Arno lay back holding his snare drum in both arms as Mandy drank a strawberry milkshake by the willow tree pond. Arno\u2019s heart beat slow due to tranquilizers prescribed for his nerves. He listened as Mandy sucked the shake cup dry.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s a thirsty sound,\u201d he said. \u201cDid you get it all?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, all I ever wanted,\u201d Mandy said.<\/p>\n
She threw the container across the grass and it landed in the pond.<\/p>\n
\u201cI gotta pick that up,\u201d Arno said, as he watched the cup float, then sink.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t like all these grasshoppers jumping on me,\u201d Mandy told him.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut when you sit back and listen, they really have a rhythm,\u201d Arno replied.<\/p>\n
He shoved his snare drum in front of him and used the edges as a pivot as he rolled on his stomach and pushed himself up with his hands.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey rub their legs together to make that sound,\u201d he continued. He walked over to the edge of the pond and did a four-four beat on the batter head of his snare drum. \u201cIt\u2019s the circle of life. The ducks eat em.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI still don\u2019t like them on my face,\u201d she told him. \u201cCan you give me a lift?\u201d<\/p>\n
She offered both her bare arms, which showed Arno the folds of skin around her elbows and neck,<\/p>\n
\u201cI got the taste of strawberry in my mouth,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
He found it hard to discern her chin as he grasped both her hands in his and she came to a squatting position. For a moment they both held each other, Arno standing listening to a transport truck engine brake down the big hill on the highway behind him, and Mandy half up and half down.<\/p>\n
Arno thought this cannot go on forever, it\u2019s our fourth date and she seems happy, though the sun is hot on the back of my neck. So he strengthened his willpower, kept things steady, despite the traffic distractions and her weight. They looked into each other\u2019s eyes and Mandy asked, \u201cAm I too heavy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou are never too heavy,\u201d he said, and eased her back down on the grass.<\/p>\n
She smiled at him, her wide and fleshy knees closed together, then she rolled over on her stomach and pushed herself to a crawling position. She straightened her legs and lifted herself up just like Arno.<\/p>\n
\u201cSee?\u201d she told him. \u201cI\u2019m still pretty strong!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u00a0Arno smiled. \u201cYes you are sweetie.\u201d<\/p>\n
He scooped up his drum and the couple pushed their bodies up the side of the hill towards the parking lot and Arno\u2019s truck with the two easy chairs in the back. Arno drove along the highway past the A&W and the defunct water slide, then along the Sunnybrae Road that wound round the lake.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re gonna have a great band practice,\u201d he told Mandy, pulling into a driveway up a steep slope to a partly log house his friend Cody had built around an old trailer he\u2019d taken the back off. Cody leaned on his porch railing, over which hung various blankets and clothing items. \u201cJust did laundry today,\u201d said Cody, smiling in his striped, green pajamas. \u201cCome on in.\u201d<\/p>\n
A guitar and amp sat in the middle of the main floor, where Leanne, Cody\u2019s bony-hipped girlfriend, stood with long bare feet, her thin lips touching the top of a microphone.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo feedback,\u201d she announced, as Mandy read the label on a bag of potato chips and Arno went back to the truck for his bass drum and cymbal.<\/p>\n
He smelled the air, fresh, like water on corn, a summer garden, Arno thought as the screeching of his friend\u2019s electric guitar wailed through the open window. He set up his drums by that window as Cody poured rum and cokes for Leanne and Mandy and opened a beer for himself.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat\u2019ll you drink, Arno?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t, cuz of my medication,\u201d Arno pulled up Cody\u2019s short home-made wooden stool and hit the drums with his sticks. He felt the rhythm of his heart and beat along until Cody came in with his version of Blue Suede Shoes. Arno looked outside, noticed Cody\u2019s garden with tall corn stalks waving in the wind. He lifted his sticks and pointed them out the window.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen\u2019s that going to be ready?\u201d<\/p>\n
Leanne took a big gulp of her drink, she set the glass down on Arno\u2019s snare, then said \u201cWhoops, sorry,\u201d and stuck it on the top of Cody\u2019s wood stove made from a fifty-gallon gasoline drum.<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t worry, that\u2019s not lit,\u201d she announced. \u201cCorn\u2019s in a few months.\u201d<\/p>\n
Arno noticed her white pants slashed with plenty of fashionable rips, a thin knee came through as she lifted her left leg with one hand. \u201cGotta balance,\u201d she told everyone.<\/p>\n
Cody shouldered his guitar and said, \u201cDid someone speak of the corn?\u201d Then he pounded out a few barre chords. \u201cThat\u2019s Bad Moon Rising,\u201d he told everyone.<\/p>\n
Mandy asked, \u201cWhat makes a bad moon?\u201d as she moved back and forth in Cody\u2019s rocking chair. Then she stood up and drank the rum and coke from the glass off the stove while peering out the window.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can see the corn too,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI picked the peas today,\u201d Leanne told everyone. \u201cTook me two and a half hours.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCare for some vodka, Arno?\u201d Cody asked.<\/p>\n
Arno said no, he needed to drive later he had to get Mandy home. Cody and he rolled through many wild times together but there appeared to be a recent difference in life paths. With Mandy and the medication, he must think outside of himself.<\/p>\n
\u201cLotsa people drive drunk,\u201d Cody said. \u201cThe key is to focus on the road.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCan I check your fridge out?\u201d Mandy asked. \u201cI\u2019ve got a craving for mozzarella.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSure, help yourself,\u201d Cody said. \u201cI know what you mean about cravings.\u201d<\/p>\n
He moved around the big room lighting a bunch of different coloured candles, then turned out the yellow standing light. \u201cWe gotta have atmosphere,\u201d he said, lifting some blue jeans on over his pajama bottoms.<\/p>\n
Candle smoke curled into the air as the little band started in on several songs. Leanne wound the mike cord around her shoulders, \u201cIt\u2019s like a boa,\u201d she stated, and shoved her pointy elbows forward in a dance. Cody\u2019d been going out with Leanne three months now. Her squeaky voice felt kinda irritating to Arno but she knew the moves. He sniffed a perfume aroma, figured she must\u2019ve been dabbling on patchouli. Mandy went to the open window and stuck her head out, \u201cDo you guys get many bears up here?\u201d\u00a0 she said, \u201cBecause it smells like it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The band kept on playing. Mandy opened the fridge and took out a slice of garlic bread, closed the door, sat on the couch, and watched Arno do his drumming as she ate. He nodded in her direction, smiled and tried to keep a beat somewhat faster than his heart. The fridge door sprang open without warning as Mandy put up her hand in a little wave. The appliance\u2019s glaring light filled the darkened room.<\/p>\n
\u201cHey Cody, can you play The Rose,\u201d Leanne asked as she slammed the fridge shut.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can use the brushes,\u201d Arno said.<\/p>\n
Cody nodded, tipped his head and emptied the rum bottle as Leanne sang the song in a flat acapella, moving her hands in the shape of a flower. After \u201cThe Rose\u201d everyone retired to the couch to listen to the session tape, recorded on an ancient cassette Cody said he found in his mother\u2019s basement. He sat with a small smile on his face, his hand on Leanne\u2019s ripped pantleg. Leanne unbuttoned Cody\u2019s pajama top.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s past ten o clock,\u201d said Mandy. \u201cMy brothers want me home by eleven.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAre you sixteen?\u201d Leanne asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cHa ha,\u201d Mandy said, taking a gulp of her drink. \u201cI\u2019m going to take a flower arranging course this fall.\u201d Her skin flickered under the candlelight, she pulled her hair to one side of her head, \u201cI\u2019m twenty-seven.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cody turned around on the couch and rocked back and forth as he gazed outside, Leanne steadied him with one hand on his back. Then Cody stood up, stepped sideways, tripped over the amp and fell into the drums. He lay there a moment. Arno bought him a cushion. \u201cYou can lay your head on that.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t need no fricken cushion,\u201d Cody said.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust take holda my arms,\u201d Leanne bent over him. Her long hair reached down almost to the floor.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho\u2019s your hairdresser, Leanne?\u201d Mandy asked.<\/p>\n
Cody flopped one arm in the air, then let it fall.<\/p>\n
\u201cI said I don\u2019t need no fricken cushion,\u201d Cody repeated, and attempted to roll over on his stomach. He banged into Leanne\u2019s ankle, then grabbed her leg.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhoah!\u201d Leanne yelled.<\/p>\n
\u201cI got you!\u201d Cody laughed. \u201cI got you.\u201d<\/p>\n
He pulled then pushed and Leanne staggered then toppled. Her hands hit the drums, which dropped onto the wall and the rest of Leanne fell onto Arno. She was light and bony, he could take it, but he couldn\u2019t see anything, her hair was in the way. He reached his arm around her. \u201cSorry,\u201d he said, and as he spoke, he breathed in a giant gout of patchouli. Everything seemed dark, but then Leanne\u2019s nose came into view. She lay in his lap for a moment, then staggered up \u201cNot your fault. Cody tripped me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Arno smelled something burning. \u201cWhat\u2019s that?\u201d he said, then saw one of the candles had fallen over and the carpet was on fire. Leanne stomped the flames as Arno raised himself on his haunches in the dark. He reached for a saucepan he\u2019d noticed earlier on a side table and doused everything with what seemed to be mostly water.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was the pea pan!\u201d Leanne yelled.<\/p>\n
Sure enough, dozens of raw, hand-picked garden peas rolled along the soaking carpet in the semi-darkness, then stopped.<\/p>\n
Leanne grabbed the saucepan from Arno\u2019s hands, knelt down and started picking them up.<\/p>\n
All this time, the tape of the music rolled, playing Leanne\u2019s acapella version of \u201cThe Rose.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCould someone turn that crap off?\u201d Leanne yelled again.<\/p>\n
Arno grabbed the ancient cassette and tried to yank it out of the machine. The recorder dropped to the floor, leaving Arno holding a long length of still unravelling tape.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt least the music stopped,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Cody shuffled to the couch, heaved himself to a sitting position, and grabbed a pack of matches from between the two purple pillows that Mandy sat on. He lit one of the matches, then held the lit flame close to one of his eyebrows.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat we should have,\u201d he said. \u201cIs a foursome.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI gotta take Mandy home,\u201d Arno told him. \u201cAre you ready to go Mandy?\u201d
\n\u201cYeah,\u201d she said, stood and brushed a few peas from her dress. She looked down at Cody. \u201cWhere\u2019s the light switch?\u00a0 I don\u2019t wanna trip.\u201d<\/p>\n
Arno wondered how the little vegetables got all the way over to her. He picked up his snare drum and flicked on the standing lamp.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re my my best friend, Arno,\u201d Cody said, holding his head in his hands. \u201cAren\u2019t you my best friend?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes, we\u2019re best friends,\u201d Arno told him.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen please, please, please turn that light off.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, as soon as we get out of here,\u201d Arno replied.<\/p>\n
Just as Mandy was halfway across the room, Leanne stood up with her pea saucepan and flicked the switch.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m like a bat, I crave the dark,\u201d she said, and banged the saucepan down on top of the wood stove. Cody saw her teeth flash against the candle flame. \u201cI\u2019m gonna be hanging upside down tomorrow morning.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCan you get me a hunk of cheese honey?\u201d Cody asked.<\/p>\n
Arno grabbed his bass drum and asked his own question. \u201cMandy, can you take the cymbal?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been a fun evening,\u201d he told Cody, and stepped outside to smell the night air.<\/p>\n
In the truck, Mandy said \u201cLike you told your friend, that was kinda fun,\u201d and Arno asked \u201cWhat part?\u201d as he drove along the curving mountain road.<\/p>\n
\u201cListening to you play\u201d she told him.<\/p>\n
They motored up to Mandy\u2019s place, a one-story rancher just past the gravel pit a few miles out of town. A big screen TV flashed behind the big picture window. As Arno pulled up, a man in a cowboy hat and a leather vest stepped out the front door, holding what Arno figured was a pit bull at the end of a rope. The man squatted down and let the dog go. It charged towards Arno\u2019s truck. Mandy rolled down the window.<\/p>\n
\u201cHey, Pokey, it\u2019s me.\u201d She looked at Arno. \u201cThat\u2019s my brother Maurice. He was in the armed forces.\u201d<\/p>\n
Arno rolled down his window as Maurice came up alongside. \u201cHello,\u201d Arno said.<\/p>\n
His heart still beat fairly slowly. At this point, he felt happy he was on medication. Maurice\u2019s face had a lot of lines on it. Arno figured he must be a much older brother.<\/p>\n
\u201cHave you folks been drinking?\u201d Maurice asked.<\/p>\n
His voice sounded worn, like that of the late country western singer, Johnny Cash.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not drunk,\u201d said Mandy. She stepped down from the truck and put her arms around Pokey. \u201cHey big fella. Did you miss me?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t drink at all,\u201d Arno said. \u201cOn account of my health.\u201d<\/p>\n
Maurice kept a steady gaze. Arno breathed his way, to show his sincerity. Mandy stroked Pokey\u2019s ears.<\/p>\n
Maurice nodded. \u201cOkay, bro. Have a good evening.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBye, Mandy,\u201d Arno said, and she stood and waved as he rolled his windows up.<\/p>\n
Arno drove through town towards the willow tree pond where Mandy and he lingered earlier that day. He parked in the lower lot, grabbed one of the chairs and a flashlight from the back of his truck and limped down towards the water. Grasshoppers made their stridulating noises, the night hummed with their sound. Mosquitoes buzzed too, closer to the pond, but Arno didn\u2019t mind. Mosquitoes never seemed to bite him much.<\/p>\n
He set his deck chair by the edge of the water, took off his shoes and socks and pulled off his pants. He figured his long blue boxers were appropriate for night wading. He turned on the flashlight and stepped in. A few feet out, he stuck his arm under and felt around. It took a few minutes for him to find and throw the milk shake container to shore. The one Mandy had tossed in the pond in that afternoon, just before he held her weight, as he helped her rise to her feet again.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Arno thought this cannot go on forever, it\u2019s our fourth date and she seems happy, though the sun is hot on the back of my neck. So he strengthened his willpower, kept things steady, despite the traffic distractions and her weight. They looked into each other\u2019s eyes and Mandy asked, \u201cAm I too heavy?\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":182,"featured_media":22420,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21838","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fiction","writer-harrison-kim"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mrbullbull.com\/newbull\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21838","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mrbullbull.com\/newbull\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mrbullbull.com\/newbull\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mrbullbull.com\/newbull\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/182"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mrbullbull.com\/newbull\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21838"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/mrbullbull.com\/newbull\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21838\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22421,"href":"https:\/\/mrbullbull.com\/newbull\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21838\/revisions\/22421"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mrbullbull.com\/newbull\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22420"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mrbullbull.com\/newbull\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21838"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mrbullbull.com\/newbull\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21838"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mrbullbull.com\/newbull\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21838"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}