“Don’t put that on me. You just jinxed it,” he suggested.
“Dude, have another doughnut and lighten up,” I ordered him.
“You do know that LA is about six hours away,” Chuck told me.
“It looked closer than that on the map. I’ll let Tami know. She and the girls can work it out.”
WHEN THE GIRLS CAME back, they had bags on their arms and big smiles on their faces. Tami jumped in my lap and showed me all the crap, I mean bargains, she’d bought. Harper noticed Chuck was drinking a beer. She gave him an innocent look. Oh, no.
“Chuck, you look so manly in those sunglasses,” Harper started in.
I always teased him about wearing his security sunglasses. He looked like a bad characterization of a Secret Service agent trying to be undercover. He looked at me and I shook my head to let him know I hadn’t put her up to it.
“I was wondering if you could stop by the liquor store and pick us up a few items. It seems the apartment doesn’t have any wine or beer.”
He looked at me again and I just shrugged. As long as they didn’t go wild, I didn’t see the harm in it.
“I’ll pick up some stuff for you on the way back,” he told her.
We all thanked Chuck, and then the conversation turned to eating. Tami got her phone out and tapped the Yelp app. I’d seen a crab place, but she informed me that it didn’t have enough stars. The girls decided on a historic seafood place. They’d been in business since 1936, and best of all, we could walk there.
Chuck suggested I get the clam chowder in the sourdough bread bowl. The girls ordered a variety of appetizers. The crab cakes were so good that I ordered a whole cracked Dungeness crab that had been oven-roasted in garlic-butter sauce. It was to die for. The girls all wanted to order dessert, but I reminded them that Ghirardelli Chocolate was just down the street.
On the way back, we stopped at a grocery store so I could get some supplies. I needed fresh fruit, eggs, bacon ... and purchased sourdough bread; it was an impulse buy. They had a bakery that had just made a fresh batch, and we were drooling from the fresh bread smell. We then went to the liquor store. Harper and Missy knew which wines they wanted. Tami wanted a six-pack of beer.
We then went to Ghirardelli. Kendal talked me into splitting a chocolate shake with her. The three girls got a big sundae and split it. Chuck decided on a hot chocolate. Kendal made a good call on splitting the shake. If I continued to eat like this, I was going to blow my diet.
When we got back, Chuck and Kendal went back to their hotel. The girls were going to Stanford tomorrow and arranged for Chuck to pick them up. I told them about the travel-time issue to LA. We all changed into comfortable clothes, and Missy opened a bottle of wine. Tami and Missy went to the living room, while Harper took my hand and led me to the deck by the fireplace.
“How did everything turn out for Ray?” I asked her.
The last time I had seen Harper’s friend, he and his roommate Lee were being taken back to school by faculty. Harper had told me that he might not being asked back to Wesleyan.
“It’s official; he won’t be back next semester. I hate to say it, but I’m relieved. It was getting too painful to see his life spiral out of control. The worst part is that his parents had no idea what all was going on. He came home, told them that he was gay and had been kicked out because of underage drinking and drugs. You have to know his family, they’re straitlaced. They aren’t taking it very well.
“Then my parents flipped out. I guess I was supposed to tell them about it. I had to bring Tami home to help talk them off the ledge. They thought Wesleyan was letting us throw wild parties. I should have told them about the weekend I spent with you. That would’ve freaked them out.”
“So is Ray going to public school next year?” I asked.
“Oh, it gets better. He gets to go to some religious boys’ school where they can ‘cure’ him. Even my mom and dad think that’s a terrible idea. They assured me that they’d get that stopped. When his parents calm down, they’ll find a nice out-of-the-way school to ship him off to.”
“That sounds much better.”
“At least he isn’t going to go to some public school,” she said, meaning every word of it.
I sometimes forgot what a social difference there was between Wesleyan girls with money and what my life was like. I should’ve learned my lesson with Jennie. Harper and Missy came from the same background. I was never going to be the boy they brought home. Harper didn’t even notice I’d gone quiet. She was lost in thoughts of her best friend.
I got up and she just smiled at me. She needed to be alone. I went back into the apartment to find that the girls each had chosen a bedroom. My bags were in the hall. I went into the living room to find out what was going on.
“What’s with my bags in the hall?” I asked Missy and Tami.
“We were going to let you choose which room you wanted to stay in.”
I just stared at them. I wasn’t in the mood to play games. Tami could see their little ploy wasn’t going over well. I thought about it for a moment. The original plan was for four bedrooms. I think I assumed some things and I shouldn’t have. This was Tami’s birthday present, a girl’s week.
My phone dinged to indicate a text message had come in. It was from Sandy Range. Both she and Devin had arrived. I sent her one back telling her I’d call her later.
I went and sat down with Tami and Missy.
“We talked about it, and we decided that this week wasn’t going to be about sex. Missy and Harper agreed that they have the same issue I have: if we’re with you and then you leave, we’ll miss you too much,” Tami told me.
I could read between the lines. Tami didn’t want me having sex with her friends. I knew I needed to find somewhere else to stay, or I wouldn’t be a happy boy all week. Harper was worried about Ray, so she wasn’t going to be good company. Missy wasn’t going to go against Tami, their ringleader.
“So do you even want me to stay here? Should I get another room for the week?” I asked, getting annoyed
“No, it’s not like that,” Missy said, getting worried.
“You know what? I’m sorry,” I told them as I got up.
I grabbed my bags, put my key on the kitchen table, and walked out. I sent a text to Sandy to find out what room she was in. I found it and knocked on the door.
“What are you doing here?” she asked, seeing me with my bags.
“Could you use a roommate for tonight?”
She looked confused, but let me in.
“What’s going on?” she asked me.
“I really don’t know, but I need to get some sleep before tomorrow.”
“Well, I have an extra bedroom, and you’re welcome to it. If you need to talk, I’m here.”
“Thanks, but I just need to get some sleep.”
She showed me where to go, and I unpacked and was getting ready for bed when my phone rang. It was Tami. I just turned off my phone and went to bed.
I BARELY WOKE UP WHEN I felt the bed move. Someone got in bed with me and laid their head on my shoulder. By the size and hairstyle, it had to be either Tami or Sandy. I went back to sleep.
Monday May 19
MY INTERNAL ALARM CLOCK went off at seven, but it was on central time, so it was just five in the morning. I had to pee and I didn’t want to wake up my bedmate. I was a little nervous about what Devin would say if he found Sandy in bed with me. That, plus the mess with Tami & Company had me off-kilter as well. I wanted to go run to clear my head. I put on running clothes and headed out. I realized on the elevator that I didn’t have a key to get back into Sandy’s room.
I ran north until I found the bay, and then I turned and ran until reached the Presidio, a former military base that was now a park. I spotted a group of runners and followed them. We came out of the wooded area and I could see the Golden Gate Bridge peeking out of the morning fog. After about an hour, I started to get hungry. I ran back and found a restaurant that was busy with a breakfast crowd.