Dark River Road (20 page)

“Now you’ve always got a shark,” Chantry said, and they shared a look that said they’d keep that between the two of them.

While Cathy didn’t come from an affluent family like Cinda, she was still one of her good friends and that felt even more strange.

“So what are you doing during vacation?” she asked, leaning close to him so that he could smell the perfume she wore. Her hair smelled vaguely like coconuts, too.

“Working.”

“All summer? Don’t you ever get time off?”

“Not much.”

“Um. Well, I’m pretty flexible.” She ran her fingers over his chest, lightly as if playing. “I hear you’re dangerous, Chantry Callahan.”

He looked at her. “What do you mean by that?”

“You know. Gettin’ into fights, beatin’ up on guys. That kind of stuff. It’s true, isn’t it?”

“Some of it. Maybe.”

She smiled. “Then maybe we could get together when you have a little time.”

“Right. That’d be
 . . .
fun.” He wasn’t really sure it would be. Cathy had a hungry look to her that made him wary. Where Cinda had been sweet if a bit spoiled, Cathy made him think more of one of Mikey’s sharks. She moved in on him a little closer, and he wondered if she knew that her breast was right up against his arm.

“I can get my mama’s car and we can go for a ride, Chantry. Maybe down to the river.”

The blood beat faster through his veins. He got a real tight feeling in his belly and lower. It was embarrassing.

“What’s down at the river?” he asked when he could talk, and she laughed softly.

“With any luck, me, you, and a few beers. Don’t you think that’s all we’d need?”

Oh yeah. He suddenly really wanted to be with her. She made him feel like he did when he had those dreams.

“How about Saturday night?” he heard himself say, and couldn’t believe he’d be so reckless. She smiled.

By Saturday night, he was kicking himself for ever being stupid enough to say he’d go. He knew that Cinda would hear about it, not that it should matter if she did. She’d made it pretty plain she wanted no more of him. He started to call Cathy and tell her he couldn’t go, but never did. Maybe it was time he moved on just like Cinda had. He knew she was seeing Justin Dawson again. Apparently, Mrs. Sheridan approved of him, because he was always at their house.

Since he didn’t want Cathy coming by the house where Rainey would see, he met her at the park. He showed up a few minutes early just because he hadn’t been able to stick around the house any longer without Mama thinking of something for him to do, so he’d escaped.

He hadn’t lied to her, but he hadn’t told Mama where he was going, either. She had the idea he was going to meet Donny Ray Caldwell for a game of pool at the Wreck Room. Maybe because he’d told her that Donny had asked him to go, which he had, but he just hadn’t added the part where he’d told Donny he had other plans.

Cathy showed up just as it was getting dark, driving her mama’s new Ford Taurus. It still smelled brand new, and the console between the front seats held a six pack of beer. He looked at it, then at Cathy, and grinned.

“Not bad.”

“I’m very resourceful. Besides, my dad has cases of it and won’t ever miss a little here and there. We’ve got more in the back if we want it, but I thought we could start out slow.” She slid him a glance from beneath her lashes. “Sometimes I like it nice and slow.”

Just her tone made him hot, and he looked out the front window and focused on the road instead of how she made him feel. It was really weird. He hadn’t felt about any other girl like he had about Cinda, but Cathy made him want to be with her anyway. He wasn’t stupid. He knew he wanted something very different from Cathy than he had from Cinda, but it still made him feel almost like he was cheating. Maybe because Cathy was her friend.

There was a spot along the river everyone called Makeout Point for the obvious reason. He hadn’t ever been there before, but he knew about it. It wasn’t a big surprise that Cathy took him there. The night was warm so she left the car running and the air conditioning on. If they put down the windows, mosquitoes as big as bats would probably eat them alive anyway. She popped the top on a beer and handed it to him, then opened her own.

“Here’s to the night, Chantry Callahan.”

He drank it slowly, listening to Meat Loaf on the radio and to her telling him about the trip she was going on in a few weeks with her parents.

“Have you ever been to Colorado?” she asked, and rubbed the beer over her chest like she was hot. He’d leaned back against the car window to face her, and shook his head.

“Nope.”

“You don’t talk much, do you?”

He shrugged. “Not a whole lot to say, I guess.”

She smiled. “So you’re more into action than talk.”

He didn’t answer, just watched her over the lip of his beer. She put out her hand and slid it up his leg until her fingers touched the zipper of his Levi’s. His body’s reaction was instant. She smiled wider now, and moved her hand over him until he was afraid he’d explode. After a couple of minutes, she took her hand away.

“Let’s sit in the back. It’s got more room.”

He didn’t have to be asked twice. His experience with kissing was limited to Tansy and to Cinda, but he apparently did okay because Cathy got all into it. She stuck her tongue in his mouth and ran her hands over him, up under his tee shirt. The next thing he knew, he had his shirt off and her shirt off, and she had just her bra and shorts on. He could hardly catch his breath. Even with the air conditioning on he was so hot it felt like he was in an oven. Then she took off her bra.

After that, everything was a haze. She was soft and hot and hungry, and if she could tell he’d never done this before, she didn’t say anything. He just knew he’d never felt anything so good in all his life, even if the back seat was uncomfortable and cramped. It didn’t even matter that he didn’t have any rubbers because she’d brought three, and they used them all.

By the time they came up for air, there were two other cars on the point, parked far enough away for privacy. He reached over the front seat and snagged them both another beer. It was almost warm, but he didn’t care, it still tasted cool enough.

Cathy flung one leg over him, and in the glow of the dashboard lights, he saw her smile. “I knew it’d be like that,” she said.

He hadn’t, but he wasn’t about to let her know it’d been his first time.

“So how about next Saturday night,” he said, and she laughed.

“A whole week away? Hm. It must not have been very good.”

He grabbed her arm and pulled her down over him so that her bare breasts pressed into his chest and said, “Tomorrow night then.”

“That’s more like it.”

They kissed some more, until if it wasn’t for the fact they were out of condoms he’d want to do it again. He resolved to buy a dozen before he saw her next time.

It was really late when she dropped him off at the end of Liberty Road, and he walked home in the fitful moonlight more tired than he could ever remember being. It was all he could do to let himself into the silent house, and he held his breath and hoped Rainey either wasn’t home yet or passed out already. No one said anything, and he went into the bathroom to clean up and brush his teeth.

When he came out, Mama stood in the hallway. He came to a quick stop.

“You have been out so late I grew worried about you,” she said. “The Wreck Room closes at eleven and it is nearly two in the morning.”

“Yes, ma’am. I should have called.”

“Where were you?”

He’d never been good at lying to Mama. He’d much rather tell the truth than get caught up in trying to remember lies, but he knew she’d never understand or approve if he said he’d been with a girl all this time. He had no desire to end up back in counseling with Reverend Hell.

“Just went off with some friends and lost track of time. Sorry, Mama.”

She looked at him for a moment, and he wondered if guilt was written across his face in big black letters. But she only nodded.

“Call me next time so I will not think the worst, Chantry.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

For the next couple of weeks he spent as much free time as he could with Cathy. He’d never thought there were really girls like her except in movies and books. While he didn’t feel about her like he had about Cinda, he sure liked being with her. That’s why when she said they were leaving for Colorado on vacation the next day, he meant it when he said he’d miss her.

She laughed. “No, you won’t. You’ll just miss the back seat of my mama’s car. You don’t fool me, Chantry Callahan. Don’t look so surprised. It’s not like we’re going steady or anything.”

“I never met anyone like you,” he said, and meant that too.

“No, and you probably won’t, either.” She slid him a sideways look from under her lashes, and he thought about how many girls used that trick. She smiled. “But don’t worry—I know a few girls who’ll be lining up to take my place while I’m gone. I gave you good references.”

He thought she was just teasing, but his phone rang the next night and Sue Anne Hardy asked if he wanted to come to a party at her house. “No grown-ups,” she added.

It was tempting. He thought about it, but ended up not going. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to have fun or was upset that Cathy was gone, but he’d already been too distracted lately. He hadn’t taken Shadow out for training in days, and the trials were coming up pretty quick. He had to get back on track.

For the next week he focused on work and training, and Dempsey took him out to a farm to try Shadow at cows. It was a trade. He’d help Dempsey weed flowerbeds in the park for a few hours of training for the dog. Dempsey would have done it anyway, but Chantry felt better if he repaid him with some help. It’d make up for the hours he lost.

They took Dempsey’s old truck and Shadow sat up front between them. He’d grown a lot and weighed close to seventy pounds. He was still lean, but would muscle out with maturity. The dog panted in the heat, the only cool air coming in the open windows.

“So how’s Tansy?” he asked, and Dempsey allowed that she was doing okay.

“Been busy lately, what with that summer job over at the Hamburger Shack.”

Chantry frowned. “She’s working there? Since when?”

“Couple of weeks ago, I guess. Makes pretty decent money. Can’t work too many hours because of the labor laws, but then she goes out with her friends after. I leave so early in the mornings I don’t get to see her too often. Bought her that old car, y’know.”

Chantry had seen it when Tansy had stopped to show it off, an old Camaro that needed a lot of body work but had a good engine. She hadn’t said a word to him about working at the shack. Probably because she knew he’d tell her it wasn’t the right place for her to be. A rough crowd hung out there. It was right on the county line, and kids from both counties showed up, the kind of kids he avoided. They smoked dope, drank too much, and got into fights all the time. Sometimes the sheriff and deputies from Tunica County just rounded up everyone and took them off to jail, but most of the time, the law pretty much left them alone as long as there were no complaints.

“You
let
her work there?” he said finally, and Dempsey shook his head.

“No. She’s gotten hardheaded. I can’t talk to her anymore. Ever since her mama died, it’s been rough on her, but lately
 . . .
I don’t know, Chantry. It just seems like ever’thing I say to her is wrong.”

“Yeah. I know how that feels.” Except for a few times, he and Tansy hadn’t seen each other much even after that night in February. He guessed she and Leon had patched up their fight because she was always gone. She’d come down to see Mikey when they’d gotten back from Jackson and brought him some candy and a toy truck, but hadn’t stayed long. It’d felt all strange again, and Rainey had been home so that’d made it worse. Now she was working at a place he wished she wasn’t, and he didn’t know what to do about it.