Summer Daze

Saturday morning found the members of Succubus Blush sprawled on the living room floor of Ed and Anita Davis’ Stelton, New Jersey home. Anita was a lovely woman, petite and curvy. The only outward clue to her sixty years of age was the proliferation of silver streaks glinting in her flowing chestnut hair. She moved about her modest kitchen, humming softly while she mixed up a batch of buckwheat pancakes for her children and their friends. She loved it when their band played in Stelton, which they did once a month. She and her husband had raised their children to be free thinkers and to express themselves through art. Jerry and Summer had grown up to do just that and their parents couldn’t have been prouder.

Ed Davis was a tall, lean man in his early sixties with long straight hair that was thinning on top. An aging hippie and staunch anti-establishmentarian, full of conspiracy theories, he was proprietor of the town’s longest running health food store, Davis Organics. He had just showered, shaved, and combed his hair back into a ponytail. He finished dressing in the bedroom he’d shared with the love of his life for the past forty years and began the daily ritual of searching for his keys. Years of premium weed and the acid he’d ingested in his youth had taken their toll. He checked his pockets, the dresser top, and the bathroom vanity with no success.

“Nita!” he yelled, “I’ve lost my keys again!”

Anita stopped cooking and hurried from the kitchen toward the back of the house.

“Nita!”

“Shhhh.” She said softly as she appeared in the doorway, “You’ll wake the kids…did you check the pants you were wearing yesterday?”

“Yes,” he replied at a somewhat lower volume, “if I’m going to close at noon and have a chance to spend some time with the kids, I’ve got to get in to the store early this morning.”

In the living room, band members began to stir. Jarv sat up from the floor in front of the sofa and scratched his head. Kai stretched in the old gold recliner and belched. Andrew rolled over on the couch and farted, just inches from Jarv’s head.

“God damn it Andrew!” he admonished as he smacked the drummer in the head, “What did you eat at that diner last night?”

Andrew sat up and rubbed his eyes as he mumbled, “They had Scottish bread…mmmm, Scottish bread makes me happy…”he leaned to one side and launched another air biscuit in Kai’s direction.

“Oh, dude!” the bassist fanned his face hoping to generate some fresh air, “Scottish bread? What the hell is that? There’s no such thing…”

Johnny opened his eyes and stared blankly from the matching recliner next to the one Kai had slept in. Summer curled up tighter on the loveseat and put a pillow over her head.

Andrew stood up to stretch, “Sure there is…” he began, letting a particularly foul bit of flatulence escape directly in Jarv’s face.

Jarv looked up at him and spat, “Well, Hi-Dee-Diddly-Fuck-YOU!”

Summer threw her pillow at them and dug in the couch cushion by her head. She pulled out a set of keys, sat up, rubbed her cheek where the object had been poking her and shouted, “Dad! Keys!”

Her parents entered the living room. Ed took the keys from his daughter and planted a kiss on top of her head. “Thanks honey.”

“No problem” she replied groggily, “Hey Dad, I forgot to ask yesterday, did you get any more of that gum in at the store?”

“Oh, yeah,” he patted his pockets and looked puzzled, “I knew you’d want it, so I brought some home…Where did I put it?”

Anita retrieved two packages of organic blueberry flavor Glee Gum™ from a side table and handed them to Summer. “Here they are, dear…I’m making pancakes, they’ll be ready soon, anyone hungry?”

“Can’t.” Ed said giving his wife a peck on the cheek, “I have to go take care of Stelton’s health food needs…” and hurried out the door amid a hail of goodbyes.

“Well?” Anita asked, surveying the young people in her living room.

“We’re not hungry, Mom.” Jarv answered.

“Nonsense.” She said, “You could all use a healthy meal…And, no,” she looked straight at Kai with a half smile, “whiskey does not count as a whole grain food.”

Summer joined her mother in the kitchen and chatted with her while she cooked. Then, while the guys were scarfing down pancakes and retiring bloated to various beds and sofas, she went out to the garden and helped her mother weed, water, and harvest.

Anita picked a few choice tomatoes. “So, what’s his name?” she asked her daughter.

“What?” Summer tried not to smile as she looked up at her from the lettuces.

“Don’t be coy.” Her mother answered, “You’ve got a young man. I can see it in your eyes.”

“Bobby.” One word but, when she said it, it sounded like a symphony.

“Is he nice?” Anita didn’t like to pry, but as a mother, she just couldn’t help herself.

“He’s very nice.” Her daughter stated simply.

“Have you?” she didn’t have to finish the question. The Davis’ were very open about human sexuality.

Summer giggled, “Yes.”

“And?”

Her green eyes danced as they looked into their source, “Fan-freakin’-tastic.”

The older woman smiled, “So you think this one might be around for awhile…”

“I hope so.” She replied, turning her attention back to the lettuce.

“What does he do?”

Summer took a deep breath and didn’t look up, “He’s a cop.”

Anita eyed her daughter for a moment before returning to the task of filling her basket with tomatoes, “Well, we won’t tell your father.”