Chapter 8: Only Human
Old Man Jack's Fish Camp
10:15 PM
Ricky, dressed in a now dirty white tank top and even dirtier shorts, was busy cleaning the fireplace in the cabin's living room when he noticed the reflection of headlights illuminating one of the living room's front windows.
He momentarily stopped what he was doing to look out the window, at which point he grinned when he saw Dawn climbing out of the Thundercloud twins' tow truck. She was still dressed in the red summer dress and red high-heeled sandals that he had seen her leave wearing about 2 hours earlier.
The tow truck left a minute or so later and Dawn entered the cabin, only to be almost instantly startled at the sight of her brother sitting on the couch. "Holy shit, Ricky!" she exclaimed before catching her breath, "I didn't think you'd still be up, man. It's late."
Ricky didn't even give a response to what his sister had said, instead holding that mischievous grin. "How did your night go, dear sister?" he asked with that same juvenile-sounding tone usually spoken by their more comical brother Dicky.
Dawn gave a somewhat awkward half-smile in response. "Good," she softly replied as she sat beside him on the couch.
Ricky then broke down with loud guffawing laughter, totally not believing her night with Timmy was just, simply, "good". "Please, Dawn" he said, "It's me, your brother, remember? You don't have to be shy. You got laid, didn't you?"
She giggled excitedly before smiling wide and nodding. "Yep," she said in a giddy voice, "Oh my God, Ricky! It was so great! It was almost as great as the last time that Mack and I did it before he left for Atlanta."
Ricky grinned and nodded in retort. "I'm happy for you," he kindheartedly replied, "No one can top the great Mack, though, huh?"
Dawn shrugged her shoulders. "It's hard to say," she said, "But Timmy is a great guy, though. He's very sweet and considerate, plus he knew what he was doing on the hood of that van."
"Wait a minute," Ricky replied, "You guys did it on the hood of someone's van? That's pretty impulsive, even for you."
"Hey," Dawn said, "I'm only human. When those kinds of feelings are there, they're just there. You can't always fight them."
"Right," Ricky replied, "Don't forget that Mae and I were friends with benefits."
"True," Dawn said before putting a hand on his shoulder, "But, to be honest, it always seemed to me that you wanted more from her than just friendship and good sex. Nicky even thought that, too. He and I talked about it a few times."
Ricky sighed as he took a beat to really contemplate that idea. "I don't know, sis" he replied, "That's kind of hard to think about now, with Mae being in California and all."
Dawn nodded. "I know," she said, "It was hard for me sometimes when Mack first left for Georgia, but if tonight taught me anything, you have to take advantage of these fun, impulsive moments when they happen."
Ricky happened to look down and saw something sticking out of the right-side pocket of Dawn's red dress. "Wait," he said as he reached into the pocket and removed a pair of lacy red underwear. "What the hell?" he asked as he erupted into laughter once again.
Dawn let out a small gasp and cringed before looking down and pulling up the bottom of her dress, at which point she burst out laughing as she noticed her bare privates. "Oh shit," she said once she caught her breath, "I totally forgot. Timmy took them off me and set them nearby. I stuck them in my pocket while I was getting dressed afterwards and I guess I just didn't think about it until now."
Ricky, meanwhile, continued his belly laughing. "Ha," he replied, "Been feeling a little breezy lately, sis?" he said.
Dawn smiled as she wrapped her brother in a hug. "I love you, brother" she said.
Ricky's laughter finally subsided, at which point he kissed Dawn's cheek. "I love you, too," he replied.
Dawn then got up off the couch and started heading towards her bedroom. "I'm going to bed," she said, "I'll see you in the morning."
Ricky nodded. "Alright," he said, "I'm going to finish cleaning this up and then I'll be taking a quick shower and hitting the hay myself."
Having finished cleaning the fireplace and taken his shower, Ricky was in the process of pulling the covers back to climb into bed when his cell phone rang. He quickly scooped it up off his nightstand and answered.
"Hello?" he answered.
"Hi Ricky," a kindhearted female voice replied from the other end of the line, "It's Rachel Thundercloud. Sorry to call you so late."
Ricky smiled, clearly not bothered by the later hour. "No big deal," he said, "How are you?"
"Pretty good," Rachel said, "First off, I just wanted to let you know that we should have your sister's car ready by tomorrow afternoon. Timmy and I decided to cut you guys a break and waive the fee on the windshield replacement."
"Gee," Ricky thought, "I wonder what prompted that decision?"
"It didn't take much for me to fix that dent on the hood," Rachel continued, "So, all in all, your final bill should only be about One-Hundred-Forty dollars."
"Oh wow," Ricky replied, "That's definitely doable. You guys accept Mastercard, I hope."
"Sure do," Rachel said.
"Cool," Ricky replied before decided to be a bit bold, "Hey Rachel?"
"Yeah?" Rachel inquired.
"I hope this question doesn't come off as strange," Ricky said, "But is there some other reason you decided to call me at nearly eleven o' clock at night?"
He could hear Rachel chuckle a little from her side of the line before replying. "Actually," Rachel said, "There is. I was wondering if you'd like to go out to lunch with me tomorrow. We have a great diner here in town that makes awesome grilled cheese."
"Mimm," Ricky replied, "That does sound good. Okay, yeah. Would you mind picking me up around Eleven-Thirty?"
"Sure," Rachel replied, "See you then, huh?"
Ricky smiled. "Definitely," he confidently said, "See you then. Thanks, Rachel."
"You're welcome," Rachel said, "Goodnight." She then hung up the call.
Ricky put his phone back down on the nightstand before flopping down onto his bed, smiling at the thoughts of Rachel and what the next day might bring.