After a while, my betrayer sat up, gazing at our group with chocolate brown eyes. “I’ve never felt so free. What about y’all?” With both hands she finger-brushed her long wet hair from the scalp to the ends. It cascaded onto her shoulders like a waterfall. Livy knew she was beautiful. What’s more, she was well aware of the power it gave her. It made me give serious thought to who she would be if her outer beauty was stripped away.
“Hey, Leon. Are you a Leo?” Livy purred, then shot him one of her sexy, kitty-cat smiles.
“Nope,” he answered. “Aquarius.”
“Really?I could have sworn you’re a Leo. You have all the traits.”
He smiled at her, but his eyes conveyed a different message. I didn’t know what that message meant, but I hoped he was as annoyed by Livy as I was.
“I figured your parents named you Leon because you were born a Leo,” she said.
He shook his head. “I doubt my parents even know the zodiac exists.”
Livy actually batted her eyelashes. “Maybe you should enlighten them.”
Now my blood had reached the boiling point. She had told me in the car that Leo was her favorite sign. Watching her sit there like a nude model posing for a French painter, flirting with the boy I liked—make thatloved—made me choke with fury. When I had told her to cut loose, I had never expected this. Woodstock or not, how was I supposed to be okay with her casual nudity? And what about herboyfriend? Three hours ago, she’d claimed to be in love with him. If so, why flirt with Leon?
As soon as our eyes met, I shot her a nasty look a hundred times more powerful than an M16 assault rifle. I fingered my top, then my jeans. Even without words, Livy knew what I was saying. Ever since we were little girls, we’d been able to read each other’s hand signals.
It worked. She stood up, strolled over to her clothes, and picked them up off the boulder. She peered at me with a look that said,You are acting ridiculous. But her actual words were “Still not dry.”
“Neither are mine,” I was quick to say, adding a look of my own that said,Thanks a lot, Benedict Arnold.
Likely sensing the chill in the air, Leon glanced between us. First at Livy, with her unclothed, erect-nipple breasts. Then at me, my breasts hidden underneath wet clothes. Yet he never uttered a word. Neither did Johnny. Or Slim.
But I did. “Put your clothes on, Livy.” I just said it. If someone could have counted my rapid heartbeats, there’s a good chance I would have been hospitalized. I was that close to a heart attack. When the guys weren’t looking, I shot her yet another fierce hairy eyeball.
Everyone in the group watched as Livy re-dressed, then sat down next to Johnny, snuggling up to him for warmth. He wrapped both arms around her waist.
The disappointment in Slim’s eyes broke my heart. Not sure why, but I felt sorry for him. His hair may have been greasy, but he sure was sweet. And generous. He had shared his food and drink with Livy and me. He was the reason we had snagged an epic piece of territory. If it weren’t for him, Joan Baez would have been a tiny shell on the seashore, and I would never have seen Melanie’s cool boots.
“I’m gonna head back,” he said. “I’ll see you guys later.”
“Aw. Sure you don’t want to stay, man?” Livy asked.
“Dave’s probably having a hard time saving the seats. I better head.”
“We understand. See you soon, man,” she said.
I thanked him for his generosity. I even gave his naked body a hug. There was no way we’d get those seats back. Nor would we ever see him again.
Once Slim had dressed and told us all goodbye, Johnny—the only one still in the buff—moved over to his dry, mud-caked jeans. He pulled a bag of pot from his pocket, rolling papers, and a lighter. But he never put his clothes back on. After sitting down cross-legged, heslid a single paper out of the pack, then emptied a healthy serving of marijuana on top. As soon as he finished rolling what he called “a fat doobie,” he licked one side of the paper, then twisted an end closed. “Who wants the first toke?” he asked.
The words had barely left his lips when I raised my hand. “Me!” It would be the only way I’d survive Livy.
Johnny passed me the joint. He held his lighter to the tip. I took a hit, then another, hoping it would give me an immediate sense of serenity. Putting Livy’s vanity behind me was critical.
Three rounds later, my brain buzzed. The boulder of anger I’d been carrying went up in smoke. Where it went was anyone’s guess, but I sure felt better. I silently thanked God for putting marijuana on the earth.
The sun, now peeking through the clouds, had obeyed Merlin’s command, so we all lay down on our backs to catch the warm rays.
No telling how much time passed before I caught a glimpse of Johnny. The sight of him, in his birthday suit while the rest of us were clothed, struck me asthefunniest thing I’d ever seen in my life. My shoulders started shaking. I clutched my stomach and gasped for air. Tears rolled down my cheeks. I tried to make them stop, but every time I did, the sight of Johnny became even funnier. Pretty soon I was suffocating in soundless laughter, and no one else knew why.
Seconds later, Leon started. As soon as our eyes met, it worsened. His breaths turned into wheezes. Now neither of us could stop. I had no idea whether he knew why I was laughing, but it didn’t matter. Just seeing his face beet red made the whole thing a hundred times funnier. I turned on my side and howled.
When Johnny and Livy joined in, I thought I might need a stomach operation. Pressing both hands to my middle, I screamed out in pain. My face hurt so bad I had to squeeze my cheeks shut. The thought of Handsome Johnny hooting at himself without knowing it was funnier than all the Carol Burnett skits put together.
“What the hell is so funny?” Johnny asked, scrambling to a seated position. He had tears rolling down his cheeks too.
