I went to work at the sawmill in Dubuque that Monday, expectin’ to get a card or letter any day sayin’ she was comin’ back to me, but it never came. There was no light in my life, and the dreary days at the end of summer turned into fall. It was a damned tough job, and I could feel my muscles growin’. Ron had said it would make a man outta me, and I guess he was right. I weighed myself one day and had gained fifteen pounds, all in my upper body. Still wore the same slim pants. It was the only thing I had to feel good about. I guess that’s about when the realization that she was gone for good sank home. Maybe I knew it all along and just wouldn’t admit it to myself. As far as I knew though, they had never tried to get anyone to send their clothes or furniture or nothin’. Seemed like they just dropped off the face of the earth. My heart ripped in half. I had been toGalenaa number of times to see if anyone had heard from Judy and her Momma but nobody ever did. I kept workin’, and my parole officer told me one day that if I kept goin’ the way I was I would be set free from the probationary parole soon. I didn’t even care anymore, all I did was work. I had no desire to see Abe and Carol; they were too happy, and the rest of my friends, well, they didn’t come see me so the hell with ‘em. Abe did, a few times, kinda worried about me or somethin, I s’pose. I told him I was awright, just didn’t feel much like partyin’ right now. He said, “Yeah. I know how you feel. I’ll be there when ya need me, ol’ buddy.”

Then one day I noticed the colors in the trees were startin’ to change and took a good look around me for the first time in the long weeks that had dragged by, and at myself. I had let my beard grow and never trimmed it or nothin’, and my hair was way too long. I looked at the burly lumberjack in the mirror and smiled. I was a man. That boy was still there too, though, and all of a sudden he wanted to act like one. I got my razor and scissors outta the bag and started whittlin’, and ended up lookin’ like Elvis when I walked outta the house. The old Merc hadn’t had a bath since the Corn Boil and I twisted the garden hose back into shape and bathed the beast and threw a coat o’ wax on ‘er. Then I got the skirts outta the trunk and cleaned ‘em up and latched ‘em on. Nice. I sat on the curb and smoked a coupla Marlboros, lookin’ at that pretty old car. It was Friday night. I felt my long sideburns. Wonder what Abe’s doin?

I grinned. I’m gonna surprise him. I got in and fired the old girl up and headed for Galena, rollin’ East at a little over a hundred, and was sittin’ in the car in front of Boze ‘n Maggie’s in a short time, watchin’ kids linin’ up to go into the Theatre. I went up there too.

John was standin’ by the door collectin’ tickets, shootin’ the shit with Ted, and I grinned at ‘em. We’d been hangin’ out since grade school and always had a good time when we got together. Ted asked, “Hear from her yet?” “Naw, man. I finally gave up. Don’t think I ever will. Can’t lay around cryin’ about it no more, guess I just gotta put it behind me.” I got a kind of lump in my throat. “Prob’ly never love nobody like that again. I’m gonna go have a beer. Later.” I walked over to the Silver Dollar and went in. Joe was workin’ and he grinned, “Where the hell ya been?” “New job. Seen Abe or Frank around?” He looked up at the clock on the wall, “Won’t be long. They stop in every night after work. Blue Ribbon?” “Yeah, sounds good. Gimme a shot of peppermint, too.” Not only did I look a hell of a lot better than I had the day before, I found myself feelin’ a hell of a lot better. A half hour and several shots later I felt damn good, and got up and stuck a quarter in the jukebox. Just for the hell of it I played Da Do Ron Ron, I Fought The Law, and The Duke Of Earl, and went back and ordered another Blue. A girl in shorts with a pink blouse came in and when she got close enough to see her face I whistled under my breath, and said to myself, Gawd damn! Now that is a good lookin’ woman! I found myself glancin’ her way more’n once. Couldn’t seem to stop. That last time she was smilin’ right at me. Had to be me; wasn’t nobody else in there yet. I smiled back. She got up and came to visit. “Hi!” “How ya doin’? I’m Frank.” “I’m Shirley. Mind if I sit down?” “Hell no! Lemme help ya up on that stool!” I got up and picked her up from behind and set her down gentle and plopped back on my stool, grinnin’ like I was Superman and had just saved her from an ignominious death. She said, “Jeezus, yer strong! Whatta ya do, lift weights?” “Trees! I lift trees, and big slabs that weigh hundreds of pounds, and  carry ‘em a coupla dozen feet and throw ‘em on a rack. Hubbard Sawmill, Dubuque. Whatta you do?” “Waitress in the Fourth Street Café in Dubuque. Ever go to East Dubuque?” “Too fuckin’ many times! Naw, seriously, I been hangin’ out over there quite a while, mostly the Hi Hat and Town House.” “Yeah, I like them too, but I don’t remember seein’ you there.” “I was prob’ly with a bunch of guys or somethin’. I don’t remember seein’ you either. I think I would, if I had.” “Oh yeah?” “Sure enough; you’re worth rememberin’. Wanna get a coupla beers and sit at the table over there by the jukebox?” “Sure.”

Abe ‘n Carol n Frank ‘n Suzy came in as we were gettin’ comfortable with each other and they all pulled up chairs and yelled for Joe to set ‘em up. Carol smiled happily at me, “It’s about time ya came back to life! Welcome home!” I took her hand and kissed it, likin’ her a lot. “Thanks Carol. I mean it. How you doin’ Suzy?” “Pretty good. I think Frank’s got me knocked up.” “Far out! Ya been havin’ as much fun as possible then, huh?” “What?” “Never mind. Whatta you guys been doin?” “Waitin’ for you!” “Well, here I am, in the flesh. Now what?” “Party Time!” Abe got up and had Joe pour us all a shot of peppermint and got another round of beers, the girls fed the jukebox, and me ‘n Shirley got up and danced a coupla times. She was a real redhead with electric blue eyes and some damned cute freckles. I suddenly found myself wonderin’ what the rest of her looked like. I had come back to life. I would never forget the little gal fromNebraska, but hell, ya can’t live in the past. When we got back to the table I was grinnin’ like a shit-eatin’ dawg with about half a boner.

It was a beautiful night, still seventy four degrees out, and wouldn’t be dark for a coupla hours. “I saw some damn pretty colors startin’ in the trees when I drove over fromDubuque. Wanna grab a case and go down by the river and watch the sunset?” The girls were all for it. “Where we goin’?” Carol asked. “There’s a cool spot up that old road belowChestnutMountain. Fuckin’ goat path. Ya can see halfway acrossIowafrom the top.” Abe said, “That place where the tire blew?” “Yeah.” “Fuckinaye, man! That’s a beautiful sumbitch from up there. Let’s go.”

I walked down to Boze’s and hopped in the Merc and rolled up in front of the Silver Dollar and sat there bein’ cool as they loaded ‘emselves into the car. I wasn’t really surprised that they gave Shirley the seat next to me, or that the rest of ‘em had climbed in the back, just like it had been with Judy. This time though, the case was set on the front floor, and Shirley got the honors, her bein’ a waitress and all. I ran her up to about four thousand rpm’s and slid my foot off the clutch, smokin’ the tires halfway upMain Street, and me ‘n Abe started laughin’.

I looked back over the seat at him, happy as hell, and he grinned, “Fuckinaye, man! When ya movin’ back to town?” “Can’t ‘til my birthday, unless they let me sign the papers early. Ain’t far away though. Two or three months maybe.” “Ain’t soon enough. Hand me a beer, Shirley!”

I made one more pass through the main drag and then we turned and went outBlackjack Road. Threw up a lot of gravel dust and the Merc was growin’ a coat of hair by the time I took Pilot Knob toward Aiken and Sam’s place. Crossed the old iron bridge and rolled across the tracks ‘n stopped to shoot the shit with Fritzie when we came to his camp, gave him a coupla cold ones and a taste of the peppermint Frank had brought, and zigged back across the tracks and followed the road down past the Ski runs and a few more camps, and started climbin’ the hill. It had washed out again and was bumpy as hell but we made it to the top and pulled off the road by the big rock. Right about then some fabulous colors started driftin’ across the sky in the clouds, and the way the girls were actin’ reminded me of the fireworks at the Corn Boil when everyone was ooh-in’ an’ ahh-in’ an’ yellin’; WOW!

Yeah. It was pretty. But ya don’t get over a broken heart by wishin’, and while I watched the wondrous colors in the sky as the sun sank, so did I.

“What’s wrong, big fella?” I felt this tiny hand on my arm and looked down at Red. “Ah, I had some bad times lately, and I guess I ain’t healed up as much as I thought I was.” “What happened?” I looked down into her upturned face. “You Irish?” “Scot. C’mon, tell me.” “Well, Lil’ Red, not too long ago I was in love with a girl who was just as pretty as you are, and she loved me, too. Least I thought she did. But she went away and never came back. Never wrote me. Nothin’. Kinda hurts to talk about it.” “Talkin’ about it might help, though. You can tell me.” I said, “Well, let’s go sit on the rock then. Ain’t no sense annoyin’ everybody else.” I found her hand in mine as we walked, and it felt real nice, like Judy’s used to feel, and I left it there. We sat, as full dark fell over the Mississippi, and the moon slowly began it’s climb. She sat close, and I let her. I told her, as best I could without shamin’ myself, what it had been like, all that agony, all that loneliness, after I knew she’d never return. Lil’ Red cried for me. I almost did too, but a man don’t cry.

She was huggin’ me gently, head on my shoulder, as the full moon rose up over the trees, and I tipped her chin up so I could see her face better, and wiped her tears away. “What a nice girl you are, to cry for someone you barely know.” Couldn’t help myself. Leaned down and kissed her softly. Sat back up. She followed, kissin’ me just as soft, then with hunger. She kissed good. Mmmm. I hadn’t been kissed like that in way too long! I picked her up and put her on my lap to make it easier for her, and she instantly made it harder for me. I pushed her back. “Jeezus! This could get carried away real easy, Lil’ Red! Maybe we better go back to the car.” “I don’t think so. I like it over here in the dark.” “Oh yeah? Damn. Well, if we’re gonna stay over here in the dark, lemme run over and grab a few beers then. You gonna be awright here by yourself for two minutes?” “Yeah. Hurry back!” I did. But I took enough time to grab a pillow and the gray Army blanket, grabbed the beers, grinned at Carol who was grinnin’ at me, and ran back to the rock. “I’m back.” “No shit Dick Tracey. Gimme a beer, and take off your pants. I already got mine off.” Ah… Full moon, too. Bright. Shinin’ right on her. I was just as naked as her ten seconds after I set down the beer, shakin’ out the blanket on the grass by the side of the road. “I brought you a pillow,” I breathed, and she said, real soft, “Thanks,” then she laid down and stretched her arms out for me. Jeezus, you talk about fireworks!

Maybe it was the red hair that made her so hot, or maybe she just liked me a whole hell of a lot. Whatever it was, she set me on fire too, and Judy was gone for good. I had been afraid that if I was tryin’ to make it with another girl and closed my eyes I would see her face, but it didn’t happen; all I saw when I shut ‘em was the beautiful face of the fabulous redhead that was bangin’ my brains out, and I opened ‘em wide to watch that face in the throes of our passion, and was healed. We didn’t go back to the car for four hours. Nobody came lookin’ for us either. When we did go back, all they had for us were smiles and a cold beer. Abe said, “We better go to Moon’s pit stop over the hill at Blanding; that’s the last one.”

Moon had about eight customers shootin’ pool out on the slab and we watched for a while and then took over the table when they’d had enough. Played partners for an hour, then got two cases and a bunch of ice and snacks and hit the road. Didn’t go far. Saw a bonfire over at the Campground and pulled in. A kegger. I didn’t know too many of ‘em, but recognized a coupla kids fromHanoverand drove right up to ‘em. “Hey. Wha’s happenin’?” one of ‘em said. “Mind if we join ya?” “Naw, hop on outta the car. Seen ya drivin’ this beast out at the Palace one night. Fucker’s nice.” “I like it. Good road drinker. Roomy.” Shirley got outta her side of the car and came over and sat on my lap when I dropped down on someone’s lawn chair. Felt good. Frank ‘n Suzy found a spot on the grass close by, and Abe walked over to talk to a guy he knew from Savanna, takin’ Carol with him. Frank said, “Kinda makes me wanna go see old Al, the bonfire ‘n all. We ain’t been out there for three weeks. He prob’ly thinks we all died.” I said, “I ain’t seen him since before the Corn Boil. Shit, we gotta go out there tonight, man. He’s probly lonesome as hell. Soon as Abe gets back we’ll haul ass.”

We cut across country, goin’ up past the Ski Resort and across Blackjack, past the Township Garage toward Irish Hollow, then followed Irish Hollow to Devil’s ladder Road. Took that and drove over the humps a little faster than I shoulda and scared the piss out of the girls; it was easy to go airborne on that road. Frank yelled, “Do it again!” so I hit one more of ‘em fast then we went through the curves, up and then down the most dangerous fuck of a road you ever saw, and stopped at Highway 20. Cranked ‘er to the right and went up the long hill, and turned left on Long Hollow. Turned left again and went past Carp’s house and up the hill. After a coupla miles Abe says, “Take a left up there.” “That ain’t a fuckin’ road!” “Make it one! Me’n Carol got through in the ’56 last week.”

“Well, if you can do it, ol’ pal, so can I!” I slowed the Merc and slid down the steep embankment and rolled down through the trees for about a mile and a half, then saw the Guilford Roaddead ahead. “Shit, I know where I’m at!” I turned left and said, “Damn, Shirley, I’m dyin’ of thirst,” and she handed me a cold one. I quick took a swig and turned to the right and scooted up the hill, went past Doc’s place where he kept the junk, and came out on the Scales Mound Road. Turned left. After a coupla miles I saw the Ford Roadturn and took it, went down past our friend, Clancy the Bull, and slowed for the turn under the train bridge. Two miles further we came to the old wooden bridge, and a half mile later crept through the tunnel and drove up into Al’s yard. It was dark as hell but after a minute we saw the lantern in the trailer gettin’ bright, and the shaky old man opened the door and called in his waverin’ English accent, “Is that you, Frankie?” “Yeah Al, It’s me, and I got Abe an’ Frank ‘n the girls with me. Ya comin’ out?” “If ya’ll give me a hand.” We jumped outta the car  and went over and led him out, while Frank got a fire goin’. “I ain’t seen ya fer so long, Frankie!” “Been workin’, ol’ pal. Stayin’ outta trouble for a change.” “Thay tol’ me ‘bout yer gurl. Too bad, she was so nice, too.” “Yeah. She was. Hey! I wanna introduce ya to Shirley! C’mere Red!” Lil’ Red came over, not knowin’ what to expect. “Is this yer new gurlie?” I looked at her close and said, “Are ya?” “Think ya’d like that?” I thought about her cryin’ for my broken heart. I thought about the fantastic lovin’ she had given me. I thought about alla them long lonesome weeks I had gone through. That first soft kiss she gave me on that rock under the moon. “Yeah. I’d like that. Would you?” She just nodded, and I told old Al, “Yeah Al. She’s my new girl. I like her a lot, too.” The old boy kissed her hand and said, “Frankie’s mah frien’.” Then he limped over to his old red lawn chair and settled in for some serious beer drinkin’, Carol waitin’ with one already opened for him. He had kissed her hand a coupla times too, but she wouldn’t let him anymore ‘cause he licked it that time when nobody was lookin’.

While they were gettin’ him stimulated I opened the trunk and took out the guitar case. Took the f-hole Harmony out. Found a seat on a cement block. Tuned it a hair. Got strummin’ kinda waltzy, kinda slow;

You held me… so soft and sweet…

and gave me new life…

And while we watched that lover’s moon… The clouds blew away…

My pain was gone and I found myself…

Wantin’…to say…

I never… will hurt you, or tell you a lie…

I’ll be there to hold you close….

If you ever cry…

But…

The words never… came out girl…

Didn’t think they’d… sound right…

From a man who… was holdin’ you

For the first time…tonight.

In that dark hour when the sun went down, On the river… to…night.

Then she was standin’ in front of me. “What was that all about?” “Just some feelin’s I had.” “Did you write it?” “Yeah.” “When?” “Now.” I had to put the guitar down; there wasn’t room on my lap for both of ‘em.

After kissin’ me ‘til my head was spinnin’ she got up and said, “Let’s get in the car. C’mon!” and tugged me up offa my ass. I picked up the banged up guitar and handed it to Frank as we passed ‘em and him ‘n Abe started serenadin’ their women. Carol went into the dank trailer and grabbed the old red accordian and helped Al get it strapped on. He had trouble with its bulk sometimes, but once he got both hands on it he did just fine. I never did know how old he was; he looked like a hundred and five the day I met him, and never changed. Same clothes too, after alla that time. We climbed into the back seat and I arranged the pillows for her, and sat on the edge of the seat admirin’ her for a while. Judy had lain there with me. Well, maybe a lot of girls would. Maybe just the one who was there now. The one who was there now didn’t wanna lay there by herself, so I eased myself onto the big seat with her and she turned to face me. We smiled for a while. Started kissin’. Got a little closer. “This is sure a neat car.” “Yeah. It’s better’n a motel. I used to sleep in it when it was real hot out.” “Loosen your belt.” “Awright. There. I can’t get this snap open.” “Here, I’ll do it.” “Ahhhh. Jeezus!”

The Merc weighed fifty-two hundred pounds but we got ‘er movin’. “Jeezus!” “Yeah…” “Ouch!” “What’s the matter?” “Got pinched in the corner.” “Oops!” “Mmmm…that’s better.” The shocks started to squeak. She started to moan. I was gettin’ ready to howl at the moon! “Ohhhhmygawd,” she whispered, and I bent my sweatin’ face down to hers and we kissed, steam rollin’ off us in waves. I panted, “My heart’s slammin’ like a jack-hammer!” “Mine too.”

Ten minutes later I said, “Let’s get out and get a beer. I think I just lost five pounds.” “Me too. Damn. Our sweat made a wet spot.” “Throw the blanket over it. How do you like my friends?” “Well, I ain’t spent much time with ‘em, as you may have noticed, but they sure like to have fun, don’t they?” “Me too. Been enough bad times; you found yourself a good timin’ man, baby. You got me over the hump. From now on we’re gonna have a ball.”

I figgered she was a few years older than me, but I wasn’t gonna tell her that. She’d prob’ly find out soon enough on her own. I could let her do that, couldn’t I?

Shit. Naw, I gotta tell her. “Hey Shirley.” We were sittin’ out by the fire. “What?” “Uh, when’s your birthday?” “June sixth.” “What year?” “Nineteen Forty-five.” “Damn!” “What?” “I thought we were a little closer. I was born January o’ Forty-Nine.” “How come you were gettin’ served?” “Ol’ Joe never asked me for an ID card.” “Shit. Now I feel like a pervert!” “Well, hey, does it really matter? I mean, hell, it’s only four years, after all. That ain’t so bad, is it?” She thought about it, and the fun we’d been havin’. Carol had been listenin’. Couldn’t help it, we were sittin’ right next to the rest of ‘em. “Hey, Shirley, that ain’t important. I’m three years older than Abie. Don’t matter at all. Best man I ever had.” “Yeah? But what if we go to East Dubuque?” Abe told her that I had never been checked, there or anywhere else, and about drinkin’ in the bar with ol’ Don Keene when I was twelve. “Shit, everybody thinks he’s the same age I am.” “How old are you?” “Twenty one.” I took her hand. “I didn’t get a chance to say nothin’ down by the river. After that it just seemed like it was kinda too late, ya know?” “I could go to jail for molestin’ you!” Abe ‘n Frank laughed. Hard. I had to smile myself. Then I couldn’t help myself and busted up. “Yeah, but did ya like it?” “Well, you know I did!” “So did I,” I said quietly and took her hand. “Hey. We don’t have to hang out in bars. There’s a whole lotta things we can do. I really like you. Don’t you like me?” “You know I do! That’s the problem!” I said, “C’mon, go for a walk with me.”

She did, and we went down by the tunnel and inside. Voices echoed really cool in it, and water ran in the center and puddled on the southern side. Sounded pretty neat. I flipped the Zippo open and spun the wheel, and said, “Look at all the names spray-painted here, even way up on the ceilin’. See? He loves her. She loves him. Hundreds of ‘em like that. Four years ain’t nothin’ if we wanna be together.” “There are hundreds of ‘em! Were they all here at parties?” “Yeah, almost all of ‘em. I’m sure some were just ridin’ around and kept goin’ after sprayin’ their names, but I’ve seen most of these people in Al’s yard. I know they loved each other, most of ‘em. Yeah, sometimes they didn’t stay together long, and I have seen some of ‘em get in fights and break up out here. But I never saw any of ‘em that cared about how old they were. If you love someone…” “It doesn’t matter.” “That’s what I’m sayin’.” She kinda cried on my shoulder for a while. Then, when I kissed her on the cheek she turned her face and her lips found mine of their own accord in a long burnin’ kiss and her arms went around my neck, tight. “I don’t care. I wanna be your girl!” “You are.”

When we got back to the fire Carol asked her, “Well, ya get it all worked out?” “Yeah. You were right. It don’t matter. What we found is too important. I’m his girl now.” Abe sat back in the rickety lawn chair. He was glad that had been settled. Now we can get back to normal, he thought. “Welcome to the club, Shirley.” “You guys got a club?” He laughed, “When we were young everybody called us ‘the Bench Street Boys’. I guess you could call it a club. Some people used to think we were more like a gang, though. Just a bunch o’ pals runnin’ together. Ain’t that many anymore. Can’t keep up wif us three. Ya like that song Frank sang for ya?” “Well, he ain’t no Buddy Holly but, yeah, I liked it. Made me horny as hell!”

Frank handed me back the old Harmony and I found a seat over by Al. I fired it up and got Abe croonin’ for her, and Al threw in some licks on the squeeze box and started grinnin’. Suzy came back from waterin’ the lawn and whispered somethin’ in Frank’s ear, and he looked our way and wiped a non-existent bead of sweat from his forehead. He wasn’t gonna be a daddy. He started singin’ too. It was good to be back on the Green, Green Grass and not too much later we all wandered off in different directions, leavin’ Al with a coupla cold ones within easy reach and that big ol’ toothless smile.

I showed her the swimmin’ hole and she kicked off a shoe and stuck her toe in the water. “It’s still warm.” “Wanna go in?” “Yeah.” I watched her peel down. She liked me watchin’ and did it kinda like them strippers in E.D for me, real slinky, and slipped into the water and wrapped herself around me. “Nice.” “Mmhmmm.” “Hey baby.” “Hmm?” “How old are we now? Feels like the same age, to me.” “Me too. I’m sorry I was so goofy about it.”

After splashin’ half the water outta the river we got out and air-dried for a while, then walked back down the road under that big ol’ full moon, watchin’ our shadows stretch way out in front of us with the shadow hands holdin’ and shadow bodies touchin’ and she stopped there in the middle of the road and slid her arms around my neck. I picked her up and carried her for a while, ‘til we went into the tunnel, and we walked back up to Al’s. Everybody was there havin’ a beer and we sat over by Abe ‘n Carol. Nobody was sayin’ nothin’, just sittin’ there feelin’ good. “This is fun. It’s like we’re all part of a family.” I held her a little tighter. “That’s exactly how it is, babe; a family of best friends. Can’t get no closer. Thanks.” “For what?” “Givin’ it back to me.” She snuggled down and we watched the fire sendin’ sparks up to the heavens.

About five in the mornin’ we tucked old Al back into his cubbyhole trailer and drove to town and I pulled into the alley behind the penthouse. Abe had suggested we camp out there for the day. His Ol’ Man didn’t give a damn. He liked havin’ all them sweet young ladies runnin’ around the apartment half naked while they were takin’ turns in the bathroom and we laid around most of the day. Then aroundnoonwe started gettin’ serious about havin’ some coffee. He sat at the table with us, wantin’ to know what the hell we’d been up to. It was his favorite hobby. He was way too old to go out and have a good time and get laid himself, but he still liked to hear all about it. Kept him young. A good ol’ boy, but then, look whose daddy he was.

We had found him a new couch, and he was a happy man, spendin’ much of his day on it by the television.

Frank had found a big tent stuffed away in the attic of the penthouse, about forty years old but still serviceable, a few weeks back and took it out on the cement and aired it out, heavy green canvas with sewn-in screen windows that had flaps on ‘em, and a good heavy duty floor. Yeah, it had a coupla mice chaws on it, but he was a handy sumbitch and stitched some patches over ‘em, dumped Lysol all over it, and let it bake in the sun after settin’ it up. After dryin’ good he dismantled it and rolled it up, throwin’ it in a corner under the steps. He said, “Let’s go campin’.” Abe said, “Where at, Al’s?” “Naw, out by Bawden Furnace. Good fishin’ out there, down at the bend.” I nodded, “Yeah. Even some trout in there. Big fuckin’ Bass. Sunfish, Crappies; you name it. I can ask Pappy if he’ll let us set up on his side of the river. Can’t get in no trouble for trespassin’ or nothin’ then.” Frank said, “We’ll have to tie the tent on the roof; might scratch the paint. I’ll get that old quilt off my bed.” I went down to Ma’s and dug out three sleepin’ bags. Bernie wanted to come along but I told him it was couples only. He got a little pissed, but hell, he was only fourteen and couldn’t up and disappear for the weekend, like we were plannin’ to do. Me ‘n Shirley made a fast run toMudLake and she introduced me to her daddy and ran in the double-wide to grab some clothes. Her three little brothers liked the Merc.

We couldn’t stuff anything more into the trunk with alla the beer and ice and food we had collected, extra blankets, toilet paper, fishin’ poles and such, so we piled some clean clothes and towels and stuff in the car, tied the big fuckin’ tent and the poles on the roof, and crept outta town by the Buck Hill Road. It was only five miles so it didn’t take long, and I pulled up in front of Pappy’s place and shut her down. Ron came out. “Hey Ron, when ya gonna sell me that ’57Pontiac?” “Ain’t. It’s a Golden Anniversary. Only made fifty of ‘em.” “Your daddy around?” “In the house. Ya want me to go get him?” “Would ya?” Ol’ Pappy and my brother John were good pals, and he knew me well enough from runnin’ with his sons.

When he came out and saw the shit piled in and on the Merc he laughed. “Goin’ on a gawd damn expedition?” “Yeah. Fishin’. Campin’. Thought I’d ask ya if we could come in the gate and get over there by the bend for a coupla days. We all gotta work Monday, so we’d be outta there late tomorrow.” “Ya ain’t gonna make a mess, right, and take yer garbage home with ya?” “Absolutely. We don’t like messin’ stuff up. It’s too damn pretty out here.” “I don’t want no damn loud noise or nothin’.” “Sounds good to me.” “Awright. Ron, open that gate.”

I drove through and eased the Merc through the pasture. The cows kept the weeds and grass down nice, and the shit we couldn’t avoid splashin’ through would wash off. It was damn near a quarter mile from the gate. Pap had let others in there before us, and there was a picnic table and a rope swing with a skinny old tire from the ‘40’s swayin’ in the light breeze.

It was a pretty spot, and we parked under the big Oak and climbed out. Abe said, “Let’s put the tent right here in the shade.”

A half hour later we stood back and admired our handiwork, well pleased. “Let’s have one.” The girls had set up the kitchen, an old refrigerator shelf grate over some rocks on either side of the fire, covered it with foil, and were cookin’ burgers for lunch. We weren’t gonna attack the fish until mornin’. The rest of today was for gettin’ hammered.

I watched Shirley bendin’ over turnin’ the burgers. Judy had been a girl. Shirley was a woman. I had jumped from the fryin’ pan into the fire. Her every movement got me goin’, seemed like, and I went over to the kitchen. “Anything I can do?” “Wanna help, huh?” “Well, uh, I couldn’t help noticin’, when ya bent over.” “Noticin’ what?” “How gawd damn beautiful you really are. You got the nicest ass I ever seen. Made me hungry.” “Well, you’ll just have to wait ‘til the burgers are done.” “I’ll starve for some of your lovin’ by then!” “Oh, get outta here!” She bit her bottom lip to keep from laughin’ but couldn’t stop the happy smile. The other girls laughed at my foolishness though, as I walked over and sat on a stump with the guys.

Abe’ n Frank had both been hired at the Hanover sawmill after the Corn Boil, where they sawed railroad ties and made oak blocks, pallets, and a number of other products. It was a mud hole most days, common ground for bullshittin’, and we talked about how good the wood smelled when it was ripped an’ how heavy the stuff was. Bein’ tough fuckers, we loved the hard labor, and always rolled up our sleeves so the biceps showed good when we were runnin’ around somewhere. Our girls liked them muscles.

It was a pretty day, seventy eight degrees, a soft breeze bringin’ the smell of the wild flowers to us there on the point, the curious cows wanderin’ up now and then to take a look at us. Shirley and Carol brought us our plates and sat in the grass nearby and we ate our lunch. I asked Abe, “Where we gonna set the pegs?” We had brought the horseshoes along, naturally, and pounded the stakes in a good spot out in the bright sunshine after walkin’ it off. I tried a coupla practice tosses. Missed the first, got a ringer the second. “I’m ready.” Everybody else warmed up, and then we got serious. Tossed for a coupla hours and Abe and Carol ended up winnin’ most of the rounds. I had enough and asked Lil’ Red if she wanted to go on a hike.

“Pappy told me there was an Indian Burial Ground up on that hill, when me’n his son Gary was kids. Wouldn’t ever let us go up there though. Said it was fulla ghosts.” Carol snorted, “You guys and them fuckin’ ghosts! I think yer pullin’ our legs. Let’s go see ‘em.” I led the way, holdin’ hands with my sweetie, and they all followed as I found a cow path goin’ in the right direction. A flock of pigeons flew over and did an incredible dance in the sky, swoopin’ and veerin’ off and climbin’ and divin’ and goin’ around in long circles and shit, never once one of ‘em losin’ their place. Shirley said, “That’s beautiful! How the hell do they do that?” We stopped to watch ‘em. “I don’t know. Its like the whole damn bunch has one mind that they share or somethin’. Alla them herds of birds do it; even sparrows. Cool. C’mon, we gotta climb this slope.”

We got about halfway up, into an area that had the biggest fuckin’ rocks we ever saw, bigger’n some of the houses in town, scattered all over the hillside. Just layin’ around like someone tossed ‘em there. Carol said, “Damn. It’s like a different world up here. How the hell did them rocks get thrown around like that? Earthquake or somethin’? Some of ‘em are standin’ up on edge like they fell outta the damn sky!” I looked around at ‘em. “Maybe they did. Ain’t no bulldozer ever been up here. Couldn’t get through this maze. Couldn’t move the damn things if it did. Way too big. If it was a ‘quake, it musta been monstrous.” It was like bein’ up in the mountains somewhere, but we didn’t have no mountains in Illinois. Frank said, “This is fuckin’ great.”

We kept climbin’. Found what looked like an old footpath and followed it. Abe stopped. “Hey Frank.” “Yeah?” “This is a gawd damn Indian Trail.” “What makes ya say that?” “Right here. Arrow head.” “Holy shit! Maybe ol’ Pappy was right! Dig it out.” We all got down on the ground and started scrapin’ around in the dirt after he snagged it and cleaned the dirt off of it. It was in perfect shape, the finely knapped edges just as sharp as when the hunter woulda shot it into a mammoth or some other Indian. Suzy said, “Here’s another one!”

We found a half dozen of ‘em layin’ in the dirt there in the cut, then gave it up and wound our way up through the rocks. Came into a circular area about forty feet across that was cleared of rocks and smaller stones, that had been placed around the edges by the prehistoric people who had lived here. Abe said, “Wow, this shit was done a long fuckin’ time ago. Look at the moss growin’ on the stones that were moved. Thousands o’ years!” I looked around me at the cleared spot. “The middle seems to be a little higher than the outside, don’t it?” “It’s like a mound or somethin’,” Carol said. “Fuckin’ grave,” said her man. “How do ya know?” “Looks like one, don’t it?” “We gonna dig it up?” “With what, our damn pocket knives? Hell no, I ain’t diggin’ up no grave!”

“Hey,” Shirley said, “This looks like a piece of some old clay jar or somethin, don’t it?” We handed it around lookin’ at it. “Yeah. Where’d ya find it?” She showed us and we dug around and found a few more pieces.

“What’s this?” Abe took the thing from Carol’s hand, turned it this way and that and said, “Damn if I know. First one I ever seen.” He handed it to his brother, and Frank took a good look. “Got me baffled.” Handed it to me. “Part of a pipe. For smokin’. Look; got a hole here, and another one here. Gotta be a pipe bowl. Prob’ly one of them peace pipes like they got down at the Old General Store.” Abe said, “Yeah, had one o’ them long wooden stems, stuffed right in that smaller hole. I’ll be damned. There’s gotta be a lotta other stuff layin’ around.” We went back to huntin’. Found a coupla more arrowheads and some old bones over by the outer circle. Shirley asked me, “Ya think them are Indian bones?” I didn’t touch ‘em, just in case they were, but scrunched down and had a closer look. “Pretty small, if they are. Mighta been a kid, maybe. Mighta been a coyote. Big fuckin’ rabbit. I don’t know; ain’t enough here to say. Prob’ly some kinda animal, though.” Abe had looked pretty close at ‘em too. “Naw, that rib looks like it was a person. Them are finger bones layin’ over there.” “Oh Jeezus,” Suzy said, when Frank picked one up. “Sumbitch is petrified. Turned to stone. Older than the hills. Sure does look like a finger bone though.” He picked up a coupla more of ‘em and fitted ‘em together. Dropped ‘em. “Yeah, somebody’s hand!” “I don’t like it here,” Suzy said in a whimper. Abe looked my way and said, “It’s a graveyard. Pappy said there was ghosts up here. I’m startin’ to believe it.” “Yeah, me too. We gonna stay up here ‘til it gets dark an’ see ‘em?” “Damn right! I didn’t climb all the way up here for nothin’!” Oh ho ho, the girls didn’t like that!

Needless to say, they drug our asses outta the clearin’ and down the hill. We didn’t laugh ‘til they went off to piss.

“I’d like to stay up there some night, though,” Frank told us after we settled down. “Just fer the hell of it. Couldn’t find a better place to find a ghost.” “Ya think them was finger bones?” “Naw, they were just small rocks.” We laughed again, then shut up quick; they were comin’ back.

I got up and went to meet Lil’ Red. “Everything come out awright?” “Idiot. Hungry? I am! That was hard work, climbin’ up that damn mountain. I’m gonna put some brats on, wanna help?” “Yeah. I was startin’ to miss ya.” She smiled and we dug supper outta the cooler and got it cookin’. It was goin’ on five when the girls decided to go swimmin’. We decided to sit up on the bank and watch. It was a lot better than goin’ to the Drive-In, didn’t cost nothin’, and the plot they were playin’ out made a lot more sense than most of the movies we saw. They swam naked. Kept crawlin’ out an’ jumpin’ back in. Splashed hell outta each other. Stayed in the river for over an hour doin’ that, and we thought it was wonderful, and erotic as hell. Yeah, maybe we’da had even more fun if we’da gone in with ‘em, but we all doubted it. We were only sittin’ thirty feet away.

When they got tired of it they came out all glistenin’, with little beads of water tricklin’ off of ‘em, and stood there air-dryin’ unashamedly right in front of all three of us, shakin’ water outta their hair and sluicin’ it from their breasts and tummies. Abe said, “You ever seen anything like that? I sure as hell ain’t!” “Me either.” “Gawd damn they are beautiful. I need another beer!” I got up and grabbed six cold bottles, opened ‘em, and slipped the guys one and slid down the bank and handed the others to the girls. “I wanted to be the first one to say this; watchin’ you girls today was the most wonderful experience I’ve ever had. Well, almost,” I said grinnin’ at Lil’ Red. None of ‘em tried  to hide nothin’ either, as I stood and talked to ‘em. Jeezus. “Come on, I’ll give ya a hand up the bank.” Frank ‘n Abe took their hands and pulled ‘em up the rest of the way. I had never had my hands so full of fabulous naked ass before, or a bigger smile on my face.

Carol stretched her arms out over her head, “Gawd, it feels good to run around naked in the country!” Abe said, “Be my guest. Looks damn good, too!” Both of us other guys agreed, and they didn’t bother puttin’ their clothes back on, just headed for our camp and sat on a few towels, and we started pourin’ down the beer. Frank pulled the kitchen grate off the fire and threw on some bigger chunks of wood, and Shirley handed me the Harmony. “Sing for me.” I looked her up and down, naked right in front of my nose, and in a medium tempo in b flat kicked it off;

All I want is to hold you tenderly….

Kiss your hand…

like the lady I know you to be…

I’d be in Heaven… if I thought you wanted me…

But, my world don’t work that way….

I hear a voice inside me say….

I’m just a face in a crowd…

you won’t ever see.

The first time I saw you I fell in love…

Alone or with someone else…

you’re all I thought of….

And, thinkin’ about you…

sometimes makes me blue….‘cause…

I want to ask you out, but….

I don’t know how to act…

Or quite what to do…..

‘cause…

I never had….a girl like you….

No, baby…

I never had…..a girl like you….

I never had…a girl like you.

She took the guitar away from me and dragged me into the tent. I did not put up much of a fight.

We weren’t in there long. Just long enough. I helped her dry off with a big ol’ bath towel, and she put her shorts and top back on. “I don’t want ‘em to see me now, with alla them whisker burns an’ hickies.” “Mmmm,” I said, and we went back out. The other four went into the tent. She sat on my lap and kissed me ‘til they came back out, with their clothes back on, and us guys sat there by the fire grinnin’ at each other for a while. All of us fucked silly. The sun was settin’, and the rosy colors weaved their way across the low hangin’ clouds on the horizon. Shirley whispered, “Damn, that’s pretty,” and passed a round of beers to us, hopin’ to get our feet back on the ground. Then the moon popped up over the trees.

I swallowed the twelve ounce bottle in one long drink and got up and threw some wood on the fire. A little weak in the knees, but it passed quick.

How do they do that? I shook my head and sat down, and she climbed on my lap. Mmmm. Like that! She squirmed around a little. I was ready to go back in the tent. I had to get her to stop movin’ around so I turned her sideways, tucked her under my arm, and started givin’ her another hickie. Oops; bad plan! She was buckin’ and hoppin’ like a bunny rabbit! I stopped suckin’ on her neck an’ she gradually quit all that jerkin’ an’ stuff. Then she climbed up me like a monkey up a tree an’ started suckin’ on my neck! I couldn’t take it; got up and carried her into the tent and set her down while I opened up the sleepin’ bag. I said, “Get in there!” She laughed, dropped her shorts, and let me put her to bed. We didn’t go to sleep though. Not for a long time.

I woke up first and went out to piss. Damn, it was a nice mornin’! Then I dug the tin coffee pot outta the trunk and got the coals smokin’, and a few minutes later Abe joined me. “Smelled the coffee.” “Be done in a minute. She remember to bring the fryin’ pan?” “No. I did though, it’s in the back seat on the floor. Crisco, too. Corn meal. Coupla eggs. Dump a lil’ beer in it, nothin’ better.” “Yeah. Frank wakin’ up yet?” “Been awake. Busy.” “Mm. Hope them worms are awake too. I’m goin’ over an’ kick some of them cow pies over and get me some bait.”

We slurped down damn near the whole pot first, then I got the little Army spade outta the trunk and we went bait huntin’. Wasn’t many nightcrawlers but we picked up a hundred or more redworms, dug the poles out, and slid down the bank to the river.

Abe kinda wanted to catch some trout but I was after Pan Fish. I wanted stuff that tasted good, and filleted nice. I’d keep them yellow bellied Bullheads too. We found our favorite spots, baited up, and threw ‘em in. We were fishin’ on the bottom, payin’ close attention, and within minutes started reelin’ ‘em in.

Frank showed up and threw in a line. Abe’s pole dipped wildly and he pulled back on it and then shot it a little slack and got a big shit-eatin’ grin on his face, got a better foot hold in the soft dirt beside the rushin’ water, and started fightin’ with whatever had taken the bait. I could tell he thought he had a Rainbow and watched as I pulled in another Sunfish. Shirley slid down with me and I fixed her a pole and she cast out her line. Did it damn fine.

She had a light blue halter top and short Levi cutoffs with an inch of fray on this mornin’. Mmm mmm! This wasn’t gonna be easy. She looked so good my attention kept strayin’, but that was okay, I wasn’t in no competition or nothin’. She had told me in the sleepin’ bag that her Mom ‘n Dad had been takin’ her and the boys fishin’ since they could walk.

Her daddy got a job at Deere when they moved fromColoradoand had given her a ’62 CorvairMonzawhen she was eighteen to run back ‘n forth to the restaurant onFourth street. She used it to run everywhere else too, but she was over twenty-one now. What he didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him, I thought, as I smiled down at her. She caught a small-mouth Bass and I took it off the hook for her, but she went ahead and rammed the hook up the worm’s ass herself.

The other two girls slid down the bank. Carol was wearin’ a lime green two piece swimmin’ suit that showed off her tan really well, and Suzy, thinkin’ there would be bugs, wore a pair o’ tight Levi’s and had one o’ Frank’s long sleeved shirts on, with the tails tied over her tummy and the sleeves rolled halfway up, and a bandana tied on her head like a Gypsy. They all three looked good enough to eat, and put us boys in the right frame of mind for the day.

We had a plastic bucket full of fish by the time we gave it up around eleven, and Abe had three Trout on his stringer. We found a place in the shade to clean the fish while the girls got the batter mixed and the big iron skillet hot. Abe was the chef, and before long we were enjoyin’ the fruits of our pursuit, washed down with cold Blue Ribbon. The sky was deep blue without a wisp of clouds, and by two it was climbin’ up close to eighty.

It was Sunday, so after I had eaten my fill and had half a dozen beers down I got down on my knees to praise the Lord. “Thank you Lord for good cold beer, no mosquitoes, a good catch of fish, our fabulous women, Abe’s cookin’, sweet weather and, from me to You, the best lovin’ a poor fella like me is ever likely to find. Oh, and Frank thanks you too; You know why!” “Asshole,” Suzy said, but she was smilin’. We decided to start knockin’ down the camp, and made damn sure we didn’t leave a scrap behind as we loaded the car. Then we sat there and emptied the coolers, plannin’ to get together next Friday night and run to New Diggin’s for the Country Music and do some dancin’.

Shirley’s Corvair was parked in the Kraft lot and I took her there after we dropped off the campin’ stuff and everyone at the penthouse, and I followed her to Dubuque. She only lived five miles from me and I stayed right on her bumper ‘til we rolled into the yard. Her little brothers, twelve, nine ‘n seven, were deeply involved in Cowboys ‘n Injuns but gave it up and ran to say hello to their sister, huggin’ and kissin’ her like she’d been gone a month. It was nice to see love like that. Her Mom ‘n Dad came out. I hadn’t met Mom yet. Shirley looked a lot like her, and I knew right then kinda what my new girl would look like when she was that age. She would look good. They made me stay for supper, and we had some damn good roast beef and apple pie.

Shirley had only brought one other boy home to meet them, and I liked hearin’ that.

I stayed with her until I had to go home to bed; had to get up atfive thirty. That day at work Dick noticed the change in me and when we took our first break he started pryin’, wantin’ to know what the fuck was goin’ on, me whistlin’ and shit all mornin’, and shavin’ and alla that. “Met a little redhead. It was like the sun comin’ out.” “Good fer ya! Ya ain’t hardly said a word for more’n a month. Gonna keep seein’ her?” “Long as she’ll let me. She’s awful sweet, Dick, and a lot of fun to be with.”

I ran down to the Fourth Street Café for lunch. She was pretty in her uniform and the customers all liked her real well, tippin’ her good. Neither one of us had time to visit, but her smiles made up for it, and we made a date for after work.

I rolled into her yard at five and sat around with the family for a while ‘til she showered and changed, then we went downtown. We went into Kresge’s so she could get some hot red lipstick, and I bought her a Buddy Holly album just for the hell of it. The one with ‘Cryin’, Waitin’, Hopin’’ on it. We sat at the counter and had strawberry shakes and shot the shit with some of my pals that hung out at Eighth and Main and then went across the street and down to the Italian place and had spaghetti.

When we were back in the Merc she said, “Wanna go parkin’?” “Mmmm. Where, Daytonville Hill?” “Yeah. Won’t be anybody around up there durin’ the week.” I drove over to White and headed north, then got on Central at 24^th and followed it out of town past the Drive-In. When we got to the lane I saw my buddy Earl comin’ out with a girl in his ’56 Chevy four door hardtop. Neither one of us stopped, just grinned at each other as we passed, and the girls waved to one another. Well, it was a good parkin’ place, and the Dubuque kids had some fantastic keg parties up there. I had been to one early this summer with Earl so I knew the way. We climbed in back after I shut it down under a shade tree. Got cozy. Looked wonderingly at each other for a while. Took our clothes off and had another much longer look. “You’re so beautiful.” “So are you. Love me.”

We went up there every night that week, and when Friday rolled around and I finally ran into my sister and brother-in-law I told them about her and said I’d bring her to the house Sunday. Then I picked her up and we rode toGalenaand went up to the penthouse. The crew was ready to go.

The Shit Kickers were wound up when we got to The Dew Drop In. New Diggin’s was packed. Don Keene was glad to see us and told me he was ready to swap somethin’ for that ol’ junk Merc any day now. “I ain’t. Not ‘til I flip ‘n dick it.” We got lucky and found a small table empty ‘cept for a bunch of purses, but the ladies that owned ‘em graciously came ‘n got ‘em when they saw we needed the table.Keenegot us some foldin’ chairs from the back room and asked me if I was gonna singMemphiswith the band again. “Maybe, if I get drunk enough.”

We had a few beers and got up and danced when they played the slow ones. Hell with the fast ones; the girls got us movin’ fast enough in other areas. Jeezus. It was easy to be in love, or feel like you were fallin’, with her dancin’ close like that in the crowd. I fell in love with her a dozen times that night, and, yeah, she made me get up and sing Memphis. I got lucky and didn’t forget none of the words this time.

A lot of the patrons were young but there were folks in their forties ‘n fifties there too, actin’ just as young as we were, dancin’ and whoopin’ and havin’ a hell of a time.Keenealways had more fun than any of us, and sometimes got even drunker than the people he was servin’. Aboutmidnightwe decided to go pay Al a visit and got a case to go, someBolognaand Swiss Cheese ‘n crackers, and took off for Council Hill.

There was a fire burnin’ when we came through the tunnel and a few cars parked along the road. I took a chance and went up the lane, hopin’ there was a place to park near the fire, and lucked out. The only car in the yard was Steve’s. Him ‘n Bernie were there.

After we got outta the car and talked to Al for a few minutes I looked around for Lil’ Brother and found him sleepin’ in one of the lawn chairs. Steve was puttin’ the bite on a cute lil’ gal and didn’t even see us, tryin’ hard to get her to go for a walk with him. They wandered off just as I was gonna go over ‘n say hi. Shirley was watchin’ Bernie sleep. “He kinda looks like you.” “Yeah, everybody thinks so. Sometimes they call us by each other’s name, but I don’t mind. He’s a good kid. We’ll wake him up later and give him a hard time.” “Has he got a girlfriend yet?” “No, but he wants one. I can tell by the way he’s always askin’ me if I got laid an’ stuff. He’ll find one pretty soon, prob’ly.” “I got a little cousin who’s kinda cute.” “We’ll have to think about that.” “Wanna go for a walk?” “Yeah, c’mon.”

We went down the hill and headed down the lane toward the ghost house. The moon was bright enough to see where we were goin’ and we walked all the way down to where the road was washed out. I told her the story. She said, “Let’s go over to the house.” “Ain’t you scared of ghosts?” “A little, but they can’t really hurt anybody. I don’t know anyone that actually saw one.” “I know some that thought they did.” We walked across the broken bridge slab and made our way over the fence. She didn’t act like she was scared at all when we were standin’ in front of the house in the weed-grown yard. “It sure looks haunted, don’t it? Are we goin’ in?” “Better not. Somebody owns it. Might not like it if we bust in. It’s all locked up.” “Looks like it’s still got alla the windows. Hey, did that curtain move?” I studied it close. Didn’t see nothin’ movin’. “Ah, there’s prob’ly a crack in one o’ the windows lettin’ a draft in or somethin’. Seen enough?” “I think that curtain moved. Yeah, let’s get outta here.” She didn’t wanna run or nothin’ though. I found myself admirin’ her even more as we climbed the fence and re-crossed the broken bridge. We stood lookin’ back at the house sittin’ there in the ghostly moonlight for a few minutes, then went back up the road.

Bernie saw us comin’ up the hill. He was pretty well oiled. Steve had made it back, and the only ones left other than them were the load I had brought out. Shirley said hi to Bernie and gave him a hug. “How ya doin’, Lil’ Brother? I got three little brothers myself. I’m Shirley.” Well, he liked that hug. Judy never gave him one, or called him Lil’ Brother, and he sat down by Abe with a silly smile on his face. Carol ruffled his hair and smiled at him. “Gettin’ drunk Bernie?” “Not anymore. I’m ready to puke now. I wanna go home to bed.” So did Steve, and they jumped in the car and left us. Abe yawned, and I took that as a sign that we all oughta head out. It had been a long day.

We camped out at the penthouse after playin’ cards for an hour with the Ol’ Man, on his new couch.

I took her down and showed her to Ma when we got up and they got along fine. Ma didn’t get too carried away, knowin’ my last affair only lasted a coupla weeks though, and then we went down to the Cozy for breakfast. “Oh, I like these big booths! They’re cozy!” “Yeah, I think he named the place after ‘em. Whatta we gonna have?” “I want…bacon, two eggs, and toast!” “Awright. I’m gonna have a ham ‘n cheese omelet and American fries, and a double order of toast. Here she comes.” It was pretty good, surprisingly. When we finished I took her for a ride around the town, showin’ her where I grew up, and where we had our tree houses and stuff.

She had missed the Corn Boil, workin’ that day, but was curious ‘cause she heard us talkin’ about it, so I drove to the Fairgrounds and parked the car. Got out ‘n opened the door for her, like I was s’pose to, and took her on a tour, tellin’ her everything I could remember about it. Even Judy. She laughed some. Cried some. Held my arm a little tighter. “Did you write songs for her too?” “Only after she was gone and I didn’t think she was ever comin’ back.” “Aw, Frankie.”

We sat on a picnic table under one of the big elms for a while. “Is the Harmony in the trunk?” “Yeah. Why?” “Will you play it for me? The one you just told me about?” “Well, It might be rough, but I’ll try. Never practiced it much. Chains;

Set me free…I don’t wanna be…

Trapped by your memory…

Take these chains from me….

You were everything I had….

Made me happy, made me so sad….

All my good and all my bad….

Oh girl… you torture me….

You left me and now….

There ain’t no way out….

From the ball and chains I find….

You’ve locked on my mind….

Set me free….I don’t wanna be….

Trapped by your memory….

Baby take these chains from me….

Take these chains from me.

“There. Ya happy now?” “I love you, Frankie. I won’t ever hurt you like that.” I set the guitar down on the table and she climbed on my lap. “It musta been hard for you do that for me. I shouldn’ta asked you to. I’m sorry.” “Hey, sweetheart, it’s awright. It didn’t bother me. She’s just another song now. That first night with you made it all better. Ya can’t write a good tear-jerkin’ Country song unless ya get your heart ripped out first, I heard. Prob’ly true, just lies, otherwise.” “I really like your songs Frankie, but you really should practice more on your guitar!” “I do! Every time I get drunk!” It was the beginnin’ of a damn fine day.

We met down at the ‘Dollar and took our table by the jukebox, and Joe brought a round of drinks over on a tray. “On the house, you guys are such good customers!” We all toasted him for his generosity. Carol got the ‘box goin’. Abe said, “Well?” Frank studied him, then said, “Well what?” “What’s our strategy? What’s our plan? What the fuck we gonna do?”

I didn’t care, and left it up to my elders, just shruggin’ my shoulders like I was a dummy or somethin’. It was slow goin’. I got up and went to the bar. “Hey Joe, we need a coupla rounds of shots. Little stimulation.” He poured a dozen and set ‘em on a tray. “That oughta get ya’s percolatin’!” I paid him and carried it over to the table, kissed Shirley’s upturned face, and sat down, passin’ shots to everyone. I looked everyone in the eye and said, “A quote from Shakylegs; ‘Here’s to you, here’s to me, if we should ever disagree, fuck you; here’s to me!’” “I’ll drink to that,” Frank said, and we all threw ‘em down. Coupla minutes later tossed the other one down. Abe went  after more beer.

It was quiet around town, a lot of the boys gone off to the service, goin’ to Viet Nam. Gettin’ all fucked up for their Country over reasons they would never know, their lives ruined for nothin’. A ‘Police Action’, or somethin’. Abe came back with the tray loaded with beers and more shots and said, “Here’s to friends and brothers that can’t be with us tonight. Drink up!” We did. I was gettin’ warm. It wasn’t from the little hand on my leg either. “Why don’t we go around to all the bars, the Pool Hall, the Theatre, and the restaurants, and tell everyone we’re throwin’ a party for the ones in the Army, Navy, Air Force, an’ Marines? Ask ‘em all for donations. Show a little patriotism, gawd dammit!” Abe’s eyes started gleamin’. “That’s kinda interestin’. Yeah. Where, Al’s?” “Ain’t big enough. Hafta walk too far. Need a big open field somewhere.” “Could just drive in anywhere an’ hope the cops don’t show up,” Frank suggested. Abe shook his head. “That’d be awright if there was only a dozen cars. Naw, we need a farmer. Who do we know?” “Dave. Got a hell of a place down there in the bottoms. Not too bad a road. Lotta kids been out there ‘n know where it’s at.” “Lenny’s brother?” “You got it.” “Better go look him up.” We had Joe give us a coupla twelve packs and climbed in the Merc. Abe grinned at me, “You crazy sumbitch,” and laughed.

I screeched the tires and went out to Dave’s house. Took about three minutes to talk him into it, and he climbed in with us and we shot back to town, gettin’ kinda excited about the idea.

We split up and went into every business that had people in it we knew and some we didn’t, and pretty soon had kids stoppin’ traffic on Main tellin’ ‘em about the biggest gawd damn party of the year, and it was happenin’ tonight! Be patriotic!Five o’clock! Gotta donate five bucks to get in so we can pay for the beer; ten kegs! To start. More later! Yeah! Dave was right there tellin’ ‘em where to go!

I don’t know who picked up the beer and paid for it; wasn’t us. We got out there early, just in case anybody showed up, and a red ’61 Chevy pickup with a coupla guys in their thirties was already there unloadin’ the damn kegs when we rolled to a stop at the bottom of the hill. Ten of ‘em. Puttin’ ‘em in big milk tanks an’ dumpin’ ice all over ‘em. Twenty people or more were there draggin’ tree limbs and shit outta the woods. Cuttin’ weeds. Three picnic tables had sprouted in one big clearin’ like mushrooms. Abe laughed, “You crazy sumbitch,” and we climbed outta the car.

“Jeezus, news travels fast inGalena!” I laughed a little at my ingenuity, then I agreed with Carol and said, “Don’t ever catch the Clap!”

Cars kept comin’ down the hill. Lots of ‘em. Some one sparked off the bonfire and a big billowin’ cloud of black smoke crawled into the evenin’ sky, smellin’ strongly of used motor oil mixed with gas, and almost instantly the flames were twenty feet high and more, the wildly churnin’ sparks better than the Fourth of July fireworks at Shullsburg as they shot into the air high above the heads of over a hundred young people eager to party for the ones that couldn’t, our heroes who had joined the service to protect our Country and way of life. Some of ‘em even cheered, but I don’t know why. Frank said, “If I was a gawd damn Army recruiter I could sign up half of ‘em, right now.” Had to agree with him. “Maybe some of ‘em will sign up, when they sober up.” He said, “Not I; won’t take me.” “Me either.” “Yeah.” The days when a Judge would give ya a choice, Marines or jail, had ended with Korea. Now none of the services would take an outlaw. It really pissed us off; we were tougher ‘n most of the boys they sent to war, extremely patriotic, and wanted to go.

Fuck it; we could get drunk for our Country! Shirley said, “Whatta ya laughin’ about?”

Carl showed up with a load on a little later with three guys fromFreeportthat hung around town. They were all plastered, havin’ been in the Sportsman’s all day. One of ‘em said, loud, like we were all hard of hearin’, “Heard you guys was havin’ a gawd damn party! Where’s all the beaver at?” A girl yelled from the fire, “Over here, ya stoopid sumbitch!” and threw a burnin’ stick at him. “Show me yer tits!” he yelled back. “We gotta go. See ya later.” I took Shirley’s arm and guided her away from them and the rest of our bunch followed. They didn’t wanna hear that kinda shit either. It was still a little early to go around punchin’ out assholes. Maybe later….

Abe said, “That sumbitch talks like that in front o’ my woman again,” he shook his fist and chewed his bottom lip. “Yeah. Me too. Might have to kick some ass tonight.” I said. Frank grinned.

We wandered down by the creek and watched the real beavers that had put the dam across and built a pool and were splashin’ around, slappin’ their tails on the water, knowin’ instinctively that they were in danger tonight and tryin’ hard to get their little ones to quit fuckin’ around and get down through their hole and hide inside the house. One of ‘em swam over and eyeballed us for a minute, then slapped the water in a loud crack and disappeared down under. Suzy said, “Wow, I never saw them before. What are they?” Frank told her, “Beaver.” “Bullshit, I got one o’ them.” I asked Abe, “What is the world comin’ to?” “Hell ‘n damnation, hell ‘n damnation.” Shirley and carol laughed. They had heard assholes sayin’ stuff like that to ‘em for a long time and it didn’t bother ‘em anymore. Too much. They kinda liked the idea of us kickin’ some ass, though.

It was around six thirty when we thought a lil’ keg beer might go down good and found the big milk tanks surrounded by what looked like a thousand silly fuckers all tryin’ to siphon off a glass at the same time. I shook my head; ten kegs an’ one fuckin’ tapper? Who was runnin’ this shit? Abe said, “Where’s that silly fuckin’ Dave?” We couldn’t find him, and someone told us he had gone to town lookin’ for tappers. “Well, at least he’s tryin’. I knew we shoulda done it.” “Yeah. Good thing we got the cooler in the trunk about half full. C’mon, Shirley.”

A half hour later here come Dave with a big grin, “Hey, I got some tappers, man. They’re goin’ nuts up there at the kegs, wanna go up?” I laughed, “Naw, we’ll wait ‘til they thin out a little. Here, have one of ours.” I tossed him a cold can of Blue. “You believe alla these fuckin’ people? Man, I thought maybe forty or fifty would come, but there’s hundreds of fuckin’ people up there! Oh! ‘Scuse my language, ladies!” Carol patted his arm, “That’s okay, Davey, we heard it before. You did a hell of a job gettin’ all this together in a damn short time. You oughta be proud o’ yerself!” “Oh, thanks! Yeah, we just started tellin’ everybody, and look at ‘em.” So we looked and he was right. A coupla hundred, anyway. Prob’ly more, and more comin’ all the time. Abe said, “Shoulda been up at the road collectin’ five bucks admission.” “Yeah. After they already donated  all the money for the kegs!” We laughed like hell, but Dave started thinkin’ about it and walked off.

I picked Shirley up and set her on the front fender of the Merc. “Havin’ fun?” “You guys really gonna kick some ass?” she asked with a big grin. I gave her a long, long kiss, and hugged her. “Anybody gives you any shit, sweetheart, I…will…stomp…them…right…into…the ground,” I whispered in her ear, and she squeezed the hell outta me.

A big farm truck lumbered down the snaky, rutted trail and headed in the direction of the kegs and shut down. Abe said, “What the hell they got on the back o’ that sumbitch?” “Looks like one o’ them big gawd damn generators. Don’t s’pose they’re gonna set up lights an’ shit, do ya? Let’s go find out.” The six of us hiked over, finally gettin’ a turn at the tap, and went to watch whatever the boys were doin’. They were layin’ heavy electric cables this way an’ that, and a few other farm boys was hangin’ big lights in some of the trees, and big stereo speakers from someone’s home entertainment stuff. Frank said, “Jeezus, man, I never expected to see nothin’ like that out in the middle o’ the fuckin’ woods.”

The guys from Freeportwere yellin’ directions at the guys in the trees and hasslin’ every girl that walked anywhere near ‘em. I felt kinda responsible, I s’pose. I had come up with the idea, after all. “Excuse me Shirley; I’ll be right back.” “Uh oh,” said Abe, and followed me. Frank just grinned at the girls when Carol said, “Ain’t ya goin’ with ‘em?” He shook his head. “Naw, they don’t need no help.”

I stopped in front of the assholes. “You guys gotta leave. Now.” “Oh, an’ who the fuck are you, tellin’ us to leave? Fuck you!” I slapped him so gawd damn hard upside his head he did a back-flip and slammed down onto the ground, but before he landed I shot a left into the right eye of his closest pal and dropped him. Abe threw a furious combo and blacked both eyes on the other one, bustin’ his nose, and knockin’ him out colder than a slab o’ beef. “Where’s that fuckin’ Carl?” he said, and we went lookin’ for him. He saw us comin’ after him and backed up against a tree. Abe looked him in the eye coldly. “I oughta kick alla yer teeth outta yer gawd damn head, boy. You get them fuckers loaded in yer car an’ get outta here. Ya got five minutes. Get movin’.” Carl ran.

We pushed our way through the crowd that had gathered to watch and went back to supervise the loadin’, and a lotta the kids smiled at us; we were their heroes. They started thinkin they were really gonna have a good time tonight, and the level of noise in the bottom increased noticeably.

Dave came over with a coupla boys. “Jeezus, Frank, I hope ya never slap me! That sumbitch was completely off the damn ground when he flipped!” “Well, he had it comin’. Ain’t no excuse for actin’ like that. Asshole. Shoulda put the boots to ‘im.” Carl finally got ‘em stuffed in his car and drove up the hill. Some girls walked up and thanked me ‘n Abe, and one of ‘em felt my bicep and whistled, then winked at me as she sashayed away. Shirley said, “Maybe I’ll have to kick some ass!” I laughed, and so did everybody else. She was five two, a hundred and five pounds.

It was startin’ to get dark out, and the boys over at the big truck got the diesel smokin’ and a few minutes later the lights they had strung through the trees came on. They didn’t just bring the speakers from the sound system; we heard the needle scratch and then a Ventures album started playin’, and Love Goddess of Venus blasted through the woods, followed by The Lonely Bull, and the party was on. That silly fuckin’ Dave ‘n two of his pals had gone up to the gate. “Two dollars a head to get in,” they said to every car that came. “Gotta pay fer the lights!” He had a coupla others wanderin’ through the crowd collectin’ for more kegs too. Wasn’t no sense runnin’ outta beer in the middle of the night! After a while the red pickup took off to get another load.

We commandeered one of the picnic tables and set up our headquarters. Steve ‘n Bernie joined us and set their cooler under the table, and Shirley gave Bernie a big kiss on his lips that almost knocked him out. He sat down hard on the bench, in shock. Steve looked at her with puppy eyes, “Don’t I get one?” She laughed, “You ain’t Lil’ Brother!” I took her shoulders, “Can I have one?” It didn’t knock me out but it made me kinda goofy for ten minutes.

A giant bag of potato chips was layin’ on the table and we consumed it and went back to the keg to flush the salt away, then wandered around talkin’ to people for a while. It was almost as bright as theBallParkat the Fairgrounds. The girls hadda go so we found a secluded spot in the trees for ‘em, and pissed all over the weeds, markin’ our territory while we waited, like a pack of wolves. Abe laughed, “Think anybody’s gonna get down there ‘n smell that?”

Ted, John, Greg ‘n Wilkie strolled over to the picnic table when we got back and joined the group. Bernie had come outta the trance Shirley had put him in and was tellin’ Greg all about it. Then the two boys decided they would go look for girls ‘n see if anybody else would do that to ‘em. Steve went with ‘em. I had to laugh. Abe nudged me, “Wasn’t all that long ago we were doin’ the same thing.” “Yeah, I remember. Hell of a thing to go through. Hope they find someone.”

Dan ‘n Pat wandered up with Colleen and Linda and Frank said, “We gotta steal another table.”

They were all full. Four of us went over to the closest one and told everybody sittin’ on it we’d kinda like to borrow it for a while. They had watched the scene with theFreeportfellas, and Abe was grinnin’ at ‘em. They jumped off right now and we carried it over and set it next to the one we already had. Somebody changed the albums and Elvis took off with Jailhouse Rock. We shot the shit around the tables and then, when Heartbreak Hotel came up Shirley took my hand, “Dance with me.” It started a craze, and kids were all of a sudden dancin’ all over the valley.

They were gettin’ laid, too. In and outta the woods in pairs as the night progressed. No one cared; they just wanted theirs, and guys ‘n girls wandered all over the place, pickin’ and choosin’ and dancin’ for a while and disappearin’ into the deep timber. Four of the kegs had run dry. I went over to the Merc and rooted around in the trunk and found some more potato chips and corn curls and tossed ‘em on the table. I had a two gallon water cooler in there too, from work, and rinsed it out in the tank and filled it from the keg; hell with that runnin’ back ‘n forth stuff. The record dropped on the spindle, and Johnny Cash started to Walk The Line, then fell into A Ring Of Fire. Abe said, “Now we’re talkin’!”

Shirley took me over to the Merc. “Let’s get in back an’ make out.” Sounded like a plan to me, and I opened the suicide door for her and helped her slide in. Nice ‘n dark in there. We laid down on the seat and cuddled as close as we could. I held her tight and told her how much she meant to me. Then I said, “Neat party, huh?” “Ya crazy sumbitch,” she whispered, kissin’ me again.

The girls had gone wild. Some of ‘em were dancin’ around the fire like one of them movies with the natives whoopin’ it up, and there was a ring of boys surroundin’ ‘em clappin’ and yellin’ and shit, havin’ a fine ol’ time. We walked past ‘em and sat down at the picnic table, her on my lap, and just smiled at everyone, happy as hell. I noticed Abe leadin’ Carol off in the direction of the Merc. Frank said, “That red pickup got back with another load o’ kegs. Eight of ‘em.” “Ah, good! Any left in that jug?”

I drained it into Shirley’s cup and went over and waited my turn. Dave was there helpin’ to change the full kegs for the empties and said, “Man, this is the best party I ever seen. Eighteen kegs! I still got guys up at the gate. I’m makin’ money like a sumbitch. Should have a coupla hundred left over, at least!” “Maybe we oughta make it a tradition, man. End of summer fling thing. Think about it.” “I will. The Old Man don’t care if we come down here. Might just do that.” I filled the water jug and went back to my Lil’ Red, and she got up ‘n let me sit and crawled back on my lap. She put her hot red lips on my ear, slid around on her fantastic butt a little and said, “Still love me?” I said, “Aw fuck, don’t do that to me in front of everybody!” thoroughly enjoyin’ the rush of chills, wild vibrations, and burnin’ desire that ran through me. She could feel what she did to me, and laughed softly, knowin’ she owned me, body and soul.

Abe ‘n Carol were walkin’ over to the tap, his T soaked with sweat ‘n her lookin’ up at him with half-closed eyes ‘n hangin’ on his arm like she didn’t have no strength in her legs or somethin’. We got up and took a spot in line behind ‘em. Shirley said, “Hey Carol, ya gettin’ any?” They both laughed. Carol said, “Can’t hardly walk!” Abe raised an eyebrow and grinned at me slyly. “What’d ya do to that poor girl?” I asked. We got new cups, filled ‘em up, and took the girls in the woods to go and then went over by the fire.

Somebody drunker’n hell was singin’ ‘The Star Spangled Banner’, like he was at a rally or somethin’, and Frank said, “Hey Suzy, yell ‘hell no, we won’t go’.” “What for?” “Just do it.” She shrugged and let it fly. A few scattered voices took it up. Then a few more. Then the patriotic sons were on ‘em like stink on shit, and it looked like a gawd damn football game, people gettin’ tackled all over the place. “There ya go,” he said, and sat back on the table to watch.

“What the hell’s goin’ on over there?” Carol asked Abe. “Soccer. Football. Fucked if I know. Naw, it’s a fight!” We wandered over to watch. Abe grabbed one of the combatants. “What’s goin’ on?” “Them chickenshit fuckers started it! Kept yellin’ stuff at us!” “Well, get in there an’ break it up ‘fore somebody gets hurt!” It calmed down quick when the kid told everybody that Abe was gettin’ pissed, and we took our seats, wonderin’ what the hell had gotten into Frank. He was laughin’ so hard he had tears runnin’ down his face.

An album dropped into position. Gene Pitney; ‘Dearest…Darlin…’ “Hey, I like that! Twenty Four Hours FromTulsa! C’mon Abe, let’s dance!” Shirley latched onto me too, and we stirred the dust around the picnic tables. Then we walked up by the gate. Stragglers were still comin’ in but Dave and his boys had given up collectin’ and gone down the hill to get drunk like everyone else. We found ‘em at the tap, and he smiled. “Fun, ain’t it?” I didn’t think he was focusin’ too good anymore. He was talkin’ to me but lookin’ right past me. I looked and there wasn’t nothin’ there. “Yeah Dave, it sure as hell is.” Looked around for Bernie ‘n Steve and the rest of ‘em but they musta left. Our tables were a disaster area, shit layin’ all over. Potato chip bags, cups, beer cans, and all sorts of other trash. “Everybody ready?”

We hiked back to the Merc and climbed in, goin’ home. A lotta other people were too and we had to wait to get up the hill and out the gate but after about ten minutes we were out on the road headed for town. It was four in the mornin’.

We were tired, but damn hungry too, and went up to Rodden’s for breakfast. Didn’t do no dancin’. Just ate. The girls were ready to drop, and we got ‘em outta there and all went to the penthouse and crashed.