Chapter Thirty Three
* Leif's story comes with a yellow star warning for typical, present day, teenage boy conversations. Which means at times vulgar and not politically correct.
The silver Ford Explorer cruised up State Road 50. Mart Belden was behind the wheel, one ear trained to the back seat where the three restless teenagers had been pranking each other since they left White Plains.
Mart glanced in the rearview mirror and just smiled to himself. His nephew Logan had made the mistaken of falling asleep, and his mouth hung open slightly. Logan’s twin brother Leif was leaning over the space between the seats, ever so gently slipping a spoon into his brother’s mouth. Mart’s son, Miles, watched with a smirk, his camera phone out and recording.
It was par for the course with these three. Miles looked enough like the twins that people often thought they were triplets, and their birthday were only a week apart. Miles and his twin sister, Mabon, were the older set.
Mabon had opted out of the trip, and instead was on a fashion expedition with her older sister Rayma, mother Diana, cousin Daisy Duke Mangan, and Daisy’s new protégée, Lyris. The fall runway shows were coming up soon and sinceDaisy had been invited to an exclusive pre-season party, she had invited the others along. Trixie and Honey had been invited as well, but both declined. Trixie abhorred fashion and Honey had a summer cold. Aralyn and Tiffany were in Canada on their road trip and Dana was still in England, due back next weekend.
Mart had thought it would be fun to take one more road trip before summer ended and the kids went back to school. The younger twins were starting their sophomore year, while Riley, his twin sister Rayma, and Jesse were seniors. Dana would be a junior, and captain of her soccer team upon her return from England.
He didn’t mind taking the three boys; they were an awful lot of fun to be around. He had invited his cousins and brother but everyone was too busy to leave, so it was him and three fifteen year olds. In a car. On a five hour drive. Diana had kissed him goodbye before she left, snickering to herself. She had suggested they fly, but Mart liked them to have the experience of the road trip.
This was only the first day, but the pranks had been nonstop. The roads were packed as the residents of Maryland and Virginia flocked to Ocean City for one last week of fun before school.
Mart wondered which of the boys would get the itching powder in his shorts first.
He glanced in the rearview mirror again. Miles was leaning over as far as he could, held back by his seatbelt, filming while Leif grinned broadly. Once he had the spoon balanced just right, he nodded to Miles.
“Hey, Logan!” Miles shouted.
His younger cousin jerked awake with a start, realized he had a spoon in his mouth and gagged slightly. His brother and cousin burst into howls of laughter as Miles caught Logan on film, half asleep and realizing what had happened.
The seatbelt kept him in place, but he took a swipe at his brother as he removed the spoon.
“That’s one more for me,” Leif said smugly, drawing a number one in the air. Logan rolled his eyes.
“Just you wait,” he said menacingly.
Leif just laughed.
Mart just shook his head with a smile. He had learned a long time ago to not interfere with their fun; it was harmless and kept them from tormenting the rest of the cousins. At least, until they teamed up together. All summer they had been trying to prank Tim, but their older cousin somehow managed to outmaneuver them. When they had tampered with his food on a recent camping trip, they were unaware that Tim had already switched the food around, and they ended up soaking their own chicken in pure jalapeno juice. Tim had rigged their tents also so that they kept falling down, and he and his brother Jesse had set up a trap so that when the trio tried to attack them in the night, the tent came down and then the Mangan brothers quickly trussed them up. The adults had gotten a good laugh out of that.
“Boys, we’re almost there,” Mart informed them. The five hour drive had been almost nine, with traffic.
There were whoops of excitement from the backseat. The hotel was coming into view. Mart pulled in and was greeted by the valet crew. The boys piled out of the car, ready to stretch their legs and have some fun. Their duffel bags were loaded onto a cart and Mart herded them inside so he could check in.
The young lady behind the counter checked him efficiently, handed over 4 keys, and directed them to their accommodations.
Mart insisted they head up to the room first, to make sure all the keys worked. Once they did, the boy flopped on the beds to wait for their luggage to come up. Leif got up and wandered to the window, looking out at the merrily shimmering glow the setting sun cast over the water.
Once the luggage arrived, the four headed downstairs to find dinner. It was quickly agreed they would eat on the beach, at one of the small snack shops.
It took only a few minutes to find one, and the boys tore into freshly caught and breaded fish and chips. Mart ate his dinner slowly, taking in the beach scenery. He wished Di was here; it never seemed right when they split for vacations. But she had been looking forward to this fashion show all year and it would do the boys good to have one final round of fun before school started back up.
Once they were stuffed full of food- no easy feat with three teenaged boys and Mart’s own legendary appetite- they headed down to the beach. Mart found himself a nice patch of beach to relax on, and watched the sun cast its final rays of the day over the water. The boys, already wearing swim trunks, tore off their shirts and flip flops, and headed for the water. They weren’t allowed to swim once the sun went down but they played in the surf and threw water at each other.
Mart knew that despite their antics, the boys were keeping keen eyes out for girls. At the moment, it appeared they were all off somewhere, but Mart could bet money that bright and early tomorrow, the trio would be out here, setting up their “spot” for the day, to scope out the girls in bikinis. It’s what he, Jim, Dan and Brian, not to mention scores of other young men, had done when they went to beach on Spring Break, sans the girls. Mart would have been more worried had the boys shown no interest in girls. He was pretty sure his oldest son’s interests lay elsewhere.
Out of hearing range from Mart, the boys were setting up their strike plan.
“You sure you brought them?” Miles asked.
Leif rolled his eyes. “For the last time, dude, we’ve got plenty of condoms. All we need are the babes.”
“I think we should do a round early tomorrow,” Logan said. “They’ll come out early probably, get started on the tans.”
“We’ve got two major resorts right there, and there,” Leif indicated with his chin as she splashed water at his twin. “I think if we stake out a place right about where Mart is, we’ll have prime views of people coming down to the beach from those two, and our hotel.”
“Good thinking,” Logan said. “Don’t forget we can stroll through the open bars too. There’s got to be some college co-eds here, having one last round of summer fun.”
“You think you can handle a college girl?” Leif laughed.
“Of course I can,” Logan shrugged. “You just gotta up your game, big bro.”
“Uh-huh,” Miles laughed. “Like when you hit on the college girl at the movie theatre a couple weeks ago?”
Logan suddenly turned red. “Hey, I offered to be game for a threesome when she said she liked girls!”
“And I believe she snorted rudely in your face, and told you to go back to the playground,” Leif laughed.
His brother chopped his hand at the water, causing a spray of ocean water to hit Leif in the face. Miles ducked as the twins launched into one of their famous water battles.
When Logan finally yielded to his brother’s fierce retaliation, the three decided they were getting tired and started back towards the sand. The sun was almost down and all swimmers had to come in.
“I propose a bet,” Logan said thoughtfully.
Leif and Miles groaned. Logan’s bet proposals never ended well.
“Hottest girl?” Leif asked as they walked slowly through the water.
“Nah, we did that last year. I think this year, we go for oldest.”
“You looking to snag you a cougar?” Miles snorted. “Talk about jail bait!”
“I bet I could,” Logan boasted. “But I’d settle for a college girl.”
“You really think you can get a college girl? And how would we verify it? Don’t even suggest something pervy like taping it.” Leif warned. The waves were slapping at their knees as they neared the beach.
“Give me a little credit, will ya? She just has to admit it to you two.”
“You think a college girl is going to admit she got it on with a high school kid?” Leif demanded, rolling his eyes.
“You think we can get college girls?” Miles asked with a laugh..
“Well, you two aren’t quite as slick as me,” Logan grinned, egging them on. “And we don’t tell them we’re in high school. Just tell them you’re eighteen. We’re tall enough everyone already thinks we are. A couple more inches and we’ll catch up to Tim in height.”
“Man, your ego is out of control,” Miles shook his head, not taking the bait. “Too bad Tim isn’t here to take it down. Now there’s a guy who could catch an older woman with no problem.”
Logan grunted.
Miles smirked. “Ever seen him in action? We were at the gas station the other day and he just about had the girl behind the counter wetting her panties. And all he did was smile and ask her name.”
“Yeah, well, I bet I could score a chick even Tim would be impressed with.”
Leif and Miles exchanged a glance and grinned. “You’re on,” they echoed.
"Tim gets more ass than a toliet seat," Miles said with envy.
"Well, till Lyris came along. I think he's pretty serious about her," Leif said.
"Give him time. He'll get bored by the end of the year," Logan answered, his eyes scanning the beach for girls in bikinis.
"I hope not, she's pretty cool," Miles said, as they approached Mart.
“Don’t let Dad find out,” Miles warned.
The three agreed it was their secret. Mart was too old and too married to understand.
***
Mart would have enjoyed sleeping in but he knew the boys better than that. The only time they were up and early without prodding was on a beach vacation. There were girls to be seen, hook ups to attempt, miles of white sandy beaches to play frisbee on and plenty of small food stands to feast at.
He insisted on a good breakfast in the hotel restaurant, and then they went to the car to retrieve the umbrella and chairs and cooler. Mart filed it with ice and soft drinks and the boys carried it all to the beach.
They staked out their spot, setting it up, and Mart settled in with a big heavy book as the boys slathered on the sunscreen and took off. Mart wondered who would fall asleep first this afternoon, and end up with something silly written in sunblock on his back. It never failed. No matter how hard they tried not to fall asleep, the boys always ended up taking a nap while they soaked up some rays.
It was Tim’s fault; he had started it years ago. The boys had dragged themselves in from the water to rest, and promptly fallen asleep. Tim, only thirteen at the time, took the sunblock and once the ten year old boys were snoring, proceeded to write on their chests. Nerd 1, Nerd 2, and Nerd 3. Tiffany and Aralyn had had to leave, they were laughing so hard and didn’t want to wake the boys. Tim was off with them by the time the boys woke, and promptly accused each other. When Bo pointed out all three were victims, they realized who had done it. As Tiffany, Aralyn and Tim made their way back up the beach, the younger trio ambushed them, tackling Tim. There were several moments of laughter and shouting, and Tim managed to break free. They chased him into the surf but he was faster and a better swimmer.
It had evolved into a tradition now. First one to fall asleep, got sunblocked. Last year it had been Leif. He was determined it wouldn’t be him this year.
***
Leif headed towards the beach bar. It was attached to one of the hotels, and open and airy. Logan had wasted no time in starting his quest for an older woman. Leif’s heart wasn’t really in it, and neither was Miles’, but they agreed it was fun to watch Logan’s efforts. Neither really believed he could pull it off.
Leif was headed towards the next food stand past the bar. He had noticed it earlier, boasting of fried cheese and fish. Logan and Miles were too hungry to walk that far and hit the stand near their beach camp.
As he walked past, he noticed the girl wiping down the tables. Head turned to watch her, he didn’t see the dip in the sand and stumbled, taking a header onto the beach. Swearing, he got up quickly, hoping she hadn’t noticed.
She had, but she only gave him a glance and went back to wiping the table. Leif brushed himself off quickly, and thought quickly. She was hot, he thought, maybe even eighteen. Rubbing his hands through his hair to both make sure there was no sand, and muss it up, he straightened up, and walked in.
She had gone behind the bar and was setting what looked like bottles of salt and pepper out. He guessed her about 5’6”, shapely, with long, shiny dark hair in a ponytail. She was at least half African American and moved with confidence. Well defined features, beautiful lips and big dark eyes, he noted, his interest rising. Tan shorts showed off a nicely rounded backside and well-toned legs, her red tank top complimented her tan.
He walked right up to her.
“Hi, there,” he smiled at her.
Big dark eyes stared at him coldly, and she ignored him.
Leif frowned. That was unusual. Most girls didn’t ignore his smile.
“You from around here?” he tried again.
She sighed and picked up the tray, heading to a table.
Leif’s frown deepened. Maybe she didn’t speak English? She looked exotic. And stunning.
“Como esta?” he tried.
She turned around, eyes blazing.
“Look, you jerk, I told you no this morning, and I’m telling you no, now. You need to learn the word, it has the same meaning in any language! Now get lost before I have you tossed out of here on your curly blond ass!”
“I wasn’t—oh, crap.” Logan had been here.
“Look,” he said, “You’re probably not going to believe this—”
“You’re probably right,” she snapped. “This morning you were a college senior. You’re a freshman if a day and I’m not looking for some weekend hookup. Changing your shirt can’t fool me. Scram.”
“Look, I apologize if I seemed like a jerk this morning, but it wasn’t me.”
“Oh, for Pete’s sake,” she stopped reaching for the salt shaker. “Twin brother? Undercover spy? I’ve heard them all and yours won’t work either.”
“No, really, I am a twin. And he can be a real jerk when he’s trying to score.”
“Whatever. Look, get lost, or I’ll have security down here in about thirty seconds.”
Leif’s heart fell. “Look, I’m really sorry if he was a bonehead this morning. He really can’t help it.”
“Whatever. Hit the sand, buddy.”
With a heavy sigh, he left, heading over to the fish stand he had seen. Soft shell crabs and fish cheesesticks sounded awfully good right now. He was craving the greasy, fried dough ball with chunks of fish and cheese.
When the hell had Logan had time to come and hit on her? He had disappeared for a while this morning while he and Miles were in the water. They thought he had gone to the bathroom. He must have started his quest right off.
His eyes followed two girls around his age in bikinis that they didn’t quite fill out. Leif’s thoughts turned back to the girl from the patio bar.
***
Miles had drifted off while Logan was talking to Mart about their upcoming required reading for sophomore year.
Leif returned, having dumped the empty cardboard container of his lunch in the trashcan he passed. Half the fun was eating as he walked along the beach.
Logan kept the conversation going as he reached for the sunscreen. Leif smirked. He was glad it wasn’t him this year. After a morning of play and swimming, and a lunch full of greasy fried goodness, it hadn’t taken Miles long to crash.
Mart smothered his laughter as his nephew drew on his son’s chest.
***
It was a good hour later when all three boys roused themselves from their nap. Mart had wandered off for a snack, and Miles woke first.
“Son of a bitch!” he exclaimed. Tim’s favorite expression had worn off on the trio this summer.
The twins woke instantly and Logan started laughing.
“Gotcha,” he grinned.
Miles sighed and reach for shirt. Leif just grinned. Better Miles than him, this year!
“Hey, now that’s a sight I like to see,” Logan sat up. Some young ladies in too-small bikinis had set up camp near them, and were rubbing lotion into their already tanned skin.
Miles and Leif exchanged a glance and rolled their eyes. Sure, it’d be nice to find a hook up this week, but they weren’t going to center on it. This was their last week of freedom before they had to hit the books.
Though Leif found himself thinking about the girl form earlier again. He hadn’t even gotten her name.
“Hey, before you go perving over them,” Leif said, “I want you two to take a walk with me.”
Logan raised one eyebrow.
“Just trust me,” Leif said, getting to his feet. The others followed suit. They could see Mart approaching, and waved at him. He waved back and they head in the direction of the patio bar that Leif had been at earlier.
“So, what’s up? You find some college girls for us?” Logan asked.
“Nah, I need to prove something to someone.”
They reached the bar and Logan recognized it. “Hey, I was here earlier!”
“That’s the problem,” Leif said dryly. “C’mon.”
He spotted her immediately, wiping down a vacated table she had cleared of glasses. There were customers in the bar now, but he walked up right behind her.
“What the—” Logan muttered.
“Excuse me,” he said politely.
She turned, saw the trio, and almost dropped her tray with a little gasp. Miles grabbed the tray to steady it before the salt and pepper shakers could slide off.
“I’m Leif,” he said. “I’m the second one of us you saw today. He’s the one who hit on you this morning.” Logan had the grace to look sheepish. “He’s my twin brother, Logan. This is our cousin, Miles, but we’re often mistaken for triplets. I just wanted you to see I wasn’t full of crap or trying to con you. There really are three of us.”
“Oh, wow,” she murmured. “I—wow, you’re not kidding!"
“Sorry I was such a creep this morning,” Logan muttered.
“Oh, well, I’m kind of used to it around here, but I thank you for the apology. And I’m sorry for jumping down your throat earlier.” She gave Leif a dazzling smile that made him grin.
Miles nudged Logan with his foot and indicated they should depart. Logan nodded and they stepped back.
“Well, I have to get back to work but I get off around five, if you’re going to be over this way,” she said to Leif. “We can get a drink or something.”
“That’d be great. Hey, what’s your name?” he asked.
“Marcy,” she answered.
“Okay. Five it is, Marcy.” Leif grinned and she smiled back.
*
“Seriously? You just got a hookup with her?” Logan demanded when Leif caught up to them.
Leif rolled his eyes. “It’s not a hookup, Logan. We’ll probably just get coffee or something.”
“Coffee with co-eds always leads to more,” Logan said enviously. "You'll have her out of her panties in no time."
Leif rolled his eyes.
"Maybe she'd want to try out a pair of twins?" he sugested with a leer.
Miles smacked him in the back of his head.
"Now you need your brother to get you a girl?" he mocked his cousin.
Logan's face darkened. "I bet she'd like me better."
" I do believe, dear little brother, that hse was not impressed one tiny bit by you," Leif pointed out.
Logan snorted. "A minor hangup. But no, I don't need your used goods. I can get my own, and I plan too. I heard about a pretty wicked party going on later tonight."
Leif and Miles just snickered.
***
Leif was there right ahead of five, and Marcy smiled when she saw him. He sat at a table until she was done, and he couldn’t help but note the grace of her body as she walked towards him. He jumped to his feet.
“Hi,” he said shyly.
“Hello, there,” she replied.
“I, uh, just wanted to say again that I’m sorry about my brother.”
She shrugged with a smile. “I get a lot of guys like him sniffing around, especially as it gets closer to school being back in session. Looking for their last hurrah, I guess. If he wants a hook up, the girls over at Joe’s House, a couple places down the beach form here, are generally willing for that sort of behavior.”
“I’m so not telling him that,” Leif laughed. “He doesn’t need encouragement.”
***
Leif was grinning as he returned to the hotel room. Mart was in the shower in his room, which gave the boys time to talk without being overheard.
“Well?” Logan demanded, sitting up from where he and Miles were playing video games. “Did you score?”
“Not everything in life is about getting laid, Logan,” Lei rolled his eyes.
“You didn’t,” Logan said with a mischievous gleam in his eye.
“Did you?” Leif asked, annoyed. He had had a god time chatting with Marcy.
“I was this close,” Logan held up his thumb and forefinger a fraction of an inch apart. "Two more minutes and I would have nailed her."
Miles rolled his eyes. “Not quite, cuz. You practically had to beg her to go out with you.”
“Not so!” Logan’s face turned red.
“Yes, so. You didn’t see me, I was watching from behind that giant plant with the big balloon crab.”
“You were spying?" Logan demanded. "You misinterpreted,” Logan said loftily, reovering quickly.
Milies reached into his pocket and took out his phone, handing it to Leif with a smile. The cousins played back what Miles had videotaped, and it was obvious the girl was annoyed.
“Man, you just wore her down,” Leif laughed.
Logan glared at his twin. “Point is, I got a date for later tonight.”
“If she shows up,” Miles laughed. He dodged the pillow his cousin threw at him.
Mat gave his permission for the boys to go out, providing they were back by 1 am and stayed within the hotel’s property with their cell phones on. The trio agreed.
While the twins were arguing over whose curly hair would attract more girls, Mart pulled Miles aside.
“I know you all are going to pick up girls,” he said quietly. “But I want you to be very careful. Stay away from the alcohol you might encounter.”
“No problem, Dad. After that incident where those two got into Bo’s whiskey stash, the mere thought makes them turn green,” Miles snickered.
“There are other troubles you can get into,” Mart started.
“I know, Dad. Stay away from drunk girls, and use a condom. Logan always has them on him. He’s the eternal optimist.”
Mart had to chuckle. “I was young once, too, Miles. I remember Spring Breaks. But you know, try not to go really hooking up with every girl that looks in your direction. You boysall know about STDs, and accidental pregnancies.”
“I don’t want to need to hear it again,” Miles shook his head at the memory of the grotesque pictures of std manifestations Brian had shown them a couple years before.. “I promise, we’re all really careful.”
“Good boys,” Mart ruffled his son’s curly hair, to Miles dismay.
They were good boys, and he wasn’t too worried about them. He knew they weren't out having sex as much as they liked to act like they might be. Boys today were a lot different from when he was fifteen, but then, so was the world. Logan reminded him a little of Trixie as a youngster, always coming up with some crazy scheme that could get them all into trouble. Mart suspected Logan was a younger version of Bo. Thankfully Leif and Miles were more levelheaded and kept the rambunctious twin out of trouble. Most of the time.
***
The next morning, Logan’s grumpiness told his cousin and twin that the girl had most definitely not shown up.
They horsed around in the surf for a while and Leif wanted to go seek out Marcy. He didn’t mention it to the other two though. Logan was still grumpy and eyeing some bikini clad girls nearby, who seemed to giggle a lot, and look their way.
When Logan wandered off for lunch and flirting, Leif turned to Miles.
“I’m gonna go say hi to Marcy.”
Miles nodded and waved his cousin off. He was going to go get some ice cream for himself and Mart.
Leif walked quickly, checking out the girls with a smile.
When he reached the patio bar though, he found a different girl.
“Marcy’s done for this week,” was the bored reply of the new girl.
He frowned. “She is? I just went out with her last night and she didn’t say anything.”
The girl snorted. “She only works Saturdays and Sundays. Sorry.”
Disappointed, Leif turned and left. They hadn’t exchanged phone numbers, he thought with a mental head slap. But they had chatted late into the night she’d given him a good night kiss on the cheek.
Sighing heavily, he stopped for a basket of fried fish and popcorn shrimp with fries and a soda before heading back to his family.
He was finishing his munching when he returned, to find Logan unwrapping an ice cream sandwich. Logan took one look at his brother’s face and handed it over.
“I didn’t want it to melt,” he smirked, but his blue eyes were worried. Leif was rarely in a bad mood and Logan knew his twin loved ice cream more than almost any other food.
“Thanks,” Leif said morosely, dropping onto the blanket under the umbrella. He set the empty cardboard containers to the side.
“She tell you off?” Miles asked directly.
Leif shook his head and explained.
Logan patted his brother on the shoulder. “Sorry, dude. I know you liked her.”
Leif shrugged and then grinned. “Well, we’ve got five days left, and an awful lot of girls to check out.”
"That's right," Logan grinned, "and I got the scoop on tonight's party!"
Mart just smiled and shook his head as the boys raised their cups in a toast to summer and the rest of their vacation.
Meet the cast in full & see the family tree!
Author’s Notes
- A huge yee-haa to the fabulous and lovely Ronda, for editing this and her suggestions which made it much better!
- The twins are fun to work with but they're not real cooperative. You will see them again however, at some point.
- I meant to post this wekes ago but forgot I had already polished it and saved over it with the non polished version. Ooops.
- Logan isn't a jerk, just a typical, horny 15 year old boy.
- Marcy isn't coming back. She was a flash in the dark.
- Come back next month for something VERY special in The Next Generation!
- Word Count, 4,563
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