Chapter 12

It was still mid-morning when Stacy and I cleaned ourselves up and headed to the kitchen. I noticed, with only a hint of amusement, that she moved through Susan’s kitchen with complete assurance. She opened cupboards and retrieved pots and utensils with practiced ease. This was an entirely new side of Stacy, one I’d never seen before, and I couldn’t help but grin at her domesticity. She smiled with aplomb, handed me a large pot, and directed me to start some water boiling.

While she was adding ingredients to a large casserole dish full of beans, I filled the pot with water and set it on the stove. Per her instructions, I added some salt, put the lid on the pot, and turned the burner on high. It took a long time to come to a boil, but when it did, I dumped in two boxes of elbow macaroni. The entire time, Stacy and I grinned at each other constantly. She was so happy that she practically danced around the kitchen. Susan came back a little later, took one look at us, and smiled broadly.

“Paul,” she said, still smirking. “Dwight asked if you could help him with the barbecue. Would you?”

“I’d be glad to.”

“Thanks,” she said.

The two women shared a conspiratorial grin, then Stacy rose on tiptoe and kissed my cheek. She practically beamed at me as I turned to go. The door hadn’t even shut behind me before they launched into animated conversation.

I think Dwight wanted the company more than he wanted the help, since he seemed to have things well in hand. He stood before the large grill like a king surveying his domain. I tried not to snicker at the mental image I’d conjured up—his “robe of state” was a large apron with a big pair of red lips and “Kiss the Cook” printed across it. (There are any number of things you don’t need clothes for, but tending a barbecue grill is not one of them.)

As soon as I got there, he had his son, Jonathan, fetch him a fresh beer and a small glass. When he returned, Dwight opened the beer. He poured about a third of it into the glass, which he handed to me. He clinked the bottleneck against the rim of my glass and took a swig. I took a slightly smaller swig and was happy I hadn’t tried to swallow more. At the tender age of sixteen, I had no idea what the appeal of beer was, especially after tasting it. But it felt cool and grown-up to be drinking it, so I smiled like it was ambrosia.

Most of the moms were in the clubhouse preparing food, but mine came out to check on me. That she knew where to find me meant she and Susan were deep in cahoots. Again. I shook my head at the thought.

Mom kissed my cheek, smiled at me, and handed me an apron of my own. Mine read “Women Love a Man Who Can Cook.” She noticed my small glass of beer and smiled indulgently.

“Don’t let him get into too much trouble, Dwight,” she said as she turned to go.

“Now, what would be the fun in that, Beth?” he asked, winking at me.

She merely shook her head and kept walking.

Dwight taught me how to baste the ribs and pork shoulder, and when to turn them. In addition to his other utensils, he had a squirt bottle filled with water and a small bag of Hickory chips. He showed me how to keep the fire from flaring up, as well as when and where to judiciously add the wood chips. Jonathan and Alan Nolan were our helpers. If we needed anything, one of the boys would run and fetch it.

Dad and Chris Coulter joined us after a while, bringing cold beers. Dad spied my empty glass and arched his eyebrows at me. I started to protest my innocence, but he merely smiled and refilled it from his own bottle. Having my dad pour me a beer made me feel grown-up, and my chest swelled with pride.

Since the women were inside the clubhouse preparing all the other food, most of the men gravitated to the grill. Even with all the extra help and suggestions, it was clear that I was Dwight’s Chief Assistant. In their company, I was no longer a boy. I was a man.

Gunny Kershaw joined us and several of the men scrambled to offer him a chair. Then, all of them sat around and shot the breeze for a while. Whenever Gunny said anything to my dad, he automatically added “sir” to the end of it. Dad was the only one who received the deferential treatment, but he didn’t seem to notice.

Since Gunny had an attentive audience, he launched into stories from Korea and Japan. Dwight grinned and nudged me in the ribs. At one point—in the middle of a story involving two American nurses, the Admiral’s limo, and a car chase through Tokyo (during which one nurse was “playing the skin flute like a virtuoso,” whatever that meant)—Gunny’s audience was laughing so hard, I thought someone might pass out.

By the time the meat was done, I had drunk almost two bottles of beer. My eyes were watering, due to a combination of the smoke from the barbecue and laughing at Gunny’s stories. I was a little buzzed from the beer and I was having the time of my life.

Dwight sent the boys into the clubhouse to tell Susan the barbecue was ready, and to fetch two large wooden cutting boards. While they were inside, Dwight and I set up a sturdy folding table. When they returned, we put the cutting boards on the table and started taking meat off the grill.

Dwight then sent the boys back inside to retrieve a couple of large roasting pans. He began pulling meat from the pork shoulders while I cut the long slabs of ribs into two- and three-rib pieces. The boys returned and held the pans while Dwight and I loaded them with barbecued pork. Jonathan and Alan were practically groaning under the weight, but they grinned the entire time.

A steady stream of people began to emerge from the clubhouse, most of them bearing bowls or platters of food. Earlier in the day, the men had gathered all the picnic tables and chairs from around the camp. They were soon laden with food.

With steadying hands from Dad and Chris, Susan climbed onto a chair and gazed over the assembled crowd. With practiced ease, she thanked each of the women by name and told us what they had prepared. She even singled out Dwight and me for cooking the meat. Finally, she thanked everyone else for their help. With that, we all grabbed plates and started loading them with food.

Gina was there, of course, but she didn’t even look at me. I wanted to talk to her, but I could tell she didn’t want to have anything to do with me. I was going to sit off by myself but Kara and Stacy invited me to join them. They were sitting at a table with Gina, Erin, Leah, and Trish. I tried to decline. They insisted, so I gave in and joined them.

Gina looked daggers at me as I sat down. I smiled, but when she didn’t return the gesture, I nodded dejectedly. As soon as I started eating, Gina slammed her utensils on the table, got up in a huff, and stormed off. Kara watched her go and frowned in irritation. She started to rise and go after Gina, but her mother beat her to it.

“I’ll take care of this, Kara,” Elizabeth said. Her clipped British accent was flat and determined.

Gina had stalked off in the direction of their cabin, and Elizabeth followed. I’m not the best judge of emotions, but even I could tell she was displeased.

“I’m sorry,” I said.

“Don’t be,” Kara said quickly.

Stacy smiled at me tightly, and I could tell that she wanted to take my hand.

“If she can’t be polite,” Kara continued, “then she deserves what she’s about to get.”

“Do I want to know what she’s about to get?” I asked. I hated the idea that Gina would get in trouble over me.

Kara shrugged. “Mom’ll probably just talk to her this time. She’s got a very low tolerance for discourtesy, and that was just plain uncalled-for.”

“Oh. I’m sorry.”

“It’s not your fault,” Kara said firmly. “If she wants to be angry, that’s her decision. But Mom draws the line at being rude.” She looked at Leah. “We weren’t raised like that.”

Leah shook her head quickly. “We weren’t. If I did something like that, I’d be grounded for a couple of days.”

“You would not,” Kara said.

“Says you, Miss Perfect.”

I honestly thought they were going to start arguing. That would make me feel even worse.

Instead, Kara looked disaffected and tossed her hair back. “You may call me Perfect,” she said, with theatrical haughtiness.

When she snickered, the mood immediately lightened. Leah laughed as well, and we all joined in. Afterward, conversation at our table slowly resumed as we continued eating.

The barbecue was incredible. The meat practically fell off the bones, and the pulled shoulder just about melted in my mouth. There’s a certain freedom that comes from eating messy barbecue at a nudist camp, and I quickly found that I was enjoying myself. Unfortunately, I was in a conversational divide: the younger girls talked about Girl Stuff, while Kara and Stacy talked about college.

Gina’s mother came back about twenty minutes later and said something quiet to her husband. He frowned for a moment and then nodded seriously. She returned to her seat and I looked up to find Kara staring at me. She could see the concern plainly written upon my face, and she shrugged almost imperceptibly.

After most everyone finished eating, people drifted off in groups of three or four. My sister and her friends headed down to the lake with Jonathan and Alan. Leigh Nolan went along to watch after the younger kids.

Mom volunteered me to help with the clean up. Six or seven of the women began cleaning up the food and taking the leftovers inside to one of the refrigerators. I was one of a group of six guys who collected the trash and generally picked up our picnic area. With exaggerated groans from some of the guys, we started moving lawn furniture back to its original locations.

The picnic tables were large and heavy—they were constructed of hardwood planks—and I suddenly had the urge to see if I could pick one up. It was tough, but I was strong enough to carry the table by myself. I had to hold it against my chest carefully and watch where I walked, but all the men were impressed. It was awkward at first, but it was worth it to hear their encouragement. When I returned from moving the first table, the five of them were standing around the next one.

“Okay, Charles Atlas,” my dad said, gesturing at the table. “It’s all yours.”

They grinned unabashedly as I moved to pick it up. With the first one, I had discovered the secret to lifting them—it was all about grip and leverage. To a large extent, wrestling is all about grip and leverage, and I knew what I was doing. I cleanly snatched the table off the ground, shifted it over my center of gravity, and clutched it to my chest. I heard a low whistle from one of the men. Since my face was hidden by the large table, I grinned.

“You, sir,” Dad said to Dwight, “owe me a beer.”

I made sure the table was balanced and started to waddle toward the side porch.

Dwight laughed raucously. “I think I owe your son a beer, David.”

“Then I’ll share it with him,” Dad said.

The rest of the men laughed and I heard them begin picking up chairs and benches.

They left the remaining four picnic tables for me. By the time I’d moved the first three, the women had finished with the leftovers. I hefted the last table with everyone watching. They gave me an enthusiastic round of applause when I got it settled against my chest and started moving toward the shuffleboard court.

When I returned, Stacy was beaming at me and holding a tall glass of lemonade. She handed it to me and I swallowed half of it in one long draft. Kara smiled at me as well, and we all headed down the hill, bound for the cool waters of the lake.

After everyone had a swim and relaxed for a while, a bunch of us ended up playing volleyball. After another swim, most everyone simply lounged around on chairs or towels. I didn’t see Gina for the rest of the afternoon.

Erin and her friends monopolized the raft, so Kara, Stacy, and I blew up some inflatable rafts from Susan’s house and simply floated around the lake. I held on to their rafts, and each of them had a hand on mine. Because Kara and Stacy wanted to talk, they put me in the middle, facing the opposite direction. We floated around the lake as a unit, drifting wherever the current took us.

It was obvious Kara and Stacy were becoming fast friends, and their conversation covered a wide range of subjects. I quickly zoned out and simply dozed for a while.

Because we had such a big lunch late in the afternoon, nobody really ate dinner. Instead, there was a party atmosphere around the lake. Dad and Chris brought down a cooler of drinks, but no one felt the need for food. I know I certainly wasn’t hungry.

Stacy, Kara, and I had moved to towels on the grass at the shallow end of the lake. I kept hoping Gina would come down, but I was disappointed. Kara noticed me looking forlornly up the hill and nudged me gently.

“She’s probably still up in the cabin ‘cause Mom grounded her,” she said.

“Grounded her?” I asked, somewhat shocked.

“Not for long,” she assured me. “Mom’s method of childrearing is to point out our transgressions, explain how we should’ve handled things, and then say, ‘I want you to sit here and think about what you’ve done.’”

“Really?”

She nodded. “So you shouldn’t worry. That’s the way Mom is. The reason Gina’s not down here probably has nothing to do with you.”

“Oh.”

“Yep. And it works, too,” she said. “I vividly remember the last time I had to sit there and think about what I’d done.”

“When was that?” Stacy asked.

Kara laughed ruefully. “Two years ago. I had a big date and Leah accidentally spilled perfume on my dress. I was furious.”

“I’ll bet,” Stacy said.

“I yelled at her and told her I wanted her to die.”

“Really?” I asked.

“Oh, yes. Needless to say, I didn’t go on my date. It was too late to call the guy, so he actually got to the house to pick me up. Mom let him in, but she made me tell him I couldn’t go out with him. Then I spent the rest of the night in my room. I had to...”

“Sit there and think about what you’d done,” Stacy and I chorused. We grinned at each other.

Kara laughed softly. “Yeah. I felt awful, too. Especially after Mom pointed out that Leah was only trying to help. I’ve been real nice to her ever since.”

“I’ll bet,” Stacy said.

“Mom makes sure we realize the consequences of our actions,” Kara said. “And she makes sure we’re polite.”

“Yeah,” I said softly. I thought about Gina, sitting all alone in her cabin. “Polite or not, though, I still want to see her.”

Stacy reached out and caressed my thigh.

“You will,” said Kara. “And I can almost guarantee she’ll be much nicer when you do.”

“Well, it’s not like I don’t deserve it.”

“You don’t deserve it,” Kara said testily. “You were honest with her, and that’s a lot more than most guys would’ve been.” She looked over me at Stacy. “Am I right?”

Stacy nodded.

“You love her and you want her to be happy,” Kara said. Once again, she looked over me and met Stacy’s eyes. “Oh, I’m so sorry. I wasn’t thinking...”

“It’s okay,” said Stacy. Her jaw clenched and then she forced a smile. “I know you didn’t mean anything.”

Kara sat up and looked at Stacy. “I’m kinda thirsty,” she said distractedly. “Are you thirsty, Stacy?”

She started to shake her head, but I guess something in Kara’s expression made Stacy nod instead.

“Would you mind getting us some drinks, Paul?” Kara asked.

“Not at all. I’d love to.”

I got up and walked around the lake. The sun was just dipping toward the far ridge, and it would soon be dark enough to shoot off the fireworks. When I looked back, Stacy and Kara were sitting up and talking to each other. I grabbed three Cokes from the cooler and headed back to the girls. When I got there, they were still talking. They stopped as soon as I walked up.

Kara smiled at me apologetically. “Oh, I’m sorry,” she said. “I forgot to tell you. I wanted a Sprite. Do you mind?”

“No problem,” I said.

I set down two of the Cokes and walked back around the lake. I dropped the extra Coke back into the cooler, plunged my hand into the icy water, and found a Sprite. When I got back to the girls, they had their heads close together and were carrying on a serious conversation. They stopped talking as I came closer, then smiled when I handed the Sprite to Kara. She thanked me and I sat down on my towel to enjoy my Coke.

When it got darker, my dad called to me from across the lake.

“Yes?!” I answered.

“Time for the fireworks, son!”

Stacy and Kara grinned at me.

“I’ll be right there, Dad!”

We picked up our towels and started walking around the edge of the lake. Dad had retrieved all of our fireworks and Dwight was just coming down the hill with a crate of his own.

I had just started looking for Gina when Kara nudged my elbow and pointed toward a cluster of loungers. Mom, Susan, and Elizabeth were sitting together. Gina was next to her mother. I felt a rush of emotion when I saw her. I missed talking to her more than anything. I liked Kara, and I loved Stacy, but it wasn’t the same with either of them. I wanted to wave to Gina, but she never even looked my direction.

I couldn’t get her attention before everybody started moving the lounge chairs into a large semi-circle around the shore of the lake. We would launch our fireworks from the center of the cleared area. The ground was sandy enough so that we could stick rockets in it, and we could use the lake’s brick coping for things that needed a firmer base. And if anything went wrong, the lake had all the water we could possibly need.

We made sure to set our crates of fireworks well away from our “launch pad” and Dwight passed out Bic lighters. Gina’s dad came down to help, and the four of us quickly sorted out the various fireworks. We wanted a grand finale, so we saved the largest ones for last. I was given the honor of lighting the first rocket.

We started shooting off bottle rockets and other little rockets, but occasionally lit a big rocket or Roman candle. We lit strings of firecrackers and tossed smoke bombs (which float) into the lake to watch them fizzle and dance. I was having a great time, and so was everyone else. I looked up once and Gina was smiling and clapping with the rest of the crowd. Knowing she was enjoying herself made me feel a little better.

While Dad and Dwight were firing off several Roman candles, Chris and I started lighting sparklers and passing them to the crowd. He gently shoved me toward the right of the group and then he moved to the left. Gina was on the right side of the semi-circle, and I began to suspect he’d planned it that way. I took out a handful of sparklers, lit them, and started passing them out, one by one.

When I got to Gina, I took out a half-dozen sparklers and lit them all at once. With a flourish, I presented the “bouquet” to her. Under her mother’s watchful eye, she graciously accepted them. She didn’t smile, but she didn’t glare either. It wasn’t much, I thought, but it was a start. When I looked up, both Chris and my dad were watching me. I felt my face and neck heat up as they grinned unrepentantly.

Parents!

Kara was sitting next to Gina, and I decided to give her a couple of sparklers as well. I know it was a minor gesture, but I wanted to be nice to her. After all, she’d certainly helped me a lot. She smiled politely when I handed them to her. Her smile widened when I moved in front of Stacy.

I was acutely aware that Gina was watching my every move. I didn’t want to overdo things, but I suddenly found myself a little perturbed that she hadn’t even smiled at me. With a theatrical flourish, I lit another “bouquet” of sparklers and handed them to Stacy.

Her eyes never left mine as she accepted them. I grinned as her hand lingered on my own, and her eyes glittered as she smiled in return. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Gina’s indifferent façade momentarily crumble. A part of me actually enjoyed her jealous reaction.

I winked at Stacy and moved on, taking out another batch of sparklers as I did. I lit them and started passing them out in singles and pairs. I felt both Stacy and Gina’s eyes following me, and smiled to myself. I wasn’t trying to play games with either of them, but I have to admit I’m only human, and I certainly wasn’t above inciting a few feelings of envy.

By the time Chris and I passed out all the sparklers, we were ready for the grand finale. As fast as we could, we launched our biggest and best rockets. For the next ten minutes, we lit up the night sky and rocked the small valley with the sound of gunpowder. Everyone oohed and aahed as the rockets exploded into showers of light with thunderous reports. When we were done and the smoke began to clear, the audience clapped and cheered.

Everyone surrounded us and most of the men shook our hands. Gunny Kershaw clapped me on the shoulder, then congratulated my dad and the others. Because Dad and Dwight had been extremely safety conscious, we hadn’t had a single mishap. I think we were as proud of that as we were of the show itself. Since we had been working to light all the fireworks, none of us had really seen much of the show, but everyone told us it was spectacular.

I beamed with pride as Stacy and Kara gave me hugs. Mom and Susan congratulated me as well, and I felt like I was ten feet tall. Gina and her mom even said something nice to me, but Gina’s thanks seemed strictly pro forma. My enthusiasm was dampened when I saw her facial expression, and Kara frowned in response.

I was hoping Gina would stick around after the fireworks, but after I saw her face, I guess I was kind of glad she didn’t. She and her mother said their goodbyes and headed up the hill toward their cabin. I watched them go with mixed emotions. I still loved Gina very much, but I wondered how much time she’d need before she stopped giving me the cold (and angry) shoulder.

Dad, Dwight, Chris, and I then cleaned up the remains of the fireworks: paper wrappers, leftover cardboard tubes, and stuff like that. Most of the crowd was headed up the hill to the clubhouse, or to their various houses, cabins, or rooms. When we finished cleaning up, the men turned toward the clubhouse as well.

“You coming, Paul?” Dad asked.

“I don’t think so.”

Stacy and Kara had lingered when the others left, and I wanted to hang out with them.

Dad looked over his shoulder at the two girls. “Okay, son. Don’t stay out too late.”

“I won’t. Thanks, Dad.”

He picked up the crate of trash and chuckled softly as he joined Chris and Dwight.

I walked over to Stacy and Kara. “Y’all wanna hang out for a while?”

Stacy nodded immediately. Kara grinned at the two of us and then nodded as well.

“I’ll go see if I can borrow a blanket from Susan’s,” I said.

“Okay,” Kara said. “But I’ve got to go to the bathroom. Where will you two be when I get back?”

“Why don’t you just go to the bathroom at Susan’s?” I asked.

She shook her head. “I need to use the bathroom at our cabin.”