“You have to keep me awake,” I said.
“Sorry, did we all fall asleep?”
“Talk to me. Were you guys serious about going hunting tomorrow?” I asked.
“I’ve been hunting since I was little. Brook wanted to try it, and Halle thought it sounded like fun. We’ve been getting together to practice. Brook is actually a good shot. Halle knows enough not to be a danger to herself. I wouldn’t stand in front of her, though.”
“That’s really good to know,” I said. “Where’ve you been practicing?”
“Out on the farm. We have clay pigeons. My dad has helped me teach them,” she said. “Do you have a lot of turkeys on your farm?”
“My uncle and Mr. Hass tell me they’re almost overrun with them this year. No one’s been hunting for turkey for the past several years. Mr. Hass said he counted twenty in his hayfield this week. Of course, we can’t shoot around my uncle’s cattle, but there’s plenty of land for us to use. There’s a large wooded area along the creek. We might see some deer in the morning. Be sure to tell Halle that they’re not in season.”
“If she managed to take one with bird shot, I think they might let her have it because it would have to be sick or injured,” Zoe said.
We got quiet for a minute then Zoe had a question.
“What happened last weekend? How did everyone but you get a sexually transmitted infection?”
“Let me ask you a question: if you had somehow contracted an STI and I knew about it, would you want me to tell one of the guys how it happened?” I asked.
Zoe thought about it for a moment. I could tell she rejected my notion she would ever get an STI, but she was able to get past it and then shook her head ‘no.’
“I think the question you’re really asking is was I involved in risky sex. While all sex has some risks, I try to be safe,” I said.
“What do you mean by all sex has risks?” she asked.
“Accidents happen. A condom might break. The birth-control pill isn’t 100 percent. There are lots of ways that sex can go wrong.”
She had a worried look.
“Zoe, if you’d be more comfortable, we can stop having sex. I’m not spending time with you just to get into your pants,” I said.
I meant it, too. With Zoe, it was about how I felt when on the farm with her. I felt at peace.
“How about for me?” Halle asked.
It seemed that our conversation was being overheard. I saw that Brook was awake as well.
“Yes, you, too.”
“How about me?” Brook asked.
“No. You’re too sexy to give up,” I teased.
“You don’t think Halle and I are sexy enough?” Zoe asked.
Oops. That joke backfired.
“He just thinks I’m easy,” Brook complained.
“Stop!” I ordered.
They were all tired, and so was I. If I weren’t careful, I would be in real trouble. They had guns in my trunk, after all.
“I enjoy our time together. Each of you is special to me. I admit to liking sex, and I especially like it with you girls. That doesn’t mean I’d stop being friends with you if we stopped having sex.”
Mr. Happy already had a list ready if they decided to bail on me. I admit to being a guy who was used to sex. If they chose to not have sex with me, I’d be friends with them, but I was honest enough with myself to know that I’d look elsewhere for an outlet. I didn’t plan to be a monk.
Cassidy was a great example of a girl I liked to hang out with, but there was nothing other than friendship going on. It wasn’t hard to see myself as friends with all these girls, the same way I was friends with Cassidy. I would hope if it turned out that way that we would be friends more like Tracy and me, where there was something that happened every now and then.
“I guess now that Zoe and Halle are no longer having sex with you, I get more,” Brook said.
Brook forgot that Halle had an older brother. I almost had to pull the car over. I now understood my dad when Greg and I would bicker in the back seat. Then they started giggling. I let out a disgusted sigh, which made Halle laugh.
“And the Oscar for best fake sigh goes to—drum roll—David A. Dawson in the After School Speciaclass="underline" Girlfriend Troubles,” Halle announced.
If I wanted this kind of abuse, I would have ridden with my mom!
◊◊◊
The girls and I ended up at the Hass farm while my family went to Uncle John’s. I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.
◊◊◊
Chapter 26 – I’ll Do Whatever She Wants Saturday October 24
I woke up to my bedcovers being ripped off my bed.
“Told you,” Brook said.
When I opened my eyes, the three girls darted out of my room. Apparently, someone had told them I slept naked, and I would bet my last dollar they wanted a show. All they had to do was ask. I looked at the clock, and it said 4:30 in the morning. I only got three hours of sleep.
I made my way downstairs to find my uncle and Devin at the kitchen table, drinking coffee and eating homemade biscuits with slices of ham on them. I decided I needed some of both.
“Sit,” Mrs. Hass ordered.
Then I heard the back door open and Dad, Greg, and Lou—Devin’s childhood friend and the man in charge of R&D at Range sports—walked in. Duke also came in and rushed to me. I think he thought I no longer loved him.
“Hey, Lou,” I said.
The back door opened again, and Mr. Hass, Frank Ingram, and Lily entered the kitchen. I didn’t realize my PR agent and his new employee would be here this weekend. We had a houseful for our turkey hunt. Then the three girls all came down.
I was impressed that Mrs. Hass had plenty of food and coffee. Lou had a surprise for everyone: he had a variety of turkey callers.
“We have cameras set up in all the blinds. Try out our new products and then tell us what works best,” Lou said.
After we were awake, Uncle John took half and Mr. Hass the other, and we split up. They had blinds set up at strategic locations around the farms. Uncle John had brought all the cattle up to the field by the barn for the day. He would keep an eye on them while we hunted this morning. I found myself in a blind with Frank and Lily. Halle, Brook, and Zoe insisted they be in one together. They made me a friendly wager they would bag more turkeys this morning. We all had visions of bagging a bird.
The state said our licenses were only good from a half-hour before sunup until a half-hour after sundown each day, and only for the weekend.
I sat quietly, just enjoyed the morning, and petted Duke as he laid his head on my thigh. It was cold enough that I could see my breath. When the sun began to come up, the birds woke up and begin to chirp. Lily had a handheld video camera out, scanning the scene. We were at the edge of the woods and overlooked one of the hayfields. Off in the distance, we heard our first turkey call. There was a faint ‘pop, pop, pop’ of shotguns. I would guess that was a farm or two further north of where we were.
I took out one of Lou’s turkey calls and made some noise. Someone a few fields away did the same. I heard a ‘pop, pop’ from whoever was hunting to our north. Then I about shot myself when I heard a turkey call right behind me in the woods. My caller sounded like a yelp. The wild turkey behind us made more of a ‘kee-kees’ noise. When Duke heard the birds, he suddenly got interested. I grabbed his collar to make sure he knew to stay. I saw one in a tree, and then it dropped down to the ground, and I lost sight of it. Then seven turkeys slowly moved out of the low brush, not more than twenty feet from us. There were two toms and five hens.
I raised my shotgun. It was then that I saw Frank hadn’t raised his. I looked at him, and he shook his head. I remembered the first time I had shot a pheasant, I’d felt guilty. I lined up on the closest tom and squeezed the trigger.