The Waterpark Mom - August 15 1:15 PM Waiting for Lunch Part II

August 15 1:15 PM Waiting for Lunch Part II

   Part I

“Bok. Bok,” Beast says.

“You want a sandwich?” Marianne asks.

The sparkling pool disappears.  There is only a napkin sized screened in porch.  Across a couple of lawns from Marianne’s house there are larger homes, the closest swimming pool looks as if it belongs in some worldly place you might go to on vacation the way it is all decked out with rafts floating in the water, big fat cushions on all the furniture, and pretty flowering plants around the whole thing.

“His wife got the animal floats on sale,” Marianne says.

And for a few moments we both stare out at the grandeur on the other side.  A couple of hanging ferns dangle over our heads, and we forget they are dead.

“Why all those floats?” I ask.

Marianne shrugs. 

“Maybe we squeeze a hot tub out here?”  I look at the loungers. 

She pushes the flimsy table and moves it a few inches.  “Doesn’t matter; that weekend isn’t good for any of my friends.”

I don’t know what weekend she’s talking about, why we can’t get a hot tub, and I almost ask why her new boyfriend won’t chip in for one, but I get a whiff of something good.  My stomach growls.

“Smells like barbecue.”  And for a moment both of us breathe in hamburgers and hotdogs.  I start to look around for where it’s coming from.  But the backyards around Marianne’s are all quiet.    

“Are you finally ready for lunch?”  She asks.