with a lubricated tip.”
Lester choked. “Elizabeth?”
I grinned. “She said they’re for Pamela, exceptshe gave them to Gwen, and I don’t know who has them now.”
“You’re not sharing condoms, are you?”
“Les, I’m not even having sex. Relax.”
“Whew!” he said. “Okay. I’m relaxed. It is a nice place up here. I hope you’re having a good time.”
“I am. I’m glad I came.”
We walked back and I introduced him to a few of the guys. Then Les talked a few minutes with Jack Harrigan, and finally he drove away.
There’s mail call every day at three o’clock, and I went up to the office to see if I got something. I didn’t. There was an envelope for Pamela, though. If any one of the assistant counselors needed a letter, I thought, it was Pamela. First her mom got everyone upset by leaving the family, and then she got them upset by saying she wanted to come back. Pamela seemed not to even want to think about it.
“Hey, Pamela! For you!” I said, waving the letter, and sat down beside her on the steps. As soon as she saw the postmark, though, her face clouded up. I looked the other way while she read it.
“Guess who’s coming to town,” Pamela said, crumpling up the letter into a tight little ball, then angrily squeezing it again for good measure.
“I don’t know,” I said, hesitating.
“Mom.”
I studied her for a moment. “She really is, then! She wrote you from Colorado? How did she get the address up here?”
“Who knows? She finds out everything.”
“When is she coming?
“She doesn’t say. I don’t want to be around when she shows up,” Pamela said determinedly. “Let me stay at your place or something when she does, Alice! There’ll probably be a big scene, and I just don’t think I could take it. I can’t understand why she’d even want to come back if Dad doesn’t love her anymore.”
“You don’t think… maybe… they could work things out?”
“It’s too late for that. It’s been too long. Dad hates her.”
We were both quiet for a minute or two.
“What do you want to happen?” I asked finally.
“I just want it over, one way or another. I hate this waiting around, wondering what will happen next. I either want them together or I want them apart.”
I thought how often I’d felt something like that for the past couple of years about Dad and Sylvia. Except I’d never wanted them apart. I’d always wanted them to be together.
9
----
Going Coed
That night, our night, none of the older counselors was available to drive us into town, so the six of us girls decided to sneak down to the river early and go skinny-dipping, just to say that we had. Doris, who felt she was on the verge of a cold, didn’t want to go in but said she’d be our lookout.
“We’ll just take a short swim before the guys start looking for us,” Pamela said with a giggle. But we were all secretly hoping that the guys would find out where we’d gone and… Well, who knows what we were hoping. Just for something exciting to happen, I guess.
We weren’t foolish enough to leave our clothes on the bank, though. We wadded them up and stuck them in the fork of a low tree. When we got down to our underpants, we wore them to the water’s edge, then gave them to Doris to put in the tree for us, and dived in. Elizabeth refused to takeoff either her underpants or her bra, so there we were; one girl on the bank fully clothed; one girl in the water in her underwear; and four girls in the river naked.
We swam quietly, giggling to each other, feeling very risqué. When the guys didn’t come down right away, I noticed, none of us suggested we get out, even though the water was frigid and I could feel my teeth chattering. We just kept swimming around, watching the path to the dining hall. I noticed Pamela’s voice getting a little louder, just in case the guys were within earshot. And soon, down the path they came—all six of the male assistant counselors.
What we did, of
Lester choked. “Elizabeth?”
I grinned. “She said they’re for Pamela, exceptshe gave them to Gwen, and I don’t know who has them now.”
“You’re not sharing condoms, are you?”
“Les, I’m not even having sex. Relax.”
“Whew!” he said. “Okay. I’m relaxed. It is a nice place up here. I hope you’re having a good time.”
“I am. I’m glad I came.”
We walked back and I introduced him to a few of the guys. Then Les talked a few minutes with Jack Harrigan, and finally he drove away.
There’s mail call every day at three o’clock, and I went up to the office to see if I got something. I didn’t. There was an envelope for Pamela, though. If any one of the assistant counselors needed a letter, I thought, it was Pamela. First her mom got everyone upset by leaving the family, and then she got them upset by saying she wanted to come back. Pamela seemed not to even want to think about it.
“Hey, Pamela! For you!” I said, waving the letter, and sat down beside her on the steps. As soon as she saw the postmark, though, her face clouded up. I looked the other way while she read it.
“Guess who’s coming to town,” Pamela said, crumpling up the letter into a tight little ball, then angrily squeezing it again for good measure.
“I don’t know,” I said, hesitating.
“Mom.”
I studied her for a moment. “She really is, then! She wrote you from Colorado? How did she get the address up here?”
“Who knows? She finds out everything.”
“When is she coming?
“She doesn’t say. I don’t want to be around when she shows up,” Pamela said determinedly. “Let me stay at your place or something when she does, Alice! There’ll probably be a big scene, and I just don’t think I could take it. I can’t understand why she’d even want to come back if Dad doesn’t love her anymore.”
“You don’t think… maybe… they could work things out?”
“It’s too late for that. It’s been too long. Dad hates her.”
We were both quiet for a minute or two.
“What do you want to happen?” I asked finally.
“I just want it over, one way or another. I hate this waiting around, wondering what will happen next. I either want them together or I want them apart.”
I thought how often I’d felt something like that for the past couple of years about Dad and Sylvia. Except I’d never wanted them apart. I’d always wanted them to be together.
9
----
Going Coed
That night, our night, none of the older counselors was available to drive us into town, so the six of us girls decided to sneak down to the river early and go skinny-dipping, just to say that we had. Doris, who felt she was on the verge of a cold, didn’t want to go in but said she’d be our lookout.
“We’ll just take a short swim before the guys start looking for us,” Pamela said with a giggle. But we were all secretly hoping that the guys would find out where we’d gone and… Well, who knows what we were hoping. Just for something exciting to happen, I guess.
We weren’t foolish enough to leave our clothes on the bank, though. We wadded them up and stuck them in the fork of a low tree. When we got down to our underpants, we wore them to the water’s edge, then gave them to Doris to put in the tree for us, and dived in. Elizabeth refused to takeoff either her underpants or her bra, so there we were; one girl on the bank fully clothed; one girl in the water in her underwear; and four girls in the river naked.
We swam quietly, giggling to each other, feeling very risqué. When the guys didn’t come down right away, I noticed, none of us suggested we get out, even though the water was frigid and I could feel my teeth chattering. We just kept swimming around, watching the path to the dining hall. I noticed Pamela’s voice getting a little louder, just in case the guys were within earshot. And soon, down the path they came—all six of the male assistant counselors.
What we did, of
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