Saturday morning

Okay, clearly it was wrong, but she was so pretty that he couldn’t look away.  It wasn’t more than two beats, but looking at the girl standing in the window with her back to him, the moment seemed very long and full of his own breathing.  It was the panties.  At 13, he had only seen his mom and sister’s panties in the laundry - kind of gross each time.  

This was way different and unexpected.  He had gotten up early to see if Ray wanted to go hiking.  Sticking around the house on Saturday meant chores, so he had left his mom a note and booked it before she woke up.  Ray lived in a shitty hotel across the valley.  They both had single mom’s and little sisters, but Ray’s family ate at the Baptist church on Sundays.  Ray said it wasn’t because they were so into God but because it was free.  Beacuse they lived in the hotel, Jack didn’t stay over at Ray’s house much.  There wasn’t room or extra food.  Ray, on the other hand, stayed over at his place a lot.  Jack’s mom was cool with it.  They didn’t have a lot extra and had to move from one cheap rental house to another every 6 months because they always fell behind, but Jack thought it was probably okay as long as there was mac and cheese with a glass of milk for him and Amy.  There was always food, and the electricity only got shut off for a few hours every once in awhile.

This morning, no one was answering the door at Ray’s.  They might be gone, which would be weird, or they might be in bed and ignoring him.  Ray’s mom had a new boyfriend that Jack and Ray were pretty sure was a BHS.  A Big Hippie Stoner.  There were lots of them in town.  The bearded guys and girls in long skirt seemed to come from all over to hang out in Manitou.  When spring came late in May, and the monsoons made the willows leaf out over the swollen creeks that met in Soda Springs park, the hippies hung out getting stoned, playing music, and generally goofing around.  They were a source of endless entertainment for Jack and Ray  and the hotel where Ray lived was full of them.  Jack was pretty sure that the girl he was looking at was one of them.  Her golden brown hair was tied back into a ponytail with a bit of cloth.  She was gesturing to someone else like they were talking, but Jack couldn’t hear them through the closed window.  

Jack backed up slowly and slid behind a convenient shed.  He looked around to see if anyone was watching him, and, with