Surly Bonds by English Michaels

Author:English Michaels [Michaels, English]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: The Hard Broke Series, Book One
Publisher: English Michaels
Published: 2018-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

“Bet You Gonna Find Some People Who Live”

Camille

The drive was a short one, but gallon jugs of homemade Bloody Marys were passed around with a stack of plastic cups and drained in very short order. The mood was jovial as the buses were unloaded of passengers, coolers, and a few waterproof sacks. Dozens of inner tubes were likewise unloaded from a trailer one bus pulled, and the group began to claim and subsequently load the tubes. Half a dozen of the tubes were specially modified to hold oversized coolers, but the rest were up for grabs. The group surged toward the river as the empty buses pulled away; and Nathan waded into the chilly water, offering me his hand.

The sun was rapidly rising into a clear, azure sky and the temperature climbed accordingly. The Salt River was brisk at the moment, but I knew the water would soon feel soothing as we fought a losing battle with the encroaching Arizona heat. Nate held my tube in place, and I shivered in the thigh-high water. “Jump in quick, Camille. Don’t think about it, just do it!” I squealed like a kid and jumped in. Nathan was right behind me, grabbing my tube and lashing us together with a nylon rope. The river carried us lazily along, and sunshine lit up the lapping current like a million diamonds. The group gradually formed up, forty or so loosely connected oversized tubes, with huge coolers of drinks taking up the middle portion of our floating party. As I surveyed the group, mentally making note of those I knew, the unmistakable sounds of “Rock and Roll Band” by the seventies band Boston boomed from the far side of our floating gaggle. I strained to look toward the sound and was able to make out yet another wildly oversized inner tube contraption, this one painted fuchsia and topped with plywood, with an oddball assortment of speakers, wire, and…was that a car battery? I turned to Nate, mouth agape, and muttered, “What the…”

He burst into laughter. “Yeah, I forgot about that; Coach told me. The LPA’s ‘Unprofessional Engineering Squad’ apparently erected this atrocity about ten years ago for use on the float trips and to demonstrate Scorpion superiority.” He air-quoted “Unprofessional Engineering Squad.” “Every year it undergoes supposed upgrades at the hands of new LPA members, although I’m dubious about the term ‘upgrade’ in this case. This year, I’m told, Rock decided to spray paint the whole business hot pink to draw attention to its ‘finely detailed craftsmanship.’“ A final set of air quotes and Nathan flopped back in his tube, chuckling.

I was impressed. The thing had to be five feet tall and sported a variety of speakers looking like they might have been poached from a junkyard. An air horn and an “Ooo-ga” horn sprouted from the top at a jaunty angle. Still, the sound quality was pretty good. My careful study of this auditory curiosity was interrupted by a strident female voice.

“‘Scuse me…coming through. Coming through.

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