“I know, Jeff, but you have Bethany.”

“Yeah, thank god for that,” he chokes out.

“It’s okay, Jeff,” I console him, “I think everyone has these feelings to some degree these days.”

“Have you seen many of our old classmates since we graduated?” he asks.

“No, not too much. I see a few come into the Depot from time to time, but that’s about it.”

“Yeah, everyone really is scattering and going their own ways.”

I put my hand on his shoulder, “Don’t you worry, my friend, we will always keep in touch and don’t forget, I’ll be home for long weekends and the holidays. Marc too.”

“Yeah...”

“Hey, you-all wanna go get some ice cream?” Bethany asks.

As we walk over to the concession area, Bethany leans over, “Jeff’s been havin’ a of a hard time with you-all leavin’.”

“Yeah, we were just talking about that. I’m really glad you’re staying in town, take care of my friend, will you?”

“Aw, you can count on it,” she smiles.

“Thanks, Bethany.”

We get our ice cream and find a couple of tables together. Marc sits down with Tiffany and I and says, “Did I hear Melissa is going to State?”

“Yes, she is. Are you going there too?” Tiffany asks.

“Yeah, Move-In Day is next Wednesday.”

Tiffany sees Melissa and waves her over, “Hey, Melissa, Marc is going to State too.”

“Oh, you are? Where are you staying?

“I’ll be in Owen Hall. What about you?”

“In Van Hoosen.”

“Really? I think that’s right next to Owen, if I’m not mistaken.” Marc seems happy that someone he knows will going to State, and in a dorm nearby. He scoots over to make room for her to sit.

“Maybe you can help me learn my way around the campus,” she says, taking the seat, “It’s so huge, I know I’m gonna get lost!”

“Sure, we can figure it out ... together.”

I don’t think Melissa ever caught Marc’s eye before tonight, but I may have just witnessed that moment when she did. You see it in shows all the time, especially animated ones, that spark, that twinkling in someone’s eye when possibility presents itself.

Tonight, is our last hurrah as the old gang, for a while anyway. Soon we’ll embark on our next journey, and it’s a big one. Enjoying ice cream, we find it easy to slip into our routine of laughing and gossiping about the same old things we always do, who’s seeing who, who acted like a jackass to who, who posted embarrassing shit on Instagram or SnapChat; it’s almost like we’re back in the high school lunchroom again for this brief moment in time.

At the end of the night, we bid our goodbyes with hugs, pats on the back, and few tears from the girls. They really wished they could have had more time to share with Tiffany before she leaves. As I drive her home, she says, “It was so good to see everyone, I just wish there was more time before going to North Carolina...”

“Yeah, I know...”

“So, what do you think of Marc and Melissa? Do you think they’ll hook up?”

“I don’t know, it’s possible. They sure seemed to hit it off tonight.”

“I’m not going to know anyone in Wilmington.”

“That makes two of us, it’ll be same for me at Northbrook. My luck will probably give me Justin Blaine and Jodie Marks.”

“Or Dirk,” Tiffany laughs.

“Dirk, I can deal with, believe it or not, but those other two can kiss my ass.”

“Just shove ‘em in some cold water, that worked once before.”