Summertime Series - The 4th of July Part 3 of 4

"She's waitin' for me, when I get home from work, oh, but things ain't just the same. She turns out the light, and cries in the dark, won't answer when I call her name" X from "4th of July"

The nurse was sitting at the edge of my bed, with holding my meds until I made with the details about the biggest weekend of the summer, so in order to get my high I continued the tale.

One of the things you have to understand about Detroit Lakes, Minnesota is that Playboy magazine once rated it the 4th best place to get laid over the Independence Day holiday in the nation. Lake Havasu was #1, Palm Springs #2, and Bea Arthur's Hollywood Mansion rounded it out. In DL, as the locals called it, the population of the sleepy lake town exploded like a zit on a nerds back. The beach was packed, the streets were chaos, and the bars, they had lines like Hyde in Hollywood. It was the one weekend when I was told not to drink too much while working. It was perfectly acceptable to be enjoying a Captain and Coke on a regular shift, but over the holiday I was expected to remain sober and be on my toes.

This busyness was hell on my budding love with Cari, though I was certain she would show up at the hotel sometime during the weekend. I was wrong about that. She was nowhere to be found. I worried, but there wasn't much I could do, as I was up to my ass in North Dakota State coeds trying to get into the overly crowded Hotel. I was sure that everything would return to normal once the tourists left. And it did. However, you know when you get that feeling in the pit of your stomach like everyone is hiding something from you, yeah, you know what I'm talking about. And I had a case if it that would make a tape worm feel like an antacid. Something was up in Norwegian World and she was hiding it from me.

A couple of days later she confessed, to something that I , as a retarded youngster, could not look past as just youthful exuberance. I was destroyed by news that I knew was coming. And I drank myself into feeling better, as was the custom of my 20's.

Eventually we got past it, but it was never the same. What had been Mike, Travis, Angie, and Cari turned into Mike, Jeff, and Travis. I even tried, one drunken night, to make a play for Angie, but she wasn't having that at all. So, the boys would run wild. I started hanging out with them less and less, blaming it on my search for winter accommodations as the Hotel closed just after Labor Day. Even managed to find a partner for some naked aerobics, but it was short lasting, not the sex, the relationship.

I have always regretted the fact that I treated Cari like, well, I treated her like a whore and I really had no right to do so. She was being young and we had no binding relationship other than friendship and a crush, both of which I almost ruined. So, I take a moment to apologize to her.

We did patch up our relationship enough to remain friends. It was a difficult day when she had to head back to school in St. Cloud. It was late August by then and there were only two important events left in the season. Wee Fest and closing night at the Hotel.

Ever regret ruining a friendship because of jealousy?

Dixie Cup of Love: This one's for Cari.

Tomorrow the conclusion.