Chapter 39

Saturday morning, Kim picked me up and we went to the tux rental place for me to get measured. It didn’t take long and we were back on the road. We drove down Folly Road to the beach. I had my huge textbook on landscaping and Kim had baby oil. Two towels, two chairs, a radio, a jug of water and some cups and we were good. No cokes. I’d given them up and Kim had decided to give them up, too, at least while she was with me.

She found a spot without a lot of cars and parked. There are large rocks between the road and the beach and a boardwalk over the rocks every hundred yards or so. We hiked over the boardwalk and straight down to the water, dropping our stuff and going for a short, cool, swim before settling in. We spread our towels and I oiled up Kim’s back. The nearest people were a hundred yards away and we could see a couple of surfers hoping for a wave they could ride. The waves were tiny. They were always tiny unless there was a hurricane offshore.

“Most of the bruising is gone, Baby. Looking good.”

“I read somewhere, or maybe Mel told me, that sun is good for your skin when you’ve got bruises. I don’t know if it’s true or not but it can’t hurt. I just don’t want to burn. I’m tired of itching.”

I opened my book and started reading. I didn’t get three pages before Kim asked, “What are you reading? What’s so fascinating?”

“About dirt. It all starts with good dirt,” I said, smiling at her.

“I’m all slippery,” she said.

“Uh huh,” I answered and went back to reading, knowing it wouldn’t last long.

We kissed and hugged and I discovered that slippery was pretty fun. The bruising may have been gone but she still had a few tender places that I quickly learned to avoid.

“Okay, we need to stop,” she said after a few minutes of that.

“Why? I’m enjoying myself. Aren’t you?”

“Yes. Too much, and I’m not going to fuck you on the beach. At least not in the daytime with people around.”

“We should leave and come back later,” I said. Kim never said ‘fuck’. She must have been pretty worked up. Slippery was nice.

We tanned and read and never turned on the radio. Even though the waves were small, the sound of them was soothing. It was early afternoon when we jumped in the cool water to rinse off the baby oil, dried, then left. Neither of us wanted to burn. I had a lot on my mind and wasn’t able to process any of it at the beach.

“Wappoo Cut,” I said when we got close. She looked over at me and nodded.

We passed over the Wappoo and she made the hairpin turn back down toward the boat launch. It was a nice day and the parking lot was full of trucks and their empty boat trailers. We found a spot for her truck and walked out to the picnic bench together. No one launched a boat and no one landed. There were no dolphins in the water and no shorebirds along the edge. A house across the creek had a flag on a pole and it hung straight down. We sat there quietly for twenty or thirty minutes without saying a word.

Then, a guy in a kayak paddled past us. It took him a while to go from our field of view on the right, past the boat launch, and out into the harbor. He worked steadily, with some unknown destination in mind, left, right, left, right. His pace even and his stroke was methodical, almost like a swim stroke. I wondered how far he could travel in an hour, in a day.

“You okay? Want to talk about it?” Kim asked.

“I talked to Vince last night. Congratulated him, you know. We talked about goals and stuff, competing with ourselves rather than someone else. He agreed, mostly, but said others could give you something to shoot for. Something to use to push yourself.”

“Sounds good.”

“My dad was Victor Strzok. I don’t know him. That was my last name until Mom married Ronnie. He adopted us the same week. Said he wanted to be a father. That’s when I got to be a Pierce.”

“Struck? Like hitting something?”

“No. It’s Russian or Ukrainian or something.” I spelled it out. “Vince played Pop Warner football from when he was seven. He said his dad never missed a game.”

“Ah. I’m with you now. And you’re wondering what might have been?”

That was it. I didn’t say anything for a while. I didn’t know what to say. “Vince knew about my year. Even told me a story about me on the baseball field. Pretty funny, now. I guess I must have been entertaining and I told him that. He said I motivated a lot of people by how hard I tried after I struck out or something.”

“You always do, Jack. You hate failure no matter how minor. Forget that you had the third or fourth highest SAT score at Porter, you missed a couple.”

“Yeah, well, that’s pretty much how I think. Vince said throwing an interception motivated him to come back strong, too. He said he didn’t remember all the touchdown passes he threw but he remembered four interceptions.”

“Sounds like you two have a lot in common.”

“You know what else he said? He said that a great SAT score, doing well at regionals and baseball were nice but none of that compared to having you for my girlfriend.”

“Awe. That’s so sweet. And of course, it’s true.”

“It absolutely is true. What if I didn’t swim or play baseball next year? Would it matter?”

“Of course, it would. Not to me. I wouldn’t mind. But it would matter to you. I’d wonder who you were. You made commitments to the coaches.” We were quiet for a few minutes. “I put something on layaway once. I think I paid two dollars for some dress that was forty dollars. It was only two dollars but there was no way I wasn’t going to come up with the rest of the money and buy that dress. I’d made a commitment. Next season is like that for you.” I know I looked at her funny. I didn’t quite get it. “Telling your coaches what you were going to do next season was like putting it on layaway. You have to do it now. You don’t have to but you will.”

“Everybody drove up to Conway to watch me race. Plus, all the cheerleaders came out to watch us a couple of times. That was nice.”

“It’s cute that you think we came out to watch you race.”

“Ah-ha. Should I have worn my sexy speedos to the beach today?”

“Don’t flatter yourself. We were all out there to watch that Italian guy from Colleton County.”

“Dolphins,” I said, pointing at a pair that were swimming upstream.

“Looking for lunch?”

“Yeah. They’ll go up a ways, and slowly work their way back down, checking for schools of mullet.” It reminded me of when Sally first saw them. I thought it should make me miss her but I didn’t and that bothered me a little.

“Teamwork,” she said, and we watched to see if they were coming back our way. A boat pulled up to the launch and we watched two guys land it. Kim was in her bikini with a coverup skirt and I watched them check her out. I would have.

“Let’s go home, Baby.”

We walked back to the truck and climbed in. It was so quiet. I wasn’t exactly in a funk but I had a bunch of stuff rolling around in my head and it wouldn’t stop. I needed to kick all that crap to the curb for a while and enjoy an amazing day.

“Hey,” I said, cheerfully. “My brother is getting married in two weeks.”

“He is. I got my dress yesterday. It looks amazing. Before rehearsal dinner, I’m going to Magnolia’s to get a touch up on my hair. It’s growing back faster than I thought. Can you see my scar?”

“No. Maybe when the wind blows just right. It’s not as curly as it was.”

“With the bandage off, the hair can lay closer. You like it longer, don’t you?”

“I like it longer. I don’t mind short and curly for a while though. It was a bit of a shock when I first saw it.”

“I bet. I don’t think they had to shave my head as much as they did to stitch it up but that’s the way it goes.”

“Well, it’s a small price to pay, I think. Plus, your hair will grow back and no one will ever see the scar, so that’s a good thing.”

“It itches like crazy.”

We pulled into my driveway, parked next to Franklin’s car, and grabbed our stuff from the back. We didn’t need to look for Mom. We could hear her laughing in the back. We walked around back to find a pool full of people. Mom, Dane, Doctor Legare, Veronica, Franklin, and Karen were all playing volleyball. We looked at each other and Kim shook her head just enough for me to know we wouldn’t be joining them.

“Still sore?”

“Not bad but I don’t want to make anything worse. Besides, watching is actually pretty funny.”

We grabbed a couple of lounge chairs and watched for a while. Kim was amazed that Veronica managed to keep her boobs under some sort of control. I figured that if we were in the pool, I’d be the least athletic, and Kim would have the smallest boobs. I’d lose by a lot, Kim, by a little. I told Kim.

“You’re right. This is depressing. Let’s go inside.”

“Your boobs are perfect, just the way they are.”

“And you are plenty athletic,” Kim said.

We started to get up when Doctor Legare stopped the action and swam over near us.

“How are you both? Progressing?”

“Yes, definitely. We tried lifting Thursday and Friday and did pretty well, so I’m happy.”

“I saw your workout log the other day. You’ll be back up to speed in no time,” he said.

“I think we hit eighty percent or so on most things and Kim even did some squats. I’m pretty happy with that.” I dropped down to get closer to him and whispered, “Veronica has you pegged as an eligible bachelor, in case you hadn’t figured that out.”

“Veronica is very observant,” he said, smiling. “She’s a fine-looking woman,” he said in that low, deliberate voice of his.

“No argument from me. Careful, Doc,” I said and stood up, laughing. He laughed too and returned to the game. He’d been warned. Kim and I went inside to the library and took seats across from each other.

“I finished. The encyclopedia. I read the last article last night. I’m a walking encyclopedia,” I boasted.

“You’re sitting down, doofus. Okay, here’s a question for you, Mister walking encyclopedia. What was the most interesting article you read?”

“Holy cow. I read hundreds of articles. Thousands. Okay, let me think a minute. It would be a person, you know, the little biographies. Shakespeare was good. So was Gandhi and Jesus. Al Capone was kind of strange. Wilberforce. That guy really fought to get rid of slavery in England and it was about a hundred years, or maybe only fifty, before the war. Stonewall Jackson was interesting and so was Francis Marion but his was really incomplete. Alexander the Great conquered the known world by the age of thirty-two. Oh, and I liked all the NASA stuff. I’m pretty sure it was hard for them to make it up to date since it all changes so fast.”

“Not bad. Should I read those articles?”

“You would enjoy the one on Shakespeare. Not sure about the others.”

“Feel better? You sound better” she said.

“Yeah. I guess so. I mean, it’s the end of the school year, my brother is getting married soon, and I’ll be working for Hector over the summer. I let my SAT score bother me. No, it’s not that. It’s that I missed some and there’s no way to know which questions I missed. Vince is bringing an SAT prep book for me. He’s obviously done with it.”

“I know he impressed you. I know that. You know what impressed him?” I shook my head. “You did. So, that works both ways, just so you know. You know when we’re at the Cut and see boats going by, they leave a wake. Did you notice the kayak today?”

“Yeah, I saw it.” What was she getting at?

“One guy in a small, little kayak. Steady. Not worried about what was going on around him but even his little kayak left a wake. The wake trails behind him and makes little waves that reach the shore behind him. Wherever he goes, he leaves a wake. You want to go get something to eat? Who knows when the big kids will eat?” I nodded. I was pretty hungry. “Burger King or Taco Bell?”

“Burger King. Don’t tell Doctor Legare,” I said and we went for some Whoppers and fries. It was too late for lunch and too early for dinner but right on time to be hungry at Burger King. We ordered and took our seats to chow down.

Kim wiped the side of her mouth, motioning that I had something on it. The way I devoured a double Whopper, it would have been surprising if I hadn’t. “What are you doing tomorrow?” she asked.

“Dane is helping me with best man duties. More like the other way around. We’ve got a three-page checklist. Most of it is just checking to make sure stuff is done.”

“Going to take all day?”

“Honestly, I have no idea. I didn’t think there was that much stuff to do. They have crazy different bachelor parties up north, at least where he’s from.”

“How so?”

“He says the best man rents a hall, arranges entertainment, booze, girls and all that, then sells tickets. He sells them to anyone. A good bachelor party could raise ten thousand dollars and the money goes to the groom to pay for his honeymoon or whatever.”

“That’s crazy. I’ve never heard of such a thing.”

“I guess the parties get pretty big and crazy. We’re not doing that. I think there’s going to be around thirty guys. Something like that.”

“What’s the entertainment?” she asked, looking at me suspiciously.

“I have no idea. Dane wouldn’t say and Franklin doesn’t know.”

“Ah-ha. I’m going to get a shake. Want one?” she asked.

“They are empty calories and I need to save room for food rich in nutrients. Chocolate, please,” I said and she didn’t even smile. She knew it was coming. She went and got us some shakes while I finished her fries.

She handed me mine and shoved a straw into hers. She looked me in the eyes while she sucked on her thick shake as though life itself depended on it. She sucked hard. She took a break and licked her lips.

“You might want to keep some perspective while you’re at the bachelor party,” she said and began sucking again. The message was all too clear.

“I’m pretty sure I’ll be the youngest guy there,” I said. I had no idea what that had to do with anything but was hoping it would help change the subject. “Besides, Franklin, Dane, and your dad will all be there, too.”

“That’s what I’m afraid of.”

“Hey, did you see Doctor Legare? He was all smiles.”

“Yeah, well, I wonder whose idea that was?”

“Dane? Could there be two people more different than Veronica and Doc Legare?” I asked.

“I’m not so sure. Maybe they’re perfect for each other.” I looked at her and she stared back for a minute and then we both shook our heads. Nope.

“Hey,” I said and she looked up. “I love you more than you’ll ever know.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

“Good thing, cause I’m kind of sweet on you, too. As much as I’d like to go back to your house and watch some more shenanigans, I have an essay to write that I’m way behind on.”

“Shenanigans?”

“Yes. Shenanigans.”

I had my own paper to write and it was due Thursday. I wasn’t sure what the next two weeks would be like so I needed to get busy. Plus, I had no real idea how busy I’d be on Sunday with my best man duties. Kim dropped me off and, after I grabbed a snack from the kitchen, I went to my room and got started.

Sunday morning, after a healthy breakfast, I plopped down in the library to read Shogun. I figured if Dane didn’t show soon, I’d go back to work on my essay. I’d made it through a couple of chapters when he found me.

“Ready to start?” I nodded. “Alright, let’s see what we have left,” he said opening up a notebook. Actually, we have a lot of phone calls to confirm things. Need to call the other groomsmen and remind them of tux pickup, rehearsal time, oh, and car decoration. Someone needs to take care of that.”

“I think I can manage that,” I said.

“Alright. You’ll get help that night if you just have the supplies. Do you have your toast ready?”

“Working on it.”

“We need to confirm transportation both here and in San Juan. You’ve already got the ring. Ah, when you call the groomsmen, some are from out of town. See if any need transportation here or if they need help of any kind. I want to go over to Alhambra Hall and take another look. The photographer will be at the rehearsal so that’s good. I’m sure Franklin has already given the band a list of songs but if you have something you’d like them to sneak in, that would be totally appropriate.”

“What about the bachelor party? Normally, that would be my job and I don’t even know anything about it,” I said.

“Well, part of that is because you’re not twenty-one.”

“That pretty much sucks the fun out of it. You have phone numbers for me?”

“Yes, but there are a couple of guys on the West Coast. Don’t call too early,” he said. “Later, this afternoon, do you want to go to the hall with me? We have a two-hour window between weddings.”

“Sure. You guys have fun yesterday?”

“Very nice afternoon.”

“Doc Legare have a nice afternoon, too?”

“He enjoyed Veronica’s company if that’s what you’re asking. Hank said,” and then he switched into a terrible impersonation of Doctor Legare, “She is endowed with certain charming feminine assets.”

“Yes, she is. Don’t ever try to do that voice again,” I said, laughing and he joined me. “Try to imagine him doing a Boston accent and you’ll probably know why.”

“Oh, lord, I can’t imagine. Never again.”

It was too early to call most of the people on my list so I went back to my room and knocked out my paper. I was done by noon. I made a healthy lunch and considered how I could work toward living up to the promises I had made to my coaches for the following season. I remembered Dane had said, ‘An easy workout is better than no workout’ and that it was important to try to improve a little bit every day.

Despite having a pool at home, there wasn’t really much I could do to improve. It was just too short. I’d have to make trips to Porter during the summer. I’d check Monday to see if and when it would be open or what other alternatives I had. There was always the ocean. I wondered if there was a way to improve my reaction time to the starter buzzer. I might be able to work on that at home.

I walked out to the gym and looked at my progress against the chart Dane got for me from Doc Legare. Legs. I needed to work on my legs. Power for my swim start and maybe power for hitting and throwing but I wasn’t sure. It was the weekend and I wasn’t going to lift, so I pulled the pitchback out and set it up. I was throwing lazily without much thought when Dane came out. He watched me for a couple of minutes and then stepped closer. I kept tossing it.

“What are you trying to improve?” he asked.

“Kind of hard to work on distance. I guess the only thing I can work on, really is form, or maybe getting the ball out of my glove faster.”

“Then work on that. If you can get it out of your glove faster, you can throw it faster, right? That’s the goal. Catch it and get it to the infield so they can make a play.”

“Yeah. That’s exactly it. How am I supposed to practice that, though? I need a way.”

“Open for suggestions?” I nodded. “Alright. I’m no baseball player but let me take a swing at it.”

“I see what you did.”

“Pretty lame, huh? Okay, work on your form. You’re trying to throw a four-seam ball, right?” I nodded. “Then just do that. Don’t throw it until you have your grip right. Do that, nice and easy, maybe a hundred times. Then set a timer for a minute and see how many repetitions you can get in that minute.”

That made sense. I kept throwing but made sure I had a four-seam grip before I threw. After ten or twenty throws I asked Dane, “Does your watch have a second hand?”

“Want me to time you for a minute?”

I smiled at the thought of doing just what Kim and Vince had talked about, competing against myself. “Yeah. Give me a countdown.” He did and I threw while he counted out loud. After the third or fourth throw, I really started to focus.

“Time,” he hollered, just as I was about to throw again. “Ten. Ten throws in sixty seconds.”

“That sucks.”

“Not so fast. There’s a couple of things to think about. Next time you set up, you need to do it at the same distance if you want to compare. Closer would be faster because you wouldn’t be waiting on the ball. What else did you learn?”

“If my throw hits the sweet spot, the top of the square target in the middle, it doesn’t take as long for it to come back. Accuracy counts.”

“What else?”

“I know there’s more, but I can’t think what it is.”

“I see five or six more obvious lessons but you need to sort them out. You don’t need me to tell you.”

“Nice. Okay. But I need a timer. You’re not always going to be here with a watch.”

“Christie never uses her egg timer,” he suggested.

I had a plan. This was great. “Thanks, Dane. Very nice. I bet you have all kinds of ways to practice.”

“I might have one or two,” he answered with a smile.

“Like you might have played racquetball or gone hunting.”

“Something like that. Want to go over to the hall with me? I could use someone to help make sure I don’t miss anything.”

We drove out to Alhambra Hall, a big old two-story house just made for weddings. I think long ago it was at one end of a ferry run but now the city owns it. It’s in Mount Pleasant, right on the water, and when the sun sets it does so over the harbor and Charleston peninsula and it’s a very pretty view. Franklin and Karen planned to be married outside with that view behind them, then have the reception in the hall. If the weather turned bad, they could just move the wedding indoors and have it on the first floor with the reception upstairs. I could easily imagine being married there. But then I couldn’t go anyplace that served as a wedding venue and not think about Kim and me. Nothing wrong with Alhambra Hall, that’s for sure. In fact, probably not many places that were better. I wondered if they’d take a deposit for a wedding three years in advance. Probably not.

Dane and I walked off the distance of a couple of walls and talked to someone who had been cleaning up. Dane told her who our caterer was and she said they had worked Alhambra Hall before and most likely set up on the north wall so they wouldn’t block the doors to the outside. We were there a couple of hours earlier than Franklin’s wedding would be but Dane tried to judge the sun. He wanted the cake placed so people wouldn’t have to squint into the sun when they cut it and the photographer could get good shots. We talked about the best place for tables and the best for dancing. That same person on the cleaning crew told Dane what he wanted to know and Dane gave her ten bucks for her time. She was pretty happy about that.

We walked outside and a hundred yards or so across the lawn to a spot down near the waterfront. The tide would be high for their wedding and that was a good thing. At low tide, pluff mud is uncovered and it can really stink. Marsh grass that dies ends up decomposing in it and it smells pretty bad. It’s a toss-up which smells worse, pluff mud at low tide, or a paper mill. Locals know that if you’re going to have an outdoor event near the water, you check the tide table.

We stood there and watched the afternoon traffic on the water. “Have I missed anything?” Dane asked.

“You don’t know what you don’t know,” I answered.

It was quiet for a minute and then Dane said, “I don’t know if that’s really profound or really stupid.”

“My science teacher always says that. I think he thinks it’s profound. You know, I can’t come here and not think about my day. Our day. Kim and me. It’s like that a lot of places.”

“I know just what you mean,” he said and pointed out a catamaran that was really flying out of the harbor.

“Have you and Mom thought about when?”

“We talked about it but decided we’d let Franklin get married first and then worry about it. One wedding at a time, you know.”

“You’re both pretty sure, though.”

He looked over at me, “Yeah, and I’m kind of surprised, to tell you the truth. I’d almost given up on the idea before I met Christie.”

“What made you come over and talk to Mom that first time, anyway?”

“Ha. You helped me and Christi was looking at you with a smile on her face and pride in her heart. It was attractive.”

“No kidding?”

“Nope. No kidding. Then, she smiled when I called her your sister. She seemed interested when I gave her the nickel tour of my boat, laughed at my jokes.”

“So, you asked her out.”

“Nothing to lose. And as it turns out, she’s intelligent and very pretty.”

“And rich.”

“And that.”

“But that doesn’t matter,” I said, just checking.

“It certainly doesn’t make her less attractive. But I’ve done okay, financially, at any rate. You okay with it?”

“Yeah. I want her to be happy. She’s happy. She loved Ronnie. I know that. But I don’t ever remember her having fun with him. She had a blast yesterday. I don’t want her to get old thinking Mark Twain was right.”

“You lost me. She did have fun. We all did. What did Twain say?”

“He said ‘youth is wasted on the young.’ She’s still pretty young. She should enjoy it. I want her to. She has fun with Veronica but it’s not the same thing. She sure had fun the first time you took her fishing.”

“She did. Glad you feel that way. Far more enjoyable to come home to a woman that loves me, than TV or a book. When your best friend is the mailman and the best day of the month is when your book club selection shows up, something needs to change.”

I didn’t say anything for a minute. “That was a joke, right?”

“It started out to be. How’s Shogun?”

“It’s good. You know the average novel is about a hundred thousand words but the average science fiction novel is about one and a half times that long. The author has to create a new world. Shogun is almost like science fiction because Clavell had to create this whole new world. You know, describe everything. Obviously, it’s a real place but American readers don’t know it. Japanese people think we stink.”

“That’s the big revelation?” he asked.

“No. They eat raw fish, too. Lots of weird stuff. It’s fun because while the protagonist is learning new things about Japan, I get to learn about them too.”

“You identify with him?”

“He’s tall, strong, and handsome. I pretty much have to.”

He didn’t say anything for a minute. “That was a joke, right?”

“It started out to be,” I answered and we both laughed.

Satisfied there was nothing more to do, we drove back to the house. I had an early dinner, prepped for Monday, and hit the sack early. I wanted to be rested when I showed up for boxing the next day.

Thump, thump. I got hit in the stomach and then the head. Thump, thump. Again. I didn’t like this very much. I threw a jab but Timex had moved and I missed by a mile. Thump, thump. I got him in my sights, threw a jab that missed and a second one that connected, then a straight right and an uppercut but he had moved before either of them had connected. Four punches and only one of the jabs connected. Thump, thump. He was killing me and making it look easy. I didn’t much like having an old fart beat me on the racquetball court and now an old fart was beating on me in the ring. What the hell?

“Keep your guard up, Jack,” I heard Kim holler over the ringing in my ears.

“Listen ta yo woman, Aquaman.” Thump, thump.

Thump. I took a shot to the stomach but kept my guard up. Thump. I was looking at Timex through a narrow gap in my gloves and when he threw another uppercut to my gut, I threw a right cross that caught him squarely. He put his hands up to signify we were done.

“Now you talkin,” he said as we both took off our headgear. “Jes stan there a minute. Stay still,” he said and punched me in the stomach.

“What are you doing, Timex?”

“Shush. Tighten up,” he said and hit me with five pretty solid punches to the midsection. “You solid, Aquaman. I ain’t hurtin ya. Stop pretendin I am. Give me the gut shot. You show me you kin take it, I stop throwin dem.”

“But if I flinch when you hit me, you get a free shot at my melon.”

“Dat’s right. Dat’s right. Don’t show me nuttin. I hit you square, and stars are flyin an bells ah ringin, you done show me nuttin. Nuttin.”

“Alright. I get it. Let’s go again.”

“Nes Monday, Aquaman. You goin be late enough now. Sides, you got me a good one.”

I looked to see if that was true but that big smile of his was too much. I laughed then looked up at the clock and he was right. I was going to be late. Kim and I both were. Time had just flown past. “Thanks, Timex. That was good. A good lesson.”

“You won foget, neidder.”

He was right. I’d remember that lesson for a long time. Kim and I ran for the truck and she started the drive to school while I pulled my gloves and tape off.

“Thanks, Baby. You were right. Guard up.”

“Sally knew this stuff, didn’t she?” she said, softly.

“Yeah. I guess she really did. How crazy is that?”

“I have a pretty good reason to learn it, too,” she said, just as softly. I shook my head and yawned to get my hearing back.