by Jeff Vrolyks
“If they do, where does that leave Kloss? Do you think he’d be heartbroken?”
“Well duh, if he likes her that way he will. I don’t know the extent”—she gasped—“oh my god, they’re going to kiss! And Kloss will see!”
“Should we stop it?”
“Yes, and we’ll explain it to them later. Let’s do something.”
Holly sprinted back to camp yelling, “I got a fish! I got a fish!” I struggled to keep up with her. When she reached her motionless pole standing erect in the pole-holder, she pulled it out—all eyes on her—and jerked the pole around dramatically. She peeked over her shoulder: yes, everyone is watching you, Holly. Mike and Alison were no longer drawing into one another. The group made their way to her at the shoreline. With both hands on the rod, she thrust it like a granny-shot taken from the three-point-line. The pole went as high as it went far, which was an impressive feat for a fish of any size.
Bloomp!
“Aww, he took the pole right out of my hands!” cried Holly.
“Must have been huge,” Mike said. “Even bigger than the last.”
Sue Ellen asked me what was so funny.
* * *
The RV was back on the pavement at midnight with an empty cooler and a ragtag bunch strewn about the cabin. With blood and fish-scales on their maws, Jack and Peaches looked a lot meaner than they were. Holly already had a bath planned for them before retiring to bed—she would soon learn they weren’t in the bathing mood. I did my best to inject myself into the mix when Mike and Alison sparked up a conversation or got a little too close to each other. I’d have a private conversation with him later.
Between the river and Kloss’s house, I remembered Pea Willy’s story and how I was short-changed of its conclusion. He was driving but was game to finish it. The girls insisted on starting from the beginning—heaven forbid they not know every last detail. I spared Pea Willy the trouble by reciting it up to the point where he had left off, with Sue Ellen correcting my inaccuracies from the copilot’s seat.
To my chagrin Holly complained, “Kevin Reed, you are the worst storyteller I’ve ever heard, bar none. If we ever have kids, I’ll be tucking them in. Did her son shoot the place up like she said? Or was she full of crap?”
“First of all,” I said, “you can tuck them in if I get to name them. Jillian Humperdinck,” I scoffed.
“I don’t see what’s wrong with that name. And I already know what I’m naming my kids, thank you very much. Isabella. And Elise if I have twins. William if it’s a boy.”
“Well… those aren’t bad names, actually; I’m a little thrown off by it. But you need to work on your pet names. And about my storytelling, I wasn’t done. Pea Willy is finishing it. Didn’t you hear me?”
“Your last name is Reed?” Pea Willy asked. He looked over his shoulder to watch me answer, as if there was some importance to the question.
“Yeah.”
“Here’s how it went down,” Pea Willy said. “Nobody got shot that night, or any night. I guess it was a hoax. It was a useful hoax, though, because I met Sue Ellen at the Crazy Horse because of it. The significance of the tale isn’t in how crazy that sweet old lady was, but that it caused mine and Sue Ellen’s paths to cross. As boring as that is, it’s the happiest ending I could ask for.”
“But what did she say that finally convinced you to leave?” I asked.
“She said my name was on the killer’s list and that blood would be on my dead hands if I didn’t go to the other bar… cold still hands,” he remembered. “I asked her about the list. She replied, ‘On the list, Pea Willy will read.’ She knew my name, so that spooked me.”
“I wonder why she would go through the trouble of concocting such a lie,” Holly pondered inwardly. “And how she knew your name. Why wouldn’t she want you in that bar?”
“All good questions to which I have no answer. The only thing I could come up with is that she was eavesdropping on me and Reggie as we walked to The Deerlick. Reggie could have easily mentioned my name. Neither one of us could recall, though.”
“If she was predicting your death,” Holly said, “why do you refer to her as a sweet old lady? I’d probably be calling her a disturbed old bitch.”
Sue Ellen nodded and said, “Thank you, Holly. I’ve wondered the same thing.”
“Because she brought Pea Willy and Sue Ellen together,” Alison surmised. “What could be sweeter than that?”
“Aww, you’re right,” Holly agreed. “That’s sweet.”
Sue Ellen and Pea Willy chuckled. “No, that’s not why he calls her that,” Sue Ellen said. “That is sweet though, Ali.”
“I guess I shouldn’t call her that,” Pea Willy said. “Sounds contradictory, huh? It’s because of her face, how she carried herself. She appeared kind, compassionate. She was talking about me dying, but she was as sweet as my grandma with a tray full of cookies. I don’t know why she looked like that while acting the opposite. It was strange.”
“Her son didn’t shoot the place up,” Sue Ellen said, “if she even had a son. We assume she was off her rocker. But I admit I’ve thought about it quite a bit. I was hung-up on a couple things, like I found it strange that she implied that other’s blood would be on his hands. Why would he be responsible for other people dying? And why Pea Willy but not Reg? Blame my teddy bear for people dying?—the nerve! Pea Willy has his own hang-ups, but his is about the list.”
“Yeah, I dwelled on that for a long time, but let’s not get into that, dear.”
Sue Ellen continued anyway. “On the list Pea Willy will read. He was hung-up on the will part. Why will? Will is future-tense, like it hasn’t happened yet.”
Alison theorized, “Not necessarily. It could mean that it was written, but not yet read. In that case, you could say will read.
“That’s what I said, honey,” replied Sue Ellen. “I agree. He thinks otherwise. He thinks it meant—”
“Baby, leave it alone,” Pea Willy interrupted.
She stared curiously at him. “It’s just that the—”
“Darling, let it go,” he said more sternly. “Please.” He glared sharply at her. She nodded, confused as could be, as were the rest of us.
Chapter 36
It was half past midnight when Pea Willy parked his RV in front of the pool house on the extended driveway flanking the house. Kloss insisted everyone stay the night. The Texans opted to sleep in their RV. Kloss went straight to bed. Holly followed Alison into her bedroom and closed the door. Girls will be girls. Mike and I entered one of several guest rooms.
I had never seen Mike glow this way. I knew how he felt, having had the same thing happen to me recently. I dreaded telling him the grim truth, that Kloss liked Alison, but I did and he took it in stride. On the surface, at least. He thought she was out of his league, and Kloss sure as hell wasn’t. Nonetheless, he retained hope, reciting some of the things Ali had said to him, and how they would have kissed had Holly not screwed it up by catching the monster fish that ripped the pole out of her hands. He thought Ali had liked him. I was hesitant relating to him that Holly thought the same thing: I didn’t want to rock the boat until I knew for sure. I bade him good night.
The girls were sitting on Ali’s bed, facing each other. Peaches was lying behind the girls on the bed. I didn’t see Jack, but then I heard the toilet flush.
“Kevin, your wife is crazy,” Ali said. “Tell her to stop playing match-maker.”
“Wife, stop playing match-maker.” I gave Holly a what do you think you’re doing glare.
Holly blew me off. To Alison she said, “You need a man to sit in the passenger seat of your new Cobra. They make good accessories. Besides, if you get with Mike we can double date. Two sets of best friends, how cool would that be?”
“And the truth surfaces,” Ali said. “It’s for you, not for me.”
“You seemed to like him,” I said. “Did you have a good time with Mike?”
“You kissed him,” Holly teased.
“Is that the singer for Stone Temple Pilots?” I said. She nodded and put her hands over her heart and made an in-love gesture. “You have no idea how much this means to me, Ali. And to Mike. I can’t thank you enough.”
“For?”
“Giving Mike a chance. He’s been my best friend for a few years and he’s lived vicariously through me. He’s always the bride’s maid, never the bride. Maybe now he’ll have confidence and self-esteem.”
“I’m not running a charity here, and—”
“I didn’t mean that it was charity.”
“It doesn’t matter to me what anyone thinks. Kloss included. Yeah, guys, I know about Kloss’s feelings for me. Sue Ellen told me tonight because Pea Willy was worried about me hurting Kloss’s feelings. But I’m not going to walk on eggshells. I love Kloss to death, but not in that way. I’ll have a talk with him soon enough. I find it surprising, though, he’s never hit on me or even looked at me in that way. I don’t know if Mike and I will date or not. He’s not my type but that’s probably a good thing, considering my track record with every guy I’ve dated who is my type.” She took her pajama’s behind the Chinese folding screen and changed. “I was going to kiss Mike because he made me want to kiss him. He’s a big sweetheart. If anything, I’m the lucky one, not him. So please don’t treat me like the Make a Wish Foundation, that I’m granting him the wish of hooking-up with me.”
“Ouch,” Holly said at me. “Ali just read you the Riot Act.”
“I probably deserved it. All right ladies, I’m out for the night.”
“No, I wanted to show you something,” Holly said.
Holly led me to her bedroom by the hand and pushed the door nearly shut. Jack and Peaches pushed it open and came inside. A pile of blankets were in the corner and the two pooches cuddled up on it. They were visibly languished from the few solid hours of activity and good fun. They watched us with heavy eyes.
In the fireplace was a fake log with blue and yellow gas-fed flames licking up around it. A plush black rug was centered on the wooden floor, with a four-poster bed on it. The window’s burgundy velvet drapes matched the comforter.
“What is it you wanted to show me?” I asked.
She forced me onto the bed and straddled me. “I’m dying to know if this means anything to you.”
She began taking her shirt off, stopping just below her chest. She peeked over the half-lifted shirt at me. Yeah, I’m watching, darling. She gave me a wipe that grin off your face look. She lifted it higher and her bikini top waved hello to me. She stopped at her neck this time. She tried to gander at me again but the shirt was too high. She tried hiking it down with her elbows but they locked and she was stuck. I tried not to laugh, it wasn’t easy. She twisted away from me and pulled the shirt completely off.
“What are you doing, sweetheart?”
“Close your eyes,” she said bashfully.
So I did. Her fingers ran through my hair, held at the back of my head. “Open them.”
What I saw is the thing she wanted me to see: a heart-shaped gold locket dangling from a gold chain. I cupped it in my fingertips. I realized her bikini top was buttercream Lycra with blue flowers. She awaited my response patiently.
“I can’t believe it. It’s incredible.”
“I’ve been dying to know since that day in the hospital. In my dream I wore this and you stared at it.”
“Where did you get it?”
“It was my mother’s, an heirloom passed down generations. My grandmother regained possession of it when my mom died, and gave it to me when I turned sixteen. You’re avoiding telling me what I want to hear.”
“You already know. This is what you wore in the dream. And the bikini top. And inside the locket—”
“Inside the locket? You looked inside of it?”
I nodded. “And saw something surreal.”
I told her about the dinner table with the couple who resembled us and the baby in a high-chair. She didn’t share this part of the dream with me. She insisted that it was a presentiment and the baby was ours, little Isabella Elise VonFuren or William Abel VonFuren. I asked what she had against my last name—it had slipped her mind, but she wanted my last name if we ever got married. In her head the wedding was already being organized. I felt guilty knowing this, but it’s Alison’s fault for having a big mouth. I suspected she assigned wedding roles to Jack and Peaches (ring bearer and flower girl, perhaps).
“You know what?” she said. “If I had owned this bikini before the fire, it would have been destroyed Monday night. Also, if I hadn’t been wearing this necklace that night, it would have been destroyed by the fire as well. Wouldn’t you think?”
“Yes, because you didn’t take anything when we left your house. So you bought the bikini after that night? Which would mean you bought it after our dream. And you weren’t wearing that necklace; your neck was bare, I remember.”
She smiled. “Aren’t you observant! I wasn’t wearing the necklace, you’re right. It was in my jewelry box. The box burned to ashes but the necklace wasn’t harmed. It was one of only a few things recovered from the house.”
“Thank God. What a beautiful locket. What’s inside of it? Jack and Peaches I presume?”
She simpered and opened it. “Mom and Dad. So anyway, I was at the mall the day before yesterday, shopping for a whole new wardrobe, and went inside Nordstrom’s. Summer is here and Kloss has a pool, so I needed a suit. I didn’t give the Yosemite dream any thought until I went inside and the first bathing suit I saw was this one. It stood out, might as well been saying buy me. I knew this was the suit in my dream. I was hoping you saw that too, and you did! So am I psychic? Did I know I was going to buy this swimsuit at Nordstrom’s two days before the fact?”
I shrugged.
“That’s hard enough to believe on its own,” she continued, “but you would have to be psychic too, since you saw me in the suit as well. You and me both turning psychic and having the same premonition at the same time? Nuh-uh. Not a snowball’s chance. So if that isn’t the case, tell me—what is the case?”
“I haven’t the slightest idea.”
“It’s a sign. An omen. It’s good,” she said.
“It’s a sexy bikini, we have good psychic taste.”
“Yes it is and yes we do. Don’t you think the necklace and bikini are a good sign that we should be together?” she asked.
“Yeah, but you know what’s a better sign?” She shook her head. “Me telling you that I love you!—at the hospital!”
She reproached me with a finger-wave. “That would be a great sign, you’re right. That would be a great sign.”
“What are you getting at? Weirdo.”
“You never said you love me, not to split hairs or anything,” she said, splitting hairs.
She had a point. I only implied my love for her; she correctly inferred it. I took her hand and kissed the top of it. “Holly, I love you.”
I was rewarded with a kiss. “I’ve been doing a lot of thinking. About the past and about us. I thought I loved Andrew. Now I know better. What I felt for him is nothing compared to what I feel for you. I guess you can’t recognize love until you really are in love. What I felt for Andrew was nothing more than infatuation. That has been the strongest I have felt for a guy, until now.”
“And now?”
“And now I know what love is because I love you.”
I felt she loved me, but hearing those three precious words gave me unequivocal gratification. I kissed her. “You amaze me. I’m the luckiest guy in the world. We haven’t talked about it, but I guess it’s been assumed. We’re a couple, right? Boyfriend and girlfriend?”
Holly laughed. “I hope so! I don’t make it a habit falling in love with friends!”
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“Yeah. Like I said, I assumed. But it sounds a lot better hearing it.”
“Well now you’ve heard it. We are committed. No more dating for you, or even me! I’ll let the other guys know by tomorrow, Sunday at the latest.”
“Does that mean we sleep in the same bed or do I sleep in the guest room?”
“Kevin, do I need to have the birds and the bees talk with you?”
“I thought you liked bees but are allergic to bee stings?” I regretted saying it immediately. Her smile blinked away, hand left my shoulder. “I’m sorry, Holly. I don’t think before I speak. That was a stupid thing to say.”
Her stare at me was expressionless, a blank slate. Why wasn’t she saying anything? My stomach knotted. She couldn’t keep this up forever. She needed to either yell at me or forgive me. She did neither. After an awkward moment she headed for the door.
“I’m sorry,” I said again.
She closed the door, flipped the light switch off. Keeping us from darkness were the blue and yellow gas-fed flames in the fireplace. She turned around and fixed on me, a look of cunning, and perhaps predation (me being her prey). This time she would find me a blank slate. She skirted around the bed, past the languid wolves, to the bedroom window where she closed the drapes. With that, Holly’s intent was known. She took to my side and kissed me. Her grape Jolly Rancher taste was stronger than ever. There was no restraint on either side. We escalated quickly to a new level of intimacy.
My senses shifted. As sight, sound, and taste waned, touch dilated. Smell heightened ten-fold. The scent of her skin wasn’t marred by artificial fragrances, it was distinctly her own. I nuzzled her soft neck, harvested her aroma, which in effect smiled her eyes shut; her sweet face was the perfect portrait of bliss.
She swung a leg over my lap, helped me remove my shirt, and pressed me prostrate. As she kissed my chest I drifted from awareness, floated away in ecstasy. On a cloud worlds from reality she joined me, abandoned the inhibitions that had weighed so heavily upon her.
It was then that life began in her womb.
