Mental Games - 25. Answers

George and Rita had to go to work the next day and turned in fairly early. That left the boys to entertain themselves, so after watching a program on TV, they went up to Adam's room and started to get a little frisky. This led to them making love to each other again, to make up for the long dry spell they'd undergone while being apart.

By the time Adam and Mike got up the following day, George and Rita had already left for work. This left the boys free to run a few errands. When they got back to the house again later, Adam hopped online and went directly to the website he needed. Once he was connected to its secure link, he ordered the item he was looking for and arranged to have it delivered to the house. It was scheduled to arrive in plenty of time before they left for the lake, so things were working out quite well.

The time the boys spent with Adam’s parents seemed to fly by fairly quickly. They did many things together, including going to see a couple of movies and attending a local theater production of 'Avenue Q'. They also had a couple of cookouts in the backyard and spent time at a local park attending a Dixieland concert. Mike and Adam were content enjoying the hours they spent doing these simple activities, because their big summer plan was to spend two weeks at the lake with their parents and the Kritzers. They were definitely looking forward to seeing Jack, Megan, Jim and Melinda again.

The package Adam had ordered arrived in plenty of time before they left. Since it came in a box about the size of a footlocker, George and Rita's curiosity got the better of them and they wanted to know what it contained. After Adam explained it all to them, they seemed satisfied and didn’t ask any more questions about it. Adam, however, felt that there was something else he needed to bring to their attention.

“I’ve decided to drive my car to the lake this year." he announced one night at dinner. "Mike and I will follow behind the van, so we will still travel together as a group.”

“But why do you want to take your car, dear?” his mother wondered. “Your father is renting the van again so we can all ride together in the same vehicle.”

“First of all, I don’t think everything is going to fit in the van this time,” Adam responded. “We are all going to be taking much more with us this year, since we’ll be staying at the lake for two weeks, instead of just one. You also said that you and Judy were going to be taking most of the groceries with you this time, so you'll only have to buy the perishables there. If you do that, won’t the groceries take up quite a bit of space too?”

“Yes, that’s true, but we feel we need to do it this way,” she replied. “The grocery store near the lake was just too expensive, so this will work out better for us. They had beautiful meat and produce though, so we'll buy those things there, and it will be less of a hassle than trying to keep them fresh during the long drive.”

“I understand, but the additional groceries and the package I just got, are going to take up quite a bit of space in the van as well," Adam reasoned. “You also mentioned that you wanted to take some other items along as well, so I think all of those different things are going to fill up the van and it would be kind of cramped inside with six of us trying to fit in there as well. Besides, I told you about the other thing I wanted to do while we were with the Kritzers, so I’d feel better if I had my car to use to do that.”

“All right, if that’s what you want to do,” she relented.

George didn't seem to have a problem with his son's proposal, possibly because he'd already come to the same conclusion that Adam had just stated so well. He realized they would be taking much more with them this time, so having two vehicles would probably work out best.

Mike’s parents arrived around 4:00 on Friday, so now everything was set for their summer vacation to begin. After warmly greeting each other, they all sat down and talked for a while first, before moving the luggage and other items from the Bermans’ car to the van. This didn't take very long and the boys were pleased to note that Mike's parents seemed to be as eager about going on this trip as the rest of them. Once the van was loaded with all of their gear and ready for an early morning departure, Dave and Judy carried a small travel bag inside and then freshened up quickly, so they could go to a restaurant for dinner.

Rita had decided it would work out best if they ate out, since she didn’t want to cook, clean up the mess afterward or worry about leftovers. They’d also be going out for breakfast in the morning, before setting out for the lake.

The two families had a lovely meal together, with plenty of good food and stimulating conversation. The boys even took time to explain a few things to Mike’s parents that they didn’t know about yet. As soon as that discussion had ended, Dave and Judy filled everyone else in about some information they were unaware of. By the time they had finished eating, they all had a lot to digest, both with the food and the additional information.

After they returned to the Washburn’s house, everyone hurriedly turned in for the night, because they were going to be getting up early. They were all excited and looking forward to this trip, each in his own way, so they experienced varying degrees of difficulty falling asleep.

When they woke up later, everyone got ready quickly and then they drove over to I.H.O.P. for breakfast. After finishing their meal, they set out for the lake, with George and Adam driving their respective vehicles.

The boys enthusiastically chatted about many things as they rode along, which included making plans for what they wanted to do once they got to the lake. After stopping at the same diner as on their first trip to the lake, they changed drivers and continued on until they reached the store where they were going to pick up the perishable items. Once they had parked their vehicles, Dave had an idea.

“Look, we don’t all need to do this, so maybe we can speed the process up a bit,” he stated, while looking from one face to another. “Mike and Adam, do you remember where we picked up the key for the cabin?”

“Yes, it was at the real estate place, wasn’t it?” Adam countered.

“Yes, it was,” Dave confirmed. “Do you think you’ll be able to pick the key up for us and then find your way to the lake from there?”

“Of course. No problem,” Adam eagerly agreed.

“Then you can do that and open up the cabin, while we’re picking up the rest of the supplies,” Dave told him. “We’ll meet you there in a little while.”

Now that they had their parents' permission, Adam and Mike hopped back in the car and took off. When they reached the real estate agency to pick up the key, however, the person working in the office was hesitant about giving it to them at first. Eventually, she made each of the boys show his driver's license and then she photocopied them, before handing them the key. Once they had it, they raced out to the car and started the engine.

"She certainly wasn't very trusting," Mike observed, once they were ready to take off. "Why didn't you just use your power with her?"

"She was only doing her job," Adam observed. "They've probably had problems like that in the past, so she was just being cautious. If she didn't agree to give us the key eventually, then I would have used my ability on her."

Once that had been cleared up, the boys drove the rest of the way to the cabin. No one was around when they first got there and the place looked totally deserted. Their parents hadn’t showed up yet and the Kritzers weren't around either. Undeterred, Adam unlocked the cabin door and gave the place a quick once over. Then, he and Mike carried the gear from his car inside and put it away. They took the same room that they’d shared the year before, since they felt their parents would want to do the same.

When the van pulled in a little while later, the boys went outside to help unload those things and put them away. When they finished, their parents suggested they should all change and go for a swim, so they could cool off, but the boys had other ideas. They were anxious to see what they could find out about what had occurred the previous summer and opted to go for a hike instead.

“The four of you can go ahead and swim if you want and we’ll join you a little later,” Mike told the others. “We want to take a hike on one of the trails first, so we can get some exercise and work the kinks out of our muscles.”

“Won’t being in the water do the same thing for you?” his mother challenged.

“It might, but we feel it will work out best if we do both,” Mike countered, since he wasn't sure if he wanted to disclose the real reason for the hike.

"And that way we can also wash away the sweat from hiking while we're swimming," Adam added to support Mike's position.

Although their parents were confused by their sons’ logic, they didn’t argue with the boys. A few minutes later, Mike and Adam were following the trail they had been on last year before they had veered off and run into the guys with the guns. They had nearly reached the point where they'd left the trail to follow the deer when they noticed someone walking toward them. At first they began to panic, thinking it might be someone else from the drug group, but then they noticed it was merely a teenager wearing swim trunks, t-shirt and carrying a towel.

“Hi, are you staying at the lake?” Adam asked, once they got a little closer.

“Nah, I live back there,” the boy responded, while pointing in the direction he’d just come. “I’m going to the lake to swim for a while though.”

“Neat! We’re going to be staying at one of the cabins there for a couple of weeks. I’m Adam and this is my friend, Mike. What’s you’re name?”

“Paul,” the boy replied, while eyeing the boys suspiciously.

"Nice to meet you, Paul," Adam followed. “Just curious, but how old are you? We're both in our mid-twenties and currently in college.”

“I'm fourteen and will be starting high school in the fall,” Paul answered.

“Since you live around here, you must know about the things that went down in the area last summer,” Adam added.

‘Please tell us everything you know about those things,’ Adam mentally urged. ‘Be honest and tell us as much as you can.’

“Do you mean about the big drug bust?” Paul countered, as his eyes opened a little wider.

“Yes, that’s one of the things we were curious about,” Adam confirmed.

“Ok, sure," Paul agreed. "The guys the cops busted had rented the farm just down the road from ours. My parents and I always thought there was something a little strange about them though, so it didn't surprise us when it turned out they were up to no good.”

“Why did you think something was a little strange about them?” Mike wondered.

“Because it was just a bunch of guys and there were no women with them,” the boy replied. “They were at the farm for quite a few months too, but we hardly ever saw them around. It just seemed odd that they were there for so long, but didn't spend much time outdoors and never brought any females out to join them.”

“Ah, I see,” Mike agreed. “So how did they get caught?”

“We heard it was because they fired their assault rifles at a bear or something like that,” Paul answered. “Someone must have reported the gunshots, because a helicopter flew over the area a day or two after that. I guess the pilot must have spotted something suspicious, because a whole bunch of feds and state police showed up a few days later and raided the place.”

“Wow, that must have been exciting and frightening at the same time,” Mike stated.

“Yeah, it was kinda crazy,” Paul confessed. “There was a lot of shooting at first, which worried us some, but then the guys in the house finally surrendered. My dad said it was because they were making meth in the house, so the place was filled with chemicals and other crap that could have exploded. The whole house was like a big bomb and almost anything could have set off.”

“Damn, that must have been scary,” Mike confirmed. “What about the kid that went missing? The one the cops were looking for.”

“Oh, that was nothing,” Paul replied. “I heard he'd been staying with some relatives and got into an argument with one of his cousins. He got mad and took off, but when he didn’t return by dark everyone got scared. It turned out he didn’t know the area very well and fell down a pretty steep bank. He broke his leg and got stuck there overnight.”

“That must have scared the crap out of him,” Adam commented.

“Yeah, probably, since he was a city boy,” Paul confirmed. “I guess they sent search parties out looking for him the next day and he yelled out when he heard someone calling his name.”

“He was lucky he made it through the night,” Mike offered.

“I guess,” Paul half-heartedly agreed. “It was pretty warm out, so he didn’t have to worry about freezing or nothin’ like that. There aren’t any real dangerous animals that hunt at night around here either, like wolves, so he wasn’t too bad off, as long as he wasn't scared of the dark.”

“Yeah, but he was still probably frightened and hungry, but I'm glad they found him alive,” Adam responded. “Look, I think that just about covers everything we were coming out here to check on, so we’ll walk back to the lake with you, if you don't mind. We’re going to go swimming too, if you want to join us.”

“Yeah, sure,” Paul agreed. “So you’re renting a cabin?”

“Our parents are and we’re on vacation with them,” Adam confirmed. “There will be a boy staying at the cabin next to ours that's just about your age and he might even be there by the time we get back. He and his sister will probably join us for a swim too.”

“Sounds good. Let’s go then,” Paul confirmed.

The boys walked back down the trail and quickly reached the lake. Their parents had obviously gotten out of the water for a while, since Mike and Adam saw them talking to the Kritzers and helping them unload their vehicle. Jack and Megan spotted Mike and Adam first and charged out in their direction to say hello.

“Mike. Adam. We’re so happy to see you again,” Megan shouted as she drew near.

“We wondered where you were,” Jack added. “Who’s the boy with you?”

“Megan and Jack, this is Paul,” Adam offered, introducing them. “Paul, this is Jack and Megan. Paul is 14, so you’re pretty close in age.”

“Yeah, I’m 13 and Megan is 11,” Jack agreed, while talking to Paul. “Are you staying at the lake too? If you are, maybe we can hang out sometime.”

“Nah, I live at the other end of this trail and just come over here to swim once in a while,” Paul told him. “We could hang out though, whenever I’m around.”

Jack was nodding eagerly at Paul's offer. While they were talking, Adam noticed that Jack had filled out a bit since he'd last seen him and grown and inch or so too. He certainly looked more mature this summer, as did Megan. If he didn't know better, Adam would have definitely thought she was older than eleven. In fact, she seemed to have breasts this year too, so maybe she'd already hit puberty.

“Look, we’ve got to change to go swimming,” Mike told Paul. “If you want, you can either hang out on the dock or you can swim until we’re ready to join you.”

“Jack and I need to change too,” Megan offered.

“Yeah, ok,” Paul agreed, as the rest of them walked toward their cabins.

Once Mike and Adam changed, Adam grabbed the package he had purchased previously and carried it over to the Kritzers’ cabin. After exchanging greetings with them, Adam handed Jim the carrying case it came in.

“What’s this?” Jim asked, looking surprised.

“It’s something to help your wife,” Adam replied. “It’s a Landeez wheelchair, which is supposed to travel easily over any terrain, due to its wide, oversized wheels. I saw how you struggled with her in the wheelchair last year when it wasn’t on a flat, hard surface, so this will allow Melinda to join the rest of us more often. I hear it’s easy to put together and take apart, and you can see it fits into this carrying bag when not in use. Once it's broken down, you can pack it away and store it in the trunk of your car until you need it.”

Seeing Jack and Megan were ready and anxious to go down to the lake, Adam told Mike to take them and he’d join them shortly. Jack and Megan were hesitant about leaving without Adam at first, but he insisted, so the kids agreed to go with Mike. Adam had previously explained about this gift to both sets of parents, so they just sat back and watched what was going on. Mike and the kids were just leaving when Jim finished inspecting the contents of the bag.

“I’ve seen ads for these before, so I know this wasn't cheap!” Jim stated. “How could you possibly afford it?”

“I got help from some of the more generous donors at Johns Hopkins University, where I attend med school,” Adam replied. “I just explained the situation to a few of them and each one chipped in and paid part of the cost. They've all got plenty of money and can afford it, so don’t worry about it.”

After Adam explained this, he helped Jim put the wheelchair together. Then, they gave Melinda a chance to check it out, since she looked sort of skeptical.

“Someone will still have to push me though, won’t they?” she wondered. "I don't see a motor or battery to make it go on its own."

“Yes, but it should be easy enough so even Megan will be able to push it too,” Adam answered. “You’ll be able to go out on the trails with us now and this can even be pushed into the lake, so you can enjoy the water too. Once you get it home, you'll be able to use it to go to the park with your family, follow your kids when they play sports or do just about anything else you can think of. You can leave this at the foot of the steps leading down from the porch while you're here and keep your other wheelchair up here. Your husband can just carry you from one to the other whenever we’re outside.”

A big smile suddenly formed on Melinda's lips, once she realized how much more this would permit her to do, and it wasn’t just for while she was at the lake either. Since it was hers to take home afterward, it would give her the freedom to do things with her children that she’d been unable to do in the past.

“Thank you so much,” she stated, in her normal weak, halting voice. “This means so much to me.”

“You’re welcome and it means a lot to us too,” Adam confessed. “We wanted you to be able to get more involved in what your kids were doing, so now you’ll be able to do that.”

Jim thanked Adam too and then Adam took the Landeez wheelchair out on the porch and down the steps, as Mr. Kritzer wheeled his wife out behind him in her regular wheelchair. As soon as he set the brake, he picked his wife up, carried her down the three steps and placed her in her new ride. She was absolutely glowing as she got used to it.

“It feels good too,” she announced, once she’d been in it for a short time.

Her husband then wheeled her down to the dock so she could watch her children swim. At the same time, Adam joined Mike and the kids in the water.

“You gave that to our mom?” Jack asked, totally amazed.

“Yes, and it will allow her to go almost anywhere now,” Adam confirmed.

“What’s wrong with your mom?” Paul blurted out, since no one had told him why she was in the wheelchair.

“She has M.S.,” Jack announced, slightly embarrassed by the way the question had been posed.

“It’s a disease that effects her muscles, so she can no longer walk,” Adam added, hoping his explanation would suffice.

“I’m sorry,” Paul responded. “That must really suck for all of you.”

This statement seemed to placate Jack slightly, since he realized Paul had just been curious and not making fun of his mother. Now that it had been explained, the younger group began to swim about and enjoy themselves.

Melinda was also enjoying her new freedom and got a thrill out of watching her children swim. This year she would be able to do it up close and personal, instead of from the porch of the cabin or the picnic table located next to it, since it was chained to the porch to keep others from stealing it. This small change and getting closer helped her to better appreciate how well her children were doing.

From that point on, things went really well. Jack and Megan seemed to hit it off with Paul and the three stayed in the water with Mike and Adam, even after the adults wandered away for a short walk on the grass. It appeared that Jim was using the time to get a feel for the new wheelchair and seeing how it handled and what it could do. It was also nice to see his wife joking around and having fun with the others while they were doing this.

Later, after Mike and Adam’s mothers had gone to the cabin to fix dinner, Paul went home as well. He told Jack and Megan that he’d come back again, but he couldn’t do it every day. They told him that was fine and they would hang out with him whenever he could join them.

Before everyone else disappeared into the cabins, George and Dave told the Kritzers that they were invited to join them for a barbeque the following day for lunch. The men had even brought a charcoal grill with them for this purpose, so they could cook outside. They thought the grill provided at the cabin was too small, disgustingly dirty and even slightly rusted, so they brought their own instead. The Kritzers said they would love to join them and accepted the offer without hesitation, so everything was set.