Solomon River, Kansas – Easter Sunday Afternoon, March 26, 1989
Jessie was the first to arrive. She pedaled hard down the country road, backtracking the way she had come when she had first discovered the abandoned bridge. When she arrived, the empty Coke can still lay at the trunk of the sprawling oak tree that they sat underneath and talked. I talked, she thought, I talked about men, actually boys, none of these guys know anything about life. They're so naïve. He doesn’t see what’s coming. I can't open my heart to anyone. That trust was broken the night . . . the night that . . .
She shuddered and a crow cawed as it flew from the oak through the leaf canopy. She kicked at the Coke can placing a dent in it, and it rolled down the bank into the stream. She watched it meander between smooth boulders exposed from the spring drought. The low rumble of a car approached and she looked up to see blue metallic flashing between the trunks on the streamside, pothole-dotted one-lane road. She tossed her auburn hair back over her shoulders and stood with her hands on her hips, one leg splayed to the side. Hot pink. She was wearing the hot pink shorts cutoff and frayed to just below her hips. A white sports bras against her bronzed body crisscrossed in back and held her snuggly. She would have preferred the rope sandals, but that was out of the question to pedal the several miles to their rendezvous. Black Nike running shoes with the swoop on their sides, accentuated her taut calves.
Bobby pulled up behind her bike, cut the engine, and then reached into the back seat. Sliding out, he cradled the brown paper bag in his arm.
“Just the two of us?” he said.
“I invited Kendra and Irene and their beaus. Don’t know who will show. Irene has family over. It’s Easter ya’ know. Family stuff. Don’t have no family, so here I am. I think Kendra will be able to show, it’s just her and her mom since Ken decided to stay in Daytona for the new job.
“Dad’s already tying one on,” Bobby said. “I was able to snarf some beer from the fridge. He buys a case at a time, so he won’t miss these. It’s PBR. Not my fave, would’ve preferred a Bud, but who’s complaining, it’s free.” He pulled out a can and snapped the tab with one hand. He took a guzzle and then handed the can to Jessie.
“Drink and drive or for me drink and pedal?”
“Hey, I only brought six. If Kendra and Tommy show, that’s just . . . ”
Jessie interjected, “One and a half a piece. Higher math, I know.”
“Yeah, right. Anyway, in a couple hours we’ll be fine. I can put your bike in the trunk if you want.” He sidled up to her for a kiss. She slid her leg around the back of his and pulled him in close.
“Got something growing in there?” She planted her lips on his and tongued her way in. Bobby slid his open hand down the small of her back stopping just above the crease in her buns. Jessie let out a slight moan as their kiss grew in passion.
She reached behind her and took his free hand and led him down to the cool water. Taking off her Nike’s she dipped her feet into the current. Bobby sat cross-legged and took another guzzle and passed it to Jessie.
“I don’t really like beer. You know I like vodka. The punch at the party . . . ” She stopped short as the image of the wailing girl came to mind. “Well anyway, I’d rather be alone with you here than at a crazy party. Too close, Bobby. We were too close to getting caught. My philosophy, what Mammie don’t know can’t hurt me. Ride the line, but don’t cross it . . . and my line is as far as you want it to be.”
“Oh yeah?” He watched her profile as she gazed at the stream. “There’s a small pool of water upstream in an eddy. It’s carved out perfect for a few to sit in and dangle their legs.”
“Really? And what did you have in mind?”
“It’s getting hot, ya know?”
“Yeah. Broke a sweat getting here.”
His eyes went to her bra. No cleavage exposed this time.
“Well, I’m sheddin’ my shirt. Come on, it’s just a short walk upstream.” He pulled off his boots, tossed his socks, and rolled up his jeans. Stepping in the water he said, “The rocks underneath are slippery. Here, give me your hand.”
They took precarious steps through the knee-deep water, looking beneath the surface for their next, their arms waving as they tried to maintain balance.
“Woah!” Jessie’s hand flung out of Bobby’s and she twisted to regain her balance, but landed on her butt as she splashed in the water. Her arms behind holding her up, she laughed, water dripping from her cheeks. “Oh, this feels good, real good. You ought to try it, Bobby.” She took her hand and splashed his jeans. He got down on his knees and dunked her. She pushed herself up and grabbed his arms and pulled him back. They tossed and turned, splashed and tumbled, laughed and giggled as they soaked each other, and then he held her in his arms just above the water.
“Kiss me or dunk,” he said.
She pulled his shoulders with a force that brought him on top of her and they plunged together in the churning stream. She kissed him underwater and turned to roll on top of him. A long kiss . . . He began to jerk and push and rolled from beneath her, gasping as his head reached the surface. She laughed and stood, pushing the wet strands from her face. “Better ya stop smoking if you want to last me out.” She took off unabated through the water creating a splash, and then bent-kneed to float and paddled upstream. Seeing the eddy, she stroked to the edge and found the water hole he had described.
“Wow. This is nice. Just like a hot tub only this one’s refreshingly cool. My feet are tingling at the bottom.”
“Better not let the snake bite you.”
“Eeek!” She pushed up from the ledge and pulled her feet up to sit cross-legged.
“Just kiddin’, just kiddin’. If there were as snake in that hole, we would’ve been bitten long ago.”
“So, you’ve been here before with someone . . . Lauren?”
“Hey, after Daytona, don’t ya think she’s out of the picture. Come on. You’ve had guys before. Let’s make this about us.”
“How so?” she said, teasing him as she leaned back and looked up into the trees.
“Well, for starters, I’m taking off these jeans, they’re heavy soaked.”
“You commando?”
“You kiddin’?” He shed his jeans and exposed his red boxers clinging to his legs and everything else.
“Wow. Guess you don’t need to.” Her eyes followed him up to his bare and sculpted pecs. “And I guess if we were playing strip poker, we ought to be even.”
His eyes widened at the thought as he slid his legs in the pool. She held his gaze, his eyes not leaving hers as she reached behind her with both hands. She brought them forward, then crossed her arms and slowly edged the straps to her shoulder caps. She stopped and put her hands in her lap. Bobby’s eyes were glued to hers in animated anticipation. She slipped her shoulders forward . . .
Borderline feels like I’m going to lose my mind
You just keep on pushing my love over the borderline
Madonna, “Borderline”
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Copyright 2017 © Jeff Cambridge
Excerpt from PURSUIT, a novel by Jeff Cambridge, a writer of transformational fiction with real characters in real-life tell stories that change lives in the readers as the characters transform.
This is a pre-published scene.
To read the scenes sequentially, begin with
“PURSUIT: A Novel – Prologue”
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This novel is a work of fiction. Any references to real events, businesses, organizations, and locales are intended only to give the fiction a sense of reality and authenticity. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
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