The City Changes Everything

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‘Do you guys want a drink?’ Rachael asked, referring to a soda.

I was not bold enough to ask for a beer, but luckily, Adam did not have the same problem.

The next morning we slept late for the first time in many weeks. I had slept so heavily that I got a dizzy headache that I was unable to shake for several hours. Adam and I had both wanted to keep sleeping in, so we had kept rolling over to see if the other one was awake yet.

‘There’s a pool downstairs if you want a swim,’ Rachael said.

‘Oh my god, you’re kidding,’ I said. ‘I’ll be there in a minute.’

While I undressed for the pool Adam began procrastinating about the pros and cons over going for a swim, on what was only a moderately warm morning.

Yeah it’s not as nice as a bloody Manchester day is it?’ I joked.

‘Do you want some shorts?’ she asked.

‘It’s ok, I’ll just go in my undies.’

It was around this time that I realised Rachael’s younger sister and some friends had stopped by the house, but there was no time for modesty. I was already knee deep on the steps leading into the water.

As I dived forwards into the shallow end, I could overhear Adam continuing to rationalise the situation.

‘You know maybe if there wasn’t so much shade, maybe.’

I was glad to have the silence of being underwater surround me and tried to kick myself along for as long as I could hold my breath. I enjoyed the sensation of the morning sun on my skin, and the saltwater taste in my nose and mouth.

The pool was large for a home pool, and a large elm tree from the forest outside hung over the landscaped surroundings. Despite this, there was not a leaf anywhere in or around the pool. They must have hired help, I thought. I felt a bit financially inferior, and wondered if Rachael had any idea Adam and I were from a different economic world.

The two of them seemed to be enjoying talking away quietly, while I had my peaceful moment kicking around in the water.

‘He’s just a family friend,’ Rachael said of the owner of the house, justifying herself. ‘We can stay at my place next time.’

I looked up to the windows of the second level of the house. I wondered if you could jump out of them into the pool. You probably could, although not without hurting yourself, maybe from the roof though.

‘I’m studying Philosophy next year,’ Adam told Rachael. ‘I’m really interested in how people think and why they act they way they do.’

‘Really?’

‘That’s why I came here, to meet different people and have different experiences. I like to put myself in different situations and see how I react to them.’

‘Do you like America?’ asked Rachael, missing Adam’s scientific approach to the trip.

‘It’s ok,’ he lied. ‘Some of the people are a bit strange, I got sat next to a transvestite on the bus for a few hours on the way to Niagara. That was an experience.’

I made a hand gesture of a mouth talking in their direction, slightly sickened by their attempt at flirting.

‘Have you told her you’re going to jail?’ I joked.

‘What?’ Rachael said.

‘Oh it’s just if I go back to Israel,’ he said.

‘Why?’

‘I lived there for a year but left before I did my Army service, so if I want to go back I have to do some jail time.’

‘So don’t go back.’

‘I have to. I love it there,’ he said. ‘It’s only for a couple of months hopefully. It’ll be an interesting experience.’

‘Yeah, but then you have to do your Army time and that’s like three years,’ I interrupt.

I had been telling Adam for weeks not to go back to Israel. I could not stand the thought of him going to jail over something like that. I was hoping Rachael might convince him of my perspective.

‘The only thing I’m worried about is that they might give me a crap post cause I deserted. I don’t want to be cleaning toilets in the desert for two years,’ he said.

‘Is it worth going to jail over?’ Rachael asked.

‘I think it is,’ he replied

On the way back to the Pocono’s, Adam and Rachael began planning for our next day off. They were planning a trip right into the city so she could show us all the tall buildings. I did not spoil it by telling them I had already seen them, several times. I wondered what had happened to the ‘I only like bad girls’ attitude. I was surprised, Adam didn’t seem like he would say something like that unless he meant it.  I was relieved though, that any plans Rachael had of setting me up with Cheryl appeared to have failed. She seemed even less interested than I was and her attitude towards me was bordering on hostile.

We stopped at a town just outside the camp late in the afternoon, where the girls decided to get ice cream. As they ate sitting in the car, a large dark figure emerged from the trees on Adam’s side of the car. Without saying a word, he nudged my elbow and nodded in the direction of a Brown Bear that was slowly plodding towards a garbage bin.

The bear was walking on all four legs and appeared to have little interest in the Cafй nearby or the car park, where we were. It began trying to remove the lid to the thick steel bin, which appeared strongly made for such occasions. Several onlookers at the Cafй began loudly commenting on the approach of the unexpected visitor. I hoped that I could properly absorb this moment and what could be the only encounter in my life with a wild Bear.

It was only a few steps away from the car and I stared into its huge brown eyes. As it sniffed the lid it was trying to remove, its wet nose dribbled onto the metal.

‘Oh my god,’ said Cheryl, as Rachael quickly passed off her ice cream and turned the ignition on the BMW.

‘What’s wrong? We’re in a car, it can’t get us.’ I said. However, the car was already in reverse and was backing away from the scene.

The bear seemed to be more startled by the sound of the car reversing than it had been by anything else. It flinched its shoulder muscles quickly before looking up at the car.

‘Oh come on,’ said Adam. ‘This is ridiculous.’ Nevertheless, it was too late, Rachael was already driving us back down the road to the camp.

I turned my neck to stare at the bear for as long as I could as we drove away.

As we walked back up the hill Adam asked, ‘So what do you reckon I should do about her?’

‘What do you mean?’ I pretended not to know.

‘You know.’

‘Oh, go for it.’

‘Really?’

‘For sure. If it doesn’t work out you’ll be gone in a month or two. It’ll be an experience for you to analyse.’

My response seemed to comfort him. It was honest but it was also, what he wanted to hear.

‘Better you than me though,’ I joked.

‘Oh whatever,’ he laughed. ‘I only like bad girls remember.’

‘Maybe when you get out of the slammer, you can have a big Jewish wedding and I can tell the Bear story.’

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