Houdini

There is a radio playing music somewhere. The sound waves travel out onto the covered porch from the garage where classic rock is surrounded by the swirling smoke of a cigarette. Three shirtless adolescent boys are on the porch resting during another subsequent day of what is said to be the longest heat wave in county history. The distant music lulls them into a kind of hibernation where their thoughts dance with disorientation. The lyrics occasionally come to mind while most of the melody is lost in the stale heat of August. 

The boys are recent high school graduates, friends since kindergarten, lean and mischievous. This afternoon they’ve been stunted into a kind of laziness brought on by the blaring heat. The thermostat next to the porch door reads 111. Two of the boys are laying on their backs on the deck, surrounding them is an outline of sweat. The third is in a rocking chair, the wood lets out an intermittent creak.

“Jesse?”

“What?” 

“How many days is it supposed to be this hot?”

“Damn fool. Its been this hot for a whole four weeks. You really think it's going to stop now?”

“Its like the devil himself was trying to cook us.” 

“I think he is...” 

“Donny. Hey, Donny!” one of the boys sits up leaving behind an outline of

his muscular back on the deck.

Donny is struggling to keep his mind quiet. His thoughts are continuously going over his

college applications and the dread of not being admitted anywhere. He can hear his name being called but it's like it was on the other side of a glass wall, like it was warbled and muffled by water. The voice calling him is Randy. He ignores the call and keeps his eyes closed tight. The rocking chair croaks.   

“Damnit, Donny! Why are you always going mute?” 

“Don’t interrupt his thinking. You know how mad he gets.” 

“I don’t give a damn! The devil is trying to kill us and we’re stupid enough to just set here

and let him do it!”  

“What are we going to do about it then?” Donny says angrily. 

“See, you pissed him off.” 

“Shut up, Jessie,”  Donny says. 

“I say we go on over to Lyla’s place and use her pool,” Randy gets to his feet as if he

were to march over there right this instant.  

“You know her parents won’t let three boys in there.” 

“I wish we had some beer,” Randy says, not seeming to hear anything but his own voice.  

“You don’t even like beer.” 

“I do too.”

Donny starts to laugh to himself.

“What the hell you laughing at?!”

“You,” Donny says, suddenly alert, his eyes narrowing with anger. 

“You’re not allowed to have beer after the last time you made a damn fool out of

yourself.”  

“I had too much is all.” 

Jesse and Donny laugh. 

“Yeah, and you puked all over the side of Greg’s car. He still don’t forgive you.” 

“The hell with Greg!” 

“Shit. If it wasn’t for him we wouldn’t of had beer.” 

“Its too damn hot to just sit here like fools. Let's hit the river. I don’t know why we didn’t already.” 

“We should get beer,” Randy says. 

“You going to call Greg? He’d love to hear from mr. Puker.” 

“Fuck it. I’ll call him.” 

After a phone call, a thirty minute wait, and twenty-five dollars the boys had their beer.

“Damn rip off, man,” Randy said after Greg had left. 

“You know he didn't have to do that for us, right? Especially after you puked all over his car.”

“Puke or not he takes a damn hefty cut for the service...”

“Would you do different?” 

Randy sits back and opens a beer on the patio and thinks about the question. 

“I’d charge more,” he says. 

The boys went to the corner store and bought snacks. The store was hot and the man behind the counter had sweat rolling down the sides of his face. 

“You boys enjoying summer?” the man asked as he rang up Donny. 

“It's been good.” 

Donny couldn’t imagine staying in this town for the rest of his life. His mind fell back on college and the fact that no one knew he applied other than his immediate family. 

“You boys goin to college next year?” 

“Hell no!” Randy said impatiently. 

“No one would take you anyway,” Jesse said. 

“Shut up. They’d take me if I wanted to go. But I don’t--want to. I spent my whole life trying to get done with school, and now it's finally here. Hell no, I ain't volunteering for more!” 

The river was two and half miles East and the boys, still shirtless, baked in the heat. The long road wound up forty feet into trees of thick oak where they found some relief from the relentless sun. When a vehicle came rumbling behind them they stopped and let it pass. Down below is the sparkling river where clusters of youth huddle around ice chests and small fires where they roast hot dogs. A rope swings back and forth waiting for the next in line. The river is twisting in rocks and branches that hang into the current. Creedence Clear Water Revival’s, Run Through The Jungle, plays from the beach. There is a fire in the next county and a haze of smoke can be seen in the distance. Helicopters echo in the canyon and the engines of planes pass overhead. There is a beaten trail through the oak that leads down to the river and the boys turn off the road and carefully make their way down. Poison oak is everywhere and they silently identify it and stay clear. The shade is speckled with sunlight and the silence that falls around them is finally broken. 

“So what have you guys been thinking about doing now,” Randy says, his arms swinging back and forth with the bag from the liquor store. 

They listen to the sounds of distant music and the sound of youth below them. 

“Get down this damn hill and get in the water is all I’m thinking about,” Jesse finally says. 

Their feet sound soft and dull against the path, the occasional slip and slide of a shoe makes a skidding sound. Donny slips and nearly falls but catches himself on a tree. No one says anything and they continue on. 

“What are you planning, Donny?” Randy says. 

Randy slips a little and slides into Jesse who braces himself, “Damnit! Watch it, you’re going to take us both down!” 

“Shit, it ain’t my fault it’s slippery!” 

They smell cooked meat and hear someone yell, followed by a splash. 

“Donny, I asked what you was thinking of doing now? I mean since we’re done with a life of school and nonsense.” 

Donny worked at Dietz and Dietz, a grocery store on 3rd street. His boss had told him that if he wanted to go full time there was a manager position opening up soon. His pay would jump by three dollars. He told Mr. Dietz he would think about it. If he didn’t get into college he would take the position, but the thought of it depressed him. 

“I don’t know. Probably just work more hours at D&D.” 

“What about you, Jesse?” Randy continues, satisfied with Donny’s answer.  

“My ma wants me to work. Says I need to start helping her pay for things.” 

“I can’t believe you’ve gotten away without working this long. Damn bum!”

“Yeah, I’ve been lucky. What about you?” 

“I’ll pick up more hours at the hardware store. Save up and get a truck,” Randy says. He had been working for his family’s business since he was twelve, the hardware store had been in the family for four generations. 

The silence between them returns and they listen intently to what was happening on the river. When they emerge from the treeline they stop and watch a girl swinging through the air on a rope swing. She lets go at the highest point and when she splashes into the water there are many whistles and hollering from those on the beach. They were all young kids living in their time, and what lies ahead in the future is a blurry dream that they talk about but don’t believe will ever happen.

“Where do you wanna post up?” Randy asks. 

They come across some of their friends from school and they lay out with the rest of their beers and drink from the aluminum cans and feel good. The sun is high above and a helicopter hovers with an orange bucket, the thumping of its propellers goes thwaping along the river and someone points a stick pretending to shoot it down. No one knows it yet, but this is the last time they’ll be free. Some will begin work full time as early as Monday morning and others like Donny will wait to hear the word as to whether or not he’ll be going to college. Their childhood is slipping away. It's swinging out over the river, its roasting hot dogs in a makeshift fire pit, and it's on their youthful faces that feels impossible could ever change. 

After several beers the boys are sitting around talking with a group of other recent grads. They converse on the future and two of the girls mention the colleges they have gotten into. Donny is feeling pretty good, he is finishing up his fifth beer and like the rest of the group he doesn't much like the taste but he takes big gulps to get the effect. 

“I’ll be going to college too,” he says, surprised by his announcement. 

“Ha, sure you are!” Jesse says. 

 “I’m serious. I’ve been applying to every damn college that I can. Who knows where I’ll end up.” 

“That's great,” one of the girls says and it inspires him and a big smile crosses his face.

“Yeah. I’m looking forward to getting out of this town.” Donny looks up at the blue sky and a large water tanker flies overhead. 

“Get out there and find myself,” he says. 

Jesse reaches over and touches Donny’s arm, “I just found you…” 

The group laughs except for Randy who gets up and wades out into the water holding a beer. He pounds the rest of it and tosses the can behind him before diving in. 

“What's up with him?” 

They all watch as he begins to float on his back and he drifts in the current down the river, his eyes closed like he was dead. 

Donny watches him and he wonders what things will be like a year from now. “I don’t want this day to end,” he says. 

Someone hands him a beer, “it ain’t over yet.” 

And so things pass as they do. Like a dream that one could wake up in only if they realized it and seized the moment. Donny’s mind begins to feel the severity of being alive at eighteen years old, drunk on cheap beer, and feeling his youth exploding within him. 

“Come on you, bums,” Jesse smashes an empty beer can against his head. 

“Lets swing!” 

Jesse climbs up the slope toward the large tree with the dangling rope.

“God damn, I feel good,” Donny says, getting up and following one of the girls. 

She looks back at him and she is beautiful and young like him, “you’re drunk, huh?” she laughs. 

“I guess so.” 

He watches as Jesse goes flying into the air and crashes into the river with a shriek of pleasure. Donny can feel time moving along and the heat touching his skin from the orange ball in the sky. 

“I want to stay here...” 

“What are you mumbling?” 

The girl catches the rope as it swings back and she nearly slips down the hill but catches herself. She climbs further than Jesse had gone and because she is short is standing on her tippy-toes. 

“Are you going to flip?” Donny asks. 

“I’m just going to try and not let go before I get to the water,” she says, pulling herself up against the rope. She swings out over diamonds.

The rope comes back and Donny catches it. He looks out over the river toward the bend where the current picks up. The smell of hot dogs catches his nose and he can hear people laughing and enjoying themselves and the water is full of people. He thinks about his future and where he’ll be next year, what he’ll be doing. Before his mind drifts too long and too far Jesse yells at him to jump. He holds the rope tightly and leaps into the air. He forms his body into a tight ball and swings out over the water. When he’s at the peak of the swing he lets go. Hitting the water he pushes the air out of his lungs and doesn’t try to resurface. He drifts toward the bottom and begins to pull himself along, allowing the current to pull him. When he can’t stay under any longer he surfaces. He’s made it around the river bend and he can hear his name being called and bodies splashing in the water looking for him. The sun is dipping below the treeline. Randy is further along the bank sitting with his beer. He nods. 

“What are you doing over here?” Donny asks when he approaches. 

“Nothin. What are you doing?”

“Just dyin and being reborn.” 

The two boys sit side by side and they suddenly hear Jesse, “ah shit, you ain’t dead you son of a bitch!” he stomps off in the other direction. 

“You trying to be Houdini or something?” Randy says. 

“I don’t know. I don’t know what I’m gonna be. But I’ll always be your friend.” 

“I know.” 

“Good.” 

A can of beer floats swiftly down the river. They watch it go by and the sound of youth is all around them and inside of them. They sneak glances at each other, and the sun is almost gone now. Left in the wake of another day of this heatwave are the shadows of something else. What they feel inside of them are the pangs of an ending.