Part 27 (1/2)
”Three years it took us. Three years of grad school, of eating pasta, potatoes, counting every nickel we put into the jar. Paying for our weekly groceries with change the kids were saving to buy a new game system. No one handed it to us. We worked very hard to get here.”
”It paid off. Look where you are.”
Thing was, she was bare in his naked arms.
3.
Simi and Eve
”You wanna go do something?”
”Like what?” They were in bed, and she was less woozy but more raw. Cosily she was nestled against him, his body an ironing board, a stern taskmaster. He was the wire-mesh monkey mother, too hard for comfort, yet what comfort it was. The sheets were pulled over them, and he was tap-tap-tapping a fast beat on her back.
”Well, Larissa Stark,” Kai said in his tour guide voice, ”this is the Split Rock Lodge and Resort. We have many different activities for your entertainment.”
”I think I may have already partaken too much of some of those.”
”Well, yes, I see you have enjoyed our daytime portion of the program, a Hacky Sack game for adults, and I commend you on wanting to play it time and again, and improving your speed in reaching the finish line, but I wanted to draw your attention to other things we offer in this resort for you and your eager and able partner. Would you be interested in attending our Motivational Seminar called *The Magic of Split Rock'?”
”Thank you, but I think I've already attended that. I'm sold.”
Tap-tap on her back, kissing her on the head, kissing her mouth, contemplating her, Kai continued. ”In the Galleria Main Lobby we have a Scrabble tournament this afternoon.”
”I'm all scrabbled out.”
”A little later we've got one-on-one basketball. Perhaps your lover can play you?”
”He's played me. One on one.”
”We've got indoor tennis courts, a bowling alley, a fitness center, or boating if you're feeling outdoorsy and adventurous instead of sleepy and naked.”
”But what if I'm feeling sleepy and naked?”
”Well, perhaps you'd be interested in our nighttime entertainment calendar. We've got jackpot bingo, and a family dance party with a live band. In our Benchwarmers Pub, we offer Big Willie Livea” Kai mock frowned. ”I don't know if Live is his last name, or if Big Willie is being offered live.”
”I hope he's being offered live,” she murmured, her hand caressing him up and down.
”Will you consider coming to the Family Sing-Along?”
”Coming to? Or coming at?”
”No, no, we do not allow hotness. This is a family establishment. What about the Newlywed-Oldywed Game? How well do you truly know your young lover? This may be a good time to find out. That's at 10 p.m.”
”Hmm.” She was less sleepy, and he was less sleepy. She climbed on top of him, held him between her legs, kissed his face, his chest, kissed his eyes. His hands were holding her hips. ”What about the Great Pocono Ping-Pong Challenge?” she asked. ”The winner gets to have s.e.x with the loser.”
”Done deal,” he replied, dancing rings underneath her. They kissed deeply. ”But I want payment upfront.”
”Done deal.”
They played Miss Mary Mack, all dressed in black, and were lying on top of the sheets in a quiet room with the curtains drawn, the windows shut, in welcome air-conditioning, the hum from the wall unit soothing out the silence.
”Kai, we have time,” Larissa said. ”We have a little time. Tell me things. Please.”
”I was about to drift off, so happily, too. What things?”
”Tell me things about my young lovera” she whispered.
Kai sighed. He was on his back, but his arm around her became less embracing. ”What's the point?” he said. ”Is it going to make you want to come more?”
Was he being naughty? She peered into his face.
”Is it going to make you want me more?”
”I don't see how that's possible,” she whispered. ”I can't think of anything else but you.”
”But what if it makes you want me less?” he said. ”What if instead of pity and compa.s.sion, you'll be afraid, you'll stay away?”
”Kai,” she said, ”how in the world can I stay away from you? Please, yes, tell me something that will make me stay away.”
”What will do it? What if I was in prison like my dad, for drug dealing?”
Larissa was quiet. Was he testing her or hypothesizing? She didn't think that would do it.
”I wasn't, by the by.”
”Kai, you're so young.”
”Only in body. I've been quite careless with things. You know how reckless you can be when you're young.”
She knew.
”Look at the scar on my stomach. I went for a demon ride, but a girl was on my bike with me. I nearly lost my liver, but she broke both legs, a rib, and her front teeth. She could've been killed. But I wasn't thinking about that. She wanted to go so I took her. That's what I mean about careless. Slam! Right into the side of a mountain. At night. I was going way too fast and came to a hairpin turn and couldn't stop. With the lights off.”
Larissa rubbed him to soothe him. ”But the girl went of her own accord. You didn't force her to come with you.”
”I should've known better. I knew the risks. She didn't.”
”She went of her own free will. You didn't kidnap her.”
Kai said nothing at first. ”Sometimes you have to watch out for people you care about,” he said at last. ”Sometimes they make the wrong decisions. You have to try to help them.”
”You think she made the wrong decision?”