"You can count, like that, with your eyes?"
Lee nodded. “I once won ten bucks in a count the jelly beans contest at the grocery store. It was tough, ‘cause you couldn't see the whole jar. I had to put in five entries. But I won. There were six hundred and fifty three."
Phoebe gave him a splash, then asked: “Okay, Mr. Brainiac, how many drops of water were there?"
"Not as many as these,” he responded and came back with a flurry of splashes of his own. Another big water fight was on. In seconds after Phoebe's first volley both of them were going at it, splashing like crazy, using their hands and feet. But just as quickly as it started, the war broke down leaving them both wiping their bleary eyes.
It was Lee who looked downstream and was startled to suddenly make out a man standing high up on the bank less than fifty yards ahead. After calming down, they'd resumed talking and floating. The buzzard's shadow passing over and the ensuing water fight had been just a momentary distraction, but it was just as if he hadn't been there an instant ago. Lee recognized this place. It was the spot he had brought Phoebe down to after they had taken the ghost tour of the Ballard grounds. The man was standing on that same ledge, about ten feet above the water on the right bank, right where the two of them had stood.
The man was small, bookish, and gaunt. His skin was pasty gray, and he wearing a terribly old fashioned suit, like something out of a photograph of Abe Lincoln with a stiff starched collar and a black, stringy bow tie.
Phoebe suddenly clammed up, clenching and knotting her pink painted toes. There was no question as they neared; the man's eyes were on her and her alone.
Lee, in the lead, waved and called out, “Hey! How ya’ doin?"
The gray figure didn't reply his eyes rooted on Phoebe.
Lee found himself suddenly aware of how slowly the water seemed to be creeping along through here. The man on the bank was coming nearer, but they didn't seem to be moving downstream in proportion.
"Hey!” Lee called out again. “Is that the Ballard house back there?"
They were coming right up on him, now maybe fifteen feet away from the undercut bank and just below his perch amongst the weeds and cattails.
The silent figure drew a bony, liver-spotted hand out of the pocket of his pants and brought it up, holding it out chest high and offering a weak side-to-side wave. To Lee, he was strangely reminiscent of a vintage newsreel he'd once seen. There was this one grim looking man, seemingly alone, on a terribly crowded dock. The rest of the well-wishers around him were going nuts, waving vigorously; kids to either side were jumping up and down. But the man Lee remembered in the grainy old newsreel wore the exact same intense expression as this man standing on the bank. He was quietly waving with just the one hand, a slow and deliberate goodbye, as the Titanic set sail from Cherbourg.
For a moment, Phoebe waved back as a reflex, but as though embarrassed, she quickly put her hand down between her thighs and covered it with the other.
The man let his hand fall, hiding it back in the pocket, the delicate fingers snaking in first and the rest following along. A scribbly smile, revealing terribly yellowed teeth, creased his lips. This gesture was even more disconcerting, as it appeared to be a smile, but there was a total absence of mirth to the expression.
The man stood there, stock still, both hands jammed in his pockets, watching, only his eyes moving with the pair as they bobbed along. And that smile. It was chilling. All around the air and even the river flow had gone dreadfully silent. They were moving, but not moving. It seemed Lee and Phoebe stayed across from him for the longest time, that awful smile and his eyes fixed on Phoebe to the point where she began to fiddle with her bathing suit. Then suddenly, the man in the dark suit was drawing back, receding as the water carried them away.
As soon as they were at a fair distance away Phoebe hugged herself to Lee's tube and whispered, “Who was that?"
"I don't know,” Lee shook his head. “Never seen that guy before."
"He looked like an accountant,” Phoebe continued her whisper.
"Yeah, Frankenstein's accountant.” Lee looked around Phoebe's shoulder, back upstream at the riverbank, but the figure was gone.
Lee sat up. “Where'd he go?” Lee had only looked away for a moment.
Phoebe turned back startled. “That's weird. He was just there. Do you think maybe he fell in?"
Lee squinted, holding his hand scout style over his eyes. “We'd have heard a splash."
Phoebe turned back to Lee and shrugged. “Good riddance,” she said. “That was a creepy guy. Did you see his skin? What color was that?"
"Dead fish,” Lee came back. “He looked like the carp people catch and don't want, so they throw ‘em on the bank."
"His eyes, too.” Phoebe clenched her hands down between her legs and actually shivered. “He had fishy eyes. I'd hate to run into a guy like that out at night somewhere. It's not that he was big, but he was just scary, you know?"
The word “night” sparked a recollection, and Phoebe's mysterious phrase jumped into Lee's mind. “Hey what's this night sporting you've been teasing me about? Am I going to have to ride my bike to Gatlinburg and go see your friend, Raelene, to get the low down?"
Phoebe dug her hands in the water and swishing powerfully, putting her tube in a spin. Lee waited patiently, his arms crossed on his chest. After three revolutions Lee reached out and grabbed her ankles, pulling her in.
"Okay! Okay!” she called out. “I'll tell you. Just let go of my ankles."
Lee complied.
Phoebe pulled up at her top, wiggling with her elbows out to the sides, then sat up, pressing her hands down into the sides of her tube. “Sometimes me and Raelene, we have these sleep-overs at her house. My house ain't any good, my sisters don't ever let us be. But Raelene, she's only got two brothers and they're both way older than us; they ain't ever around. So once her folks go to bed, and they're older too, so they go to bed real early, we kind of have things to ourselves."
Lee could tell she was hedging. He rolled his finger over, indicating she should get on with it. With the heat, he couldn't tell if she was flushed, but she did appear to be a tinge redder than just a moment ago.
"Well, it was Raelene who first started it, sort of. We were watching TV, and she was going on about how hot it was. It was July, so what did she expect? And too, here she had on this big ol’ clunky nightgown. I think her grandma left it to her when she died. Anyway, I got tired of listening to her complain, so I dared her to just take it off.” Phoebe sat back and kicked up at the water, watching the water stream off from her toes. “Well, you know Raelene?"
Lee shook his head.
Phoebe giggled. “That's right, I guess you don't. She gets all embarrassed. She goes: ‘Right here? Right out in the den? Just take off my night gown and sit out here buck naked with the fan blowin’ on me?’”
Lee couldn't believe what he was hearing.
Phoebe wasn't looking at him. She seemed terribly interested in watching her toes wiggle.
"So?” Lee prompted.
"Sew buttons on your underwear,” she flung back. Finally, she looked up from her toes. “So? So ... I tell her, yeah. Strip it off or quit complaining. So then she tells me: ‘No way!’ She's got this high, squeaky voice,” Phoebe picked up her soprano voice a couple of notches. “And now she's even worse. She says: ‘What are you talkin’ about, Phoebe? You'd be too chicken. You're always tryin’ to get me into stuff. There's no way on God's green earth you'd do that, no matter how hot it got. I know you, too. You just want to try to get me in trouble.’ Then she says to me: ‘I could just see my dad comin’ in and me sittin’ right out here, all butt naked. He'd have a heart attack.’ So then Raelene sits there for a minute, picking at her toes, like she does when she's nervous or thinking and then she comes out with it and dares me to do it first. But she says, ‘I know you won't ‘cause you're too chicken.’”
Phoebe wiggled up, locking her eyes on Lee. He recognized that same competitive fire, having se
en it many times from guys facing him across the scrimmage line during the fourth quarter of a close football game.
"What'd you do?"
"I took her one better. I told her I'd take off every stitch, not just my nightie but every dad blamed thing I had on, and not only sit here, but I'd even walk out down her driveway and back.” Phoebe sat forward deadly serious. “No runnin’ even if a car came. I'd just walk, casual as you please. But then she'd have to do it after me."
Lee fell back. “No way!"
Phoebe nodded. “Well, Raelene, I know she figured I'd never do it, so she says, ‘Okay, it's a bet.’ You should have seen her when I stood up and pulled my nightgown off.” Phoebe scissored her hands over her head and threw away the imaginary nightgown. She was staring at Lee resolutely. “Right there, in her den, with the lights on, the TV goin’ and everything. When I stepped out of my panties, leaving ‘em on the floor, you should have seen her face."
Lee should have seen his own face; his imagination was going full throttle.
Phoebe pressed on; if she noticed Lee's expression she didn't show it. “I'm telling you what, Lee. It was pretty weird. I mean ... her mom and dad were in the next room. They've got this real little house. They could have come out of that bedroom any second for a drink of water or something. But I did it anyway just to show Raelene."
Lee had no doubt.
"And you should have seen Raelene.” Phoebe's quick, self-satisfied laugh echoed off the rock walls along the opposite bank. “She was about to die. Then I sat myself back down on the couch, as buck naked as you please and took a sip of my cream soda, like nothing at all."
"What about going out?” Lee tried not to be too eager, but he couldn't help it. “You didn't you do that, too, did you?"
"Hold on to your britches. I'm getting to that. I think Raelene was even more nervous than I was. She kept looking at her parent's door and then back to me. ‘We're gonna get caught!’ she hissed at me.” Phoebe lay back in her tube, spreading her arms out behind her head as though lounging. “I just lay back on the sofa, just like this. Raelene was goin’ nuts."
Lee was staring at Phoebe. He'd never imagined hearing a story like this. In his mind he could see her, or well, almost. Still, just the thought of it all was terribly exciting.
"What are you gawking at?” Phoebe gave Lee a squint.
"Nothing!” Lee shot back.
Phoebe gave him a sly eye, then tried to angry. “Yeah I bet. I could see those little wheels turnin’ back behind your eyes."
Lee had no defense. But he came up with a disarming smile and a quick, “You can't blame a guy for having a good imagination, now can you?"
"Well, anyway,” Phoebe dropped her angry face and continued. “Raelene's gettin’ crazy. She's all nervous, and she squeaks in her Mickey Mouse voice: ‘I thought you was gonna walk out on the driveway?'” Phoebe quit her pose and sat up. “I'm tellin’ you, Lee, it did feel strange to be sittin’ there. Kind of scary, but good scary. I'd been sweating and the fan blowing on my bare skin was just what I needed. So I tell Raelene I'm not goin’ out ‘til she takes off her nightgown, too. A bet's a bet. And you won't believe it, but she called my bluff and did it. I'm not kiddin'!” Phoebe had quit her Raelene impersonation, but her voice went up an octave, she was so excited with the telling her tale. “In the whole world I really didn't expect her to do it, but she did. She didn't take off her panties, though. So I said something to her. She came back sayin’ ‘you only said nightgown.’ She had me. So now I was stuck."
"No!” Lee was growing excited all on his own. “You went outside? Buck naked?"
Phoebe nodded. “I sure did. I had to.” She sat up, leaning way forward so even her knees dipped into the river. “It was wild. I was so nervous. I couldn't even tell if it was hot anymore. I was about numb. But I couldn't let Raelene know that.” Phoebe mimed opening a door and peeking out. “When I opened the front door it felt real cool. You know, there's something different about the night. And the later it gets the more different it is. You know what I mean?"
Lee nodded. He sure did.
"Outside,” Phoebe continued, “the light from the street lamps was shining through the trees, and it was real quiet. Every now and then you could hear a dog barking or a train's horn way off in the distance, but that was it. Raelene, she's right behind me kind of shoving at me. She's kind of giggling, thinking it's real funny. But I didn't see a soul, so I actually stepped on out on the porch."
Lee was working at keeping his tube positioned so he could keep facing Phoebe. For some reason, the drift of the water kept trying to turn him. And he wanted to keep his eyes on Phoebe. If there had been a hundred foot waterfall just downstream, right now he wouldn't have noticed or cared.
"Once I'm out, Raelene follows me out, and closes the door real quiet-like. ‘Go on,’ she hisses. ‘I dare you.’ I kind of had to swallow, and my stomach went all cold, but I started walking. The funny thing was I could feel my feet more than anything. Isn't that weird? And I couldn't bring myself to look down. Like if I saw myself ... you know ... like I was, I probably would have chickened out. I guess it's like how people close their eyes on a roller coaster or don't look down from a tall building. But there I was walking, first past her parent's car, and then out in the middle of the driveway, naked as a jaybird. I could see the end of the driveway where it meets the street and the neighbor's house across the way. I'm telling you though; it was everything I could do to keep from runnin’ back. But I stayed calm. And before you know it I was out at the end of the driveway. Then I said to myself, ‘what the hell,’ and walked right out into the middle of the street."
In Lee's imagination he could see her. The finer definitions of her body were a blur in his mind, but he could see her standing out all alone, the shadows from the different streetlights angling off in different directions.
"I think I would have died if a car had come right then,” Phoebe continued. “I know I would have run like a deer, for sure. But one didn't come. And you know what? It didn't feel all so bad. After what seemed a long time, I walked back up the driveway and right up to Raelene on the porch. You should have seen her face."
"Did she do it, too?” Lee fired back.
Phoebe's grin stretched across her face. “Here's where it gets interesting. She says she will, but not alone. I got to go back out with her. So I say, only if she takes her panties off, too. All or nothing. I really didn't think she'd do it. I mean Raelene's not all that brave to begin with. But she can be kind of crazy, wild sometimes. She asks: ‘What's it like?’ Then I knew I had her. I just told her to come see for herself."
"Y'all both went out?"
Phoebe nodded. “She took off her panties and threw them on one of the chairs, and off we went."
"Who first?"
"Me, of course. Raelene was hanging on to me from behind, ‘til I made her quit."
"All the way out to the street?"
Phoebe nodded.
Lee sat back and slapped at the water with both hands. “This is too much. I can't believe y'all. Was this before or after y'all did the thing with the crosses on the doors?"
"Before. Way before."
"Were y'all night sportin’ when y'all did that?"
Phoebe drew her mouth up into a “Boy, are you stupid” scowl and shook her head. “We may be wild, but we're not crazy."
"So now what did y'all do?
Lee could see that Phoebe was feeling pretty impressed with herself. Whether or not the story was true, he was impressed too. Even if she hadn't really done any of this, the fact that she would make something like this up and then tell him about was wild enough in itself.
Phoebe gave Lee a little splash. “It really felt great. I know this is gonna sound strange, but I never felt so alive in my whole entire life. There's naked like when you're in the showers at school, and like when you're at home in the tub and your mom is in the bathroom. But this was ... naked, naked."
She was again working with her fingers as sh
e talked. “It's scary, it's sexy, you can sense parts of yourself, your whole body, like you've come alive ‘cause you're so exposed.” Phoebe knotted up her fingers, twisting her hands back on themselves. “It's just hard to describe is all. You have to feel it. Raelene, too, though, I could tell she liked it. She was all scared at first. But, she has this stupid grin when she's having fun, and it was plastered across her face. We're both just standing out there, looking at each other and not believing it, and she goes: ‘See, you thought I wouldn't do it. Goes to show you who's brave!’ So just to one up her, I ran down, straight down the middle of the street and stood under the streetlamp, right out in the open, naked as you please.” Phoebe arched her right arm out and flattened her hand, as though she was leaning up against a lamppost. “Raelene, she must have been getting caught up in it too, ‘cause she runs over on the other side of the street and gets under that streetlight. We both started hanging on and twirling around, laughing, kickin’ up our feet. Then guess what happened?"
"A car came,” Lee fired back.
Phoebe dropped her arm, and clapped her hands and laughed. “Two! Can you believe it? One from each direction. Gatlinburg after midnight and two damn cars come at one time. Raelene and me, we bolted like a couple of deers, her going one way and me goin’ the other. I could see I could never make it all the way across the street and back up to the house, so I hid behind a tree. I tell you, Lee, my heart was beating like a drum.” She patted her chest. “Raelene, there weren't any trees near her, so she only had time to jump in the ditch and hide laying flat by the culvert. The one car passes, but the other is her neighbor coming home. He's this big ol’ monkey lookin’ guy, named Burt. He pulls in the driveway, and his lights go right over my tree. But he didn't see me. He gets out of his car and goes inside, passing within ten feet of me. Hoo-boy, would he have gotten a surprise if I'd have jumped out."
"This is the wildest story I ever heard.” Lee's awe was genuine.
"The thing was, though,” Phoebe kept on. “After her neighbor went in we both didn't want to stop. I know it sounds crazy, ‘cause it was so scary. But, it was ... well ... I don't know how to explain it. But we didn't want to stop. We ran all over, getting bolder and bolder, daring each other. The night, being absolutely, buck, butt naked outside, runnin’ around; I just can't describe it. I bet we stayed out a half hour, least ‘til our feet got sore. When we got back in, we were so excited neither one of us could sleep.” Phoebe spun herself around again, talking while she splashed with her hands and spinning her head back at each go around so she could keep her eyes on Lee. “That's night sportin'. We do it all the time now. We've stayed out as much as two hours. We've even rung people's doorbells. And get this; we even got another girl, Raelene's cousin, Mona to try it.” Phoebe stopped using her hands and feet, but continued to twirl. “It's an incredible feeling. You should give it a try sometime."
Evil Heights, Book III: Lost and Found Page 19
