HOT ROMANCE

I stepped outside while mom was in the bathroom the next morning, Jarid looking at me like I was making an attempt at the prison wall. In the cool, still dewy grass with my bare feet and the same shorts and T-shirt I slept in, I walked around in aimless circles, really just to feel the wet grass and look at my surroundings.

'Naturalized' was the word that hit me. Across the lane was the first row of trailers and RVs, only partially visible within all the trees that had been left standing. The lot we occupied was nice too, with a large shade tree and thick woods behind, bordered by a drainage ditch. In the not too far distance, I could hear a chainsaw running and two or more men talking from a different direction as the park woke up.

There was a sound a lot like Jarid's motorbike coming down the lane. It turned out to be an ATV being ridden by a big guy with long hair, beard and mustache, and a red headband. He looked surprised when he saw me, but smiled and did something that looked like a waving salute with a bottle of orange juice he was holding.

I smiled and returned a little wave as he went by.

It was nice there, I had to admit. Whether 'nice' was enough to dump my hard earned spot in hockey school down the crapper was another matter, but it seemed I had no choice either way. As for Mom, Jarid and I had come to the conclusion in Junior's truck the night before that she was going through some kind of midlife crisis thing that people talked about. That, or her mind snapped at Dad's wedding. I was a bit worried, yeah, but not like I was the night before, when we were turning off the highway. No, standing there at the time, any worries were more about her mental condition. She was acting totally unusual, standing on things she never would have before and a lot more decisive in a funny way. Like she was on some kind of mission.

But, as I looked around myself and after having met Junior, I had to admit that, next to hockey school, this was the best way I could think of to spend at least some of my Summer. We never were able to pin her down to a timeline, but overall mom had actually done good for someone who never left the couch if she could help it. I wondered if she even brought any of her Oprah magazines.

"Jen, I told you we're having breakfast, would you please get in here?" she called from inside the RV.

"Yuuup.", I agreed, walking over to the drainage ditch to look at the incredibly dense trees and undergrowth, imagining a time when there were no white people on the continent and the whole place was just full of trees, with no roads or-"

"Whatcha lookin at sweetheart?" a slightly rough voice from behind asked.

I turned to see an older guy making his way over the grass towards me. He looked like he was in his late fifties, or maybe early sixties, short legged, barrel chested, but a powerful looking man, nonetheless. He wore khaki shorts, a loud, half buttoned Hawaiian shirt, sandals and Foster Grant style sunglasses with an amber shade. He puffed from a cigarette as he joined me.

"Um,... I was just looking at how thick the woods are and wondering how the Indians ever got around."

He seemed to find that a little amusing and offered, "Well I'll tell you, it's a pain in the ass to clear and it goes back a ways from what we can tell. Lotsa pickery bushes in there, too, but it's all good for security."

"The locals?"

"Yeah. What's your name, sweetheart?"

This made me blush. The old guy had a funny way about him that made it okay for him to call me 'sweetheart', where I might have kicked some other old guy in the nads for it back home.

"I'm Jenifer. We got in last night, I hope its okay."

"Well now, who's 'us'?", he asked, politely.

"Me, my Mom and my Brother. We were kinda stuck for a place, but a man named Junior came along and let us in."

"He did?"

"Yup." Mom's supposed to talk to someone named Elmo this morning."

"Jen, I told you to get in here- Oh. Hello." my surprised mother said in the opened side door of the RV.

"You'd be Mum, I take it?" the man asked.

"Uh,... yes. My name is Trudy." she said, moving further from the door and offering her hand.

He shook it and replied, "Pleased to meet you, Trudy. Name's Ollie. Just got in last night, huh?"

"Yes, I'm afraid we were unprepared for our little vacation."

"Nice rig ya got there. The branches didn't do her any favours, though."

"Thank you. The scratches are alright, these things are meant to be enjoyed, right?"

"That they are." Ollie smiled.

"Would you like a coffee?"

"Sure.", he accepted, his entire face now embracing his smile.

"Please come in. Jenifer, you too, I'm not telling you again."

"Yup.", I answered, following Ollie into the RV. This guy was interesting.

Once Jarid was introduced and we were all sitting at the booth table, Ollie with a coffee, he asked, "So, Jenifer tells me Junior let you in."

"Yes.", Mom confirmed, "I sure hope it's okay with everyone, he did tell me that this is a private park."

"It's okay." he said with finality. "Damned good coffee, thanks."

"Oh, please, think nothing of it."

"Junior's my pup, by the way."

"Oh, really? I bet it's good to spend time with your family in the summer at a nice place like this."

"We love it out here." Ollie agreed, nodding. "Junior and some of the boys even come out in the winter with their skidoos. Gonna get himself killed on that bastard thing one of these days, but the older they get, the less they listen."

I expected Mom to faint at his casual use of the word 'bastard' in front of us, but she barely winced, was more surprised and amused than anything.

"Tell me about it. You should see these ones, it's like I'm not even there when I speak half the time."

"I blame those idiot computers."

"Yes,...", mom said, "But, it was the TV for us, wasn't it?"

He laughed a little, shaking his head and explaining, "I got a whole god dam box of World War Two videos and shit that I watch over there at night."

Moms smile darkened just a little at this as she looked down for a moment.

"I'm right next door on your right, by the way. Feel free to come on over and say hi to Shelly and me sometime, you kids too."

"Thanks, we will. In fact, if it's alright with Elmo, I'd like to stay on here and try out a cheap little hibachi I bought yesterday, maybe later this evening, once I figure out how to pop the sides of the RV out and everything else. You and Shelly are more than welcome to come over, we've got plenty.

"Mighty neighbourly of you, Trudy. And like I said, you're in if you want. I'll tell Elmo."

I was just finishing up the breakfast I'd bolted with Jarid, both of us watching and listening to this conversation, when someone called from outside.

"Hullo!"

"B'right out!" Ollie called, getting up and taking the mug of coffee with him. Mom, Jarid and I followed him out the door to meet who, I guessed, was Elmo.

Far from the cuddly, orange critter from Sesame Street, this guy was big and tall. Taller than Junior and, while not as finely muscled, stocky and solid nonetheless. Green eyes, short dark hair with a slightly graying beard, I guessed him to be in his early forties, but I was never a great judge of older people's ages. He stepped forward with a huge, beat up work boot that went with his short sleeved jackshirt, ruined blue jeans covered in woodchips and a dirty old cap that said 'Harley Davidson' on it as Ollie introduced us. We all shook his large, calloused paw and then Ollie started taking over.

"Trudy and her kids would like to stay for a little while, so why not give her a week to week billing deal- if that's good with you, Trudy?"

"Um, yes, that sounds ideal." mom agreed, listening to Ollie pave the way for us.

"This way," the older man went on, speaking to Elmo again, "if they decide they wanna stay, Trudy can just pay in advance later on when she wants."

"Okay.", the giant owner agreed readily. "The lot rent is a hundred bucks a week, you good with that?"

"Yes, that's great, way lower than at Victoria Park."

"Another thing that's better here than at Vicky is that we're clean. Nobody litters here, so if you go exploring in the woods, you gotta pack out everything you bring in and there's garbage barrels all over the park here."

"Of course, I Understand, that's only reasonable. Kids?" mom asked us.

We both nodded and said we understood, still in awe of the giant, I think. (Who would say otherwise to a guy like that anyway, right?)

"We got no lifeguards, so the general rule here is that nobody swims alone." Elmo went on. "And if someone can't swim, they gotta be supervised by two people who can, unless they're over twentyfive."

"You all swim?" Ollie asked?"

We all informed him that we did, to which he nodded.

"Okay,", Elmo went on, "we do have our organized events, so people can party without bugging others, but you're okay the rest of the time too, as long as your music isn't too loud and there isn't a lot of hollering, just common sense stuff, right?"

Mom nodded, understanding 'low key' if anyone on the planet did.

"Basically, just as long as you don't mess the place up and try not to get on peoples nerves, you're good. Jarid, Junior tells me you got a bike."

"Yes.", he answered, nodding.

"Here's the rule, Jar': Keep it quiet at night and you're alright, make your noise during the day and you're still okay. And keep the speed down in the park, got it?"

"Yes.", he answered again.