Hope & a Canoe, Page 3

  “Doesn’t weird you out?”

  “No, should it?” Tember took another bitter swig of her beer. “Now, if you told me you were Republican then–”

  Gracie laughed and pulled at the label on her beer. “Well alright, alright. I have the hardest time with my friends. I came out my junior year. I lost a lot of friends. So my dad sees how much I struggled with it, and he comes out for me. Our plan is for me to be out right away at college.”

  “Your dad’s going to college with you?”

  “No, why? Oh, because I said ‘our plan’? No, but we have plans, we communicate, and we don’t have secrets. We talk about everything. Another thing that makes me different,” Gracie said.

  “I think your relationship’s amazing,” Tember said.

  “Thank you for appreciating that. He’s my best friend.”

  Tember smiled as she heard Jeremy belting out a 90s rock song out of tune.

  He yelled out to them, “You two lovebirds bring the rest of the plates in, or Gracie can do the dishes later!”

  “No way! You’re not getting out of them again.” Gracie turned to Tember as she placed her now empty beer bottle on the table. “Help me?”

  The three of them did dishes and cleaned up from dinner, but not without Jeremy and Gracie having a dish towel snapping fight and suds being thrown here and there.

  “You guys want to go into town for ice cream?” Jeremy asked. “You can take my truck.”

  Gracie looked to Tember for an answer.

  “Oh, I would love to, but I have to get up early tomorrow,” Tember answered.

  “That’s right, your birthday. Any big plans?” Jeremy asked.

  “You remembered,” she answered and thought about her own grandmother who had forgotten. “Umm, I have to do some chores. I should go. Thanks so much for the dinner and company.”

  “Anytime,” Jeremy said. “Hey, if you need another ride into town, come see us. I don’t want you hitching with strangers.”

  “Okay,” Tember answered.

  “Gracie can walk you back to your site,” he offered and raised his eyebrows up and down at Gracie.

  “Dad!” Gracie answered.

  “What?” He giggled and walked to the back of the RV, where Tember guessed the master bedroom was housed.

  That left Gracie and Tember standing a few feet from each other in the kitchen.

  “Nice to meet you, Gracie,” Tember said as she extended her hand.

  Gracie shook Tember’s hand with her right and covered their hands with her left hand. “Nice to meet you, too, Mysterious Tember. I hope to see you around.”

  “I hope so too,” Tember said as she held onto Gracie’s hand longer than she normally would.

  Tember walked out of the RV and down the three steps into darkness. The smell of campfires filled the air, and glowing fire rings peppered the forest. Tember stopped to take one last gulp of her beer. No, still awful. Before she was out of earshot, she heard Jeremy and Gracie talking inside the RV.

  “What?” Jeremy asked.

  “That’s the girl you brought into town? She’s a woman, Dad. A gorgeous, great-smelling woman, who you just happened to invite to dinner,” Gracie said.

  “You didn’t like her, then?” Jeremy asked.

  “Dad,” Gracie said and laughed.

  “Well, doesn’t your old man have good taste and good gay-dar? She’s witty too,” he said. “I think she has a good heart.”

  “Dad, just because you’re in p-flag doesn’t give you super gay-dar powers.”

  “So you did like her? You’re not answering my question.”

  “She seems pretty great,” Gracie said. “And my gay-dar’s pretty new, but I think she might be gay. She didn’t freak out when I told her, and she didn’t deny that she was gay.”

  “Then you’re welcome,” Jeremy said.

  “You’re crazy. Let me handle this, Mr. Matchmaker.” Gracie laughed.

  Tember walked to her campsite. She took off her shoes and left them just outside the tent. She fumbled with the zipper but finally managed to unzip the flaps. Then she climbed into her sleeping bag, fully clothed. She felt dizzy due to the three-quarters of a bottle of beer she’d drunk.

  The words gay-dar, gorgeous, witty, and gay rang through her ears. She’d had thoughts of girls before but dismissed them. She closed her eyes and saw Gracie’s blue eyes, heard Jeremy’s laugh, and the last thing she saw was Gracie balancing on a canoe.

  5

  Tember woke to rain hitting her tent tarp. The dryness of her mouth reminded her about the beer from the night before. She sat up, and her bladder begged to be relieved. She peeled the sleeping bag off her, clumsily unzipped the tent, and crawled into the campsite. The rain on her face made it more imminent that she had to pee. She ran a few feet behind her tent, dropped her shorts and underwear, and squatted. A yellow puddle formed around her as she peered out to the surrounding campsites.

  Other campers were nowhere in sight. They were either sleeping or hiding from the rain. The rain started to fall harder, and Tember’s urine kept flowing. By the time her bladder was relieved, she was drenched.

  She walked into the RV. Despite her grandmother being out gallivanting, the RV smelled like smoke, the air still stale. She opened the fridge and beers stared back at her. She grabbed the two heels left of the bread and made toast. She decided to take a shower to warm up, and she grabbed a new set of clothes, shower gear, and headed to the main shower house.

  The main shower house was the biggest of the three shower houses on the property, yet it still had only four stalls. When Tember entered the shower house, two of the stalls were already being used. She put her clothes and gear in the first stall and walked to the sink to brush her teeth, which felt like they had layers of scum on them.

  One of the showers stopped, and a few seconds later, a woman exited the stall. It was Gracie.

  “Good morning,” Gracie said.

  Tember spit out her toothpaste and answered, “Good morning.”

  “Your RV not have a shower? Or tent camping?”

  Tember answered, “Yes, our RV has a shower, but it’s too cramped for me. Yours?”

  “It has one,” Gracie said and then whispered, “but my dad stunk up our bathroom this morning.”

  Tember laughed.

  “I had fun last night,” Gracie said.

  “Me too. Thanks for having me over.”

  “Anytime,” Gracie said.

  “Well, I better get in the shower.” Tember walked into the shower stall and pulled the shower curtain behind her. She peeled off her wet clothes and peeked out through the crack in the shower curtain at Gracie.

  Gracie only wore a towel and was running a brush through her hair. Droplets of water adorned her shoulders. Tember imagined her lips on those drops. She saw Gracie’s eyes in the mirror and was afraid Gracie had noticed her admiring her. Tember turned on the shower and stepped toward the water. The warm water felt good against her skin.

  “Tember,” Gracie said.

  “Yeah?”

  Gracie said, “Happy Birthday.”

  “Oh, thanks for remembering.” Not only had Tember’s grandmother forgotten her birthday, but Tember also had forgotten that today was her birthday.

  “Enjoy your shower,” Gracie said.

  Tember did enjoy the warmth of the shower and took longer than normal in the stall. She dried off, got dressed, and stepped out of the shower, finding Gracie still at the mirror tweezing her eyebrows.

  “Your family have something special planned?” Gracie asked.

  Tember normally would lie and say that the family had plans to celebrate her birthday. She would make up elaborate stories about birthday rituals. She did not like people taking pity on her, and she liked to pretend that at least one day a year she was not invisible.

  But Tember didn’t feel the need to lie to Gracie, so she answered, “No, they actually have other plans and left the campground for a couple of days.”

 
; “Alone, on your birthday? We have to remedy that,” Gracie said. “What do you want to do? Anything, you name it.”

  Tember shook her head. “You don’t have to.”

  “I know. I want to. What do you want to do?” Gracie asked again. “I know, how about we go into town for breakfast? My treat.”

  Tember paused. She was so hungry her stomach ached. Her body begged for food. Gracie watched Tember in the mirror.

  “That’s a nice gesture but…” Tember started, but her voice trailed off.

  Gracie turned and put the tweezers in a small, red shower bag. Her gaze was steady on Tember; she crossed her arms and leaned against the countertop of sinks. It was as if she was daring Tember to come up with an excuse.

  “But?” Gracie asked.

  “But...you don’t have to,” Tember said. “I already owe you and your dad dinner, gas money...” Tember listed.

  Gracie smiled and stood. “So since you don’t have any good reason to not go to breakfast with me, I’m going to go grab my dad’s truck and meet you back here in ten minutes.”

  “I–” Tember started, but Gracie crossed her arms again. “Yes, I’ll be here.”

  “Nice,” Gracie said and left the bathroom; the screen door slammed behind her.

  Tember looked in the mirror. Her hair was still wet and in disarray. She couldn’t believe Gracie saw her like this—couldn’t believe she cared—and realized this breakfast might be a date. Tember ran a brush through her hair and put it in a ponytail. She still had seven minutes until Gracie returned. Tember realized she should have told her she needed less than five minutes to get ready.

  She walked to the bathroom screen door and peered out. The rain fell in a steady rhythm, and Jeremy’s truck was not there yet. In an effort not to seem too eager, she hid to the side of the door. Her heart raced, and she started to sweat. Tember heard a car pull onto the dirt trail in front of the shower house. Tember peered out through the screen door as Gracie parked the truck near the shower house; she was early. Tember took a deep breath and pushed into the rain.

  Gracie had exited the driver’s side with an open umbrella, she met Tember halfway, and she shielded Tember from the rain. Gracie walked with her to the passenger’s side and opened the door.

  “Thanks,” Tember said as she climbed into the truck. Gracie ran around the front of the truck, closed the umbrella, and climbed in the driver’s seat.

  Gracie said, “I haven’t been in town much, but I think we’ll find something.”

  “Anything’s fine,” Tember said.

  “Wow, you’re easy to please huh?” Gracie asked.

  Tember didn’t answer the question but instead asked, “Did your dad have a hard time letting you borrow this?”

  “This is only the second time he’s let me drive the truck,” Gracie said. “At home, I have my own clunker of car, but, no, he didn’t give me a hard time because I’m with you.”

  “Oh,” Tember replied.

  They drove for a few minutes with only the sounds of the car’s engine, the falling rain, and the windshield wipers. Tember fidgeted in her seat, and Gracie looked over at her several times.

  “You don’t want to know why?” Gracie asked.

  “Why you’re bringing me to breakfast?” Tember asked.

  Gracie laughed. “No, well, yes, but no. Don’t you want to know why my dad let me borrow the truck because I’m with you?”

  “Oh, umm, sure.” Tember knew from her eavesdropping the night before that Jeremy intended to set her up with Gracie, but Gracie did not know that Tember had overheard them.

  Gracie answered, “My dad’s convinced that we’ll make a good couple. He’s trying to do some match making.” Gracie turned her head toward Tember and their eyes met. She quickly looked away.

  “Oh, okay.”

  “Oh okay?” Gracie asked. “I tell you I’m interested in you and all you say is ‘oh okay’? What do you think about that?”

  Tember quickly processed her answer. Her head felt dizzy, but she wasn’t sure if that was from the conversation or from not eating since last night.

  “Well, technically, you didn’t tell me that you were interested in me. You told me that your dad was interested in us being a couple. But just now, you did tell me you’re interested. So, what do I think? I think it’s great and kind that you’re taking me out to eat. And the other part about you and me, I’m not sure how to feel.”

  Gracie smiled. “I’ll take it. Just the fact that you didn’t just do a tuck and roll out of the truck is better than my previous experience with girls.”

  Tember laughed. “Well, I consider myself an intelligent girl. This is a truck and high off the ground, and you’re going fifty miles per hour, and I’m at least going to get you to buy me breakfast before you profess your love and I run away from you.”

  “I didn’t say I was in–” Gracie started.

  Tember interrupted, “Calm down. I’m kidding. I haven’t had many, if anybody, be interested in me. But I do at least know that it takes until at least knowing me for forty-eight hours or three meals for someone to fall in love with me.”

  “Careful, you just about locked yourself into having lunch with me too,” Gracie said as she flashed a smile at Tember.

  6

  Tember and Gracie settled on the only breakfast place in town—a hole in the wall named Rhonda’s. It sat on Main Street in South Paris. There were a dozen tables and several stools at a counter. Behind the counter was a cook in the process of grilling eggs, sausage, pancakes, and bacon.

  The waitress seated them at a table near the front window and handed them two paper menus. Tember and Gracie ordered two hot chocolates and perused the menus.

  “You a vegan or vegetarian?” Gracie asked.

  Tember answered, “Wow, you get negative ten points for observation.”

  “Oh right, we did have dinner together last night. Wait, I’m getting deducted points?” Gracie asked as she smiled and leaned forward.

  Tember answered, “Well, don’t worry. You got positive points for the beer last night, remembering my birthday, and inviting me out.”

  “So, where am I at?”

  “Eighty points,” Tember said as she shrugged.

  “Oh, I’m keeping track,” Gracie said as she flipped over the paper placemat and grabbed the cup of crayons sitting by the condiments on the side of the table. In blue crayon she wrote, beer, birthday, breakfast = 90, observation =-10.

  “Now, I guess I’m locked into scoring the whole date?” Tember asked.

  Gracie answered, “It depends on what I can redeem the points for later.”

  Tember stared into Gracie’s eyes. Her first thought was a kiss, but then she pushed that thought aside and her palms became sweaty.

  “Was that too much?” Gracie asked. “Sorry, I can come on strong at times. I joke around and then I go too far. Then people don’t know how to take me.”

  “Relax,” Tember said. “I’m a big girl. I’ll look out for your intenseness if you promise to look out for me being sarcastic and cynical.”

  “Deal,” Gracie said.

  They ordered breakfast after Tember scrutinized over the prices and Gracie reassured her that Jeremy had given her fifty dollars, with no expectation of receiving any change.

  “So, any big plans now that you’re eighteen?” Gracie asked.

  Tember answered, “Yes, but probably not first-date material.”

  “Nice, so this is a first date,” Gracie teased.

  “Why not?” Tember said.

  “What’s not so first-date material about that question?” Gracie asked.

  Tember said, “Wow, you really don’t do well with boundaries and limits.”

  “Understatement of the year,” Gracie said. “Come on, give me something. You plan to rob a bank, join the army, run away, join the circus, or get a tattoo? Am I even getting close?”

  Tember changed the subject. “You’re going to college, huh? Where? What’re you majoring in?”r />
  “Okay, I give up on those questions. Yes, I’m going to the University of Washington, and I’m pre-med,” Gracie answered.

  “Wow, far away and the last major I would think you would declare. Actually, lawyer is last. So, a doctor,” Tember said.

  “I don’t seem like the intelligent type?” Gracie asked.

  They paused in their conversation as the waitress brought their plates of food. Gracie’s French toast was thick and covered in powdered sugar. Tember ordered a lumberjack special that included two eggs, sausage, bacon, pancakes, and toast.

  Tember said, “No, I can tell you’re intelligent. I wouldn’t be able to tolerate you otherwise. You just seem creative and unconventional.”

  “There are unconventional practices out there,” Gracie said. “You seem to like my dad, and he’s not all that smart.”

  “You know, he has a smart heart,” Tember said.

  “You’re totally right,” Gracie said. “Tell me about your family. I’m guessing they’re not all that great because they left you alone on your birthday.”

  “Forgot my birthday,” Tember said. “My family’s off limits to talk about right now.”

  “More negative points?” Gracie picked up her blue crayon, ready to mark it down on the score sheet.

  “No, you didn’t know, but if you bring it up again...” Tember laughed as she pointed at Gracie.

  Gracie held up her arms in surrender. The two finished breakfast and walked back through a light rain to Jeremy’s truck. Tember had the urge to hold Gracie’s hand. She hadn’t held anyone’s hand since she had held her mother’s. The thought of her mom and dad brought an ache to her chest.

  Gracie opened the passenger’s side door for Tember, and Tember climbed up into the truck. Gracie ran around the truck and hopped into the driver’s seat. As she placed the keys in the ignition, she looked over at Tember.

  “You okay?” Gracie asked.

  Tember turned her head quickly to look at Gracie. She couldn’t remember the last time anyone had asked her if she was okay. Her grandmother had asked, “What is wrong with you?” but that was more in the spirit of trying to get Tember to fall in line.