" Pick four..." Opie was looking at Tommy, "..an I'm changing to red."
" Sonofabitch! " Tommy muttered, counting them off the deck. " Nothing red here.." he looked towards his Mom, who dropped a card, then to his Dad.
" Reverse, still red."
" Four more , sweetheart " Tara felt guilty, but still found this funny...
" Mommmm..." He picked up four more cards.
" You loose a turn, Sasquatch!" Tommy grinned at Opie.
Emily was seeing her opportunity, as Megan nodded in agreement. " Reverse "
Opie dropped another 'pick four'
" You gonna learn, son.." he deadpanned ..
The first noticable difference was the absence of mosquitoes. Abel sat by himself in the back yard of the summer beach cottage, listening to the hum of air conditioner units, and the faint sounds of the boardwalk. He wasn't feeling up to playing UNO , and chose to get quietly baked by himself and think. He focused on the water tower a block or so away, illuminated by lights at the firehouse. If he wasn't staring at that, his mind shifted back to Megan. Today was the first chance he experienced some sort of intimacy, but that was only because they were next to each other in the water, floating over the swells. He still felt her hands gently touching his bare back as she occasionally drifted closer, but those were fleeting moments.
"May I get a hit ?" Her voice startled him.
Megan smiled as she gently stroked his neck.
" Looks like some good shit " she added, noticing his home made pipe. " Nice pipe!"
" Thanks ," he replied, still feeling the sweet chills from his neck to his groin. " It's actually my Dad's, but he hasn't found it yet !" It was made out of old copper and compression fittings...
Abel dropped some kush into the bowl and passed it to her, and watched as she took a few hits .
" Yep...good shit !" She coughed, then smiled back. " Where'd you get it ?"
" Skeeter...he had all kinds, but I think I like our own home grown ."
" He's still on probation, right? You grow it at your place?"
Abel laughed at that. " I had some out by mom's garden last year, an I think she found it, so.."
His face began to feel tight, as the weed began to hit him.
" You go out with Danny Bollwan , right ? He still with RJ n his band?" He knew both guys and respected their attempts at heavy metal...
Megan seemed at a loss momentarily.
" Sort of..." She nervously scrolled through her phone. " He's so into his drums, and the band, then he's telling me he's wanting to work out at the gym after school...I never see much of em anymore.."
If Abel seemed relieved to hear that, she didn't see it.
" He's an ok dude, I guess...but if he's got other priorities, he should man up n say something to you...all he talked about when we was hunting was the band..." Abel wasn't specifically aware of Megan then. Females were always making themselves available, so he used them accordingly. But Megan was different...
Back inside, Tommy gave in, and checked his phone. An attachment from zenith got his attention, and he was suddenly watching someone familiar , a woman, dancing by herself on top of a car. Was it their next door neighbor?