Surf and Turf Poolside

Sharon wakes Jack by stretching out on the bed and yawning. He looks over at her, “Morning sleepy head.”

She smiles at him, “Mornin’ lover boy. Now get out of my way before I piss the bed.”

He slides out of bed and gives her a hand up, wincing as his sciatic nerve sends a jolt of pain up his back, “Fuckin’ Chuck!”

She gives him a concerned look, “How bad is it?”

Washing down three Tylenol with yesterday’s coffee he mumbles, “It’s a lot better, but still hurts.”

“Well at least it’s healing, I was worried about you Jacky.”

“Thanks Sharon, don’t tell anyone else but so was I.”

As they walk to the barn nude Sharon frowns at the scars lining Jack’s back and ass. While Sharon uses the commode Jack heads straight into the shower.

Joining him in the shower she traces his scars, “Jacky where did these come from?”

He sighs, “This is one of the reasons I never felt safe at home. But hey, I have the van now, and soon I will have a house next to the junk yard.”

She gives him a big hug from behind, and he stiffens, “Please warn me next time.”

As she holds him he slowly relaxes, “Sorry Jacky, I just needed to give you a hug.”

“I’m still getting used to this stuff, be careful and go slow.”

After their shower they put on their bathing suits, and load the ice chest in the trunk of the Wildcat. Jack grabs a bag of ripe avocados, and they head off to Food King for sour cream, salsa and chips. On the way they stop at Jack’s parents house, while they are at church, so he can pluck a bag full of avocados from the tree.

At Lee’s they haul the ice chest to the back deck, before Jack heads inside to make a batch of guacamole. Lee shakes his head, “I swear, you want us all shitting green.”

Sharon blushes and laughs, “That’s funny. You don’t have to eat it.”

Lee glares at her, “Are you shitting me? Jack makes some really good guac for a bonehead!”

Jack grins as he puts the seeds in a bag, “Hopefully I can get a few trees growing after Fred builds my house.”

Kris nudges Mal, “Will you look at that? He actually thought something through.”

Mal laughs, “Too bad he didn’t think before they ran off to Mexico without letting anyone know.”

Jack flips them all off, “You know I love my avocados and guac!”

Sharon grins back, “We know.” Looking around she announces, “Did Jack tell you my shark weighed in at six hundred and sixty six pounds? One of the deck hands called it a devil.”

This gets everyone laughing as N.I.B. by Black Sabbath starts on the radio.

Mal points at the radio, “That’s some spooky shit right there!”

Kris laughs, “I’ll protect you Mal.”

Greg laughs, “But who’s going to protect you Kris?”

Outside everyone piles into the pool to have fun. We all stop messing around when the new Joan Jett song Do You Wanna Touch Me There starts playing. Kris and Mal get all into the song with Mal pointing to various body parts during the chorus, Kris yells out the oh yeah part. Sharon blushes watching them.

Jack wraps his arms around Sharon from behind, “Let’s go body surfing.”

Sharon blushes and giggles, “We wouldn’t have been able to do that if the crew had been with us.”

“Ah fuck, I didn’t think about that. We’ll have to figure out another time to go to Mexico without them.”

“Yes we will lover boy.”

Jack grins as he swims over to Mal and dunks her. She dives down, grabs his legs and pulls him under. When she lets go he swims to the side grimacing in pain.

Kris notices and swims over to him, “Jack, are you okay?”

He shakes his head and works his way towards the steps, “I deserved that, but fuck, it hurt.”

Lee scrambles out of the pool and extends a hand, “Let’s get you somewhere comfortable.”

Jack shakes his head as he sits on the steps, “Just give me a few minutes, I’ll be fine.”

Bugsy swims over, “Bullshit! That’s what I said when my chain almost took my foot off.”

Jack shoos them all away, “Just give me some room, I’m okay.”

Sharon sits next to him, “Take your time Jacky, do you need anything?”

“A beer and painkillers would be nice.”

Mal gets a Henry’s from the ice chest and hands it to Jack. Sharon hands him a painkiller and puts the bottle back in her purse. Lee notices the time, rinses off at the outdoor shower, grabs a beer, and lights the grill. When Breakin the Law by Judas Priest starts he cranks the volume. Everyone sings along.

Jack clambers out of the pool helped by Kris and Sharon while they all ignore the advice Mal yells. After rinsing off Jack sits on one of the patio chairs where he can watch Lee grill. Lee slaps down a dozen steaks and sprinkles them with spices from a shaker labeled Top Secret!

Glen picks up the shaker, sprinkles a bit in his hand, and takes a sniff, “I think I know what three of the ingredients are.”

Lee grins, “I have a twenty that says you’re wrong.”

Glen grins back, “You’re on, black pepper, Garlic powder, and chili powder.” After tasting the spices he adds, “And salt.”

Lee scowls, “Double or nothing you can’t tell the ratios.”

Glen shakes his head, “I bet that’s the top secret part.”

“You know it, remind me to pay you before you leave.”

Glen chuckles, “You know it.”

After transferring the steaks to the warming rack to rest Lee loads the grill with shark and sailfish steaks, sprinkling them with a touch of salt. He watches the fish intensely before nodding and carefully flipping them.

The smell of the steak and fish draws everyone up on the deck. Lee points at the table, “I don’t see plates, or salads, or even guac and chips. Somebody’s slackin!”

Jack starts getting up, but Kris stops him, “Not today Jack, take a chill pill.”

Jack grumbles, “This sucks ass.”

Sharon takes his hand, “Not for much longer, just relax.”

Everyone heads inside to bring the rest of the feast to the table. Lee piles the shark on one cookie sheet, and the sailfish on the other. “Yo Jack, what do you want on your plate?”

Jack smiles and yells back, “EVERYTHING!”

Lee loads a plate and sets it on the table, “You got it, or do ya need help?”

“You can’t help me, you’re not a fuckin’ head shrinker!”

Everyone laughs as Jack takes a seat at the table. Sharon helps Jack load the sides on his plate while everyone else gets a plate of meat from Lee. With everyone seated Lee raises his bottle, “To the Pacific!” Bottles and cans clash before everyone digs in. Other than assorted happy noises over the food conversation ceases.

When everyone has eaten their fill Lee looks at Jack and Sharon, “You two fucked up, but the fish makes up for it. Next time you guys get a wild hair up your ass make sure you let someone responsible know before you fuck off to Mexico.”

Jack looks down at his plate and quietly speaks, “Sorry, I wasn’t thinking, it won’t happen again.”

With everyone staring at a cowed Jack Kris speaks up, “Jack, what’s wrong?”

Sharon frowns, “Jack, does this have to do with the scars and why you don’t like going home?”

Jack nods, “I don’t want to talk about it.”

Lee sighs, “Aw fuck Jack, I was just flipping you shit. I’m sorry, I didn’t know shit at home was that bad.”

Jack shrugs, “It’s okay, I’m fine.”

Mal shakes her head, “You are not fine. What you are is among friends that care about you and won’t hurt you.”

Jack gives her a tight smile, “Thanks Mal, you guys mean the world to me. Sorry I flipped out.”

Blair shakes his head, “It’s cool man, from what you’ve told us we get it.”

Jack gets another beer from the ice chest, “You guys are the fuckin’ best, thank you all.”

With the mood lightened up the party ends up back in the pool. Jack stays near the edge while everyone else is roughhousing. With the sun going down everyone starts packing up and leaving.

Lee points to the ice chest, “There’s still fish in there, what do you want to do with it Jack?”

“Will it fit in your freezer?”

“Barely.”

“Have at it then.”

As Lee is wrapping the fish in plastic wrap, Jack wraps up the last steak, “This one’s mine.”

Lee laughs, “Where the fuck do you put it Jack?”

Grinning Jack replies, “I fuck it off.”

Sharon blushes, “Jacky…”

Lee shakes his head, “Only you Jack, only you.”

Back at the barn Jack sets his steak in the fridge, “I have breakfast!”

Sharon giggles, “Are you ready to fuck off dinner lover boy?”

Jack grins, “Always!”

The couple retire to the van.