Chapter 3: Florida

“You two ready?” called out Denise as she entered Matt’s dorm room.

Kimmi was sitting on Thomas’s bed next to a large suitcase. Matt was trying to cram what he needed for the week into what space remained after Kimmi packed her clothes.

“I don’t know if packing one suitcase per couple was that great of an idea,” said Matt as he pushed a stack of t-shirts into a corner.

Denise said, “Pamela, the travel agent, warned us that transportation in Florida can sometimes be on the small side. If all of us took luggage there may be a problem.”

Matt flung the lid closed and sat on it while Kimmi helped zip it shut.

“There, all done!” she said.

Matt hauled the suitcase off the bed and looked for Thomas. “Where’s Thomas?” he asked.

“He’s waiting with the car at the front door. There was no place to park, so he dropped me off and circled the block.”

With a groan, Matt hefted the suitcase and started out of the room. Kimmi picked up her backpack and followed.

Denise asked, “I assume those are not books but your clothes for tomorrow?”

“Yep. I thought it would be easier to put what we needed in my backpack without having to open the suitcase.”

“I did the same thing,” said Denise.

“And,” grunted Matt from the hallway, “we don’t want to risk opening this thing because once it gets unzipped it is going to explode.”

When they exited the front door of the dorm they heard a car horn beep. Thomas had found a spot to park at the end of the circular drive. He was driving Denise’s car and pulled out of his spot to pick up his passengers and their luggage at the front door.

“Thanks, man,” said Matt. “I don’t know if I could have carried this another ten feet.”

“No problem,” replied Thomas. He did not point out that Matt would need to carry the suitcase into the airport, then out of the Florida airport, and into their rental unit.

Matt took them to his mom’s house and backed into the driveway. He stopped near the front porch.

“Give me a sec and I’ll go through the house and open the front door so we don’t have to carry the luggage through the house.”

Thomas and Matt got their suitcases up the front steps and into the living room. Thomas then pulled Denise’s car to the back of the driveway.

Inside, Thomas found everyone in the kitchen. Denise had pulled out menus from nearby pizza places and was asking about dinner.

“I’m good with anything as long as it doesn’t have onions,” said Kimmi.

“And no pineapple,” said Matt.

“How about we get a large pepperoni and a large cheese pizza?” asked Denise.

“That’s a lot for four of us, isn’t it?” asked Matt.

“It is, but we’ll send the rest home with Eddie tomorrow.”

There were nods around the room. Denise went to the phone and dialed to order the pizza. While she ordered, Thomas gave Matt and Kimmi their sleeping options.

“Denise and I are going to sleep in my mom’s room. You two can either stay in Tammy’s room which has the larger bed, but is next to mom’s room and we’ll share a bathroom, or you can sleep upstairs in my room with the smaller bed but have your own area and bathroom.”

“We’ll sleep upstairs,” answered Matt immediately.

“Pizza should be here in about forty-five minutes,” said Denise.

Thomas moved to the phone and dialed Eddie’s home number. He let Eddie know they were at the house and confirmed 7:30 as the pick up time for the following morning.

Matt wandered into the living room and opened the cabinet. He knew that was where Sandy used to keep her booze but didn’t know if she would have anything left, or anything that he would want, now that she was staying with Eddie. He came into the kitchen with a grin and laughed as he set two bottles on the table.

“Your mom and Eddie are full of surprises,” he said.

There was an unopened bottle of tequila with a ribbon tied around the neck and a bottle of margarita mix. The tequila had a note attached to the ribbon.

“To get you started on your spring break. Don’t do a Tammy.”

Thomas laughed. He had first-hand knowledge of how Tammy and her friend Billie could drink in excess. He opened the freezer and took out a couple of ice trays, then he found an ice pick in the drawer and started to chop the ice cubes.

“You brought in the alcohol, but no glasses?” asked Thomas.

“I’ll get them,” said Denise. Matt was busy opening the two bottles.

As they finished their first round of drinks the doorbell rang.

“Pizza is here,” said Kimmi. “I’ll get it.” She took the money that was pooled on the counter top and headed to the front door.

They ate, had more drinks, watched TV, and then called it a night by ten.

“Good night. Sleep tight,” said Denise with a wink to Kimmi.

Denise followed Thomas into the bedroom.

“Can you imagine us living here next year?”

Thomas grinned. “Yeah. After mom and Eddie brought it up, I am leaning toward to telling them I’m done with the dorm.”

Denise unhooked her bra and stepped out of her panties, then tossed them on top of her clothes. She went to Thomas and gave him a kiss.

“Me, too. If you’ll have me? I’d love to ‘play house’ all year with you next year.”

“If I’ll have you? Please! I wouldn’t do this if you weren’t with me to share the house.”

They fell on the bed in each other’s arms when they heard a shriek.

“What the hell?” muttered Denise.

Thomas laughed. “That’s Kimmi. She sometimes has a problem with the volume.”

Denise giggled. “Oh, my. I guess we may hear more of her in Florida than I expected.”

Thomas rolled on top of Denise and said, “It’s not a contest. You don’t need to try and out-vocalize Kimmi.”

Denise started to say something but her eyes bulged and she gasped as Thomas plunged into her with one long push.

Thomas planned on getting up early and making breakfast for everyone before leaving for the airport. Instead, he ended up hitting the snooze button a couple times and not rolling out of bed until five-to-seven.

“Shit,” he muttered when he realized the time.

Denise’s eyes popped open and she saw the time.

“Shit is right! Why’d you hit the snooze?”

They scrambled out of bed. Thomas went to the kitchen and yelled upstairs.

“Hey! You two awake? We’ve got thirty minutes before we leave for the airport.”

Kimmi replied rather meekly. “Yeah, we’re awake. Not up, but awake.”

“OK – Get up! Don’t need you falling back asleep.”

Thomas heard a loud thunk.

“Matt is now out of bed.”

“Why’d you push me? That could have hurt!” bellowed Matt.

Thomas laughed at the thought of Kimmi pushing Matt off the small twin-sized bed. He went back to his room to find Denise dressed and pulling her hair into a ponytail.

He donned jeans and a t-shirt. They were going to Florida, but it was currently a cool sixty-six degrees.

At twenty after, Thomas heard rustling in the kitchen. Eddie called out, “I hope everyone is awake!”

“Hey, Eddie! Good morning. Yeah, we’re all up and should be out in two minutes.”

When they met in the kitchen Eddie was shutting the front door. He had taken their bags out to his SUV and got them stowed.

“Don’t all of you look like shit,” he said with a grin as he eyed the mostly-empty tequila bottle. “Started the party early?”