Chapter 5 The summer moves along.Chapter 5 The summer moves along. That night I slept through dinner, and woke up the next morning close to noon. Between my physical and emotional exertions, I was thoroughly exhausted, physically and mentally. As I lay half awake that hot summer morning I knew that I had dodged more bullets in the past forty eight hours than some do in a lifetime. I felt that my luck was bound to run out pretty soon, and I resolved to lay low (so to speak) for a while, and to do my best to overcome the temptation which was suddenly all around me. I got up, showered, dressed, and fled the house without seeing or talking to anyone. I headed downtown with no specific intention in mind, except to avoid human female contact to whatever degree possible. As noon approached the morning warmth turned to waves of heat surging up from the blacktop. I could feel my feet burning through the rubber soles of my sneakers as I walked along. My throat dried, my skin burned, and I longed for a cool drink and a little dose of air conditioning. As I approached town, I spotted the marquee of the local movie theater, and ducked inside. I had about the price of a movie and a cold drink, so I bought a ticket, and a large frosty Cola, and settled in to watch the double feature. The show wasn't very good, but the air conditioning was delicious. Soon I drifted off to sleep. My exhausted body and soul simply collapsed in the cool, darkened theater. It wasn't until the house lights came up a couple of hours later that the usher, a school buddy, gently shook me awake. "Hey, man, you all right", he asked as I rose from the dead. "Yea, I'm okay, just tired" I mumbled. "I never figured to see you here alone in the afternoon", he said, "what have you been up to?" "Nothing, just bored", I replied, rising from the seat. "Hey. you goin to the party tonite?" he asked. |