Ultraviolet

by Nancy Bush

  “Oh, sure.”

  “I know it’s hard to believe, but I really do.”

  “Then you have to give us the details Monday.”

  “I’ll make a report with pie charts.”

  Jenny picked up one of her drinks. “How about I make a bar chart?”

  “Jenny,” Julie said with a laugh.

  “I’m counting on it.” I sketched them both a good-bye and took off. If Dwayne wanted me to infiltrate the high school group at Do Not Enter, I was going to have to figure out who they were. All Dwayne had been able to give me was a description of one car—a tomato-red Taurus—which he thought one of the Wilson girls drove. The guys all showed in black macho SUVs or BMWs or something of that ilk. Dwayne had been able to catch part of one of the SUVs’ vanity license plates through the mask of bushes and trees that hid the drive access to the construction. DOIN had been visible.

  Tonight’s game was at Lake Chinook High’s football field and I saw the stadium lights long before I encountered the tons of cars parked for a good half mile all around. There’s a small war going on between the nearby residents and the school about those lights. The residents scream light pollution and general blinding annoyance; the school is relatively mum but I’ve heard grumblings from athletically minded kids’ parents, the gist of which is: what part of living next to a football field didn’t you get when you moved in?

  I couldn’t remember the last time I’d been to a high school football game. Had I ever, since high school? Even then I’d steered clear of the jocks as a rule. Their obsessive dedication to sports worried me, like there was nothing else on the planet that mattered. Not that I’d been any kind of role model. I’d spent most of my time wondering how my twin brother, Booth, could ace tests when I worked harder than he did and only managed to cough up a B. I learned much later that he had phenomenal retention, which only goes to show you how unfair nature is. I mean, why should Booth get that attribute? He also got the great hair.

  But I got the snarky attitude, sense of irony and excruciating self-awareness, so we’re probably even.

  I cruised around the cars in the stadium lot and found four possibles on the tomato-colored cars, but only one of them was a Taurus. I memorized the license plate. My retention might not be as stellar as Booth’s, but I’m not a complete slouch, either. There were simply too many black cars to check them out one by one, so I left that for later.

  I headed into the game, which was nearly over, and so therefore no one was at the gate, asking for my ticket. Lake Chinook was ahead of Lakeshore High and there was much discussion about some highly disputed call that had the Lakeshore fans growling and booing. I ordered a hot dog and was pleased that it was cheap and hot. I really could have used a beer, but it wasn’t on the menu and there were a whole lot of Don’t Drink and Drive ads plastered about. There were also some warnings about the evils of underage drinking.

  In the end Lake Chinook High beat Lakeshore by a field goal with seconds left. The Lake Chinook fans ran out onto the field and the Lakeshore fans left quietly or with suppressed rage. The referees were escorted off the field by a burly-looking group of men in black rain gear. Some kid named Keegan had played “flawlessly, just flawlessly!” and there was speculation about a girl on the dance team who seemed to have either (a) an anorexia problem; (b) an obsessive/compulsive disorder; or (c) was top student in the Talented and Gifted program—TAG. She might have been all three. I wasn’t paying close enough attention.

  I moved back toward the tomato-red Taurus and pretended to be talking on my cell phone as I watched the crowd surge into the parking lot. My own car was a couple of rows over, close to the road, so I stood on the balls of my feet, ready to sprint to it as soon as I got a visual on whoever claimed the car.

  It was a high school girl who’d done up her long hair in pigtails on either side of her head, one tied with a blue ribbon, one tied with a white ribbon, Lake Chinook High’s colors. She was with two friends, a boy and a girl. The girlfriend was hanging on the boy and giggling. I suspected alcohol might be the culprit, regardless of the warning signage. The boy was grinning like a goofball, one hand around girlfriend’s waist, though it was sitting a little low on her hip. They all wore blue jeans and hooded light blue sweatshirts monogrammed with a big white L. The driver of the Taurus wasn’t near as giddy as her two friends. In fact, her eyes looked big and solemn and though she tried to smile in response to the friends’ antics, there was no joy anywhere. Her mouth wanted to be an upside down U. I figured she was one of the Wilson sisters, but I wasn’t sure which one. I was going to have to learn their names.

  I was sprinting for my car when I nearly ran down a group from Lakeshore who were hauling a large box of sweatshirts and caps to a waiting black Hummer. “Hey,” I said, slowing to a stop. “Can I buy one of those?”

  “I guess so,” one of the guys slamming the box into the back of the car said. He looked unsure.

  “How much?” I pressed.

  “Umm…I dunno. The sweatshirts are fifteen, I think.”

  “Thirty,” a prim, female voice corrected him, shooting him a glare. “Jesus, Carl, why don’t you give ’em away for free?”

  “Thirty?” I rued the fact that I’d had to purchase my drink at Foster’s on the Lake. Damn. I didn’t think I had the cash. “Any chance on a discount?”

  The girl made a face. “They’d be worth more if we’d won. They’re going on sale next week anyway. I guess I could sell one to you for twenty,” she said reluctantly.

  I quickly pulled out the cash and forked it over. As soon as I had my prize I dragged it over my head, running the rest of the way to my car. This sweatshirt was navy blue with a red and white sailboat over the left breast, Lakeshore’s colors.

  I was barely behind the wheel when the Taurus whizzed by, traveling fast toward Lake Chinook proper. I had to jockey the wagon as I’d been boxed in pretty tightly, but my turning radius is about the best thing on my car and I was after the Taurus in less than a minute. I had to push the speed limit, which is dangerous in the heavily patrolled area around Lake Chinook. I swear to God they’ve got more traffic cops per square mile than’s legal.

  I caught up with the Taurus in the center of town. At this particular intersection two lanes are forced to turn south, so I pulled up right next to the car, both of us ready to make the turn, and slid a sideways look at them. They were on my left side and the girlfriend was in the passenger seat. Her boyfriend was in the back, leaning forward, his head between the bucket seats. The driver’s eyes were on the road. She was disengaged from the goings-on, but her friends either didn’t notice or didn’t care.

  To my good, and bad, luck, they drove all the way around Lakewood Bay and took the turn off on Beachlake Drive. I was pretty sure this was the road across the bay from Dwayne’s cabana. I didn’t follow them onto Beachlake as the road’s kind of a boxed canyon, and I didn’t want to have to turn around where they could see me. Also, I wanted some time to pass to allow the members of the football team to join the party. I kept on going up McVey, then parked in a deserted parking lot. Nearly an hour later, I drove down Beachlake and past the houses in Dwayne’s sights, trying to figure out which was which from this view. It’s surprisingly hard to tell. The lakeside view is vastly different than the street-facing facades. However, Do Not Enter was easy, the entry staked out by a temporary electrical pole and a Honey-pot Porta Potti. From there I could count back and match the lakeside view to the street frontage. I should’ve paid more attention to the house colors, but I got it figured out in the end.

  I saw taillights winking red down the lane to Do Not Enter’s construction site and could just make out the house’s plywood and black Visqueen covered roof. A black Jimmy with the license plate DOINOU sat cheek to jowl with the red Taurus. It took me a moment; then I got it. The license plate was an abbreviated acronym for Do I know You?

  Hmmm.

  I didn’t think I could crash the party. I wasn’t exactly sure what to do. I par
ked the Volvo down Beachlake a ways, hoping I wouldn’t get rear-ended or sideswiped as there wasn’t much of a shoulder, then walked back. I had this nebulous plan about acting like I was a senior at Lakeshore. Would the fact that I was their rival eject me from the group? I knew better than to try to pretend I attended Lake Chinook High. And what if they asked me why I looked so old?

  With that in mind, I pulled my hair into two pigtails like the Wilson girl, one on either side of my head. I didn’t dare look in a mirror because I was afraid I’d scare myself. I didn’t have any cute bows to add to the “look,” but I didn’t think it would matter. I put my cell phone on vibrate, slung my purse strap over my shoulder, then walked from my car to the party. Another car pulled into the drive as I approached, and a young guy glanced out his window at me. I smiled shyly and waved and he slowed to a stop and rolled down the window.

  “You guys played good tonight,” he said, checking out my sweatshirt. “Just not good enough.” He grinned.

  “Well, you know, Keegan was just so great.”

  “Yeah, he is. Surprised you guys don’t hate his guts.”

  So Keegan was on the Lake Chinook High team. I hadn’t been sure. “Well, you know,” I said with a shrug of my shoulders.

  “You here with anybody?”

  “Nah…I…” I looked down the road. “My best friend and her boyfriend are fighting, and I kinda wanted out of the car. I’ve been walking around.” I shrugged a bit woefully. “Maybe they forgot me.”

  “Where do you live?”

  “Actually, I don’t go to Lakeshore. I’m just staying with my dad,” I improvised, waving toward the north. “Just got the sweatshirt for fun.” This was a better idea all the way around. Sometimes I awe myself with my inspired lying.

  “Hey, well…” He looked down the drive. “We got a party going. What school you go to?”

  “Sunset,” I said, pulling out the name of a Beaverton high school.

  He was already past that and onto other things. “Well, get in. I’m not a psycho. Or you can walk down the driveway but it’s wet.”

  “I’ll get in,” I said, heading around the front of his car and climbing into the passenger seat. I don’t carry a gun and I’m kind of a wimp, but I’d picked up a rock on the way and my fist closed around it inside the pocket of my sweatshirt. My first instinct is always to flee, but if someone attacks me I’m going to come out swinging. This kid looked like he weighed about a hundred pounds. I thought I had a good chance.

  But he simply drove me down a long, curving gravel driveway that opened up in front of the construction zone. Several cars were angled around. We parked next to the red Taurus. I climbed out as another car pulled up behind us. I could see that pretty soon there would be no backing out unless the cars behind moved first. It was interesting, however, as I saw no one parked behind DOINOU. “Who’s got the Jimmy?” I asked my friend.

  “Keegan. Of course.” He smiled. “Don’t want to piss him off.”

  “Guess not,” I said.

  “I’m Brett.”

  “Ronnie. Short for Veronica.”

  We shook hands. I have this alias I trot out whenever I can, Veronica Kellogg. I know it’s best to use an alias similar to your own name so you respond to it correctly, and I did all right with the Kellogg part—not too far from Kelly. But Veronica is nothing like Jane and I don’t care. So sue me. I like Veronica.

  I could tell Brett was warming to me. I wondered what his social status was, and why he seemed so eager to include me. Maybe it’s that I’m older and have a strong sense of self-preservation, something missing during the teen years, but I never include people into my life so quickly. Maybe I would’ve in high school, but looking back, I don’t think so. I’m just naturally suspicious.

  Or maybe he was one of the guys Dwayne wanted to nail. Maybe his affability was all an act.

  The car behind us unloaded five kids and they tromped up to us, loudly reliving the game, loving the fact they’d beaten Lakeshore. Spying my sweatshirt, they all had something to say to me, mostly about how Lakeshore sucked and Lake Chinook was the best, all the while eyeing me as if, as the enemy, I might suddenly whistle to a hidden army and take them out in a giant, bloody melee.

  Brett explained how I was visiting my dad and that I’d just picked up a Lakeshore sweatshirt for fun. One of the guys, Glen, long-haired and kinda dopey looking, instantly stripped off his Lake Chinook sweatshirt and handed it to me. It was about two sizes too big, but he insisted I wear it. I traded my Lakeshore one for it and was horrified to watch the group of them drag it through the mud puddles surrounding Do Not Enter until it was crusted with brown goop; then Glen balled it up and hurled it skyward where it unfurled to catch in a thin overhead limb of a bare-leafed maple. The group of them all saluted it with their middle fingers, stumbling around. I figured they’d been imbibing awhile. I was burning inwardly. I’d paid good money for that shirt and now I had Glen’s castoff, the arms of which hung to my knees. I scrunched them up and pretended to think it was a great joke. If Glen thought he was getting his shirt back, he could damn well think again.

  It turned out most of the kids normally wouldn’t be caught dead in school rah-rah gear, but on game day anything went. The rule wasn’t that much different from when I was in school. Half of them wore the light blue and white colors of their school; half were in black and denim, the tacit colors of general teen acceptance. They also were about the only two colors that were safe for outdoor use in rainy Oregon weather. Forest green and navy can work, too, but tonight the kids were all about black jackets and jeans.

  I picked Keegan out without any trouble. He sat on a tree stump someone had hauled inside the house, situated at the end of the room. This would be either Do Not Enter’s living room or great room. A string of red lights wrapped around the two-by-fours that made up the wall behind him. I could see the heavy-duty extension cord they’d jerry-rigged to the temporary power pole located at the far end of the drive. Must have been sixty feet long. A half rack of beer was being watched like a hawk by a thin boy with lank, dark hair that fell in his face. He looked out of the locks with a grim, dark-eyed stare. I had to fight the urge to tuck the strands behind his ears. It made me keep wiping imaginary strands of hair from my own face.

  Keegan wore a black jacket over a black shirt, thick denim trousers and work boots. The other kids wore work boots, too. This appeared to be a fashion statement as I doubted any of them had jobs in the great outdoors or anywhere else. Keegan was coolly smoking, dragging smoke into his lungs, then dropping his arm to lazily flick ash onto Do Not Enter’s plywood floor. Bad form all around, especially for QB One. I wondered what transpired on Monday mornings when the construction workers came on the job and found the evidence.

  That question was answered when a subservient female minion made it her job to clean up after Keegan and the others whenever they were involved in other pursuits. She kept darting in to clean up or disguise the evidence, rubbing mud over the ash, picking up cigarette butts and empty bottles or cans. Very interesting caste system they had going. The men—at least some of them—were the rulers. Like Dwayne, I found the guys in charge disturbing. A better-than-thou attitude percolated from Keegan on down, and it felt like there was some big secret, some inner joke, that escaped the rest of us but fueled the amusement of the elite guys at the top of the pyramid.

  I didn’t like it one bit.

  The talk centered on the game. The Keegan worshipers kept bringing up his best plays. I learned his last name was Lendenhal and that he’d broken a few school football records already and was expected to break them all.

  “You want a beer?” Brett asked me. He’d settled us to one corner, cross-legged on the cold plywood, then gone in search of refreshments. Now he handed me a can of Bud, which I opened and sipped at, wondering how many laws I was breaking by drinking with a slew of minors. I hadn’t bought them the stuff, but I thought that might be a technicality if we were raided. I got a shiver all over as I pi
ctured Officer Newell’s frowning face, and could practically hear him saying, “I’m disappointed in you, Jane Kelly,” right before he cuffed me and hauled my ass off to the Clackamas County Jail.

  I suspected claiming I was working undercover wouldn’t cut it.

  The answer, then, was to not get caught. To that end I searched the faces of the knots of kids, hoping to find the driver of the Taurus. She didn’t seem to be in the “house.” I thought she might be on the grounds, maybe down by the lakeshore. There was a stairway leading to the basement, which was an OSHA nightmare—no rails, rickety boards slammed up by a carpenter to gain basic access, no lighting—but my bigger problem was how to extract myself from Brett. Because he’d introduced me to the group I was apparently now officially his.

  To underscore this, Brett slipped an arm over my left shoulder, his hand and arm hanging over loosely. Golly, gee whiz, it looked like we were on the verge of being a couple, at least for the evening.

  “So, you go to Lake Chinook High,” I said, feeling the need for conversation. “What grade are you in?”

  “I’m a junior,” he said, belching loudly. He really threw himself into it, in fact, and as soon as it was heard, it started a volley of belching from all the strutting roosters.

  “Shut the fuck up,” Keegan said without heat, and the immediate silence was deafening.

  “So, you’re seventeen?” I asked. Great. Just great. He wasn’t even an adult.

  “Just about. Next February. How about you?”

  Sixteen. My heart sank. “A senior,” I murmured.

  “You eighteen?” he asked.

  “Yep.”

  “I thought you looked older.”

  “Yeah?”

  “Just something about you,” he said. He tilted his head and gazed at me thoughtfully. “You seem…wise.”

  “Huh.” I inclined my head toward the stairs. “Wanna go down to the lake?”

  “Brrrr. No. Much better here.”

  “I’m kind of ready to take a walk,” I said, easing from beneath his arm. The damn thing was like a lead weight.