Cold Summer

I helped my father set up the poker table, laid out sandwiches, bowls full of chips. We worked silently, yet it was the nice silence, it was the silence of being comfortable with someone enough to know that there was no need to fill the empty air.

I was starting to realize my father wasn't as bad as I had made him out to be.

“I think they should stop saying seriously…It’s annoying.” Matt said his face scrunched up, starring at the screen, that was playing Grey’s Anatomy.

I threw popcorn in his general direction, which was at the other end of the couch.

“Shut up,” I paused and then smiled, “seriously.”

He groaned as he brushed the popcorn off himself.

There was a loud cry of, “Bloody hell!”

Coming from the kitchen both me and Matt looked towards the kitchen door. Where both are fathers and two other gentlemen…Wait I meant redneck farmers. Where playing poker.

“You bloody well cheated!” Did I mention one was British?

“I did not!” shouted the other farmer.

“You bloody well did!”

“Now, now, settle down.” John’s voice rang over stern.

“John’s right it’s just a game.” My father said. There was some mild mumbling but then it soon turned into talk of the baseball game.

I sighed and lifted my bottom off the couch so that I could dig out a five dollar bill in my pocket and passed it over to a smug Matt.

“Really how could you think that it would be an hour before the next accusation of cheating?” He said well digging out a Tonnie and flipping it in the air towards me.

“How could you not know he was going to say bloody in every sentence?” I returned looking at him expectantly, well catching the Tonnie and shoving it in my pocket.

Matt simply rolled his eyes.

“So, what about your friends?” Matt asked as he skipped a flat rock four times over the smooth water's surface.

I shrugged and flicked my arm. My rock barely made it past shore, I rolled my eyes at Matt’s grin.

In reality I hadn’t thought of any of it in a long time. Summer seemed to have flied by me, with Matt, my dad and John.

“Seriously,” he flinched, “wrong word and don’t look like that. You most have had friends at your home town.”

“I did.” I stated simply bending over and looking for a flatter rock then the one I had in my hand.

“Did?” he asked in confusing, “as in past tense?”

“Wow Matt you’re smart!” I exclaimed as I jumped up onto the dock so that my rock would for sure be able to at least hit the water.

He gave me a dirty look, “listen Alex, I told you my story and you’ve been cool, give me a chance to be cool with yours.”

I looked over at him my face scrunched up, “cool?”

“What’s wrong with cool?” He asked as he followed me to the end of the dock.

“It’s just so grade five.” I exclaimed.

“Are you saying I’m un – cool?” Matt said looking at me incredulous.

“I think what you just said proved your own point.” I said turning to face the water and again
flicked my arm, the rock jumped twice.

But Matt had graved me by the waist and thrown me into the lake before it had even hit the water once.