Prologue

It was so dark that I wasn’t sure if my eyes were open or closed. I couldn’t hear anything due to the ringing in my ears. The taste of duct tape hit the tip of my tongue as I tried to force it through my clamped lips. My wrists were tied behind the back of whatever I was sitting on. The frigid temperature didn’t bother me as much as the splitting pain radiating down my spine from being knocked out with a shovel.

Although I couldn’t see anything, it was evident that I was on a boat. The rocking back and forth would have made me feel queasy if I had eaten more than a stick of beef jerky that day. At least it’s not running, I thought, as I felt the side of the boat smack into the dock. How long have I been here? I wondered.

The last time I saw my reflection I didn’t even notice the man looking back at me. My dirty face filled with cuts and bruises, and tired eyes filled with fear and anger.

Something dripped down from my eyebrows. I prayed that it was sweat and not blood. 

“Mrrmmmgggrrr!” I growled through the duct tape as the sting in my eyes answered my prayers. That’s when I realized just how messed up my life had become when the best thing that happened to me that day was sweat going into my eyes instead of blood.

What did I get myself in to? What if I never get out of here? All I could do in that moment was wait with my thoughts. That may have been the biggest torture of all. Being alone with my thoughts. Wondering what I could have done differently. Wondering if I should have just stayed home instead of following that strange man to the lake.

The pain in my head felt like a dozen screwdrivers stabbing my brain at once. The only good part was that it hurt so bad that I became optimistic at my chances of passing back out. At least then I wouldn’t have to feel anything. Maybe I’ll just die here… But I knew I couldn’t let that happen. I couldn’t leave her. She had been through enough already in her short life.

As the waves of pain went up and down, I thought about why I followed that man. It was because of love. I’d spend the rest of my life making sure she was protected. No matter what it took. She was all I had left. To think that it was just six short years ago when life seemed so simple. I was just a boy who found love…

Chapter One

The summer of 1977 had all the makings of being a great one: no school, warm weather, community pool, and pretty girls. Not that I was any kind of a ladies man, but according to what was happening with the other boys my age, I was due for a growth spurt. Once that arrived, I’d be filled with confidence.

I grew up in a small town in upstate New York called Burnt Hills. Being 16 had its advantages and disadvantages. Being old enough to drive was a big advantage, although not when you didn’t own a car. I was smaller than most of my friends and classmates. I was also the youngest, so I was used to being the runt. None of that bothered me much until the other guys my age started driving and I was still glued to my bike. The few friends that I had were in the same boat as me. They either couldn’t afford to buy their own car or didn’t have a license yet. So we continued to get from point A to point B on our bikes, which wasn’t an issue in summers past since everything we ever wanted to do was close enough to home. The only problem any of us saw about not having a car was not having the ability to drive when the opportunity to ask a girl out on a date came along. Sitting on the back of a bicycle didn’t seem to excite many girls.

Up until that summer it wasn’t much of a problem to call your bike your ride. However, things became different when the new drive-in movie theater opened its doors. It was apparent that if you didn’t drive a car, you weren’t going to have much luck getting a date to accompany you.

The night of the grand opening, my buddies, Josh, Frank, Benny and I decided we would check out the scene. None of us had more than a pocket full of change, so our plan was to hang around outside and see if there was a good place to sneak in. We were all pretty psyched to see Star Wars but it wasn’t being shown until after the first movie, Saturday Night Fever, which was more of a date movie than an ‘out with your buddies’ kind of movie.

The four of us always met outside of Benny’s house whenever we got together to play basketball, go swimming, or do just about anything during the summer, mainly because he lived alone with his father who worked late, and we knew we could talk loud and not be monitored by nosey parents.

I was the first to arrive at Benny’s house the day of the grand opening. I typically tried to be first because if I were last, or late, the other guys didn’t think twice about leaving without me. We were all friends but since I was the runt of the group, I was treated more like a little brother who should feel lucky he was able to hang out with them. That didn’t bother me too much as I was just happy that I had some friends. Most of the other kids in school ignored me. I thanked my parents for that. If they had just held me back a year I would have been one of the oldest kids in my class instead of the youngest. One more year of growing would have increased my chances of making the varsity basketball team, not to mention my chances with the ladies.

The orange sun sunk as I parked my bike behind the big apple tree just outside of Benny’s front yard. That’s where we rounded up the troops before going off to do whatever we did for the day. Benny’s house used to be a large barn, but his father fixed it up and turned it into a home. He did a good job, although I thought it was odd that he painted it red and white; the same color that the barn used to be.

I was worried that the guys ditched me after standing alone for several minutes. Just as I was about to hop on my bike and leave, I saw Josh and Frank down the road. They were twins that did everything together, and even though they were both tall, skinny, and filled with freckles, they didn’t act alike at all.

While I watched from under the apple tree, they hit their brakes and stopped in the middle of the street. I figured they didn’t notice me, so I stepped out from under the tree and waved. “Guys, over here!”  Just as I did that, Josh’s arms flailed up and down in my direction. I wasn’t sure why he was doing that until I heard a door shut from Benny’s house.

“Oh shit,” I said. “Benny’s dad!”

I ducked back under the apple tree and waited. Benny’s dad was a real jerk sometimes. Although he’s met all of us a million times, he acted like he didn’t know us whenever he saw any of us. Benny said his dad was bipolar or something, but I think he just liked making excuses for him. Regardless of what he was, we were all pretty scared of him, so we tried our best to not let him see us when we were around.

As I hid behind the tree, I heard a woman’s voice say: “Darn it!”

I peeked out and saw Benny’s sister, Jenna, run back inside the house. Jenna was another reason we all liked sleeping over at Benny’s house. She was five years older than Benny, and she was a looker. She had dark brown eyes and bright red hair that made her stand out in a crowd. I never said much to her, nor did she to me, but I used to tip toe around Benny’s house late at night with Josh and Frank, over to her bedroom so we could look through her underwear drawer. Looking back now, I realize how creepy that was, but we were teenage boys and none of us had seen a naked girl before, so looking at her bra collection drove us nuts. Frank always said she wasn’t home because she was out having sex with guys all the time. I don’t know how true that was, but it intimidated me any time I saw her. Benny got real angry when we talked about his sister being hot, so we tried to keep it down. Well, myself more than Josh and Frank.

After Jenna went back inside the house I looked for Frank and Josh, but they were gone. I figured they were hiding since they feared Benny’s father just as much as I did.  

A few minutes later Jenna came back outside. She ran down the driveway to her big brown van and got inside. I wondered where she was going in such a hurry. The van looked fun. It was a Volkswagen with rainbow stripes on the outside. Josh said she traveled around in the van because there was a bed in the back of it where all the sex took place. I didn’t believe him, but it was interesting to think about.

After Jenna drove away, Josh and Frank appeared again. They rode their bikes over to me at the apple tree.

“Was that Jenna?” Frank asked while catching his breath.

“Yeah.” 

“Why didn’t you tell us it was her?” asked Josh.

“I couldn’t see you after you hid.” 

Frank plucked an apple from the tree and threw it at me.

“Ahh! Jerk, what was that for?”

“We weren’t hiding,” said Frank. “You were hiding.”

I shook my head and rolled my eyes. I may have been the smallest of the group at that time, but it was clear to me that I was also the smartest, which wasn’t anything to brag about considering who I was comparing myself to.

“Where’s Benny?” asked Josh.

Just as I was about to answer, the front door of Benny’s house swung open. Benny was bigger than all of us. He looked like a football player. When he ran toward you it was hard not to flinch. He always wore a blue baseball cap with his dark blond curls hanging down.

“Where’s your bike?!” Josh called out to Benny.

Benny stopped in his tracks and turned back toward his garage.

“Dumb ass,” chuckled Frank.

Benny’s size made up for his lack of brains. He made Josh and Frank appear to be smart. After he took his bike out of the garage and closed the door, we peddled down the street. Benny had his school backpack on, which wasn’t something he normally brought with him.

“What’s in the bag?” Josh asked.

“I snagged some brews from my dad’s stash for the drive-in.” 

“You really think we’ll find a way in?” I asked.

“Not if you’re a wimp about it,” said Benny.

Josh and Frank laughed. I didn’t.

The drive-in was only a few miles from Benny’s house. We used to go out that way all the time when we were younger because there was an ice cream shop across from the new drive-in, but it shut down a few years back when the owner died.

We took the short cut through a path in the woods. When we came out of the trail to the street, we all slammed on our brakes just before knocking into the giant line of cars waiting for the drive-in to open up. 

“Shit,” said Frank.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“Look at the fence around it.” 

I looked up and noticed the fence had some kind of barbed wire on top of it.

“Man! That wasn’t like that a couple weeks ago!” said Josh.

“That must be to keep people from sneaking in,” I said.

“No shit Einstein,” said Benny.

I realized my observation was clear to everyone after I said it, but it still hurt to have a “genius” like Benny calling me dumb.

“Well, what are we going to do now?” asked Josh.

We looked at all the cars while leaning on our bikes at the end of the trail across the street.

“Maybe when it gets darker we can sneak in through the front,” said Benny.

“Hmmm,” Josh and Frank wondered.

All I could think about was that I better wise up because Benny just called me out for making a dumb observation and now here he was with a pretty good idea. I couldn’t be the smallest and dumbest in the group…

A car eased by us and turned into the gravel parking lot just outside of where we were at the end of the trail. That was where the old ice cream shop used to be. We couldn’t see beyond the trees from where we were, so Benny, Josh, and Frank, all peddled toward the parking lot where the car pulled in. I hesitated for just a moment too long, as I was fixated on the line of cars outside of the drive-in. Next thing I knew, the guys were out of sight. So I peddled out of the trail and followed their tire tracks around the trees. “Wait up guys!” I yelled as I zipped around the corner. Just as I passed the big oak tree that sat between the parking lot and the road, I slammed in to the back of Benny’s bike.

“Jeff! What the hell!” said Benny.

“Sorry,” I responded as I backed my bike up a couple feet before putting my kickstand down.

The parking lot had quite a few cars in it as well as people walking around. At first I thought it was overflow from the drive-in people across the street, but then I noticed the big twirling sign that read: BENNINGTON’S ICE CREAM SHOP.

“No way! They opened it back up!” I said.  

“It’s not the same place, dumb butt,” said Benny.

That was the third time in one day that Benny was smarter than I was. Up until that day, I don’t think there were three times in one year that I could have credited him with that feat.

“Look!” Josh yelled out while pointing to another sign waving in the wind.

‘Grand Opening Special – Half Off Milkshakes All Week,’ the sign read.

Frank swung his kickstand down to the stony ground and reached in his shorts pocket.

“Okay, who’s got what?”

We all reached in to our pockets and took out any change we had. Frank grabbed my New York Yankees hat off my head and held it upside down in the middle of us as a collection pot.

“Hey! Give it back!”

“We need something to count our money in,” Frank said. “And the Yankees suck.”

Frank and Josh laughed.

“No they don’t,” I responded. “You suck.”

Benny put his hand on my sweaty head and messed my hair up.

“Greasy mop you got there,” said Benny.

“Shut up man, it’s hot out.”

I looked around the parking lot while Frank counted the coins in my hat. Even with the sun on its way down, it was still too bright to see clearly. I squinted my eyes hard and held my hand over my eyebrows to block out the sun. That was when I saw the most beautiful creature I had ever seen in my entire life. It was as if an angel fell from the sky and landed behind the glass window at the ice cream shop. Even from thirty feet away, I could tell how beautiful she was. Her big blue eyes, dimples on her cheeks when she smiled, hair in a perfect ponytail, and wearing an apron covered in chocolate ice cream. I was frozen in time. More so than the ice cream she was serving. I don’t remember walking. It felt more like I floated slowly toward the ice cream shop window where the princess was taking orders from customers. I hadn’t blinked my eyes since spotting her. The last thing I wanted to do was miss even a split second of seeing her beauty.

“Jeff?” yelled Benny. “What are you doing?”

I couldn’t take my eyes off her. Her hair was medium brown, and her lips were full and cherry colored. Her smile made my insides feel like the warm sun was sprinkling magic dust all over my heart and stomach, like a magical summer rain shower.

“Jeffrey!” Benny yelled even louder.

I stopped and shook my head as if I had woken from a dream. I turned around and looked back at the guys who were still all leaning on their bikes in a circle.

“What the hell are you doing?” Benny asked.

“Nuh, nothing,” I stuttered as I walked back toward the guys.

“We barely have enough to each get a shake,” said Frank.

“Geez,” said Josh sarcastically. “If only there were half priced shakes today…”

Frank punched Josh’s arm.

“Good thing,” said Benny, “because we only have two dollars.”

“Man!” said Josh. “We might have to get jobs this summer! I don’t want to spend the whole break wishing we could do cooler stuff because we’re broke.”

“Jobs?” Benny asked. “It’s summer! We have the rest of our lives to work. If you really want to make some extra dough, my sister said she needs someone to mow the lawn outside her flower store.”

“I’ll mow your sister’s lawn for free!” said Josh. “As long as I can watch her change from the window!”

Benny hit Josh in the same spot Frank had just hit him. “Ouch!”

“Why don’t you take the job, Ben?” Frank asked. “It’s your sister.”

“I’m not working for my sister. No way. That’s like insects.”

“You mean incest?” said Josh.

Our roles were back in place. Benny was back to being the dumb one. A calm came over me as I watched Benny defend his remark by slugging Josh in the arm. “Ahhh! Come on! This is starting to hurt, ass hole!” I laughed for a second before drifting my attention back toward the pretty girl selling ice cream. My heart pumped harder every time I looked at her. 

“What’s wrong with you?” Josh asked as he snapped his fingers in front of my face.

I shook my head. “Nothing. Let’s go.”

Frank plopped the Yankee hat back on my head and followed Benny and Josh toward the line at the ice cream window. After adjusting my hat, I caught up to them in line. My palms began to sweat, and my heart raced faster. My fingers rubbed together against my will. My lips moved, but no words came out. I thought the guys were still ordering while I looked at the ground, wondering what I was going to say when I saw her up close. Then, I heard the most beautiful voice on the planet. “Hello?” said the angel at the ice cream window.

I was a few feet away from where I should have been standing to order, and the line of people behind me was growing. As I lifted my head up, my eyes widened when I saw her beauty up close. She looked around for a moment when I didn’t respond. There may have been other people around, but it felt like it was just me and her.

“Did you want to order something?” she asked with confusion.

I was frozen solid when I noticed her nametag read ‘CLARA’. I mouthed her name to myself: “Clara,” then snapped out of it and took a step closer. I could tell she knew I was uncomfortable from the way she looked at me.

“Um, yeah,” I said, nodding my head up and down. “Shake please?” 

“Sure thing, what kind?”

I continued to nod my head like an idiot. “Or, yeah. Um, vanilla. Or, chocolate.”

I turned my head toward my friends and saw Frank nudging Josh’s shoulder. He motioned for him to look at me.

“Come on kid!” said an old man behind me in line. “We don’t have all day!”

Clara raised her eyebrows, awaiting my response.

“I’ll just take strawberry.”

“That’s my favorite flavor,” Clara said with a smile as she wrote down the order. Even her handwriting was beautiful. The way the pen swooped around from letter to letter in perfect fashion.

“Mine too!” I yelled.

It became clear to me that I had forgotten how to control my voice tone or speak normal words. Clara smiled and walked away to make my shake. I took a deep breath and turned my attention toward my friends. They, of course, were giggling and pointing at me. When I turned back around, Clara was at the window with the milkshake in front of her on the counter. After a couple seconds of awkward silence, she slid the shake closer to me. “That will be forty-five cents,” she said.

My eyes widened as I realized I didn’t have any money. I gave all my change to Benny and the twins when we were counting what we had in our pockets. I put my hands in both of my pockets and pulled out nothing but lint.

“Shit,” I muttered.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

I turned around again and watched the guys zip away on their bikes, laughing. My face turned beet red. I turned back to Clara, who was waiting for a response and payment.

“I, I, I’m sorry. Here,” I said while sliding the strawberry shake back to Clara. “My friends… They…”

Clara slid the shake back toward me. “You can bring it to me next time,” she said, followed by a smile I will never forget.   

“Next time!” I yelled as I stumbled backward, bumping into the impatient old man behind me in line.

“Watch it, lover boy!” he yelled.

I ignored him as all my focus was on Clara. “You got it! Next time!”

Clara took the man’s order then glanced at me as I was walking away. She smiled when our eyes met again before turning around. I hopped on my bike, grinning ear to ear as I peddled out of the parking lot. I felt like I was flying.