What is your favorite Spring beer?

Saturday, October 08, 2005

Tea - Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Saturday was an odd day. Miles and Sophie had no more than poured the milk onto their cereal than Cliff was at the door.

“The Ellington group is bigger than they told us. Can anyone work today and maybe tomorrow?” Since neither Miles nor Sophie had anything special planned, and since Cliff was staring directly at them, they had agreed. The hours might even push them into overtime pay, which had only happened once or twice before.

Saturday was also the day three new summer staff people showed up. Rocky and John showed up, as was expected, as well as Alicia. The latter newcomer had been hired to run the trading post during summer camp. Miles felt sorry for Alicia even before he had made her acquaintance because Alicia was supposed to set the camp store books straight in the weeks before summer camp started. No one on staff row had paid for anything they had taken from the trading post in the past five months.

Miles sighed with the realization that the carefree days of the mildest seasons were coming to an end as he hoofed to the far side of camp to meet a school group he had not prepared for.

He had, however, been trained in all the outdoor education areas. Cliff handed him a schedule for the day and Miles was glad that he could handle all the activities without feeling at much of a loss.

On the other side of that coin, the day was not much of a challenge. Miles worked the daytime activities but funds being as limited as they were he was relived by ringmaster Cliff before dinner. Miles found Sophie on the walk back up to staff lodge and took the liberty of holding her hand.

“I would scold you but I don’t even care anymore. Let’s just get under the covers before you make too much of a scene.”

“How did your day go?”

Sophie had related her very similar-sounding day to Miles by the time they arrived at his cabin.

“So, do you think Cliff will get us tomorrow?” Miles asked.

“Maybe. I kind of hope he does and hope he doesn’t. Today pushed us into overtime, which is nice, but I like my time off with you.”

“Here I was looking for a different perspective and I got a mirror image of my own.” Miles sarcastically rolled his eyes.

“Well; that’s why I find myself stuck with you despite my best attempts.” Miles matched her snooty Brit impression with a jutting lower lip. “Hey,” she continued, “It’s early and we just made time and a half. Let’s go blow fifteen quid and eat something nice.”

“You’re so damn English,” Miles sighed.

“Get used to it.”

Miles and Sophie had forgotten about the new arrivals to camp until they walked up to the lounge later that evening full of Panara. There were three new faces in the crowd and a bunch of familiar ones that were uncomfortably sober. Miles was reminded within a greeting of who the newcomers were and introduced himself. Sophie followed suit.

Miles saw the look in the eyes of both Jabari and Paul. Miles was simply having too good a time to be apprehensive. Besides, what were they going to do? Fire him? He opened the fridge and grabbed two semi-secreted Harps and handed one to Sophie. She tilted her head and smiled before drinking.

Jabari shrugged. They had become so used to drinking together in the open but clandestinely towards the outside world that they were unsure about sharing their secret. Miles’ move seemed to have broken the ice. After John saw Jabari pour what was obviously not apple juice into two cups of Coke he broke ice of his own and found himself with a drink. Miles offered the other two a beer, which Rocky accepted.

“I wouldn’t do this normally, but there are no kids, right?” He asked, looking for affirmation. Miles nodded and clinked Rocky’s bottle with his. Rocky was a refreshing character to Miles. He reminded Miles of himself five months prior. It also made Miles smile to realize how far he had come, along with the rest of his co-workers. He squeezed Sophie around the waist, which led to a happy explanation to Rocky and Alicia as to their relationship.

“As far as those two are concerned,” Miles told Sophie after the two newcomers had wandered off, “We have always been together and will always be together. That’s all they know either of us as; a couple”

“Five months ago that would have scared me bloody senseless. But I guess now that our future’s set, our pasts will become more and more the same.”

“That’s nice, Sophie.”

“Yeah, well, it’s the beer talking. You know I hate that mushy rubbish.”

“I’ll take it where I can get it.”

They decided that Cliff would not call on them tomorrow and decided to stay up late socializing in the lounge. About the time the contents of their six-pack were drained they well.

“The new people seem really nice,” Sophie commented offhand as she and Miles ate bowls of Special K uninterrupted.

“Yeah, I didn’t really get a chance to talk to that girl, but Rocky and John seem all right.”

“I have a feeling that John and Paul will get on well.”

“Meaning, you don’t like John.”

“Too early to tell, but it could go that way. Maybe he was just excited to be here, but he seemed like a partier.”

“We were all partiers when we first got here too. Probably for the same reasons.”

“Speak for yourself, Iggy Pop.”

“As I recall, it was you who seduced me in a club and had your way with me in the hotel room.”

“In your wildest dreams, that’s how it went!” Sophie cried. “You’re really a bloody storyteller, you know that?” Miles let it go with a smile, happy for the memory. They finished their breakfast in silence save grunts of stifled laughter.

“Well, what are we going to do today?”

“Did your Mum call at all?”

“No, but I imagine she will soon.”

“Well, we’re sort of stuck as far as that goes.”

“Nobody’s down here yet, let’s find something on T.V. and see where that takes us, shall we?” Sophie shrugged as confirmation. As soon as they sat on the couch Sophie’s words at the breakfast table proved to be foreshadowing. Miles answered the phone and heard his mother on the other end.

“Yeah, hello. We were just talking about you.” Miles listened as attentively as possible with Sophie pawing at him for information. Once Miles’ mother had given him the pertinent information he hung up the phone and turned to his flustered fiancée.

“Well, what did she say?”

“She got a hall for the reception for two hundred dollars. It’s close to their house. She’s going to start to look into the Reverend part. No word on the venue for the ceremony.”

“Well, that’s a start, then, eh?” Miles nodded.

Nothing in the way of planning as far as the bonfire was concerned happened until the afternoon hours prior to the actual event. It started when Emma told everyone that she had spotted a brand-new quiver of cheap Tikki torches outside of Cliff’s office. It was decided immediately that the torches needed to be tested for quality and safety and were toted up the hill behind the staff lounge and wiggled into the compacted ground encircling the fire ring. After that task had been accomplished everyone was in a festive mood. It was barely four in the afternoon at that time and although it was too early to start drinking for everyone it was not too early to drive into town and purchase needed supplies.

“Oh, we need to get Jiffy Pop!” Gerri cooed from the backseat of Jeff’s car. She was a passenger along with Miles, Emma, and Jabari.

“I don’t know if we’re going to find Jiffy Pop at the liquor store,” Jeff replied.

“I know, but the grocery store is in the same shopping center.”

“Well then we may as well get marshmallows or something,” Emma chimed in.

“We can get S’mores stuff at camp. We have tons of supplies in the office closet,” Miles said.

No one really cared what they were buying at the store or borrowing from the camp. It had been so long since they had all gotten together socially that they were more excited about the events to come than the preparations.

The car parked in the lot of the shopping center it had graced dozens of times prior ad its occupants bubbled out. Jabari and Emma hooked their arms together at the elbows and set out ahead of the pack towards the liquor store. The rest of the clowns followed closely behind.

Jabari was already cradling his Jack Daniel’s and Emma was perusing expensive vodkas when Miles came upon the scene. He and Jeff mall-walked to the back of the store where the beer was kept behind cold glass.

“What do you think of this Flying Dog beer?” Jeff asked Miles.

“The pale ale is good. That’s all I’ve ever had.” Jeff nodded and picked out a twelve-pack of the stuff. Miles labored a bit longer and decided on Copper Creek’s golden ale. They also swooped up four twenty-twos of the double dater’s consensual favorite ale, Magic Hat’s #9.

“Just to get the party started,” Jeff grinned.

The party started as soon as the quartet came back to staff row. Jeff, Kyra, Miles and Sophie sequestered themselves in the boys’ cabin and put on Tom Petty’s greatest hits. The oversized bottles of Magic Hat were breached and the contents sampled mightily by all four. There was a veil of conclusion draped over the room but no one wanted to admit it was obscuring conversation. They talked about the great choice in beer and the perfect timing of the virgin Tikki torches.

“So, seriously,” Scott braked, “What’s going on with you two?”

“Um, so far, so good,” Miles answered, glancing at Sophie for affirmation. “We’re just waiting for the paperwork to come through now. It shouldn’t be a problem. We’re going to have the wedding in Chicago. We would love it if you came; you’d get the best seats in the house. But, whatever.”

“Oh, we would definitely go. I’ve never been to Chicago,” Jeff answered. “Just give us a heads up. It would be cool.”

Miles nodded but Sophie gushed. “Oh, that would be fun! Emma’s my maid of honor, even though it’s going to be small, so it would be great to have more people from here come!” Scott nodded in re-affirmation.

“Enough this heavy stuff!” Miles joked. “Let’s drink these and get up to that fire. They’re going to think we’re all in bed already or something.” Scott showed his agreeance by downing half of what he had left in one fascinatingly long gulp.

They quickly finished their first bottles and started ambling up the hill behind the kitchen with more in tow. The fire was almost visible from the road even at that early hour. The four made it to empty stumps around the ring of stone slabs just as it was getting too dark to distinguish the trees from the horizon.

Miles set a six-pack between his ankles and slid two bottles from their cardboard sheath. He passed one along to Sophie, who nodded approvingly after a sip. They were soon absorbed in a story Jabari was telling about a trio of hung-over fathers he remembered from months past.

It wasn’t long before Jabari passed Miles a plastic bottle of Jim Beam. Miles drank a healthy plug without thinking about it and passed it back to its owner. As he lowered his arm back to his side he saw a look of sad disapproval in Sophie’s eyes. Miles didn’t know what to say so he said nothing. There was a pregnant pause between them that no one else was aware of.

“Don’t go crazy tonight,” Sophie finally said so only Miles could here. He nodded without meeting her eyes until she slid her hand over his. When he did look at Sophie’s face he saw a tiredness there that he had not noticed before. Miles wondered if it had always been there or had come upon her in a rush.

“Will you two quit it? Not everything is a romantic getaway,” Emma chided from across the fire. The romantics chuckled and turned towards their friends.

Miles saw the smiling faces of the people he had lived and worked with for nearly six months and counted the adventure as a success, even after removing Sophie from the equation. Jabari handed Miles the bottle again and Miles took another hearty swig with a silent salutation to his coworkers. Sophie’s eyes were elsewhere for his whiskey reprise.

The second bullet hit Miles’ head almost as quickly as he had put it in himself. He nodded with a smile and rubbed patted Sophie’s thigh. Sophie gave him a quizzical look. Miles gave her a quizzical kiss.

“Are you pissed?”

“I may be getting there.”

“Well, take it easy.”

“Come on, it’s a party. These people are our friends. We’ve lived with them for six months. We’re about to shoot a flaming arrow into this life we’re sending out to sea so we may as well be shnockered while we do it, don’t you agree?”

“I don’t understand what you just said, but I don’t want to have to deal with you pissed.”

“So don’t deal with me. Forget I’m your boyfriend for a second and let’s all be a bunch of friends sending each other off and laugh and have fun and not think about anything for a night. That’s the point.”

“Forget you’re my fiancée? What the hell is that supposed to mean? Forget I’m stranded halfway across the world for you? You want me to forget that?”

“Yes! I want you to remember the reason we got together in the first place, when it was fun all the time and we didn’t have to worry about a damn thing. Tomorrow we can go back to stressing about the future, but tonight let’s just have fun. Everyone else here is.”

“Everyone else is not watching the person they want to spend the rest of their life with making an arse of himself every time there’s an excuse to do so!”

“Don’t you think you’re being a bit overdramatic? And can we have this argument at some other time? You’ll just accuse me of being drunk if I say anything now anyways. Which I’m not, but I was hoping to have one last shot at ambrosia while I was with all these guys.”

“Of course we can have it some other time. I’m sure it will come up again and again.”

“Bullocks.” Miles finished his beer and uncapped another. “I just wanted us to lose ourselves in something for a night. I’ve been looking forward to this for a long time because I know it won’t come up again. But I wanted you do be with me. Forget you’re worried about us for a second and make some memories.”

Sophie sighed a long sigh. “I’m not going to beat you, so I may as well join you.” She took Miles’ beer and drank half of it. Miles uncapped a new bottle for himself. He clinked his bottle against Sophie’s and followed suit. The torches seemed to brighten on the outside of the circle as the alcohol did its job. The new guys melded into the crowd seamlessly which was good to see, especially in the case of John, who had never worked at Ontanogan. Miles had decided to mingle after the heated discussion with Sophie and joined Jabari and John in another toast from the rapidly disappearing contents of Jabari’s bottle. Emma joined the fray and they decided to have another with the newcomer.

The empty bottle was given a proper burial in Miles’ backpack by pissed pallbearers and the party continued with Whiskey’s scrawny little brother Beer. Miles returned to the log where he had sat with Sophie. She was not where he had left her but Miles found two bottles holding down the fort of the six-pack he had clambered up the trail with. He scanned the scant crowd for a nervous moment; afraid that she had left to go frustrated to bed but after a moment he saw her at the far side of the fire talking to Gerri. Miles debated joining Sophie but decided against it. He found Scott instead, also sans girlfriend, and stood over the fire kicking charred into the heart of the flames for a few minutes.

“This is it, man,” Miles finally said.

“Yeah. I’d tell you to keep in touch and all that, but you know how it goes. We’ll come to the wedding but, really, that’s it. Send me a Christmas card of the kids, hey?”

“You’ll be on the list. I wish I could take some of you guys with us, you know, and just transplant this to another place. It’s been fun, you know that?”

“I’ve had a damn good time myself. I’ve done this a lot by now and some places just never click. I don’t remember half the names of the roommates I’ve had over the years, but for some reason the bunch of us ended up relating. I’m not even saying I’m thrilled with everyone we’ve got, but I’ll remember people here a lot longer than people from other places.”

“You’re probably right.” Miles and Scott stared at the flames and at the other faces around them lit by the glow of the fire for a moment.

“Well, I’m going to find Kyra.” Miles nodded and looked without thinking about it for Sophie. He saw her sitting on the log they had first come upon and joined her.

“Hi.”

“Hey you.”

Miles let his arms be wrapped up by both of Sophie’s. “How are you?”

“Good. Kind of tired.”

“You want to get out of here? Scott just left with Kyra, so we might not be able to get in right away.”

“Whatever. If you want to stay, you can. I’m going.”

“Hey, now. If you want to leave, we can leave.”

“You can do whatever you want. You’re having the time of your life.”

“What’s this about?”

“Miles, you can’t even sit still right now. I’m holding you up to keep you from falling off this log.” Miles took stock of his situation and realized that Sophie was right.

“All right, let’s go back.” As soon as Miles stood up and the head-rush passed he heard Jabari calling his name. He led Sophie over in the direction of the voices to say goodbye to everyone.

“You guys leaving already?” Jabari bawled.

“’Fraid so,” Miles answered. “We’re tired.” He rolled his eyes for extra sarcasm. Jabari and Christopher nodded with equal derision. “So we’re going to go to bed. See you tomorrow.”

“Bright and early.”

“Something like that.” Miles turned to go with Sophie. When they finally made it to Miles’ cabin Sophie followed him into bed, but even through a Beamish haze Miles could feel Sophie’s stiffness as he found his regular spot against her before he passed out.