I had seen the island many times in my travel around the lake in my pontoon boat and kayak. I don’t know the name. It probably doesn’t even have one. It’s more of a mound of earth topping out at around four feet above the waterline. It couldn’t have been fifty feet around. Three tall pine trees populated it but none of them was long for this world as their roots and the island itself were being attacked by the persistent waves. The circumference was ringed by high-bush blueberries that provided considerable privacy to the center which had been trampled flat with frequent visitors. There were ashes from old campfires in the very center, which seemed kind of risky considering the proximity of the pine trees. Someone had even mounted a solar light on a stump.
I set the coolers down as Beverly and Eva spread their blankets side by side. Eva asked me to join them and I smiled at her and nodded. Beverly passed around beers and we sat down on the blankets. Once close to the ground I noticed the odor of marijuana. I wasn’t a frequent user but the smell is unmistakable. We talked and laughed and after a couple beers, Eva dug around in her picnic basket and pulled out a small baggy of ‘pot’. Beverly grinned at Eva and then me as she asked if I wanted to share a joint.
“Sure,” I said as Eva was already rolling one. Eva and Beverly were stealing glances at each other again and once we were passing the joint around they were giggling almost non-stop. A free-flow of information started then. Beverly told me that she was forty-six years old with two children in college. I was truthfully amazed as she looked much younger. I teased her when I said. “Wow, you don’t look a day older than forty-five.” We all roared with laughter. Eva confessed that she was thirty-eight and had been a Beach Volleyball player on the US Olympic team before she wrecked her knee skiing. Her story made me think of Anna and my mood turned down after that. Eva noticed and flashed a look at her sister as she began rolling another joint.
Eva explained that they rented the camp to “get away”. Beverly and her long-time husband had separated because he was having an affair. Eva was obviously more than pissed at him and wanted Beverly to pay him back for his infidelity. There was that grin between them again. Beverly butted into Eva’s discourse and explained how she didn’t blame her husband for his dalliance because she had let herself get fat and unappealing. Eva looked at me and raised both hands pointing at Beverly and said, “Look at her Jack. She’s beautiful.”
I nodded and thought about a long-winded explanation of how much I agreed with Eva’s statement but I concluded that I couldn’t get it out in any coherent way and simply said, “I agree.” My dick decided it was time to add its two cents and it hardened and tented my bathing suit. Both sisters’ eyes went wide when they noticed.
Eva looked at Beverly and muttered with a hand over her mouth, “Fuck Bev. We’ve hit the jack pot.” She hadn’t intended for me to hear but I did and all the stealing glances and private giggles and that poem about the spider and the fly all made perfect sense. I normally would have covered my tent with my hands but I stayed leaning back on my locked arms looking down at the tent and then smiled at them.