Rally Weekend Ch. 02

My brother Lyle was always the smart one of our family. He is three years older than myself and always got the grades in school. Lyle moved out of my parent's house for good when he left for college on a full academic ride. At the end of his college senior year he told us that he was gay. My father never recovered, crushed. Dad never spoke to him from that day forward. I guess my Mom suspected, but he hid it so well I never knew. I went along with Dad and his hatred, as young sons tend to do. The decision to be against Lyle and his lifestyle, I made without much thought. My mother loved him and never judged him until the day she died. At Mom's funeral 10 years ago I cried for the first time in ages. Vicky was surprised because I am generally a pretty hard egg. I did not cry as much for losing Mom, but for seeing my brother standing outside the circle of mourners in the rain, not feeling able to even speak to Dad and myself.

I skipped the meal after the wake and sought out my brother to apologize for the way I had acted all these years. We sat at the local diner and talked for two hours. He was gracious enough to forgive me, telling me that I had not made a decision, that I had just followed Dad in his hatred and never thought it over for myself. He was right.

Since then we have become close. Vicky and I visit him on the west coast every winter for a couple days, when things slow down at work. He does quite well as a computer guy, and has worked for many of the top names in technology. I don't know much about it but I would expect he is very well off, by his home and cars. He puts his lifestyle on hold a bit for us when we visit, and we appreciate that. We speak nearly every week, he asks about Dad and I fill him in on all that is going on here.

I call Lyle, knowing it is only about 10 p.m. out west. He answers and I fill him in on the events of Friday. To my shock he tells me he is not surprised at all. He is only surprised that I never knew. He goes on to tell me some things I never knew about my prude wife.

Back in high school Lyle was head lifeguard at the local public pool. Vicky worked in the snack bar every summer as her father was a city councilman. Tina also worked in the snack bar. Lyle told me that Vicky had been in trouble a few times for having "accidents" with her bikini top becoming untied and her breasts being exposed. Word was it was usually Tina causing those accidents.

He then told me of one night, after hours, that some of the staff decided to go for a 3 a.m. nude swim. Vicky stood on the high dive and dropped both her top and bottoms for the entire group. Lyle said that he heard there was no sex, but both Tina and Vicky were felt up and fingered in the pool by the lifeguard crew. Lyle was not there originally, but arrived in time to see the activities. The local police called him to go out and break it up so they would not have to file a report or arrest anyone.

The next day the staff got a stern lecture from the police chief. Generally, that is how things are done in a small town. Lyle and I discuss it a bit further; the ramifications of all that has occurred, the choices I have to make. As it gets late I tell Lyle I will talk with him tomorrow. He tells me he hopes he helped, and to call anytime I need to talk, whatever I decide. He will be there for me.

Hell, I guess I missed all the fun, working at the concrete plant, saving my money so I could make a life for myself. Paying for any traffic tickets I got. No councilman Dad to bail my ass out of trouble. With this new information I realize I don't even really know the woman I spent all these years with. I can understand that she had hidden these exhibitionist urges; it all looked consensual from what I saw. I can only guess that no longer having our son around has produced a mid-life crisis in my wife. She has gone back to doing the fun things she did with her fun friend Tina.

I awaken from my fitful sleep at 4 a.m. it is storming like mad outside. I hear nearby frequent lightning and loud heavy thunder. I look out the window and sheets of rain whipped by what I guess are 60 mile per hour winds. I turn on the Weather Channel and a severe storm warning is in this area. At least it is not a Tornado, but the radar shows a wide band of heavy rain and it is just getting started here. I think about the campground and my wife. A fiberglass and Styrofoam box on the prairie is not the best place to spend a severe thunderstorm. I lay back down and the wind storm passes after about 20 minutes but the rain remains heavy. I awaken at 5:30, as usual, and still the rain is coming down outside.

The breakfast bar opens at 6 so I have a few minutes to formulate a plan. After I dress my phone rings. It is Vicky, it goes like this.

"Hello Lloyd." Hey, she remembers me..

"Yes Vicky, what is going on so early." Or late for you, I think...She sounds hoarse again.

"Well Lloyd there has been a storm here...a lot of wind and rain. It is real bad, Mike's awning is ruined because Tina forgot to fold it in." I think: too bad for Mike's cherry camper to have a trashed awning. Meanwhile, my life is trashed.

She goes on: "It has rained so much we can't get the trailer out of the mud." They say there will be a tow truck coming out soon." "We heard they are cancelling the rest of the Rally. I just wanted to let you know that it is all over here, before you got started out."

Well isn't that sweet of her. Truth is I was seriously thinking of just going home anyway, now that is what will happen.

I answer' "OK but I can come up with my truck and pull Mike out if he wants, be there by 11 a.m." I hear her ask Mike in the back ground. She replies, "No. He says no need to drive up for just that. I will call when we get out and are on the way back"

"Ok talk to you then, love you"

"Right love you too, bye" Well the "love you too" had a bit more conviction today at least. It is probably just guilt.

I pack up, enjoy the nice hot breakfast bar, and check out. I wheel out by the campground and it looks like a war zone. The gates are open and a few campers have made it out as the mud is all stuck on the asphalt. I see that in the low place where Mike is parked water is standing. The rain continues as I skirt the parking lot and stay on the gravel. The main stage is fine, but vendor tents and some pop-up awnings are strewn across the lot. Some folks look like refugees trying to clean up what is left. I turn around and head out. I am on the road and heading south toward home with time to think about what I do next. Time to consult with my brother. Time to decide if this chapter of my life, our lives, is over.

Part 3 coming...