around me was in perfect harmony—until I got home and climbed on board. Shane had come over after finishing the chores his mom had for him. He’d fallen asleep on the back deck and awoke a little startled as I sat down across from him.
“Where have you been?” he barked. Looking me over, he immediately knew something was different. “What the hell?” he said gesturing with his chin. I hesitated, not answering him. “You’ve been with Karyn, haven’t you?” he said, an accusing tone in his voice. When I didn’t answer, he snapped, “That little bitch!”
Springing up, I was in his face before he even knew it. “Take that back, you asshole.”
“Easy, Rider!” he said, holding up his hands. “I didn’t mean anything by it.”
“Take it back!” I demanded. “Okay, okay,” he said laughing. “She’s not a bitch.”
I relaxed as I backed away from my friend, but I was still pissed. How could he say that about her?
“You fucked her tonight, didn’t you?” He had no idea what love was. “I knew it!” he said, getting all excited. “I knew it. I could see it the minute you woke me up. You devil,” he continued, “I’ve been trying to get in her pants all summer.”
“You what?” I snapped back at him.
“Relax, cowboy,” he said, holding up his arms innocently. “She wouldn’t have anything to do with me. Managed to kiss her a couple of times, but she wouldn’t even let me get to first base.”
“You kissed her?”
“Don’t look so shocked, amigo,” he said smiling. “She’s hot. Why wouldn’t I give it a shot?”
“You never told me,” I said lamely.
“Why would I?” he said. “Nothing happened. I kissed her a couple of times. No big deal. Tried to get into her panties, but she wouldn’t give it up. Said she was saving herself for the ‘right guy.’” He laughed. “Looks like you’re the lucky one.”
After having just had the most incredible experience of my life, I hated listening to him talk like that. “It wasn’t like that,” I said.
“Then tell me. Was she hot or what?”
“Fuck off!” Now I was pissed. “It wasn’t anything like that.”
“Sex is sex,” he announced. “They’re all tramps.”
“You’re fucked up,” I said. Shane and I had been best friends since we were kids, but this was breaking new ground. A part of him I’d never seen before was coming to the surface, like a really bad zit. “Where do you come up with this crap? I’m tired. I’m going to bed.”
“It’s true. Women are all the same.”
As if you know anything about women. We’d been spending the night on each other’s boats since forever, so having him sleep over was no big deal. But that night, something changed. I felt different about his being there. I wanted to be alone. Actually, I really wanted to be lying next to Karyn. But as I lay there, listening to him doze off and start snoring on the bunk next to mine, I realized our worlds had shifted and would never be the same again.
After our night in the pool house, Karyn and I were inseparable. We did everything we could to keep her parents from finding out about our having sex, but we didn’t fool them for long. Mr. Lake threatened to kill me if I touched his daughter again. It was a scene right out of Hollywood. I ran for my life out of their house with Karyn screaming she loved me, pulling on her father’s shirt and her mom crying hysterically. It would have been comical, except for the fact that Mr. Lake would have killed me had he caught me.
Following that little incident, the Lakes did everything in their power to keep Karyn and me apart. In her sophomore year, they sent her to an all-girls boarding school outside Shaker Heights, Ohio. The day after they dropped her off at the headmaster’s office, she booked a first-class, one-way ticket home using the American Express card they’d given her for emergencies only. They finally gave in, and Mrs. Lake began devoting much of her time to socialite spin control. Perception was everything in her world. They hadn’t wanted us to get married, but were making sure the world they lived in saw our union in the right light.
As far as possible, without surrender, be on good terms with all persons.
Chapter 3
The clear, balmy June afternoon couldn’t have been prettier. It was the weekend following our high school graduation ceremonies. Our fairy-tale wedding made news in the local papers. “The Perfect Wedding” read the front-page headline in the social section of the Seattle Post, a newspaper Mr. Lake supported annually with major advertising dollars.
“… Corey Phillips marries into the Lake family, taking the hand of the charming and talented Ms. Karyn Lake, only daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Charles Lake … Corey Phillips is the eldest and only grandson of Seattle’s own R. J. Walters, President and CEO of Walters Processing and Shipping, the largest purveyors of seafood on the west coast … Sweethearts since childhood, Karyn and Corey looked ready to take on the world today. The wedding took place under clear blue skies on the terrace of the exclusive West Bay Yacht Club. Among the notable in attendance were … and all of us here at the Post wish them the very best. Good luck, newlyweds.”
All the while, Mrs. Lake silently thanked God that Karyn wasn’t pregnant under her wedding dress for the extensive photo spreads.
Despite my new in-laws’ offer to help us with the down payment on a house for our wedding gift, Karyn and I decided we wanted to live together on the houseboat. We loved it down there. She transformed the boat into a delightful floating home. In spite of themselves, by summer’s end Karyn’s parents enjoyed spending Sunday afternoons with us. At first, they’d refused to set foot on board the boat, but after awhile, seeing how happy their daughter was, they couldn’t resist. Sundays became a tradition—barbecuing fresh salmon on the back deck, a big pot of crab legs steaming on the old oil stove, and the mouth-watering smell of Karyn’s home-made sourdough bread filling the air. We were becoming a family. With her mom’s homegrown garden salads and a couple of bottles of White Zin from their private reserve, life was good. After dinner we’d sit on the back deck, enjoying the quiet beauty of a summer’s day drawing to a close.
“You still like working at the cannery?” Mr. Lake would inevitably get around to asking.
“Daddy, you know he does. Why do you ask us that every time we see you?”
“I just want Corey to know there’s a spot for him if he ever wants it, that’s all.”
“Appreciate the offer, Mr. Lake, I really do, but I like what I do.” I’d had offers to crew as well, but didn’t want to be away from Karyn for weeks at a time. So even though the money wasn’t great, I kept my job as a buyer. Being home every night was worth it. We couldn’t have been happier.
With Karyn and my being married, Shane was now the odd man out in our little threesome. Shane and I made it through a rocky spell after Karyn and I first hooked up. But being as athletic and good looking as he was, it didn’t take long for him to feel he was the lucky one—with all the trim he was getting. When we were alone, he couldn’t stop spewing the intimate details of his endless nights of romance.
“How can you just hang with one chick?” he wanted to know. “Karyn’s cool and all, but dude, there’s nothing like fresh pussy.”
“Maybe,” I’d say humoring him. “But what else can I tell you? I’m in love.”
“Love, you say.” He jumped down my throat. “Why are you always talking about love? I ain’t talkin’ love, man. I’m talking sex. Pure sex. About getting into as many pairs of sweet young panties as I can. Every chick has her secret, my