I opened my eyes slightly,
peaking through my eyelashes. My friend’s faces were turned upwards toward the
sky. Their eyes following Jake’s extended arm as he pointed his finger towards
the tree line, drawing my attention to the fiery glow emanating from the
horizon. The sunset had dyed the sky a cotton candy pink, drizzled with the
purple of the night ahead. The sun created a warm orange crescent above the
trees; fading down from the purple, as if it was draining the color from the
sky as it set. I dared to open my eyes completely, pulling myself out from my
sleepy haze. I yawned, stretching my arms out to my sides as I did so. Everyone
was quiet except for Kid Rock singing Cowboy
ba-byyy through the radio. I could see Joe bobbing along with the music,
mouthing the lyrics. Well sort of, he was exceptionally horrid at lip-syncing.
I giggled at this thought, which provoked a moody “What are you laughing at?” from Bostrom. His eyes
glinted with a hint of sarcasm, nothing his voice didn’t already betray, which
made me laugh even harder as I nodded in Joe’s direction. Turning towards Joe,
he chuckled a bit and sighed; shaking his head with an expression that read Typical Joe. Mason looked up curiously,
with a questioning gaze he looked from me to Bostrom and back again, until
Joe’s sudden dance movements caught his attention. Content that he was in on
the secret, he went back to his phone. The boat turned in circles as Jake, Drew,
and Dave cast their lines out. They poked fun at Dave, saying he’d never fished
before. Then they’d laugh, all three of them reeling their lines in
empty-handed. They’d complain and cast them out again until finally Joe jumped
to his feet and grabbed his own pole. With a single cast he caught a bass, and
the other boys crowded around him as I stayed complacent in my chair.
“Joe, the master fisherman!”
Drew exclaimed as he patted Joe on the back. Laughing as they released the fish
back into the water, they put their poles down and pulling up the anchor, they
congregated around the small table in the back of the boat. Joe squeezed into
the bench with me, snaking one arm around my waist as he tried to pull me
closer. I let him, and put my head on his shoulder, breathing him in. Jake took up residence in the captain’s
chair, relegating the others to the bench in the back. The motor roared to life
and pushed the pontoon boat out of the small lagoon we were fishing in. We set
our destination for the center of the lake, singing as we sailed. Jake
occasionally snapped at us to “sit the f#@& down” so we didn’t disturb the
course of our carrier.
“Whatever floats your boat.”
I’d say, and chuckle to myself for my clever joke. As we neared the center, we
threw down the anchor again. Laying back, we were all intent on relaxing when
the boat suddenly jolted from Drew springing to his feet.
“How much will you guys give
me to jump in right now?” He looked at all of us intently, determined to weasel
one of us out of a decent chunk of change. “Give me two dollars and I’ll jump
in.” Dumbfounded, a majority of us just laughed in his face. Jake pulled a
crumpled dollar out of his pocket and offered it forward.
“I mean… I have a dollar.” Snatching
it from him, Drew did a little dance; spinning around to the rest of us.
“Come on, somebody’s gotta
have another dollar!” Drew looked pleadingly at the rest of us, we averted his
gaze by looking at the boat floor. Or we’d just shrug and shake our heads at
his request. Feeling the tension, and wanting to see Drew shiver in the ice
water, Mason finally offered up a dollar. A smile crept across Drew’s face as
we told him how he was going to regret jumping in. The water was just barely
warm enough to stick your toes in, not nearly warm enough for an intoxicated
teen to submerge their whole body. Still, our warnings did not resonate in that
cavernous space within his skull.
With a running leap, he
jumped from the boat. I shook my head and laughed, these were my friends, and I
wouldn’t have it any other way. As I heard the splash of Drew hitting the lake
water, I closed my eyes and again rested my head on Joe’s shoulder. Everyone erupted
in to fits of laughter as he came to the side of the boat, panting and
shivering. He pulled himself up and violently shook out his hair, like a dog
shedding itself of water. Laughing to myself as drops of water bounced off the
bridge of my nose; puddling into a small reservoir at the base of Drew’s feet.
Basking in the light from the setting sun, I smiled and sparked up a cigarette.
Thinking silently to myself that this is all I’ll ever need.
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