Date: Sun, 8 Jul 2012 22:35:36 -0700 (PDT) From: rtbrno65@yahoo.com Subject: Conversations At The Pond "Conversations At The Pond" 1 Byron: I still can't believe how hot it gets here. (tosses pebble into water) Adam: It doesn't get hot in Maryland? Byron: It does in the summer sometimes. It's hot all the time here it seems like. We were swimming in your pool in January, remember? You can't do that in Maryland, at least not outdoors. Adam: (takes a swig of ice tea out of a bottle) Is that a bad thing? Byron: I don't know. It's kind of nice to have different seasons, I guess. (tosses another pebble) Adam: You don't like it here, do you? Byron: (turns to Adam and smiles) I like you. Adam: (laughs) I know, Buyer. I just wish you were happier here. Byron: I guess I'll get used to it. It's pretty nice right now. Adam: It does get cold here sometimes, it just didn't last winter. A couple of years ago it stayed under 50 degrees for almost a week. To us here that's like the arctic. Byron: Mom says that when it gets cold here it makes orange juice more expensive. (a large bullfrog jumps onto the dock) Whoa, Adam !( in a whisper) Check that guy out! Adam: (whispers) Oh he's a big one! Byron: Try to get him to hop my way and I'll try to grab him, like last time! (Adam slowly leans over, and then slaps the dock behind the frog. The frog hops past Byron who tries to grab it, but it turns and hops into the water with a loud splash. Byron falls to his side and laughs) Shit! I almost had him! Adam: (laughing) At least you didn't almost fall in this time! Byron: How can something that big move so fast? Adam: (still laughing) I don't know, ask Ray Lewis! (Byron bursts into laughter and collapses onto the dock. Adam leans over on top of him and starts tickling him violently) Byron: (gasping with laughter) STOP...! STOP...! ADAM...! ADAM, I'M GONNA PEE MY PANTS! Adam: I'm Tickle Boy and I won't ever stop! (starts ticking even harder. Byron grabs Adam and starts tickling him in his ribs) Aughhhh!!!!....Buyer! (both boys are now in a laughing, tickling mass of limbs. After a couple of minutes they finally separate and lay panting on the dock, staring up at the sky.) Hey Buyer, look at that one. (points upward) Byron: Look at what? Adam: That big cloud just to the left of the sun. It looks like a horse with a man's face. Byron: You mean that really big puffy one right there? Adam: Yeah, you see the face and the horses body? Byron: Sort of. I don't have an imagination like you do. I can sort of see the face but I don't really see the horse part. Adam: It starting to not look like that anymore anyway. It looks like a woman's face on a lion now. Byron: Now THAT I can sort of see. Adam: Do you suppose that cloud will become a thunderstorm somewhere? Byron: Probably. I think most of the clouds here do. (the cloud covers and obscures the sun) Adam: I love it how when clouds do that they turn dark with those silver edges. I think that's real cool looking. Byron: Yeah, I saw that picture you drew of that. That's one of your coolest pictures. (Adam sits up cross legged and grabs the ice tea bottle and takes a drink. Byron sits across from him and Adam hands him the bottle, Byron takes a large swig and hands it back to Adam.) Adam: So do you want to do Feet? Byron: Sure. (Byron scoots back a bit and starts rubbing his bare feet against Adam's. They rub their feet together and Byron starts rubbing his feet up and down Adam's legs. Eventually they wind up with their feet in each others groins. They both lay on their backs and make little grunting noises as they rub each other.) Adam: (after a few minutes) Hey, Buyer? Byron: Yeah? Adam: Let's go to my room now, OK? Byron: OK. (the boys both quickly get up, Byron grabs the ice tea bottle, and they head towards the house) 2 ( Adam and Byron are on the dock in their bathing suits. Adam is fishing and Byron is suntanning.) Adam: Dee doo dee doo doo doo dee... Byron: What's that song, Adam? Adam: Just something I made up. Dee doo dee doo doo dee...DOO DOO! Byron: (laughs) Is that your new hit single? Adam: Yep. It's my latest number one. Byron: Be careful. Justin Bieber might show up and kick your ass! Adam: I wish. Byron: So have you caught anything yet? Adam: Yeah, mosquito bites. Byron: Maybe you should use a different bait. Adam: What's wrong with Combos? Byron: Those fish don't deserve something as good as Combos. (Turns over onto stomach) Hey Madman, could you put some suntan lotion on my back, pretty please? Adam: (puts down pole, grabs lotion, scoots over next to Byron and starts rubbing lotion onto his back) Your back is sweaty. Byron: That's because it's as hot as a fucking oven today. Adam: Hey I was thinking, do you want to maybe go bike riding later? Byron: Not really. (Adam gives Byron's back a slight smack) Ow! Adam?! Adam: Buyer, you gotta get over this. Come on, we'll just go through the neighborhoods. You'll be safe. You can ride the bike that you gave me. Byron: Oh come on, Adam... Adam: If Roger can go off the diving board then you can go bike riding with me. Come on, please? Byron: (gets up and sits cross legged next to Adam) I don't want to, I'm scared. Adam: I know. That's why you should go riding with me. You won't be scared anymore and it's good exercise. Come on, you're starting to get chubby! (pinches Byron's side) Byron: (giggles) No I'm not! Besides, I've already wrecked once on that bike. I don't want to wreck again. Adam: Is that really why you don't want to ride? Because you're scared? Byron: (pauses and sighs) Scared a little...embarrased a lot. Adam: Embarrased? Why are you embarrased? Byron: Well...it's kinda...it's kinda like I've always sort of been the most athletic kid in my classes, you know? I've always been the strongest and the fastest and the best at sports. I've never been injured from a screw up like that, you know? Adam: So you just decided to quit because you had an accident? Byron: That wasn't just any accident, I could have been killed. Adam: But you weren't. You're still here. You can't just decide not to ever do something again just because something bad happened once, you know? This whole time we've known each other we've never really done any bike riding. That's one of the funnest things to do around here. (Byron stares silently at the water) Come on, I really want to go bike riding. (Byron stays silent) If you go riding with me we'll stop at the Shop Mart and I'll buy you an Ice-E and a bag of peanut M&M's. Byron: (turns to Adam and smiles) Oh, that's TOTALLY not fair! You know I can't refuse that! Adam: Come on, you. (grabs Byron's arm and gets up) Byron: (gets up as Adam leads him toward the house) I guess we're going to go put on our shoes and our shirts and our bike helmets? Adam: Yep! Byron: And I guess we're going to go bike riding? Adam: Right again. Byron: And I guess this is an extra large Ice-E and the king size bag of M&M's you're getting me? Adam: I only have four bucks. Byron: Hey Adam, Dee doo dee doo doo doo dee. Did I get it right? Adam: You got it PERFECT! 3 ( It's sunset, The entire scene is bathed in red. Adam and Byron step onto the dock. Byron is licking his fingers ) Byron: Mmmm...tacos. Adam: (sits on edge of dock) Yeah, those were good. Byron: I like your mom's cooking way better than mine, (sits next to Adam) Adam: Your mom's cooking is pretty good. Byron: It usually is when you're there. Otherwise not so much. Adam: So do you like living over at Dad's? Byron: I guess. It's better than being homeless. It's kind of noisy, though. Adam: I don't really like his friends too much. Marco is cool, but I don't like Rich or any of those others. Byron: That's why I like it over here. At least it's quiet. Adam: It is when Geritol's not yelling, or when Maddie's being a bitch. Byron: She's never here anyway. She's always out with Kenny or whatever that guys name is. (throws pebble into water) So you're going to be over at Don's this weekend, right? Adam: Yeah. Byron: You can have the bed and I'll take the sleeping bag this time. Adam: Thanks. (Byron and Adam toss pebbles into the water for a couple of minutes) Byron, can I tell you something? Byron: Sure. Adam: It's a secret, OK? Byron: Yeah, I won't tell anyone. Adam: I really worry about Dad sometimes. Byron: Why? Adam: Because of his drinking and his friends and his bad temper. Byron: He does get pretty nasty sometimes. Adam: That's a big reason why he and Mom split. They used to fight and he would throw things or try to hit her while he was drunk. Byron: Yeah, I worry about Mom sometimes with him. Adam: I don't think he means it. I tried to talk to him about it once but he wouldn't let me. Byron: Same with my dad. He pretty much tells me to shut up without really telling me to shut up. I guess grown ups don't want to hear about it from their kids, even if we know more about it than they think. (they toss some more pebbles. Adam takes the can of insect repellent and sprays himself, and then sprays Byron) Thanks, Adam. I'm getting eaten up alive here. Adam: I kind of like the way it smells. Do you? Byron: Not really. It smells like chemicals. Adam: (looks at can) It says it's "forest scent". Byron: That means it smells like Lysol. (Adam laughs) So hey, Adam...thanks for getting me to go bike riding today. It was really neat to ride a bike again after all these months. Adam: I'm glad we did it. We'll go out again tomorrow, OK? Byron: OK. (Adam leans over and kisses Byron on the cheek, Byron then leans over and kisses Adam on his cheek. They then go back to tossing pebbles.)