Sickness Of The Young (11)
"Oh," Mike said to his back and followed along. The boys stepped off the staircase onto the sand and walked over to the fire that was blazing in the middle of the beach. It was a big fire and the smoke was raising straight into the dark, night sky. There were people all around the fire in a big circle. As the boys walked up to the fire, Tom’s older brother, John, who was sitting in a lawn chair, looked up and said, "Hey, you bums, common and join us. Someone get them a beer." One of the girls sitting next to John got up and dug out two cold beers from the ice. She handed a beer to each of them as they sat down by the fire. Tom lit up a cigarette. There was a radio playing ‘American Girl’. "Where’s your cousin?" "She’s over there," Tom said and pointed to the other side of the fire with his cigarette hanging from his lips like Keith Richards. "Oh yeah, that’s her. She’s really laid back." "I think she lived in Europe for a while or some shit." "Does that make you laid back?" "I guess so." The boys watched the fire blaze and the smoke rise into the darkness. Waves were softly crashing onto the seashore a few feet away and they could hear them hitting the sand. John was talking to a girl next to him, sitting in a lawn chair. Tom drank his beer fast and Mike tried to keep up. "Did you hear the new Stone’s album?" Tom asked as they sat, quietly watching the large fire blaze in front of them. "You played it yesterday." "Oh yeah." "Mick Jagger says, ‘when a dead man cums. Dead men cum when they’re hung," Mike said, sounding like a doctor. "Really?" "Yeah. Should I go talk to your cousin?" "Might as well." "Can’t you tell her something for me?" "Like what?" "I don’t know, anything." "Just talk to her. Actually, don’t say too much." "Really? Why not?" "Girls just don’t understand sometimes." "Really? What do you mean?" "Girls just do their own thing. They don’t care about anything you say. It won’t help any, I mean." "Oh. Damn." "Yeah, I know. It sucks." "All right." Mike got up, walked over to Tom’s cousin, and sat down next to her in the sand. She looked over at him and smiled. He smiled back at her but did not say anything. She had a pretty face. "You name is Mike, right?" "Yes." "It’s a nice fire, isn’t it?" "Yes. Isn’t your name Susan?" Mike said and then yelled in his mind for talking too much. "Yes." "Oh." Then Susan turned and started talking to the guy next to her. Mike looked over and saw she was lost in conversation. He went back over to Tom and sat down next to him again. "She didn’t want to talk to me," Mike said as he sat down. "She kind of likes to tease." "Really?" "Yeah. She’s my cousin, I should know." "Oh." Tom and Mike talked all night and drank beer and Tom smoked his cigarettes. Eventually they left the beach and went to bed. In the morning, both boys woke up to uncertain surroundings. They put their jeans on and walked to the town for lunch. The sky was blue and the water was clear as the boys strolled over the sand "I think I am going to try a fast," Mike said flatly. "What?" "I’m going to see how long I can go without food, you know, a fast." "Why?" "Because Gandhi did it and I always wanted to try." Tom laughed and then said, "Are you sure?" "Why not? Should I not do it?" "I think you can drink juice." "Did Gandhi drink juice?" "I think so." "Then it’s not so bad." "I guess not. I’ll get my mom to buy a lot of juice." "Okay." The boys ate lunch and then walked back to the beach house. That afternoon they played Frisbee and listened to a Ramones album on Tom’s stereo, which he had turned up inside their room. Mike fasted and drank nothing but juice for four days. He got very hungry but he was able to resist. On the fourth night, Mike woke up and walked down to the beach. He stood and watched the waves crash on the sand in front of him. To the right, the beach curved in a long, half-circle. There were high cliffs at the far end of the beach. Mike thought about going to the cliffs, but instead walked into the water until it was up to his neck. Suddenly, he felt a sharp pain in his lower back. He could not move. He grunted and then yelled out to the dark night, "Tom!" There was no answer. Mike was in pain. He tried to concentrate on watching the stars and not moving. As he watched one star, he saw it flicker and fade. He remembered what his mother would tell him to do when he was in pain, think of palm trees in Florida. Then Mike suddenly realized with horror that the water was rising because the tide was coming in and he saw that it might drown him if he could not move. Then he heard someone running down the long staircase behind him. "Mike!" Tom yelled from somewhere on the beach. "Tom, I’m stuck! I can’t move! I have this pain in my back and the water is rising!" Tom stopped at the edge of the water. He put his hands on his knees and started laughing so hard he could not breathe for a moment. "Stop laughing! Your making me laugh too!" Tom had to sit down on the sand to stop. "The water is rising!" "All right, all right," Tom said and continued, "You’re just going to have to come in, even if it hurts." "You don’t understand, it hurts so bad I can’t even move." "So are you going to drown?" "Can’t you come carry me?" "Carry you?" "Yeah, carry me!" Tom thought about this for a second and then waded into the dark water around in front of Mike. When he got next to him he started laughing again, the only thing showing above the black high-water the two boy’s heads, one laughing and one not moving. Then Tom said, "Why did you get the pain?" "Maybe from fasting." "I guess that makes sense. All right, just stay still and I’ll lift you up," Tom said and then he put his arms around Mike’s waist and gently carried him back to the beach. The muscles in Mike’s back started to loosen and relax and soon he felt better. By the time they were back on the beach, both boys were tired so they rested down on the sand and looked up at the stars. "Thanks, Tom." "Sure, Mike." "I can move again now." "Good." The boys spent a couple of hours looking up at the stars and feeling the warm, Lake Michigan breeze blow over them. Their clothes were wet but it was not cold. The only words they said were when they saw a shooting star. Finally, Mike said, "I think I’m going to quit my fast now." "You went four days. Not quite Gandhi." "But damn close." "Damn close."
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