No Turning Back (Full Circle) (12 page)

I nod, Cash opens the door and I climb into the truck.  He goes around and hops in.  It takes just a few minutes to get to the McCrackens’ so we decide to stop and grab a drink at the Chevron.  We then hit the back roads for a few minutes.

“Hey Cash, I didn’t want to bring this up tonight, but I gotta.”

Cash looks at me like he is afraid of what I’m going to say.

“I got this envelope on my birthday, from Dylan.”

Before I can say anything else, Cash starts to talk.

“Did you open it?  Why didn’t you tell me before now?”

“Cash, I haven’t told a soul about it or opened it.  I brought it with me so that I could open it with you.”

He looked relieved.

“I didn’t want to do it alone, and you’re the only one that understands.  I just don’t know why the hell he won’t leave me alone.”

“Char, it’s going to be fine.  So, when do you want to open it?”

“I don’t know.  I thought maybe tomorrow while we’re fishing at the club.  I don’t want to ruin tonight, and I don’t want it to ruin tomorrow either.  That’s why I told you now.”

“Whatever it is it will be fine.”  He pulls me close and kisses the top of my head.

“I love you, Cash.  Thanks for everything.”

“I love you too, Char.  Now let’s go to the bonfire.”

Cash fires up the truck and to the McCracken farm we go.  There are already a ton of kids here.  It’s obvious by the number of cars left at the entrance of the driveway because at these parties if you don’t have four-wheel drive, you have to leave your car at the bottom of the field.  That’s one reason why I love being from the country.  If we throw a party, we make it hard for Barney Fife to find us!

We finally make it to where the trucks park, I slide out on the driver side after Cash.  He helps me down and smiles.  I smile, too.  I can hear country music blaring out of a radio.  I love the country.  There is nothing better than a party in the middle of nowhere, where you can get as loud as you want with no one to tell you to turn down the music.

We walk hand in hand to the bonfire.  There are coolers, bottles, and red Solo cups everywhere.  I look at Cash and laugh.  Here we are with our Choice Cherry Golds.  Cash likes his beer, but after that night, he doesn’t drink if we are out together.  He is always looking out for me.

We walk up and Cash sees Thompson.  This is his family farm.  We go over and talk.  Thompson is glad we could make it and offers us anything in his cooler.  We say thanks, but not right now, and continue to make rounds talking to everyone.

Within an hour, it’s packed.  People are laughing, drinking, dancing, and singing.  I do have to say it is quite funny to be one of the sober ones here.  Tessa and Sally show up with cooler in hand.

I give Tessa that look.  You know the one that says do something stupid and I’ll kick your ass ‘cause I’m your big sister.

“I swear, Char.  I’m not going to do anything stupid.  Sally’s not drinking, and we drove her Jeep.”

“Alright, but don’t make me say I told you so in the morning.”

They go to find the rest of their friends.   

The further into the night the louder it gets.  People are talking, dancing, and getting way too friendly with others.  Cash and I just enjoy each other’s company.  We dance and laugh.  It is great to have him with me.  I am totally protected and feel loved.  He wraps his arms around me and holds me tight as he places kisses on my cheek.

“Char, I’m so glad that you’re home even if it’s just for a few days.”  About that time we hear a certain song coming through the speakers. “Crash My Party” by Luke Bryan.  That’s our song.

Cash turns me around and looks me in the eyes.  He places his forehead to mine and we dance like no one else is watching.

Cash begins to sing the words to me, “
Go ahead and call me call me call me, you don't have to worry about it Baby.   You can wake me up in the dead of the night, wreck my plans baby that's alright.  This is a drop everything kinda thing.  Swing on by, I'll pour you a drink.  The door’s unlocked, I'll leave on the lights, Baby you can crash my party anytime.”

That’s right, I can call him anytime.  He’s always there no matter what.  As the song ends, I continue to look into those deep blue eyes and our lips meet like it’s the first time they’ve touched.    I can’t get enough of him or close enough to him.  We are brought back to reality by everyone singing their hearts out to “Boys ‘Round Here”.  Well, that’s one way to take us out of our fairytale.  We laugh as we look into each other’s eyes.  He gives me one more kiss before we join in the redneck karaoke dance party around the bonfire.

In unison you hear, “Red, red, red, redneck….”  By the time the song is over, I’m dancing and shaking my ass all over Cash.  We are having the best time with people just like us in the middle of nowhere.

Around 11:30, Cash and I start to make our way back to his truck.  He holds me close to him.  I take every bit of it in.

Our ride home is like nothing has changed since the day I walked away from him at the club.  We get back to my house and pull in the drive.  He turns off the truck and then looks at me.

“Char, thanks for a great night.  You make everything right when you are home.  I think you better get inside, we got a big day tomorrow.”

“Now Cash, did you think I’d forget tomorrow?”  I say with a smirk before giving him a kiss that will leave him wanting more.

As we’re kissing, Cash lets out a moan then pulls back from me. “Char, you’re gonna have to stop that if you wanna go inside any time tonight.”

I just smile.  I kiss him one last time on the cheek before hopping outta the truck and walking to the house.

“Hey Char, I’ll see you at ten tomorrow at the club.”

“Damn straight you will!” I wink and walk to the house.

I wake up to the smell of bacon.  That has to be the best aroma ever!  I mean at my house bacon is a staple product and it’s like religion when we talk about breakfast.  I hop out of bed and go downstairs to see my mama cooking her favorite meal of the day.

“Hey sweet girl, got your favorite, biscuits, bacon, grits, and eggs.”

“Yum!  Thanks, Mama.”

“So, you and Cash fishin’ for your birthday today?”

“Yup.  I gotta meet him at the club at ten.”

“Girl, you better get a move on, you only have thirty minutes.”

“I’ll be alright.  It’s not like he’s never had to wait on me before.”

“Sweet girl, I don’t want to know what exactly is going on with you two, but I’m not stupid.  Just remember that you are all he thinks about even when you aren’t here.  Just be careful with each other’s feelings.”

“I know, Mom.”  I finish eating before going to get ready.  We’re fishing so it’s not like I have to get decked out or anything.  I grab my khaki shorts, a tank top, throw my hair in a messy bun, and grab my flip flops.  I take a deep breath as I look in the mirror.
That damn envelope.

I grab a bag and put the envelope in it, go downstairs, grab a couple Choice Cherry Golds, and loaf bread.  I walk to my four-wheeler, put the bag on the back, and head to the club.

When I get closer to the club, I can see that Cash has beaten me there as usual.  I notice that there are balloons tied to the bottom of the ladder. 
He’s so sweet. 
I grab my bag and climb the ladder.

As I reach the top, it doesn’t take me long to see what Cash has done. On the floor is a blanket with a picnic basket.  The fishing poles are already in the water and Cash is looking out the window opening.

“Well, I’d say you’ve outdone yourself, Cash Money!”  He just about jumps outta his skin and starts to laugh.  I love when I can get to him. He turns around and smiles.

“Happy birthday, Char-coal!”

“Thanks, Cash Money.  I love the picnic,” I say with an innocent smile.  I can about guarantee what is in that basket, the same things that we’ve had on my birthday since we were about seven, a PB&J, Cheez-Its, and Choice Cherry Gold.  Not to mention I’m sure there is a piece of his mom’s famous pound cake in there.

I walk over to the window and check out my fishing line.  Cash studies my every move.

“Anything bitin’ today?”

“Not yet.  Did you bring the loaf bread?”

“Did you think I’d forget?”

“Nah, just teasing ya.  You know that’s your responsibility when we fish,” as he nudges against me.

Every time that boy touches me my insides get all warm.  When we were together before, it was great, but right now I can’t even explain it.  The problem is we aren’t together. I keep telling myself that he isn’t what I want right now, but my body is definitely telling me something different.

Finally after about forty-five minutes of not even a nibble, I notice my rod moving.  I slowly reel it in and sure enough a crappy is on the end.

“I still got it, Cash.  I thought for a minute you were going to catch the first one today.”

“Now Char, you know you always catch the first fish on your birthday.”  Cash put his arm around my shoulder and hugs me. Then he takes the rod to get the fish off the hook.

“What the hell ya doing, Cash? I’m a big girl and can do that my damn self.”

“I thought maybe since you went off to school you forgot?!”  He looks and shrugs his shoulders.

“Hey, I ain’t forgot where I’m from and what’s important.”  I take the fish off the hook and put it in the cooler which is right beside Cash. 
He is so in trouble!
I drop the fish in the cooler and then rub my hand all over his face fish guts and all.

“Oh, it’s on like Donkey Kong!  You better run, Char!”

This probably wasn’t the smartest move especially since there aren’t many options when it comes to escaping. Okay, so I can either run circles around the club, jump out the window into the pond or slide down the ladder. Or better yet, I think I can cause a distraction.  3…2…1… I cross my arms and grab the bottom of my tank then proceed to pull it over my head and drop it to the floor. Then I unbutton my pants.  Cash is frozen still with his eyes on me.  I drop my shorts, smirk and cannonball out of the window into the pond.

“Char, that ain’t fair!”

“What’s not fair?  You could join me you know?”

I start to swim out to the middle of the pond to the island, which is nothing more than a large inflatable were we lay out in the summer.  When I get about halfway there, I turn around, and sure enough, Cash is down to his boxers and out the window.  I better haul ass ‘cause I know this is going to be war.

As I grab the ladder to the island, Cash catches up to me and pushes me under the water. I take him with me, and when we come back up for air, he helps me to the island.

“Char, that was freakin’ wrong in all sense of the word wrong,” he says as he puts his hands on my ass to give me a lift.

“I know, but I wasn’t going to let you win.”

“Well, I’d say I won hands down.” As he looks at me from head to toe, I know exactly what he is thinking.

We lay out on the island and just talk.  Later, we decide to finish our picnic and catch our supper.

We make a quick swim across the pond to the club.  We climb the ladder, and Cash throws me a towel to dry off.  I wrap the towel around me and he does the same while we make our PB&J’s.

“You know Cash, there is just something about a PB&J, and for some reason, they always taste better up here, with you.”