09-Joe

Joe arrived at his house, made a sandwich, and he ate it while standing at the counter. He enjoyed the fact that nobody else was there, it was nice and quiet, and he could look as lazy or as stoned as he wanted to without being harassed. He ate it rapidly, pounded some water, and then rushed downstairs to his room in the basement.

With measured haste, he put on a collared shirt, khaki shorts, and a golf hat—the required uniform of an employee at the nearby country club—and moments later he was upstairs and out the door. He hopped in his car, slammed the door shut, and a second later he was off.

Joe rolled up to the neighborhood pool with a keen, focused look in his eye. He parked his car right next to Trey’s, who was a lifeguard and had already started his shift. Joe liked to stop by, especially on a Friday afternoon, to find out what was happening on the weekend. Trey was the guy who knew everything somehow. He was the best source of information—the social maestro, the guy whose home phone rang so often it drove his parents to the point of near insanity. But, on this afternoon, he did have an ulterior motive. He thought just maybe…

Still moving with great purpose, he got out of his car quickly, slammed shut the door behind him, and dashed down the concrete path toward the changing rooms. It was a hot and sunny day, and Joe could already hear the screams and shouts of the little pool rat kids. He made his way through the men’s room, rounded the corner, and was again assaulted by the intense heat and bright sun as he strode across the deck. The pool was already crowded. Joe felt completely out of place wearing his collared shirt, and he cursed the fact that he had to be in them.

Trey was up in the chair. He had his long dark hair held back in a bandanna, sunglasses on, and he did the classic whistle twirl around his finger that lifeguards always did.

Upon sight of Joe, Trey nodded his head and smiled with his big goofy grin that he almost always showed to the world. Joe was convinced Trey was the coolest dude in the whole school. No one was more amiable, social, quick to laugh, and quick to say hi.

Joe crossed the deck toward his chair.

“Joe, what’s up, man?” Trey asked, looking down from the chair briefly, while still maintaining his concentration on the crowded pool.

“Nothing, dude,” Joe replied. “Headin’ to work. Dude, the flour baby thing. That shit about killed me.”

“I had to jump in the pool when I first got here to finally get all the flour off.”

Joe laughed. “You guys in trouble?”

“Nah, not even,” Trey said. “Raza’s a smooth cat, yo, you should have seen him. He needs to be an actor or something. He was playing like he was all traumatized and shit, like we’d been ambushed in the hallway. I couldn’t even get a word in edgewise, instead I just silently marveled at his performance. Who uses the term ‘ruffians,’ anyway? It really was incredible.”

“Did his car get messed up?”

“Not as bad as the other dude’s.”

“Did you have your stash on you?”

“Nah, I left it in Antwann’s car. Which was good, because I probably would have eaten that shit right after we crashed. Could you imagine? I’d be all blind and covered with flour and shoving weed in my mouth, choking and coughing and high as hell.”

Joe laughed. “That’s a lovely image you just planted in my mind.”

“Heh.”

“And so, despite all your marijuanic foibles, you’ve somehow managed to remain unscathed? Meaning you’re free and clear to hang out tonight, right?”

“Hell yeah, man.”

“Nice. How late you working till?”

“Seven. How about you?”

“Probably around nine. It’s gonna suck dude. Mike and I puffed during lunch and I’m feeling lazy as shit.”

The huge grin reappeared on Trey’s face, and he chuckled. Joe found it funny how Trey not only enjoyed smoking pot, but for some reason he loved it when other people smoked pot also—even if he wasn’t there.

“So, Antwann’s is still goin’ down tonight, right?” Joe asked.

“Yeah, man. I’m heading straight there after work. They’ll all be trashed by then, I’m sure. There’s a bunch of people over there already.”

It wasn’t even 4 p.m. yet. But Joe wasn’t surprised. He expected nothing less.

“Nice. I love those guys.”

“It’ll be fun, man. You coming over after work?”

“Yeah, I’ll be there right after…” A girl had just come out of the pool, and she stole the words right out of Joe’s mouth.

“I know, right?” Trey said. “You’re seeing what I’ve been seeing.”

“Who is she?” Joe asked.

“Nikki Felton. She’s here with Katherine Lisi. They’re both looking good. They’re making my shift worthwhile. Have you noticed both of those girls have suddenly become hot? It’s like it happened overnight!”

The words came out of Trey’s mouth so quickly and casually, but Joe felt his world waver as he said them. His face went tense and he scanned the deck, the chairs, and the pool, narrowing the search down quickly and carefully, as though his life depended on it. Finally, he saw her, the brunette in the pool, there was no doubt in his mind. She swam the length of the shallow end, and then rested her arms on the side for a moment before pulling herself out. He’d thought it may be so, because he’d seen flashes of it through the water, but now it was confirmed, that she definitely wore a bikini, a red one, and she strode across the deck as the water dripped off her. Joe took a step back, collecting himself, not at all ready for this, the magnitude of it. Katherine walked casually to the row of chairs where Nikki was, and both girls began to towel themselves off.

“You know them, dude? Nikki and Katherine?”

“Yeah…I do.” He stepped forward again.

He knew it would happen at any moment, and then it did, when Nikki looked over and saw the two of them, Trey up in his chair, and Joe standing next to it, both guys obviously staring. She waved quickly, then turned and said something to Katherine, and a split second later both girls looked up in their direction.

“Hey, they’re coming over here,” Trey said, in a casual manner that Joe greatly envied.

Within seconds they stood directly before them. Nikki flashed a smug, knowing grin at Joe. Katherine also smiled, her wet hair shining and falling onto her shoulders.

“What’s up, ladies?” Trey asked.

“Hey,” Nikki replied.

“What are you doing, Joe?” Katherine asked, looking confused by his clothes.

“Oh, I got to work tonight. At the golf course. I’m on my way there. It sucks, I know.”

“Ah, bummer,” she said.

“How are you, by the way?” he asked.

“I’m good. How are you doing? I feel like we haven’t talked in a long time!”

“I know! It’s been too long.”

“Maybe you two should get reacquainted then, huh?” Nikki asked, still with her smug grin.

“Yeah, most definitely,” Joe said. “Hey, Katherine, you want to go sit down over there?” He pointed at a nearby table and some chairs underneath a wide umbrella.

“Sure,” she replied.

“I’m…I’m just really burning up under this sun,” Joe added, tugging on his collar.

Trey busted out laughing, and Nikki’s grin never faltered.

Joe didn’t care. Katherine followed him toward the table and they sat down.

“So, how’s the water?’ he asked.

“Oh…it feels so good. Heavenly.”

“What are you doing this weekend? You got any plans?”

She shook her head. “We don’t really have any yet. Actually, that’s one reason we came down here, to, you know, see what’s going on.”

“Oh, okay. Well I’m really glad to see you. We should hang out, you know?”

Still beaming gorgeously, while nodding. “Totally! There’s no reason to keep Pedro and Juanita always cooped up in class, right?”

“Uh, yeah, no doubt!” He wanted to think of something clever to say back to her, but he stammered badly.

She smiled, unflappable.

“Katherine…”

“Yeah?”

Joe scrambled. “I’ve just been like…in a deep funk…ever since Señora changed all our seats around, and not having you to sit beside me during class.”

“Joe!” she gasped.

“It was pretty cruel, how Señora took away the best part of my day.”

She looked stunned. “Aw, Joe!”

He smiled at her.

“That was like the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me! Seriously!”

“Well, I mean it.”

She spoke sweetly. “If I wasn’t all wet, I’d hug you right now.”

“Oh, c’mon. Like I’d pass that up.”

They stood up and hugged, she in her suit and Joe in his work clothes. Somewhere in a faraway and distant world he heard Trey’s muted laughter and he could still feel Nikki’s relentless grin.

It ended, and he backed away. Katherine still looked at him adoringly.

“So, what do you want to do? I mean, if we were to hang out?”

He felt like a car coughing and sputtering, trying to start, and ultimately it failed. He defaulted and said, “You know, there’s a party at Antwann Jackson’s house tonight, if you’re interested.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. You should go. It’ll be fun.”

It was actually going to be a lewd, crude, drunken celebration of the plant known as marijuana, but Joe didn’t bother to elaborate.

“Are you sure it’s okay, though? I don’t really know him that well.”

“Well, I do, he’s my bro, and I’m telling you, it’s totally cool.”

“Alright. Well, I’ll be rolling with some of my friends…I’m still working on that driver’s license thing…but I’ll definitely push hard for us to stop by!”

“Awesome. You know where he lives?”

She shook her head, so Joe explained quickly to her the directions to his house.

When finished, he glanced back at the clock on the wall near the pool office.

“You need to go, don’t you?” she asked.

“I should. It was awesome seeing you, though.”

She smiled. “You too.”

They walked back to the lifeguard chair where Nikki and Trey were more or less as before, grinning with knowing smiles.

“Well, we’ll see you two later!” Nikki said, moving away, pulling Katherine along by the arm.

“Bye!” Katherine said as she turned, following her friend. The girls walked quickly back to their chairs, already the two of them smiling and whispering to each other.

“Holy shit, dude!” Trey said, instantaneously.

“What?”

“You two…”

“Yeah?”

He looked suspicious. “Something going on that I don’t know about?”

“Nah, yo. What do you mean?”

“I thought you two were going to start making out over there.”

“Sounds good to me.”

“You got something for this girl, or what?”

“I like her, man. I ain’t gonna lie.”

“All right, all right.”

They were silent, dumbly watching the girls from afar.

“So…you gonna be getting your groove on later, or what?”

“Hopefully. She just said she would come over to Antwann’s tonight.”

“Right on. Nikki’s coming too.”

“Oh, for real?”

“Yeah, man. How could I not invite her also, after this display they just put on? I’m still just like you.”

“Just like me how?”

“Speechless.”

“Shit…was it that obvious?”

“Dude, those girls know exactly what they’re doing, I’ll just say that.” Trey nodded his head firmly.

“Yeah,” Joe said, still spying from across the deck.

“Nikki was up at Miller’s Park last weekend. I remember talking to her for a while. You were talking to her too, weren’t you?”

“Yeah. A little bit,” he said, coolly.

“Well, we’ll see what happens tonight. I’m loving these sophomore chicks, though, I’ll say that right the fuck now.”

“For sure. Hey, man, I’ll see you at Antwann’s, I got to ball. Gonna be late for work.”

“All right, Joe. Later.”

Joe paced quickly away from the pool and back to the parking lot. He got in the car and was off.

Liftoff, was actually more appropriate. He turned up the radio an extra notch or two as the car sped through the air, the vehicle seemingly as weightless as he was. He marveled at how they’d run into each other just then. That wasn’t the pool she’d normally go to, and Joe didn’t normally stop by there on his way to work. So, it seemed lucky—but he knew it actually wasn’t, it wasn’t lucky at all. Somehow, they’d made it happen. Joe loved that.

He parked his car in the lot at the golf course and strutted to the side of the club where the pro shop was. He clocked in, cranked up the radio, and began washing and parking golf carts with a jump in his step. Each member seemed to have a dollar or two for him, as though his good mood were contagious.

But the good mood didn’t last.

As the sun went down, he grew antsy.

Joe wouldn’t get off work until all the golfers were off the course. On a summer night, those bastards would be out until they could barely see their ball. Plus, he had to close the shop on top of that. It meant he wouldn’t get out of work until nine or even ten. His mind concocted all sorts of scenarios of Katherine arriving to the party a few hours earlier than him. A few hours were like an eternity at a high school party. Plus, she was new to the scene. Who knew what could happen by then? She could be blitzed. Not to mention how there was bound to be some fuckups over there, guys that no longer bothered with school, guys that could be trouble. Even worse, there would be some hard players over there, guys that clocked a lot of trim, guys that could sweep her off her feet without her even knowing it. Especially if she got wasted. She likely didn’t have much of a tolerance for alcohol.

Nothing would be a problem once Joe was there, and she was with him. He wanted to be there when she arrived, to guide her, to protect her. He wanted to be there to say things like, “I’d stay away from that, you probably don’t want that,” and, “I wouldn’t talk to them, they’re bad news,” and, always a possibility, “Let’s get the hell out of here right now.”

Joe cursed himself, and wondered why he lacked the wherewithal to nip this problem in the bud—he should have offered to come pick her up after work, wouldn’t that have been fantastic? Or, at the very least, he should have established a meeting time at Antwann’s.

But no. He didn’t even have her fucking phone number.

Joe realized he was lunchin’ pretty hard. She was an intelligent, responsible girl. She could take of herself.

Nevertheless, by nighttime, he was out of his mind.