by Ronn Fryer
“......”
“I mean, I wish you’d have confided in me.”
“.............”
“I am your friend, no matter what.”
“....................”
Olivia didn’t lift her head. She simply continued staring through the depths of the Au Sable. Despite everything, it had turned out to be a beautiful day. The sky was clear blue and the sun glistened off the flowing water, sprinkling the surface with liquid sequins. The trees and undergrowth lining the shore displayed a seemingly infinite variety of green, a botanist’s dream.
Olivia, nevertheless, wanted to do nothing other than run back to her little cabin, slip into bed, crawl under the covers and disappear.
“Livvy, Talk to me!”
“......................”
“Please?!”
“...............I can’t,” Olivia uttered feebly.
“Yes you can,” Tina reassured her.
A doe and her fawn grazing in a small clearing looked up as the Rebel slipped by. Neither girl saw them. The deer weren’t concerned by their presence. Canoes were a common sight along the river, although they usually announced themselves well in advance. This one slid by so quietly, the whitetail never raised her flag, merely twitching one ear toward the sound of Tina’s gentle paddle-stroke.
The canoe passed another hundred feet before Tina spoke again.
“Liv, I know you’re hurting, God, you must have been mortified.”
Spying the tip of a stump ahead, Teans paused long enough to slide down her polarized Kate Spades. With the surface glare diminished, the log revealed its length and position. A quick twist of Tina’s paddle adjusted their direction, sending them toward the fast water on the left.
“...but,” she continued, “You’ll get over it.”
Olivia turned back, facing her friend for the first time since they’d shoved off. “No, I won’t!”
“Yes you will,” Tina corrected her.
Ruthie’s favorite cashier, the girl with the amazing body, perfect hair, and breathtaking tattoos was convinced her friend would get past this – time heals all wounds, and such. Olivia’s pain, however, would never be erased with Hallmark sentiments. Tina didn’t know Livvy’s past; couldn’t possibly imagine how much she’d endured. The sun may have tried its best to dry her, but this was hardly the first time she’d been soaked – her entire life had been drenched in spiteful, vindictive downpours as long as she could remember. It was a wonder she hadn’t drowned in a sea of intolerance long before she’d ever dared defy the river. All of this, of course, transpired prior to Bobby’s little bout of disapproval.
Summoning whatever courage she could salvage, Olivia inhaled, exhaled and then inhaled again, finally lamenting, “You just don’t understand...”
Tina, intent on convincing her friend to the contrary, that it was Olivia, herself, who failed to grasp the situation, countered, “Liv, you just risked your life! While everybody stood on shore, blabbering, you jumped in. I tried, but I failed, so did Stacy – You saved Ramona! I was scared out of my mind when you first went under. If anything would have happened... But I’m so proud of you! Don’t you see?”
Tina stopped paddling, hesitating only slightly before she added, “Yeah, okay, you’re right. There’s definitely some things I don’t understand, but I do know one thing – you’ll always be my absolute best girl-friend!”
Chapter 44 – No Inclination Required
After emptying her heart, Tina felt tons better. Understandably, Olivia still wasn’t very talkative but the silence was no longer quite so awkward. Livvy teared up the moment she heard the word girlfriend. They were, however, basically happy tears.
Turning around to squeeze her friend’s hand, Livvy dropped her paddle in the river. Tina couldn’t contain her smile. Fishing it out wasn’t very tricky and a little comic relief helped dissipate a good deal of the lingering tension. Rather than release Olivia’s hand, however, Tina slipped her paddle to her lap, reached out and snagged the plastic blade of Livvy’s with her free hand as it drifted by.
“Pretty nifty, huh?” she bragged, hoisting it in.
Livvy tear-sniffled, then concurred, “You’re my hero.”
Extending the paddle’s handle to her canoe-mate, Tina shamelessly boasted, “That’s me – Wonder Woman!”
The levity helped to defuse some of Olivia’s anguish. And, although the remainder of the trip downriver remained quiet, the silence wasn’t quite so tense. Treacherous as the Au Sable might be in one instance, it could put the most expensive therapist’s couch to shame, the next. The meandering river might not technically possess magical healing powers, but gliding over its shimmering surface was nonetheless therapeutic. It had a way of soothing the soul; lulling the mind from trampling over raw emotions. Better to fall into the river’s hypnotic spell – surrender to the gentle flow augmented by kingfishers, turtles, geese, and a chorus of frogs singing off-key.
Olivia desperately needed to give the rewind button a rest, but first there was one last confession she had to make. Turning back, she faced her friend and admitted. “I lost your knife.”
“Oh sweetie,” Tina replied tenderly, “we’ll find another. Besides, I think it went for a pretty good cause. The river can have it as a reminder.”
Sensing the ambiguity in Livvy’s faint smile, however, Tina quickly clarified, “To never to mess with you again.”
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ * ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The other girls had already loaded up and left the livery by the time Tina and Olivia reached the River Road Bridge. Stacy’d left a note on Tina’s windshield saying the girls were hungry, (the contents of the cooler still sloshing about in its remaining ice), inviting them to meet at McDonald’s.
More than a little surprised by her inclusion, Olivia would rather starve than face them again. Hopefully they’d managed to shove their eyes back in their sockets enough to read the menu. She nevertheless urged Tina to go, even though the group would most likely already be back to Old Orchard by the time the Rebel was loaded.
Getting the yellow canoe home was not the easiest task. First they had to drag it onto the shore of the little park on the other side of the bridge. Once they pulled it up beside the closest wooden picnic table, they locked it with Tina’s bicycle chain. Then they hopped into her Buick, the faded blue barely visible through the layer of dust, and drove the six and a half miles back to the Rea Road launch. There, Tina dropped Olivia off at her truck which had been waiting forlornly at the far end of the gravel lot.
After Olivia choked, cranked, and threatened the ancient Chevy to life, she followed the Buick back to Tina’s house on Alvin Road. Once there, Tina swapped her cover-up for a dry blouse and rejoined Olivia in the truck’s cab. Tired and hot, they made their way back to the park in Oscoda, ready to load the canoe.
In spite of weary muscles, they managed to hoist, load, and secure the Rebel before ferrying Tina, once again back to Alvin Road. With the Banana sticking halfway out of truck bed, Olivia reduced their speed significantly from the previous fifty miles per.
When the last bungee was unhooked and the craft finally mounted on its storage pegs, Tina took a breath and said, “I know what you’re thinking.”
Dabbing a streak of perspiration from her forehead, Livvy took the bait. “You do?”
“Yeah,” Tina replied, “You’re thinking it would have been a whole lot easier just renting a canoe like the other girls.”
Looking slightly shocked, Olivia answered, “It never crossed my mind.”
“Yeah,” her friend agreed, “it never crossed my mind too!”
It had been a long, exhausting day. Before Olivia was allowed to leave, however, she had to endure a prolonged hug from Tina. She hardly minded. Where a thousand words failed, hugs expressed the one thing that truly mattered. And Tina’s hugs were the absolute best. Despite her desperate craving for solace, it was the one thing capable of postponing Olivia’s departure.
And, although she’
d never seen Ramona’s ode to Tina’s sole embrace, Livvy would most certainly have agreed wholeheartedly.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ * ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
L'un a tout simplement besoin d'une impulsion
aucun penchant nécessaires
pour faire place au plaisir d'un corps de manière
si divine à se retirer d'une
manière artistiquement vêtue d'
armes rend beaucoup plus qu'uninclined
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ * ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
One simply needs a pulse,
no inclination required
to delight embracing a body so divine
though to pull away from one
so artistically attired
makes arms much more than uninclined
Chapter 45 – Insufficient Evidence
Olivia drove through Foote Site, turned right on Rea Road, crossed over the river again and pulled into the little dirt road to her cabin without once using her conscious mind. Her thoughts, however, traveled a great deal farther. Even as tired as her body may have been, it was in far better shape than her head. Picking an outfit this morning, she could have never envisioned such a day!
After she dragged herself out of the truck, one weary leg at a time, she collected her mail. Then, the only other thing keeping her from the bed that beckoned so sweetly, was feeding the kids. Well past their days on formula, they wasted no time gobbling up the tasty paté in their bowl.
Perpetually hungry, Arvy, devoured his share, soon sporting a few clumps of 9 Lives on his whiskers. The additional strands of hair jetting from his snout were evidently from one of the makeup brushes Tina had given her. The remains of its dismembered body lie mangled on the kitchen floor. Any prey that had huddled that long, of course, was simply begging to be captured.
In spite of the loss, mom wasn’t too upset. Tina would understand, her friend was obviously forgiving. At this crucial stage in the kits development, hunting was much more than a simple game, it was a major step in self-preservation. Livvy could always get a new makeup brush.
Once her babies were fed, Olivia glanced at the mail. Along with a flyer from a local pizzeria, there was a letter from the forest service. It didn’t bode well. Fearing that it might be a termination notice, the dismayed employee simply tossed it on the kitchen table, deciding to deal with it later. Too stressed to eat anything, she finally crawled into bed and stayed there for the rest of the day.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ * ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The following morning Olivia read her letter up in the tower. It confirmed her worse fears, regretfully informing her that fire towers were, indeed being phased out – along with her job. Well, how very damn frickin’ wonderful! Even coming as no big surprise, the news hit her like one more haymaker. Stuffing the letter unceremoniously into her backpack, she wondered – shouldn’t there be some kind of quota?
Convinced that she’d already endured everything she could possibly stand, her depressing reverie was interrupted by Sheriff Bart. Impatient to solicit her attention, he’d begun banging on the tower’s metal support beams.
Peering down through one of the small square glass panes, she saw him motioning her to come down – his animated gestures clearly appropriate for whatever dimwitted toddler was bestowed the task of protecting the state’s cherished woodlands.
After Olivia drained her remaining energy making the descent, rung by narrow rung, Bart, (noticeably peeved by his patience being tested), explained that assault charges for her attack on the local youths weren’t going to be filed. After three months of exhaustive investigation there seemed to be a lack of evidence. Just how many man-hours that exhaustive investigation entailed; or, how many crullers it required, was fairly easy to surmise.
Fortunately, for her sake, the boys came from good Christian families, able to forgive. Officer Burt, however, would personally be keeping an eye on her. Just cuzin she worn that green une-form, it didn’t give her no special privileges.
“Fer you infermation,” the Sheriff stated, “I knowed them boys since they’s kids. Yeah, maybe they get a little rambunctious at times, but they’s good boys, both of ‘em.’ ”
Hiking up his belt on cue and looking Olivia straight in the eye, in case she somehow missed his drift, he added, “Gonna have us a real good team this year. Them twos the best ballplayers we’ve had in a damn sight. Folks round here ain’t gonna cotton to no hus...body, stirrin’ things up.”
At more than twice her weight, Bart straightened up and looked at Olivia a good twelve inches below him, trying to detect signs of her comprehension. Even if the case was closed for now, that didn’t take her off his list of ‘usual suspects.’
Information that might be pertinent at a later date could be gained by interrogation. And, like any experienced lawman, he knew the intricacies of that interrogation – standing with the sun at your back, subjecting the subject to the harsh light of day. Intimidation, often as not, ev’ry bit as effective as incarceration!
With her mind reviewing the letter she’d read just a few moments earlier, Olivia let out an audible sigh. Without the emotional strength left to fight a strong breeze, she simply said, “No Sheriff, I don’t intent to stir things up.”
Bart studied her a moment, making damn sure she wasn’t toying with him. Satisfied, he said, “Well that’s real good.”
Officer Bart removed his hat, ran his fingers through the remaining hair on his head, then secured his cap once again. No telling if the gesture was for effect, or simply to stimulate his memory. Before he left, however, he said, “There’s ‘nother thing.”
Rather than comment, Olivia raised her hand above her eyes, trying to shade them from the sun, and simply waited; her better judgement chanting – don’t do anything, don’t say anything, just let him say his piece and leave.
“I heard from confee-dential sources that you been keeping wild animals, foxes, as pets.”
Naturally, that was against the law, she thought – right up there with murder and rape; nothing excusable like mere physical assault. Officer Burt went on to elucidate that, even though a misdemeanor, violation of the statute would levy a hefty fine. Might even be other consequences too.
Olivia looked the sworn officer of the law, square in the eye, and lied.
Foxes? No, she wasn’t harboring any foxes. Didn’t they all have rabies and attack children? There was obviously some mistake, maybe somebody was making a joke. She didn’t know anything about any foxes. Of course, if her word wasn’t acceptable, he was more than welcome to climb up the one hundred foot ladder and see for himself. He should be careful though, the rungs were slippery and she’d heard people had sustained serious injury from falling even partway up.
He gave her a look usually reserved for the most hardened criminals.
Chapter 46 – I Hate Rabbits
The girls were leaving on Friday, just as soon as they could break camp and get things loaded. Knowing what a pain packing can be, the last thing Tina wanted to do was get in the way; saying goodbye was going to be hard enough. Despite the short time they’d all known each other, some real bonds had formed, especially between her and Stacy. So, Tina decided to see them off on Thursday evening.
The girls were circled around the campfire, their last, when she pulled up. Stacy was perched on the picnic table wearing jeans and an off-white, long sleeve t-shirt. Nicole, occupied the place next to her, attired quite differently. Her long sleeve T being green, touting Michigan State in off-white letters. Courtney, Keisha and Jennifer, meanwhile, were sitting across from them in bag chairs, trying to decide if it was too soon for s’mores. Only Ramona was off to the side by herself, quietly ensconced in her latest poem.
Despite Tina’s curtness along the fateful riverside event, everyone seemed delighted to see her, although reactions obviously varied. All the same, she made her way around the group, collecting hugs from everyone, promising to accept all friend requests. They were glad to see her, just uncomfortable with the proverbial elephant they preferred to leave back
at the river.
In the days since the trip, each girl had plenty of time to review (and rationalize), her own behavior. Still, even assuming that time does heal all wounds, getting over such a traumatic event was going to take a while. Like the river, everything seemed fine on the surface. The calendar, however, had quite a bit of work to do before this much water could pass under the bridge.
Courtney, nevertheless, didn’t lose a minute of sleep over any of it. The cooler catastrophe certainly wasn’t her fault, and everybody knew she was a terrible swimmer. Besides, it was Stacy who made them switch canoes in the first place. As for Tina’s friend – whoever, or whatever she was – any comments the blonde made afterwards were absolutely warranted.
What a shock it’d been! The whole revelation was weird and just plain sick! Maybe Tina didn’t know in advance; might not have, considering her initial reaction, although you never really knew. She could have been aware all along, even into that kinky shit – these days, anything was possible. Either way, it just wasn’t Courtney’s problem.
Keisha, fortunately, didn’t have much guilt to deal with. There really wasn’t anything she could have done. A mountain goat could’ve barely navigated the shoreline back to Horseshoe Bend. Her poor shins had gotten scratched to ribbons even before the little island’s briar patch. As for the revelation about Olivia, Kiki had definitely gotten an earful about the shocking ‘exposure,’ but it all seemed surreal. Keisha was just relieved that Ramona was okay; extremely grateful that the tower person had managed to save the day.
Both Jennifer and Nicole, however, had been struggling, each in her own way. Regret is devious; just when you think it’s gone, it sneaks back when everyone else is asleep.
Jennifer, who considered herself such a free-spirited flower child, was silently battling some internal shame. The girl who always saw the best in everyone couldn’t get past her repugnance. Why did she feel this way? Feelings like that were really inexcusable, especially toward the only one who had truly risked their life.