The Summer Job - 31. Trauma, Tacos and Shorts that make your Booty Cute

Of course the news broke for commercials and tried to sell Pepsi, Cadillacs and toothpaste.

Breaking the awkward silence Casey said, “I’m going to have dinner ready in about five minutes.”

Phillip said, “Thanks Casey. It smells awesome.”

Billy Jackson stood up, hugged Phillip and said, “I’m going to help in the kitchen.”

Phillip put his arms around Mikie and Randy and said, “Thank you guys. Now you all know what happened in Newport News and, I didn’t have to tell the story two hundred times.”

Randy shifted nervously and said, “Jesus Phillip. If that had happened to me, I would have been a basket case. Is there anything we can do?”

Phillip said, “Believe me, I was for a while. In those last few months of school, I was pretty much a zombie. I saw a counselor, and they had me on anti-depressants for a while. I had other friends besides Javier but, he was more like family. As for the anything to do part, you are doing it just by being here.”

Mikie asked, “How do you live through something like that?”

Phillip said, “I don’t even know. I was sick with the flu when it happened. At first, I didn’t believe it. They wouldn’t let us see the bodies. Next I was seriously pissed that Javier would go anywhere without me. Then... I asked God if I could trade places with Javier but, God doesn’t make those kinds of deals. For a while, all I could or wanted to do was just sleep. They told me I was depressed and gave me Zoloft. Slowly, little by little, life goes on even if you aren’t sure that it can. The best thing for me was the move, a new start and getting the job at the Y. I got a hard lesson on how fast and brutal life can be.”

Kelly said, “Everything that’s happened to you, and you come to the Y every day with never a cross word for anybody? Holy shit Phillip: You’ve got to be made out of stainless steel. I’ve got mad respect for you dude.”

Phillip chuckled, “Oh, I can assure you. There were times when I had a lot of rust and maybe even some barnacles but, I had Dad, Reverend Perez and a few friends, and they wouldn’t let me quit.”

Andy Larkin said, “Is that why you are so good at listening?”

“I don’t know”, Phillip said with a shrug. “Maybe, but I think it was more about Javier and his dad’s influence. I don’t know exactly how to explain it but, I think I got more empathetic. I was around them since I was a little. They weren’t the sort of people to hide their feelings. I learned a lot from them.”

Bryan put his arm around Andy’s shoulder and said, “I don’t care how you do it, but thanks. Having Andy back has been totally cool.”

“I can’t take credit for that”, Phillip said while standing. “Andy was ready to try something different. I just told him what I did. I’m going to have a look in the kitchen. Why don’t you guys wash up? I think Casey is about ready.”

Phillip was surprised at the smells coming from the kitchen: they were a mixture of things and all of them were good. Casey had arranged things so the counter was set up to build tacos. The new stock pot was on the stove happily bubbling away smelling of tomato, onions, garlic and basil.

Casey was pouring tea into a big pitcher when Phillip arrived and said, “I think we’re ready. Why don’t you fix a plate?”

Phillip didn’t have to be asked twice. He washed up in the sink, grabbed a Styrofoam plate and began building two tacos: one with a crunchy shell, the other with a soft tortilla.

The taco meat came first and, it had cooked onions and peppers in it. Next was shredded cheese, salsa, Mexican rice, refried beans, sautéed Jalapeño peppers, shredded lettuce and chopped tomato. Phillip sat at the kitchen table and Billy handed him a glass of iced tea.

As he got settled, the rest of the boys arrived and began building their own tacos. He took one bite and realized: he had been to many Mexican restaurants, but none were this good.

Phillip spoke up, “We need to thank Billy for the idea and Casey for the execution. These have to be the best tacos I’ve ever had.”

Both boys blushed a little at the attention, but Casey wasn’t done. He set down a bowl of salsa and another with melted queso cheese with green onions and Chorizo sausage in the middle of the table.

Andy asked, “What is in the big pot?”

Casey said, “It’s the sauce for the lasagna I’m making, so we’ll have it for the weekend.”

Billy crunched a taco and said, “If it is as good as the tacos, it’ll be a knockout.”

Kelly chuckled and said, “I thought my Mom was good in the kitchen, but she takes lessons from Casey.”

“I enjoy cooking. It’s fun to make something good for the people I like”, Casey said with a blush.

Kelly said, “I thought you hated everybody.”

“Not you guys.”

From Casey that was practically a glowing gush of affection.

After supper was done and the kitchen was clean, Phillip went out to his car and retrieved the packages that contained his crew’s uniforms. He brought them inside and had a huddle with Mikie, Randy, Kelly and Casey around the kitchen table. He split up the shorts and shirts into five sets, and they all got three shorts and three shirts.

Mikie asked, “Why did you pick Adidas shorts?”

Kelly said, “Because they make our booties look cute, duh!”

Phillip grinned and said, “None of you need any help with that. It’s a nice fringe benefit but, the real reason is they are the right color, a material that won’t fade quickly and, they had the virtue of being on sale.”

Mikie, never one to be shy, slipped out of his shirt and shorts right in the kitchen and donned the new uniform. He turned around and said, “How does it look?”

Phillip said, “It’s just a basic uniform but, there’ll be five cute guys in them.”

Randy patted Mikie’s behind and quipped, “It doesn’t hurt your cute booty one bit.”

Phillip’s friends continued to trickle in ones and twos on bikes. They were amazed to find such good tacos in the kitchen.

Phillip had to spend some time talking and texting to people on his phone.

Billy’s Mom called when she finally got home from the shop. She was tickled pink that Phillip had him. Phillip got the idea from talking to her, she wouldn’t mind if he kept Billy for a while. Every parent needs a day or two off.

Scotty Cross’s Mom called and talked to Philip for a few minutes. She was stunned to discover that puberty had visited her eleven-year-old. She was delighted that Scotty had someone to talk to about icky boy stuff, and would send thirty bucks the next day for Phillip to buy him the required accessories.

Marcus sent a text. His Mom had been impressed with Phillip on television. She was all for the Green boys spending their days at the Y.

Seth and David showed up about seven-thirty and their Grandmother summoned Phillip out to her Chevy Tahoe. She hugged him like a long-lost Grandson and said, “I saw you on the news tonight. If you ever need a Granny hug, you know where to find one.”

Granny Wanda left a stunned Phillip standing at the curb with a coconut pie in one hand and a chocolate pie in the other. She was absolutely delighted her boys were in good hands and, she would have a long weekend until their return Monday afternoon.

Just as Granny Wanda drove off, Bobby and Ronny Curtis rolled up on bikes.

Bobby (or was it Ronny?) said, “Dad saw you on TV and likes you.”

The other twin added, “He let us come over till eleven and, we can spend the night tomorrow.”

Phillip said, “There are a couple of guys here I know you want to see.” Phillip stashed the twins in the pool house and let Kelly and Casey know where they were with the admonition that they be sure to have a big towel.

Phillip guided Seth and David to the room they would share with Billy, Seth whispered to Phillip, “What are the Curtis twins doing here?”

“Skinny dipping.”

Seth said, “They’re really nice kids and go to church a lot. I thought they were like super straight.”

Phillip grinned, put a finger too his lips and replied, “Maybe not that super. You’ll have to talk to them. You know I don’t break confidences.”

David set his bag by the bed and said, “Last semester the same people that were pushing us around did the same stuff to them.”

“They’re staying over tomorrow night”, Phillip offered. “Maybe we’ll have a chance to talk. By the way, I’m filling in for Coach Hanson tomorrow. I’ve got an idea I want to run by you two...”

The night was busy with friends and well-wishers but finally quieted down about dark. Phillip had to give up trying to keep up with the flood of texts, calls and emails that bombarded his phone.

It was finally time for some skinny dipping. He closed his garage, turned off the lights and his friends gathered for a romp in the pool.

The water was still warm from the heat of the day, the air pleasantly cool and even people used to swimming in Speedo found swimming naked liberating.

It was the first time for several of the guys: the Curtis twins, Kelly, Casey and Andy. It was dark and no one at all cared about boner sharks lurked lurking beneath.

Phillip made a point to get to know the Curtis twins. They really were two very nice boys— soft-spoken, shy and perhaps a little timid, but they seemed to warm up fast in friendly company. Phillip got naked hugs in the dark from the twins for helping them and their boyfriends get together. The Curtis twins were also intrigued by the idea of Phillip, Casey and Kelly showing up in their father’s church Sunday morning.

When it got to be about ten, Phillip warned everyone that they had an early morning. They would be going in early again because they had two new guys and had to be ready for team practice at eight.

Seth, David and Billy crashed in their room while Kelly, Casey, Mikie and Randy settled in Phillip’s room. Phillip went to the younger boys room and hugged them all good night and went to sleep between Mikie and Randy as usual.