Wes Boyd’s Spearfish Lake Tales Contemporary Mainstream Books and Serials Online

They were still eating a few minutes later, although it had slowed down a little and there was certainly more than enough food to go around. The conversation had perked up a little, if anything. Eventually Dean piped up and said, “Sonja, you sure are a beautiful woman. I guess I didn’t expect Scott to wind up with something less than that, but I never expected him to come out with someone like you.”

“Thanks, Dean,” she smiled. “I like to think of myself as looking fairly reasonable, but I don’t think I’m any Miss America or anything.”

“You don’t want to fool yourself,” Dean smiled. “You are one sharp-looking lady. I know when the word first went around about you getting together with Scott, it was that he was going around with some black chick, but I’ve been looking at you, and you don’t have either the face or the skin color of a black.”

“I’m not black,” Sonja smiled. “Although I’ve been mistaken for it often enough. My background is a combination of Japanese and Israeli, although it’s a little more complicated than that. That’s the simple answer; it takes a while to tell the whole story. In spite of what my mother says, I’m just as much an American girl as the rest of you.”

“That’s a little exotic, all right,” Shelly smiled, “at least in comparison to the rest of us.”

“I realize I look a little, well, I guess ‘exotic’ is as good a word as any,” Sonja smiled, “but the only real difference between me and the rest of you is that you all grew up in a small town and I grew up in a large suburb. And, well, my mother, of course.”

“What does your mother have to do with it?” Emily asked.

“We’re having some problems,” Sonja sighed. “It’s part of the reason I came down to see Scott.” Over the next few minutes she explained the problem with her mother wanting her to do her duty in the Israeli Army, called the IDF, much like she’d told Scott’s parents the evening before. “What it comes down to,” Sonja summarized, “is that, in spite of what my mother thinks, I’m an American. I’ve spent a total of about two and a half months in Israel, and I speak maybe thirty words of Hebrew, if that much. But as far as my mother is concerned, that means nothing, I’m an Israeli, but just a pretty poor one since I’m trying to avoid doing my duty. I’ll even go so far as to say that since she’s an IDF officer, she probably has a point. It can’t reflect well on her. But tough. She’s the one who abandoned Dad and me for Israel in the first place.”

Emily shook her head. “I have to admit, that’s a family problem I’ve never heard before.”

“I wish I’d never heard of it, either,” Sonja shook her head, “but the end result is that I had to sneak out of town with only the clothes on my back. This dress, for example, is left over from Scott’s older sister, and we had to paw through her closet for a while before we found something that would fit. There wasn’t much that would.”

“So what are you going to do?” Shelly asked.

“There’s not much else I can do,” Sonja shrugged. “At least I can lay low with Scott for a while. My mother will have to go back to Israel sooner or later, most likely in a couple weeks, a month at the most. I sure hope it doesn’t go longer than that, because by then I’ve got to be getting ready to go back to State.”

“You know,” Dean piped up, “if it was me, I’d just face her down and tell her to go to hell. There ain’t no reason you should have to be sneaking around like this.”

“I know that’s what I ought to do,” Sonja nodded. “In fact, it would be simpler if I did it that way. But she can be pretty persuasive, and I might find myself agreeing to something I don’t want to do. Besides, if I don’t face her down, there’s a chance we might be on speaking terms again some day. She’s an interesting woman, and she leads an interesting life. But it’s not the sort I want to lead, especially considering that I could get into a lot of trouble if I were an American serving in the IDF. That might turn me into an Israeli whether I wanted to be or not. Of course, she’d like that.”

“Well, you probably know more about it than I do,” Dean admitted, “but maybe you’re doing the right thing. You think she might figure out you’re here?”

“There’s a chance, I suppose,” Sonja shrugged. “Gina and Dad don’t officially know I’m here, although when we talked about it this spring it was one of the options we discussed if this should come up. I don’t think they’d say anything. I mean, they’re on my side on this.”

“Just remember you’re among friends,” Emily said warmly. “Any friend of Scott’s is a friend of ours. If there’s anything anyone here can do to help you out, just let us know. Scott will know how to find everybody here.”

“I appreciate that,” Sonja sighed. “This thing is so strange it’s hard to believe it myself, and it’s even harder to think that anyone else can believe it.”

“Just hang in there,” Dean advised. “Tough times don’t last. Tough people do.”

“Dean said it pretty well,” Shelly agreed. “Don’t lose sight of what you want to do, and don’t give in. And I’ll echo what Emily said. If there’s anything any of us can do to help, we’ll be glad to do what we can.”

“Thank you,” Sonja said. “All of you. I don’t know what help you could be, but I appreciate it anyway.”

“Well,” Scott said as soon as they had the doors of his car closed, “that went a lot better than I expected.”

The party had gone on for a couple more hours. Much of it was gossiping about classmates, especially those not present, of course, but there always seemed to be two or three people around Scott and Sonja. The discussion had been wide-ranging, and a lot of it seemed to be in an effort to make Sonja comfortable. In fact, the party was still going on; the only reason Scott and Sonja had to leave was the fact that Scott had to work seven to twelve out at General in the morning.

“I had a lot better time than I thought I would,” Sonja said, sliding sideways in the passenger seat as much as she could to snuggle up against Scott. “Your classmates are pretty cool. If we had a party like that up where I live, we’d never have had a mix like that present.”

“They are pretty cool,” Scott agreed. “The hell of it is that we’re probably not going to be a group like that very much longer. Hell, half the people there were only home for the summer, and once we get out of college, there won’t be enough of us around to put anything like that together again. There’s a lot of people who have taken the on-ramp already, and there’s going to be more of us as soon as we’re out of college.”

“I heard that phrase used several times over the evening,” she observed. “That means leaving town, right?”

“Yeah, pretty much,” Scott agreed. “I’ve only heard it used around here, and I don’t know who started it, but it means taking the on-ramp on I-67 to get out of town and go to something different. Of the class members present, there are probably only three or four at the most who won’t wind up taking the on-ramp. Emily, no. Dean, probably not. Liz and Diane, no telling. And none of them are going to college, if that tells you anything.”

“I guess it has to happen. But Scott, I’m really glad you took me to that. It taught me some things about who you are I hadn’t realized before. Were you actually beating girls off with a stick?”

“Not really. Oh, I never seemed to have problems getting dates and was aware that there were girls who would liked to have gotten something going with me, but I think Shelly and the others were laying it on a little thick.”

“Not to hear them tell it,” she snickered. “I almost had to laugh at Vicky. She’s a nice girl, even if she is a little on the heavy side, but she sure was disappointed to see me.”

“Yeah, she was, even though she mostly kept up a good face about it,” he laughed. “You might not have picked up on what else was going on.”

“There was more than that?”

“Yeah, you remember Andy and Diane?”

“They sure seemed to like picking at each other, but they were getting a little snuggly when we got out of there.”

“They’ve always picked at each other in good fun, but it pretty much stayed there. They’re long-time friends, after all, but I’ve never seen them get snuggly like that. I, uh, let’s just say I wouldn’t be surprised to see them get even closer before the night is out, or at least before the weekend is out.”

“I could see that much,” she grinned. “In fact, they were about as snuggly as you and I were.”

“Not wanting to guess what Emily’s true intentions really were, I’d have to suspect that Andy was invited to the party to give Vicky a backup target,” he laughed, “but Diane cut him out of the herd just as neat as a cow pony. That might have been something as planned as what you and I did, but I don’t think so. Either way, Vicky was left out in the cold and she knew it.”

“I know we planned to look pretty serious,” she replied. “But Scott, as I sat there tonight, I came to realize I wasn’t acting. I really do like you Scott, and I’ve liked you since I first met you. You’ve always been a perfect gentleman to me, and I’ve often wondered what a guy like you saw in a funny-looking girl like me.”

“You are not funny-looking,” he said. “You’re downright beautiful, and I have to go along with Dean on that. I know when I first met you I thought you were strange and exotic, but I soon learned the truth. You’re a great girl, Sonja, and I’ve often hoped we could make a go of it. Maybe I haven’t pushed the issue as much as I could have, but mostly I was hoping I wasn’t pushing too hard and lousing up my chances with you.”

She let out a long sigh. “I guess I’ve made the same mistake,” she replied after a moment’s silence. “Maybe some of those girls tonight were right. You do seem a little too good to be true, and I appreciate your not wanting to push too hard. I know I’ve kept from pushing things for the same reason. When I kissed you tonight, I guess I realized that I don’t want to hold back any more. I love you, Scott. I guess I’ve loved you for a while and haven’t been willing to admit it. I wasn’t putting on an act for Vicky. I meant it.”

“I meant it, too, Sonja. I guess I’m a little glad you’re having your problems with your mother, because it brought you to me and caused me to realize just how much I love you. For a couple of years we’ve been good friends, and I’ve always wanted it to be more than just friends. But, like I said, I didn’t want to push things so hard that I broke them. I’ve always had the feeling from you that it would be easy to do that.”

“Maybe a year ago,” she replied thoughtfully, “but not now. You know I haven’t done much dating around campus, I mean, other than you. But I’ll tell you that every time I went out with someone else I wished it was with you. Scott, I know we’ve got some catching up to do, but let’s get started on it.”

“You don’t have to talk me into it, Sonja. I’m as ready as you are. If there was any question about it, then that kiss at the table tonight settled it in my mind. If you’re willing, we’re not just friends anymore. We’re boyfriend and girlfriend, and not just trying to look like it.”

“I couldn’t ask for much better,” she smiled in the darkness inside the car. “Do we have to go straight to your house?”

“We’re going to have to get there fairly soon,” he said. “After all, I’ve got a heat gun waiting for me in the morning.”

“I suppose,” she sighed. “It’d be hard to kiss you as much as I want to with these damn bucket seats, after all, but if we go home, your folks will be there.”

“Makes me want to be back at school,” he said. “At least we’d only have a roomie to get rid of, and they ought to understand. I know a couple quiet, dark places. Maybe we’d better do the best we can for a while, then head home.”

“There is a bright side to my mother being around,” she laughed. “If it goes on very long, both your folks are bound to be at work at the same time while we’re home.”

“Won’t be before Monday,” he grinned, catching her meaning exactly, “and I can hardly wait.”

The General Hardware Distributors warehouse had worked twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, right from the moment it opened in Bradford over thirty years before. There was even a staff – although a little reduced – on holidays like Christmas. Trucks could come and go at all hours, and having them wait around was expensive. Worse, store shelves at the various hardware stores around the region had to be stocked, and if a truck was delayed, it might mean sales lost.

That meant Scott had to work whatever hours he was needed, although there was a cap of thirty due to his part-time status. Working mornings wasn’t all that bad; in fact, it was pretty good. It was the wee small hours of the morning shifts that really wracked him up, causing him to screw up his sleep schedule. Since his shifts moved around, a part of a third shift could cause after-effects for days.

The alarm went off all too early, especially after as late as he’d been out with Sonja the night before. They’d gone out to a quiet little place he knew of in the country over near Amherst and just sat in the car talking and kissing and touching for longer than they should have. Although they really didn’t get all that far with each other, it had been further than they’d ever gotten together before, and from what he could tell she’d enjoyed it about as much as he had. If it had been a little more comfortable in the car seat, there was no telling how far they might have gone. As far as Scott was concerned, when they finally realized the time and had to be heading back, it hadn’t been far enough, and without any words being spoken he felt she’d agreed with him.

His folks were in bed by the time they got home. Mindful of his need to go to work in the morning, they hadn’t picked up where they left off, other than a quiet, but meaningful kiss in the upstairs hall before each of them headed off to their separate bedrooms. Scott went to bed with his mind whirling; several of his long-time dreams appeared to be on the verge of coming true. He had no clear plan of where they were going from there, but it wasn’t as if he needed one, at least not right now.

Yes, the alarm was early, but Scott realized he had no choice but to get up and get on with it. The house was still quiet as he got dressed in his work clothes, peeked in the door of the spare bedroom to see that Sonja was still asleep, then went downstairs for a bowl of cereal before he headed off to work.

Going in to work was about the last thing he wanted to do. He and Sonja had covered some serious ground the evening before, and not just in fooling around with each other. This was beginning to look like it was going to work, and for right now with Sonja more or less forced to stay in Bradford he had the opportunity to really get things going with her. A broad range of possibilities opened in his mind, some but not all of them related to sex, and this might be the best chance he had to forge something. Maybe at work, he thought, he could figure out what the next step was, at least for what he was going to do in the afternoon.

It was still coolish when he walked into General, clocked in, and headed back to the truck bays where he would be working. Just about as soon as he walked on the scene it became clear he wasn’t going to get much time for daydreaming: there were any number of unwrapped pallets standing around and the dock supervisor was already going half nuts. “Get them pallets over on the left done as quick as you can,” he told Scott and the other intern, some guy from Hawthorne who Scott didn’t know, other than his name was Floyd. “That load has gotta get out of here and there’s another one waiting.”

No getting started easy this morning, and there was pretty obviously not going to be much time to think about Sonja. The job really sucked; it was hot, uncomfortable and busy, and not for the first time Scott thought he’d have been better off to look somewhere else for a summer job. But even for an intern the pay was pretty good, and he figured he’d be able to survive it.

Hours passed, busy hours without even the hint of a break. Just about the time he and Floyd got caught up with the unwrapped pallets a little, another one had to be put together, so they gained very little ground. By midmorning, the day was warming up, and the heat gun meant that he was rolling sweat. At least, Scott thought when he had the time to think, he’d only have to put up with five hours of this stuff today, what with his limit of thirty hours a week. What would it be like, he thought, to have to do this shit eight hours a day, forty hours a week, for thirty years, like a lot of the regulars around the place? It was an existence he didn’t even want to think about.

Finally, noon and quitting time rolled around. Gratefully he put down the heat gun and went over to the dock supervisor to say that he was out of there. “Got bad news for you, I’m afraid,” the older guy said. “I found out an hour ago that they’re laying off half the summer interns, and you’re one of them. They may call you back this summer, and they may not, I don’t know.”

“No shit?” Scott smiled, amazed at the reprieve from being sentenced to the heat gun any longer. He wasn’t one to quit, although the thought had crossed his mind, but for once he was glad to have the choice both in his favor and taken out of his hands.

“Afraid so,” the guy said. “I’m not crazy about it since now I gotta find someone else to take up the slack, but it wasn’t my decision. I don’t know what the hell we’re going to do this afternoon. You’ll have to check in at personnel and see about drawing your check.”

“Well, all right, I can do that.” Scott tried to suppress a grin at being liberated so unexpectedly. It would be a long damn time before he shrink-wrapped a pallet again; with any kind of luck, it would never happen. A layoff couldn’t happen at a better time, either, with Sonja at home waiting for him. Although he hadn’t had time this morning to think about where to go with her, she’d never been far from his mind. Now, if it worked out that she was going to be around for a few days, so much the better.

It took him longer than he expected to get done with personnel and collect his separation check; there were two or three other interns around he knew slightly who had also been laid off. They weren’t very happy about it, so Scott tried to cover up his joy at being free of the goddamn heat gun while everyone went through the procedures.

He was out on Taney headed toward town before he even began to consider the downsides. The big downside was that he was going to have about eight hundred bucks less in his pocket when he headed back to State than he had expected. That wasn’t an insurmountable problem; he’d have to watch his spending a little more than he hoped, and maybe that would mean some less expensive dates with Sonja than he had planned, a few other corners to cut. And, as far as that went, there could well be another short-term summer job he could pick up for a month or so after Sonja’s mother headed back to Israel. Probably not, he thought; it’s getting too late in the summer.

It would have been tempting to stop off at the Spee-D-Mart and grab another quart of High Life to celebrate, but right at the moment that seemed as if it was a corner he could dare cut. There undoubtedly would be a jug of iced tea in the refrigerator, and that seemed like about as good a deal under the circumstances.

He was still hot, sweaty, and stinky when he walked into the house to find Sonja reading a book, maybe the same one as the day before, and wearing another outfit of Abby’s he recognized. “So how did your morning go?” she asked.

“Could not have been better,” he said, explaining about the layoff and how he would be free of the hot and uncomfortable job. “It’s going to leave me a little short on spending money next fall, but not as bad as it’s been the last couple years. I’m going to head upstairs, get out of these hot clothes and into the shower. Then, maybe we can think of something to do this afternoon.”

“I’ll bet you can think of something,” she smiled. “I’m sorry about the job, Scott.”

“Don’t be,” he said. “The money is a minor problem, but I’m so happy to be out of there it isn’t funny. I’ll tell you what, Sonja, I’ve learned I never was cut out to be a factory worker. I’m glad to have had the job, but I’m not going to miss it. Maybe next summer I can come up with something better, maybe something we can do together.”

“Or at least be close together while we work at separate jobs,” she said. “There might be some internships or something up around Lansing. Maybe we could get a place together for the summer if everything works out.”

“Could be,” he said. “Sonja, I’d kiss you right now but I don’t want to stink you out of the joint. Let me go and get a shower.”

“Would you like me to wash your back?” she teased in a voice low enough that Scott’s mother couldn’t hear.

“You don’t know how much I’d like it,” he said, nodding his head toward the kitchen “but maybe we’d better not right now.”

Scott headed up the stairs, peeling off clothes as he went, his mind spinning in the process. Her words may have only been a tease – at least he thought it was – but it gave him ideas. More ideas than he could handle, in fact; the mere image of her in the shower with him, nude . . . it seemed a lot more in reach than it had been even this time the day before. Things had changed between them, and they’d changed a lot, maybe more than he had realized; this time yesterday she would never have teased him like that.

In only a couple of minutes he was in the shower, but his mind was rolling. After nearly two years of being just friends, maybe close friends but still just friends, those days seemed to be in the past so quickly he could hardly believe it. Things had been moving glacially between them; now they seemed to be moving so quickly he could hardly manage to hang on.

Whatever it meant – and he wasn’t sure – the future looked interesting indeed.

This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.