Hippy Vampires Attack New York - Chp. 2

TWO
As I said, it was a month before our parents agreed to let us camp out, but that didn't stop us from making plans. We decided the first order of business was to get the campsite ready. The fishing hole was the ideal spot. It was secluded, naturally fortified, and didn't need much in the way of preparation. Of course there was the matter of it being so close to the encampment. Even though we were creeped out by the place, we were determined to solve the mystery of it.
"You talk to your dad yet?" Nick asked when we got together the next day at the fishing hole.
"Yeah, he said 'Let me think about it.' that means: 'Sure, but let me talk to your mother about it first, or we'll both be in the doghouse."
Nick grinned. "What did your mom say?"
"I dunno, I don't think he's asked her yet. He will though. You have to catch my mom in the right mood, but when you do she'll say yes to just about anything. If you don't and she says no then it's final. She won't change her mind."
"Man, it ain't like that at my house." Nick said shaking his head. "My dad makes all the decisions, and my mom goes along with whatever he says."
"Maybe we oughta start with a sleep-over or something. Get them to meet each other."
"Yeah, Gina has sleep-overs every week. Hey, maybe we can work it out so you can come over the same night she has her next one."
"Does she have cute friends?"
"Man, there's this one chick that has knockers the size of cantaloupes and she sleeps in a tee-shirt."
"Yeah?" I muttered, picturing her generous breasts pressing against my cheeks.
"No bra, man."
It's comical looking back on those days now, when Nick and I were naive about women. We believed heaven was located somewhere inside a cross-your-heart bra. Nick was always better with girls than I was. He was fearless around them while I usually went into brain lock.
The week went by quickly and everything fell into place almost perfectly. On Monday Nick and I asked our parents. On Wednesday my folks invited Nick's folks over for dinner, which went really well. Nick's parents thought that Saturday night would be the perfect night for us to have a sleep-over, because Nick's sister was having one. That's when my dad threw a wrench in the works and offered to host our sleep-over at our house. My heart sank as I looked over at Nick; he was shaking his head.
I looked over at dad and he winked at me. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. My dad knew what we were up to and he squelched it right in front of me. I grabbed Nick by the arm and headed for my room.
"What is your dad thinking?" Nick asked, after I had shut the door.
"He knows, man."
"Knows what?" It took exactly 2.3 seconds for reality to creep into Nick's face. You could see enlightenment bulge his eyeballs and drop his jaw to his knees. He began taking short gasping breaths.
I was just about to ask him if he was okay when my dad's customary "Shave and a Hair-cut" knock at the door seemed to snap him out of it.
"Mind if I come in?" My dad said as he entered. He shut the door behind him and walked over to the bed and sat down.
"Guys," he said, putting his hands on our shoulders. "I oughta revoke your man cards for that stunt. Nice try though."
"What do you mean, dad?"
My father looked around to make sure no one was listening in on our little quorum and pulled us all together in a huddle.
"If you actually thought you could get away with your little scheme I have to give you both credit for having the balls if not the brains to go through with it."
In later years when I began to take interest in being a lawyer myself, I would watch my father dig the truth out of a witness or a suspect with nothing to go on but his instincts. He practiced these skills on me.
"Mr. Foard," Nick said. "It was my idea, Johnny wanted to make it Friday night, but when my sister has her sleep-overs they always pick on me, and I thought he could help me fight 'em off."
"Is that so? Well, I'm sorry then, Nick, I had no idea. Maybe next time you two can sleep over at your house. I don't think it would be polite to back out this week, do you?"
Shaking our heads, Nick and I agreed. If we pushed for this week dad would get suspicious again. It was worth a week of anticipation for the plentiful bounty our imaginations foretold.
"Besides," my dad said as he reached for the door handle. "You could always sneak out after we go to bed and peek through the window like we used to do when I was your age."
After my dad left we both collapsed on the bed.
"Where did you come up with that 'my sister picks on me' stuff?" I asked.
"It's true, they do pick on me." Nick replied earnestly.
"Yeah?"
"When they catch me peeking in the bathroom."
Nick and I burst into a fit of laughter.

Three days later, just as we had every day since that first day, Nick and I met at the fishing hole. Except this time Nick brought his stuff for the sleep-over. We stashed all the stuff on the beach and went for a swim. As we sat sunning on one of the boulders after the swim, I was given an epiphany.
"We need a fort." I stated.
Nick shaded his eyes with his hand and looked over at me. "You need to fart?"
"A fort, smartass, in case it rains while we're camping."
"Hey, that's not a bad idea, but where are we gonna get the stuff to build a fort with?"
"My dad just tore down an old wooden fence that ran along the back of our property, I'm sure we could use that."
"So what are we waiting for? We're burning daylight." Nick said as he climbed down the boulder and threw on his clothes. Once Nick got motivated to do something, he was full steam ahead.
"Let's drop off your stuff at my house, and grab some chow first."
As we headed back I thought I saw something move below us at the encampment. A girl's face in the window of the school-bus, and then It was gone before I got a second look at it. Each time we went to or from the fishing hole I watched for the glimpses of movement in that mysterious scene.
After lunch dad helped us gather the wood from the scrap pile, take the nails out, straighten them, and loaned us his hammer. We made four trips to the fishing hole transporting the lumber, and planned out where we were going to set up the fort. It was later than I had ever been at the fishing hole when we started back to the house.
The long shadows of scraggly trees stretching across the landscape made the encampment look spookier than ever. A low fog was seeping into the clearing in long wispy streams. A chill ran down my neck, and I hurried up the ledge. Nick was right on my heels as we pushed our way through the brush to the main trail. When the path cleared we both sprinted back to my house.
"Man, are you sure you wanna spend the night out there? What if they're a bunch of bikers and crooks?" Nick asked as we stood in my driveway catching our breath.
"No bikes." I said between gasps for air. "No tracks...Road hasn't been used in a long time..."
"I dunno Johnny, why don't we camp out someplace closer to the house?"
"Not a chance," I replied, breathing a little easier now. "I'm going to get to the bottom of this if it's the last thing I do."

After dinner Nick and I took showers, then we all watched some TV, played scrabble, and had a bowl of ice cream. Around 9:30 Nick and I decided to turn in. It had been a long day and we were sore from carrying the lumber.
"Okay son," my dad shouted to us down the hall. "I'll be in to check on ya in a minute."
By the time he got in there, which couldn't have been longer than five minutes or so, we were asleep. I wasn't exaggerating when I said we were sore. We were tired and beat down. There would be no sneaking out tonight. Not even the promise of scantily clad older women could stir us.