Page 63 of It Happened on the Lake

“So . . . I’ve got some ideas,” Chase went on. “I could say I’ve got flat feet or bone spurs or am still suffering from the time my shoulder was dislocated during that game against Jesuit, when we were juniors, but my old man won’t go for it. And he won’t buy into the whole conscientious objector, ‘against my religion’ thing as my family is a founding member of the Methodist church in town.” He gazed out across the dark chasm of the river. “He’d disown me first. Shit, he was awarded a Purple Heart when he served and . . . well, no, saying it’s against my religion won’t fly.” Chase took another toke.

“Canada?” Rand suggested as the joint was passed back to him. “I think that’s what happened to Patrick Sullivan. I heard his uncle has a hunting cabin in Alberta, I think, or maybe B.C. Anyway, he hitchhiked up there, then hiked across the border somewhere in the mountains.”

“I’ve thought of that,” Chase admitted as he let out his breath. “And ... I’ve even thought of getting Harper pregnant.” He was nodding slowly, as if the idea had merit, but Rand, the joint halfway to his lips, stopped.

“You’d do that?” Rand asked, feeling the chill of the night. “Have a kid?”

“Hell, yeah, I would.”

“And Harper?” Rand tasted bile rising in his throat.

He lifted a shoulder. “She’s into it.”

“Really?” Rand didn’t believe it. “She’d give up college?”

“The thing is, she’d do anything for me,” Chase admitted. “Doesn’t even mind the thought of being knocked up. I quit using rubbers a while back.”

“Are you shittin’ me? And she’s not pregnant?” That seemed odd. If Rand were to believe his father, one time of not taking precautions and you were all but assured of getting a girl pregnant. He knew that wasn’t necessarily true, of course, but still.

“Not yet. So . . .”

“But wait.” He knew that Chase had been seeing other girls, down at college and even here in Almsville. “Isn’t there some other girl in Eugene?”

“A couple.”

Rand waited.

“So I’ve fucked around, so what?”

“But you want to get Harper pregnant?”

“Well, sure. But if some other girl happened to end up PG . . .”

“What? Are you crazy? That would be okay?” Rand couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “Any girl would do?”

“It’s not for the rest of my life.”

“Isn’t it? Hell, Chase, that’s fucked up! I mean, really fucked up!” He threw up his hands. “How would Harper feel if some other girl claims you’re her kid’s father?” Was Chase nuts?

“Harper’s not gonna get drafted.”

“That’s cold, man.”

“Just tellin’ it like it is.” Chase actually looked thoughtful as he stared across the chasm, the sound of the river far below muted. “And yeah, I know it’s fucked up. I like Harper. Crap, maybe I even love her. And I would marry her, I would.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “But for now, I’m still single and those chicks at school or, Christ, right down the street here. You’ve seen them, right? At the house on down at the start of the deer trail? You know the one I’m talkin’ about.”

Of course he did. Rand had walked or biked past the cabin to the path that wound uphill through the scrub oak and firs. It led to the main road that rimmed the south side of the lake. Rand had seen the girls Chase was talking about. Even in the dead of winter they sometimes wore halter tops. “Yeah.”

“Well, those girls in there are bitchin’, I tell ya. Shit, they’re stoned half the time and beautiful. I mean, drop-dead Marilyn Monroe gorgeous with racks like you wouldn’t believe. There’s one, Moonbeam, a redhead with tits like—like a goddamned Playboy bunny. Huge.” He placed his cupped hand six inches from his chest.

“Moonbeam?”

“That’s not her real name. I mean, I don’t think so. I think it’s Jan or something like that. Janet Van Something I think. Doesn’t matter. I’m tellin’ ya man, she’s stacked.” His smile grew evil. “I’ve seen those tits. Touched ’em. Fantastic. We did it.”

“You and Moonbeam?” Rand asked, disbelieving.

“Yeah, yeah,” he said. “We were both high and she was out on their deck, then grabbed me by the hand and went up those outside stairs to some kind of locked attic room. She had a key and led me inside. I had to duck to get through the door, and even then once I was inside I banged my head on a beam, but it was a cool spot, you know?”

Rand didn’t but let Chase go on.

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