Joie de Vivre

by Micheala Lynn

  Riley looked aghast. “Of course not.”

  Lisa giggled at Riley’s shocked expression. “Well, I give up. What is it then?”

  Riley adopted a haughty look and crossed her arms, her nose up in the air. “I’m not sure I want to tell you. You’ll just laugh.”

  “Oh, come on, Riley. I promise I won’t.” She held up three fingers. “Scout’s honor.” She loved the comfortable ease growing between her and Riley. It seemed as if they had been friends for years.

  “Okay, okay, as long as you don’t.” Riley leaned across the center console, cupped her hand to her mouth and lowered her voice. “Now don’t tell anyone but at the moment I’m listening to Harry Potter.”

  “Harry Potter?” Lisa stared back, her mouth hanging open. That was the last thing she would have expected. “Are you yanking my leg?”

  Riley had her hand to her chest, vigorously shaking her head. “No, I’m serious. I love Harry Potter. I have the whole series.”

  “I would never have guessed that the brilliant and talented anthropologist Kate Riley would be a Potterphile.” She couldn’t help herself as she began to laugh.

  Riley merely shrugged. “What can I say? I told you it was my one guilty pleasure.”

  “Riley, Riley, Riley…you’re a never-ending source of amazement.” Lisa continued to chuckle as she watched the woman in her passenger seat. Despite what she may have thought initially, there was definitely more to Riley than met the eye.

  * * *

  Riley stared out the window as they rolled onto campus. Even though she spent more time here than at home it was still a strange sensation to be here to watch a football game. Of course she was always attending special events, guest lectures and even last year caught the Phantom of the Opera at the Wharton Center, but this? She had never been much of a sports person unless she included cycling and even that she hadn’t had much time for in the last couple years. However, it would be interesting if only from an anthropological standpoint.

  But nothing could have prepared her for the scene when they pulled into the parking lot. All she could do was gasp.

  Everywhere were scattered brightly colored tents, lawn chairs, grills with smoke pouring out of them and off on the right one group of students was even kicking back in a large kiddie pool. And the people—oh my God she couldn’t believe the people. They were dressed in a myriad of colors, sometimes on the same individual, and some even sported elaborate face paint. It was like the modern equivalent of a medieval Renaissance festival. The only thing missing was a barker hawking yak meat and blood wine and the fool dancing in the street. On the right, they passed a young woman in a rainbow spandex bodysuit wearing a jester’s hat and doing cartwheels. She had been wrong—they even had the fool.

  “Holy crap, Lisa. Is it always like this?” She tried her best to keep the shock out of her voice, but was failing miserably.

  “The crowd today looks a little more festive than usual but yes, it’s always like this. Most of these people have probably been here since seven this morning.”

  “I thought we’re going to see a football game, not…not…” She couldn’t even think of how to describe it.

  “Welcome to college football, Riley. This is as much a part of the game as the players and fans in the stadium.” Lisa gestured out the window. “This is tailgating, that time-honored tradition of celebrating before the game.”

  About halfway down the row they stopped as a car backed out. Once clear, Lisa zipped her sporty car into the newly-vacant spot. “Wow, talk about getting lucky.”

  “No kidding. I was thinking we might have to use my faculty parking lot clear across campus, but that would have been a really long walk.”

  Lisa chuckled again. “Actually, that might not have been so bad. It’s been forever since I’ve walked around campus, not since…” She looked out the side window, a far off, dreamy look on her face.

  It took Riley a second to put the pieces together. One moment Lisa had been laughing and having a good time and the next she was a million miles away. Not since what? What had Lisa been about to say? But then it dawned on her. Lisa hadn’t walked around campus since she had lost her partner. She wanted to kick herself. Lord knows she wasn’t the best with stuff like this. She certainly hadn’t wanted to bring up that sense of loss for her. As Susan so often pointed out, what she had gained in intellectual prowess, she lacked in interpersonal skills. Still, she felt she should do something so she reached over and gently laid her hand on Lisa’s forearm. She waited until Lisa turned, then offered her as friendly a smile as she could. “Hey, tell you what, Lisa. When the leaves start changing, I’ll give you a personal tour through campus and show you all the cool things most people don’t even know are here.”

  Lisa gave her head a small shake and her eyes seemed to clear. She patted Riley’s hand on her arm. “You know, Riley, I think that’s the nicest offer I’ve had in a long time. You’d better be careful or I just might take you up on it.”

  “You’d better or I’d look pretty stupid walking around campus giving a personal tour to myself.”

  This earned her a playful slap on the shoulder and a genuine laugh. “Okay, okay, Riley, I promise I’ll take you up on it. Cross my heart.”

  “Good.” Riley gave her head a sharp nod.

  Lisa then took her hand in hers and gave it a gentle squeeze. “So, what do you say we hop out and go watch the Spartans destroy the Broncos?”

  For a brief moment, Riley felt her head grow light at the touch of Lisa’s hand. It had been a long time since she had felt like that, but did it really mean anything? For all she knew her blood sugar was getting low. She hadn’t eaten anything that morning so that was probably it. Yes, that was certainly it. But still… She glanced down at Lisa’s hand and returned the squeeze. “I can’t wait to see this ritual.”

  * * *

  By the time they had found their seats it was time for the kickoff. It couldn’t have been a more splendid early September afternoon. With the temperatures in the high seventies and not a cloud in the sky, it was just right. Lisa looked around at the crowd and down at the vibrant green field.

  It was going on two years since she’d been here, just before Jessie got sick. That afternoon came flooding back. It had been the Michigan State versus Michigan game, that classic in-state rivalry. They had been cheering and jumping up and down—State was up by a field goal in the late fourth quarter—when Jessie suddenly clutched her chest and became short of breath. They had even joked about it, saying that Jessie had cheered herself right into an asthma attack even though she had never had asthma before. But looking back, that had been the first time they had noticed something out of the ordinary. Even the fatigue that Jessie had been experiencing all summer hadn’t registered. Why would it? Jessie was always working hard, so when she felt a little more drained than usual, they didn’t give it a second thought. How were they to know at that game that less than a year later, Jessie would be gone?

  Lisa did her best to push the thought away and turned to Riley who was staring out across the stadium wide-eyed. “So, what do you think?”

  Riley continued to gape out over the crowd. “Wow.” She swallowed. “Wow.” It seemed to be all she could say.

  Lisa threw an arm around her shoulders. “I know what you mean. It’s pretty impressive, isn’t it?”

  Riley finally turned to her, still wide-eyed. “You can say that again, Lisa. It’s absolutely huge in here and the crowd…wow. It reminds me of what it must have been like when the Colosseum in Rome—or as it’s also known, the Flavian Amphitheater—was in its heyday. It’s estimated it could hold between fifty thousand and eighty thousand spectators.”

  “Riley, you’re a never-ending fount of information but isn’t that more ancient history than anthropology?”

  “Not really. Anthropology takes a broad, holistic approach, studying all aspects of human history, social relations and culture. Therefore we work closely with many disciplines, everything from bi
ology to linguistics to ancient history.”

  “I never realized anthropology was such a wide field.”

  “Most people don’t but that’s why I like it. It incorporates so many different things, there’s always something new to learn.”

  By now, the teams had taken the field and with the kickoff the crowd was on its feet. The Spartans caught the ball and ran it back to the forty. Both teams were again lining up. Lisa pulled Riley in close and yelled over the crowd into her ear. “So, is this like some modern version of the gladiator battles?”

  Riley kept her eyes glued to the field as she leaned over. “Actually, I’d say it’s closer to the Naumachia where the entire Colosseum would be flooded and they would then host mock sea battles or the group combat where they take condemned prisoners and have them fight, essentially pitting two small armies against each other. Although these didn’t necessarily end with the death of the losers as it did with the gladiators, it tended to be a lot bloodier and gorier than the one-on-one gladiatorial combat. Needless to say, the crowd loved it.”

  “So, how do you say this compares, anthropologically speaking of course?” From the looks of it, Riley was loving it.

  “All societies throughout history have had some sort of ritualized combat. Sociologically, it provides a means of control over the people. By offering combat for sport and entertainment, it keeps the masses happy and prevents uprising. I guess you could say it’s what keeps civilization civil—” Just then, State fumbled the ball and Riley jumped up on her seat. “COME ON, KILL THEM! RIP THEIR GUTS OUT!”

  Lisa was stunned with Riley’s outburst. Obviously, Riley was getting the point of the game. “Keeping civilization civil, huh?”

  Riley’s cheeks were now turning red as she hopped down from her seat. She lowered her head, giving her a sheepish grin. “Sorry about that. I guess I got carried away.”

  “No need to apologize, Riley.” Lisa clapped her on the back. “That’s the whole point.”

  “What? The whole point is getting carried away?”

  “You bet. The whole point of coming to a football game is to get carried away, to feel the energy on the field of battle and the excitement of the crowd. Football and other sports may provide sociological or anthropological mechanisms to hold society together as you mentioned but that’s not what’s on people’s minds. When all is said and done, it’s that passion, that exhilaration, that corporate camaraderie that brings people together.”

  “Huh.” Riley tilted her head to the side. “I hadn’t really thought about it that way.”

  Lisa nudged her playfully in the side with her elbow. “That’s okay, Riley. You’re a forest person and I’m a tree person.”

  “Now I’m completely lost.” Riley chuckled, lightly shaking her head. “Is that a football metaphor or something?”

  “Forest for the trees, Riley. Forest for the trees. In other words, you see the big picture, all the anthropological and sociological aspects of things, but football’s not like that. It’s all about living in the moment.” Perhaps it was the excitement of the game or the turn of the conversation, something she hadn’t had in a long time, but she decided to follow her own advice. Before she lost her courage, she slipped her arm around Riley’s waist and pulled her in tight until their hips touched. “Remember, Riley. Carpe diem.”

  Riley swallowed, her voice a bit shaky. “Carpe diem.”

  Chapter Four

  “Hey, Lisa.” Caroline popped her head into Lisa’s classroom where she was tidying up. “Tell me, how did it go last Saturday?”

  Lisa flipped over the last chair and gently dropped it onto the tabletop. All day she felt as if she had been floating around her classroom. Actually, she had felt that way ever since the football game. It had been such a long time since she had simply gone out and had a good time. Still, she didn’t want to make too much of it. “Oh, Caroline, you should have seen it—State crushed Western!”

  A wide smile lit up Caroline’s face. “Is that why you’ve been in such a good mood today? I couldn’t help but notice the permanent smile.”

  Lisa reached up to her lips. Was that really the case? Caroline was probably right but it wasn’t just today. “I’m always in a great mood when State wins. That and it’s been so long since I’ve actually been to a game, I guess I’m still pretty geeked.”

  “I guess.” Caroline raised her eyebrows as she leaned her shoulder against the door. “This is like a whole new you.”

  Lisa grabbed her satchel and waved Caroline off. “I wouldn’t go that far. It’s not that unusual for me to be in a good mood.”

  Caroline now threw her arm around Lisa’s shoulder. “Actually, honey, it is. You know I love you when I say this, but I haven’t seen you this happy since I don’t know when.”

  Lisa did know when and she figured Caroline did too. She hadn’t been this happy since before she lost Jessie. Since then she had walked around in a fog, there but not there, a crippling crushing cloud of despair her constant companion. Had Jessie been there, she would’ve slapped her out of it. If Jessie knew that she had been moping around for the past year, she would be pretty pissed. Carpe diem, Lisa. Seize the day. Other than buying her new car, what had she done in the past year to seize the day? Not a damn thing. Jessie wouldn’t have been just pissed about that, she would’ve had a full thermal nuclear meltdown. It would have made Chernobyl look like a simple “Oops.” She smiled at the thought. Jessie had been the quintessential fiery redhead.

  “Earth to Lisa…come in Lisa.” Caroline waved her hand in front of Lisa’s face.

  “Wh…what?”

  “Where were you at, girl? You were like a million miles away.”

  “Sorry about that.” She could feel herself beginning to blush. “I guess I was daydreaming there a bit.”

  “I guess. Still thinking about that football game?”

  “Something like that.” Again, she smiled. She had certainly been thinking about the game. However that might have more to do with the company than the game itself.

  “So, what was it like taking Riley? I bet that was a real trip.”

  “It certainly was, but in a nice way. Riley has such an interesting way of looking at things.”

  “Yep, if there’s one thing you can say about her, it’s that she has an interesting way of looking at things. Between you and me—now don’t ever tell her this, I really do love her to pieces—but there’re times when I can only take so much of her. I wasn’t sure you would like her at all.”

  “Oh, I don’t think I could ever tire of her. She’s like a genius who analyzes everything.”

  “I’d say more like a savant. She’s this walking encyclopedia but when it comes to common sense stuff”—Caroline whistled and fluttered her hand over the top of her head—“she just doesn’t get it.”

  Lisa burst out laughing, jabbing her finger at Caroline. “Exactly. Here she knows all of this stuff and gets tripped up on the simplest of things. It’s really cute.”

  Caroline stopped dead in her tracks and clapped her hand to her mouth. “Oh my God, you really like her.”

  Lisa gaped at her best friend, her cheeks now blazing like the surface of the sun. Caroline couldn’t be right, could she? She had just met Riley. But she couldn’t seem to get her out of her mind. She had only felt like that one other time and that had been with Jessie. Would that be fair to Jessie’s memory? Then again, she could almost hear Jessie’s words. Carpe diem, Lisa. Seize the day. But did she dare open her heart again? Finally, she met Caroline’s eyes. “I didn’t think I’d ever say this about anyone but yes, I really do like her.”

  * * *

  Riley hung up the phone on her desk, leaped to her feet and jumped up and down in her office. This was exactly what she loved about being an anthropologist. A colleague of hers, Dan Joslin from U of M, had invited her to bring the students’ Anthropology Club to a dig in a peat bog on Saturday. She had worked with him a few times before on some early Native American digs. At one they had un
earthed an entire village and at another an extensive burial site. This wouldn’t be quite like that, but it was sure to be fun nonetheless.

  She paced around her office, much too excited to sit. Since it was already Wednesday, it didn’t give her much time to plan. She went to find her assistant, Grace, behind the desk in the main office, her dreads all tied up today with a tie-dyed bandanna.

  “Hey Grace.”

  “What’s up, doc?” That was Grace’s favorite greeting. If it were anyone else—but somehow Grace pulled it off.

  “I need you to email the Anthropology Club and the rest of the department and ask for volunteers for a dig with Dan Joslin on Saturday.”

  “Oh, cool beans.” Again, another Grace-ism. “I’ll jump right on that, doc.”

  Riley jotted down the information and handed it to Grace.

  “Okily dokily. I’ll zing zang that out to all the peeps.”

  Riley couldn’t help but smile. Grace had her own special language. She was going to really miss her when Grace finally finished her dissertation and found a tenured position somewhere. If only she could offer her something at State, but as Bill Hastings, the department Chair, kept saying whenever she brought it up, there wasn’t room in the budget, which she figured had more to do with Bill’s dislike of Grace than actual budgetary concerns.

  She snatched a mint from the never-ending bowl of candy that Joan, the department secretary, kept behind the desk and headed back up the hall to her office. She flopped down in her comfy black leather chair and kicked her feet up on the corner of her desk. As far as she was concerned Saturday couldn’t come quickly enough. She had been thinking about calling Lisa, perhaps invite her to something to reciprocate for the football game. Then it hit her—the dig was the perfect thing, so she dropped her feet to the floor with a thud and grabbed the phone.

  “Lisa—Riley here.”

  “Hey, Riley. I was just thinking of you.” Lisa laughed softly on the other end.