by SJ Cavaletti
Who would ever say no to this man?
“I’d love to.” I replied.
“Come on.”
He slid down the trunk of the elephant, the same way he had ascended and I followed. When I got to the tip of the trunk, I was still about four feet off the ground. Drake reached his hands up and put them on either side of my waist. A gentle jump and he lowered me down to the ground as if I were made of feathers.
I would stay in those arms all night if I could.
Talking to Drake on an elephant in the middle of a desert. Him kissing my shoulder. Hearing the sincerity in his voice and of his lived experience. I felt close to him.
I never thought this would happen. I never thought I’d be here on such a somber mission and be capable of feeling, well, what seemed like sparking kindling. A fire waiting to ignite.
A pang of disbelief shot through my core. And the demon on my shoulder said I just wanted to fuck him. But then, he lifted my bike off the ground for me, turned around, setting his eyes black, calm and alluring like outer space on me. And I knew I felt something more.
I walked over to my bike and took it by the handlebar. “Thanks.”
His dimple said, ‘you’re welcome.’
We pushed off to cycle back to his camp, and I suddenly felt worried about the intrusion.
“Drake? Are you sure Jasmine won’t mind?”
She didn’t. Not only did she not mind, she was thrilled to see me when we arrived back in camp, nearly at sundown.
Drake spoke as she walked toward us. “Jas, you have anything Maeve could wear tonight? She’s coming out with us and I don’t want her to get cold.”
He didn’t want me to get cold. His chivalry sent blood to my cheeks.
Jasmine clapped her hands quickly together, clearly excited. “Yay! Of course I have something to wear. Though you aren’t exactly my size…”
She eyed me up and down. Jasmine was tall. I was a leprechaun.
“I don’t mean to intrude, Jasmine. I can just wear this out…”
“Girl! No! I love dressing people up. Plus Drake’s right, you’ll be freezing in that skimpy thing.”
She led me into her caravan by the hand.
“It’s funny,” she said as we entered, “I hated dolls as a girl but the human version? I’ll have you suited up for a night on the Plain in no time.”
“Well, I’m your muse.” I gave one last glance at Drake, whose contented face looked much like the one my Mom wore when my brother and I were getting along.
Intriguing. Typically, when a guy likes a girl, he tries to get them on their own. Private. Alone. Where dirty things can happen and he can have her all to himself. Drake wasn’t like that. He shared his life, well this life anyway, with me.
Meeting Drake was a balm for the burn I felt over my father’s death. Him adding his caring friends in to the mix? It was another layer of salve. Another bandage to help cushion me and keep salt out of my wounds. I couldn’t help but feel that Drake knew that and wanted to heal me. Even if it meant sharing me.
Even if it meant putting more minutes and hours between us kissing. And anything else I wanted to do with him. And God, I wanted to find out what he wished to do to me.
That kiss on my shoulder clung on miraculously, even through the whipping wind and dust of the desert. His kiss. It seemed to have made a permanent home on my shoulder.
Jasmine pulled me deeper into the motorhome to the “master suite” of the very messy, cramped and full to the brim makeshift home.
Clothes were everywhere. All over the bed. More than a week’s worth of costumes. Boas. Tutus. Wigs. Fishnet tights and swimwear.
“Wow. You have a lot of stuff.”
“Yeah. I love it. At home, I pretty much live in board shorts and bikinis. It’s fun to dress up like this. I don’t even dress up to go to work, so when I buy stuff for Uyu… let’s just say I have a problem.”
“You don’t dress up in Hawaii?”
“I don’t go out much at all, really. I’m a pro surfer. Meaning I’ve been in the water most of my life and need to stay healthy. Lots of early mornings. I also teach with Koa at his surf school. I don’t wear clothes much,” she dug around in the mountain of fabric. “Also, I wouldn’t call Kauai the fashion capital of the world. I bet you could get away with wearing Uyu fashion as everyday clothes in a place like L.A.”
“Probably. There’s a niche for everything. But funny enough, even I didn’t feel like I fit in in L.A. Goth wasn’t really a thing in my high school. I’m not really goth anymore, but the black theme has stuck.” I trailed off.
“Hm. I don’t really know what goth is… sorry to say, but it just makes me think of devil worshipping. And Marilyn Manson. You’re more like a dark princess. Drake seems to like your look…”
She teased and provoked my opinion. She wanted the dirt. And so did I. Maybe she had some. So I fished.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“He has NEVER picked up a girl at Uyu. Or anywhere, actually. That I know of. I don’t live in Seattle obviously, so who knows what he gets up to there but just saying…”
“Oh. I don’t think he ‘picked me up.’ Just one of those things that happens in a place like this.”
“True. I’ve met many people at this festival, but I don’t think I’ve ever spent three nights in a row with any of them. Apart from my Tribe, of course.”
I watched her pick out a lifeguard red swimsuit-like leotard and one thigh high stocking of the same color. She rummaged around for what I assumed to be the matching one.
“We just keep on bumping into each other,” I justified. Not meaning it. Wanting her to contradict me.
“Sis,” Jasmine got serious, “It’s so obvious. And you like him, too. Everybody does though…”
“I’m not surprised.”
A woman would have to be blind not to.
“Oh… yes! Found it!” She pulled the second, red thigh high stocking from her bed wardrobe.
I looked at a skimpy, cut up one-piece swimsuit. Red. With matching red thigh highs? I hadn’t worn anything this colorful since my Mom chose my clothes. It was sexy, but I wasn’t sure…
“I haven’t worn this one myself yet, it runs a bit small, so it slices up my ass. Not in a good way,” Jasmine said, lifting the slitted swimsuit, leaving very little to the imagination.
I liked that part. The sexiness. I was fine with baring skin. It was the idea of being the cherry on top that I didn’t like. I was understated. I like to blend in like a spider on a web.
Jasmine continued, “I made it myself.”
So sweet. That this person I didn’t know (apart from her name, which frankly could easily not be Jasmine), would make a costume, take the time, effort and money and then give me the first wear. What did I have to give her?
I pulled my satchel around to the front. My Dad’s gifts were few but great.
“Jas, thanks for this. I never had a sister. This must be what it’s like?”
“Ha. Pretty much. I have three sisters. Lots of mess.”
“I didn’t mean the mess, though. It’s the sharing thing. My brother and I didn’t share much. In my mind, sisters share everything. Goops, clothes…”
“Yeah,” she said, looking at me, but her mind transfixed on the image of a home, far, far away, “There’s a lot of that. Just don’t take the last squirt of perfume.”
She laughed.
“I was thinking,” I took a pendant out, “Here at Uyu, you’re more like me. Surrounded by boys. I want you to have this.”
It was the pendant with a clock from Pandora.
“Oh my God, Maeve. That’s so cool. And beautiful…”
She took the necklace and put it around her straight away. “I love it! What a great way to think of Uyu in regular life. A reminder to keep giving. To keep Aloha true.”
The chain was long on her. My Dad must have gotten a long one so he could gift it to anyone, man woman, tall short. She took the mini clock in her han
ds, contemplated it and asked, “Did you know Aloha means love? People think it means ‘hello’ but it literally means love. When you say it, you’re wishing someone a positive and respectful life.”
She handed me the red leotard. “Aloha, Maeve. Welcome to our family. I know you’re like Drake, and not into the techno scene, but all my sisters? They dance. The beat and music are only there to make your hips move. Let’s smash it tonight.”
I smiled and took the outfit.
A few minutes later, I realized how transformative costumes can be. My Uyu wear had always been the daily me, just elevated. This costume screamed like a mouth open wide. Like an orgasm. I felt ready to pounce.
When I left the caravan, I walked out without the overcoat Jasmine also gave me. I wanted Drake to see. Drake waited for us, with the other guys, under the awning attached to the caravan. He looked my way. The drink in his hand tipped a few droplets of whatever he was drinking onto the gypsum dust below.
I knew by the look on his face we weren’t staying away from each other tonight.
He flipped his curly locks off his forehead. “Damn, Jas. You trying to give me a heart attack or something?”
Jasmine switched her hips, looking graceful and sassy, “Something like that.”
El finished squeezing lime into some plastic cups. “Mojitos. Done.”
We all grabbed one, and Drake and I did a cheers. He looked beyond delicious tonight. Those same tight black pants he wore at Magpie that, even though I was angry, sad and wallowing convinced me to notice his ass.
A long leather vest, hanging to his knees, open with no shirt. Just his chest. And abs saying ‘hello come touch me’ from the recess of the supple leather dripping down his sides. He wore a few chains. They caressed the space between his pecs and I took my chance, taking one in my fingers.
“Do these mean anything or just decoration?”
He sipped his mojito but didn’t take his eyes off me. He knew what I was up to. Finding an excuse to touch him and be in his personal space.
“Well, this one,” he said, picking up a heavy linked chain, “Is from a random shop, this one, too,” he looked at me, “But this one is my Mom’s.”
The desert had cooled off, and I stood close to his tall, warm body. His heat radiating off like a campfire.
“Ah… she wanted to watch over you at Uyu?”
He licked his lips and bit the lower one. “Moms really don’t want to know everything. But like to pretend they know.”
I certainly wouldn’t tell my Mom what I want to do to you, Drake.
“Guys, we’re out. Finish those drinks!” Joey put his hands in the air as if he was dancing.
I downed the mojito El had given me and put the cup in my satchel. Who knew what liquid lust I might pour into it later?
As we rode off on our bikes, it occurred to me I had left my day outfit in Jasmine’s room. I would definitely come back to their camp.
I should have left it in Drake’s room.
12
Maeve as an Uyu Baywatch babe? I hardly knew her, but I suspected that would have sounded like an impossibility to anyone who did. Still, she wore that look like a siren. Like an absolutely irresistible mythical creature who was about to sing me a song and wreck me forever.
And I think she knew it. First, she had walked out, letting her bob flip over one eye as if bashful. Clearly my face kept no secrets because only a second after seeing my approval, she sauntered over like she owned the damn place. And she did. For me, anyway. I wasn’t thinking about anything but her anymore.
Uyu was many things, but anti-social was not one of them. So here we were, riding our bikes, side by side, out for another night. This time, I wouldn’t have to wonder if she’d turn up. I didn’t have to wonder if she felt the same way I did.
“Jasmine pulled out all the stops. I’ve never seen her in that before,” I said.
I knew my Uyu sister’s intentions. She wouldn’t have dressed Maeve in something I’d seen before.
“Yeah, she said she’d never worn it. Not my usual color but I have to confess I kinda like it.”
So do I, Maeve. So do I…
She had since covered up in a faux fur coat Jasmine already leant her. The temperatures plummeted, but the coat only reached her waist and I could see her sexy, red ass pumping subtly as she rode her bike.
“So how does it work tonight? Do you guys always stay together?” She asked.
“Pretty much. Only Flick and Helena dip off sometimes. You don’t have to stay all night if you don’t want to.”
Correction.
“I mean, I’ll take you back anytime you want to leave. I know techno isn’t your scene.”
That’s better.
“Don’t worry. I can endure it.” She looked at me and smiled, her sweet pixie cut flowing in the breeze.
The night was magical. We danced until our feet hurt, then drank to relieve them. We threw our hands in the air when the DJ willed us to. We met new people, heard some new jokes. It was a beautiful night. I couldn’t have orchestrated a better date for us in Seattle.
At somewhere around three in the morning, we came across a huge slide installation. It was like a gigantic wedge, a fairground ride. Some of the others in our crew had tailed off back home, and it was only Maeve, Jasmine, Koa and me. We were all drunk, but not stupid drunk, more than anything we were high on life.
“Do it together?” Koa asked.
“Let’s do it,” Maeve said.
Her enthusiasm. It was different.
I couldn’t help myself. I picked her up in my arms and swung us both around in a circle, her feet swinging around like helicopter blades. Her wind chime giggle sent a tune into the night air. Jasmine asked Koa for a ride, too. It was one of the most free and pure feelings I’d ever had in my life.
And that, in some ways, was saying a lot. I’d been to Uyu multiple times; it was probably the most liberating place on earth. I had a very supportive Mom who let me follow my dreams, and I had friends who opened me to new possibilities. I was hardly a compressed individual. But being with Maeve. It was an original experience.
Feeling free with someone who sets your heart on fire? It’s what everyone wishes for, but people rarely find. Or they find it. For a moment. Or a few months. Or a few years. I tried not to think that our moment could also be fleeting. Right now, I’d let myself believe that what happened now would happen forever.
We all reached the back of the slide, which appeared to be propped up by two ladder towers. They were like tall enclosed ladders, with scaffolding and tarp around them to prevent people from falling. They were reached to the sky at least three stories up.
“After you,” I said to Maeve.
“Oh, you just want a peek at my ass, don’t you?” She asked, playfully.
“Wow. That hadn’t occurred to me. I wanted to look out for you. Chivalry isn’t dead, you know.”
She gave me a playful smack.
“Watching your ass is the reward for keeping the keeping the Holy Land alive.”
Her playfulness turned to admiration. And she became serious. “You’re really smart, you know?”
“Am I?”
“Yeah. Like that. Your reference to the knights templar. And you say stuff like that a lot.”
“I’m a Google junkie. And Grams used to watch Jeopardy. She got me hooked, and I never stopped.”
“I like brains.”
“Do you?”
“Mmmmhm.”
“Me, too.”
Koa and Jasmine were already halfway up the ladder. I tapped Maeve’s butt, and she reached up at the first rungs and climbed. And I went from nerd to dirty boy in a split second. Watching her ass switch, the red fabric of her leotard had creeped up and a juicy bit of ass invited me to bite it. I could have. Taken a mouthful. Bitten her hard.
And my teeth weren’t the only thing wanting to go hard.
Almost to the top, I couldn’t help myself anymore and I reached up with one hand, a handf
ul of ass cheek and a thumb right on that thin strip of red fabric between me and her pussy. I pushed her up. Because she needed help, of course.
When my hand touched her, she popped. Her back arched, and she pulled upward instinctively, surprised, before pushing back down into my hand and giving a teasing wiggle in it.
At the top, I met her face, a closed lipped coy smile, and a cocked brow met me.
“What?” I asked.
“You know what.”
Jasmine and Koa walked to the far end of the slide. It was more than wide enough for us to go four abreast. Koa, Jasmine, Maeve, me.
Jasmine and Maeve took off their coats and sat on them. Butt cheeks are too sticky for slides. And we took each other's hands.
Koa raised Jasmine’s in the air, and we all followed suit. He shouted to the sky like a wild witch doctor, “`A`ohe loa i ka hana a ke aloha! Ka kaaaaa!”
He pushed his butt off the platform, and we all did the same.
The rush of cool air on my face.
Maeve’s hand in mine.
Jasmine and Koa’s laughter.
Family.
The family felt complete. Funny how I hadn’t even known I was missing a piece until I met Maeve.
When we got to the bottom, windswept and Maeve’s bangs sticking up in the air, so cute and playful, Maeve put her coat back on and turned to Koa.
“What did that mean? What you said at the top?”
He smoothed his long locks back in place. “Love ignores distance.”
He probably said that because of the distance between our crew. Hawaii, Seattle. L.A.. But I was pretty sure that like myself, Maeve felt he said for us.
It was late. Or early. About four hours into the fourth day of Uyu. A slight bit of tipsy remained. Jasmine, Maeve, Koa and I now warmed up in the comfort of my motorhome.
We didn’t need another drink, unless it was water, but I gave everyone some tonic water with a splash of gin, anyway.
Jasmine and Maeve sat on one end of the narrow table, encircled by a cushioned bench in the kitchen area. We all had to sit on one side as that was the caravan design, so Koa and I sat on the other end.