Shoe Strings

bag he’d mentioned, the bag she’d
assumed was the backpack she’d seen him sporting a time or two, turned out to
be a huge duffle bag, stuffed to near overflowing.   “What is all that stuff?   Did you pack your own raft in there?”
    His eyes fluttered back and then returned to the road.   He seemed engrossed in the infinitesimal
progress they were making and the road construction a mile or so ahead.   “This is worse than usual,” he said with
a quick look out the side window.   “Hope we don’t miss our put-in time.”
    His avoidance of her question made the hairs on the back of
her neck stand at attention.   “Jesse.” Lita waited until he’d turned to look at her, irritation clear
on his face.   “What’s in the bag?”
    “Stuff.”   He
shrugged.   “You know, wet suits,
helmets, gear.”
    “They won’t have that stuff when we get there?”
    “Well, yeah, but I like using my own gear.”   He stuck his head out the window and
inched the car toward the middle of the lane to see about the holdup.   His answer made perfect sense, but the
way he’d said it… something made her think there was more to it.
    They were back at top speed within ten minutes and pulling
onto a gravel drive an hour later.   Around another bend, one Jesse took at warp speed, Lita caught her first
glimpse of the river.   It appeared
wider than the Powollachee and not as deep.   True to his word, it meandered over
small rocks instead of raging over gigantic boulders.   She felt her chest expanding, her lungs
filling in relief.   After his
whiplash driving, a lazy river float was all she could handle.
    They parked alongside an old van, the only other vehicle in
the parking lot.   Lita saw a small
building she assumed was a restroom and felt thankful for modern
conveniences.   She’d had to pee for
over an hour.   Jesse hopped out of
the Scout and dragged the bag out with a groan.  
    “I’m going to use the restroom over there.” Jesse nodded and
waved her on as he opened the zipper and delved into the bag.   To Lita’s horror, the bathroom, while in
a building, was nothing more than a dressed up port-o-potty.   She rejoined Jesse in record time.   He stood on the bank of the river, next
to a small float and a man who hadn’t seen a razor, or possibly a mirror, in more
than a few months.   His stringy
brown braid hung halfway down his back and his beard could have housed a small
rodent.   Next to the mountain man,
the usually scruffy Jesse looked almost metrosexual.  
    Lita approached cautiously, her nerves bouncing just under
her skin.   It wasn’t that she was
afraid of rafting, but her experiences with water could be counted on one
hand.   Jesse turned and smiled as
she approached.   “Jerry,” he said to
the other man, not taking his eyes off Lita.   “This is Angelita Barros.   She’s a newbie.”
    Jerry gave her an approving nod and turned back to
Jesse.   “A virgin.   No wonder you’re messing with this
stretch.”
    “It’s all I could talk her into, so far,” he added with a
glint in his eyes.
    He looked so handsome, the way his hair fluttered in the
breeze, the way his muscles bunched under his shirt as he packed equipment into
the raft…Wait a minute, she thought.   She didn’t know what they were going in, but it certainly didn’t look
like a raft.
    “What is this thing?”
    “An inflatable kayak, otherwise known as a ducky.”   He didn’t even look up at her.   If he had, he’d have seen her
scowling.   Nothing about this trip
had turned out as expected.  
    “I thought you said we’d be in a raft?”
    “This is a raft.”   He kicked the side with his foot and the sound it made, like a kid
playing kickball at gym class, assured her it had been inflated.   “It doesn’t look like the rafts I’ve
seen on the Powollachee,” she said.
    “Those rafts are for larger groups, three minimum.”   He gave her a devil’s smile as he
stood.   “It’s just you and me,
kid.”   He walked toward her, clasped
her upper arms in his hands, and squeezed reassuringly.   “Duckies are completely safe and very
comfortable, I promise.”
    “Okay, you’re the expert.”
    “That’s right, I am.”   He led her back to the car where he pulled out a wet suit and flotation
device, both of which looked three sizes too small.   “Now, I need you to put these on while I
get the boat ready.”
    Lita held the suit over her arm and wondered where and how
to