Wormhole

It had been a good long day. Friday. They insisted he leave the 'Doba inside a garage bay and they had neighbors keeping an eye on the place since the whole family takes off for this. There was only one year that it didn't work out, due to surgeries and a hurricane, but generally two or three weekends into school they would take in some cool nights at the lake.

Nick lies on his back staring at the folds in the canvas of a tent that looked like army surplus, Noreen says it's just old. Smells old, but not a musty old, more of a...hallowed old. Rich in history. She's lying on her side staring at him by the same dim light from the fire outside. Some are still sitting around talking but Noreen excused them to get some rest, not that anyone seemed to believe them, not that Noreen gives a shit.

Cuddled in one of the chairs round the fire, Edna just mostly stares on when not dozing off, it felt funny heading to a tent with her youngest offspring.

They've been quiet since getting situated, she in her night shirt and he in the boxers they'd bought at the nearby Kmart on his first visit to the area. After an early start and getting set up, she was able to get them away to sit on the desolate beach where they'd gotten reacquainted, sitting in the same spot and her grinning a lot.

After dogs and beans and campfire-pies they hit the shower stalls that had surprisingly warm water to offer, usually by evening those are tepid at best. Nick is always blown away at how big the daddy long legs and mayflies that hang around those yellow-lit shacks with their eternally institutional, almost Orwellian feel.

One of the gang had said that if the showers are too cold just piss in a fan.

Nick bit, "How do you wash your back then?"

"Turn around and have a friend piss in a fan."

"Sounds like last night." This got a smack from Noreen and much a bigger laugh than he was ready for.

Bart brought his 25-foot popout camper that he had power-washed a couple Sundays ago, according to recollection, but without the help of a fan. Other than that there were four other tents here and there, one just for kiddos. Tomorrow they might go out on the boat someone tugged along, but Nick was keen to just renting a canoe and she sounded interested in a nice peaceful row around the inlets.

She breaks the silence, "Whatcha thinkin' 'bout."

"Been having these 70s flashbacks lately."

"Utoh, all the partying you did?"

"Just...dunno...everything had a brown, orange, earthtone kinda hue."

"Yea seemed like it...wow, wallpaper, Naugahyde, drab carpeting-"

"Carol Burnett was always on TV."

"OH Carol, LOVE Carol, would love to have some of those on tape."

"Sometimes I picture your family back then, your dad smoking a pipe and this skinny freckled blond, quiet most of the time but then she grins-"

"Better watch out bucko."

"See what I mean?"

"Those were good years. Miss 'em."

"The other day I had some kind of dream, like, the afterlife is a golf course with three other guys bantering all the time, guess you shoot 18 then start all over again."

"For some it may be just that."

After a few moments she sighs. "Mom seems really happy that you came along, she doesn't come out and say it, but I can tell."

"It's good she can still come with you guys."

"Yeah it is, not the same as she used to be of course, but you know."

"Still want to get a canoe tomorrow?"

"Maybe. They'll take Mom out on the bass boat, she always loved it."

"Can we hide from their waves?"

"Oh there's got to be plenty quiet nooks and crannies we can explore."

Nick just stares at the canvas, as the flickering fire and occasional shadows light up the tent, it might take a while to relax.

After a few more moments Noreen asks, "You OK?"

"Yeah, just a different tent than I'm used to."

"Mmm hmm. Speaking of tents..." as she reaches for his place of business.  He just now realizes he hadn't thought of any sort of carnal relations with her for several days, this is family stuff, but her hand is warm and slightly sweaty and he hadn't noticed his own semi-readiness.

"My but you are....um...honey I've never known you to be so wound up, feels like you've been storing it up for a year."

"Just haven't thought about it lately."

"Sweetie I don't think it's healthy to build it up too long, I know I've been busy and we didn't spend much time together -"

"It's OK, I'd rather be with you when it happens."

"Oh Nick..." she continues to explore, Frank, one bean, other bean, back to Frank, "So....what's the craziest thing you've imagined us doing?"

"On the couch in my living room."

"Really now."

"You know how the drapes are never closed, it's daylight and you're riding on top, we're buck naked."

Before he knows he's in her mouth and she's going at it like an cream cone on the hottest day ever,  she's caught on about the "chin", right below the tip, being akin to her own front parts and mixes that in.

"My you're good at that," he grunts out in a hoarse whisper. That earns him a quick bite that makes him jump, kind of a split-second guillotine reaction.

Naturally it doesn't last long and she takes in every last drop, feels like his toenails must have passed through there at some point.

"Mmm" she coos, barely above a whisper, then climbs on top of him with her head on his chest.

Nick finally feels like keeping his eyes closed and the flickering seems to stop, even though it really doesn't, he rests a hand on her flaxen mop. His mind goes back to the canoe, youth trips that were a pain in the ass, he wanted to keep ahead of the obnoxious rest of the group and avoid getting tipped although Vance kinda wanted to stay with them. Vance always had that easy-going nature and things didn't bother him, Nick had to admire that in the midst of his own exasperation with the seemingly endless immaturity of most of his so-called peers.

Oh well, tomorrow could be redemption, he and the gal could see those once-distant shores close up. Somehow he floats back onto dry land and into that eternal golf game with smartass semi-yuppies with no backstory, completely in the moment, everyone has 60 bucks cash for wagering and winner buys umbrella drinks at the club. There's a club?

Suddenly he realizes his shoulders have sunk about an eighth of an inch which usually indicates dozing off. He rubs her head some more and she inhales.

"Did you doze off too?" He asks.

"Nope just listening to you breathe."

"I get lots of practice."

"This is the life."

Nick starts rubbing her back and she adjusts slightly. He pushes down slightly to squash her bosoms into his belly.

"You have 24 hours to stop rubbing my back. Go."

"Sit on my face."

She lifts up her head to confront him. "Excuse me?"

"Saddle up, your turn."

She looks to the side and draws a breath, "OK I'll try."

"What's to try?"

"Holding myself up."

"Just bring me some tang, woman."

She pauses and gives him a look he can barely see or could hardly bear if he could. "I'll tang YOU."

"That's what I'm talkin' about."

She fidgets to get into position, he tries to be gentle with his hands, finds her back, around front to the twins, gets them interested, then down the tummy, around the hips, blows on her pubis.

"Sweetie I don't know if my legs can take this."

"You're fine in the shower."

"Yeah but that's different."

He brings his fingers around to where his mouth will go, massages, spreads, gets close enough to taste the warmth, gently kisses -

She sighs hard, "OK, can I be on my side at least?"

"Honey be where you want."

She flops onto her back with knees in the air, "How's this?"

"A meal fit for a king."

"Do I get to be your queen?"

Nick answers by continuing where he left off when inverted, gently, tries not to repeat the same moves as the drive-in, he doesn't think he's done this since then. She has a wonderful flavor, like a cool spice.

She gasps and coos, "Put...put your fingers in me."

And so he does. She's incredibly agitated, must have been building up with all the prep for this trip and the forthcoming term, two classes, all to herself, Nick kneads and prods at the depths, he can never reach her cervix nor could he remember what to call it right now to save his life.

Noreen sits up and touches his shoulders, starts to slide toward him and he moves aside. She kisses him and grabs his dumb-dumb once again to find it responding once again. "This....this is what I want."

He takes his place on top of her and she whips off the shirt finally. Between gasps, "Sometimes a girl just wants it hard from her man. Can you do that?"

He just brushes the hair from her face.

"Sit up with your knees toward me." He obeys.

She plops her rear end on his thighs, "Give it to me."

So he finds the position and inserts, she anchors her knees over his shoulders, tries to support her hips but she grabs his hands and they ride on. Thankfully the earlier release set this up perfectly, he can just drive, drive, drive, drive, she squirms, gasps, he can tell she appreciates this tonight, she moves her hips in a circle, this is the tempo to some song, but who cares, and all good things-

The release creates its own time, space, spacetime, those scifi shows where they go through a wormhole. 

Heh, wormhole.

Reality never really returns. She's happy to just rest half-propped on his bent knees with a groin full of mush. After a few moments he feels around for his boxers and cleans them both up, then gently moves her back onto their sleeping mat and covers them both up.

The flickering really has died down but the world still smells like campfire, at least for a few fleeting moments, the last of Friday.

Adrenalize at the Rosemont

August 29, 1992

They said they'd do a concert and this was it, three-ish hours each way up to the Rosemont by O'Hare. Mindy and Rob had gotten her parents to watch the kids and they offered their minivan for space if they didn't have to actually drive through town, Rob being the frequent regional traveler was cool to get them to and from the toll roads. There was talk about sharing a room but then that would be seem too grown up.

These two are pretty easy company and Nick gets to stay comfortably on the fringe of things. For most of the trip he rides shotgun as Rob stabs them northward and they basically riff on whatever passes by.

Eventually the gals just have to bring him in, Noreen prods, "Hey honey, what was that you did that time, with the cable TV show?"

From the driver's seat, "You had your own show dude?"

Nick stares out the window for a second, "Well, it was just that one time we patched in."

"Fill us in, we promise we won't walk out."

"Great. Well, it was two summers ago, my folks had finally given in and gotten cable in order to stay better informed, as they put it."

"So are they more informed?"

"I can safely say they have more options to fall asleep to in the living room."

"Ain't that how it is?"

"So there was the option to patch in, and one day I mentioned at supper that I could get onto community access and do something with the camcorder. This was right before I graduated -"

"High school?"

Noreen offers, "He's an oldie but a goodie."

Nick continues, "And don't you ever forget it." He doesn't see her stick out her tongue in the back seat. "So my folks kept encouraging me, said I have a unique perspective on life and it would be a hit, good way to...broaden my horizons, and I had brought it up during lunch at school, and word got around, I guess everyone thought I'm this techno wizard of sorts and it was the thing to do."

"Wow, so the ball got rolling?"

"Yeah it took on a life of its own. So a couple weeks after graduation we had everything set up on a Sunday night, that was an open slot, you know, usually some kind of school play or preaching or whatever, and so I set up the stuff, oh, and a neighbor had taken an interest in it and verified it was live. So I sat down in front of the camera, and, well, had nothing to say."

"So you froze?"

"It was more like, I had taken care of getting it all hooked up and working and hadn't really thought about what to say."

"Annnnd what did you say?"

"I just stared into the camera, and noticed it was doing the autofocus and the ring was spinning, so I kinda followed it by tilting my head, and I could hear laughter from here and there."

There were chuckles and muted laughter all over the car as well.

"So I think I grinned, and said Hello, wondering if I would hear it echo around town."

"Um....*chuckling*...did you?"

"Not at first, but then I pulled the mic closer and really spoke, up HELLOO - that did the trick. And the laughter got louder."

"So what about this unique perspective on life?"

"Tried taking a swig of pop to clear my head, and maybe it was the nerves, or the microwave nachos, but that produced a pending burp, one HELL of a burp-"

After realizing the girls were losing it back there he nearly derails, but keeps going. The stocky, slightly paunchy Rob, with his all-business haircut is still in control of the car but pretty red in the face.

"Yeah, and at that point I just had to, pulled up the mic, they said my eyes bulged out, and I just let 'er rip, made a very cavernous HWARRRRRRRK."

From the back seat, amid gasps, "Oh god, oh god, we may have to stop so I can pee soon!"

"The laughter roared but that was about as far as it got, the signal went dead on everyone's screen, never found out why, it was still sending, but the theory was that the cable company didn't like it, oh well, I was done."

"Wow, sorry I missed that."

Rob wipes his eyes, "Yeah all that buildup then you ended up killing without hardly saying a word."

"I still have a tape."

"Honey you have a tape of that and you never showed me?"

"It's just a weird thing that happened a while back, didn't really think about it, never watched it."

"Oh sweetie you are too much. Promise me we'll watch it sometime?"

"We'll see." Nick just stares out into what's left of the daylight as the gals cackle on in their own language. He's tempted to ask if Rob wants to listen to any traffic reports but that would, once again, seem too adult.

In the days leading up to this and getting settled into his office and taking stock of this and that and messing with this and that, in Nick's tesseract of a mental calendar this weekend was shrouded in a haze of DefLep-ish cover art with their trademark logo in the center, as if a test card until it was time for the show. He had never been to a real concert, Tim had snuck off to a few but Nick hadn't had the connections needed to go with a group and besides, music was something for one's own space, the bedroom, the car.

He dozes off before they pull over for a break and to switch seats so Noreen can get them to Rosemont. He hadn't been up this way since junior high when a youth group caravan tried to take in the entire Museum of Science and Industry in one day. Word to the wise: you can't.

They opted for cheap seats and stood most of the night, gals leaning against their guys. Nick is constantly tempted to feel beneath Noreen's clothes but never does, although there are some hard feelings between them at times and she makes it known she's aware of it.

He'd wondered if they'd play Let It Rock, which would have been uncomfortable for some reason, ever since he realized what the song is about, more than just a concert anthem, it would seem. The biggest surprise is the driving Tear It Down, seems they had put it on the new album after recording it a few years before as a B-side, he remembered it from Z-Rock.

With ears still ringing and thousands of strange faces in his memory, a drive sounds good, Nick volunteers to get them through the metro, windows cracked about an inch he thrives on urban highways which have lightened up just a tad. Eventually they divide up by couple this time as Rob takes his wheel back. The other three get to doze off and pass the trip easily.

Before they drop him off, Noreen coos, "Whatever you do just think of me while you're doing it. See you soon."

Nick doesn't even get as far as the shower before collapsing on his bed, not awaking till about 20 after 10 to an empty house but a plate of eggs and sausage in the fridge to heat up.

Fab Five Freddie

Nick had been staring at the inside of a workhorse Tektronix 2215A ocilliscope and pondering the magnitude of all it does, takes in a signal and essentially catches it, or catches up with it, and freezes it in time, like matching the speed of a motorcycle in the next lane on the highway, something moving but appearing still and observable to the eye.

None of the fleet were due for calibration, but he wanted to be ready, know the ropes. Paps had always received the Heathkit catalogs that included a scope calibrator, basically containing the time and voltage references within a tolerance good enough for non-critical work, but the school had the "official" variety of standards, this is the big league.

Something about the Teks had always fascinated him, even as a kid visiting his dad at work, it was an instrument that seemed to know things, but it's just a tool, still, a with unique vision, a crystal ball. The old ones had the round screen even, back when this eye to the soul of a circuit shed light on all the equations and theories that had been worked out largely on paper. Paper. Computers filled a room back then.

This one is a design that's over 10 years old but still everywhere in sight, every lab station. They still had a few older 475s around and even a relic boat anchor triple-5 tucked away, evidently part of the original endowment to get the program launched back when Nick was shitting in diapers. Naturally he didn't have to keep those in service but was tempted to fire one up some quiet moment when no one else is really around.

He had been hesitant to even take the cover off of the one in his office, his own to use as needed to diagnose equipment or even mess with side projects as time allows. The manuals are replete with warnings about high voltage around the CRT in particular, but then, he wasn't about to wet his finger and poke around the yoke. So he had purposefully left it powered off for a couple days then carefully undid the screws and even more carefully slid off the aqua cover. Circuits. Professionally, expertly designed and manufactured circuits. He sure wouldn't mind a tour of the grounds up in Oregon some day.

Nick didn't even hear footfalls, or maybe she crept up, Noreen poked her head around the corner to see him staring at the open case. 

"Found the meaning of life in there yet?"

He startles and whips about, draws a deep breath, then gives her an exasperated look.

"Did you just transport in here?"

"Aye aye, Lieutenant."

"Lieutenant. So what's that make you?"

"Think I'll be...a Q."

"Great. At least you're not a Vash."

"Hey now, she has great legs...for a human."

"Well you got those."

She finds a clear spot of workbench, tilts her head back and strikes a pose, wearing jeans with the cuffs rolled up, pumps and frilly socks. "Got some news today."

"Good I take it?"

"How does two classes sound."

Nick just grins, "Sounds like progress."

"I'll progress YOU."

"Later."

She gets a twinkle in the eye, like a twitch, a split-second flash of coded data. "Is...that a promise?"

So later, as they stood around in her kitchen he'd thought to ask if she'd gotten into Blondie, and right on cue,

"Fab five freddie told me everyone's high, dee-jay spinnin and savin' my mind..." rapping into a wooden spoon, never misses a beat, of course, or a word for that matter..."and now he only eats guitars YEOWW."

Nick tries a few times to jump in but these waters are wayy too swift, like most of the Morse code he hears on the air, just ends up shaking his head, this gal, she had put his ass to work cutting taters and they took a walk over to the house while they boiled.

They agreed a brewsky sounds good with supper and she shows him how to slow-pour so you don't end up with lots of head. But he could get head some other time if it sounded good.

After dinner she got that look in her eye again, after a two-beat kiss she asks for the special thing.

So now he is on top of her back, with her front on the couch, he's gently protruding, things seem to always lead back to this, where it all started, not nostalgia but looking for something new in a special place. The little thing, whatever it is, is still where it always against his tip, Nick keeps his hands busy with her front-side amenities as they exchange licks here and there, he makes it last as long as he can.

Revival

 Fall 1984

On a Saturday night Nick is stretched out on the back pew during choir practice. A few years ago, and in colder weather, he would have been doing a back stroke of sorts along the smooth floor after discovering his polymer-based coat slid like a pea on ice.

Revival starts on Thursday night and goes through Sunday night. Attendance is mandatory, at least for him still, as Tim has been attending elsewhere –as in, else where some chick or another attends. Ned had some things to work on and might make it later, but Irene didn't want Nick to miss out on anything.

There must be worse things to endure than sitting through a service to earn one's eternal security. Back in grade school years he would choose sitting with his folks in service rather than go to childrens' activities. There was a kid back then, Jack Leatherman, his mom couldn't drive at night so Irene would pick them up, and Jack would beg and plea Nick to go with him,

"I'm not like you, I can't just sit and think."

But that was Jack's problem to deal with, and now Jack is being accused of plagiarizing English papers and had some pills with him at school the other day and took one, Nick thought you had to see the nurse for medications, but, who knows.

When they arrived, some of the other guys were standing around out front snapping rubber bands, so he asked his mom if she had one in her purse, she didn't but said to ask the associate pastor Jim for one.

"What do you need it for?"

"I just want one"

"Well if you are going to shoot it at someone then I can't give you one, but if you need it to hold some books or papers then you can have one, but I'm not going to give you one just to shoot it."

Nick just pauses a second, "Never mind." Then proceeds to the back pew to lie down.

Services aren't so bad, but it seems a few times a year he ends up attending someone's wedding with his mom, usually some couple they don't know well but have been attending just for the eligibility for a church wedding.

It was during a revival service when they brought Roger Yates with them, from down the street and a year behind Nick at school. Ned drove the church van and overheard Nick advising Rog,

"People will want to shake your hand, but you don't have to."

"Nick, you know better than that, no need to be a jerk."

"Dear," Irene jabbed from the shotgun seat, somehow hearing him during her own conversation, after which Ned just shook his head and turned a corner.

After service there's a prayer response, all are welcome at the altar and the rest are invited to kneel at their pews. This is always the best time to screw around naturally as long as you can stay quiet, especially if the parents head up front.

It's at this point Nick always listens for a special feature, almost like a kid at Christmas, for Rick Stevens, the distinctive vibrato-laden tenor of the choir who usually leads out in prayer, softly at first, then building, louder, more passionate, and eventually one notices the scope builds out from the building to the entire globe. Does anyone ask him to do this?

So as ol'  Rick winds back down Nick can't help but wonder if tonight is one of those special nights that hasn't happened yet this series, the rare double-humper, where he picks it back up for another round. He's down to a whisper...amens and such...and wait...there it is, Nick can feel it, and eventually he gets there, not as fire-laden as the first hump but still makes a crescendo. Well that was something. Next time Nick will try to time it with a watch. Doesn't Radio Shack sell some sort of meter so you can get the decibels?

They get home and find Ned finishing up some things in the garage but he waves her in. Irene relates what a blessed service it was, Ned asks Nick to help with something as she heads to the house.

"Hey, just so you know, you're getting to the age where you don't need to go with her all the time. If you ever want an out just ask me, 'kay? We'll find you something to help with around here and we can do that instead."

"Okay."

"I think we're gonna make popcorn, sound good?"

"Yeah."

So they close up shop and head inside.

The Lock-In

Greeted by a squeeze at the door, along with the smell of summer veggies frying in oil, maybe some garlic bread, Nick asks, "so you've been painting today?"

"Yeap just put on some Steely Dan and zoned out."

"It's really nice. How come you never paint while I'm here?"

"You know why?"

"Why?"

"Why ask why?"

"BUD DRY!"

Noreen gets a firm grip on his buns. "My how you've grown up nicely."

"Since I'm a working man now?"

"You tell me, did Al keep you busy like I asked him to?"

Nick almost gets sidetracked by the idea of them colluding, but brushes it off, "We had lunch with a couple other faculty and the computer lab director was around, I learned a few things."

"Well we can never do that enough. So is there much work?"

"Absolutely nothing, which is expected, I have time to get used to the space."

"I'll have to visit your space soon, have meetings later this week."

"Smells awesome, kinda Italian?"

"Howbout Midwest Italian a la Nori."

"What happened to Steely Dan?"

"Ooh didn't think you were into them."

"Mostly Led Zepp from that era, but I try to get to know the classics."

"Never was big on Led Zepp but kinda got into Robert Plant in the 80s."

That brought to mind a fellow at Ned’s plant, sat at a drafting table and would work listening to stuff like Robert Plant, gave an air of sophistication.

"So much music..."

"Is something bothering you?"

Nick stares over her shoulder for a moment. "Just letting it all sink in."

"Well sit or stretch out if you want, I need to check on the kitchen."

"I'm sure it's where it's always been."

She heads toward the kitch and wiggles her rear in response.

Nick pops off the kicks and leans back sideways on the sofa, one foot on the floor. She has the windows open and a couple fans running. "Too bad I didn't think to bring shorts."

"Hey didn't I end up with those boxers from our lake adventure? Lemme check..." She finds those and he changes in her bedroom, which feels like a dream in itself, checks out the kitchen scene and holds her while she works.

"You're trying to make me screw this up aren't you?"

"It's going to be marvelous...mahbelous, zeemply mahbelous..."

"That's more like it, was starting to wonder if you'd seen a ghost recently."

"Well, kinda..."

"Alright, spill it Fritz."

Nick draws a breath and leans on the wall. "So yesterday afternoon my mom made a special request..."

"Oh the dinner, anniversary?"

"Yeah Bud and Louise, we've known them since time began, they were part of the old church, 50th anniversary."

"Oh that's so sweet."

"Yeah it was short notice and in the middle of the afternoon, or we would have seen if you wanted to come over."

"I understand, next time if you want, I'd love to, just ask. So how'd it go?"

"Huge crowd, they know everyone, but for some reason I was surprised to see one of the gals from the old group, Kandy."

"OOOhh..."

"Well, we weren't involved, she was...well...I never knew what to think of her. She's very outgoing, likes people, her sweet sixteen party filled out their house. She used to sing in front of the church during offering, things like that, always dresses up."

"Sounds like a popular girl."

"Yeah, she liked to have a lot of guys around her."

"Owwww...go on."

"At the camp meeting one time, sheesh, back in 7th grade she wanted me to sit with her and like 3 other guys, I started to go but it seemed weird so stayed with my folks."

"Sweetie that sounds about right for you."

"Anyway, she showed up with her kids last night, and it reminded me of the big youth thing at the Y."

"Oh I've been in your Y, it's an older building?"

"Yeah, they had the pool open, I went with Vance and we just walked around, there were hot dogs and baked beans, fart food -"

She laughs into her hands, "Oh honey"

"Well that's what they always have...you still with me?"

"Keep going, you putz."

"Alright, well we went up to the top level, the running track, and there's a small hallway, so we took that and figured we'd try an unmarked door, it was unlocked, and we found the roof."

"Ohh cool."

"Well, at first..."

"Utoh."

"We heard voices, so we crept along, Vance went ahead and looked around a corner, then he pulled back with eyes like saucers. I took a look, and it was her, well, part of her..."

"Oh God, how old were you?"

"Freshman year, well, my freshman, her junior at one of the private schools.

"Oh the academy?"

"You know it...and she ended up getting pregnant the next year and had to finish at Halloway. So...there she was leaning against, I think, the rail, couldn't see past her waist, but we could see this dude named Tad, tall blond, muscles, girls thought he was hot shit but basically a cock."

"So where was his cock?"

"It took me a minute to figure out exactly what was going on, he still had his trunks on, but she was standing on something, I knew those black shoes, short heels, and her french-cut swimsuit, that used to get the moms buzzing."

"Oh I bet it would in that setting."

"Yeah and, well she kinda had the dimples, on the thighs, back there..."

"Cellulite?"

"Sounds right."

"Well if she's still that confident with her body I have to admire that, sassy heels, good lord, but still, this was at a church thing?

"Totally a church thing, you know, several congregations put this on every year, I think they moved it since then, but anyway, yeah, we hightailed it out of there, and for whatever reason I didn't bother to close the roof door."

Noreen busts up laughing.

"Did you tell anyone?"

"Nope, we were done, slipped out then walked around town then got home about the same time we would have, needed to let it wear off."

"Um...let what wear off exactly?"

"Huh? Oh the shock..."

She chuckles, "I'm messing with you."

"Oh...no, I had never thought of her that way, she just seemed a tad creepy, I couldn't trust her."

"Sounds like somebody did. So is he the father of her kids?"

"Probably not, they're black."

"Oh, wow....progressive."

"Yeah that caused a stir."

"Among a bunch of white church folk? Wouldn't have guessed..." with a knowing look.

"So yeah, seeing her now, pudgier and less talkative, she's preoccupied with kids and I just stayed out of her way."

"I dunno, did the facility have a roof?"

"Ill roof YOU."

After a good once-over they have the bodacious summer feast, watch the news, some MST3k, some frolicking, they make love slowly, on their knees, in their underwear, with a Night Ranger tape playing at low volume, facing the open window towards the woods, with Nick glad to be alive, to be here, at this time, and with her.

A Long Bike Ride In The Country

August 2, 1992

Sunday morning, regardless of one's location or level of involvement, is ingrained into many as a time of reflection and reckoning. There's clearly a reason for the rhythm we've come to know as sabbath, sabbatical, time set aside for rest. A critical eye will note that this rhythm is as old as any written history; we are stuck with it and it with us – and within us - as flies in amber.

Even when there's not much of a set routine during the week, although Nick pretty much keeps the same hours at the store, or did, he wakes up to the smell of breakfast cooking which has always been the tell of a Sunday or maybe a holiday, or in earlier years that family was staying with them.

So they enjoy pancakes and eggs around 7:30 then Nick usually ends up back in his bed, then once his folks head to church he switches on the FM or puts on a tape. Back in the day Irene once jumped his case for finding cartoons on some distant channel on a Sunday morning as they got ready, so he tries to respect the space, at least, for as long as it's shared space.

Tomorrow he starts the new gig. Sue had called and asked if he could start a week later than planned, since they realized it would be much cleaner on the books, and this was no problem, Bain wasn't going to mind. In fact, Nick is pretty sure he won't be officially off the payroll anytime soon.

There's a point in the summer where it turns into a fever dream of sorts, the conscience takes a partial shutdown, fancies and ethereal forays take over. The season has nothing left to prove, it's here and happening, we'll make things hot if we want, storm if we need to, but not always. He finds himself longing for a bike ride on a country road to visit that girl he never would have visited, she knew things, it was in her silence, she'd seen or done things she couldn't come out and say, or maybe she was trying to, just in a foreign tongue. Cat-eyed and outgoing, had a fine body, probably still does, even after a couple of kids at this point, last he'd heard, but she's someone else's mystery to solve, if ever, even if at a point in time she had shot lightning into his soul and triggered a mass eruption onto his poor mattress, on a Sunday morning.

It had all started the time he saw her across the foyer, the way she stood, looking downward with her eyes but with a hint of awareness, her face and her bosom seemed to form a teardrop of sorts, whatever she was feeling, or thinking, her countenance: a teardrop.

Things are so much mellower now, somehow, the stakes aren't as high, paradoxically. Work makes sense, it brings purpose, solving problems, and lo, some things can't be solved.

Without thinking he looks at Noreen's tender gaze from the corkboard across the room. She brings order, yet, can be crazy as a weasel at times, he feels he owes her the world. Perhaps he does. She asks so little, very independent, as is he, still...she tells him we'll take things day by day. In circuits we use this and that component to regulate voltage and current, he can say one thing, the relationship feels well regulated, maybe he should tell her so, worst case, she'll laugh.

Day by day.

Despite the lab becoming one of his favorite places in the world, this would be different, not school, no smell of fresh notepads to fill up with scribbles that will be utterly incomprehensible in just a few hours, no filling out a schedule page to have it changed during the first week. Nick has to choke back fears that this is not a good idea. The first thing will be to make the space his own, and then, well, go from there. Day by day.

He gets dressed, leaves a note on the counter,

Taking a long bike ride in the country

And so he does, and he follows the leading, despite reservations, out to Bechner road, that homestead with the barn where he'd stopped with his mom to drop something off. It's still early enough to be pleasant with the smell of dew starting the ritual bake off the lawns, then fields as he gets further out. Not many cars to deal with at least, then he sees the place.

Consciously or not he had worn a cap and shades, despite the near-total cloud cover. The house is as he remembers but the barn is somehow different, maybe that dream made it what it needed to be for its purpose. As he draws closer he sees kids playing near a small swingset, and a blond pony tail and an arm draping over the back bench swing, Nick's blood runs ice cold.

He nearly retreats but keeps going, trying to steal a subtle glance here and there, but she doesn't seem to notice him, one of the kids needs attention and she hops up, unfettered bosoms flop in a loose-fitting sundress, she's added some weight but carries it well, looks completely at home. Good for her.

Now that the spell is broken, at least for the moment, he gambles that the next road will circle him back around where he needs to go, the next task is to get home, flip on the Icom, mess with the modem, have some lunch, and go from there.

HORSESHIT

 "Hey...have you been OK lately?"

"Yeah, just don't know what to think."

"About..."

"Starting the lab thing...us..."

"Do you have doubts about any of it?"

"Not doubts, just don't know what to think."

"Do you need a break from...us?"

"No, I just can't get my head around all of it."

"Sweetie now I'm concerned, do you need some time to yourself?"

"Tell me about your day."

"Are you sure you want to hear it?"

"I do, just having some kind of brain fart."

She sighs and he can hear a smile in her voice, "well I suppose that's better than the other kind....OK...slept in some, did some editing and such all morning then watched some brats while Sandy went to play in town, should get some income this week which is always nice..."

"Hold on....*sniff*...*inhales*...HORSESHIT!"

Silence.

"You there?"

After a bit of silence. "Ahh bloody hell...*rustling*...*clank*...*water flowing*...*sigh*"

"You OK?"

"(giggling) Yeah, all that lemonade from the house hit right as you had to sneeze like that, good lord - do you do that within earshot of your folks?"

"Dad just smirks and Mom has never caught on to my knowledge, or won't acknowledge it, whatever, Tim and I started that crap years ago."

"Man that's too much, you're killing me tonight you know that?"

"So does the lemonade still look the same as -"

He hears the phone hit the floor then muffled laughter in the distance.

Out Back

Ned carries the folding chairs and Irene a big bowl of fruit salad, about an hour after their ballcap-wearing son had given his girlfriend a brief yet thorough manhandling just inside her front door before they they headed over to the fire pit to help set up.

After introductions it's not long before the ladies are in a gaggle and Bart gives a grand tour of the shops. At one point Nick notices a poster he hadn't noticed before, with a professional sheen and stylized "turd AUTOMOTIVE", mixed in on a wall with the muscle cars and girls and hot rods.

"What the?" He pipes up.

Bart tunes in, "Oh yeah, that was a joke someone showed us a while back, you'd be surprised how many folks never bother to notice it, or admit they do, same difference."

Ned just shakes his head as Nick has to lean on a bench laughing, turns to Bart, "I never met this guy."

"Aww he's a good 'un, never seen Sis this happy."

At one point there's a welding bench with both wire and stick plus brazing tanks, plus the obligatory topless calendar that always shows up in a welding shop, obvious silicone-based highbeams staring them in the face. Bart notices the guys grinning at the calendar and points to it, "You didn't see that," then heads toward the door to the auto bays.

Eventually they head back to the fold, Nick finds his gal with hair clipped up on one side, and Ned finds something in the cooler, Nick's still not comfortable drinking alcohol in front of his folks. Evidently the hog has been cooking in the pit since last night and they're about to carve it a new one.

He asks Noreen, "So do we make sammiches with the hog?"

"I usually just chew on a leg."

"Later."

This gets him a threateningly raised eyebrow. "Mister I don't think you can handle later...if we can get away we can check on Billy's place, they left me the key, and there's a pool out back..."

"Hmmmm."

"Yeah. It's a clear night too, should be stars."

"I doubt my folks will stay past nine if that. Didn't bring my trunks tho."

She just grins and holds her gaze.

"Oh, right...out back."

"Now yer catchin' on, sport."

And then onto mingling and eventually a plate of shredded pork from somewhere on that hog, with a sweet Hawaiian bun and slaw, it seems her dad had spent some time down south and wouldn't have a cookout without it, funny how you reach an age when you can appreciate certain things.

As predicted, his folks had a wonderful time but needed to turn in soon, they head out and not long after Noreen starts giving him a look. He responds with an inquisitive gaze of his own and she leads them past the cooler, grabs a brew and sneaks it to him, "Keep this cold."

She drives. "So did you catch any eye candy over by the welders?"

"Bart says we didn't see that."

"Sounds about right. Actually that's a tradition, Daddy again, claimed it kept the welder sharp and focused, then Mom would sew or knit knickers and brassieres to glue on whenever she felt feisty."

"Classic," Nick grins.

"Was glad your parents could make it tonight, hope we didn't scare them too bad."

"This felt like one of Dad's company picnics actually."

"That works."

"Bart seemed to notice us sneaking off, made me wonder."

"Well he's about 4 or 5 beers deep at this point so don't wonder too much."

"Have you ever read the BC comic strip much?"

"Yeah sometimes."

"Starting to think he reminds me of Curls."

Noreen puts her hand to her mouth and giggles for most of a mile. Sooner than later they pull into a driveway and make their way through a well-kept house and to the back patio.

They crack the beer while slowly shedding outerwear and settle at pool's edge with four feet in. There's still the last bit of sun to hide behind the trees but there's no one else in sight or sound.

Before long she pops of her remaining underthings and slips into the water, artful backstrokes, confidently as always, giving him a peep of this and that here and there. 

"How's the water?"

"Like always, chilly at first."

"I can see that."

"Bite me."

Nick finishes the last of the can and joins her.

The embrace is familiar enough, and sultry, continuing where they'd left off earlier, but he feels he owes her, so he makes his way down her front side with his mouth then sets her on the edge and goes to town, downtown, gradually at first then kicks it in, fingers, teeth, explores everywhere with the hands, going for the gold, gets a knuckle deep into the back door, just to stay acquainted.

She gasps, "Nick, sweetie, you have nothing to prove."

He just continues, she responds, this time with a burst of air from wherever, a petite Bronx Cheer, then rests on the deck. Nick climbs out and scoops her up into his arms. "You said to bite you."

She doesn't even respond and he lets her rest a few minutes.

Eventually she stirs and clasps his arm, then feels around in her groin for a second.

"Anything missing?" He can't resist.

She looks up at him and pulls out the hair clip, slides back into the water, then pulls his arm. "Alright smarty, gimme what I came for."

Nick gets in and she wraps herself around him, feels his upper body then finds his member, kisses him, then heads to the edge to grab a flotation board and uses it to swim back to him. She faces him then leans back against the board and keeps a hold of it while wrapping her legs around his waist.

Once inside her he feels a mile wide, no need to hurry, the night is young, they move for a while, then stop a while, she just smiles into the stars, and eventually, she gets what she came for.

No-Nos and Old Boys

November, 1976

Nick and Tim are camped out on the dark green sofa staring at Hee Haw on a Zenith console as Ned relaxes with a beer and  grandma June and Irene cackle in the kitchen, at least the adults are having a good time. The old toys have been put away since the boys can't stop fighting over them and at this point are too tired to even pick at each other, not so much a physical tired, but tired of all the no-nos and getting growled at, they had to eat turkey and potatoes AGAIN, sometimes it's just too much work.

Ned's dad is busy with the radios and so they have to stay in here and be quiet until he is done, then they can visit him, although Tim really wants to play with the basement games but no one else will humor him while digesting. They are here for the night and then to grandparent's church in the morning for some unwanted attention.

Just as the twins with the guitars finish singing and they cut to commercial, "Boys? Wanna sit with me?"

He looks up and Paps is standing there with that half grin, "Come on."

So Nick gets up and looks at his brother, just slumped in the couch and looking hopeless, he doesn't appear much alive let alone interested. Tim’s been a pain lately anyway. Nick has been trying to experience a rocket launch with his bike along the sidewalk, which launches after a countdown from ten then you have to accelerate, and keep accelerating, to reach the moon. For it to work, someone else would need to run point and try to keep everyone else off the sidewalk or at least warn if there’s a car, but Tim usually just rides off to screw around. 

Screw ‘im, Nick makes his way back to the shack. It's a small, paneled room with a lot of shelves and the postcards with the letters and numbers, all different colors, and the aroma of pipe tobacco is stronger here than anywhere else in the house. Some of the shelves have books but the center piece are two layers of boxes with knobs, most say "Heath" but one has a red stamp that reads COLLINS.

"I just finished up the traffic net, sorry I had to shut everyone out but after all these years I still get distracted too easy."

Paps eases into his squeaky wheeled chair and dominates it, seated at an angle to the desk, his hand rests next to the thing he uses to send the clicks and beeps. After a burst of inspiration he starts tuning around on the Collins. "Lessee if any of these ne'er-do-wells are still around, we'll skedoo on up to sideband-land."

He reaches for a microphone, pulls it front and center and hits a few switches here and there. After a few turns of the dial there's a sound that's like a voice but just the cadence, then turns into a duck full of helium, then eventually he hears a thin voice that appears to be frustrated with deer hunting.

After a few more sentences Paps taps the base of the mic,"Haven't you learned to shoot straight yet? W9EAU."

"It's about time you piped up Jimmy, heard ya on the CW there, come on in."

"I just heard you so far Dave so I'll turn it back to the next in line, got my grandson Nick here, my younger boy's gang is up from Jameson."

A different voice, "WA9OVQ here- I'll pick it up, good to hear you Jim, Hi to Nick and tell Ned he needs to come join the hunt, and Dave, I know what you mean..." and he goes on.

Nick could smell a kind of heat in the air, similar to the back of a TV set, he asks Paps, "Do your radios have the bulbs inside?"

"Heh, yeah they have tubes in 'em, we're not to the point to have these rigs all solid state, shouldn't be long, I hear the Japs are working on it hand over fist, no surprise there."

The radio voices ramble on and Nick is content, he'd get hugged in the kitchen and otherwise it's the couch, but then pretty soon Ned and Tim appear at the door.

Paps looks up and says, "Watch this, " and motions Nick over.

"W9EAU with special guest, go ahead and say hi to these guys Nicky."

Nick steps up toward the mic, looks at Paps grinning, then up at his dad, also grinning, Tim is just slumped against the opposite doorpost, so Nick kinda shrugs and says, 

"Hey there old boys, whatcha doin?"

Paps simply unkeys the mic and puts his head down to chuckle, Ned bends over laughing, and there's a chorus of laughter from the speaker."

"Hey there Nicky, good to hear your voice, bud - Jim you better get this kid licensed before long."

"Roget that," another joins in.

"Hey Mister Nick."

Paps shakes his head and keys up, "Well there ya have it, he knows what he's talking about doesn't he? I think we're gonna head downstairs and play the table games with these monkeys, I'll QRT for now, have a good night if I don't make it back on here, whiskey-niiiinnnne-echo-alpha-united...seven-three."

After the round of seven-threes and guunites Paps keys for a final "gunnite all" and shuts down the boxes with the glowing bulbs inside.

Fair '92

Nick pulls into a grassy spot at the fairgrounds as directed by dude with the orange wand.

He muses, "That guy looks like he could be the shortest member of some garage band."

"Ever seen Green Day? He looks a lot like their front man." Noreen had shown up in a skirt and black flats that threw him off kilter, he'd complimented her at first sight and she duly flipped him off.

He goes around the Cordoba to meet her at her door, she's tugging the skirt into place when he hears a very clear quack-fart, after which she gives him a girlish look with full dimples.

After about a full minute of leaning over the trunk laughing she finally breaks in, "Are we just gonna do this all day dumbass?"

"Oh shit...yeah let's go."

Nick continues chuckling as they head to the gate, hand-in-hand. "You realize I owed you one."

"That's fair, you totally won tho."

"Don't forget it, either."

Still grinning he asks for two adult passes, and he goes into another guffaw, Noreen just crosses her arms. They proceed through the gate and get stamped, still chuckling, she drags him off to the side.

"Listen you motherfucker." Her face is really serious,

Nick sobers up.

She draws a breath and smiles slightly. "I love you."

His eyes widen.

"I wasn't sure when...you know..."

"Noreen."

She looks off to the side. He touches her face. She touches his hand, "Nick you don't have to say it back, I just couldn't wait, and I know you aren't very sentimental with words, hell neither am I, but this is..."

He pulls her close. After a few moments he softly kisses her lips, she gradually surrenders, then they're on the same page. The kiss ends and she rests on his shoulder for a bit.

Nick asks, "You ok?"

She draws a breath and looks at him, then turns to the midway and they join hands, and keep holding hands past the barkers, the vendors, the livestock, the 4H displays.

Once they've cased the joint, Nick pipes up, "Wanna ride anything?"

She digs her nails into his hand and he cringes. "So there's some rather attractive girls smiling at you I noticed."

"Yeah I saw a few from school."

"You didn't circulate much did you?"

"Nah."

When she doesn't respond he looks over and barely catches her grinning before she turns away.

"What?"

"There was a gal in one of the barns, tall and...um, rubenesque, looked at you as if you were a ghost."

"Oh, Bessie."

"Bessie?"

"Bessie Bessie Bessie. She's always here, must be volunteering for the 4H or whatever."

"Go on..."

"Back in junior high I had to use the can and the gang went on ahead, said I'd catch up, then while wandering about she introduces herself and trails me through a barn."

"Sounds romantic."

"She rambled a mile a minute and somehow managed to mention her parents are pretty strict but she thinks tickling is OK."

Noreen has to look away and laugh.

"She wore the same getup as today, long skirt...she can walk pretty fast though, like she has wheels under there..and I could swear she would undo a shirt button whenever I wasn't looking."

"OK you're shitting me now...although she does have pretty big jugs," as she sobers up her face enough to taunt with raised eyebrows.

"God, and big everything else, not to be mean but I only see a St. Bernard in glasses."

Noreen hugs his shoulders and kisses his cheek, still chuckling, then tuns to the vendors, "Ooh I smell vinegar fries...you getting hungry yet?"

Nick had to pause a minute, as a kid he practically turned green at the thought of vinegar fries when his folks would get those, but now they sound kinda good.

"Yeah actually, what could go with 'em?"

"Hmmmm...they have coneys...brats...burgers..."

"The usual list of suspects."

"I might just get a dog."

"Yeah same here, wanna split a mess a fries?"

They get that and a couple slushies, look for a table, then someone calls her name, and they join an older couple that she knows. Nick eats in peace while Noreen does all the talking, and he realizes this is a cozy arrangement.

* * * * *

The sky had gotten progressively darker so they left just after Nick found a decent billfold at a leather goods vendor.  He asks her if she wants to hit any stores and she giggles.

"What?"

After a pause, "I had a dream last night..."

"Should I ask?"

"You just did...so...we were at some department store, we were joking around like we do then...well, all of a sudden, my pants were down and you were spanking me."

Nick stops walking.

"Well you kinda asked."

He takes a deep breath, "Interesting."

"That's one way to put it." She traced her fingertips on his arm then took his hand, leaned on his shoulder and they walk on.

Not sure what else to do, he suggested they head out then he headed back to his house, Noreen just let the bench seat cradle her, she folded her arms and subtly beamed at the front window, eyes usually closed.

They arrive and find a note from his folks, they were helping Gramma June with something today and won't be back till after supper. As Nick read the note Noreen was still finger-doodling on his arm.

She asks, "Everything OK?"

"From where I'm standing it couldn't be better."

They embrace and kiss right on cue. He cradles her back and lifts her out of her shoes. At the point where she breaks it off to catch her breath he scoops her up and carries her up the stairs, something he normally wouldn't attempt.

Gradually their shirts come off and they work the upper decks. She pulls off the skirt but leaves on her soaked panties, he reciprocates, the begins rubbing his on the outside of hers, curious they had never done this before.

She admonishes in a hearty tone, "Honey you keep this up you're in for a wild ride."

Nick just keeps sawing away while holding down her elbows as if she would wiggle loose, she never sounded like this, not a pure mmmm, but more guttural, a tad nasal, mnmnmnmnmn...then rrrrrrgghhhhh...

He pauses and reaches down to find her clit enraged and tight, then moves her panties to the side. "Are you ready?"

She just pants.

He starts parting her lips, she turns her head to one side, breathing too hard to speak, eyes glued shut.

Gently he inserts. Her eyes roll into her head.

They begin to rock, pure instinct.

She digs her nails into his triceps then lets go and rubs the back of his head. This is all too new to Nick and the bewilderment serves him well, to hold out longer. Eventually he realizes she's juicy as a pressed peach down there, amazing to have her hot scent in his room finally.

Before long she moans softly, “back to the gypsy that I was...the gypsy that I was...”

Her moaning changes to rhythmic mmmm mmmm mmmm and he wonders if she's close, but he won't have long to wonder, she's tightened up and it's feeling that good dirty, finding an adult magazine on the side of a road while riding a bike, getting a peak up a skirt, hitting that right spot, and she continues, stronger voice, seems familiar to Nick but he can’t quite place the song,

“...lightning strikes maybe once...maybe twice...lights up the night...you see your gypsy...see your gypsy...”

When the squirting starts she freezes into a sculpture, hands clenched and she twitches inside, jerks a few times, then he eases down on top of her and she tries to help keep him in but falls asleep. 

The eagle has landed.

Nick gets up to grab a washcloth and can't help but give her a good look over, his angel asleep on a cloud, the face wrapped in a birds nest of blond locks, nipples now relaxed, knees still apart, showing a bit too much at the moment. He cleans up his business then places the cloth in her loins as he takes a place next to her, she jumps slightly, clears her throat, "Oh thanks," then positions the cloth and turns over to lean on him.

She drifts back off and he does briefly but gets to take it all in, lightning indeed strikes when it does, these past months. Back in the teen years they tell you to wait, wait till marriage, wait till you're in love, but at some point it just ain't gonna wait.

After a bit she comes to and draws closer, seemingly, little by little, regaining her wits.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Anything."

"Bo Peep..."

She buries her face in his shoulder. "Well almost anything."

"I didn't mean -"

"Nick, it's OK, you just have a way of getting to the heart."

"I don't think I'd ever thought to ask after all this time."

"I was dreading it, but...not in a bad way."

"Is there a story?"

"Bo peep is the story, the first thing I remember Dad reading me, from an old book that is still in the family."

"Oh."

"Yeah. He finally had a girl to read that too, told me to count sheep and fall asleep. Sometimes I still count sheep."

"I figured it was something special, since you never asked to see the card."

"One of these days I will sweetie."

"I know."

She kisses his cheek and lightly strokes his beard.

"I wish you didn't have to leave tonight."

"We'd get awfully crowded in here."

"It seems to work just fine."

"Nick you just made me feel things I didn't know were possible."

"Is that a good thing?"

"Do you hear any complaints?"

"Do we get our own tent on the camping thing?"

"You bet your sweet bippy."

"Interesting."

She knee-kicks him in the side of the thigh. "Hey that's gonna bruise."

"Good."

After a while he asks, "Are you OK with today?"

She responds by messing with his member, then when he gets close,

"Wonder if Bessie ever got tickled."

But our hero remains undeterred and soon they need the washcloth again, then they manage to get dressed and raid the fridge for leftovers before his folks get home.

Safety Belt

The radio bug had been biting harder lately.

Not so much with continuing the RTTY decoder, that will be there, this is summer, circuits can be built anytime but antenna work is seasonal, and some time well spent now will get things in place.

In the back of his mind, Nick was starting to wonder how long he would be living at home. He wasn't about to bring it up, but one has to wonder.

But such wondering goes better when we have something to tinker with, to listen to. The idea was to get his Novice radio license soon, hopefully before classes start. The Novice gives you mostly Morse code (CW) privileges here and there, which is where he is hoping to break in. His little wire in the tree was OK for listening but it's time to level up the game some.

Pap's library once again has the answer that feels right, a multi-band dipole, fanning out from a central point as the initial spans of a spider web. Ned had given his blessing to use the TV tower, these days exclusively used for Nick's signal fancies anyway. The catch is that Nick would have to do his own climbing.

These days his ready access to RadShack is truly a blessing, didn't need many supplies except the U-bracket and some cable, by the foot and yes the staff discount, got a few extra feet for good measure, plus the current license exam prep book. He figures out anchor points for the legs of three dipoles, six legs total, an insect for the spider, heh. 33 feet for 7 MHz are the longest then down to about 9 feet per leg for 28 MHz. This will be close enough to use Pap's old tuner, worst case, and may even work well enough without it.

Once everything is soldered it's time for a climb on a warm afternoon. It's shady at the bottom but won't be at top, hence a ball cap. He has to drag the apex to the top of the tower and clamp it on with the nuts and lock washers, then that's it for the tower, just need to attach the legs hither and yon.

The legs are already extended with the steel wire that should get them where they need to go. Nick didn't bother tracking down insulators, only had three of the old ceramic eggs, and PVC pipe is easy to cut, used it for the apex as well.

Ned is still on shutdown and coaches from the ground as he ascends from the roof using Pap's old climbing belt. Irene wants nothing to do with it and found some errands to run. Nick had packed his belt and pockets well, even with extra hardware in case he drops something. Rung by rung, foot by foot, finally gets a rhythm, just lean against the belt it will do its job, legs are a bit shaky after a while, kinda like being alone with Noreen. Sometimes you just gotta hit the pause button and think about Noreen.

"You OK up there?"

"Yeah, just having a moment."

"Oh I bet."

Alright, only halfway there, keep going...rung...rung...they all look alike. He gets to the top and the now-what sets in, a tingly free-floating kinda vibe, draws a breath and doesn't look down but around, so many roofs and trees, some tower tops at his level, and has no idea what he's doing there. Time to get fidgety, reaches for the clamp, massages it through the gray PVC, threads make a vruummmp and it's set, now the clamp with a shorter vrummp, second clamp around the tower, vrmp, now the blasted fasteners, body doesn't feel right, is this how it is for astronauts fixing shit in space?

Subconsciously Nick notices the rusty clamps holding up their 20-ish year old TV areal which probably hasn't been seen this close since it was put up, although it still works great, no telling if the clamp he's presently affixing will ever earn that much oxidation.

He uses an old Craftsman 7/16" combo wrench to seal the deal, doesn't drop any hardware, yayy, then realizes he didn't practiced with this belt near the ground. There's a whiff of honeysuckle now and then.

"Take your time on the down trip."

Nick pauses to think this through, then it hits, duh, just hold on and lean in, the belt slacks, woop, there it is. Before long he's back at the roof, disengages the belt and takes a seat.

"Was it everything you dreamed?"

"Oh and more, just hard to think up there."

"It definitely takes practice. Are you all set for the other stuff?"

"Yeah, thanks Dad."

"Just don't lose any tools or you'll be sleeping up there."

"Actually I'll come down and use a ladder to tie on."

"Good call, you know where it is."

The smaller legs will anchor nicely tied around gutter nails, the larger ones can tie to the fenceposts. Nick keeps hearing a song in his head while climbing around, a female black gospel lead heartily singing a kind of jingle,

"It ain't eeeeeaaaasssy when you're livin' in the...summer-time"

No idea where that came from but it's catchy, although things haven't been hard at all lately, time to refocus, look to what's next, working here and there just to keep a sense of structure, the money is always handy. The Cordobeast needs gas and he's starting to think about downsizing, hadn't brought it up with Ned yet.

He routes the feedline coax into his room, through the window for now and insulated with foam, pops a connector on and powers up. The 7MHz band is a tad noisy but has some decent signals, someone with a desk mic obviously sounds like he's right in the room, some CW ragchews further down. The higher bands have a few light, distant signals, time for a sandwich and nap.

* * * * *

"Are you watching?"

"Yeah just got back here flipped it on, looks like Klingon stuff tonight."

"So I found the concert listings."

"Anything good?"

"Well the newer bands are here and there, but then KISS is not till mid-fall."

"My brothers might want to hit one of their shows."

"And the big deal is Metallica and GNR."

"Bleh...."

"Yeah too much drama, never really warmed up to that Axl. Metallica kicks ass but-"

"What else ya got?"

"I gots...OH - Def Lep will do a couple nights in Chi-Chi at the end of August."

Silence.

"Hon?"

"What are the dates?"

"It's the last weekend in August, looks like Friday then Saturday nights. Why does it sound like you're up to something?"

After a devious laugh, "Can I call you back?"

"Yeah, what are you-"

"Talk in a few, watch the Klingons." Click.

Nick just shakes his head and grabs some grapes from the fridge. About 20 minutes later the phone rings.

"Hey..."

"Do I wanna know?"

"Shush, I just got a hold of Mindy, went to school with her and Rob, they basically fell in love at a Def Leppard show around the time we graduated, they've been so busy, blah blah, she didn't even know they were coming around but might want to go, sound good?"

"Well yeah, sounds like a late night."

"Oh don't be such an old fart, we can split the driving, Rob might do it all even, he's that type. I'm gonna check on tickets tomorrow."

"I'm covering both of ours."

"Nick-"

"No arguing."

She pauses, "This just sounds so cool, I hope it works out."

"So I got an antenna put up today."

"Wow did you climb the tower and everything?"

"Yeah and the ladder a bunch of times."

"Are you feeling it yet?"

"A little, Dad said to keep the Tylenol handy the next few days."

"Any good signals?"

"The usual but they sound better now, just need the ticket to ride."

"I'm glad you have radio sweetie, we all need something like that."

"And someone like you."

She just sighs. "Nick-"

"What? I though of you while climbing."

"Umm, that could go a number of ways."

"Made me feel at ease."

"I'm glad."

"Too bad AC/DC isn't coming around, heard one that made me think of you."

"Do I wanna know?"

"Touch Too Much..."

"Oh I remember that one, is this damn woman gonna drive you insane?"

"Well if I had to lose my mind what better way to go..."

"The mood of that tune is pretty hot, lights down, nuthin' on but music..."

"Can I get a mmm?"

"I think you know too well how to get a mmmm Swanson."

"So what have you been up to this week?"

"God, always with the tease...well, the usual, should hear from the campus soon, they're getting enrollment figured out."

"So how does that work, which classes to offer?"

"They're in the catalog, already technically offered, just have to see who signs up for what."

"Kinda what I thought."

"Well having me close saves 'em from getting someone to drive from main campus three days a week, and that's just awesome."

"Ahh yeah hadn't thought of that."

She lets it linger a few seconds. "Thanks for looking up the concerts babe, That will give us something to look forward to...OH...just remembered...there's been rumbles around here about tent camping down at the lake, would be right before classes start back, maybe two nights on a weekend, if you can handle it."

"Can you handle me for two nights?"

"Listen bucko -"

"That sounds great hon."

They watch a few more minutes of TNG then call it a night.

Checking for Ticks

They turn onto the highway going the direction that Nick has never laid eyes upon before.

Noreen breaks the sound of yet another big engine, "So how was the catch yesterday?"

"Oh yeah...so we get halfway there and happen to hear on the radio that Sangchris is closed because someone was missing."

"No way!"

"So we took a vote and decided to try our luck off the shore at a reservoir, couldn't find a shady spot but Dad nabbed a few sockeye."

"And you two?"

"We stayed out of his way. We didn't have luck with bobbers so we went low and got a few big cats, but no one wants to eat those so we just throw 'em back. Oh, Tim snagged a turtle by the foot."

"At least Ned brought you both back."

"Fed us, too."

"Good deal. So did your brother head back to base yet?"

"Yeah this morning sometime."

"How often does he get back?"

"Holidays like this, 2-3 times a year."

"Your poor mother."

"We try."

She just smiles.

"What?"

"I shouldn't tell you."

"Ve have vays..." Nick starts in a central-casting German accent.

"Alright, Dork...you realize, I was really fighting it the other night, trying to be an adult but also not get too amused at your...creativity, if we can call it that."

"We can."

She looks out the side window and shakes her head.  "Just remember that if I get a bit...feisty..."

"I like 'em a bit feisty. Or even a lot feisty."

"C'mere," and pulls his hand, gets him close for a two-beater with one eye on the road. She has him find some radio and they drive on to the thrift shop.

After dropping off the boxes round back they park to go in for a look. She hits the clothes and he the electronics, records, tapes, and gets intrigued by an old typewriter he'd never use.

She finds a T-shirt and he tries his luck in the men's area, nothing worth while, so they check out and head to the gas station for some coffee. He'd never been in Lindberg before, decent town it seems, not the county seat but almost as big.

"So...forgot to mention, if you wanna stick around till around 7 we're gonna cook out later."

"That works."

"Did you bring the tapes?"

"Put 'em in the car last night, under a seat."

"Excellent," she purrs in a villainous mastermind-ish tone.

She grabs a 7up instead of a coffee, they take a walk through the town, set their drinks on an outside window ledge to check out a second-hand furniture and miscellaneous kind of shop. At one point they agree it would be fun to fill a house with this kind of stuff, things that go together even though they weren't designed together.

They head back to her cabin, return the truck and keys, and he retrieves the MST3k stash from the Cordoba. They get just inside the door when she locks it, gets right in front of him, hands on his elbows, looks him straight in the eye,

"Wanna get a little crazy?"

"How crazy is that?"

She takes his hand and leads him to the bathroom. "We should really check for ticks..."

"Ahh hahh"

"But first, strip."

So they both do. There is just the light from the small window that has the shades drawn. She turns with her side facing him, he tries not to watch.

She points to the commode. "Sit."

So he does. She looks him in the eye and slowly sits astride.

"Remember what you asked for in the lake, Mister Smartie?"

He has to think for a moment, which has become increasingly difficult in recent moments.

"Whatever it is the answer is probably yes."

"Care to spread me?"

Nick slowly creeps his hands down her sides and onto the hips so he can try to manipulate the Promised Land with his thumbs. She reacts slightly despite obvious efforts not to. His junior partner is lingering somewhere beneath all this, trying to figure out what's happening.

"Ready?" she asks.

Nick can only utter a guttural sound.

She blinks and fires, it's tingly warm, his member bobs in the flow, stronger than expected and lasts a good long time, she must have been holding it a while.

"You got something for me, big boy?"

"Serious."

She just continues to stare him down in the low light. She had undone her pony tail at some point and shaken it out, nipples at the ready, that gaze could cut through several yards of solid granite.

He clears his throat and can barely move his arms, but he manages to aim at the Promised Land and eventually start a stream as she rubs it in.

Once he runs out of juice, she pops up and leads him into the shower, actually a free-standing tub fitted with a curtain all around, and starts the water. They take turns soaping up and Nick finally starts regaining some sense of wits. He is the first to rinse off and lets her start the process before pulling her in for a major tongue-twister that she doesn't bother to fight off. He starts working his way downward, greets the twins, then gets her to lift a leg for the next stop.

"Nick you're making my legs weak."

He figures that's her problem, then manages to swivel and start tasting beneath her carriage, and takes a swipe at her back door -

"NICK!"

At this point he feels her sliding, he maneuvers quickly to guide her back down his chest.

"I told you-"

"I'd say it worked out pretty good." He kisses he back of her neck but otherwise can't decide what to do next, then she finds his happy boy, strokes it briefly and takes what sounds like an inspired breath.

"Can I make a request?"

"Anything."

"What we did when we first met."

Nick just stops cold.

"Is that OK? We don't have to hurry this time."

"Wow, yeah, of course."

She turns around for a quick peck. "Well if we can ever get out of here."

But they do, eventually, after toweling off, she grabs something from the back of a drawer and leads him out to the couch. "Here. It should still be good, mostly needed it back when I was trying to wake things up."

"Gotcha," then he takes the lube tube and gets things ready as she positions her front against the back of the couch, which has a large sheet draped over it. He remembers to gently give her some as well. "Ready, dear?" He gets into position, kisses her neck, she turns his way,

"Yes dear."

He inserts as gently as he can, works it in, "Are you ok?"

With a couple muted gasps, "Mmmm-hmmm."

Gradually they work into a rhythm then she leans back and signals to hold still a bit, she can breathe normally now,

"Is it what you remember?"

He cups her breast as before. "Yeah, I can feel something in the same spot, whatever it is."

She laughs a bit, "Okayyyy."

"Sorry, just an observation, you're wonderful, it's so warm."

"You have no idea what this does to me, feels so...kinda electric." She starts to wiggle her hips and they move again. After a few seconds she clears her throat, "Hey boy, you look mighty fine in those tight jeans," in her best attempt at Mr. T by way of Eddie Murphy.

Nick immediately cracks up, has to lean forward, this makes Noreen laugh, she inadvertently pushes him out, once free he gathers her by the waist and starts with the tickle.

"Honey I didn't mean to bust things up, just followed an inspiration."

"Well I did that in the shower so we're even."

"Ok let's try this again, I promise no more impressions."

"Just be yourself."

His erection had faded but came back once she flipped over with her rear in the air, "Let's try this."

Evidently she was still relaxed enough to accept him more naturally this time, "How we don'?"

"Do you hear any complaints?"

"Hopefully this will last a while, I, um, thought about you the other night."

"Really now...well, since we're doing confessions...when I got back from your house the other night, I had to spend some time in that tub with the radio on."

"Did we wash those naughty thoughts away?"

"Let's just say I kept hoping no one could hear me."

"Where's that radio? I think there's an 80s weekend playing somewhere."

"If you want. Then do you want to switch to the side?"

So they disjoin and quickly find the Go Gos, that must be the ticket. Back to the couch and they reset in a spoon, another easy entrance.

"Oh I could do this for hours honey, " she admits.

He finds her breasts, squeezes the ends, massages, repeat, and tries not to interfere with her hand in the ol' brier patch.

"You know I'll take care of you later."

"Well for now you just keep doin'...mmm what you're doin' there sport."

This really is the life. He feels close to her, the lady in the blue dress, sometimes he takes it slow, then speeds up a bit, wiggles around, she feels for his sack, he holds her hips, blows on her neck to see the chillbumps form.

Radio cycles through some Billy Joel, Romantics, early Madonna of course.

"Did you think she was hot when she first hit the scene?"

"Definitely good looking, not sure I understand all the controversy around her though."

"Yeah she likes to make waves, that's for sure."

He had wanted to try the other positions but that wasn't gonna happen. After holding out as long as he could, everything he had seems to pour into her. She gasps, "OH Nicky!", her chillbumps are in full force, he just holds her elbows and gives in to the sweet sting, she's almost to the point of climax herself it would seem.

They hold form as long as he stays in place, then she hops up and instructs him to stay put. After a flush that may have awakened him from a catnap, she returns and touches his hip, then he feels a wet cloth down there.

"Thank you, dear."

Pretty soon she curls up next to him. "How was it?"

"I don't have words."

They kiss and just stay put for a little bit. Finally she asks, "You want some lunch?"

"But we just had dessert."

"Hey it's summertime. I got some strawberries and stuff for sammiches."

"Yeah let's do that."

Right about then the radio went into Elton John pondering why they call it the blues, "Ok we gotta wait a minute..."

"Yeah."

* * * * *

The afternoon finds them still on the couch, starting what has become quite a decent collection of unique MST3k episodes, as Nick has been careful to avoid repetition. It's gotten muggy outside but she has a wall unit that does a fine job and doesn't drown out the TV, blinds are closed.

Noreen just has on a long t-shirt and he just got back into his briefs, she figures no one will bother them. They each doze a bit at some point, then he starts to massage her arms, shoulders, neck, and she seems a bit reticent.

"Everything OK babe?"

"I just hope you know, the closer we get, as much as I need this, it still scares me."

"I'm actually surprised I'm not more afraid. The best conclusion I can come to is that I'm better off getting in deep with you now, then I can be scared later."

"Scared of what?"

"I don't wanna say it."

She turns around and looks him square in the eye. "Say it."

"Losing you."

She squeezes him very tight and tears up a little. "Nick I think we're on the same page."

"I'm glad." He then starts kissing her neck, she smiles, and he fulfills the promise from earlier after stopping the tape and switching back to the radio.

* * * * *

They both come to, more or less, during Billy Idol's White Wedding, and she hops up, "OOH hang on."

After some shuffling in the next room she emerges with a bagged instrument and a small amp, still wearing just the Tshirt that would sometimes allow a glimpse of this or that, but oh those legs.

"Scooch," as she gets her bass set up.

Nick can't wait to hear this.

"Can you kill the radio?"

He does, and she plucks out a relative tune of the strings, then starts in with her own version of White Wedding.

"Not bad."

Then she changes to Flesh For Fantasy, "Remember this one?"

"Oh man, it's been a while. That one used to kinda freak me out."

"Yeah I can see where some would have trouble with the lyrics, but I always took it as some loser wannabe trying to get a good time but can't..ooh, here ya go -" then goes into the funky bridge part.

"OK wow hon."

"Seems like that fall, in 7th grade, the hits were, dunno, kinda cold...back then we called them dirty, but they were adult, Run To You, Survivor came out of nowhere with Cant Hold Back -"

Noreen pauses and looks up from her bass, "Wow you have a good memory. Those tracks were pretty passionate, a lot of the female artists went that way, not just Madonna, howbout Sheena Easton, Strut"

"What was Sugar Walls really about?"

She grins and purrs, "honey stick around long enough-."

Nick blurts, "Remember Naughty Naughty, was it John Paar?"

She grins and attempts a little of the intro, "Ahh fuck it, but yeah sounds like we both got to know all this stuff from radio, we never had cable, let alone MTV out here so I would only get to see my boy Billy on specials or at a friend's house."

"Friday Night Videos."

"Yeah buddy, but no kidding, I coulda let that man just jump out of the TV right on top of me, mmmm."

"Hey."

She sticks out her tongue and goes into Eyes Without A Face.

"How about Sting?"

"Are you kiddin' me?" and then goes into Wrapped Around Your Finger.

"That's cool one."

"Yeah they're more about the songcraft than anything really technical."

"If I had an electric we could try some of those songs."

"I'd like that, and I know where a couple are lying around."

He just liked watching her play. "Takes long arms doesn't it?"

"Yeah for a full scale, it's, what, 3 inches longer than a standard guitar?"

"Sounds right."

She goes into some Talking Heads, "Oh and can't forget my girl Tina, have you heard a lot of the Heads?"

"Some here and there, Burning Down The House."

"We'll have to put some of theirs on and play cards sometime. Here, you give it a try, think I'll get some people clothes on, are you about ready to be social?"

"Yeah, guess I owe Wade a good earful."

She smiles, "Wanna share another beer?"

"Funny, somehow I can picture my dad and Wade standing around holding longnecks and telling tall tales."

"We'll have to arrange that one of these days."

"Are they gonna give us crap for being in here all day."

"I would count on that, yes."

While she gets ready he starts trying to tap out some Great White, a diddy called Mista Bone, having never had much time with a bass except for messing around in the music store.

Noreen asks, "What is that?" He can see her in there putting on deodorant.

"Honey you wouldn't believe me if I told you."

* * * * *

Nick gets home around 9:30, finds his folks in their usual recliners.

"So you stuck around for a meal?"

"Yeah they did a cookout, guess that happens more often than not in the summer when the weather is decent, their gang and a cast of regulars associated with the shop."

"Sounds fun, so how many of her siblings are around?"

"Two of her brothers and families live there on the property, then a couple more are nearby."

"Just how many does she have?"

"Well...whenever I ask I get a barrage of things...we don't know for sure...some went to the circus...sometimes ones we didn't know about crawl out of the woodwork, stuff like that."

Irene grins, "Do we get to meet them at some point?"

"I mentioned that to Noreen and she says you'll get invited to a cookout at some point, just be ready."

"I'm sure it'll be a hoot."

"Did you eat well then?"

"Yeah they did brats and burgers, you know the rest."

"Nothing wrong with that."

He heads upstairs, showers off the evening's sweat and firewood smoke, then dials her number, seems he usually retires about now.

"Hey, didn't expect to hear from you so soon."

"Got to thinking."

"Is that what I smelled burning?"

"Yeah yeah...about the time we met."

"I'm listening."

"This may sound kinda weird, but...OK, that night, after I cleaned up, I saved...something."

She pauses. "Oh, like a memento?"

"Yeah, since I still couldn't believe it was all real, that you were real."

"Nick I totally understand, it's probably something....OK yeah I think I have an idea."

"Yeah, so I have it tucked away and can't get rid of it, even though it seems weird now."

"Sweetie thanks so much for today, and for that night, everything in between, I can't wait for more."

"I had a great time too. Mom wants to meet your gang, I told her to be ready for anything."

"One of these weekends maybe?"

"Yeah."

"So what's on tap for your week?"

"More of the same, we should plan some days before life starts back up."

"I was thinking the same thing babe."

"Howbout that concert, with Tommy Shaw?"

"Ahh yeah, lemme find out, that dude at the record store usually knows what's going on."

"If not them then someone will come around, maybe an outdoor show."

"Then I can show you off."

Pause. "Swanson..."

"What?"

"OK, so tomorrow, I'm gonna hit some writing then call the school tomorrow and check in, will you be around?"

"I work late morning or so, 11 I think."

"Call me when you get home?"

"I'll think about it."

Steak Taters And Gravy

 Tuesday July 7, 1992

Nick had reworked his work schedule for Tuesday off, set his alarm for 7 AM, shut it off to give his head a minute to clear, then fell asleep till just past 8.

He calls Noreen to apologize, and she has to work to keep from laughing,

"Sweetie, you must have needed the sleep, you've been busy lately, go eat something and get here when you can."

So he does just that. She welcomes him at his car with a tight squeeze, lifts her feet and hangs on him for a couple minutes.

"Are you ready?"

"What am I ready for?"

"Come take a look."

Her space is very bright, white walls with brick around the fireplace. She has a space for everything, a music stand, an easel in the corner, a desk, ample sofa that started its life somewhere else, one of those that's probably more of a sleeper than a sitter. Older 19 inch tabletop TV with bunny ears, small kitchen and fridge. He can see into the small bedroom but she doesn't point it out, evidently the bath somewhere in there. And of course there are boxes and bags piled up in front of the fireplace.

"Is it what you pictured?"

"Well, I wasn't sure what to picture, but it's definitely you. Really cozy in here."

"Mmm it is, more so with you here."

He pulls her in for a good one, hands behind her head and lower back, it just needed to happen.

"Okay...let's get our day started...mmm..."

"What does mmm mean?"

"Stick around long enough and we might make a whole new meaning for it."

"Alright let's move some boxes!" He turns toward the door and she smacks his bum.

"Atta boy. We gotta go get the truck keys from Bart, you can get a gander of the shop while we're at it."

"Sounds mechanical."

"It is quite, and it's been a blessing all these years."

They head along well-worn path of smooth stones and a few weeds, grass looks to have been mowed last week with a large deck. The cabin has stone gardens around the front and sides, cleverly low-maintenance. This place has a great vibe.

On up ahead is the metal building with two small garage bays and a larger one with the door closed, must be for trucks, and toward the rear looks like an extension, perhaps where the fabrication part of the name happens. Bart protrudes from one of the open doors with another dude, talking, and when he looks their way there's a sudden twinge of disbelief, it's unmistakably his old buddy Tom Delano.

Nick just freezes and stares. Instinct kicks in. Without knowing it his face takes on the demeanor of deep concentration, as if solving a calculation and wanting to be sure of the next operation before writing it down.

Noreen steps out a head a bit before catching on, turns around, "Nick?"

Consciousness comes back just a bit, in a split second, does he charge in with everything he has and anticipate Delano will do the same? Or just stand here and see what happens.

Delano turns around toward the garage. Nick turns along the side of the garage and starts walking, up ahead are some trees then the brush gets higher, it's not mowed and possibly no need to, who knows, his heart starts to race and he hopes he doesn't get ill, not here, not now, this is supposed to be a nice day with Noreen. Remembering his track training he puts his hands up on his head to make breathing easier, nice easy draws, in the nose, out the mouth, 16 deep breaths a day make a better life, from grade school gym, heart still in his throat, why the hell is this all happening.

He finds a tree and wants to just pour himself onto the far side of it, but ends up with his back to it, somehow it feels like a new friend, strong and opaque. Once he can put his weight against the trunk he draws a deep breath and puts his hands down.

"Nick? Nick, what's wrong?" Noreen hadn't been far behind all along.

Words are nowhere to be seen, just gray, he swallows, steady breaths, tall flaxen grass and the smell of country summer.

"Nick? Sweetie, talk to me, did you know that guy?"

He draws another breath and makes himself look her in the eye, feeling lower than dirt, as if he'd transformed into a different species.

"Yeah."

"Did you two get into a fight or something?"

"Gimme a minute."

"Take all the time you need babe, I just hope it will help to talk it out."

He pauses a little bit and puts his hands on her shoulders, peers into her face, artfully freckled, replete with concern. Finally,

"He lived in town for, well, a cup of coffee, a few weeks, a while back."

"In high school?"

"Yeah."  His breathing was returning to normal and the tunnel vision was starting to spread back out to normal parameters.

"So what happened? Or is it that simple?"

"Well, high school was fine...I mean...he moved away I guess, but then when I worked at the store he was dating some broad who worked there too, receptionist, she was a piece of work, liked to stir up trouble."

"Ewwwww one of those, I think I see where this is going."

"Yeah, and so Delano would come up to me at the store, make threats, I just tried to blow it off, such bullshit."

"It always is."

"One night after work I was just walking to my car, that fucker was out there with his cohorts, he tried to get a reaction but I had my fill and just flipped him off."

"Uh-toh."

"Yeah, so he gets in his car and putts across the lot, surprised that the thing didn't just quit, but it kept coming, I bolt to the car, the wagon, lock the doors, he jumps out, runs up and pounds on the windows."

"God, Nick, did you call the cops?"

"I drove home, called the store, they said they'd keep an eye out for him but he won't be allowed there any longer, they were already sick of him hanging out."

"Was that the end of it?"

"Well...then Mom decided she needed to find his number and talk to him."

She sighs, "Yeah that sounds about right. You know she meant well, babe."

"Yeah I know, just made it awkward. He was upset that I didn't want to talk to him."

"And what should he expect acting like a horse's ass?"

Nick just looks at her. "You're too good for me, babe."

"Wanna get out of these tick-infested weeds? I'm pretty sure he left as soon as he saw you."

"Yeah let's do that."

So they head back, slowly, arms around each other's waist. They get about 20 feet from the rear of building when Bart bursts out, carrying something.

"Hey buddy, you okay? You sure earned this, drink up."

He hands Nick a cold can of Stag, already opened. Not sure what else to do he takes a sip then has to shift hands to shake.

"Did he leave?"

"Yeah man he sure didn't wanna face you, that look you threw almost scared the shit out of me too."

"God, I don't mean to come here and drive off your customers."

Bart just laughs, "Customer? SHEEEIT, that ol' boy ain't never brought any paid work our way, he just shucks and jives, manages to do all the maintenance himself then comes here, tries to hint at stuff he could use done if I had the time, you know what I mean, as if I ever got bored enough to mess with ground effects on that pussy-ass MR2, did you hear how it runs? Anyway...so, you two got some bad history there?"

"Yeah, was just telling her...."

"Alright, shoot, yeah, I gotta get back to it, well hey, she'll do the driving, lemme get the keys - Nicko you'll have to tell me over another beer sometime, I'll buy!"

"You got it, thanks man."

Bart heads back into the garage, they keep walking around the side.

"You don't drink do you?"

"Have never tried the stuff, kind of nervous with family history."

"Understood, I'll split it with you, do you like it?"

"Yeah actually it's mellow, kinda sweet?"

"That was my first brew, story for another time. Just sip a mouthful at a time you'll be fine as long as you had breakfast."

"Had a huge breakfast, glad I didn't lose it up there, but this was just like an adrenaline thing."

"Sounds like it. Well, now that you've faced that shitbag you'll be that much stronger."

"That which doesn't kill us..."

"Although I should have a tad more respect for him, looks like he has a kid and maybe a wife, she's usually with him."

"How often does he stop by?" He takes another swig and hands it to her.

"Every few weeks maybe, but I have a feeling it'll be a while if ever."

"Yeah I could go a lifetime..."

She takes a couple gulps then he does too. "Heh, I was about due for some coffee but maybe when we get where we're going."

"Absolutely, we can get whatever in town."

"I figured, brought some foldin' money."

They get to the garage bays, there are a few guys working, most appear to be hired guns popping a lube gun, another balancing a tire. They stick to the side and he does his best to conceal the beverage, feels like he should have goggles on or something.

"Is the metal shop in back?"

"Yeah, we take in jobs here and there, stamping, cutting, some sign work here and there."

"Sounds like it kinda rounds things out."

"It really does, the two sides complement each other well."

Bart walks up with the truck keys, "You are clear for takeoff, have fun kids."

"Thank you sir," as she looks at the keys as a girl would at precious gems, or maybe the beer just makes it seem that way.

They find the truck, pull it around, load up, somehow managing between the two of them to cap off that Stag.

"Steak Taters And Gravy, " Nick says to the empty can before stashing it in the Cordoba.

Noreen giggles a little.

"What? Oh, are you thinking about...later?"

With eyes as emeralds sparkling in the sun locked onto his, she gracefully makes her way to where he stands, pauses for a second, leans in for a two-beat smooch. "Get your fine ass in that truck."

Sunday Evening

"So you guys are going fishin' tomorrow?" Noreen asks. She called Nick back after the storm died down.

"We'll see, if this stuff stays away."

"Yeah it was pretty crazy, I get freaked out holding a phone with all the lightning."

"Tis the season, yeah, if I had more antennas I'd have to unplug, but I leave my little wire unhooked most of the time anyway."

"So have you been doing much listening?"

"Actually yeah, seems I'd rather find some Morse Code - well, they call it CW, and have that on to chill or play games or whatever."

"What's CW stand for?"

"Continuous Wave -"

"Hmmm."

"Well since it's a single tone, and you just toggle it off an on for the signal."

"Ahh that makes sense, because other sounds are, well, not so continuous."

"Something like that, but yeah it's getting easier to understand folks on there, some of them talk the good part of an hour about whatever, like they used to live close but one moved away. Usually they just give a weather report, brag about the rig and antenna and power, that kinda thing."

"Sounds about right. So are you going to get the license or whatever?"

"Seems it's more of a when than an if at this point."

"Let me know if you ever need any help, to practice, a quiz master or whatever hon."

"You'd bust me to a pulp."

"Only for your own good."

"Well it's mostly multiple choice these days so we'll see, plus the CW test, but I should have that pretty close, just need to practice with Pap's old tapes. So did you guys have fun yesterday?"

"Yeah the bugs weren't too bad and no one lost a finger."

"You sound disappointed."

"Wished someone could have been with me."

"Anyone I should know about?"

"Well...I have a surprise, and we can make it up..."

"Should I be nervous?"

"Maybe...how would you like to see inside the cabin?"

"Um, does that mean something dirty that I can't decipher?"

"Stop it, Dummy I'm serious..."

"So you're ready to share your space?"

"Yes, it was...well...I've been busy..."

"I thought you always kept busy one way or another, you teacher types."

"Nick, I had to make myself clean this place up."

"Oh."

She sighs, "you know I've been on my own for so long, and I didn't know what all to keep, and now this is a bright new season and I got inspired to weed out some things, box up some clothes to donate, stuff like that."

"I hope you didn't box up the blue dress."

Silence.

"Noreen?"

He hears a sniff.

"Sweetheart, I'm sorry-"

"You're fine, I didn't think you remembered that."

"Umm, some things I'll never forget."

"I really miss you right now you piece of shit, you know that?"

"Now that sounds like my girl."

After a moment she pulls it it back together, "Alright, for your information I still have it, that's all you need to know."

"I'm glad."

"So, moving on -"

"Actually -"

She pauses. "Yes, dear?"

"Well, I've been meaning to mention something, not sure when is the right time."

"You're married with kids, I KNEW it."

"C'mon, Baby, it's not like that, just listen -"

"Yeah yeah, tell it too the judge...alright what's on your mind sport?"

"That night...."

She sighs again. "Nick, just say it, I think we're strong enough, whatever it is."

"Well, I....I kinda thought you were a bit older than you are, at first."

Longer pause. "Nick that's fine, and knowing you I find that quite flattering."

"Good."

"Do you wish I were older?"

"Not now, since that would mean we don't have as much time together."

Silence.

He waits.

"Nick, I don't know what to say. And that doesn't happen often."

"Well that's the way it is."

"Okay...wow...hon you just turned me into a pile of mush, the girl inside me, I hope you know, you just took things to a whole new level."

Nick doesn't know what to say.

"Alright, you ok?"

"Yeah, just listening to you."

"You're too good at that, Mister...ok, wow, well, what I was going to say before you dropped two bombs on me-"

"Sorry."

"Nick please don't apologize, as long as you are sincere, which I've come to know that you are honest to a fault."

"Lots of faults."

"Ok stop it, just...ok...hmmm...wow I'll sleep well tonight and with a huge smile, can you come see me soon?"

"Absolutely, Tuesday I'm all yours."

"Get here as early as you want, we can get breakys even, but I'll have a pickup arranged so we can take this stuff to the thrift store, then later on we can...celebrate." He can hear the smile in her voice.

"That works."

"We can grab a movie or bring one, whatever."

"Howbout those tapes I've been making?"

"Ahh SWEEET, forgot about that, perfect."