Page 45 of Salvation

Grinning in the darkness of the car, I reply, “We loved that damn movie, remember?”

He nods. “I do. You loved it. I tolerated it because you loved it. I’ve always thought Jim Carrey was more stupid than funny.”

I gasp in mock outrage. “How dare you? Jim Carrey is hilarious!”

He shakes his head and says sadly, “I’m afraid you’re incorrect. He’s dumb and obnoxious, not funny. Idiocy does not equal humor. The only movie he was even in that was worth a damn was Liar Liar… and maybe the Grinch one.”

I decide to leave it alone and mutter, “Uh huh. If you say so.”

“I do.” His hand leaves the wheel to settle over the one that’s resting on his warm and solid thigh. He glances down as I turn mine and link our fingers together. A smile spreads over his face. “So, where am I driving to? I can just drive, but with no destination in mind, we’ll just end up in traffic; and then, we’ll be stuck on the road to nowhere.”

“Want to head to the church camp and take a swim in the lake?”

Turning, he looks at me. Then, he nods. “Yeah, we can do that. Though, we’ll have to trespass and technically we’ll be breaking the law.”

I smirk at him. “Are you sure you can handle that, Detective?”

He smirks back. “I think I can handle it. Besides, we know the owners. If we get caught, I’m certain you can talk our way out of it.”

I laugh in delight. He’s right. We will be trespassing, but my dad still does mission and outreach for the church, and I’ve attended service, when I attend church, since I was a baby. Father Matthews won’t give us any grief if we do get caught. Besides, it’s not like we’re going to vandalize it and it’s really pretty and serene out there.

We’re silent as Luke heads out of Baton Rouge and takes Highway 61 toward the smaller community of St. Francisville. The church has some property out there and every summer they have a camp for the youths in the community.

The land was donated about thirty years ago. A contract was written up that stated the taxes on the property would be covered, and the general maintenance would be taken care of by a fund that the benefactor kept full, as long as there was a need for the camp, and that the youth were provided a safe, and free, place to get away from it all for a few weeks a year.

Other than that, it stays pretty vacant for the rest of the year, though they have a couple of retreats there, sometimes, too.

Luke, Gabrial, and I attended the camp many summers as children.

I got my first kisses from both men there, though Luke kissed me a year earlier than Gabrial did.

Lying my head back, I listen to the radio and remember that summer so long ago.

It had been especially hot that day and everything was just sticking to us. We’d had a trust building exercise that counted on teamwork earlier in the afternoon to get over a nine-foot wall. Luke, Gabrial, and I were, of course, on the same team. We were inseparable.

I was fourteen that year. Gabrial was fifteen and Luke was sixteen. Both boys had really filled out and become very attractive over the past few years and I found myself watching them all the time. We were always together, and we always did everything together, but lately, I couldn’t stop looking at them. They were both getting a LOT of attention from all the girls in the neighborhood and several of them were at camp with us.

They were always trying to get the guys to notice them by wearing short shorts, pulling their shirts down low over their boobs, or tying them up to show their stomachs. The guys, of course, noticed and often they would joke and tell each other that one or the other was being “checked out.”

I thought they were acting stupid. I mean, who cared anyway?! If they wanted to notice the girls that were trying so hard… then, whatever. Stupid boys.

Yet, I was noticing too, and it was making me really angry. My stomach would flutter like butterflies were flapping in there and my heart would speed up when I looked too long at either one of them.

That day, we had to crawl through mud and push and pull each other over obstacles to clear the wall. Luke was the biggest and tallest since he’d had a growth spurt, so once we reached the wall, Gabrial climbed on his shoulders and caught the top, pulling himself up. Then, he laid over it and Luke lifted me up to him. Luke’s hands were on the skin of my bare thighs, and I couldn’t concentrate on lifting my arms to Gabrial. I got lightheaded and felt like I was going to pass out. Then Gabrial called down to me laughing and I snapped out of it and reached up for him. He wrapped his hands around my wrists and easily pulled me up telling me to use the grip on my tennis shoes to walk up the wall. I did, only the mud made it slippery, and I started to slide. Gabrial yanked as hard as he could and I cleared the wall, but the force of it made me lose my balance and I fell on top of him. My body was spread out along his and I could feel the lean muscle underneath me. He was staring up at me with a shocked expression as I stared down into his face. I wanted to lean in and kiss him. I think he wanted it, too, because he started to lift his head, but then Luke called up from the ground, asking if we were okay since he couldn’t see us.

I immediately rolled off Gabrial and looked over the side of the wall. Luke was standing at the bottom with his hands shielding his eyes, looking up at us. Gabrial called down that I’d lost my balance, but we were both okay.

Then, he told me to lean over the wall with him so we could both grab one of Luke’s arms. Luke said he was going to jump and that he’d climb up the wall, but we needed to keep a hold on him and pull.

We did and it worked like a charm. We cleared the wall long before anyone else; but for the rest of the day, I was uneasy around both guys.

What was happening to me? This was Luke and Gabrial… my best friends. Besides, I couldn’t like them BOTH. That was impossible. No girl should like two boys, right?

I excused myself and went to help my dad in the kitchen since he was prepping the meals for the camp that day.

I stayed in there for hours until he told me to get out and go have fun because I’d helped enough.

I wandered out to the lake and sat by the water’s edge because I was still so confused by my reactions to both Luke and Gabrial.

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