Soul Mates (13 page)

Now he would surely leave her alone. It was almost June, and in that sweet month that birthed the beginning of summer, and let’s face it, summer vacation, the long awaited farewell to Lilith would be delivered to Jim as well. Lilith was finally graduating, a year tardy, but better late than never. She would graduate with Tyler’s class: The pride of 2019.

Yes, he knew there would be no way to prove it to himself, but he was sure that “ardelio” was a message for him to leave his favorite student to be happy with his girlfriend. This was not to be his affair anymore. It was possible that his recent run-in with her, when he had requested Tyler stay after class in order to try and talk some sense into him, occurred on the same day as his dream, and the encounter was a coincidence; because it was on his mind, it followed him to his bed and to Dreamland that night. But again, he was getting too old for this shit, to quote the Lethal Weapon movies. Lilith wanted him to back off, and she would get it. She woul
d
–

“Yo! Earth to Jimmy-James!” the science teacher called.

Jim Colabza broke free from his trance. He was deep in thought for no more than ten seconds, but he felt like had overslept and Russ was his alarm clock breaking his slumber after the second whack of the ‘snooze’ button.

“Yep! Um, sorry Russ; I’ve taken up a lot of your time. Thanks or listening. I’ll talk to you later. Have a good day, alright?” Jim said as he was backing out of the room with every word he spoke.

“Wait a sec. Wha
t–
”

The door closed and Jim was gone.

Chapter 3

The bell rang, bringing the students of Alan B. Shepard High School one step closer to the end of the school day. Tyler and Lilith found the five minutes allotted to get to their next class to be just enough time to make-out at Tyler’s locker and make spectacles of themselves as their peers and classmates hustled to class around them.

“Get a room, you two,” Jayson quipped as he flew by them, clumsily dropping a textbook and kicking it accidently as he reached to pick it up.

In the back of Tyler’s mind, he knew if he was to be on time to his next class that this session of juvenile lip-locking would have to end sooner than later. He conceded that he could be a few seconds late; something that would’ve gotten him into trouble in a real class, but his next class was study hall. 

It was May, and with the exception of prepping for the dreaded Regents Exams, school was winding down, and Tyler, along with 300-plus students, had a wicked case of the not so fabled 
senioritis
.

“So, you’ll meet me and Jayson at the moose in Coopersmith Park tonight?” Lilith asked.

“Sure, but why do you want me to meet you there?”

“Oh, I want it to be surprise,” she concluded with a peck on Ty’s lips. What could he do but chuckle with that boyish juvenile charm, a charm that he still possessed for a little while longer before manhood stepped in and brutishly shoved juvenility out the door?   

The bell rang overhead, not that Lilith cared, but she knew that Tyler still wanted to graduate Alan B. Shepard High School with a positive legacy amongst his teachers. She would allow that small unspoken request, as it would keep him happy.  

“So, midnight at the moose then?” she confirmed.

“Yeah, ok; but why so late?”

“Everything’s more fun during the witching hour! See ya, Ty.” Lilith gave Tyler one more kiss on his mouth, this time, not just a peck, and went her own way, on to her next class, or maybe not; who knew? His eyes remained closed another full second even after she walked away from him. So sweet and intoxicating her kisses were.

“The Moose,” as it was referred to as by town residents was a large bronze statu
e–
now green with generations of patin
a–
which stood in the middle of a small park that was the splitting point of one road (Route 16) into two separate roads: High Country Road and Felicity Avenue. High Country Road brought you to the next town west (King’s Point), and Felicity Avenue brought you to a residential neighborhood within town limits, where the high school was also located. The “park” in which the statue stood on on a six-foot high marble plinth, was not much of a park at all. In fact, you could barely fit a one-thousand square-foot home within its confines, and if you did, there wouldn’t be enough room for much else. No, there was room in the park for the statue, a beautiful surrounding garden filled with a variety of colored roses, a row of Burning Bushes, and two benches, one on either side of the statue, all of which were somewhat tarnished by the railroad trestle which loomed overhead.

The legend of the moose comes from Alan “Moose” Coopersmith, the man who founded this smaller New York town or hamlet as it were.

Alan Coopersmith, a traveler and card player, had been tagged with the nickname “Moose” because of his intimidating size. He was 6’4” and had arms as thick and solid as tree trunks. Legends of Coopersmith boast that in a ditch effort to fend off a wild dog he had encountered in his travels, he uprooted a Burning Bush with his bare hands, which he then used to swing at the vicious cur in self-defense and self-preservation. Coopersmith had taken it upon himself to leave his small fishing village, Cape Ann, after he had gotten wind of preposterous rumors. These tall-tales spoke of his involvement in witchcraft, and they circulated the village due to some peculiar behavior he was exhibiting for a period of approximately two weeks, unbeknownst to himself. Rather than attempt to explain the peculiar behavior he wasn’t even aware of demonstrating, he decided to leave Cape Ann behind in the quiet shroud of night. Centuries later, scientists concluded that Coopersmith, as well as many other falsely accused “witches” of the period, were infected by encephalitis lethargica. This is a disease that can be carried by mosquitos and insects found in boggy areas that causes erratic behavior which includes hallucinations, irritability, etc. In other words, behavior indicative of what was then believed to be witchcraft.  

Coopersmith traveled from the Massachusetts Bay Colony, in the 1600’s, south until he came upon a large plantation of a wealthy land owner named Francis Von Tressor. By this time, Coopersmith had been on the road for nearly a month and the supplies he had taken with him for his seemingly aimless journey were beginning to run scarce. He introduced himself to Von Tressor, who was quick to hire him as a farmhand because of his imposing and capable stature. Coopersmith stayed with Von Tressor for nearly six months, the whole time befriending him and establishing a rapport, until Von Tressor began inviting him to card games that he would hold at the main house of his plantation twice a month.

It was at one of these card games that Coopersmith won the deed to some land down in New York from a land owner from Boston who was too drunk to see his cards straight and keep his head above water until he foolishly overextended himself. Coopersmith promised that either more money or some type of barter would be arranged to make up the deficit if the Boston land owner was to walk off of the Von Tressor Plantation with both of his arms intact. The land deed was the compromise. Soon after Coopersmith’s windfall, he traveled farther south until he presumably and metaphorically planted his flag where the moose statue is still erected today. That was where the three friends would rendezvous that night…during the witching hour.

Chapter 4

Jayson and Lilith sat together on one of the benches which flanked the moose statue.

“Oh man, this is gonna be fucking hilarious! I always wanted to be part of a senior prank! What time is it? You look real pretty by th
e–
”

“It’s 11:57. Keep your voice down, Jayson! If we get caught before we can do anything I’m gonna kill you. Understand me?”

“Excuse 
me
 all over the place. Jeez.” Jayson assumed Lilith’s threat was just a euphemism, but his face said he wasn’t so sure. He shut up as he stared across the street at the closed down gentleman’s club.

“Ah, 
there
 he is.”

Tyler was on the opposite side of the road, the Felicity Avenue side. He looked both ways on the vacant road before he trotted over to meet Lilith and Jayson. He kissed his girlfriend ‘hello’ despite his friend’s covetous eye-rolling. Jayson was holding one of the plastic shopping bags his mother had an abundance of in their pantry from Fresh Stop Groceries. The shopping bag drooped with sluggish weight.

“What’s in the bag? Your infantile genitalia?” Tyler joked as he lightly smacked his friend’s shoulder.

“Funny, asshole. It’s spray-paint,” Jayson explained holding the bag up as he did so, as if Tyler could see through the white plastic.

“Why do you have spray paint?” Tyler asked.

“It’s part of our senior prank that we’re gonna pull,” Lilith interjected.

“I don’t know. Remember the last senior prank when Chris Brush and Frank Loccaro got caught after they moved all of the textbooks in the faculty supply room into the faculty bathroom?”

“Yeah! Yeah! And they made a big oak-tag sign and leaned it up against the pile of books that said ‘REEDING MATERIAL FOR THE SHITTER.’ Reading spelled with two E’s, the dumb fucks.”

“Yeah,” Tyler laughed. “That’s how the shitheads got caught. Mr. Nolan was Chris Brush’s English teacher and recognized that idiotic spelling mistake that Chris had 
always
 made. That got them into the principal’s office, and then they copped to it shortly after that,” Tyler chortled through the entire story. When it came time to reveal the consequences, Ty’s laughter dissipated very quickly. “They couldn’t attend graduation and they ended up getting left back a year.”

“They can’t do that, can they?” Jayson suddenly chimed in with an air of trepidation.

“They can’t hold you back if you have all the credits to graduate, you morons. There has to be more to that story that you aren’t aware of,” Lilith explained. “So, are we doing this, or what? Ty, it’ll be fine, trust me.”

“I don’t even know what you 
planned
. What’s the prank?”

“We’re gonna spray-paint the moose’s pecker black, giving him a nice giant black moose-cock,” Jayson elucidated.

Tyler stood there and stared at his friend and girlfriend for a few moments and then, when he couldn’t contain it any longer, belched out a volley of laughter into the crook of his arm. Jayson and Lilith looked at each other and smiled before turning back to enjoy watching Tyler laugh it up.

“I think he’s in,” Jayson concluded.

“Guys, it’s hilarious, it is,“ his laughter beginning to trail off, “but I am 
not
 spray-painting the Coopersmith Moose’s dick.”

“We’re gonna be fine, trust me,” Lilith assured him.

“Why do you want 
me
 to do it? Why not Jayson?”

“Fine, 
I
 will do it,” Jayson triumphed.

Lilith looked at Tyler and gave that signature indifferent shoulder shrug of hers. This time, that shoulder shrug said, “Who has the infantile genitalia now, Ty?” It wasn’t only what her shrug said, it was what her eyes screamed with certainty.

He had been through this before with Lilith. Well, not this particular scenario per se, but he had disappointed her before…and Tyler hated to disappoint. The result, if he didn’t concede after the “evil-eyes” were deployed? Perpetual annoying silence followed by an unexpected and abrupt sexual anorexia. The physical playtime they both enjoyed was great, not only was she the prettiest girl he had ever laid eyes on up until this point in his young life, but he was also one of the few of his peers who were sexually active, period. With that came a sense of pride and bragging right
s–
if Tyler were the type to brag, which he wasn’t. It would just be easier to do this little thing to appease her. After all, she said it’d be fine, and when was she ever wrong?  

“Give me the can. You both better keep a look-out though. I’m serious!” 

Game-set-match, check-mate, ballgame over.

Jayson emphatically opened the bag and removed the spray can, and thus, his responsibility if things went sour.

Lilith’s scowl immediately morphed into a smile.